Aliya Summary: Before leaving, Bilaam prophesies about the end of
days: "I see it, but not now; I behold it, but not soon. A star has gone
forth from Jacob, and a staff will arise from Israel which will crush
the princes of Moab and uproot all the sons of Seth..." He also speaks
about the eventual destruction of Esav, Amalek and Assyria. Following
Bilaam's unsuccessful attempt to curse the Jewish nation, Moabite and
Midianite women seduce many Jewish men. In the course of their
seduction, they also entice the Jewish man to worship the Baal Peor
deity. G‑d commands Mohss to execute the guilty people, and
simultaneously a lethal plague erupts amongst the Jews. A Jewish leader,
Zimri, publicly displays the Midianite princess with whom he was
consorting. Phinehas, Aaron's grandson, kills them both, and the plague
is halted.
Passuk (verse) 14 says "I'm leaving... but
I'll advise you of what will happen to your people" (they'll be
destroyed). Telling Balak that his people will be destroyed doesn't seem
like advice at all. What he could have been telling him was that
although you're ultimately doomed to fail and lose, if you want to
succeed temporarily, baiting the Jews into immorality would work, and it
did. Why tell him he's doomed to fail? I think Passuk 25 tells it all:
"Bilaam got up, left, went home, and Balak went on his way". Balak going
on his way sounds like he continued on his original path of attempting
to destroy the Jews, regardless of his previous and now FUTURE failures.
Truly a lost cause.
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