Today we begin Numbers Chapter 23.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here.
For the King James version, click here.
“Bil‘am said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams here.” Balak did as Bil‘am said; then Balak and Bil‘am offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”-Numbers 23:1-2
As preparation to curse Israel, Balaam informs Balak that he needs to have seven altars built and then will need seven bulls and seven rams to sacrifice on these altars.
Now you might be wondering why do the sacrificial customs of a pagan sorcerer from Mesopotamia like Balaam seem so similar to the rituals of the Hebrew people?
For instance, according to the ritual calendar of Israel, we have the following:
-a 7-day week
-the 7th Day Shabbat
-the 7th Week Festival (Shavuot)
-the 7th Sabbatical Year
-the 7th month for the special Biblical Feasts
-The 7 sprinklings of the blood of the Heifer towards the Tabernacle
…and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Well, here’s the thing.
The number 7 was recognized as a divine number and was used in rituals throughout the known ancient world.
It was NOT a Hebrew invention nor something that belonged to Israel alone.
Want proof?
Check out this translation from an ancient excerpt from a clay tablet dating back to Abraham’s time (the old Babylonia era).
“At dawn, in the presence of Ea, Shamash and Marduk , you must set up 7 altars, place 7 incense burners of cypress, and pour out the blood of 7 sheep…..”
Notice the words “EA“, “SHAMASH“, and “MARDUK” from the above excerpt.
These were all the names of Babylonian gods.
We shouldn’t be surprised that the number 7 was used as a cultic number of special significance throughout the Middle East.
In the beginning of history as recorded in the Book of Origins (Genesis), God established the number 7 as an important time marker when He created the heavens and the earth.
Since then, mankind has lost its way and the knowledge of the one true God of the universe.
As a result, much of the world has perverted their worship (heck some religions even attempted to change the true 7-day sabbath) with twisted and misused rituals and adopted false gods.
But just because this happened doesn’t mean everything the one true God had taught to Noah was lost.
I’ve said this before, but every false religion has its origins in the pure monotheistic faith that Noah and do contain some elements of truth in them.
We have evidence of this right here in the beginning of Numbers Chapter 23 where a Mesopotamian diviner like Balaam is conducting a ritual using 7 bulls and 7 rams to be sacrificed on 7 altars.
This protocol is pretty much identical to the excerpt I pasted above.
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