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Before ending the prophetic utterances, Balaam speaks of the end of the Amalekites,
the Kenites and the Assyrians. Ships shall come from the coast of Shittim, and afflict
both the Assyrian and the Hebrew, and then he also (that sent the ships) shall perish
for ever. Daniel, in 11: 30 of his book, speaks of these "ships of Chittim", and makes it
clear that they come against the Beast of the Apocalypse.
Here, then, we have a false prophet, who sets out, at the bidding of a king, to curse
Israel, uttering such truths as demand nothing less than the inspiration of God as their
origin. Balaam realized his helplessness in the matter, saying to Balak:--
"Have I now any power at all to say anything? The word that God putteth in my
mouth, that shall I speak" (Numb. 22: 38).
"Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?"
(Numb. 23: 12).
"If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the
commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind: but what the
Lord saith, that will I speak" (Numb. 24: 13).
"And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to
their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him" (Numb. 24: 2).
It is therefore apparent that Balaam's utterances had no relation to his own heart, or
his own moral character. He, himself, was wicked, unrepentant, and in league with
Satanic powers, yet God could so come upon him that he was powerless to resist
being made a mouthpiece of the Almighty. If wicked Balaam and wicked Caiaphas can
utter prophetic truth by the mighty constraint of the Spirit of God, how much more
may we believe that "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost"
(II Pet. 1: 21)?
It is sad to leave this high standpoint of the blessed standing of the elect of God, for
the narrative of their terrible state which follows in Numb. 25: Balaam's intended
curses were rendered impossible, but Balaam's subtle doctrine ensnared the people of
God:--
"And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the
daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the
people did eat, and bowed down to their gods, and Israel joined himself unto Baal-Peor"
(Numb. 25: 1-3).
No censer of incense stays the judgment that now falls. The javelin of Phinehas
"made an atonement for the children of Israel", and his reward is remembered in the
words of Israel's last prophet (Mal. 2: 4, 5). The words that follow deal with abuses in
connection with marriage, and the intention of the Lord in marriage--"That He might
seek a seed of God" (Elohim) (Mal. 2: 15). They reveal the diabolical character of
Balaam's doctrine. Its connection with Cain, the fallen angels and the cities of the plain
in II Peter and Jude, further emphasizes the Satanic plot at Baal-Peor, at the moment of
entry into the land, to sow his own tares, "the seed of the wicked one".
It is surely something more than an accident that the passage already quoted from
Hos. 9: 10 should use the word nazar ("separate"), which is found in Numb. 6: 3,