Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah.
Bilaam utters seven proverbs or “mashalim” over the nation of Yisrael.
The proverbs contain cryptic hidden messages.
Aliyah Reviee 22:39-23:12
Num 22:39
And Bilʽam
went with Balaq, and they came to Qiryath
Ḥutsoth – (city of streets- creates impression that this was a busy place
– perhaps these curses were given from urban and rural areas)
Num
22:40 And Balaq slaughtered cattle and
sheep, and he sent some to Bilʽam and to the heads who were with him.
Num
22:41 And it came to be the next day,
that Balaq took Bilʽam and brought him up to the high places of Baʽal, and from there he saw the extremity of
the camp.
“High place worship’’ is all false systems of religion that are in rebellion to YHVH’s Word – His Torah – His Messiah who clearly taught us to worship His Father in Spirit and in truth – Yoh 4:23
"High
place", or "high places", (Hebrew במה bamah and plural במות bamot or bamoth) in a biblical context always means "place(s)
of worship". It has been suggested that the plural of the word
referred to places of sacred prostitution and of pagan worship.
...’’
The prophet speaks directly to this problem in a
very graphic and almost crude way.
Eze 16:24
that you also built an arched(Hb “gav”) place for yourself, and made a
high place in every street for yourself.
Eze 16:25
“You built your high places at the head of every way, and made your
loveliness to be loathed. And you parted – “pasak”(opened wide) your feet(or
legs) to everyone who passed by, and increased your whorings.
“Gav”
or arched building was commonly known as a place of idol worship as well as a
brothel.
“High
place” was a place of false worship – A place of worship with a high tower.
A
false place of worship is a place where you received an impure or mixed “seed.”
Pro 29:18
Where there is no vision,(Hb “chazon” or heavenly communication of Torah)
the people are let loose,(become spiritually immoral) But blessed is he who
guards the Torah.
“ Proverbs 29:18
teaches that when a nation is without the Torah of YHVH, the people become
unbridled and give free expression to their sinful desires. They become lawless
and rush towards anarchy and destruction. YHVH’s Torah empowered by the Ruach
Ha Kodesh has the power to restrain man so that he does not give free reign to
the lusts of his flesh.”
High places are strongholds in our thought
patterns often brought through pagan influences and the Torahless teachings of
religion.
2Co 10:3
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh.
2Co 10:4
For the weapons we fight with are not fleshly but mighty in Elohim for
overthrowing strongholds,
2Co 10:5
overthrowing reasonings and every high matter that exalts itself against
the knowledge of Elohim, taking captive every thought to make it obedient to
the Messiah,
2Co 10:6
and being ready to punish all disobedience, when your obedience is
complete.1 Footnote: 1John 3:36. (disobedience to what? - Torah!)
Eze 16:32
“The wife who commits adultery who takes strangers instead of her
husband!
Eze 16:33
“To all whores they give gifts, but you gave gifts to all your lovers,
and bribed them to come to you from all around in your whorings.
Eze 16:34
“Thus you are different from other women in your whorings, because no
one whores after you, and in you giving a gift, while a gift was not given to
you. Thus you are different.”
Eze 16:35
‘Therefore, O whore, hear the word of יהוה!
We
have opened up our hearts to receive a strange seed or a mixed seed. – You
cannot sow two different seeds same field. Lev 19:19. The Torah is the perfect
seed and cannot be mixed with other seed.
Psa 19:7
The Torah of יהוה is perfect,
bringing back the being;
Perfect
law of liberty - Jas 1:25
But he that looked into the perfect Torah, that of freedom,1
and continues in it, not becoming a hearer that forgets, but a doer of work,
this one shall be blessed in his doing of the Torah. Footnote: 1See
2:12.
Num 23:1 And Bilʽam
said to Balaq, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and
seven rams for me here.”
Num
23:2 And Balaq did as Bilʽam had spoken,
and Balaq and Bilʽam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num 23:3 Bilʽam then said to Balaq, “Stand by your burnt offering, and let me go on. It might be that יהוה does come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I shall declare to you.” And he went to a bare height.
Num 23:4 And
Elohim came to Bilʽam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars,
and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”
“It doesn't say, "I have prepared seven altars," but "I have prepared the seven altars." Balaam said to YHVH: The ancestors of this people built You seven altars, and I have prepared the equivalent of them all. Abraham built four (Genesis 12:7, 12:8, 13:18 and at Mount Moriah [22:9]); Isaac built one (ibid. 26:25); and Jacob built two--on at Shechem (ibid. 33:20) and one at Beth-El (ibid. 35:7).” Rashi.
Bilaam
in vs 1 is hinting at replacing the seven altars that YHVH instructed the
patriachs to erect specifically to confirm the covenant between Himself and
Yisrael.
This is possibly a hidden revelation of ‘replacement theology.” See how Bilaam tries to replace the covenantal promises YHVH made with Yisrael. Bilaam seeks to establish new covenantal order without the Torah and without Yisrael.
Num 23:5 And יהוה put a word in
the mouth of Bilʽam, and said, “Return to Balaq, and this is what you say.”
Num 23:6 And he returned to him and saw him standing
by his burnt offering, he and all the heads of Mo’aḇ.
First
oracle – Vs 7-10 - Set Apart to YHVH.
Num 23:7
And he took up his proverb (parable) and said, “Balaq the sovereign of Mo’aḇ has brought me from Aram,
from the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Yaʽaqoḇ for me, and come, rage at
Yisra’ĕl!’ Deut 26:5
Num 23:8 “How do I curse whom Ěl has not cursed? And
how do I rage at whom יהוה has not raged?
Num 23:9 “For from
the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I observe him. Look, a
people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations.
Num 23:10 “Who shall count the dust of Yaʽaqoḇ, and
the number of one-fourth(dust) of
Yisra’ĕl? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”
(who can count the dust of Yakov, or, by number, the ashes of Yisrael – Heb
‘’rova’’ in Aramaic can also mean dust)
Num 23:11 And Balaq said to Bilʽam, “What have you done
to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have kept on blessing!”
Num 23:12 And he answered and said, “Should I not take
heed to speak what יהוה has put in my mouth?”
Bilaam standing on the
mountain peak is not filled with dread or fear but with an overwhelming sense
of jubilant praise to the Almighty as he beholds Yisrael. Bilaam recognizes
that Yisrael is different from all other nations through its laws and
instructions and that the Almighty has given Israel to separate them to Himself
from all other nations for His purpose.
“shall not be recognized among
the nations” the hitpael verb “hitchashav” is used and means to “consider or
recon itself.” This is the only place in the Torah and in the Tenach that this
hitpael verb is used, perhaps reminding us that those who have been grafted
into the root of Yisrael are the only people who can consider themselves as
different from all other peoples. Note “different” but not “superior.” It is
our covenant relationship with YHVH that makes us different.
Deu 4:4 “But you who are clinging to יהוה your Elohim are alive today, every one of
you.
Deu 4:5 “See, I have taught you laws and
right-rulings, as יהוה my Elohim commanded me, to do thus in the land which you
go to possess.
Deu 4:6 “And you shall guard and do them, for this
is your wisdom and your understanding before the eyes of the peoples who hear
all these laws, and they shall say, ‘Only a wise and understanding people is
this great nation!’
Deu 4:7 “For what great nation is there which has
Elohim so near to it, as יהוה our Elohim is
to us, whenever we call on Him?
Deu 4:8 “And what great nation is there that has
such laws and righteous right-rulings like all this Torah which I set before
you this day?
Deu 4:9 “Only, guard yourself, and guard your life
diligently, lest you forget the Words your eyes have seen, and lest they turn
aside from your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known
to your children and your grandchildren.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts
and the calling of Elohim are not to be repented of. (cannot be changed)
In Messiah who has grafted us into His chosen people Yisrael
we too have this unique calling.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen
race,b Deu_10:15 a royal priesthood,c Isa_61:6 a set-apart
nation,d Exo_19:6 a people for a possession,e Isa_43:2
that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvellous light, Footnotes: bAlso see Isa_43:20. cAlso see Isa_66:21.
dAlso see Deu_7:6. eAlso see Exo_19:5, Tit_2:14.
1Pe 2:10 who once were not
a people,f but now the people of Elohim;f who had not obtained
compassion,f but now obtained compassion.f Hos_1:9-10, Hos_2:23.
Footnote: f Also
see Isa_65:1, Hos_1:9, Isa_63:16, Isa_64:8, Rom_9:25-26.
Exo 19:5 ‘And now, if you diligently obey My voice,
and shall guard My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession above
all the peoples – for all the earth is Mine –
Exo 19:6 ‘and you shall be to Me a reign of priests
and a set-apart nation.’ Those are the words which you are to speak to the
children of Yisra’ěl.”
Num 23:13
And Balaq said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where
you see them. You only see the extremity but not all of them. Curse them for me
from there
Num 23:14
And he took him to the field of Tsophim,(“watchers” see Book of Enoch)
to the top of Pisgah,(cast off restraint) and built seven altars,
and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num 23:15
And he said to Balaq, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet
over there.”
Num 23:16
And יהוה came to
Bilʽam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balaq, and say
this.”
Num 23:17 So he went to him and saw him standing by his
burnt offering, and the heads of Mo’aḇ with him. And Balaq asked him, “What
did יהוה say?”
Second oracle 18-24 – Victorious in YHVH’s Faithfulness
Num 23:18 And he took up his proverb and said, “Rise
up, Balaq, and hear! Listen to me, son of Tsippor!
Num 23:19 “Ěl is not a man, to lie; nor a son of man,
to repent! Has He said, and would He not do it; or spoken, and would not
confirm it?
Num 23:20 “See, I have received, to bless. And He has
blessed, and I do not reverse it.
Num 23:21 “He has
not looked upon wickedness (Heb ‘’avon’’ or lawlessness) in Yaʽaqoḇ, nor has
He seen trouble in Yisra’ĕl. יהוה his Elohim is
with him, and the shout of a Sovereign is in him.
Midrash: This verse is possibly saying that YHVH looks at
their iniquity in such a way as to provide a way of deliverance for them in Yahshua
the Messiah!
Num 23:22 “Ěl who brought them out of Mitsrayim, is for
them like the horns of a wild ox.
Num 23:23 “For there is no sorcery against Yaʽaqoḇ,
nor is there any divination against Yisra’ĕl. Now it is said to Yaʽaqoḇ and to
Yisra’ĕl, ‘What has Ěl done!’
Num 23:24 “Look, a people rises like a lioness, and
lifts itself up like a lion; it lies not down until it devours the prey, and
drinks the blood of the slain.”
Num 23:25 And Balaq said to Bilʽam, “Do not curse them
at all, nor bless them at all!”
Num 23:26 And Bilʽam answered and said to Balaq, “Have
I not spoken to you, saying, ‘All that יהוה speaks, that I
do’?”
Aliyah Shishi 23:27-24:14
Num 23:27
And Balaq said to Bilʽam,
“Please come, let me take you to another place. It might be right in the eyes
of Elohim that you curse them for me from there.”
Num
23:28 And Balaq took Bilʽam to the top
of Peʽor, that overlooks the wasteland.
Num 23:29 And Bilʽam said to Balaq, “Build seven alters
for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
Num
23:30 And Balaq did as Bilʽam had said,
and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num 24:1 And when Bilʽam saw that it pleased יהוה to bless
Yisra’ĕl, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set
his face toward the wilderness.
Num 24:2 And Bilʽam lifted up his eyes and saw
Yisra’ĕl encamped according to their tribes. And the Spirit of Elohim came upon
him.
Third
oracle – 3-9 – Israel is the blessed of
YHVH.
Num 24:3 And he took up his proverb and said, “The
saying of Bilʽam, son of Beʽor, and the saying of the man whose eyes are
opened,
Num 24:4 the saying of him who hears the words of Ěl,
who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes opened wide:
Num 24:5 “How good
are your tents, O Yaʽaqoḇ, your dwellings, O Yisra’ĕl!
Num 24:6 “Like wadis that stretch out, like gardens by
a river, like aloes planted by יהוה, like cedars beside waters.
Num 24:7 “He makes water flow from his buckets, and
his seed is in many waters. His sovereign is higher than Aḡaḡ, and his reign
is exalted. (The
Arabic root ‘’agag’’ Assyrian root agagu,
which means violent – Haman from Persia modern day Iran was an Agagite)
Num 24:8 “Ěl who brought him out of Mitsrayim is for
them like the horns of a wild ox; he devours nations, his enemies; and he
breaks their bones, and with his arrows he smites.
Num 24:9 “He bowed down, he lay down like a lion. And,
like a lion, who would rouse him?
Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.” Gen 12:3
Num 24:10 Then the displeasure of Balaq burned against
Bilʽam, and he struck his hands together. Balaq then said to Bilʽam, “I
summoned you to curse my enemies, and see, you have kept on blessing, these
three times!
Num 24:11 “And now flee to your place. I said I would
greatly esteem you, and see, יהוה has kept you back from esteem.”
Num 24:12 And Bilʽam said to Balaq, “Did I not also
speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying,
Num 24:13 ‘If Balaq should give me his house filled
with silver and gold, I am unable to go beyond the word of יהוה, to do either
good or evil of my own heart. What יהוה speaks, that I
speak’?
Num
24:14 “And now, see, I am going to my
people. Come, let me advise you what this people is going to do to your people
in the latter days.” (now he is adding insult to injury to Balak. Bilaam is now
going to give the knock- out blow. Balak was having a very bad day and it was
about to get worse)
Aliyah Sheviee 24:15 – 25:9
Fourth
oracle vs 15-19 – The promised
Messiah
Num 24:15 And he took up his proverb and said, “The saying of Bilʽam,
son of Beʽor, and the saying of the man whose eyes are opened,
Num
24:16 the saying of him who hears the
words of Ěl, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of
the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes opened wide:
Num 24:17 “I see Him, but not now; I observe Him, but
not near. A Star shall come out of Yaʽaqoḇ, and a Sceptre shall rise out of
Yisra’ĕl, and shall smite the corners of Mo’aḇ, and shall destroy all the sons
of Shĕth.
Num
24:18 “And Eḏom shall be a possession;
and Sĕʽir shall be a possession – enemies – and Yisra’ĕl is doing mightily.
Num
24:19 “And out of Yaʽaqoḇ One
shall rule and destroy the remnant from Ar.” (‘ma ir” from the city)
Num
24:20 He then looked on Amalĕq, and he
took up his proverb and said, “Amalĕq was first among the nations, but his
latter end is to perish forever.”
Num
24:21 He then looked on the Qĕynites,
and he took up his proverb and said, “Firm is your dwelling place, and your
nest is set in the rock,
Num
24:22 but Qayin is to be burned (eradicated).
Till when does Asshur (Heb ‘’straight’’ second son of Shem) keep you captive?”
Gen 9:24 And Noaḥ awoke from his wine, and he
knew what his younger son had done to him,
Gen 9:25 and he said, “Cursed is Kena‛an, let
him become a servant of servants to his brothers.”
Gen 9:26 And he said, “Blessed be יהוה, the Elohim of Shěm, and let Kena‛an become his servant.
Gen 9:27 “Let Elohim enlarge Yapheth, and let
him dwell in the tents of Shěm. And let Kena‛an become his servant.”
Num
24:23 And he took up his proverb and
said, “Oh, who does live when Ěl does this?
Oracles
5-7 vs 20 – 24 – Israel rules in
victory over all her enemies.
Num
24:24 And ships shall come from the
coast of Kittim,(‘bruisers” descendants of Javan – Greece) and they shall
afflict Asshur and afflict Ěḇer, and so shall Amalĕq, and he also perishes.”
Num
24:25 And Bilʽam arose and left, and
returned to his place. And Balaq also went his way.
Num 25:1
And Yisra’ĕl dwelt in Shittim,(last halting place before they crossed
the Jordon – a place of piercings) and the people began to whore with the
daughters of Mo’aḇ,
Num
25:2 and they invited the people to
the slaughterings of their mighty ones, and the people ate and bowed down to
their mighty ones.
Num
25:3 Thus Yisra’ĕl was joined to Baʽal Peʽor, and the displeasure of יהוה burned against
Yisra’ĕl.
Num 25:4 And יהוה said to
Mosheh, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang them up before יהוה, before the
sun, so that the burning displeasure of יהוה turns away
from Yisra’ĕl.”
Baal-peor
= “master(husband) of the gap”- the deity worshipped at Peor. The Torah says
that Yisrael “yoked” themselves to Baal Peor. Our forefathers made an alliance
with demonic forces that continue with their descendants.
Num 25:5 And Mosheh said to the judges of Yisra’ĕl,
“Each one of you slay his men who were joined to Baʽal Peʽor.”
Num 25:6 And see, one of the children of Yisra’ĕl came
and brought to his brothers a Miḏyanite woman before the eyes of Mosheh and
before the eyes of all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl, who were
weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
Num 25:7 And when Pineḥas, son of Elʽazar, son of
Aharon the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation and took a
spear in his hand,
Num
25:8 and he went after the man of
Yisra’ĕl into the tent (Heb ‘’kubah’’) and thrust both of them through, the man
of Yisra’ĕl, and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague among the
children of Yisra’ĕl came to a stop.
Num 25:9 And those
who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.
Bilaam seems to have succeeded in his mission to bring a curse over Yisrael. He knows YHVH will not curse them, but he also knows that the people themselves can bring destruction upon themselves. This would happen when they chose to follow their own lusts and follow the pagan ways of the Midyanites. It is possible that the act was committed in the tabernacle itself – mixture of worship can be our downfall.
This was an ancient problem in Yisrael and according to Patai:
“Thus
the worship of Asherah was opposed by a faction of kings and prophets
who were devoted exclusively to Yahweh, and during those periods when they held
power, they attempted to abolish the worship of other deities, including
Asherah. Over the course of several hundred years, the statue of Asherah was
repeatedly removed and reinstalled in the Solomonic temple. Despite the sometimes-violent
opposition, her statue stood in the temple for 236 years, nearly two-thirds of
the time that the temple stood in Jersusalem. According to Patai......her
worship was a part of the legitimate religion approved and led by the king, the
court, and the priesthood and opposed by only a few prophetic voices crying out
against it at relatively long intervals.
...this elusive yet tenacious goddess to whom considerable segments of the
Hebrew nation remained devoted from the days of the conquest of Canaan down to
the Babylonian exile, a period of roughly six centuries. In the eyes of the
Yahwists, to whom belonged a few of the kings and all of the prophets, the
worship of Asherah was an abomination. It had to be, because it was a cult
accepted by the Hebrews from their Canaanite neighbors, and all manifestations
of Canaanite religion were for them anathema”.
How are we to explain the extraordinary hold Asherah exercised over the
people of Israel …….?’’
Rev 2:14
“But I hold a few matters against you, because you have there
those who adhere to the teaching of Bilʽam, who taught Balaq to put a
stumbling-block before the children of Yisra’ĕl, to eat food offered to
idols, and to commit whoring.
Rev
2:15 “So you also have those who adhere
to the teaching of the Nikolaites, which teaching I hate.
Rev
2:16 “Repent, or else I shall come to
you speedily and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Rev
2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I shall give some
of the hidden manna to eat. And I shall give him a white stone, and on the
stone a renewed Name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’
Jer 12:10
“Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion
under foot, they have made My pleasant portion become a deserted wilderness.1
Footnote: 1See 10:21.
Jer 10:22 See, it has come, the voice of a report, and
a great shaking out of the land of the north, to make the cities of Yehuḏah a
waste, a habitation of jackals.
Jer 10:23 O יהוה, I know the
way of man is not in himself, it is not for man who walks to direct his own
steps.
2Ti 4:3
For there shall be a time when they shall not bear sound teaching, but
according to their own desires, they shall heap up for themselves teachers tickling
the ear,1 Footnote: 1Isa. 30:10, Jer. 5:31, Rom. 16:18.
2Ti 4:4
and they shall indeed turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned
aside to myths.
Definition of a myth: “a
widely held but false belief or idea.”
‘’There is this great difference between the
works of men and the works of YHVH, that the same minute and searching
investigation, which displays the defects and imperfections of the one, brings
out also the beauties of the other… Alexander Hislop – ‘’Two Babylons’’ (free
pdf download)
It is for this reason that YHVH has chosen a
set apart priesthood.
Lev
10:10 so as to make a distinction between the set-apart and the
profane, and between the unclean and the clean,
Lev 10:11 and to teach the children of Yisra’ěl all the laws which יהוה has spoken to them by the hand of Mosheh.”
This Torah portion is a
prophetic end time picture of the rise and fall of those who have been called
into the family of Yisrael - Mat
22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”a Footnote: aSee Mat_20:16.
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu,
Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu.
Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have
given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our
midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn.