Homilies on Numbers 13.1–13.8

[On what remained from the previous treatment, and on Balaam and his ass.] Yesterday we said how Sihon king of the Amorites, who is “proud” and an “unfruitful tree,” engaged Israel and was defeated; … whence the Scripture too carefully says that he fell by the slaughter of the sword, or, as we read elsewhere, by the mouth of the sword. But if you wish to know more carefully by what sword this unfruitful one, proud as a cedar of Lebanon, fell, let us learn from the apostle Paul, who says: “For the word of God is living and effective, and more piercing than any sword.” And again elsewhere: “And the sword of the Spirit,” he says, “which is the word of God.” By the slaughter of this sword, then, the spiritual Sihon, who is the devil, fell. After this is added: “And the sons of Israel,” it says, “took possession of all his land.” All this earthly region is indeed called the land of Sihon; but Christ and his church rule over all the land of Sihon. “And they took possession from the Arnon to the Jabbok.” Arnon and Jabbok were cities of King Sihon; the beginning of his kingdom was Arnon, and the end Jabbok; and therefore it is said that they took possession from the Arnon to the Jabbok. Arnon is interpreted “their curses.” For the beginning of the kingdom of this proud and unfruitful Sihon is curses. And the end is Jabbok, which is interpreted “wrestling.” For everyone who wishes to leave the kingdom of the devil and escape his borders must meet a wrestling, and contests will be stirred up against him by the devil's ministers and attendants. But if he has wrestled and conquered, Jabbok will no longer be a city of Sihon but a city of Israel. For this is no doubt what we read of the patriarch Jacob too: when he had come to a certain place, a wrestling was prepared for him; and there, having wrestled all night, when he had prevailed and grown strong with God, his name was called Israel. “And Israel took,” it says, “all these cities, and dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites.” This Israel, which is Israel in Christ, which is not Israel in the flesh, nor a Jew outwardly, dwells in all the cities of the Amorites, as the churches of Christ spread throughout the whole world. And each of us was formerly a city of the proud king; for folly, pride, impiety, and everything that is on the devil's side reigned in us; but when the strong man was conquered and overcome and his goods plundered, we became a city of Israel and the inheritance of the saints; provided that the power which formerly ruled us has been wholly cut off in us, and the unfruitful tree cut down, and the proud king cast down, and we are under that king who says: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” After this he lists one by one the cities of the proud and unfruitful king, and says: “In Heshbon and in all its borders.” Why did he name Heshbon as the chief city of Sihon's kingdom? Heshbon is interpreted “thoughts.” Rightly, then, the greatest part of the devil's kingdom and the greatest part of his power reigns in thoughts. For so the Lord too said that “from the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, thefts, false witness, blasphemies; and these are what defile a man.” And therefore this city is necessarily set on fire and burned up with fire. With what fire? Surely that of which the Saviour says: “I came to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish it were kindled!”

A little after, it is related of this city: “Therefore,” it says, “the riddle-speakers will say: Come to Heshbon, that the city of Sihon may be built and established; for fire went out from Heshbon, and a flame from the city of Sihon devoured as far as Moab.” Sihon, as we said, was the king whose city Heshbon was. So the order of the words is to be understood as if these riddle-speakers said: Come, that Heshbon, which was the city of Sihon, may be built and established. But let us ask now who these riddle-speakers are. A riddle is figurative speech; so riddle-speakers are those who speak figuratively. And who else has spoken in figures but the law and the prophets? For hear how David says: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter propositions from the beginning of the world.” And Isaiah too declares that what he wrote are riddles, in this way: “And the words of this book,” he says, “will be like the words of a sealed book; if they give it into the hands of a man who does not know letters and say to him, Read, he will say, I do not know letters. And if they give it to one who knows letters, he will say, I cannot read it, for it is sealed.” A book is said to be sealed because it is entangled with figures and wrapped in riddles. These riddle-speakers, then, say: “Come to Heshbon, that it may be built.” That first Heshbon has fallen, indeed has been overthrown and burned; another must be rebuilt. But let us show how this happens by taking an example. If you see a Gentile set in a disgraceful life and in the error of religion, do not hesitate to say of him that this is Heshbon, a city in the kingdom of King Sihon. For the unfruitful and proud king reigns in his thoughts. If Israel, that is, a son of the church, approaches him and applies the darts of the word of God and draws against him the sword of the Spirit, destroys in him all the fortifications of Gentile doctrines and burns up the haughtiness of his arguments with the fire of truth, say of him that Heshbon, the city of Sihon, has been overthrown. But the one in whom the doctrines of the Gentiles have been overthrown is not at once left deserted and destitute. For it is not the practice of the sons of Israel to leave destroyed the cities they have destroyed; but when they have undermined and overturned the evil thoughts and impious notions in a man, they will rebuild in the heart of the one they destroyed good thoughts and pious notions; they will plant the teaching of truth, hand on the rite of religion, teach a rule of life, and show him uprightness of conduct and the ordinances of observance. And then these riddle-speakers will truly say to one another: Come, and let us build Heshbon, which was the city of Sihon. For they too, that is, the sons of the church, are called riddle-speakers because they understand spiritually the figures and riddles of the law. This is what Jeremiah too indicates no less in figurative speech, where the Lord says to him: “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth; behold, I have set you today over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and to overthrow, and to rebuild and to replant.” What does he uproot and what does he overthrow? The city of Heshbon, which belonged to King Sihon. What does he uproot in it and what does he overthrow? Impious and impure thoughts. What does he rebuild in it and what does he replant? Pious and chaste thoughts, so that Heshbon becomes a city not of the Amorites but of the sons of Israel.

But if we wish to pursue each detail, we shall be shut out from discussing what has been read to us about Balaam, a reading of such difficulty that we can scarcely manage to explain the reasoning and sequence of the literal account itself. How great a difficulty, then, will we have in explaining the spiritual meanings, if the very first face of the letter is wrapped in such difficulties? But although desire carries us toward discussing the more obscure things, still the things related in between are not to be omitted altogether. For after the sons of Israel had taken the cities of the Amorites, they also went up by the road that leads to Bashan, where Og was king of Bashan; but to him they do not deign either to send envoys or to ask him to let them pass through his land; instead they fight with him at once and defeat both him and his people. Let us see, then, what Bashan is. Bashan is interpreted “shamefulness”; rightly, then, no envoys are sent to this nation, nor is passage through its land requested. For we must have no passage, no access to shamefulness; it must be fought from the very beginning and avoided in every way. And Og, who is said to be king of Bashan, is interpreted “shutting in.” He can bear the figure of all fleshly and material things, held by the love and desire of which the soul is shut out and separated from God. Against Og, then, war is commanded to be waged in such a way that “you shall leave none of them alive,” it says. For the sons of Israel must leave no one alive in the kingdom of shamefulness and disgrace. And it befits Israelite virtue to cut out and cut away shameful things, and to rebuild in the soul all that is pious, and to plant what is honorable and religious. Of the kingdom of Sihon it is not written that no one should be left alive, nor of the kingdom of Moab. For perhaps we have need of some of them, and need some of them for the contests and exercises of this life; otherwise we would have had to go out of this world. But of Bashan, that is, of shamefulness, we need nothing at all; let us leave nothing of it; all the works of shamefulness must be cut off and overturned. For what is shameful can in no case be honorable.

“And the sons of Israel set out from there and encamped west of Moab beside the Jordan opposite Jericho. And when Balak son of Zippor saw,” and so on. All that is written about Balaam and his ass is a literal account full of difficulties; and the inner understanding is much more difficult, and I do not know whether it is easy even to explain the literal statements alone. Yet, God granting, we shall touch briefly on what we can. War threatens you, O king Balak, son of Zippor: six hundred thousand armed men are rushing on your borders. You ought to prepare arms, gather an army, plan the ordering of battle, so as to meet the enemy, equipped with arms, while he is still far off. But you send to Balaam the diviner, and send many gifts, and promise greater ones, and say: “Come, curse for me the people that came out of Egypt.” But Balaam, as Scripture teaches, referred these things to God, by whom he is also forbidden to come. And again the king sends envoys and, neglecting arms, places all his hope in Balaam, that he may come and bring words and hurl curses at the people instead of weapons, in case perhaps the people whom the king's army could not overcome might be conquered by the words of Balaam. What consistency does this account have? What counsel does it conceal? Where or when has it been heard that any king, with battle threatening him, abandoned arms and neglected his army and took refuge in the words of some diviner or soothsayer? Hence we must again and again entreat the grace of God, that we may be able to explain these things not with fabulous and Jewish narratives but with meanings that are rational and worthy of the divine law. First of all, then, it must be admitted that in some matters words can do more and avail more than bodies: because what the armies of many nations could not accomplish, what could not be obtained by iron and arms, is accomplished by words; and I do not mean holy words or words of God, but certain words that are current among men, which I do not know how to name; yet they are composed in a useless art, and let that art be called by whatever name anyone likes. There is, then, as I said, among men a certain work which is accomplished by words. And what work is such that it cannot be accomplished even by great bodily strength? For example, there were enchanters and magicians in Egypt. Who among men can by strength of body change a rod into a serpent, which is related to have been done by them? Or who can turn water into blood by bodily strength? Yet the enchanters and magicians of the Egyptians did this. For Moses had done these things first; but because the king of Egypt knew that these things could be done by a certain art of words that is current among men, he thought that Moses too had done them not by the power of God but by magic art, and was pretending that what he had done by human art had been done by the power of God. He at once summons the enchanters and magicians of the Egyptians. He makes a contest between the one who worked by the power of God and those who invoked demons. And the opposing power likewise makes a rod a serpent, as the power of God had done; but the serpent made by the power of God swallowed up and devoured all those serpents that had been turned from rods into serpents by magic art. For the demonic power could not restore to good the evil it had made out of good. It could make a serpent out of a rod, but could not make the rod again out of the serpent; and therefore they are all consumed by the rod that had been turned into a serpent by the power of God. And afterwards it is restored to its own nature by divine power, so that it might confess the Lord of nature. The enchanters of the Egyptians caused the waters to be turned into blood, but they could not turn the blood back into water; but the power of God turned not water only but the whole river into blood, and again, at Moses' prayer, restored it to clear and natural streams. And again, the magicians of the Egyptians produced gnats, but they could not drive them away. But Moses produced gnats and drove them away. For our God causes destruction and restores again; but the opposing power can indeed do some evil, but cannot restore to wholeness. We have set out all these things first so that we may be able to understand the works of Balaam, or his words. For there are differences among magicians too: some are more powerful, others less. This Balaam was most famous in magic art and very powerful in harmful spells. For he did not have the power or art of words for blessing, but he had it for cursing. For demons are invited for cursing, not for blessing. And therefore, as one experienced in such things, he had a reputation among all who were in the East. For unless many proofs of his had gone before, that he had often turned back an armed enemy with curses, the king would certainly not have presumed that this could be done by words, which could scarcely be accomplished with iron and the battle line. Balak, then, being sure of this and having often tested it, set aside all instruments and aids of war and sends envoys to him, saying: “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt and covered the face of the earth, and it is settled near me.” But I think something more moved the king; for he seems to have heard that the sons of Israel usually conquer enemies by prayer, not by arms, and not so much by iron as by entreaties. For Israel moved no arms against Pharaoh, but it was said to them: “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall be silent.” Nor indeed against the Amalekites did the force of arms avail as much as the prayer of Moses. For when Moses raised his hands to God, Amalek was conquered; but when they were lowered and let fall, they made Israel be conquered. These things Balak king of Moab had surely heard. For it is written: “The nations heard and were angry; pains seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom hastened, and the princes of the Moabites, trembling seized them.” You see that what Moses had foretold in the song when they crossed the Red Sea reached them. The king of Moab, then, had heard that this people conquers by prayers and fights against enemies with the mouth, not with the sword, and doubtless he thought within himself, saying: Since no arms can be matched against the prayers and entreaties of this people, I too must seek some such prayers and such weapons of words, prayers that can overcome their prayers.

So that you may know that the king thought something of this kind, understand it from the words of Scripture, which I learned as they were explained by a certain teacher who had come to faith from among the Hebrews. It is written, then: “Moab [said] to the elders of Midian: Now this congregation will lick up all who are around us, as a calf licks up the grass of the field.” That teacher, who had come to faith from among the Hebrews, said: Why, he said, did he use such an example, saying, “as a calf licks up the grass of the field”? No doubt for this reason, that a calf breaks off the grass from the field with its mouth and cuts whatever it finds with its tongue as with a sickle. So too this people, like a calf, fights with mouth and lips, and has its weapons in words and prayers. Knowing this, then, the king sends to Balaam, so that he too might bring contrary words against words and prayers against prayers. And do not wonder if there is something of this kind in the magic art; for the Scripture too indicates that this art exists, but forbids its use. For the Scripture also indicates that demons exist, but forbids that they be worshipped and entreated. Rightly, then, it also forbids the use of magic, because the ministers of magicians are fugitive angels, evil spirits, and unclean demons. For none of the holy spirits obeys a magician. A magician cannot invoke Michael, cannot invoke Raphael or Gabriel; much less can a magician invoke the almighty God, or his Son our Lord Jesus Christ, or his Holy Spirit. We alone have received the power to invoke God the Father. We alone have the power to invoke his only-begotten, Christ. But this is what I say: one who has already received the power to invoke Christ cannot invoke demons again; and one who has been made a partaker of the Holy Spirit ought no longer to approach unclean spirits. For if he invokes unclean spirits, the Holy Spirit flees from him. Magicians are those who invoke Beelzebul. That people knew this, indeed, and therefore, lying against my Lord Jesus and speaking falsely, they said: “This man casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.” And the Saviour, knowing that it is true that Beelzebul is the prince of demons, did not convict them of a lie on this point, but answered them: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?” Hence it is clear that there are certain evil demons who, when invoked by magicians, are present to them for evil, not for good. For they are ready to do harm, but do not know how to do good. These demons, then, had by a certain art and composition of words yielded, so to speak, to Balaam's friendship; and relying on their friendship he seemed great among men. For this reason, then, the king sends to him and says: “Come now, and curse this people for me, because it is stronger than we are, in case we can perhaps strike some of them and cast them out of the land.” It seems to me that this king did not wholly trust Balaam the diviner, being, I believe, terrified by hearing of the great mighty works done among the people of God; and therefore he says, “in case perhaps” Balaam's curses might prevail so far that he could strike some of them, and put the rest to flight in terror and drive them from his land.

He adds besides: “For I know,” he says, “that those whom you bless will be blessed, and those whom you curse will be cursed.” I do not believe the king knew that whomever Balaam blessed would be blessed; but he seems to me to say this for the sake of flattery, so that by praising and exalting his art he might make him readier for the crime. For the magic art does not know how to bless, because neither do the demons know how to do good. Isaac and Jacob and all the saints know how to bless; none of the ungodly knows how to bless. But at last the envoys come to Balaam. “So they came,” it says, “the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, with the instruments of divination in their hands.” Among those arts of divination which human curiosity has composed there are certain things which Scripture has named divining instruments, while Gentile custom calls them tripods, or cauldrons, or by other names of this kind; these, as if consecrated for this very purpose, are usually moved and handled by them. The divine Scripture indeed names in the prophets a certain ephod, in its native language, which they say is a garment of those who prophesy. Yet in the divine Scriptures prophecy is one thing and divination another. For it says: “There will be no augury in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In due time it will be told to Jacob and Israel what God will do.” Divination, then, is wholly rejected; for it is accomplished by the work and ministry of demons, as we have already said above. So Balaam, having received the divining instruments, when the demons usually came to him, sees the demons put to flight, but God present. And therefore he says that he is asking God, because he nowhere sees the demons that used to obey him. So God himself came to Balaam, not because he was worthy that God should come to him, but so that those who were accustomed to be present for cursing and harming might be put to flight. For already from this point God was providing for his people. He is present, then, and God says to him: “Why have these men come to you?” And Balaam said to God: “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them to me, saying: Behold, a people has come out of Egypt and covered the face of the earth, and it is settled near me. Come now, then, and curse it for me, in case we can perhaps strike it and cast it out.” And God said to Balaam: “Do not go with them, nor curse the people, for it is blessed.”

A deeper question arises here, and I do not know whether it is fitting to lay bare a matter of so profound a mystery and bring it out before the crowds, and such crowds as come to hear the word of God only on a few days and at once depart, and do not linger long in meditation on the word of God; yet for those who are studious, and know how to listen, and can grasp the spiritual sense, we shall say a few things out of many. Something like this, then, can be objected: Let Balaam invoke demons, let him curse the people, let the invoked demons do what they can: can God not defend his people from the demons and destroy their power to do harm? What need, then, was there for him to come to Balaam himself and prevent the usual demons from approaching, so that they would not even try or attempt to harm his people? To this, though not everything that may occur to one should be brought forward, we shall nevertheless say in part that God does not wish to condemn the race of demons before the time. For the demons themselves know that their time comprises this present age. For this reason, indeed, they begged the Lord not to torment them before the time nor to send them into the abyss. And for this reason he has not removed the devil from the rule of this age either, because his work is still needed for the perfection of those who are to be crowned; his work is still needed for the exercise of contests and the victories of the blessed. So too he does not wish to drag the other demons by force from the intent of their purpose before the time; and therefore from the beginning he did not allow them to be invoked through Balaam, lest, if invoked, they be destroyed before the time and perish while God defended his people. For it is one thing if a demon waits for someone from God to tempt, like Job, and receives power over him with a definite limit: for example, that it be said to him, “I give you all that is his in your power, but do not touch him”; or again, “I give you power over him, but guard his life.” And it is another thing if, at a magician's demand and extorted by certain adjurations, demons rage without any restraint. In this case, if the freedom of choice were preserved for them, they would destroy the people of God. But if the freedom of choice were taken away, this would be to condemn a rational creature and to bring judgment before the time, and to hinder all who, struggling against them in the contest, could be crowned. For if freedom of choice is taken from the demons, no one will any longer attack the athletes of Christ; and with no one attacking, there will be no contest either; and with the contest removed, there will be no prize, no victory. For this reason, then, God uses such a way: that the people, still untrained and only recently beginning to be drawn away from the worship of demons, should not be handed over to demons; that answers should be given when the magician invoked; and that the race of demons should not be stripped of the power of choice. And therefore God anticipates and forbids Balaam to go and to invoke demons for cursing, in case he might also cease from his greed. But because he persists in his desire for money, God, indulging the freedom of choice, again permits him to go. Yet he puts his own word in his mouth, forbidding the curse to be made through demons, so as to give place to blessings, and so that instead of curses Balaam might utter blessings and prophecies which can edify not only Israel but the other nations too. For if his prophecies were inserted by Moses into the sacred volumes, how much more were they written down by those who then lived in Mesopotamia, among whom Balaam was held in high regard, and who are known to have been disciples of his art? Indeed it is said that from him the race and institution of the magi flourished in the regions of the East; and they, having written down among themselves all that Balaam had prophesied, also had this written: that “a star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall rise up out of Israel.” The magi had these things written among themselves, and therefore, when Jesus was born, they recognized the star and understood that the prophecy was being fulfilled, more than the people of Israel did, who disdained to hear the words of the holy prophets. They, then, recognizing from those things alone which Balaam had left in writing that the time was at hand, came, and seeking him at once worshipped him; and to declare that their faith was great, they venerated a little child as a king.

But let us return to our subject. Balaam is troublesome to God, and almost extorts permission to go to curse the sons of Israel and to invoke demons, he to whom God had already come. He mounts the ass; an angel meets him, who was keeping watch for Israel, of whom it is written, the Lord saying to Moses: “My angel will go with you.” Since he asks to go, then, it is granted; on the road he is crushed by the ass; but the magician sees demons and does not see the angel, while the ass does see him. Not that it was worthy to see the angel, just as it was not worthy to speak either, but so that Balaam might be refuted; and, as Scripture says in a certain place, “a dumb beast, answering with a human voice, rebuked the madness of the prophet.” But since much has already been said about the literal account, let us also touch briefly on something of the allegory at the end. If you see an opposing power attacking the people of God, you understand who it is that sits on the ass. And if you consider how men are driven headlong by demons, you understand what the ass is. So too in the Gospel you will understand Jesus sending his disciples to the ass that was tied, and to its colt, that the disciples might loose it and bring it, so that he himself might sit on it. And perhaps this ass, that is, the church, formerly carried Balaam, but now carries Christ, since it was loosed by the disciples and released from the bonds in which it was tied, so that the Son of God might sit on it and with it enter the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the Scripture be fulfilled which says: “Rejoice, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your king comes to you, gentle, sitting on a beast of burden.” By “beast of burden,” that is, the ass, it doubtless means the believers from the Jews; and by “the young colt,” surely those from the Gentiles who believe in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen.