February 26th Numbers 24
1: And when Balaam saw that it
pleased the LORD to bless Israel,
he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face
toward the wilderness. 2: 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. 3:
And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the
man whose eyes are open hath said: 4: He hath said, which heard the words of
God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having
his eyes open: 5: How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O
Israel! 6: As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's
side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar
trees beside the waters. 7: He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his
seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his
kingdom shall be exalted. 8: God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath
as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies,
and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. 9: He couched,
he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is
he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. 10: And Balak's
anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak
said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast
altogether blessed them these three times. 11: Therefore now flee thou to thy
place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept
thee back from honour. 12: And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy
messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying, 13: 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? 14: And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will
advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. 15:
And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the
man whose eyes are open hath said: 16: He hath said, which heard the words of
God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the
Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: 17: I shall see him,
but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of
Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of
Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. 18: And Edom
shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do
valiantly. 19: Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall
destroy him that remaineth of the city. 20: And when he looked on Amalek, he
took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter
end shall be that he perish for ever. 21: And he looked on the Kenites, and
took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest
thy nest in a rock. 22: Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur
shall carry thee away captive. 23: And he took up his parable, and said, Alas,
who shall live when God doeth this! 24: And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict
Eber, and he also shall perish for ever. 25: And Balaam rose up, and went and
returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.
Numbers
25 Moabite women seduce Israel
1: And Israel
abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of
Moab.
2: And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people
did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3: And Israel
joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4: And
the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before
the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away
from Israel.
5: And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men
that were joined unto Baal-peor. 6: And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a
Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the
congregation of the children of Israel,
who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7: And
when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose
up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8: And he went
after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man
of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the
children of Israel.
9: And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. 10: And the
LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 11: Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of
Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while
he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of
Israel in my jealousy. 12: Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant
of peace: 13: And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant
of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an
atonement for the children of Israel.
14: Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the
Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among
the Simeonites. 15: And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was
Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in
Midian. 16: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 17: Vex the Midianites, and
smite them: 18: For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled
you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince
of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's
sake.
Today’s reading follows on from
yesterday’s narrative. First we see that Balaam sets out to find Israel
and discovers them living in tents. The Spirit of God comes upon him and he
falls into a trance and blesses God. Having described the wonders of God
protection and prevision he says ‘Blessed is he that blesses you, and cursed is
he that curseth you’. Balak was not pleased with Balaam at all and he rebuked
him but Balaam said, ‘what the LORD says to me, that will I speak?’ Then he
prophesied again – There will come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre will rise
out of Israel, and he will
smite the corners of Moab,
and destroy all the children of Sheth. Edom
will be occupied and Seir also will be occupied and Israel will fight valiantly. Out of
Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, (Christ himself) and he will
destroy anyone that remains of the city. Then he turned his attention to
Amalek, and said, Amalek was the first nation to be established but his latter
end will be that he perish for ever. Then he prophesied concerning the Kenites,
he spoke in a parable saying, your homes are strong and you put your trust in a
rock. However the Kenite shall be diminished until the Assyrians capture them.
And he said, ships will come from the coast of Chittim,
and they will injure Asshur, and Eber, and he will perish forever. Then Balaam
and Balak went home. So the evil plans of Balak were totally frustrated God
turned his plans for cursing Israel
into blessing for Israel.
While the Children of Israel camped at Shittim the daughters of Moab sold their bodies to the men of Israel. The
children of Israel
sacrificed to the idols of Moab
and they ate and bowed down to their idols. Israel made an alliance with the
god Ball-peor. The anger of the Lord was burning against Israel and the
Lord told Moses to hang the heads of the tribes so that the Lords anger would
be satisfied. Moses commanded that every man that had been involved was to be
executed. While Israel
wept before the Lord a Midianitish woman went in to lay with a an Israelite.
But Phinehas took a javelin and followed after the Israelite man and speared
them both through with the javelin. In this way the anger of the Lord was
turned away from the people. 24,000 people had died from this plague. (Nearly
5% of all Israel.)
The man and the woman were nobles of Israel and Midian. The Lord told
Moses to attack the Midianites because they had tempted Israel with
their wives.
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