BALAK (DESTROYER)

Parashat Balak

² When Balak son of Zippor, realized all that Bnei-Yisrael had done to the Amorites, ³ Moab became terrified because there were so many people. Moab was filled with dread because of Bnei-Yisrael. ⁴ Moab said to the elders of Midian, “The multitude will lick up everything around us like the ox licks up the grass of the field.”

Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ He sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, at Pethor near the River^[a] in his native land, saying to him, “Look now, a people has come out of Egypt. See now, they cover the surface of the earth and are settling beside me. ⁶ Come now, curse this people for me, because they are too strong for me! Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them away from the country. I know that whoever you bless will be blessed and whoever you curse will be accursed!”

⁷ The elders of Moab and Midian left with divination fees in their hand. When they came to Balaam, they told him Balak’s words.

⁸ He said to them, “Spend the night here. I will give you an answer just as Adonai speaks to me.” So the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam.

⁹ God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”

¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent word to me: ¹¹ See, the people coming out of Egypt cover the surface of the land. Come now, curse them for me. Perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them away!”

¹² God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them! Do not curse them, for they are blessed!”

¹³ So Balaam got up in the morning and said to the officials of Balak, “Go back to your country, for Adonai has refused to let me go with you.”

¹⁴ So the Moabite officials got up, went back to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.” ¹⁵ Balak again sent other dignitaries, more numerous and honored than these previous ones.

¹⁶ They also came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak son of Zippor: Please let nothing keep you from coming to me! ¹⁷ I will richly reward you, and everything you tell me I will do! Just come now and curse this people for me!”

¹⁸ But Balaam answered Balak’s servants, “Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot cross beyond the mouth of Adonai my God, to do anything small or great! ¹⁹ But now, you may spend the night here, too. Then I may find out anything else Adonai may say to me.”

²⁰ God came to Balaam by night and said to him, “Since the men came to you to summon you, arise and go with them. However, only the word I tell you are you to do!”

²¹ So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the Moabite princes. ²² But the anger of God burned because he was going. The angel of Adonai stood in the road to oppose him—he was riding on his donkey and two of his servants were with him— ²³ when the donkey saw the angel of Adonai standing in the road with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off the road and went into the field. So Balaam beat the donkey to get her back onto the road.

²⁴ Then the angel of Adonai stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of Adonai, she pressed against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam continued beating her.

²⁶ The angel again moved. He stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, right or left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of Adonai, she lay down under Balaam. Balaam was very angry and beat the donkey with his staff.

²⁸ Then Adonai opened the donkey’s mouth and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”^[b]

²⁹ Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you’ve made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you now!”

³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey which you have ridden as always to this day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said.

³¹ Then Adonai opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of Adonai standing in the road with his drawn sword in his hand. So he fell on his face.

³² The angel of Adonai said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I came as an adversary because your way before Me is a reckless one! ³³ The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, by now I would have killed you indeed, but let her live!”

³⁴ Balaam said to the angel of Adonai, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now, if this is displeasing in your eyes, I will go back home.”

³⁵ The angel of Adonai said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s princes.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to greet him at the Moabite city on the border of the Arnon, the frontier of the territory. ³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I send you an urgent summons? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I really unable to reward you?”

³⁸ “Look, I have come to you now!” Balaam said to Balak. “Can I just say anything? I must speak only the message which God puts into my mouth.” ³⁹ Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep and sent some to Balaam and the princes who were with him.

⁴¹ In the morning, Balak took Balaam with him to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw part of the people.

A Curse Turns to Blessings

23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ² So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ³ Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering. I will go and perhaps Adonai will meet me. Whatever message He shows me, I will tell you. Then he went to a barren height.

⁴ God met with Balaam and he said to Him, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I offered a bull and a ram.”

⁵ Adonai put a message into Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and speak this.”

⁶ Balaam went back to him. Behold, he was standing beside his offering with all the princes of Moab. ⁷ Then he uttered his oracle and said,

¹¹ Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you’ve actually blessed them!”

¹² But in response he said, “Mustn’t I speak whatever Adonai puts into my mouth?”

¹³ Then Balak said to him, “Come now with me to another place where you can see a part of them only, not all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

¹⁴ He took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah. He built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵ “Stay here beside your offering,” he said to Balak, “while I am meeting over there.”

¹⁶ Adonai met Balaam there and put a message into his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak and speak thus.” ¹⁷ So he went to him, and behold, he and the princes of Moab were standing beside his offering.

Balak asked him, “What did Adonai say?”

¹⁸ So he uttered his oracle and said:

²⁵ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them or bless them at all!”

²⁶ Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Haven’t I told you, ‘All that Adonai says, I must do?’

²⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “Come with me to another place. Perhaps it will be pleasing to God and you may curse them for me from there.” ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.

²⁹ Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

³⁰ Balak did just as Balaam said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

How Lovely the Tents of Jacob

24 When Balaam realized that it was pleasing in the eyes of Adonai to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorceries as at the other times, but turned his face toward the wilderness. ² Lifting up his eyes, Balaam saw Israel dwelling by tribes. The Ruach Elohim came over him. ³ He uttered his oracle and said:

¹⁰ Then Balak became furious at Balaam, and struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them these three times! ¹¹ Now, go home! I said I would reward you, but see, Adonai has kept you from reward!”

¹² Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I indeed tell your messengers whom you sent to me saying: ¹³ ‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the mouth of Adonai, to do good or bad from my own heart? Whatever Adonai may speak, I will speak!’ ¹⁴ Now, behold, I am going back to my people. Come, let me counsel you what these people will do to your people in the latter days. ¹⁵ Then he uttered his oracle:

²⁵ Then Balaam got up and went and returned to his own place, and Balak went on his way.

Moabite Seduction and Phineas Arises

25 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the people began to have immoral sexual relations with women from Moab. ² Then they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, so the people were eating, and bowing down before their gods. ³ When Israel became bound to Baal of Peor, the anger of Adonai grew hot against Israel.

⁴ Adonai said to Moses, “Seize all the ringleaders and hang them before Adonai facing the sun, so that Adonai’s fierce anger may be turned away from Israel.”

⁵ So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you, kill your men who have been joining themselves to Baal of Peor.” ⁶ Then behold, a man from Bnei-Yisrael came and brought a Midianite woman to his brothers before the eyes of Moses and of the whole assembly of Bnei-Yisrael, while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting!

⁷ When Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the kohen saw it, he arose from the midst of the assembly, took a spear in his hand, ⁸ and went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced them through—both the Israelite man and the woman’s belly. Then the plague among Bnei-Yisrael was stopped. ⁹ However, 24,000 were dead because of the plague!

The Remnant of Jacob

Adonai Pleads His Case

6 Hear what Adonai is saying:

What Is Adonai Seeking From You?

The Mystery Revealed!

²⁵ For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be ignorant of this mystery—lest you be wise in your own eyes^[a]—that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; ^{[b] 26} and in this way^[c] all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

²⁸ Concerning the Good News, they are hostile for your sake; but concerning chosenness, they are loved on account of the fathers^[f]— ²⁹ for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ^{[g] 30} For just as you once were disobedient to God but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ in like manner these also have now been disobedient with the result that, because of the mercy shown to you, they also may receive mercy. ³² For God has shut up all in disobedience, so that He might show mercy to all.

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Modeling Servanthood

13 Now it was just before the feast of Passover. Yeshua knew that His hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them until the end.^[a]

² While the seder meal was happening, the devil had already put in the heart of Judah from Kriot that he should hand over Yeshua. ³ Yeshua knew that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God. ⁴ So He gets up from the meal and lays aside His outer garment; and taking a towel, He wrapped it around His waist. ⁵ Then He pours water into a basin. He began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel wrapped around Him.

⁶ Then He comes to Simon Peter, who says to Him, “Master, are You going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Yeshua responded, “You don’t know what I am doing now, but you will understand after these things.”

⁸ Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”

Yeshua answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with Me.”

⁹ Simon Peter said to Him, “Master, then not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰ Yeshua said to him, “He who has bathed has no need to wash, except the feet; he is completely clean. And you all are clean, though not every one.” ¹¹ He knew who was betraying Him; for this reason, He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² So after He had washed their feet and put His robe back on and reclined again, He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? ¹³ You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master’—and rightly you say, for I am. ¹⁴ So if I, your Master and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example—you should do for each other what I have done for you.

¹⁶ “Amen, amen I tell you, a servant isn’t greater than his master, and the one who is sent isn’t greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them!”

Yeshua Reveals His Betrayer

¹⁸ “I am not speaking to all of you—I know whom I have chosen. But so the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ ^{[b] 19} From now on I am telling you, before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I am. ²⁰ Amen, amen I tell you, he who receives the one I send, receives Me; and he who receives Me, receives the One who sent Me.”

²¹ After He said these things, Yeshua was agitated in spirit and testified, “Amen, amen I tell you, one of you will betray Me!”

²² The disciples began looking at each other, perplexed—who was He talking about? ²³ One of His disciples, whom Yeshua loved, was reclining at His side. ²⁴ Simon Peter nods to him and says, “Ask Him—who is He talking about?”

²⁵ Then he who leaned on Yeshua’s chest says to Him, “Master, who is it?”

²⁶ Yeshua answers, “It’s the one I will give this bit of matzah to, after I dip it.” After dipping the matzah,^[c] He takes it and gives it to Judah from Kriot, the son of Simon. ²⁷ And with that bit, satan entered into him. Then Yeshua tells him, “What you’re about to do, do quickly!”

²⁸ But no one reclining at the table knew why Yeshua said this to him. ²⁹ Since Judah had the moneybox, some thought Yeshua was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰ So after Judah received the bit of matzah, he left immediately. Now it was night.

Leaving a Legacy of Love

³¹ Then when Judah had gone out, Yeshua said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him! ³² If God is glorified in Him,^[d] God will glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him at once. ³³ Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will search for Me; and just as I told the Judean leaders, so I say to you now, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

³⁴ “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you must love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

³⁶ “Master, where are You going?” Simon Peter said to Him.

Yeshua answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow Me later.”

³⁷ Peter said to Him, “Master, why can’t I follow You now? I’ll lay down my life for You!”

³⁸ Yeshua answers, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Amen, amen I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times!”

The Way to the Father’s House

14 “Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. ² In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? ³ If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may also be. ⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.”^[e]

⁵ Thomas said to Him, “Master, we don’t know where You are going. How can we know the way?”

⁶ Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me. ⁷ If you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”

⁸ Philip said to Him, “Master, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

⁹ Yeshua said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you haven’t come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own; but the Father dwelling in Me does His works. ¹¹ Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me—or at least believe because of the works themselves.

¹² “Amen, amen I tell you, he who puts his trust in Me, the works that I do he will do; and greater than these he will do, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask Me^[f] anything in My name, I will do it.”

The Believer’s Helper

¹⁵ “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. ¹⁶ I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper^[g] so He may be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not abandon you as orphans;^[h] I will come to you. ¹⁹ In a little while, the world will no longer behold Me, but you will behold Me. Because I live, you also will live!

²⁰ “In that day, you will know that I am in My Father, you are in Me, and I am in you. ²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”

²² Judah (not the one from Kriot) said to Him, “Master, what has happened, that You are about to reveal Yourself to us and not the world?”

²³ Yeshua answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. ²⁴ He who does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. ²⁵ These things I have spoken to you while dwelling with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Ruach ha-Kodesh whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I said to you.

²⁷ “Shalom I leave you, My shalom I give to you; but not as the world gives! Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid. ²⁸ You’ve heard Me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe!

³⁰ “I will not talk with you much longer, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has nothing on Me. ³¹ But in order that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.

“Get up, let’s go from here!”