John Russell

This chapter is about laws concerning vows that the Israelites make to God or under oath. It says, in verse 2, “A man who makes a vow to the Lord or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do.” Then there is a distinction made. Here, the law differs for men and women. While a woman must also fulfill her vows, certain men in her life were able to nullify the vow she makes within one day of hearing it. The only women who were not under the authority of their fathers or husbands were widowed and divorced women.

Balaam did not resort to divination. What is divination? To me, divination is deliberately looking for patterns in experiences; you have to decode them for meaning. What I’ve learned personally is that God doesn’t give us puzzles, yet He wants to walk along with us and relate with us about issues in our lives. For Balaam, when he actually looked out at the wilderness and took in what he saw, the Israelites camped out tribe by tribe, which is when he got the third message from God. The message was another blessing which angered King Balak and he refused to reward Balaam.

Balak’s set up here for Balaam to deliver the curse he has paid for handsomely is rather elaborate. Seven separate altars have been erected, each equipped with both a bull and a ram to be simultaneously sacrificed. Together, the King of Moab and the prophet for hire offer up these animals on the altars.

A new drama begins to unfold – one that will have lasting, chilling effects on the Israelites for generations to come. 

Chapter 21 opens with what we can presume must be the second generation of Israelites (probably because just about everyone from the previous generation has already died) moving out towards the promised land. The geographical description of where the people of God are moving through has them moving to the east of the Jordan River, just southeast of the Dead Sea,