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Numbers 23

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1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

4 And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?

13 And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.

17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?

18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.

23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

   

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True Christian Religion # 265

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265. It is established by the books of Moses, who names and quotes from it, that the ancient peoples had a Word (Numbers 21:14-15, 27-30). The historical parts of that Word were called 'The Wars of Jehovah', and the prophetical parts 'The Utterances.' The following is a quotation taken by Moses from the historical parts of that Word:

Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah and the rivers Arnon, and the water-channel of the river, which went down, where Ar dwelt and rested towards the boundary of Moab, Numbers 21:14-15.

The 'Wars of Jehovah' in that Word, as in ours, meant and described the Lord's battles with the hells and His victories over them, at the time when He was to come into the world. The same battles too are meant and described in many of the historical passages of our Word, as in the wars of Joshua against the nations of the land of Canaan, and in the wars of the Judges and Kings of Israel.

[2] The following passage is taken from the prophetical parts of the ancient Word:

Therefore the authors of Utterances say: Come into Heshbon; the city of Sihon shall be built and strengthened. For fire has gone forth from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, those who possess the high places of Arnon. Woe to you, Moab; you are done for, people of Kemosh. He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters the captives of the Amorite king Sihon. We have despatched them with arrows. Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon, and we have laid waste as far as Nophah, which is as far as Medeba, Numbers 21:27-30.

The translators render the phrase 'the composers of proverbs', but it ought to be 'the authors of utterances' or 'the prophetic utterances', as is evident from the meaning of the word moshalim in the Hebrew language, which is not only 'proverbs' but also 'prophetic utterances' (as at Numbers 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15). There it is said that Balaam 'gave forth' his utterance; this was a prophecy, also about the Lord. His utterance is called mashal in the singular; moreover, the passages quoted by Moses from this source are not proverbs, but prophecies.

[3] That Word was likewise divinely inspired, as is plain from Jeremiah, where very similar words occur:

Fire has gone forth from Heshbon, and a flame from among Sihon, which has devoured the corner of Moab and the crown of the head of the sons of Shaon. Woe to you, Moab; the people of Kemosh is done for, for your sons are taken by force into captivity, into captivity your daughters, Jeremiah 48:45-46.

In addition a prophetical book of the ancient Word, called the book of Jashar, that is, the book of the Upright, is mentioned by David and Joshua. In the case of David:

David made a lament for Saul and for Jonathan; and he wrote on it, For teaching the sons of Judah the bow. Look, it is written in the book of Jashar. 2 Samuel 1:17-18.

In the case of Joshua:

Joshua said, Be still, sun, in Gibeon, and you, moon, in the valley of Aijalon. Is not this written in the book of Jashar? Joshua 10:12-13.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.