Commentary - Numbers 23:13-26

Bird's-eye view

In this second of Balaam's oracles, we see the pagan king Balak doubling down on his folly. Convinced that the problem was one of location and perspective, he moves his pet prophet to a new vantage point, hoping for a different result. But God is not subject to geography. The result is not just another failure to curse, but a magnificent declaration of God's immutable character and His irrevocable blessing upon His covenant people. Balaam, a man for hire, finds himself commandeered by the God of Heaven, and is made to prophesy against his own employers. The central message is found in verse 19: God is not a man. He doesn't lie, and He doesn't change His mind. This passage is therefore a powerful testimony to the sovereignty of God over the affairs of men, the impotence of pagan magic, and the security of God's elect.

The oracle builds in intensity. It moves from the character of God, to the status of His people, to their divine empowerment, and finally to their destiny as a conquering nation. Balak's frustration boils over at the end, but Balaam can only state the obvious: he is bound to speak what Yahweh gives him to speak. This is a story of a sovereign God making His enemies declare His own glorious purposes.

Outline

Context In Numbers

This passage contains the second of Balaam's four oracles concerning Israel. It follows directly after the first oracle (Num 23:7-10), where Balak's attempt to curse Israel resulted in a blessing. This second attempt shows Balak's spiritual blindness; he believes the failure was tactical, not theological. He fails to grasp that the issue is not with the prophet or the place, but with the God who has determined to bless Israel. This oracle significantly deepens the theology of the first. It is no longer just that Israel is blessed, but that this blessing is grounded in the unchangeable nature of God Himself. This sets the stage for the even more glorious prophecies to come, particularly the Messianic prophecy of the Star out of Jacob in the next chapter (Num 24:17). The entire Balaam narrative serves to show Israel, and all subsequent readers, that God's covenant promises are secure, not just from Israel's internal failings, but also from all external, spiritual, and military threats.

Key Issues

The Immutability of God

The centerpiece of this entire passage is Numbers 23:19: "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent." This is a bedrock doctrine of the Christian faith. Balak operates under a pagan assumption that gods are simply super-powered, temperamental humans who can be manipulated, bribed, or tricked. If one ritual doesn't work, try another. If one location fails, find a new one. But Yahweh is not like the gods of the nations. His being is of a different order entirely.

For God to "repent" (Hebrew: nacham) here means for Him to change His mind because of a mistake, new information, or being outmaneuvered. This, Balaam declares, is impossible for God. His knowledge is perfect, His wisdom is infinite, and His power is absolute. Therefore, His decrees are not provisional. When He speaks, it is an expression of His eternal will. "Has He said, and will He not do it?" The question is rhetorical and the answer is a thunderous no. This is the foundation of all God's promises. The security of the believer, the promise of the gospel, and the hope of final victory all rest on the fact that God is not a man. He does not go back on His word.

Verse-by-Verse Commentary

v. 13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, but you will only see the end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there.”

Balak is a pragmatist, but his pragmatism is steeped in superstition. He reasons that the first attempt failed because the sheer size of the Israelite camp was too overwhelming for a curse to take hold. His solution is to change the angle. Perhaps if Balaam only sees a fraction of them, the task will seem more manageable to whatever powers he is trying to invoke. This is the thinking of a man trying to find a loophole in the divine will. He believes God's power is somehow limited by human lines of sight. It is a foolish attempt to manage the Almighty.

v. 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

They move to a new location, Pisgah, a high place which will later be where Moses views the Promised Land before he dies. The irony is thick. Balak brings a prophet here to curse the people who will inherit the land, from the very spot where their own great prophet will see that inheritance confirmed. Balak meticulously repeats his religious formula: seven altars, seven bulls, seven rams. He is diligent in his empty religion. Men will spare no expense and go to great lengths in the service of a false god, or in the attempt to bend the true God to their will.

v. 15-17 And he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet Yahweh over there.” Then Yahweh met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?”

The procedure is the same. Balaam separates himself to "meet" God. And the text is explicit: Yahweh met him. This is not a negotiation. God is not being summoned. God is the one initiating the content of the conversation. He puts a word in Balaam's mouth, effectively turning this pagan diviner into a divine puppet. Balak and his princes are waiting with bated breath, standing by their smoldering sacrifices, hoping their investment is about to pay off. His question, "What has Yahweh spoken?" is filled with a desperate, foolish hope.

v. 18-19 Then he took up his discourse and said, “Arise, O Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor! God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it?”

The oracle begins with a formal call to attention. This is a divine pronouncement, and a king had better listen. The message that follows is a direct rebuke to Balak's entire project. The reason the curse will not work is not because of a faulty ritual, but because of the faulty theology behind it. Balak thinks God is like him, a "son of Zippor," a man who can be swayed. But God is not a man. He does not lie. His word is His bond. And He does not change His mind. His decrees are fixed. What God has spoken, He will bring to pass. This is the foundation of everything that follows.

v. 20 Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.

Balaam states his position plainly. He is not an independent contractor here. He is under orders. The command is to bless. And once God has blessed, that action is final. No created being, whether a Moabite king or a Mesopotamian prophet, has the authority or the power to undo it. The blessing of God is an unassailable reality.

v. 21 He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; Yahweh his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them.

This is a staggering statement. How can God look at stiff-necked Israel and see no misfortune or trouble? This is the language of covenant and justification. This is not a statement about Israel's sinless perfection, which the rest of the Pentateuch amply refutes. It is a statement about their legal standing before God. In His covenant love, through the sacrifices that pointed to the ultimate sacrifice, their sin was covered. He did not impute their iniquity to them. And why? Because "Yahweh his God is with him." The presence of God is their shield. And the "shout of a king" is among them. This refers to the joyful acclamation of Yahweh as their sovereign King, their leader in battle. This is a people whose king is God Himself.

v. 22 God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

The blessing is rooted in God's historical acts of redemption. The same God who demonstrated His supreme power over the gods of Egypt is the one protecting them now. His strength is compared to the horns of a wild ox, a symbol of untamable, ferocious power. This is the strength that is on Israel's side.

v. 23 For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done!

Here is a direct dismissal of Balak's entire profession. The dark arts, the world of omens and divination, are utterly powerless against the people of God. They have no traction. Why? Because Israel does not need to seek guidance from the shadows. They have a God who speaks. They have revelation. God Himself will tell His people what He has done and what He is going to do. The occult is for those who are in the dark. God's people walk in the light of His Word.

v. 24 Behold, a people rises like a lioness, And as a lion it lifts itself; It will not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.”

The oracle concludes with a terrifying image for the enemies of Israel. They are not a flock of sheep to be scattered. They are a lion, rising to the hunt. They are God's instrument of judgment against the Canaanites. This prophecy looks forward to the conquest of the land. It is a promise of total victory. They will not rest until their God-given mission is complete.

v. 25-26 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘Whatever Yahweh speaks, that I must do’?”

Balak's exasperation is complete. He sees that every attempt to harm Israel only results in a more glorious description of their blessing. He makes a desperate plea for neutrality. If you can't curse them, at least be quiet. But there is no neutrality when it comes to the purposes of God. Balaam simply reminds Balak of the terms he agreed to at the beginning. He is a prophet under constraint. He must speak the words of Yahweh, and those words are words of blessing for Israel and doom for her enemies.

Application

The lessons from this ancient encounter are profoundly relevant. First, our confidence as Christians is not in our own consistency, but in God's. He is not a man, that He should lie. The promises He has made to us in Jesus Christ are more sure than the ground beneath our feet. When He has blessed us in Christ, that blessing cannot be revoked.

Second, we must abandon all forms of spiritual superstition. We do not manipulate God through formulas, rituals, or emotional experiences. We come to Him through His revealed Word, submitting to what He has said, not trying to get Him to say what we want to hear.

Third, we must understand our position in Christ. God does not see "misfortune" in us, not because we are perfect, but because we are clothed in the righteousness of His Son. The shout of the King, Jesus, is among us. He is with us, and His presence is our defense against all accusations and all enemies.

Finally, we must not fear the machinations of the world or the devil. There is no omen against the church of God. There is no divination that can prosper against the bride of Christ. We are part of a kingdom that rises like a lion, and we will not rest until Christ's enemies are made his footstool and the Great Commission is fulfilled. The victory is not in doubt, because the God who promised it does not change.