Homilies on Numbers 14.1–14.4

Many things remained for us when we were expounding the reading about Balaam and his ass; and since the discourse that is held in church for edification is limited in time, we did not have enough room to set out each word of Scripture and apply an explanation to each one so that nothing at all remained undiscussed, since that kind of style belongs rather to commentaries. Therefore we take up again what seems worth inquiring into, and, discussing it, we shall try to set it out and bring it forward with what explanation we can. There is still a difficulty in explaining the literal account itself: how, when God is said first to have come to Balaam by night and asked who the men were who had come to him, and he answered that they had been sent by Balak son of Zippor, saying, “Come, curse the people for me,” God answered him: “You shall not go with them, nor curse the people, for it is blessed”; and that a second time God is said to have come to him by night and told him to go with them, but to observe this, that he should speak the word God would put in his mouth. And again, the third time, as he was going, an angel of God met him, to whom his journey seemed so far from fitting or opportune that he even wished to kill him, had not the ass, seeing the angel whom Balaam could not see, turned aside. And yet, after he has been blamed by the angel for wishing to go, he is again permitted by him to go, provided only that he keep the word God would put in his mouth and utter this alone and nothing more. All these things, then, are hard to explain; yet in a few words, as we said above, we shall give you an occasion for understanding, so that you too may do what is written: “That on hearing these things the wise may become wiser,” and, “Give an occasion to a wise man, and he will be wiser.” But before we come to the matter, we shall not omit something we observed when attending more closely to this passage. In the letters of the Hebrews the name of God, that is, “God” or “Lord,” is said to be written in different ways. For “God” is written one way when it means any god at all, and another way for God himself, of whom it is said: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God is one God.” This God of Israel, then, the one God and creator of all, is written with a certain sign of letters which among them is called the tetragrammaton. Whenever, then, God is written in the Scriptures under this sign, there is no doubt that it is said of the true God and creator of the world. But when it is written with other, that is, common letters, it is uncertain whether it is said of the true God or of one of those of whom the Apostle says: “For although there are those called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we through him.” Those who read Hebrew letters say, then, that in this passage “God” is not set down under the sign of the tetragrammaton; let whoever can look into this. And as for God's saying to Balaam, as if asking, “Who are these men?”, it is asked why he seems not to know; and again, as for his saying, “You shall not curse the people, for it is blessed,” this can be understood as if he had said: You shall not curse my people.

For our part, meanwhile, we say that by a certain dispensation and wisdom of God all things in this world are so arranged that nothing at all is idle with God, whether it be evil or good. But let us explain more fully what is said. God did not make wickedness; yet, though he could prevent it when it has been invented by others, he does not prevent it, but uses it, through those in whom it is found, for necessary purposes. For through those in whom there is wickedness he makes illustrious and approved those who strive toward the glory of virtues. For if wickedness were destroyed, there would certainly be nothing to oppose virtue; and virtue, if not opposed, would not shine out, nor become more splendid and tested. But virtue untested and unexamined is not virtue. But if these things are said without the testimonies of the divine words, they will seem refined and composed by human art rather than true and beyond doubt. Let us ask, then, whether the divine volumes too contain such a sense. Let us come to Joseph. Take away the wickedness of his brothers, take away the envy, take away that whole fratricidal scheme with which they raged against their brother until they sold him. If you take these away, see how great a dispensation of God you destroy at the same time. For you will at once cut away all those things that were done in Egypt through Joseph for the salvation of all. There would have been no interpretation of Pharaoh's dream if Joseph had not been sold through his brothers' envy and come into Egypt; no one would have understood what God had revealed to the king; no one would have gathered grain in Egypt; no one would have met the necessity of famine with wise provision: Egypt would have perished, and the neighboring regions would have perished by famine. Israel himself too would have perished, and his seed seeking bread, had he not entered Egypt; nor would the sons of Israel have come out of it with the wonders of the Lord. There would nowhere have been the plagues on the Egyptians, nor those mighty works which God did through Moses and Aaron. No one would have walked through the Red Sea with dry feet. Mortal life would not have known the food of manna. No streams of water would have burst from the rock that followed. The law would not have been given by God to men. What is related in Exodus, in Leviticus, and also in Numbers and Deuteronomy would not have come to the knowledge of the human race. Certainly no one would have entered the inheritance of the fathers and the land of promise. And to come to what we have in hand: take away the wickedness of this most wicked King Balak, by which he desires Israel to be cursed; remove his cunning, by which he invited Balaam to devour the people: you will at the same time have taken away God's dispensation toward the sons of Israel and the favor of his providence; nowhere will there be those prophecies which are prophesied through the mouth of Balaam both to the sons of Israel and to the nations. And if you desire these things to be confirmed by testimonies of the New Testament too: if you take away the wickedness of Judas and abolish his betrayal, you will at the same time have taken away the cross of Christ and his passion; and if there is no cross, the principalities and powers are not stripped, nor triumphed over on the wood of the cross. If there had been no death of Christ, there would certainly have been no resurrection either, nor would anyone have arisen as firstborn from the dead. And if there had been no firstborn from the dead, we would have had no hope of resurrection. In a similar way, let us suppose of the devil himself, for example, that he had been constrained by some necessity not to sin, or that after his sin the will to wickedness had been taken from him: then at the same time our contest against the wiles of the devil would also have been taken away, nor would the crown of victory be awaited by the one who had contended lawfully. If we had none to oppose us, there would be no contests, nor would rewards be set for the victors, nor the kingdom of heaven prepared for those who conquer; nor would this momentary and light affliction of ours work for us beyond measure a weight of glory in the future; nor would any of us, for patience in tribulations, hope for the immense glory of the things to come. From all this it is gathered that God uses not only the good for good work but also the evil. And this is truly wonderful, that God uses evil vessels for good work. For in this great house of the world there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor, yet both are necessary. But since these vessels we speak of are to be understood as rational and possessing free choice, it is not by chance or accident that each becomes either a vessel of honor or a vessel of dishonor; but one who has shown himself such as to deserve to be chosen becomes a chosen vessel and a vessel of honor; while one who lives with unworthy and most base thoughts is formed into a vessel of dishonor, not by the Creator but by himself, having given the causes of his dishonor. The Creator, then, did not make them such; but by a just and ineffable reason of his providence he arranges such minds according to their own purpose. As, for example, in great cities, if there are any less worthy men, of hidden and very base life, they are condemned to do the lowest and most laborious works, and yet such works are necessary to the city: for instance, they serve the furnaces of the baths to kindle the fires, so that you may enjoy convenience or pleasure; or they clean the sewers, or do other such things, so that your dwelling in the city may be pleasant. And they either act by their own choice or suffer it by desert; yet their work serves the benefit of those for whom good and useful things are prepared. So too with the things we have set out: God did not make wickedness, yet, finding it in the intent and purpose of those who have turned aside from the right way, he did not wish to take wickedness away entirely, providing this: that even if it was useless to the one who used it, he would nevertheless make it useful to those against whom it was exercised. And therefore we must all flee wickedness, so that it may never be found in us; but in others we must strive to conquer it, not to destroy it; because those too in whom there is wickedness contribute some necessary work to the whole. For nothing is idle, nothing vain with God, since he uses either a man's good purpose for good things or his evil one for necessary things. But you will be more blessed if the whole of this life obtains something good from you through the virtues that are in you, like those of whom the apostle Paul says: “That you may be like lights in this world, holding fast the word of life.” For their glory, then, lights are necessary to this world. And what is so delightful, what so magnificent, as the work of the sun or the moon, by which the world is lighted? Yet the world itself also needs angels who are set over beasts, and angels who preside over earthly armies. It needs angels who preside over the birth of animals, of shrubs and plantings, and over other growths. Again it needs angels who preside over holy works, who teach the understanding of the eternal light, the knowledge of the hidden God, and the science of divine things. See, then, that you do not make yourself be found among those angels who preside over beasts, if you lead a beastly life; or among those who preside over earthly works, if you love bodily and earthly things. But strive rather to be taken into the company of Michael the archangel, who always offers the prayers of the saints to God. And you will be taken into this number, or into this office, if you always persist in prayer and keep watch in it, and fulfill what the Apostle says: “Praying without ceasing.” Or certainly that you may be taken into the company and office of Raphael, who presides over healing: if, when you see someone wounded by sins and pierced by the arrows of the devil, you apply the word of healing and bring the medicine of the word of God, so as to heal the wounds of sin through repentance and to show the medicine of confession. Whoever does such works in this world offers himself to be formed by the Creator in the age to come as a chosen vessel, useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work. But if he does the contrary, he will offer himself to the divine dispensation as a vessel for dishonor. And for this reason I think that the deeds both of the good and of the wicked are written in the divine volumes, and that the divine Scriptures are woven of left-hand and right-hand actions, so that we may understand that with God neither the works of the wicked nor those of the good are idle. But now, after a very long digression, though one necessary to the subject, let us return to our purpose.

This Balaam, as we said above, was a diviner, who sometimes foreknew the future through the ministry of demons and by magic art. He is asked by King Balak to curse the people of Israel; the envoys come, carrying divining instruments in their hands; the nations stand astonished and anxious, waiting to see what Balaam will answer, of whom they were persuaded that he was held worthy of converse with the divine. See now how the wisdom of God made this vessel prepared for dishonor serve the benefit not only of one nation but of almost the whole world; and to him to whom demons used to appear, God appears, forbidding the way of the evil work. Balaam is astounded, and marvels at the authority of the one forbidding him. For evil did not usually displease the demons. But again he sends back the envoys, saying that he cannot do anything except according to the word God gives in his mouth. The envoys return again; again he asks, again he is troublesome, again he desires to hear. For a greedy man does not easily give up rewards. What, then, does he hear from God the second time? “If these men have come to call you,” it says, “rise and go with them.” In this God yields to the will of his greed, so that what is written may be fulfilled: “He let them go after the desires of their hearts; they will walk in their own wills”; yet the counsel of the divine dispensation is fulfilled. For it is said to him: “Whatever word I put in your mouth, that you shall speak.” If Balaam had been worthy, God would have put his word not in his mouth but in his heart. But now, since in his heart was the desire of reward and greed for money, the word of God is put not in his heart but in his mouth. For this was done by a wonderful and great dispensation: since the words of the prophets, which were contained within the court of Israel, could not reach the nations, the secret mysteries about Christ might become known even to the nations through Balaam, in whom all the nations had faith, and he might bring out a great treasure to the nations, carried not so much in heart and mind as in mouth and speech. But not to linger over every detail (for there is not time to resolve everything): Balaam mounted his ass and went on his way; an angel met him, doubtless the one who was with the sons of Israel. He opens the ass's mouth, so that Balaam might be rebuked through it, and he who seemed a diviner and wise man might be refuted by the voice of a dumb beast.

But after this it now seems fitting to touch on something of the allegory too. This Balaam, whose name is interpreted “vain people,” seems to me to bear the role of the scribes and Pharisees of the Jewish people. And Balak, whose name is interpreted “shutting out” or “devouring,” must himself be understood to bear the role of one of the spirits of this world belonging to the opposing power, which desires to shut out and devour Israel: not the one according to the flesh, but the one according to the spirit. This opposing power, then, wishing the spiritual Israel to be blotted out and wholly destroyed, uses no other ministers than the high priests and scribes and Pharisees: them it invites, to them it promises reward and prizes. And they, as this Balaam does, pretend to refer everything to God and to act from zeal for God. For they say: “Search the Scriptures, and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” And again they say: “We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” Through each of these the scribes and Pharisees seem indeed to have zeal for God, but it is feigned. And the ass on which Balaam sat, since the Scripture says, “Men and beasts you will save, O Lord,” can be understood as that part of believers which, either for folly or for innocence, is compared to animals. For so the Apostle too says: “Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you are wise, not many powerful, not many noble; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.” These, then, as the deeds done in parables in the Gospel indicate, were held as it were subject and bound by those most wicked masters, the scribes and Pharisees, but are loosed by the Lord, not indeed by the Lord himself but by his disciples. For he himself says to the disciples: “Go into the village opposite you, and you will find an ass tied, and her colt; untie them and bring them.” Just as in the Gospel it is not the Lord himself but the disciples who untie the ass, so here too the ass's mouth is opened not by him himself but by the angel; and just as in the Gospels those who do not see rebuke those who see, so here too those who were dumb rebuke those who speak. And this is what the Lord said: “Father, I thank you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to little ones.” And it was the scribes and Pharisees who sat on this ass and held it bound. With them, then, the angel is angry; and were it not for a certain foresight of things to come, he would have killed them but saved the ass, which saw and revered him who came into the vineyard and stands among the vineyards. Yet it pressed the feet of the one sitting on it against the wall; and therefore perhaps that ancient rider of it cannot walk, nor come to him who says: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened.” But the ass comes, brought by the disciples; and on her on whom Balaam, greedy for reward, then sat, Jesus now sits. And do not wonder if you see the one we said bears the figure of the scribes and teachers of the people prophesying about Christ. For we read that Caiaphas too did this, who said: “It is expedient for you that one man should perish for the whole people.” “But this,” it says, “he prophesied, being high priest that year.” Balaam too, then, prophesies about Christ; and therefore let no one be puffed up even if he prophesies, even if he is granted foreknowledge; but let him return to the saying of the Apostle, who, looking to these things, says: “Whether prophecies, they will be done away; whether tongues, they will cease; whether knowledge, it will be destroyed.” And what is it, then, that remains? “Faith,” he says, “hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.” And love alone, he says, is what never fails. Therefore above prophecy, above knowledge, above faith, above even martyrdom itself, as Paul teaches, love is to be held and love cultivated: because God too is love, and Christ his Son is love, who deigns to grant us the perfection of love. To him be glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen.