The Legends of the Jews Volume III Part 17

Indeed, had the matter depended on Balaam's wishes, he would doubtless instantly have acquiesced and followed Balak's summons, for he hated Israel more than Balak, and was much pleased with the commission of the Moabite king. The elders that Balak had sent had besides in their possession all needful instruments of magic, so that Balaam might have no excuse for not instantly following them, but Balaam had, of course, to bide his time and first find out if G.o.d would permit him to go to Balak, hence he bade the Moabite messengers stay over night, because G.o.d never appears to heathen prophets save at night. As Balaam expected, G.o.d appeared by night and asked Balaam, "Who are these people with thee?"

Balaam was one of the three men whom G.o.d put to the test and who miserably failed to pa.s.s it. When G.o.d appeared to Cain and asked, "Where is Abel thy brother?" he tried to deceive G.o.d. He should have replied, "Lord of the world! What is hidden and what is open, both alike are known to Thee. Why then dost Thou inquire after my brother?" But instead of this he replied, "I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" G.o.d therefore said to him: "Thou hast spoken thin own sentence. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground, and now cursed art thou." Hezekiah acted like Cain when the messengers from the king of Babylon came to him, and Isaiah the prophet asked him, "What said these men? And from whence came they unto thee?" Hezekiah should have answered, "Thou art a prophet of G.o.d, why dost thou ask me?" But instead of giving this answer, he replied haughtily and boastfully, "They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon." On account of this haughty answer Isaiah announced to the king this prophecy: "Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house shall be carried to Babylon; and of thy sons that shall issue from thee, they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

The scoundrel Balaam, too, should have made answer to G.o.d's question, "What men are these with thee?" by saying, "Lord of the world! Everything lies open before Thee, and nothing is hidden from Thee, why then dost Thou ask me?" But he, on the other hand, made quite a different answer and started to boast, saying to G.o.d: "Although Thou dost not distinguish me, and dost not spread my fame over the world, still the kings seek me: Balak, the king of Moab, hath sent to ask me to curse Israel." Then G.o.d said, "Because thou speakest thus, thou shalt not curse the people," and added, "O thou wicked rascal! I said of Israel, He that toucheth them, toucheth the apple of My eye,' and yet thou wishest to touch them and curse them! Therefore shall thine eye be blinded." [730]

Thus Balaam became blind of one eye, as he had already been lame of one foot. [731] Balaam now perceiving that G.o.d did not wish him to curse Israel said, "If it be so, then I shall bless them."

G.o.d: "They have not need of thy blessing, for they are blessed."

G.o.d said to Balaam as one says to a bee: "Neither thy honey nor thy sting."

BALAAM ACCEPTS BALAK'S INVITATION

On the following morning Balaam gave the elders of Moab his answer, saying that he would not follow Balak's call, but not betraying to them the truth, that G.o.d hat forbidden him to curse Israel. He said instead, "G.o.d said to me, 'Go not with these men, for that would be beneath thy dignity, but await n.o.bler amba.s.sadors.'" [732] Balaam's plan was to insult Balak, so that he should send no further messengers to him, and no one might discover that he could accomplish nothing beyond the word of G.o.d. His expectations, however, were disappointed. The amba.s.sadors in their turn, not quite painstaking in their representation of the truth, told their king that Balaam considered it beneath his dignity to appear in their escort, making no mention of G.o.d, but speaking as if the refusal came simply and exclusively from Balaam. [733]

Balak thereupon sent more honorable amba.s.sadors to Balaam, until he was at last obliged to admit that he could undertake nothing against G.o.d's command. Even then, it is true, he did not admit that his acceptance or refusal of Balak's invitation depended entirely upon G.o.d, but declared that he could, if he wished, do as he chose, but did not choose to transgress G.o.d's prohibition. In his second emba.s.sy Balak promised Balaam more for his service than he had offered him the first time. Balaam's answer was as follows: "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my G.o.d." These words characterize the man, who had three bad qualities: a jealous eye, a haughty spirit, and a greedy soul. His jealousy was the reason why he wanted to curse Israel, whom he envied for their good fortune; in his haughtiness, he told the first messengers the falsehood that G.o.d would not let him go with them because it would be beneath his dignity; and his avarice was expressed in his answer to the second emba.s.sy in which he not only surrept.i.tiously mentioned Balak's gold and silver, but spoke his mind by explaining to them that their master could not adequately compensate him for his service, saying, "If Balak were to hire hosts against Israel, his success would still be doubtful, whereas he should be certain of success if he hired me!"

He did not, however, give even the second emba.s.sy a decisive answer, but said to them also, "I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my G.o.d, to do less or more. Now therefore I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will speak unto me more." These words of his held unconscious prophecies: "I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord," was as much as to say that he could not put the blessings of G.o.d to Israel to naught.

"Tarry ye also here this night," contained the prophecy that this second emba.s.sy would be as much disappointed as the first, for although Balaam accompanied the second messengers, still he had no power to curse Israel, but only to bless them. Finally, the words, "What the Lord will speak unto me more," held a prediction that G.o.d would bestow even more benedictions upon the Israelites through him.

"G.o.d permits man to go upon the way he chooses to go." When G.o.d appeared to Balaam the first time he said to him, "Thou shalt not go with them;" but when Balaam still did not relinquish his desire to go to Balak, G.o.d would not interfere. Hence, at His second appearance, G.o.d said to Balaam, "If the men be come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do." [734]

"Audacity prevails even before G.o.d." Balaam's steadfast insistence upon his wish wrested from G.o.d his consent to Balaam's journey to Moab. [735] He warned him of its consequences, saying to him: "I take no pleasure in the destruction of sinners, but if thou are bound to go to thy destruction, do so! Whosoever leads righteous men astray upon an evil way, will fall into the ditch of his own digging!" Balaam was misled by G.o.d's behavior toward him, and thus plunged into destruction. When G.o.d first appeared to him and asked him, "What men are these with thee?" this blasphemer thought: "G.o.d know them not. It seems clear that there are times when He is not aware of what goes on, and I shall now be able to do with His children as I wish." Balaam was misled by G.o.d because he had with his words seduced to unchast.i.ty people who had up to his time lived in purity. [736] G.o.d's apparent change of decision, that first prohibited him from going to Balak, and then permitted him to do so, completely bewildered him, so that he thought, "G.o.d at first said to me, 'Go thou not with them,' but the second time He said, 'Go with them.' So too will He change His words, 'Curse them not,' into 'Curse them.'" Just as Balaam was confused by G.o.d, so too were the magicians that Balak had sent to him. At the first visit these had through their magic lore established that he would accept Balak's invitation, but G.o.d made him decline it; at the second time, on the other hand, they established that he would not accept the invitation, and G.o.d made him obey their summons. [737]

BALAAM'S a.s.s

Balaam could hardly await the morning, rejoicing no less than Balak's messengers at G.o.d's consent to his journey to Balak, and still hoping that he might succeed in bringing disaster upon Israel.

In his haste to set out, he himself saddled his a.s.s although he did not lack servants, whereupon G.o.d said: "O thou villain, their ancestor Abraham forestalled thee, for he too rose up early in the morning and in person saddled his a.s.s to lead Isaac to sacrifice in fulfillment of the command that had reached him." [738]

The a.s.s that Balaam took with him had been created on the sixth day of the creation. He had received it as a gift from Jacob, that he might not give evil counsel to Pharaoh concerning Jacob's children. It was upon his advice, nevertheless, that Pharaoh forced the Israelites to make bricks. [739] He took his two sons, Jannes and Jambres, [740] for it behooves a n.o.ble man always to have at least two companions upon any journey that he undertakes. [741]

Although G.o.d had now granted him permission to go on the journey, still His wrath was kindled when he set out. G.o.d said, "Behold, this man! He knows that I read each man's heart, and knows also that he departeth only to curse Israel." [742] This wickedness on his part had the result that even the Angel of Mercy turned against him as an enemy, standing in his way. At first the a.s.s alone perceived the angel, and not Balaam, for G.o.d has so arranged it that human beings may not perceive the angels that surround them or else they would through terror lose their reason.

[743] The a.s.s, on the other hand, instantly perceived the angel. He at first stood in her way as she was in the middle of the road, so that she could turn aside on both sides; then she perceived him when the road narrowed, and she could turn to one side only; and finally she reached a spot where there was no road at all to which she could turn either on this side or on that. This was to teach Balaam the following lesson: if he wished to curse Abraham's children, he should have leeway on both sides, Ishmael's children and Keturah's children; if he wanted to curse Isaac's children, one side would still be open to him, Esau's children; but if he wanted to curse Jacob's children, he should never bring it to pa.s.s, for they are protected on both sides, on the one hand by Abraham and Isaac, on the other by Jacob and Levi, while G.o.d watches over them from above. "The wall on this side, and on that side," through which place he had to pa.s.s, were furthermore to indicate to him that he could not become master over Israel, who have in their possession the tables of the law, "that were written on both their sides." When the a.s.s reached the wall that Jacob and Laban had erected as a token that they "would never pa.s.s over it for harm,"

she thrust her feet against it, to punish him for having broken his agreement with Jacob. [744]

Balaam, who had with blows attempted to make the a.s.s walk straight ahead, flew into a rage when she lay down altogether and would not budge from the spot, so that he smote her all the more.

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the a.s.s, and permitted her to use speech, a gift that she had possessed ever since her creation, but had not until then used. [745] She said, "What have I done unto thee, that thou has smitten me these three times?" The first words of the a.s.s were so chosen as to call Balaam's attention to the wickedness and uselessness of his undertaking against Israel; "Three times" was to remind him that he wished to curse a nation that "three times" in every year arranged pilgrimages to the Lord.

The a.s.s's speech was altogether to serve as a warning to Balaam to beware of his mouth, and not to curse Israel. The a.s.s, through her speaking, was to instruct him that the mouth and the tongue are in G.o.d's hand.

Balaam answered the a.s.s in the language in which she had addressed him, in Hebrew, which he did not, however, speak fluently. He said, "Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now I had killed thee." The a.s.s thereupon replied, "Thou canst not kill me save with a sword in thy hand; how then wilt thou destroy an entire nation with thy mouth!"

Balaam was silent, knowing no reply. [746] The a.s.s did not only make him ridiculous in the eyes of the elders of Moab that accompanied him, but she also exposed him as a liar. For when the amba.s.sadors asked him why he had not chosen a horse rather than an a.s.s for his journey, he answered that his saddle horse was in the pasture. Then the a.s.s interrupted him, saying, "Am not I thine a.s.s upon which thou hast ridden all thy life long?" Balaam: "I use thee as a beast of burden, but not for the saddle." The a.s.s: "Nay, upon me has thou ridden since thine earliest day, and thou hast always treated me with as much affection as a man treats his wife."

Balaam had now to admit that the a.s.s had spoken the truth. [747]

Balak's princes were much amazed at this extraordinary miracle, but the a.s.s died the moment she had spoken what she had to say.

G.o.d did this for two reasons, firstly because He feared that the heathens might wors.h.i.+p this a.s.s were she to stay alive; and secondly because G.o.d wanted to spare Balaam the disgrace of having people point to his a.s.s and say, "This is she that worsted Balaam." By this action it can be seen how highly G.o.d prizes the honor or pious men, if He even sought to spare the honor of this villain. It is out of consideration to mankind, also, that G.o.d has closed the mouth of animals, for were they to speak, man could not well use them for his service, since the a.s.s, the most stupid of all animals, when she spoke, confounded Balaam, the wisest of the wise.

BALAAM RUNS INTO HIS OWN DESTRUCTION

While all this was going on, Balaam still did not perceive that G.o.d's angel stood before him. G.o.d meant to show him that in His hand is not only the tongue of man, but his eye as well, so that as long as He chooses, man will fail to see what is directly before his nose. But G.o.d suddenly permitted Balaam to see the angel with a sword drawn in his hand, and Balaam fell flat on his face. [748]

For, being uncirc.u.mcised, Balaam might not listen to the words of G.o.d or of an angel, standing erect; hence, upon perceiving the angel, who instantly began to address him, Balaam cast himself upon the ground. [749] The sword in the angel's hand did not signify that he meant to strike Balaam, for a breath from his mouth would have sufficed to kill myriads, but it was to point out the following truth to Balaam: "The mouth was given to Jacob, but to Esau and to the other nations, the sword. Thou are about to change thy profession, and to go out against Israel with his own weapon, and therefore shalt thou find death through the sword that is thy own weapon." [750]

The angel now said to Balaam: "If I have been commissioned to demand rest.i.tution from thee for the injustice thou hast offered to the a.s.s, that can show neither meritorious deeds of her own nor of her fathers, how much the more must I stand up as the avenger of an entire nation, that have their own merits and can refer to the merits of their fathers. But to return to the a.s.s, why didst thou smite her, that turned from the road only because she saw me and was frightened?" Balaam was a shrewd sinner, for he knew that Divine punishment could be averted only by penitence, and that the angels have no power to touch a man who, after sinning, says, "I have sinned." Hence he said to the angel, "I have sinned," but added, "I did not set out until G.o.d said to me, 'Rise up, go with them;' and now thou sayest to me, 'Return.' But this is the Lord's way. Did He not also at first tell Abraham to sacrifice his son, and then He caused an angel to call out to him, 'Lay not thine hand upon the lad?' It is His custom first to give a command, and the through an angel to recall it. So also did He indeed say to me, 'Go with them;' but if it displeaseth thee, I shall turn back." [751] The angel replied: "All that I have done was to thy advantage, but if thou are bound to plunge into destruction, do so, go with these people, but destruction is decreed for all of you. Think not, however, that thou shalt do as thou wilt, for thou shalt have to say what I desire thee to speak, and to restrain what I wish to remain unuttered."

In spite of the warnings he had received from G.o.d and the angel, he was not to be restrained from taking this fatal step, but in his hatred toward Israel still cherished the hope that he should succeed in obtaining G.o.d's consent to curse Israel, and he continued his journey in this happy expectation. [752]

BALAAM WITH BALAK

Whensoever G.o.d wished to humble an evil-doer, He at first exalts him, to fill him with pride. So too He humbled Balaam after exalting him, for at first Balak had sent princes of little distinction to him, whereupon G.o.d said to him, "Thou shalt not go with them." When, however, he sent many renowned princes to him, G.o.d said to Balaam, "Go with them," but this journey brought him nothing but humiliation and ruin, for he fared in accordance with the proverb, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." G.o.d does this so that men might not say, "Whom hath G.o.d destroyed? Surely not that insignificant person," hence G.o.d exalts sinners before their fall. [753]

When Balaam approached the Moabite boundaries, he sent messengers to Balak to announce his arrival, and Balak went forth to his country's border to meet him. Pointing to the boundary lines, Balak said to Balaam: "These have been fixed since Noah's days, that no nation might push into the realm of another, but Israel set out to destroy the boundaries, as their att.i.tude toward Sihon and Og shows, into whose kingdoms they entered." [754] He then greeted him with the words: "Did I not twice sent unto thee to call thee? Wherefore camest not thou unto me? Am I not able indeed to promote thee to honor?" Balak unconsciously uttered a prophecy, for in truth Balaam went hence in disgrace and dishonor, and not covered with glory, as he could not fulfil the other's wish to curse Israel. [755] It should now have been Balaam's duty, had he really desired to be of service to the king of Moab, to say to him, "Why dost thou attempt to do what will bring thee misfortune, and finally utter ruin?" But he spoke quite differently instead, boastfully bragging with his gift of prophecy, pointing out that he was the last prophet among the heathens. "And," continued he, "I, the last prophet among the heathens, shall thus counsel thee. The ancestor of that nation erected to G.o.d an altar upon which, thrice annually, he offered up seven oxen and seven rams; do thou, then, erect seven altars, and offer up on each seven oxens and seven rams." G.o.d laughed when he heard this counsel, saying: "Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" [756]

Balak led his guest from the border-line to the interior of the land, taking pains to show him great mult.i.tudes of the people, having bazaars erected for that purpose. Pointing to these mult.i.tudes, among which there were also may children, Balak said, "Look thou, how Israel plan to destroy these mult.i.tudes of people that have done them no injury."

Balak slew for Balaam's welcome one ox and one sheep, proving the proverb, "The pious promise little and do much, the wicked promise much and do little." Balak had sent word to Balaam, saying, "I will promote thee unto very great honor;" yet when he arrived, he offered him for food only one ox and one sheep.

Suppressing his rage, Balaam thought, "Is that all that he offers me! He will have to pay for this to-morrow," for he instantly determined to have him offer up many sacrifices on the following day to punish him for having treated him in so n.i.g.g.ardly a fas.h.i.+on.

BALAAM'S SACRIFICES REFUSED

On the following morning Balak took Balaam and brought him upon into the high places of Baal. For Balak was even a greater magician and soothsayer than Balaam, who allowed himself like a blind man to be led by him. He led him to this spot because through his magic lore he knew that Israel was to suffer a great misfortune upon the heights of Baalpeor, and he thought it was to be Balaam's curse that would effect this disaster upon them. The relation of these two men to each other was like that between two men, one of whom has a knife in his hand, but does not know what part of the body to strike for slaughter, and the other knows the part of the body, but has no knife. Balak knew the place where disaster awaited Israel, but did not know how it was to be brought about, whereas Balaam knew how evil is conjured up, but did not know the places set for disaster, to which Balak had to lead him.

[757] Balaam's superiority over Balak and the other magicians lay in this, that he could accurately determine the moment in which G.o.d is wrathful, and it was for this reason that his curse was always effective because he knew how to curse at the very instant of G.o.d's anger. It is true that G.o.d is angry for one instant every day, to wit, during the third hour of the day, when the kings with crowns upon their head wors.h.i.+p the sun, but this moment is of infinitesimally short duration. Fully eighty-five thousand and eighty-eight such moments make an hour, so that no mortal save Balaam had ever been able to fix that moment, although this point of time has its outward manifestations in nature, for while it lasts, the c.o.c.k's comb becomes absolutely white, without even the smallest stripe of red. G.o.d's love for Israel, however, is so great that during the time that Balaam prepared to curse Israel, He did not wax angry at all, so that Balaam waited in vain for the moment of wrath. [758]

Balaam now tried to obtain G.o.d's consent for Israel's curse through sacrifices, and hence bade Balak erect seven altars upon the high place of Baal, corresponding to the seven altars that since Adam had been erected by seven pious men, to wit: Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. When the altars had been erected, he said to G.o.d: "Why didst Thou favor these people, if not for the sacrificed that they offered Thee? Were it not better for Thee to be adored by seventy nations than by one?" But the Holy Spirit answered, "'Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices and strife.' Dearer to Me is a dry offering of meal than all these many flesh offerings by which thou strivest to stir up strife between Me and Israel."

Now was Balaam's fate decided, for by his conduct he put himself into direct opposition to G.o.d, and hence his destruction was decreed, [759] and from that moment the holy spirit of prophecy left him and he was nothing more than a magician. For Israel's sake, however, G.o.d granted him the honor of His revelation, but He did so grudgingly, as one loathes to touch an unclean thing.

Hence He would not permit Balaam to come to Him, but rather appeared to Balaam. G.o.d's different treatment of Balaam and of Moses at the revelation is evident, for whereas the latter betook himself to the sanctuary to hear G.o.d's words, the former received G.o.d's revelation at any place whatsoever. It characterizes G.o.d's att.i.tude toward them. Two men once knocked at a magnate's door, the one being a friend, who had a request to make, and the other a leprous beggar. The magnate said, "Let my friend enter, but I shall send the beggar's alms to the door, that he may not enter and pollute my palace." G.o.d called Moses to Him, whereas He did not desire Balaam to come to Him, but betook Himself there. [760]

He found Balaam at the seven altars that he had erected, and said to him, "What doest thou here?" whereupon Balaam answered, "I have erected for Thee as many altars as the three fathers of Israel, and I have offered upon them bullocks and rams." G.o.d, however, said to him: "'Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.' Pleasanter to Me is the meal of unleavened bread and herbs that the Israelites took in Egypt, than the bullocks that thou offerest out of enmity. O thou knave, if I wished for offerings, I should order Michael and Gabriel to bring them to Me, thou are mistaken if thou believest that I should accept offerings from the nations of the world, for I have vowed a vow to accept such from Israel alone." [761] G.o.d thereupon handed him over to an angel who entered and settled in his throat, and would not permit Balaam to speak when he wanted to curse Israel. [762]

BALAAM EXTOLS ISRAEL

Balaam now turned back to Balak, who awaited him with his princes. He now wanted to begin to curse Israel, but his mouth, far from being able to utter the words, was on the contrary compelled to praise and bless Israel. [763] He said: "I found myself upon the high places, in company with the Patriarchs, and thou, Balak, hast cast me down from the heights; through thee did I lose the gift of prophecy. Both of us are ungrateful men if we wish to undertake evil against Israel, for, had it not been for their father Abraham, for whose sake G.o.d saved Lot out of the ruin of the cities, there should not be no Balak, for thou are one of Lot's descendants. And had it not been for Jacob, I, Laban's descendant, should not now be on earth, for no sons were born unto Laban until after Jacob had come into his house. [764] Thou didst bring me out of Aram to curse Israel, but it was this land that their father Abraham left, laden with blessings, and it was this land also that their father Jacob entered, laden with blessings. Shall now a curse come upon them from this land? [765] How can I curse them if he that curseth them bringeth a curse upon himself? Thou, moreover, wishest me even to curse Jacob. Hadst thou urged me to curse a nation that were only the descendants of Abraham or of Isaac, I might have been able to do so; but to curse Jacob's descendants is as bad as if a man were to come to a king and say to him, 'The crown that thou wearest upon thy head is worthless.' Would such a man be permitted to live? 'The Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.' 'In Israel,' said the Lord, 'will I be glorified.'

How now should I curse them? How shall I curse whom G.o.d hath not cursed? Even when they have been worthy of a curse, they have not been cursed. When Jacob went in to receive the blessings, he went in through craft and said to his father, 'I am Esau, thy firstborn.' Doth not he deserve a curse out of whose mouth issueth a lie? Yet, far from being cursed, he was even blessed. Ordinarily a legion that stirs up sedition against their king is declared guilty by death, but Israel had denied G.o.d, saying, 'These be thy G.o.ds, O Israel.' Should they not then have been destroyed? G.o.d, however, did not even at that moment withdraw from them His love, but left to them the clouds of glory, manna, and the well, even after they had adored the Calf. Howsoever often they sinned and G.o.d threatened them with a curse, still He did not say that He would bring it upon them, whereas in His promises of blessings He always tells them that He Himself would send them upon Israel.

How shall I curse when G.o.d doth not curse! [766]

"Israel is a nation of whom G.o.d thought even before the creation of the world. It is the rock upon which the world is founded. For, when G.o.d was considering the scheme of the creation, He thought, 'How can I create the world if the idolatrous generation of Enosh and the generation of the flood will arouse My anger?' He was about to desist from the creation of the world, when He saw before Him Abraham's form, and He said, 'Now I have a rock upon which I can build, one upon which I can found the world.' [767] How, too, should I curse this nation that are protected and surrounded by the merits of the Patriarchs and the wives of the Patriarchs as if by lofty mountains and steep hills, so that if Israel sin, G.o.d forgives them as soon as Moses prays to Him to be mindful of the Patriarchs! [768]

"I was in error when I believed Israel could be easily attacked, but now I know that they have taken deep root in the earth, and cannot be uprooted. G.o.d forgives them many sins out of consideration for their having preserved the token of the Abrahamic covenant; and as powerless as I am to curse them alone, just as powerless am I to curse them together with another nation, for 'it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.'

Israel is distinguished from all other nations by their custom, by their food, by the token of the covenant upon their bodies, and by the token upon their doorposts, wherefore G.o.d doth not judge them at the same time with other nations, for He judges the latter in the darkness of the night, but the former in bright daylight.

Israel is a separate people, alone they enjoy the blessings G.o.d gives them, no other nation rejoices with Israel. So too in the Messianic time Israel will quite alone rejoice in delights and pleasures, whereas in the present world it may also partake of the universal welfare of the nations. [769]

"I am not able to accomplish anything against a nation that zealously fulfils G.o.d's commandments, and that owes its existence to the devotion with which the wives of the Patriarchs obeyed the commandments of G.o.d. [770] 'Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!'" Balaam in these words spoke an unconscious prophecy, to wit, that he should be ent.i.tled to partic.i.p.ate in the fate of the righteous, to his share in the future world, if he died the death of the righteous, a natural death, but not otherwise. He died, however, a violent death, and thus lost his share in the future world. [771]

BALAAM'S HOPES DISAPPOINTED

When Balak saw that Balaam, instead of cursing, praised and exalted Israel, he led him to the top of Pisgah, hoping that he might there succeed in cursing Israel. By means of his sorcery, Balak had discovered that Pisgah was to be a place of misfortune for Israel, hence he thought the Balaam would there utter his curse against Israel. He was, however, mistaken; the disaster that there awaited Israel was the death of their leader Moses, who died there, and G.o.d refused to grant Balaam's wish on this spot also.

G.o.d indeed appeared to Balaam, but what He said to him was: "Go again unto Balak, and bless Israel." Balaam now did not wish to return to Balak at all, to disappoint him a second time, but G.o.d compelled him to return to Balak and communicate to him the blessings of Israel. Balaam now turned back to Balak, whom he found standing by his burnt offering. But whereas on the first occasion the king had awaited Balaam, surrounded by all his princes, Balaam now saw only a few notables surrounding Balak.

Most of the princes had deserted their king without awaiting Balaam, for they expected nothing further from him after the first disappointment he had caused them. Balak as well did not now receive him as kindly, but mockingly asked, "What hath the Lord spoken?" hinting in this way that Balaam was unable to say what he wished, but only what G.o.d willed.

Balaam replied to these scornful words of Balak: "Rise up, Balak.

Thou mayest not be seated when G.o.d's words are spoken. G.o.d is not like a man of flesh and blood, that makes friends and disowns them, as soon as he finds such as are better than they. G.o.d is not so, for He doth not cancel the vow He had made to the Patriarchs, for He promised to bestow Canaan upon their descendants, and He fulfilleth His promise. He always fulfils what He hath promised to Israel, but allows the evil with which He threatens them to be unfulfilled as soon as they repent them of their sins. G.o.d sees not their sins, but He seeth their good deeds. Thou, Balak, sayest to me, 'Come, curse Jacob for me,' but a thief can enter a vineyard that hath a keeper only if the keeper sleeps, but 'He that keepeth Israel neither sleepeth nor slumbereth,' and how then can I enter their vineyard? If, however, thou dost think that I cannot harm Israel on account of Moses, who is their keeper, know then that his successor will be as invincible as he, for through the sound of trumpets he will overthrow the walls of Jericho.