Balaam's third attempt to curse Israel.
Numb. xxiv. 5, 9. Hoiv goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and
thy tabernacles, 0 Israel/ Blessed is he that blesseth
thee; and cursed is he that curseth thee.
IF there were no other instance than that before us, we could never doubt the influence of God over all his creatures. Balaam had shewn strongly enough his desire to curse Israel ; but had been twice con- strained to speak the words which God had put into his mouth. On this third occasion, he saw that it was in vain to use enchantments; and therefore he laid them all aside ; and gave himself up, without any further resistance, to declare whatever God should say unto him.
His preface is usually represented as a pompous recital of his own peculiar privileges and attainments : but it is rather a relation of the circumstances that occurred whilst he was on his way to Balak. He speaks of himself as " the man whose eyes were shut" (so it should be read; and so it is read in the margin of our Bibles :) and who " had a vision of the Almighty, falling, but having his eyes open :" (the words, " into a trance" are printed in italics, to shew that they are inserted by the translators, and are not in the original:') his ass fell, and he fell also; and then his eyes were opened, to see the angel; whom, though his ass had seen, he had not till then been enabled to behold. On a view of the orderly manner in which the Israelites were encamped, he expressed his admiration of them ; and then, in the concluding words of our text de- clared the irreversible decree of God respecting them : " Blessed, &c. &c."
We shall consider these words,
I. In reference to the Jewish nation —
To them, in their primary sense, the words must certainly refer. But, when we read such a solemn de- claration respecting them, we are naturally led to ask,
1. How can we account for it?
175.1 Balaam's third attempt to curse Israel. 155
[Was there any peculiar merit in them, that had induced Jehovah so wonderfully to signalize them with his favour? No : they were a stiff-necked people from first to last. But God had " chosen them for himself to be a peculiar people :" and had pledged himself to fulfil to them all the promises, which he had made to Abraham respecting them. Whoever therefore should set himself against that people, would be endeavouring to thwart the divine counsels ; whilst every one who should promote the prosperity of Zion, would, in fact, advance the designs of God. No wonder therefore that God pronounced a blessing or a curse on all, according as they co-operated with him, or opposed his will.]
2. How was it fulfilled?
[In addition to all that has been stated on the two former occasions, we are here led to contemplate the prosperity of Israel under the images of a verdant valley, a well-watered garden, and fragrant or stately trees : they are further spoken of as marvellously enriched, prolific, powerful. But we may particularly notice the discrimination made between the Gibeon- ites and all the other nations of Canaan. These, because they made a league with Joshua, were spared, protected, and pre- served; whilst all the others, without exception, were destroyed*1. And, many hundred years afterwards, when Saul had broken the covenant with them, and had sought to destroy them, God avenged their cause by a famine during three successive years, and caused the injustice of Saul to be punished in the destruc- tion of almost all his family15. When at last the Israelites had provoked God utterly to abandon them, they became weak as others, and were left, as at this day, to experience all the evils, which, as God's instruments, they themselves had in- flicted upon other nations.]