p. 83Ladies and Gentlemen,—
We have nearly done with the writings of Moses, so far as the special line of argument which I have been unfolding is concerned. There remains one or two other features yielding the same drift of thought.
The story of Balaam is, I submit, impossible as a work of fiction, in view of the objects with which such works are invariably written. It could not be written to please a book-buying public at a time there was no such public. It could not be written to indulge the literary whims of a private author, seeing it is not a private production, but an integral portion of the public archives of the Jews, compiled by Moses and other eminent Jewish leaders. In these archives it has had a place from the first moment such archives have been known, as shewn by the public reference to it in the writings of the Apostles and in the messages of Christ to John in Patmos; not to speak of Josephus’ quotations in his version of Jewish p. 84 history. It could not be written to flatter the Jews, for though there might be something flattering in the idea of a heathen prophet’s curse being turned to a blessing, there was something entirely the reverse in the finish of the thing in Israel having surrendered to the seductions of Moabite idolatry through Balaam’s wiles, and having to suffer the judicial slaughter of thousands in punishment of their sin. There remains but one other alternative view, that it was written because the things recorded really happened, and were profitable to be put on record.
A consideration of the narrative itself is calculated to fix this conviction immovably in the mind. Balak, King of Moab, hears of Israel’s arrival out of the wilderness, their triumph over Sihon and Og, and of their encampment on his frontier, and he is naturally afraid and distressed (Num. xxii. 2, 3). Distrusting his own prowess against a foe of whom he has heard formidable things, he falls back on the resources of sorcery, in the belief that the curse of Balaam will be effectual against them. He sends this message to Balaam: “Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt. Behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me. Come now, therefore, I pray thee. Curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me. Peradventure, I shall prevail that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land” (verse 6). The message was sent by the hands of princely messengers, accompanied by presents. Balaam was gratified by the visit, and the prospect of reward, and, left to himself, would have gone. But the angel of God forbade him: “Thou shalt not go with these men. Thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed” (verse 12). Accordingly, Balaam reluctantly sent the men away. p. 85 The men departed, and took the report of Balaam’s refusal to Balak.
But Balak would not take a refusal, and sent other messengers of higher rank with greater inducements. Balaam’s answer was good if he had acted on it. “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.” But he applied to God again on the chance of getting release. Such an application was an insult to God, but God gave him leave, and next morning Balaam set off with alacrity, for, as the apostle tells us, “He loved the wages of righteousness.” But the permission was in anger, and with the intention of confounding the intrigue at the last moment, and it was accompanied by an angry complication of Balaam’s journey. “The angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him,” and plagued him by obstructing his path without letting him see the obstruction, while the eyes of the beast he rode were fully opened to the brightness. The mouth of the beast having been made use of to condemn his course, Balaam, with cringing obsequiousness, wanted to go back at once: but the angel ordered him to go forward, but to speak only the words that should be put in his mouth.
Arrived at Balak’s, Balak chided him for his backwardness. “Wherefore camest thou not unto me? Am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?” Balaam knew well that Balak could promote him to honour, and had his eye mainly on the fact, but he felt he was helpless and confessed it: “Have I now any power at all to say any thing? The word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.” Balak could but hope that the word put in Balaam’s mouth would be according to his mind, and made p. 86 arrangements for hearing it next day. He took Balaam to the highest elevation, from which he could get a full view of Israel’s camp; and there he listened for what Balaam would have to say. It was very little what he desired:
“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. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, who the Lord had not defied? 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. . . . Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!” At these words, Balak was greatly alarmed. “What hast thou done?” he exclaimed to Balaam. “I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold thou hast blessed them altogether.”
Balaam apologized; and Balak took him to another position, apparently on the hint that a change of place might bring a change in the inspiring vein. The next utterance was equally emphatic: “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? Behold I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. . . . . Surely, there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. 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 of the blood of the slain.”
A third attempt only intensified the language of blessing: and Balak lost patience at last. . . . p. 87 “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. 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.” Balaam apologetically reminded Balak of his helplessness in the matter, but, as we learn from subsequent allusion (Num. xxxi. 16; xxv. 18; 2 Pet. ii. 15; Rev. ii. 14), suggested to him a means of bringing the Divine curse on Israel, and that was, by the enticements of women, to lure them into the idolatrous rites of the Moabites. Moab adopted the plan: Israel was ensnared: and though his main purpose could not be changed, “The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people—(that is, the leading men)—and hang them up before the Lord against the sun.” In addition to this, plague was let loose, “and those that died with the plague were twenty and four thousand” (Num. xxv. 9).
Ladies and Gentlemen,—I submit that this story, on the face of it, carries evidence that it is neither a fictitious story nor even a humanly-written story; but just such a story as the apostles declare the whole Scriptures to have been—a Divinely inspired narrative of facts that actually occurred, “written for our learning,” that we might know the ways of God, and be profited thereby (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17; 2 Pet. i. 21; Rom. xv. 4; Acts xx. 32; 1 Pet. i. 23-25; 2 Pet. i. 21). If you are not impressed with the obviousness of this conclusion, I would suggest that the best way of bringing it home to your perceptions is for you to try to attempt in a serious and rational way to account p. 88 for the writing of the story on any ordinary, human literary hypothesis. When you are prepared with a well thought-out theory on this point, I shall be happy to examine it, but I tell you beforehand my conviction that it will be impossible for you to frame such a theory of which you will not see cause to be ashamed when it is thoroughly analysed.