Numbers 22-25

Teaching Script

Okay, what we are going to cover today has always confused me personally for the simple reason that the two main characters names sound alike – I know, it’s a disability I bear – some form of autism I’m sure.

Anyway, it really isn’t that hard as their names are Balak and Balaam.  Their history begins here in Numbers 22 and carries through Numbers 25 which I am going to try and summarize in one setting.

Balaam was unique because while he was in many ways “a super wicked man”  – so much so that he is referred to in the Apostolic Record several times as such – even by Christ but what is interesting is that he was not a false prophet, meaning, he did receive direct revelations from God and in many ways was true to them.

That opens us up to a really wild set of thoughts, doesn’t it? Because if he is not a singular exception then his ways show the existence of other people who also seem to have an ability to see into the other side and or commune with God or angels who also may not be trustworthy.

I’m thinking of the likes of Nostradamus, Madam Blavatsky, other people who claim to see into the heavenly realms, or men like Carl Jung, Joseph Smith, Edgard Cayce and many many others.

So even in the case of really spiritual or clairvoyant souls we ought NEVER allow their gifts to usurp God and His will as primary in our lives.

There is a wildly strange and even fine line that runs between it all these spiritual powers and I would suggest that believers be extremely careful of the insights and influences that otherworldly sources can bring AND of all who claim to, or actually, bring them.

Nothing they say or do should ever influence us away from Him and His will directly.

Unfortunately, while Balaam was able to actually communicate with God and hear His voice, the biblical narrative proves His heart was not right with God, and he eventually seems to have betrayed Israel in a way which brought them into bondage.

I am going to spot-read through Numbers 22—25 while trying to cover the salient points. Gonna hit on some super cool stuff along the way.

And just to set the stage, Balaam is the prophet sought and Balak is the Moabite King seeking to use him.  (verse 1-7)

Numbers 22:1-7  And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.

2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

3 And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me.

 6 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: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

Back in those days it seems that whoever went to consult a prophet – especially of the wayward kind – took a present because it was through these gifts that these prophets lived.

When it says that the elders of Moab departed with “the rewards of divination,” it could also mean that they brought all the products necessary for him to rightly divine and this COULD mean anything – wood for fires and smoke, even drugs or hallucinogens.

This view alters the fact that God was speaking with Balaam, so I am not so convinced this is what it meant.

We know from other passages of scripture, however, that Balaam loved money and such and was apparently willing to do almost anything do get them – which does not unfold in the easiest manner.

So, when Israel was traveling on their way to Canaan, King Balak of the Moabites sought to harm them.  He feared them.

And as we read, he sent messengers to the prophet Balaam, who lived in Mesopotamia along the Euphrates River and the messengers ask Balaam to curse Israel in exchange for a reward.

Balaam was apparently willing to do this but what’s interesting he said that he needed to get God’s permission to do speak the curse.  This is how we know that he had the gift of prophesy (or divination or clairvoyance) – meaning, Balaam could hear God.

It’s sort of comical because Balaam, truly having zero power in and of himself, seems to have thought he could personally benefit in curing Israel on King Balak’s request but again ONLY if God was willing to give him the thumbs up.

Its almost like he believed God would grant him a pass to personally benefit by.

What is fascinating to me is that the man had the power to curse a people if God allowed it but that this man was inclined toward evil yet had this gift!

This opens us up to a broader view of spiritual powers, entities, forces in the unseen world. Don’t want to belabor it all but I see clear ties to all expressions of spirituality, sorcery, and the like in this narrative which confirm suspicions I’ve long had about them all.

At verse 12 God will tell Balaam, “You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.

But this rejection was not enough for King Balak and so he sent “other officials, more numerous and more distinguished than the first” who promise to give Balaam an even bigger reward.

And we then read the amazing result of God saying at verse 20,

“And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet, the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. “

In other words, “if the men come to call on you rise up and go but do only what I shall say to you.”

So, the next morning Balaam saddled his now famous donkey and left for Moab.  But what we read next in verse 22 initially sounds perplexing, as it says

22 And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of YAHAVAH stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

And this opens us up to the famous story surround Balaam’s talking donkey.

Before we embark, Grady brought to my attention something insightful about verse 22 and that is in the Hebrew it would read:

22 And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of YAHAVAH stood in the way as “satan” against him,” instead of adversary.

Showing that the term is one of an adversary in Hebrews and not a person IF it lacks the article ha, which makes such a adversary THE ADVERSARY.  The name Satan will be used in conjunction with David too – and Peter by Yeshua when He says, get thee behind me, Satan.

Anyway, some ask, “this doesn’t make sense. Didn’t God say that he could go, why was he angry with him, so angry that verse 33, we will read that the Angel of YAHAVAH would have slain Balaam if the donkey had not intervened.

I suggest that the answer lies in the conditions God placed upon Balaam as He specifically said in verse 20,

“If” the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. “

Jude, borrowing it seems from other sources (or the other sources borrowed from him) said the following about Balaam in his single chapter tome which gives us more insight into Balaam and his ways, saying,

Jude 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Back in Numbers, the anger of the LORD seemed to have been based on Balaam not waiting for the men to call on him perhaps for the simple reason he was eager to get his promised reward, failed to wait to see “if” the men would come to him, but rose up early, and ran greedily after them.

So, YAHAVAH sends an angel with a drawn sword to oppose Balaam on the way.   Let’s read the details beginning at verse 23

23 And the ass saw the angel of YAHAVAH standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

The irony of course is the Doneky seeing the angel but the prophet himself being blind to it. 

Sort of proverbial eh?  No matter the gift, if the heart is evil the one with is remains blind but the most simple-giftless beings, as simple as a donkey, can see.

This is not the first nor last time someone or something sees or engages with a divine being or heavenly being when others do not.

Daniel 10:7 reports

“And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.

Of course, the biggie was with Paul on the road to Damascus where we read in Acts 9:7

Acts 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

We might ask, why do some see and others do not?

And we might reply, the same way some have other spiritual traits or strengths and others do not.  We might say 

• God grants the vision or insight
• Some are ready others are not
• And or some are open some of to it while others are not open to any of it.
• This makes me wonder about peoples ability even in the Heavens above to even SEE the kingdom of heaven if their hearts are dark.

Just a thought.

Note, however, that the Angel of the Lord with the sword merely appears before them this first vision.  (verse 24)

24 But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.

25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.

In this second appearance, the intensity of the experience is made by the angels presence who caused the donkey to push or jump against a wall which crushed Balaam’s foot against it.

This ticked Balaam off and he hit the animal again – but it still didn’t open his eyes to the threat. (verse 26)

Finally, the angel positioned itself at a place where Balaam and the animal were without a choice on which way to go and we read

26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.

I would suggest that the principle here may have application to how God works with people today, to help get them to see, or turn from a course He wants us to turn from.

He often starts off gently – just appearing in some form.  When that doesn’t work, He increases the temperature of the event, like Balaam getting his foot crushed, and when that fails to work, He may take us to a place where everything – all options –

close up, our donkey sits down in the road, and we can’t go left or right, and we are shut down.

Our oldest daughter Mallory laid the ground work for a nice addiction to pot when she was in high school not knowing that some people cannot manage substances and that this is pretty much certain in most McCraney’s.

We tried to punish here when she hotboxed our car with her friends but that only went so far.

While in college, in NYC, she was smoking weed on the street outside her work and the police arrested her, causing a lot of time, trouble and money and three hours in the pokey – but it wasn’t enough pain – yet.

Later in life, as a believer, but after having her two boys, the stressors of life as a mom and wife (and probably from being my daughter) led her back to what was nothing short of an utterly out-of-control habit which literally consumed her life, finances and personality.

Like Yeshua taught, when the demons leave they are of one power, but when they return they bring all of their friends.

Reaching the end of her rope she called out to God to help her stop – and then later that day got in her car to drive to Target where she was pulled over.

They arrested her, took her to jail where she spent the night leaving her family without a mom.  She says that the Salt Lake jail experience was an unbelievable  nightmare compared to New York City.

I picked her up the next morning – she was devasted.  Her car was impounded accruing costs every minute.  Later, her drivers license was taken away for a year and she had to report to someone on a regular basis.  She filed for bankruptcy and this slap cured her – for a while. 

A few years later she fooled herself into thinking that she could manage minor use of it in her life and discovered that this was a delusion and she was once again consumed.

It was here where she finally, ultimately surrendered herself over to God spiritually, from the heart, and humbly embraced her weakness before Him, and others, openly – this time truly letting Him in and submitting herself to His constant strength instead of His reformational material trials he allowed in her life to reform.

The change He brough has been otherworldly and evidences the difference between reform and recovery from addiction that comes about via hard knocks, pain and losses and the recovery that comes in and through all power and control being relinquished over to Him humbly and with contrition – which addicts will return to weekly to remind them of such as their tendencies to go back to the substance are at the door.

Now openness, transparency, and the most sweet and humble spirit abides in her as she celebrates sobriety because of Him instead of because of hard lessons, which for many, only last so long and only go so far.

In some ways we see the same principle of increased warnings in the story of Balaam but unfortunately his love for gain would ultimately override all of these experiences and his heart would remain unchanged and therefor evil.

So, the Donkey can’t go left or right because of the narrow path, and it just sits down where it stopped – only to receive yet another beating from Balaam and it is at this point in the story that we enter into nothing more than sheer comedy in my book – let’s read (verse 28)

28 And YAHAVAH opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

Now, I don’t know about you, but if an animal talked to me, I would FREAK out.  What does Balaam do?  The dude talks right back to it and gives his reason for hitting him three times, saying,

29 Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

It’s like Kramer in Seinfeld arguing that the monkey in the zoo started their fight!!

Then, to add to the comedy, the damn donkey argues back!!!!!  Its freaking hilarious as we read, at verse 30, the donkey say,

30 “Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever lacking to do so unto thee?

And THEN Balaam actually answers the donkey with an honest reply, saying, “Nay.”

Ancient mythology has numerous stories of animals speaking to men and the Bible joins right in with such tales including the “nacach” in Genesis who spoke with Eve and she also talked right back to it.

(verse 31)

31 Then YAHAVAH opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of YAHAVAH standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

32 And the angel of YAHAVAH said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:

33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

Interestingly the angel told Balaam that he certainly would have killed Balaam had not the donkey spared his life.

In a picture of sheer irony, the typically seen beast as dumb had more wisdom vision and abilities than God’s prophet.

The angel then repeated to Balaam the instruction that he was only to speak what God told him to speak concerning the Nation.

All this is pretty understandable – amazing but understandable. Verse 34

34 And Balaam said unto the angel of YHAVAH, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.

Meaning, I will return home.  It’s a unique story point because it shows that while he had unrighteousness in him, he still feared God.

35 And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, “Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

36 And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.

37 And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?

38 And Balaam said unto Balak, “Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

Though Balaam wished to please the king, apparently to get wealth and honor,  he was still committed to not displeasing God in the doing.

What can we say? It seems like the actions of Balaam represent most of us sometimes in our lives.  We want to do right, but our personal drivers won’t allow it.

39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth. (which means a city of streets)

40 And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

This offering was to gain the favor of his gods, and perhaps to propitiate YAHAVAH so maybe Balaam could effectively bring about his approbation.

41 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.

It seems that he took him to a high place where he could see all there before pronouncing the curse- or the high place was visiting a pagan altar.

I’m going summarize most of chapter 23.  So, Balaam first offers up fourteen sacrifices on seven altars and met with the Lord who tells him to bless Israel instead of curse them, causing Balaam to explain to Balak:

“How can I curse / those whom God has not cursed? / How can I denounce / those whom the Lord has not denounced?”

This upset King Balak, but he pushed to get him to try again, this time from the top of anther mount called, Pisgah, where Balaam sacrificed another fourteen animals and then met with YAHAVAH again.

When Balaam faced Israel, however, he offered up yet another blessing, saying at verse 20,

“I have received a command to bless; / he has blessed, and I cannot change it.”

At verse 25 Balak told Balaam that, if he was going to keep blessing Israel, it was better for him to just shut up, but Balak was still determined and the king decided to try to get him to speak evil one more time, this time taking Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooked a wasteland.

Again, Balaam offered fourteen animals on seven newly built altars. Then “the Spirit of God came on him and he spoke another blessing.”

Chapter 24 opens up with what happens next and what Balaam says,

Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.

3 And he took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:

4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!

6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.

7 He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

8 God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.

9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

In verse 8 we read for the first time the Bible’s use of the term unicorn, translated from the Hebrew, Reh-aem.

The King James actually uses unicorn 9 times which probably means a wild single horned ox and not a mythical pony/horse creature.

But for King James onliests I must say.

At this point Balaam’s three prophetic blessing on Israel infuriated the king of Moab, who at verse 11 tells Balaam to go back home with no reward:

Before he left, Balaam reminded the king that he had openly admitted, from the very beginning, that he could only say what God told him to say, and then he gave the king four more prophecies, apparently without an expectation of pay.

Not going to read them all but in verse 17 we read a most impressive prophecy from Balaak which says,

Numbers 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

So, where Balak wanted Balaam to curse Israel, Balaam’s seven prophecies were actually seven blessings and their enemies were cursed.  And one of those very prophesies was Messianic and spoke of the Star of Jacob, (Christ) and a scepter rising out of Israel (which again is believed to speak of Christ the reigning King).

Chapter 24 ends with verse 25 which says,

“And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.”

Now, even with limited time, chapter 25 is worth a direct read for several reasons – we will cover what is easy and then spend next week clarifying what is not. Let’s go:

1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

Okay – let’s get a little backstory. 

Interestingly, the origins of the nation of Moab began when Lot and his daughters escaped from Sodom, lived in a cave in the hills near Zoar and where his daughters got Lot drunk and seduced him.

Both of the daughters conceived and bore children. Lot’s oldest daughter named her son Moab, which the Septuagint says means, “he is of my Father,” an ironic and constant reminder of the incest that produced the child.  Then Lot’s younger daughter called her son Ben-ammi, from whom the Ammonites descended.

So, again, after leaving Egypt and camping at Mount Sinai, Israel wandered in the wilderness for 38 years before arriving at the boundary of the Promised Land which was the plains of Moab.

So, Moab nor the Ammonites, were of the Seven Nations nor did they dwell in the Promised land but engagement with them was prohibited in scripture, which is why we will read in

Deuteronomy 23:3,

“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever.”

As we covered, the Nation of Israel were now moving toward their final destination in Canaan and to advance, Israel had to fight against King Sihon of the Amorites (Numbers 21:21–23) and King Og of Bashan (Numbers 21:33–35) and both kings were defeated in Moab.

We will read in Deuteronomy that it was also in the land of Moah that Moses will transfer leadership from himself to Joshua on the plains of Moab and where Moses dies and will be buried (Deuteronomy 34:1–6).

Verse 2

2 And they (the daughters of the Moabites) called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people (of Israel) did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of YAHAVAH was kindled against Israel.

What makes this little story so confusing is chapter 24 ended with Balaam returning home, never taking a cent from the Moabite King Balak, but chapter 25 opening up with  Israel engaging with the daughters of Moab and worshipping their pagan God, Baal Peor, and Balaam gets the blame for this – but the scripture never explains what he did to make it happen, when, or how!!

It is really a gaping hole – so much so that we might be tempted to even say that Balaam had nothing to do with it.

Tempted – but when we look to the Apostolic Record there are three places that speak of Balaam as having done something for money or gain not explained here in the text. 

What that something was is alluded to by the passages in question which includes 2^nd Peter where, in chapter 2 where he is railing on evil doers and says,

2^nd Peter 2:13-15 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

 15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

Unfortunately, this passage does NOT reference Balaam directly except his blindness with his animal and that he “loved the wages of unrighteousness.”

In a similar, perhaps even a borrowed passage from Peter (or a passage Peter borrowed from Jude) or both borrowed from the apocrapha, we have a second reference to Balaam which reads,

Jude 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Finally, Yeshua says in Revelation 2:14 to the church at Pergamos:

“But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”

From all of this, we have somewhat of a compilation of Balaams evil nature, and can say that he

GRAPHIC please

• Loved the wages of unrighteousness
• To run greedily after something for reward was “the error of Balaam”
• And that Balaam had a doctrine, according to Yeshua, who describes him as “teaching Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to “eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication.”

And from all of this, it is believed that Balaam went home after blessing Israel seven times as a prophet, then in some concocted a way, created a plan to present to Balak on how to trip Israel up through their own actions of intercourse with the daughters of Moab which lead to, and actually played a direct part in the idolatry to Baal-Peor.

Sex magic was huge in that day and continues on in our world.  Verse 4

4 And YAHAVAH said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before YAHAVAH against the sun, that the fierce anger of YAHAVAH may be turned away from Israel.

5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.

Note the language, “joined unto Baal peor” – this joining occurred through sexual relations with a woman who worshipped Baal-Peor.

And we come to another interesting story:

6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

So, what is going on?

It seems that after AFTER hanging up the defectors to Baal-Peor, when the people were mouring that as an act of defiance or something, that a man named Zimri, an Israelite, paraded his relationship with a Midianite woman (named Cozbi) in the very sight of Moses.

Perhaps it was a powerplay, a display of arrogance or something else.  Whatever it was, and even though Moses was married to a Midianite, it seem this woman was also somehow tied to idolatry.

The result?  Look out!

7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;

8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

10 And YAHAVAH spake unto Moses, saying,

11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.

12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:

13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement for the children of Israel.

14 Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.

 15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them:

18 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.

I think we will stop here and I might return to this story in the future before moving on.

But the overall lesson of Balaam seems to land on, “serve God and His will,” and
“do nothing in the way for gain” and carefully discern those who have gifts – they are not indicative of them representing God.