Balaam sought the will of God, and his heart intent was to speak the LORD’s message faithfully.
When Balaam, a non-Israelite prophet living around the mid-1400s BC, prepared to speak into Balak’s situation, he prefaced his divine inquiry with specific instruction: “Then Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.’ So he went to a bare hill” (v.3). Balaam addresses Balak, who was King of Moab in that same time period, instructing him to remain by the sacrificial site. This site lay somewhere near Moab’s territory, east of the Jordan River, in lands characterized by rugged hills and plains. Moab was positioned on the southeastern side of the Dead Sea, a strategic location for travelers and enemy movements. By telling Balak to stand near the burnt offering, Balaam indicated the seriousness of inviting the presence of the LORD, an act demonstrating humility and readiness to heed God’s word.
In “‘…and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you’” (v.3), Balaam displays a measure of devotion and fear of the LORD’s authority. Despite his complicated background—he was not an Israelite, yet he was known to receive revelation from God—Balaam here wants to learn and then faithfully repeat whatever the LORD reveals. This shows that God can move through unexpected people to accomplish His purposes. The idea that the prophet steps away to his own place of solitude on “a bare hill” underscores the pattern of seeking God’s counsel through withdrawal and quiet, a theme repeated throughout Scripture (Luke 5:16). In a broader spiritual sense, it foreshadows how Jesus Himself withdrew to desolate places to commune with His Father (Mark 1:35).
The burnt offering also holds symbolic importance in the Old Testament. Such offerings involved an animal sacrifice consumed entirely by fire, representing surrender and the worshiper’s desire for atonement (Leviticus 1). When “he went to a bare hill” (v.3), Balaam was symbolically moving toward a place of openness, free from the distractions of the crowd and temple-like structures. In this backdrop, God’s voice could be distinctly heard, reminding us of how communication with the Almighty often requires quiet devotion. Balaam’s approach of stepping aside also calls to mind how Jesus taught His disciples to seek their heavenly Father in private (Matthew 6:6), ensuring they rely on God’s word rather than human agendas.
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Numbers 23:3 meaning
When Balaam, a non-Israelite prophet living around the mid-1400s BC, prepared to speak into Balak’s situation, he prefaced his divine inquiry with specific instruction: “Then Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.’ So he went to a bare hill” (v.3). Balaam addresses Balak, who was King of Moab in that same time period, instructing him to remain by the sacrificial site. This site lay somewhere near Moab’s territory, east of the Jordan River, in lands characterized by rugged hills and plains. Moab was positioned on the southeastern side of the Dead Sea, a strategic location for travelers and enemy movements. By telling Balak to stand near the burnt offering, Balaam indicated the seriousness of inviting the presence of the LORD, an act demonstrating humility and readiness to heed God’s word.
In “‘…and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you’” (v.3), Balaam displays a measure of devotion and fear of the LORD’s authority. Despite his complicated background—he was not an Israelite, yet he was known to receive revelation from God—Balaam here wants to learn and then faithfully repeat whatever the LORD reveals. This shows that God can move through unexpected people to accomplish His purposes. The idea that the prophet steps away to his own place of solitude on “a bare hill” underscores the pattern of seeking God’s counsel through withdrawal and quiet, a theme repeated throughout Scripture (Luke 5:16). In a broader spiritual sense, it foreshadows how Jesus Himself withdrew to desolate places to commune with His Father (Mark 1:35).
The burnt offering also holds symbolic importance in the Old Testament. Such offerings involved an animal sacrifice consumed entirely by fire, representing surrender and the worshiper’s desire for atonement (Leviticus 1). When “he went to a bare hill” (v.3), Balaam was symbolically moving toward a place of openness, free from the distractions of the crowd and temple-like structures. In this backdrop, God’s voice could be distinctly heard, reminding us of how communication with the Almighty often requires quiet devotion. Balaam’s approach of stepping aside also calls to mind how Jesus taught His disciples to seek their heavenly Father in private (Matthew 6:6), ensuring they rely on God’s word rather than human agendas.