Numbers 23:1-121And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. 2And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram. 3And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place. 4And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. 5And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. 6And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab. 7And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. 8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? 9For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. 10Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! 11And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. 12And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth? (Numbers 23:1‑12)
NOT one altar, but seven, were built, and on each altar both a bullock and a ram were sacrificed, before Balaam was ready to go on with his master, Satan.
Baal means master, or possessor; it was the chief god of the people of the land the children of Israel were coming to take for their home. Balaam means “lord of the people,” and Balak means empty, or waster. These names seem suitable for Satan, and the people who do his work, but the seven altars, with the smoke of the burning sacrifices, must have looked very fine.
The next chapter, in its first verse tells us that it was not God that Balaam went to meet with, though he wanted the king of Moab to think so (verse 3). But God it was that met Balaam, and put the words into his mouth that he was to say when he went back to the seven altars and the king and his princes. He begins to speak, presently, and how astonished the people must have been to hear his words!
“How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed, or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?” They were God’s people, not to be counted as one of the nations. They were greater than any other people, but Balaam’s only thought for himself is that he would like to die as one of God’s children.
Perhaps even the worst of men and women of today would say the same thing, but there is no wish to live the life of the righteous, and God did not let Balaam have his desire.
Balak was angry, of course. He had been at a lot of trouble to bring Balaam there, and instead of cursing the Israelites he had pronounced their blessing. The, wicked prophet answered truly that he must say what God put in his mouth, but the king would have him try again.
ML 04/13/1924