The Shape of Numbers – Part Four

We continue the analysis of Numbers with the fourth of the five major cycles.

Read Part One. Read Part Two. Read Part Three.

ANALYSIS CONTINUED

OATH/SANCTIONS: Numbers – Laver
Balaam’s oracles; the zeal of Phinehas; a purified Israel (Numbers 22-27)

The fourth major cycle brings a “day of the Lord” upon Israel. It brings to a climax the threshing of the nation at the “Pentecostal” center of the Heptateuch (see Part One). Just as God allowed a serpent to enter the Garden to test Adam and Eve, so also He allowed a false prophet to “refine” Israel. In this case, it exposed the hearts of both the righteous and the wicked. The Levites judged the idolatry at Sinai, and a Levite judged the idolatrous adultery at Peor. As such, it is the other “bookend” of the period when the Egyptian-hearted men and women of the exodus tested God—the visitation promised by God after Israel sinned with the golden calf.

But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.” (Exodus 32:33-34)

Within the book itself, the narrative serves as a great Day of Atonement. As the Oath/Sanctions step, it is all about blessings and curses. The sword of the High Priest comes to excommunicate the unfaithful and “recommunicate” the faithful. As a story of vengeance and redemption for the house of Israel, the cycle is structured according to the pattern of the Tabernacle. In this way, old Israel becomes an “ascension” offering. The entire nation, as God’s “firstborn,” is placed upon the Bronze Altar and set on fire.

Initiation – Genesis

In accordance with the covenantal pattern of worship, the cycle begins with an initiating call. It seems that Balak, king of Ammon, called upon Balaam the son of Beor, because he was a nearer kinsman to Israel. Balak was descended from Lot, but Balaam (or Bela) was likely the first of Edom’s “week” of Noahic priest-kings before hereditary succession was established, with Job serving as the second (Genesis 36:31-39).¹ Indeed, Balaam uses the term “God most high” as Melchizedek does, a name that implies recognition of God’s rule over all nations.²

As is common in Scripture, just as the Sons of God are given new names to reflect their exaltation after qualifying for greater authority, the enemies of God are given “new names” that reflect their sinful flaws. Bela (“lord/husband”) is contorted into “Bala Am,” swallower/destroyer of the people, or more succinctly, “people eater.” This paints him as a bloodthirsty hunter like his forebear, Esau, who sold his birthright for a bowl of “red.”

There was no actual threat to the Moabites from Israel, since the Lord had not promised to give them the land of Lot’s descendants (Deuteronomy 2:9). As an “Edomite sage” (according to William F. Albright based on Genesis 36), especially after the Edomites had rejected Israel’s requests, “brother” Balaam would thus serve as a more effective ga’al (redeemer/avenger). This concept of the two-edged ministry of the ga’al (redeeming the saints by destroying their enemies) being turned inside out explains the apparent ambiguity in the character of Balaam. The bulk of the narrative is as much the story arc of this prophet as it is of Israel. He, too, is put to the test and ultimately fails.

Indeed, at the beginning, he is presented as a prophet who is greater than Moses, despite the statement that there would be no greater prophet until the Messiah (Deuteronomy 18:15; 34:10; Acts 3:22). Pagan cultures always “arrive” before godly ones, for the same reason that Cain’s lineage enjoyed the kingly gifts. As in the wilderness, God takes His people around the long way to purify their hearts via “Edenic” priestly submission, in order that their culture might enjoy the longevity of a slow-growing but mighty Abrahamic oak. Balaam is thus “greater” than Moses in the same way that the serpent was craftier than Adam. God—and Moses—would only be vindicated in the inspection and dispatch of of a worthy rival who was as “mighty in word and deed” (Acts 7:22). What Balaam lacked was the ingredient that set Moses apart—true meekness before God.

Since Balaam’s blessings and curses were effective, technically-speaking he was not a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:21-22), and his reputation was vindicated as far as Balak was concerned. If Balaam were an itinerant prophet-for-hire motivated by avarice (Numbers 22:7; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11), this might explain why he was not in Edom when Balak summoned him.³. Unlike Moses, who was baffled by the burning bush, Balaam recognized God immediately. Unlike Moses, who was surprised by God’s voice, Balaam knew when God would come to him. Unlike Moses, who had to stand as a servant before God, Balaam lay in a visionary trance. This comparison highlights the power inherent in the office of the Noahic priest-king as a hybrid or engrafting of the two trees in Eden—unlike Moses, the man himself was the pillar of fire and smoke, the “third tree,” the great prophet ascending to the court of God as a confidant and “friend.”⁴ What this means is that Balaam is called by God for the same reason that God singled out Job—that this priest-king might be tested and either exposed or vindicated. No one is exempt from God’s kitchen, and those who lead the flock of God are subject to stricter assessment.

Delegation – Exodus

The prophet’s “burden” is symbolized in his use of a donkey rather than a warhorse, belying his ulterior motive—like Pharaoh, he brings a sword against the “firstborn” of God and is threatened with the sword of an angel. In all likelihood, as the first test of the condition of his heart, he is accosted by the very angel whom God sent before His people (Exodus 32:34). However, the angel is “veiled” to his eyes. As a seer of worldwide renown, his blindspot is exposed. As Robert Alter observes, the first word in the narrative is “see,” and the words “see” and “look” are used repeatedly throughout. Balaam’s three attempts to drive his donkey forward prefigure his three attempts to curse the nation of Israel. In “matrix” terms, he never achieves step 4, that is, kingdom. He keeps putting the flesh on the altar but the fire never arrives. Another irony is the use of the word “kindled” regarding God’s anger against Balaam and Balaam’s anger against his all-seeing, all-saying donkey. Finally the Lord “opens his eyes” and the allusion to the talking serpent, the cherubim, and Balaam’s role as a deceiver is made plain to the reader. He has come to cause “Adam and Eve” to sin that God might be forced to destroy them under His own Law.

Presentation – Leviticus

Now Balak’s anger would be kindled against Balaam. Although Balaam never manages to ascend his fourth “high place,” the architecture here is that of a gigantic four-horned Bronze Altar with Israel as the firstborn sacrifice upon it. As a priest-king, he orders the preparation of seven altars and offers seven bulls and seven rams.

The fourfold act is required due to the cruciform arrangement of the tribes around the Tabernacle.⁵ The irony here is that Israel, although laid out as a cross upon the ground, was actually a tower to heaven cloaked in humility, and Balak and Balaam, exalting themselves upon the high places, would be thrown down to the abyss. Christ would be lifted up “in the wilderness” and every high place—the mountains of the Jewish Land and the islands of the Gentile Sea—would be shaken and flee away.

This four-point compass also gives us a clue as to the sequential nature of the oracles: the holiness of Israel (Ox – Altar); the strength of Israel (Lion – Ark); the abundance of Israel (Eagle – Lampstand); the victory of Israel (Man – Table). Since each “arm” of the “ziggurat” prefigures an era of Israel’s history (priests, kings, prophets, Christ), we now understand why the prediction of the Messiah occurs in the final oracle—an Abrahamic “star” that would summon wise men from the East, just as Balak had summoned Balaam the diviner from Mesopotamia. Concluding with a curse upon Moab, a people to be crushed like the serpent, the dispossession of Edom, along with the utter destruction of Amalek, the Edomite tribe which was the first to attack Israel in the wilderness, fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham when Lot was in his company:

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:2-3)

Purification – Numbers

As discussed, the central dyad of the Ten Words concerns murder and adultery. These are the “carnal” equivalents of the first dyad, the prohibition of false gods and false oaths. What this means is that Israel’s sin, conceived at Sinai, had come full term and was now “incarnate.” The “murder” component is obscured by the fact that the ancient practice of sending whoring women amongst your enemy in order to seduce them so that the men might then attack is not mentioned. Not only is this a corporate expression of the attack upon Eve in Genesis 3, it is also the strategy that has been used by neoMarxists to weaken the Christian West that it might be consumed by the enemies of God.

The Presentation step of the passage is a disgusting double entendre: an Israelite “brings near” a Midianite woman to the tent of meeting. This is the word used of a sacrificial “near bringing,” an offering that bears sin and allows us to draw near to God in restored fellowship, like the animal killed by God to cover (clothe and atone for) Adam and Eve in the Garden. This insult to the mercy of God is no doubt what kindled the wrath of faithful Phinehas, and finally the fire of God fell upon flesh and consumed the foreign fire of lust. The spear, with the force of the entire Levitical order of “sex and death,” that is, beginnings and endings, struck through them both together near the genitals, making them “one flesh” in a way that destroyed any chance of pagan offspring from their union.

This would also have been an insult to Moses’ family, since he had married a faithful Midianite. It seems that Moab took on the role of Adam in a corporate sense, while Midian, the weaker nation, was called on to join the conspiracy as a corporate Eve. These two roles are reprised in the Revelation, firstly as Balaam and Jezebel in the letters to the seven churches, then as the false prophet and harlot as symbols for the Herodian (Edomite) priests and the Temple of Jerusalem.

The greater context is the fact that Israel was set apart precisely to avoid the intermarriage between priestly and kingly families that ended the atoning sacrifices before the flood, through which God preserved the promised Seed in Noah. Through this act of “circumcision,” Phinehas was blessed with the Aaronic Succession because he saved the world—cutting off the flesh prevented the cutting off of all flesh. One Adam died for all people (Numbers 35:28; John 11:50). Notice also that the Conquest of the land began with the circumcision of Israel and the “circumcision” of Jericho and “all flesh” within it. The same thing would happen to the Circumcision and Jerusalem as the first victory in the Conquest of the World.

Only kings are permitted to execute criminals in the Land, but this sin was taking place in the Garden, the domain where the priestly spear protected the Sanctuary from men and beasts. This was a “kingly” sin, a man behaving like a beast.

And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” (Exodus 19:12-15)

It is worth considering the internal tenfold covenantal shape of the passage.

Priesthood		Kingdom
1 – No false gods The people commit idolatry	TRANSCENDENCE	2 – No false oaths They yoke themselves to Baal
3 – Honor the Sabbath The “heads” are hanged in the sun	HIERARCHY	4 – Honor parents and live long The common men yoked to Baal are executed
5 – No murder The man brings near a Midianite woman	ETHICS	6 – No adultery Phinehas spears them to death in the tent
7 – No theft Phinehas is honored by Moses	OATH/SANCTIONS	8 – No false witness He is given a perpetual office
9 – No coveting house The offending man and woman are named	SUCCESSION	10 – No coveting household The Midianite people would be struck down

Transformation – Deuteronomy

The new census corresponds to the Feast of Trumpets, but his was a bittersweet account, since the troops intended to be “living sacrifices” were now dead. It was like counting the grains of sand that made it through the hourglass of refinement in the wilderness. The only two names in both lists were Joshua and Caleb, as two legal witnesses to the “execution” of the wicked (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15). Remember that only Israelites were ever counted because they were a “tithe” nation, a firstfruits payment to God. The sand and stars that Abraham was unable to count always implicitly included the innumerable Gentiles who would come to believe. The same principle is found in Revelation 7, with its “spiritual census” of the faithful Jewish Christians (as the “tithe”) and the praise of an innumerable cloud of Gentile witnesses as their sponsors (as the “harvest”).

Vindication – Joshua

At the Oath/Sanctions step of the cycle, God’s mercy is shown to those who boldly approach the throne of grace. The names of the five daughters (mentioned by name in the census because no man represented them) presumably correspond to the steps of the Covenant pattern. Tirzah (Succession) means “she is my delight,” and it was also the name of a Canaanite city conquered by Joshua, mentioned in Song of Solomon 6:4, which ties the two “bridal” images together in the way that Eve pictured the City of God: “You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.” The wicked were cut off, but the faithful were given an inheritance.

Representation – Judges

This “matrix” analytical method is vindicated once again in the successor of Moses being commissioned before Eleazar the High Priest at the Succession step of the cycle. The fact that this succession is not hereditary but based upon Spirit instead of flesh pictures the end of the Aaronic priesthood and the establishment of a godly priest-kingdom under a better Joshua, Jesus. Interestingly, the name of the mountain (Abarim) comes from a word meaning to “pass through.” Joshua would be the one to pass through doors, going out before them and coming in before them, leading them out and bringing them in as a faithful shepherd. Pass-over (Division) always leads to pass-though (Conquest), which is why the tearing of the Temple Veil at the death of Christ led to the destruction of Jerusalem. Even Balaam had to pass under the sword that he might be used by God to bear the prophetic sword against His enemies. Throughout history, God divides and conquers.⁶

If you are new to this method of interpretation, please visit the Welcome page for some help to get you up to speed.

1. See James B. Jordan, Was Job an Edomite Priest-King – Part 2. Job’s ancestry is omitted for the same reason that Melchizedek’s lineage is unknown—a tribal priest-king was chosen because he was a man of humble faith. Likewise, Jesus’ “Melchizedekian” order is not hereditary (Hebrews 7:1-10). Our New Covenant “fathers” are those Sons of God who preached to us.
2. See Peter J. Leithart, God Most High. This “upper level” or global name for God is symbolized in the use of both wild dove and a domestic pigeon in Genesis 15, ruling over both the uncultivated “Sea” and the cultivated “Land” but in different ways. See Cutting Off Canaan.
3. The phrase translated “…in his native land” in Numbers 22:5 is actually the name of a place in northern Mesopotamia. See Timothy R. Ashley, The Book of Numbers, 446. “Aram” in Numbers 23:7 is likely one of a number of common misreadings of “Edom.”
4. See The Third Tree and Now are We the Sons of God – Part 3.
5. See Jacob’s Ziggurat.
6. For more discussion, see The End of Israel: Jesus, Paul & AD70.