Balaam Part III

21) This must be a blessing, not a statement of current affairs, since Israel has certainly had misfortune (resulting from sin) and they don't yet have a king.
22) Israel is a wild ox and God is the horns. In the OT, horns symbolize strength.
23) "There is no omen or divination against Israel" -only by the power of God, I am sure. They have plenty of enemies. I am sure Balaam isn't the first person who has been hired to curse them. Praise God for the protection He gives to His own.
24) Gory. Israel will not rest until they have conquered and demolished their enemies.
25) Balak is mad, and probably scared to hear all of this.
26) Balaam is now sounding like a broken record. I wonder what he is thinking during this. There really isn't anything else he can say. He can't apologize.
27) Why on earth would it be "agreeable with God" for Balaam to curse the Israelites from a different location? I think Balak is counting on God being powerless outside a certain range, altitude, proximity, etc. He doesn't plan to get God's approval, he plans to get outside God's reach and defeat Him from there. We read about a similar scheme in 1 Kings 20, where Arameans hoped that God was only a God of the hills, so next time they attacked Israel on the plain.
28) Yeah, this sounds like a more distant and elevated location.
29) More Worship!
24:1) Were all omens bad? Or just signs of how God felt and would act in a particular situation or towards particular person(s)? At any rate, Balaam wastes no time in beginning his blessing
2) The Spirit of God is apparently required for prophecy. This makes sense.
3) "The oracle of a man whose eye is opened" -even more than it was after his doneky spoke!
4) "Falling down, yet having eyes uncovered." I love the sound of this. Balaam repeats it a couple of times. I would like to know what, exactly, he means by it. My best guess is that it means he is completely submitted to God, prostrated before him, and yet he is alert and attentive, ready for service, not mindlessly zoned out. This, to me, is the ideal portrait of a fervent worshiper.
5) Praise of Beauty
6) Blessing of Fertility
Blessing of Proliferation
Blessing of Power and Dominion
Blessing of Honor.
Prophecy of God's power, protection, and dominance
9) I found a typo in my Bible! "He couches, He lies down as a lion"
--This is a reiteration of part of the blessing God gave Abram.
10) Striking hands together = not cool for Balaam. Fortunately, I think Balak is terrified of him by now.
"You have persisted in blessing them." --still misplacing the blame. What a compliment for Balaam! Seriously, what higher compliment is there than that you obeyed God rather than man when the stakes were high?
11) Yup, Balak is afraid. "Flee to your place now" sounds like a threat, but if he weren't afraid, wouldn't he just kill Balaam on the spot? This sounds like a little dog yipping as loud as it can to make the problem go away.
"The Lord has held you back" --He finally acknowledges God's part in all of Balaam's actions. I think he is probably trying to compare allegiances. I don't know if he still thinks it might do some good or weather he is just ranting to make himself feel better. If you serve me I would make you honorable, but NOOOO; you had to go serve God, and now look where it got you. It sounds like the parting shot from the losing side in an argument.
Notice also that the reward in question here is honor, not possessions. Unlike possessions, Balak can actually take away honor, and he is doing it here. Not only is he not rewarding Balaam, he is punishing him by declaring him dishonorable. Balaam can probably never show his face in Moab again.
12) Balaam's response: Don't blame me, you were warned. I'm going now, but first I have something to say... Balaam had a lot of guts to open his mouth again when Balak was so enraged. He clearly cared more about God's message than about his own safety. Fortunately, even though Balak was kind of dense he did know better than to pass up a prophecy.