Blind

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Balak, which is the name of a Moabite king. The name Balak means "devastator, annihilate, make void, empty." The Sabbath reading begins in Numbers 22. Most of the Torah readings in this Sabbath portion from Num. 22 through 24, deal with Balaam, a practitioner of the occult who was be hired by King Balak, but the Sabbath portion is named after Balak, the king of Moab. Why is the focus placed on Balak in this title rather than Balaam, who plays the central role? What is the LORD telling us by doing this? 

     First, we will look at Moab and its god. Moabites were physically related to the Israelites because they were descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot. However, Moab had turned away from the knowledge of the God of Israel and instead worshipped the god Chemosh, also known as Astar-Chemosh. The Moabites were called "the people of Chemosh" (see Num. 21:29). Chemosh was considered to be a savage god of war and was seen by the Moabites as "the subduer of the enemies of Moab." Chemosh was also called "the abomination of Moab." Chemosh was associated with the sun as well. The name of this god was invoked in curses against the enemies of Moab. Enemies of the Moabites that were killed in battle were considered by them to be sacrifices to Chemosh, who was credited with the victory. Sometimes people conquered by Moab were actually physically sacrificed to Chemosh. At one point in history, scripture says that a king of Moab sacrificed his own son and heir as a burnt offering to Chemosh on the wall of his Moabite city, desperate to escape defeat at the hands of Israel (2 Kings 3:26-27). The nations of Canaan that God had Israel come in contact with had fallen into, not just idolatry, but abomination. It is a sad fact in scripture that King Solomon introduced the worship of Chemosh to Jerusalem to please one of his foreign wives who was a Moabitess (1 Kings 11:1-8). In the case of at least Moab, they also relied upon the counsel of the occult as well, as we will see.

     The children of Israel had moved and camped in the plains of Moab: "Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. So Moab said to the elders of Midian, 'Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.' And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time." (Num. 22:1-4). Midian, mentioned here, were allies with the Moabites.

     King Balak sought to pay with "a diviner's fee" and increasing incentives to a soothsayer of reputation named Balaam (bil'am - not of the people, a foreigner, remove garment) to curse the Israelites for him. Balaam used divination as well as soothsaying, both occultic practices. King Balak's message to Balaam regarding the Israelites said: "...see they cover (kasa - to cover, conceal, hide, hidden, clothe, garment, spread over, overwhelm, cover from sight, cover by dust or blood) the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) face of the earth, and are settling next to me!...curse this (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) people for me, for they are too mighty for me...for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." (v. 5-6). 

     The king pointed out that the Israelites were a people that "cover the face of the earth", above. The word translated as "face" here is not the usual Hebrew word panim, but it is the word ayin, which means "eye, sight, presence, fountain, spiritual faculties, physical origin, new power of vision, give sight to the blind, opening of eyes, revive, surface of the earth, face, to flow out as water or tears." Not only do the Israelites cover the earth with new spiritual sight, or new revelation, but at the same time, the earth becomes "hidden" from those who rely on sight that is not from God. Why does the king have to hire an outside occultist to curse this "problem" for him? 

      Proverbs 25:2 says this: "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter (dabar), but the glory of kings is to search out (haqar - search out, seek out, penetrate, examine, investigate, ascertain, examine intimately) a matter (dabar)." This pertains to all kings, not just kings of Israel, as there is no distinction made here. Many foreign kings had counsels of magicians, sorcerers, soothsayers and diviners to advise them and to supernaturally "see" for them. As we find in scripture, wise kings, even if they were foreigners, recognized the special value of an Israelite who had the Spirit of God, and would promote such an Israelite into positions of advisement and authority. A wise Israelite king would have a true prophet advising and counseling him. So why did King Balak need to seek out and hire this foreign soothsayer? He must have had his own counselors in the occult, unless the presence of the Israelites had "blinded" them. 

     There's another interesting piece of information about King Balak. He is called "the son of Zippor (sipor/sapar - sparrow, small bird, twittering/to chirp, to twitter). The oral tradition of the Jews says that "Zippor" does not refer to Balak's natural father, but rather to a small bird object that was used for divination. This "bird" was made from metals and crystal stones which would be placed in the morning light to catch the rays of the sun. Then the little bird would be placed on the person's shoulder to whisper occultic insights into the person's ear. We also today have the expression "a little bird told me" when we don't want to reveal how we came to know something. Could it be that as the Israelites encamped on the plains of Moab and "covered the face of the earth", things that the occultists expected to be able to look into were no longer revealed to them, but they became hidden or "covered"? Did the "bird" of divination on his shoulder no longer have anything to whisper to him? The king might have found himself to be spiritually blind at the nearby presence of the Israelite camp! Perhaps this is an explanation of why the king had to hire the help of this foreign soothsayer to curse the Israelites. Does the presence of the "seeing" people of God cause spiritual blindness to the practitioners of the occult? Is the "sight" of the covered face of the earth become affected by the presence of the people of God?

     Before moving on with this account of King Balak, let's see the moment when the Israelites discovered that they had indeed "covered the face of the earth" with either spiritual blindness or eye-opening spiritual revelation. In Numbers 21, the Israelites found themselves encamped on the borders of the Amorites and the Moabites on the side of the Arnon (arnon/ranan - rushing stream/overcome, sing, rejoice, shout aloud, give a ringing cry in joy, exultation and praise, cry aloud in exhortation of wisdom) river (v. 13). God gave Moses the promise that He would give them water, and the Israelites began to sing this (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) song: "Spring up, O well! All of you sing to it - The well the leaders sank (hapar - search out, seek, explore), dug (kara - pierce, open, to give a banquet or feast) by the nation's nobles, by the lawgiver with their staves." A well or fountain was opened in this place. It was not only a well of water, but of "searched out" and perceived revelation, in this case of the Messiah/Christ, the One who was pierced, and the One who will attend the marriage banquet with His Bride to shouts of great rejoicing in heaven (Rev. 19:6-9).

     Back to the account of King Balak and the soothsayer hired to see and curse the people of Israel. Unfortunately for the king's plan, we find out that God had told the soothsayer that he could not curse the Israelites because they were already blessed by Him (Num. 22:12). Also, in an interesting turn of events, the soothsayer became spiritually blind. His donkey could see the Angel of the LORD standing in the middle of the road with a drawn sword, but Balaam the soothsayer repeatedly could not see the Angel until "the LORD opened (gala - uncover, be disclosed, be revealed, lay bare) Balaam's (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) eyes (ayin - see above)." (Num. 22:31).

     The king met Balaam the soothsayer at the same place that the Israelites had celebrated and sang about the digging of the well above (Num. 22:36). The next day, the king took the soothsayer to the high places (bama - high place, battlefield, victory, dominion, sepulchral mound) of Ba'al (a false Canaanite/Babylonian god) "that from there he might observe (ra'a - see, look, behold, seer, have vision, be visible) the extent (qase/qasa - end, edge, extremity, the whole/cut off, cut down, scrape off, break off, exterminate, finish, destroy people) of the people." (Num. 22:41). The purpose was for Balaam to spiritually "see" the extermination of the Israelites. Then Balaam the soothsayer went to a desolate height (sepi/sapa - barren height, baldness, nakedness [uncovered]/to sweep bare, to scrape off), but the LORD met him there and put a word in his mouth (v. 3-5). Balaam could only speak the word that the LORD had placed in his mouth, which was to bless Israel. The king was very unhappy. He took the soothsayer to a different place: "Then Balak said to him, 'Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there." (Num. 23:13). Taking the soothsayer to a different physical place was done with the hope that the soothsayer would then be able to see what the king wanted him to see - the destruction of the Israelites. But the LORD again met Balaam there and put a word in his mouth, and Balaam could only speak a great blessing towards Israel, including: "For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel." (v. 23). The king was getting desperate and took Balaam to yet another place, to the top of Peor (Ba'al Peor/pa'ar - place where the idol Ba'al was worshipped by Moabite women prostituting themselves/gaping mouth of a ravenous beast) that overlooks the wasteland (yeshimon/yasam - desolate place, to ruin, laid waste) (v. 27-28). 

     This time, however, Balaam did not use sorcery but "raised (nasa - lift up, bear up, be exalted, forgive) his eyes (ayin - see above), and saw (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Israel encamped according to their tribes (sebet - rod, staff, branch, royal scepter as a mark of authority, tribe, a scion [meaning a notable descendant]); and the Spirit of God came upon him." He said: "...the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened (satam - unclosed, unveiled), who hears the words of God, who sees the vision (mahaze/haza - a vision in the ecstatic state/see perceive, look, prophesy, to have a vision) of the Almighty, who falls down (napal - fall down, lie prostrate, die, slay, smite out, falling in battle) with eyes wide open..." (Num. 24:1-4).

     The vision Balaam saw of Israel was glorious, including its coming King who will have an exalted kingdom. The end of Balaam's prophetic word regarding Israel was: "Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you." (v. 9). In having this vision by the Spirit of God, Balaam wasn't looking down from Peor, but he had raised his eyes.

     Now having both experienced and reported his vision to the Moabite king, one would assume that both Balak's and Balaam's lives would have been changed. Instead of seeking the extermination of Israel, it would have been wiser for these two men to align themselves with those to whom God had shown such history and world changing favor. However, this is not the case with spiritual blindness, even after God has allowed a person to "see". Both men continued on their paths of trying to exterminate the children of Israel. It is difficult for us to understand their choice.

     Isaiah described spiritual blindness this way in a prophecy to God's own people. The Lord said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed." (Isa. 6:9-10, Isa. 44:18, Mt. 13:10-17). Paul described the spiritual blindness that had come upon Israel in regard to their Messiah/Savior as being "blinded" with the veil that remained unlifted. The veil can only be taken away in Christ, Paul wrote. (2 Cor. 3:14-18). The Gospels tell of several of the physically blind who cried out to Jesus, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me", to heal their eyes and restore their sight, and He did (Lk. 18:35-43). However, the spiritual blindness of Israel that Paul spoke of would one day be removed. "All Israel shall be saved" according to God's covenant promise to them, Paul wrote, when God's prophetic timeline concerning the Gentiles is accomplished (Rom. 11:25-27). When Paul's own spiritual and physical blindness towards his salvation in Christ was removed, it is described in scripture: "Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized." (Acts 9:18-18). 

     Sometimes it seems that we take pride in our ability to spiritually "see" what the Lord reveals to us. However, it is not an occasion for pride, but for falling to our knees and thanking Him for removing our spiritual blindness by His grace and allowing us to see. Jesus told His disciples: "...blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear."

     In other selections from this week's Balak Sabbath reading portion, God's people are warned to remember the lesson of King Balak and Balaam. Joshua delivered the Word of the LORD to the children of Israel, after they had settled in the land promised to them by God, to remind them of His interventions on their behalf from the beginning of their history. In part, the LORD told them: "Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he (Balaam) continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand." (Josh. 24:9-10). The LORD considered the incident of King Balak and Balaam the soothsayer to be so important that He mentioned it among His great deliverances of Israel.

     In another reading from this Sabbath, the prophet Micah brought the Word of the LORD, which was a call for Israel to return to Him. The LORD said: "O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Acacia Grove (Shittim - "scourging", border valley in the land of Moab in the east) to Gilgal ("rolling away", on west coast of Palestine), that you may know the righteousness of the LORD....He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Mic. 6:5, 8, see also Ps. 103:11-14). When the LORD removes the spiritual blindness from the eyes of His people, or blinds the eyes of His enemies, it is for the purpose of His people intimately knowing His righteousness. He expects us to "see" and live by what He has "shown" us.

     If you would like to know more about spiritual sight, you can pray with me: "Lord Jesus, You open the blind eyes and cause them to see. Lord, if there is any spiritual blindness in my eyes, remove it. Lord, let me appreciate the spiritual eyes that you have opened for me for my life, and show me how to humbly walk with You. As I speak Your name to others, Jesus, please use the occasion to remove any spiritual blindness in them and to open their (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) eyes. As I read Your Word, Jesus, allow the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to see its depth and wonders. Let my heart and my life be changed by what You show me. My song is "Spring up, O well!" within me. I ask this in Your name, Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.