Numbers Chapter 23 -25
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We come before You with grateful hearts, thankful for the gift of Your Word and for the opportunity to gather and study it together. As we open the book of Numbers today, we ask that You quiet our minds and prepare our hearts to hear Your voice.
Lord, You are faithful and unchanging. In this passage we see that no curse can stand against what You have blessed, and no human plan can overturn Your purposes. Help us to trust in Your sovereignty and to rest in the assurance that we belong to You.
At the same time, Father, we acknowledge our need for Your guidance and correction. Teach us through Israel’s successes and failures. Guard our hearts from compromise, draw us away from anything that pulls us from You, and lead us in obedience and holiness.
Holy Spirit, be our teacher today. Give us understanding, wisdom, and humility as we study. May our discussion honor You, strengthen our faith, and help us grow closer to You and to one another.
We commit this time to You and ask that everything we say and learn would bring You glory.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.
Looking Back
In Numbers 21–22 (English Standard Version), the Israelites defeat the Canaanite king of Arad after vowing to devote his cities to destruction, then complain against God and Moses during their journey around Edom, prompting God to send fiery serpents that kill many; Moses intercedes, and God instructs him to make a bronze serpent on a pole so that anyone bitten who looks at it will live. They continue their travels, experience God's provision at Beer, and conquer the Amorite kings Sihon (taking his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, including Heshbon) and Og of Bashan (utterly destroying him and possessing his territory). Arriving in the plains of Moab, Balak king of Moab, terrified by Israel's victories, summons the diviner Balaam to curse them; God initially forbids Balaam but later permits him to go, and on the journey, the Lord sends an angel to oppose him, leading to the famous incident where Balaam's donkey speaks and Balaam sees the angel.
In Numbers 23–25, Balaam, under God's compulsion, delivers three oracles blessing Israel instead of cursing them, affirming their blessed status, God's faithfulness, and future triumphs over enemies. Frustrated, Balak dismisses Balaam. Afterward, while Israel camps at Shittim, they commit idolatry and immorality with Moabite women at Baal-peor, provoking God's anger and a plague; Phinehas zealously intervenes by killing an Israelite man and a Midianite woman, halting the plague, and God rewards him with a covenant of perpetual priesthood while commanding vengeance against Midian.
Scripture ESV
Numbers 23
Balaam’s First Oracle
1And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, 4and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. 7And Balaam took up his discourse and said,
“From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’
8How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him;
behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations!
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”
11And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 12And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” 14And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16And the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” 17And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18And Balaam took up his discourse and said,
“Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
21 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.
22 God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.
23For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’
24Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself;
it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.”
25And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” 27And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. 29And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Numbers 24
Balaam’s Third Oracle
1When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 2And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, 3and he took up his discourse and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
4the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down with his eyes uncovered: 5How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments, O Israel! 6Like palm groves that stretch afar,
like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters. 7Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag,
and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8God brings him out of Egypt
and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries,
and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows.
9He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.”
10And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 11Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” 12And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? 14And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”
Balaam’s Final Oracle
15 And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, 16the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down with his eyes uncovered:
17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab
and break down all the sons of Sheth.
18 Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.
Israel is doing valiantly.
19And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”
20Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said,
“Amalek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter destruction.”
21And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,
“Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock.
22Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned when Asshur takes you away captive.”
23And he took up his discourse and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this?
24But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber;
and he too shall come to utter destruction.”
25Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.
Numbers 25
Baal Worship at Peor
1While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
The Zeal of Phinehas
10And the Lord said to Moses, 11“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”
14The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. 15And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.
16And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”
Balaam’s Oracles
Balaam's oracles, recorded in Numbers 23–24 (English Standard Version), are four prophetic utterances delivered when King Balak of Moab hired the diviner Balaam to curse the Israelites encamped in the plains of Moab. Instead, God compelled Balaam to bless Israel each time, overriding human intentions and demonstrating divine sovereignty and His irrevocable commitment to bless His people.
First oracle (Numbers 23:7–10): From a high place overlooking part of the Israelite camp, Balaam declares he cannot curse whom God has not cursed. He marvels at Israel's separation from other nations, their vast number (like dust that cannot be counted), and expresses a desire to share their righteous end.
Second oracle (Numbers 23:18–24): Moved to another vantage point, Balaam emphasizes God's unchanging nature—He does not lie or repent of His blessings. Israel has no misfortune, as God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox; no sorcery can prevail against them, and they rise like a lioness or lion, devouring prey without rest.
Third oracle (Numbers 24:3–9): Now inspired directly by the Spirit of God as he views the full tribal encampment, Balaam praises the beauty of Israel's tents, likening them to flourishing palm groves, irrigated gardens, aloes, and cedars by water. Their kingdom is exalted, God brings them out of Egypt with power, they devour nations like a lion, and those who bless them are blessed while cursers are cursed.
Fourth oracle (Numbers 24:15–19, with additional brief oracles in 20–24): Delivered unprompted after Balak's frustration, this prophetic vision looks to the future: Balaam sees a star rising from Jacob and a scepter from Israel (a messianic figure or kingly line) who will crush Moab, destroy the sons of tumult, possess Edom and Seir, and exercise dominion. Brief extensions curse Amalek's ultimate doom, the Kenites' temporary security ending in fire, and affliction coming upon Asshur and Eber from ships of Kittim.
These oracles progressively affirm Israel's blessed and protected status under God, echo aspects of the Abrahamic covenant (separation, multitude, victory, blessing to others), and culminate in messianic prophecy, frustrating Balak's plans entirely.
Oracle 4 the messianic prophecy
The messianic prophecy in Balaam's fourth oracle appears primarily in Numbers 24:15–19 (English Standard Version), where Balaam, speaking under divine compulsion, delivers a far-reaching vision beyond immediate events. He introduces it with: "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered" (vv. 15–16). The key prophetic lines are in verse 17: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth." Verses 18–19 extend this to conquest over Edom and Seir, with Israel acting boldly and one exercising dominion.
This passage is widely interpreted as messianic, pointing to a future royal figure—a kingly deliverer—from the line of Jacob/Israel. The "star" symbolizes glory, brightness, and a royal birth or appearance (echoing ancient associations of stars with kings, and later linked to Jesus as the "bright morning star" in Revelation 22:16 and the star guiding the Magi in Matthew 2). The "scepter" represents authority, rulership, and dominion, paralleling Jacob's blessing in Genesis 49:10 ("The scepter shall not depart from Judah... until he to whom it belongs shall come"). The figure will decisively defeat Israel's enemies (Moab, Edom, and others as symbols of opposition), exercising ultimate victory and rule.
Both Jewish and Christian traditions have seen this as messianic: early Jewish interpreters (including some Dead Sea Scrolls references and Rabbi Akiba calling Bar Kokhba "Son of the Star") applied it to expected deliverers, while Christian writers (from Justin Martyr onward) identify it with Jesus Christ—His first coming as the Star (humble yet glorious) and His future reign crushing all opposition. The phrase "not now... not near" emphasizes its distant fulfillment, looking ahead centuries (or more) to a climactic king who brings God's kingdom to triumph over evil. This oracle thus crowns Balaam's blessings of Israel with a prophetic high point, affirming God's long-term plan for a messianic ruler from His people.
What this means for us today
The passages in Numbers 21–25 (English Standard Version), encompassing Israel's wilderness trials, victories, the bronze serpent incident, conquests over Sihon and Og, Balaam's failed attempts to curse them, his compelled blessings, and the tragic idolatry at Baal-peor, offer several profound lessons for Christian living today.
First, God's sovereignty and faithfulness stand unshakable: despite human rebellion (like the complaining that led to fiery serpents) or external threats (Balak's hiring of Balaam), God protects and blesses His people, turning intended curses into blessings. This teaches us to trust His unchanging character and promises in our own challenges—He is not swayed by opposition, and His plans for our good prevail.
Second, obedience and looking to God bring life and deliverance: the bronze serpent episode foreshadows faith in Christ (John 3:14–15), reminding us that when "bitten" by sin's deadly effects, we find healing and eternal life not through our efforts but by faith—simply looking to Jesus lifted up on the cross. Today, this calls us to daily reliance on Christ rather than self-reliance or complaint.
Third, the oracles (especially the fourth in Numbers 24:17–19) point to the ultimate hope in the Messiah—the "star" from Jacob and "scepter" from Israel, fulfilled in Jesus as the guiding Light (the Bright Morning Star, Revelation 22:16) and reigning King. This prophecy encourages us to live with confident hope: Jesus has already conquered sin and death through His first coming, and He will return to exercise full dominion over all evil. In the meantime, we are to align our lives with His kingdom—blessing others as we are blessed, avoiding compromise with sin (as Israel tragically did at Baal-peor), and zealously pursuing holiness, as Phinehas modeled in his intervention.
Overall, these chapters urge us to reject grumbling, embrace God's protection amid spiritual battles, hold fast to Christ as our hope and King, and live faithfully in anticipation of His victorious return, knowing that no force can thwart God's redemptive purpose for His people.
Closing Reflection
As we come to the close of our study of Numbers 23–25, we are reminded that God’s purposes are unshakable. What He blesses cannot be cursed, and what He promises He will surely fulfill. Through Balaam’s words—spoken under God’s authority—we see a powerful picture of a faithful God who protects His people, speaks truth even through unlikely voices, and keeps His covenant despite human weakness.
At the same time, these chapters lovingly warn us of the danger of compromise. Israel could not be defeated by curses from the outside, yet they stumbled when they allowed sin and idolatry into their hearts. This truth calls each of us to examine our own lives—to guard our hearts, to remain faithful, and to choose holiness in a world that constantly pulls us away from God.
Above all, this passage points us forward to hope. The promise of the “star” and the “scepter” reminds us that God’s plan of redemption was never temporary. It finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ—our Savior, our King, and our living hope. Because of Him, we can walk forward with confidence, knowing that God is with us, fighting for us, and leading us toward His eternal purposes.
May this study encourage you to trust God more deeply, stand firm in your faith, and live each day in obedience and gratitude. As you go, remember: no opposition can overturn God’s blessing, no failure is beyond His grace, and no promise He has made will ever fall short.
May the Lord bless you, keep you, and guide you as you continue your journey with Him. Thank you for spending your time with me in this study. See you tomorrow for Numbers 26 – 27. I love you.
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Special thanks are given to Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, for the gift of writing and the privilege of sharing this Bible Study. His guidance and blessings have made this work possible, and it is with a grateful heart that can share my study with you. I hope you find it informational and helpful in your spiritual journey. I am asking that you open your hearts and minds to accept the word of Christ into your hearts and accept His word to transform your life in positive ways. This is the first part of my online Christian Bookstore Fellowship and I do accept donations that will further my mission to have a Bookstore in our community, a place where we can sit down face to face and enjoy this Bible Study over open and honest conversation. I will continue this online Study as well to complete the entire year. Thank you for following The Mustard Seed Christian Bookstore Fellowship & Café online Bible Study.
This Bible study is written with inspiration and wisdom from the Holy Spirit, Scripture from the Holy Bible (NIV), NKJV Life Application Study Bible, analytical support and help in organizing and presentation from Grok AI and writing assistance with drafting and editing from Microsoft Co-Pilot.
