Commentary - Numbers 24:15-25

Bird's-eye view

In this final and most glorious of Balaam's oracles, the Spirit of God completely commandeers the mouth of a corrupt, pagan diviner to deliver one of the most significant Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel, Balaam has instead blessed them three times. Now, his professional engagement concluded, he takes up a fourth "discourse" on his own initiative. This is not for Balak's benefit, but is a pure, unadulterated prophecy concerning the "latter days." The prophecy centers on the coming of a "Star" and a "Scepter" from Jacob, a royal figure who will crush Israel's enemies, particularly Moab and Edom. This had a near fulfillment in the reign of King David, who subdued these very nations. But the language and scope of the prophecy explode the boundaries of any mere earthly king. It points forward to the ultimate Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true Star and Scepter. The oracle then broadens to pronounce judgment on other nations, Amalek, the Kenites, and even the great empires of Asshur (Assyria) and Eber, showing the comprehensive dominion of the coming King. It is a stunning display of God's absolute sovereignty, where He uses a compromised vessel to declare the unstoppable triumph of His covenant plan and the coming of His anointed King, who will judge the nations and establish His everlasting kingdom.

The entire episode is a profound lesson in the sovereignty of God over all human and even demonic opposition. Balak and Balaam represent the world's political and spiritual powers arrayed against God's people. They use all the available technology of their day, both political and occult, to try and thwart God's purpose. But God is not flustered. He not only neutralizes their curses, turning them into blessings, but He makes the chief curser into a mouthpiece for the gospel. The enemy is forced to pay for, transport, and listen to a detailed prophecy of his own destruction and the triumph of the King he opposes. This is our God, and this is how His kingdom advances.

Outline

Context In Numbers

This passage is the climax of the Balaam narrative, which runs from Numbers 22 through 24. Israel is encamped on the plains of Moab, on the very doorstep of the Promised Land. Their victories over Sihon and Og have terrified the surrounding nations, and Balak, king of Moab, resorts to spiritual warfare. He hires Balaam, a renowned Mesopotamian seer, to curse Israel. The preceding chapters detail God's frustration of this plan at every turn: God speaks to Balaam, Balaam's donkey speaks to him, and three times Balaam attempts to curse Israel, only to have the Spirit of God force him to pronounce blessings instead. This final oracle in chapter 24 is therefore the capstone of God's victory over the pagan spiritual world. It demonstrates that God's purpose for His people is not only protected from curses but is actively advanced, even through the mouths of His enemies. Immediately following this glorious prophecy, chapter 25 records the treachery of Balaam, who, unable to curse Israel directly, advises Balak on how to seduce them into idolatry and immorality with the women of Moab, a tactic that proves tragically successful for a time. This juxtaposition highlights the difference between opposing God with spiritual power (which is futile) and opposing Him through carnal temptation (which is a constant danger to the people of God).

Key Issues

The Reluctant Prophet

The character of Balaam is one of the most fascinating and troubling in all of Scripture. He is not an Israelite, yet he hears the words of God. He is a diviner who seeks omens, yet he beholds the vision of the Almighty. He is a covetous man, willing to curse God's people for money, yet God puts unalterable truth in his mouth. The New Testament holds him up as a quintessential example of a false teacher, one who loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Pet 2:15) and taught others how to stumble (Rev 2:14). And yet, the prophecies he delivers are among the purest and most powerful in the Pentateuch.

What are we to make of this? We must recognize the absolute sovereignty of God over the prophetic gift. God is not limited to using sanctified vessels. He can make a donkey speak, and He can make a greedy sorcerer prophesy the coming of Christ. This does not validate Balaam's character any more than Caiaphas's prophecy about Jesus dying for the nation validated his. It validates God. It shows that God's truth is not dependent on the moral quality of the messenger. God's Word accomplishes its purpose, and He is free to use whomever He pleases to declare it. Balaam's prophecy is true not because Balaam is true, but because God is true. God hijacks the prophet-for-hire and makes him serve the purposes of the kingdom, demonstrating that even the highest powers of the pagan world are nothing more than tools in the hands of the God of Israel.

Verse by Verse Commentary

15-16 Then he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is uncovered, The oracle of him who hears the words of God, And knows the knowledge of the Most High, Who beholds the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes opened.

Balaam begins his final, and greatest, oracle with a formal, almost grandiose, introduction. He is identifying his credentials, but not in the way a true prophet of Yahweh would. He is speaking as a pagan seer, describing his ecstatic prophetic experience. The phrase "whose eye is uncovered" or "opened" speaks of a supernatural sight, a vision into the spiritual realm. He "hears the words of God" and "knows the knowledge of the Most High." This is an astonishing claim for a man who is an enemy of God's people. He sees the "vision of the Almighty," likely falling into a trance-like state ("falling down") while his spiritual eyes remain open. The Holy Spirit is using the forms and language of a Mesopotamian diviner but filling them with divine content. God condescends to speak through Balaam's pagan framework, but the message that comes out is pure Yahweh.

17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.

Here is the heart of the prophecy. The vision is of a person: "I see him." But this person's arrival is in the distant future, "not now... not near." This is a prophecy for the "latter days" (v. 14). This coming one is described with two royal symbols. First, a star. In the ancient world, stars were often associated with deities and kings. This is the star that the Magi, likely heirs to this prophetic tradition from the East, would later follow. Second, a scepter. This is an unambiguous symbol of kingship and royal authority. This King will come from "Jacob" and "Israel," leaving no doubt about His lineage. And His reign will not be peaceful from the world's perspective. He will be a warrior king who exercises judgment. He will "crush through the forehead of Moab," the very nation whose king is paying for this prophecy. The judgment extends to "all the sons of Sheth," which could refer to a specific Moabite clan or, more broadly, to all of humanity descended from Seth, indicating the universal scope of this King's dominion.

18 And Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession, While Israel performs valiantly.

The prophecy continues to describe the conquests of this coming King. Edom, the nation descended from Jacob's brother Esau and a perennial enemy of Israel, will be conquered and become a "possession." Seir is the mountainous region where the Edomites lived. The prophecy shows that under the leadership of this Scepter from Jacob, "Israel performs valiantly." This found a direct, typological fulfillment in King David, who conquered and garrisoned Edom (2 Sam 8:14). But David was just a shadow. The ultimate fulfillment is in Christ, who takes possession of all the nations, including all His enemies, making them His footstool.

19 And one from Jacob shall have dominion, And will make the survivor perish from the city.”

This verse summarizes and intensifies the previous statements. A ruler will arise from Jacob and exercise dominion. This is the language of Genesis 1, the dominion mandate, now being fulfilled through this anointed King. His rule will be total and absolute. He will destroy every last remnant of opposition, every "survivor... from the city." This speaks of a final, comprehensive judgment against those who stand in rebellion against His righteous reign. Again, we see a foretaste in David's conquests, but the final reality is found in the Lord Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and whose kingdom will have no end.

20 Then he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, But his end shall be destruction.”

Having prophesied the coming of the King, Balaam now turns his prophetic gaze to specific nations surrounding Israel. First is Amalek. They were "first of the nations" not in origin, but in being the first nation to attack Israel after the Exodus (Exodus 17). For this treachery, God had sworn to blot out their memory from under heaven. Balaam here confirms that divine sentence. Despite their primacy in opposing God's people, their end is utter destruction. History confirms this; the Amalekites were ultimately destroyed by Saul and David and disappear from the historical record.

21-22 Then he looked at the Kenite and took up his discourse and said, “Your habitation is enduring, And your nest is set in the cliff. Nevertheless Kain will be consumed; How long will Asshur keep you captive?”

Next are the Kenites. They were a nomadic people, some of whom were friendly to Israel (Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, was a Kenite). They lived in rocky, defensible strongholds; their "nest is set in the cliff." From a human perspective, they looked secure. But Balaam prophesies their doom. "Kain" is another name for the Kenites. Despite their natural defenses, they will be "consumed." The prophecy then looks to the agent of their destruction: "Asshur" (Assyria), the rising Mesopotamian empire, will take them captive. This shows that the God of Israel is not a local deity; He orchestrates the movements of distant empires to accomplish His purposes.

23-24 Then he took up his discourse and said, “Woe, who can live except when God has ordained it? But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; So they also will come to destruction.”

Balaam utters a cry of "Woe," recognizing the terrifying scope of the coming judgments. Life and death are entirely in God's hands. He then sees a vision of judgment coming from even further away. Ships from "Kittim," a term generally referring to Cyprus and the coasts of the Mediterranean, will come and afflict both "Asshur" (Assyria) and "Eber" (a term that likely refers to the peoples "across" the Euphrates, including the Hebrews). This is a remarkable prophecy of western powers (Greeks and later Romans) coming to conquer the great empires of the East. But the prophecy concludes with a final note of divine sovereignty: these western powers, these ships from Kittim, "also will come to destruction." God uses nations as His instruments of judgment, but then He judges those very instruments for their own sins. No earthly empire is ultimate. All are subject to the rise and fall of history, which is governed by the throne of God.

25 Then Balaam arose and went and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way.

The scene ends with a stark, anticlimactic statement. The supernatural fireworks are over. The reluctant prophet and the frustrated king simply go home. Their grand conspiracy has utterly failed. God has spoken, and His word stands. Balak returns to his doomed kingdom, and Balaam returns to his own place, later to be killed by the Israelites for the treacherous counsel he gave (Num 31:8). The word of God endures, but the men who plot against it are swept away.

Application

The story of Balaam's final prophecy is a profound encouragement for the people of God in any era. We are often like Israel on the plains of Moab, feeling small and vulnerable, surrounded by hostile powers that seem far greater than we are. The world's "Balaks" marshal their political and financial resources against the church, and the world's "Balaams" employ their spiritual, intellectual, and cultural sorcery to curse and undermine the people of God. It can be tempting to despair.

But this passage teaches us that God's sovereignty is absolute. He is not fighting a desperate battle against the forces of darkness; He is orchestrating a symphony in which even the discordant notes of His enemies are resolved into His glorious triumph. He takes the curses of the enemy and turns them into blessings. He forces the hired guns of the opposition to prophesy the victory of our King. The Star has come forth from Jacob. The Scepter has risen from Israel. That Scepter is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has all authority in heaven and on earth. He is currently, right now, crushing the forehead of Moab and taking possession of Edom. He is doing this through the triumphant advance of His gospel.

Therefore, we should not fear the schemes of men or devils. Our task is not to fret about the curses from the mountaintop but to be faithful on the plains. We must beware the seduction of the Moabite women, the temptation to compromise with the world's idolatry and immorality. That is our real danger. The external opposition is God's problem, and as this story shows, He is more than capable of handling it. Our concern is internal fidelity. If we remain faithful to our covenant King, we can be confident that no weapon, spiritual or physical, formed against us shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against us in judgment, He will condemn.