Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

Chapter 40
Balaam Tries to Curse Israel
This chapter is based on Numbers 22 to 24.
Preparing to invade Canaan immediately, the Israelites camped
beside the Jordan river above its entrance into the Dead Sea, just
across from the plain of Jericho, on the borders of Moab. The
Moabites had not been harassed by Israel, yet they had watched with
troubled uneasiness everything that had happened in the surrounding
countries. The Amorites, who had forced them to retreat, had been
conquered by the Hebrews. Israel now possessed the territory the
Amorites had taken from Moab. The armies of Bashan had fallen
before the mysterious power hidden in the cloudy pillar, and the
Hebrews occupied the giant strongholds.
The Moabites dared not risk launching an attack, but as
Pharaoh had done, they determined to use magic to counteract the
work of God. The people of Moab had close connections with the
Midianites, and Balak, the king of Moab, gained their cooperation
against Israel by the message, "Now this company will lick up
everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field."
Balaam of Mesopotamia had a reputation of having supernatural
powers, and his fame had reached Moab. So messengers were sent
to get him to use his divinations and enchantments against Israel.
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