13<\/strong>. Balaam may have felt regret at being unable to win the offered rewards, but there is no hint of it in the narrative. He could not know that Balak would send again.<\/p>\n He conceals the principal things, to wit, the reason of Gods prohibition, which might have given a stop to their further course and counsels in this matter, and secretly intimates his own goodwill and readiness to comply with them, if God had not hindered him. <\/P> <\/p>\n 13-15. the Lord refuseth to give meleave to go with you<\/B>This answer has an appearance<\/I> ofbeing good, but it studiously concealed the reason of the divineprohibition [Nu 22:12<\/span>], and itintimated his own willingness and desire to goif permitted. Balakdespatched a second mission, which held out flattering prospects,both to his avarice and his ambition (Ge31:30<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n And Balaam rose up in the morning<\/strong>,…. With the impression of the dream upon his mind, and of what had passed between God and him in it:<\/p>\n and said unto the princes of Balak<\/strong>; which shows what the elders were that were sent, of what honour and dignity, and may include both those of Moab and of Midian:<\/p>\n get you into your land<\/strong>; as soon as you can; set forward on your journey, it is to no purpose to stay here:<\/p>\n for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you<\/strong>; he only relates one part of the answer he had from the Lord, respecting his going with them, but says not a word of his being forbid to curse Israel, and of the reason given why he should not; had he reported this, in all probability it would have prevented any further application to him, and so any attempt to get this done, which Balaam seemed aware of; and therefore, by concealing this, hoped for fresh solicitations and entreaties, and that in time the Lord might be prevailed on to let him go and curse them; he having a covetous desire of riches, honour, and preferment, in Balak’s court.<\/p>\n 13<\/strong>. <\/strong> The Lord refuseth <\/strong> By this answer he seems to intimate his own willingness, and even desire, to accompany them, but that he was under the necessity of obeying his God. Here is an example of garbling God’s word, to which Satan (comp. Mat 4:6<\/span>, and Psa 91:11-12<\/span>) and wicked men are ever prone. The most important part of Jehovah’s communication, “Thou shalt not curse the people,” with the reason, “for they are blessed,” is craftily omitted. “If hee had faithfully showed them the whole counsell of God it might have stayed this evill enterprise, and cut off occasion for further sending. But as a man loth to displease, and loving the proffered gaine, hee useth a faint and favourable speech, as if hee should have said, I could be content and glad to gratifie the king herein, but God will not suffer mee at this time to goe; the fault is not mine, therefore I pray thee have mee excused.” Ainsworth. <\/em> On the contrary, true obedience is illustrated by Paul, Act 20:27<\/span>, as it is commanded in Jeremiah xxiii, 28.<\/p>\n Balaam Tells The Messengers To Return Home, And They Return ( Num 22:13-14<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ) <\/p>\n Num 22:13<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n ‘And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the nobles\/chieftains of Balak, “Get you into your land, for Yahweh refuses to give me leave to go with you.” ’ <\/p>\n Next morning therefore Balaam told ‘the nobles\/chieftains of Balak’ to return to their land because he had been consulting Yahweh, (he recognised the One Who had come as Yahweh) and Yahweh had refused to permit him to go. The chieftains would be suitably impressed. Once they had told Balak this he would know that he was dealing with the right man for the job. Here was someone in touch with Yahweh, Israel’s God. They may well have thought inwardly that Balaam was simply delaying in order to seek a better price. <\/p>\n Note that ‘the elders’ who were sent were ‘nobles’ or ‘chieftains’ (the word sar can indicate princes, rulers, nobles, chieftains, or captains depending on context). A good impression had to be made on Balaam. He was not just anyone. <\/p>\n “In the morning.”<\/strong> This phrase is another feature of the narrative. It occurs here and in Num 22:21<\/span>; Num 22:41<\/span>. We can compare a similar idea (but not the same phrase) in the story in Numbers 16-17. See Num 16:5<\/span>; Num 16:7<\/span>; Num 16:41<\/span>; Num 17:8<\/span>. <\/p>\n Num 22:14<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘And the chieftains of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” <\/p>\n So the chieftains rose and returned to Balak, and informed him that Balaam refused to come with them. <\/p>\n Observe! how this wretch trades in iniquity. Had he dealt honestly with the servants of Balak, he would have told them that the people whom their master wished him to curse, the LORD had determined to bless; and therefore, it would be the highest impiety in him to do what Balak wished him. But probably he hoped by this message to keep the embassy open, and that he might yet do what Balak wished him. See what Jude saith of him: Jud 1:11<\/span> .<\/p>\n Num 22:13 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.<\/p>\n Ver. 13. For the Lord refuseth.<\/strong> ] Like a mercenary, and one that had a month’s mind to the money, he hides from them that part of the answer that might have kept them off from coming again to him, viz., Thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed, Auri sacra fames, &c.<\/p>\n Balaam . . . said. Note what he suppressed, <\/p>\n for the Lord: Num 22:14, Deu 23:5 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Num 24:1 – saw 1Ki 13:16 – General 1Ki 21:4 – I will not<\/p>\n BALAAM<\/p>\n And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.<\/p>\n Num 22:13-21<\/p>\n Balaam is one of the most interesting characters in the Bible; and it is a special feature of the Bible that it exhibits real living human characters. If ever you come to read the sacred books of other religionsfor example, the Koran, which is the Bible, as you know, of the great Mohammedan faithyou will find plenty of moral and ceremonial rules, nay, a good many precepts which you will do well to incorporate in your own Christianity; but you will not be passing, as it were, though a portrait gallery of living men and women, whom you know well. Yet there is certainly no means so efficacious of teaching spiritual or moral truth as by example.<\/p>\n It is the divine mode to teach by example; and, bearing this in mind, as the result of many instances, let me ask, What is the lesson of Balaams life?<\/p>\n I. Now, when the messengers of Balak came to Balaam and asked him to do something which he knew to be wrong, he said, No, I cannot go with you.That seems at first a very noble answer. But you know there is a way of saying No which means Yes, and I am much afraid that that was Balaams way. If you look a man in the face and say I wont, that is one thing: but it is another thing (is it not?) if you halt and hesitate, and let your No come stammering out as if you were ashamed of it. Balaam began by wanting to please God. He said, and probably he was at least half honest in saying, If Balak would give me his house full of gold and silver, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord, my God, to do less or more. Yet he wanted to please himself at the same time. He asked God again if he might not go. He kept trying to curse the people, although he could not; and when he could not curse them, he tempted them to sin. What was the good of his saying, Let me die the death of the righteous, when the only possible way of dying as the righteous die (and this is a lesson which belongs to you as much as to him) is to live as the righteous live? And so he went from good to bad, and from bad to worse, until, as St. Peter says, he became a perpetual instance of the ruin wrought in a highly-gifted human soul by loving not God only, but the wages of unrighteousness.<\/p>\n II. Now, what was Balaams prime mistake?I think it was this, that he trifled with his conscience. At first, when the princes of Moab asked him to go with them, he knew perfectly well that it was wrong. Probably, if he had spoken out like a man, they would never have asked him again. But he began saying to himself, What a pity that I should lose all this money! Might not I go? Might not I just try again if God will let me go? What does it matter, if it is a little wrong? How do I know that anything worse will ever come of it? Ah! but this is just what it is so fatal to say. God speaks once to the human soul, and speaks loudly; but if you disobey His voice, it soon sinks to a whisper.<\/p>\n Follow your conscience, and it shall lead you to God. Believe me, the only way to get more spiritual light is to live according to the light you have. It may only be a light that breaks athwart the darkness; make the most of it, and some day you shall have more. There may be hereafter only one duty which is clear to you, only one friend or kinsman whom you can help, only one boy whom you can keep from evil, only one piece of work which you alone can do. Well, do that. Try to accomplish that one object. Try to save just that one human soul. Gradually, it may be after many a day, the clouds will break. You will know more of Gods will. He will seem nearer to you. His voice will sound more clearly in your soul. You shall enter into that divine peace which the world may neither give nor take away.<\/p>\n Bishop Welldon.<\/p>\n Illustration<\/p>\n (1) The story is told in the most vivid terms. The hesitation of Balaam, the struggle between covetousness and the fear of Jehovah, the tardy consent, the warning that came from the mouth of the ass, the sight of the angel by the way, are impressively described. No less so is the reception he met in Moab. He is met by the king and is hurried to the slopes of the mountain from which he may look on the camp of Israel. Seven sacrifices smoke on seven altars, but when the word comes to the soothsayer it is a word of blessing and not a curse. He is brought by the disappointed king to the top of Pisgah and to the summit of Peor. More abundant sacrifices are offered up. But the oracles are more decidedly than before oracles of blessing, till at last Balak, in despair, asked him to refrain equally from blessing and from cursing.<\/p>\n (2) For the sake of a handful of paltry dross he sold his eternal jewel to the enemy of man, and he earned the dreadful twofold epitaph which the New Testament inscribes with ceremonious reprobation upon his name. One epitaph is Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. The other is Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Life is a very serious thing, even for triflers. The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord! <\/p>\n (3) Keble finely describes Balaam:<\/p>\n Oh! for a sculptors hand,<\/p>\n That thou mightst take thy stand,<\/p>\n Thy wild hair floating on the eastern breeze,<\/p>\n Thy tranced yet open gaze<\/p>\n Fixed on the desert haze,<\/p>\n As one who deep in heaven some airy pageant sees.<\/p>\n In outline dim and vast<\/p>\n Their fearful shadows cast;<\/p>\n The giant forms of empire on their way<\/p>\n To ruin: one by one<\/p>\n They tower and are gone,<\/p>\n Yet in the Prophets soul the dreams of avarice stay.<\/p>\n Nor sun nor star so bright<\/p>\n In all the world of light,<\/p>\n That they should draw to heaven his downward eye;<\/p>\n He hears th Almightys word,<\/p>\n He sees the angels sword,<\/p>\n Yet low upon the earth his heart and treasure lie.<\/p>\n Num 22:13. The Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you He ought to have informed them that the Lord had strictly forbidden him to curse this people, and assured him that they were blessed. Such a declaration would probably have prevented any further message from Balak, and have preserved Balaam from running into more sin. God, however, overruled it all to his own glory and the good of his people Israel.<\/p>\n 22:13 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give {g} me leave to go with you.<\/p>\n (g) Or else he would have been willing, covetousness had so blinded his heart.<\/p>\n And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you. 13. Balaam may have felt regret at being unable to win the offered rewards, but there is no hint of it in the narrative. … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 22:13”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"