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Numbers 31

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1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.

3 And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm ye men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Jehovah's vengeance on Midian.

4 Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.

5 So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

6 And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

7 And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah commanded Moses; and they slew every male.

8 And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

9 And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.

10 And all their cities in the places wherein they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire.

11 And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast.

12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.

14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?

16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Jehovah.

17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.

18 But all the women-children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

19 And encamp ye without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.

20 And as to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' [hair], and all things made of wood, ye shall purify yourselves.

21 And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses:

22 howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

23 everything that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.

24 And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean; and afterward ye shall come into the camp.

25 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the congregation;

27 and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, that went out to battle, and all the congregation.

28 And levy a tribute unto Jehovah of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, [both] of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the flocks:

29 take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for Jehovah's heave-offering.

30 And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, [even] of all the cattle, and give them unto the Levites, that keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.

31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Jehovah commanded Moses.

32 Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

33 and threescore and twelve thousand oxen,

34 and threescore and one thousand asses,

35 and thirty and two thousand persons in all, of the women that had not known man by lying with him.

36 And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep:

37 and Jehovah's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.

38 And the oxen were thirty and six thousand; of which Jehovah's tribute was threescore and twelve.

39 And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which Jehovah's tribute was threescore and one.

40 And the persons were sixteen thousand; of whom Jehovah's tribute was thirty and two persons.

41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was Jehovah's heave-offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

42 And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided off from the men that warred

43 (now the congregation's half was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand, seven thousand and five hundred sheep,

44 and thirty and six thousand oxen,

45 and thirty thousand and five hundred asses,

46 and sixteen thousand persons),

47 even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, that kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

48 And the officers that were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses;

49 and they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war that are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.

50 And we have brought Jehovah's oblation, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah.

51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.

52 And all the gold of the heave-offering that they offered up to Jehovah, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

53 ([For] the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)

54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 140

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140. That thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, signifies those who have been illustrated in respect to the understanding, and who teach truths, and yet love to destroy by craft those who are of the church. This is evident from the historicals of the Word respecting Balaam and Balak, understood in the spiritual sense; and these must first be told. Balaam was a soothsayer from Pethor of Mesopotamia, and was therefore called by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the Israelitish people; but this Jehovah prevented, and granted him to speak prophetically, yet he afterwards counseled with Balak how to destroy that people by craft, by leading them away from the worship of Jehovah to the worship of Baal-peor. Here, therefore, by "Balaam" those are meant who have been illuminated in respect to the understanding, and who teach truths, and yet love to destroy by craft those who are of the church. That Balaam was a soothsayer is evident from these words in Moses:

The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went to Balaam with the rewards of enchantment in their hand (Numbers 22:7).

When Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of Jehovah to bless Israel, he went not as in former times to meet with divinations (Numbers 24:1).

And in Joshua:

Balaam also, the son of Beor, the diviner, did the sons of Israel slay with the sword upon their slain (Joshua 13:22).

That he was called by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the people of Israel, see Numbers 22:5, 6, 16, 17; Deuteronomy 23:3, 4; but that Jehovah prevented this, and granted him to speak prophetically, Numbers 22:9, 10, 12, 20; 23:5, 16; the prophecies which he uttered may be seen Numbers 23:7-15, 18-24; 24:5-9, 16-19, 20-24; all which things are truths, because it is said that:

Jehovah put a word into his mouth (Numbers 23:5, 6, 12, 16).

[2] That afterwards he counseled with Balak to destroy the people of Israel by craft, by leading them away from the worship of Jehovah to the worship of Baal-peor, is evident from these words in Moses:

In Shittim 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. Especially did Israel join himself unto Baal-peor. Therefore there were killed of Israel twenty and four thousand (Numbers 25:1-3, 25:9, 25:18).

They slew Balaam amongst the Midianites; and the sons of Israel led captive all the women of the Midianites; which was of the counsel of Balaam, to deliver them to prevarication against Jehovah, in the matter of Peor (Numbers 31:8-9, 31:16).

That by "Balaam" those are meant who have been illustrated in respect to the understanding, and who teach truths, follows from what has now been shown, for he spoke prophetically truths about Israel, and also about the Lord; that he spoke truths about the Lord also may be seen in his prophecy (Numbers 24:17). To speak prophetically about Israel is to speak not about the Israelitish people, but about the church of the Lord, which is signified by "Israel." The illustration of his understanding he himself describes in these words:

The saying of Balaam the son of Beor, the saying of the man whose eyes are opened, the saying of him who heareth the words of God, who falls prostrate, and has his eyes uncovered (Numbers 24:3-4, 24:15-18).

"To have the eyes opened," or "to have them uncovered," is to be illustrated in respect to the understanding, for "eyes" in the Word signify the understanding (as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2701, 4410-4421, 4523-4534, 9051, 10569).

[3] That "Balaam" also means those who love to destroy by craft those who are of the church is evident also from what has been shown above; moreover, when he rode upon the ass, he continually thought upon the use of enchantments for destroying the sons of Israel; and when he was not able to do this by curses, he counseled Balak to destroy them by calling them to the sacrifices of his gods, and by their committing whoredom with the daughters of Moab. By the "sons of Israel," whom he wished to destroy, is signified the church, because the church was instituted among them (See Arcana Coelestia 6426, 8805, 9340).

[4] The arcanum respecting the she-ass on which Balaam rode, which turned aside three times out of the way from the angel seen with a drawn sword, and its speaking to Balaam, I will here briefly explain. When Balaam rode upon the ass he continually meditated enchantments against the sons of Israel; the riches with which he should be honored were in his mind, as is evident from what is said of him:

He went not as in former times to meet with divinations (Numbers 24:1).

In heart, he was also a soothsayer, therefore when left to himself, he thought of nothing else. By the "she-ass" upon which he rides is signified, in the spiritual sense of the Word, the intellectual illustrated; consequently to ride on a she-ass or a mule was the distinction of a chief judge or a king (See above, n. 31; and in Arcana Coelestia 2781, 5741, 9212). The angel with the drawn sword signifies Divine truth illustrating and combating against falsity (See above, n. 131). Therefore that "the ass turned aside three times out of the way" signifies that the understanding when illustrated did not agree with the thought of the soothsayer; this also is meant by what the angel said to Balaam:

Behold, I went forth to withstand thee, because thy way is evil before me (Numbers 22:32).

By "way," in the spiritual sense of the Word, is signified that which a man thinks from intention (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 479, 534, 590; and in the small work on The Last Judgment 48). That he was withheld from the thought and intention of using enchantments by the fear of death is manifest from what the angel said to him:

Unless the ass had turned aside before me, surely now I had even slain thee (Numbers 22:33).

[5] It sounded to Balaam as if the ass spoke to him, yet she did not speak, but the speech was heard as if from her. That such was the case has often been shown me by living experience; it has been granted me to hear horses seemingly speaking, when yet the speech was not from them, but was seemingly from them. This actually occurred in Balaam's case, that the story might be so related in the Word for the sake of the internal sense in every particular of it. That sense describes how the Lord protects those who are in truths and goods, that they may not be harmed by those who speak from seeming illustration, and yet have the disposition and intention to lead astray. He who believes that Balaam could harm the sons of Israel by enchantments is much deceived; for enchantments could have availed nothing against them; this Balaam himself confessed when he said:

Divination avails not against Jacob, nor enchantments against Israel (Numbers 23:23).

Balaam could lead that people astray by craft, because that people were such in heart; with the mouth only they worshiped Jehovah, but in heart they worshiped Baal-peor, and because they were such this was permitted.

[6] It is to be noted, moreover, that a man can be in illustration in respect to the understanding, and yet in evil in respect to the will; for the intellectual faculty is separated from the voluntary with all who are not regenerated, and only with those who are regenerated do they act as one; for it is the office of the understanding to know, to think, and to speak truths, but of the will to will the things that are understood, and from the will, or from the love, to do them. The divorcement of the two is clearly manifest with evil spirits; when these turn themselves towards good spirits, they, too, understand truths, and also acknowledge them, almost as if they were illustrated; but as soon as they turn themselves away from good spirits, they return to the love of their will and see nothing of truth, and even deny the things they have heard (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 153, 424, 455).

[7] To be able to have the understanding illustrated is granted to man, for the sake of reformation; for in man's will every evil resides, both that into which he is born and that into which he introduces himself; and the will cannot be corrected unless man knows, and by the understanding acknowledges, truths and goods, and also falsities and evils; in no other way can he turn away from the latter and love the former. (More may be seen on the will and the understanding in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 28-35.)

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.