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 15 And he said to Balak , "Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the Lord over there ." 16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said , "Return to Balak , and thus you shall speak ." 17 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 the Lord spoken ?" 18 Then he took up his discourse and said , "Arise , O Balak , and hear ; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor ! 19 " 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 make it good 20 "Behold , I have received a command to bless ; When He has blessed , then I cannot revoke it. 21 " He has not observed misfortune in Jacob ; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel ; The Lord his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them 22 " God brings them out of Egypt , He is for them like the horns of the wild ox . 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 ! 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 ." 25 Then Balak said to Balaam , "Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all !" 26 But Balaam replied to Balak , "Did I not tell you, ' Whatever e the Lord speaks , that I must do '?" 27 Then Balak said to Balaam , "Please come , I will take you to another place ; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there ." 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks e e the wasteland . 29 Balaam said to Balak , "Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here ." 30 Balak did just as Balaam had said , and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 23:14-37
Commentary on Numbers 23:11-30
(Read Numbers 23:11-30)
Balak was angry with Balaam. Thus a confession of God's overruling power is extorted from a wicked prophet, to the confusion of a wicked prince. A second time the curse is turned into a blessing; and this blessing is both larger and stronger than the former. Men change their minds, and break their words; but God never changes his mind, and therefore never recalls his promise. And when in Scripture he is said to repent, it does not mean any change of his mind; but only a change of his way. There was sin in Jacob, and God saw it; but there was not such as might provoke him to give them up to ruin. If the Lord sees that we trust in his mercy, and accept of his salvation; that we indulge no secret lust, and continue not in rebellion, but endeavour to serve and glorify him; we may be sure that he looks upon us as accepted in Christ, that our sins are all pardoned. Oh the wonders of providence and grace, the wonders of redeeming love, of pardoning mercy, of the new-creating Spirit! Balak had no hope of ruining Israel, and Balaam showed that he had more reason to fear being ruined by them. Since Balaam cannot say what he would have him, Balak wished him to say nothing. But though there are many devices in man's heart, God's counsels shall stand. Yet they resolve to make another attempt, though they had no promise on which to build their hopes. Let us, who have a promise that the vision at the end shall speak and not lie, continue earnest in prayer, Luke 18:1.