“This is the speech of Bil‘am, son of B‘or;
the speech of the man whose
eyes have been opened;
the speech of him who hears God’s words;
who sees what Shaddai sees,
who has fallen,
yet has open eyes:”
-Numbers 24:3-4
Out of the three oracles that proceeded from the mouth of Balaam, yesterday, I pointed out that there was a distinct difference between the first two oracles and the third one.
The first two oracles of Balaam were the Words received directly from God Himself.
This was direct and conscious revelation from HASHEM.
However, the third oracle, which is what we’re studying here in Numbers 24, is an example of inspiration.
This is made all the more clear by verse 3 which says “This is the speech of Bil‘am, son of B‘or; the speech of the man whose eyes have been opened; the speech of him who hears God’s words; who sees what Shaddai sees, who has fallen, yet has open eyes”
The first type, in which direct revelation from the Lord is involved, is very characteristic of the type of prophets we’ll find in the TANACH.
These prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah are simply quoting verbatim the very Words the Lord placed in their mouths.
That’s why we’ll see many of their sayings and prophecies begin with the refrain, “The Lord says…”.
The second type where one speaks under inspiration from the Holy Spirit is more characteristic of a teacher of the Word as portrayed in the BRIT HADASHAH (New Testament).
In this case, the person in question is inspired by God but the words he utters are his own words that are filtered through the person’s personality and culture, etcetera.
Isn’t it interesting that we see both types of speech in the character of Balaam?
Oh, one quick side-note.
Notice how the Complete Jewish Bible says in verse 4 “these are the words of one who has fallen“.
There are other English Bible translations that will also use this phrase.
I think this really imparts the wrong idea because “to fall” carries the idea of “one who has strayed” or “one who has sinned“.
That is NOT what is being expressed here in this context.
What this means is one who has fallen down on his knees prostrate before God in worship.
Finally, notice that in verse 4, Balaam addresses God using the familiar EL SHADDAI we first encountered back in the book of Exodus.
This is actually further evidence that EL SHADDAI does NOT mean “God Almighty“.
Remember, the most cutting edge and recent scholarship indicates that EL SHADDAI means “god of the mountain“.
And that fact is perfectly substantiated in the saga of Balaam.
Think about it.
Here in Numbers 24, this is actually the 3rd mountain top Balaam has been brought to by King Balak in order to curse Israel.
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