Oh, if all this is not poor human
nature, drawn by the pen of a truly inspired writer, what is it?
Moreover, it is curious to watch how as Balaam is forced step by
step to be an honest man, so step by step he rises. A weight falls
off his mind and heart, and the Spirit of God comes upon him.
He feels for once that he must speak his mind, that he must obey
God. As he looks down from off the mountain top, and sees the vast
encampment of the Israelites spread over the vale below, for miles
and miles, as far as the eye can see, all ordered, disciplined,
arranged according to their tribes, the Spirit of God comes upon
him, and he gives way to it and speaks.
The sight of that magnificent array wakens up in him the thought of
how divine is older, how strong is order, how order is the life and
root of a nation, and how much more, when that order is the order of
God.
'How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!
As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's
side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as
cedar trees beside the waters. His king shall be higher than Agag,'
and all his wild Amalekite hordes.
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