THE VISITS OF BALAAM AND MOSES TO MOUNT PISGAH

NUMBERS 22–24; DEUTERONOMY 3:21–4:14; 34:1

Powerful moments in biblical history are often connected with rising terrain. The heights of Moriah witnessed the great test of Abraham (Genesis 22). The flanks of Mount Horeb were the stage for Moses’s call to service (Exodus 3), and its thundering peak was the site of the giving of the law (Exodus 19–20). Despite this conditioning, it is still easy to miss the important yet obscure Mount Pisgah21 at the close of Numbers and Deuteronomy. Two visits to Pisgah by two men, Balaam and Moses, are linked here for a reason.

The Israelites were camped in the plains of Moab, northeast of the Dead Sea, where they were preparing to make war on the Canaanites. But Balak, the king of Moab, was concerned that his cities were at risk, so he hired Balaam to put a curse on Israel (Numbers 22). Balaam could command a fee for such services because his employers believed that he could manipulate God’s will and actions.22 Toward that end, Balak ushered Balaam to various locations, all on or near Mount Pisgah, so that Balaam might fulfill his contracted obligation to curse Israel.

Although Balaam was called to curse the Israelites, he could only bless them again and again, at times using the very words the Lord had spoken to Abram, recalling God’s promise to make his family a great nation (Num. 23:20–21; 24:9; cf. Gen. 12:2–3). Balaam even voiced the ultimate fulfillment of the promises given to Abram as he foresaw the coming Messiah (Num. 24:17). Thus on the heights of Pisgah, as Israel was about to enter Canaan, the Lord showed his authority. For “Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination” (Josh. 13:22) could do nothing but confirm the Lord’s promises.

Aramaic inscription (mid–eighth century BC) mentioning Balaam, son of Beor (Numbers 22–24).
© Dr. James C. Martin. The Amman Archaeological Museum.

Mount Nebo to the lower hill of Mount Pisgah, with the Dead Sea in the background (sunset view looking southwest).

As we turn through the pages of our Bible, it is not long before we glimpse one more individual climbing to the “top of Pisgah”—Moses (Deut. 34:1). His climb was motivated by very different circumstances. Moses would die on the heights of Pisgah and not enter Canaan because of striking the rock in the Wilderness of Zin (Num. 20:11–12). Before this popular leader of Israel died, he was given the opportunity to see the Promised Land. From this viewing platform that rises four thousand feet above the shores of the Dead Sea, Moses was able to see the land. “There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negev, and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar” (Deut. 34:1–3). As the writer of Deuteronomy directs our eyes to these details, he reminds us that this is the very land that the Lord had promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deut. 34:4).

Moses and Balaam traveled to Mount Pisgah for a reason. From there Moses was given the opportunity to bless the Israelites’ entry into the land. And from there Balaam’s intended curse on the Israelites and their entry into the land was turned by God into a blessing. The Lord had promised Abraham that his family would become a great nation and that this nation would come to possess the land of Canaan. From his descendants in this land the Lord’s appointed Rescuer would be born. The first five books of the Bible (sometimes referred to as the Five Books of Moses, the Pentateuch, or the Torah) close as they had opened: our attention is fixed on the promises of rescue—promises that were proclaimed on the summit of Pisgah in the words and experiences of Balaam and Moses.

Mount Nebo and Mount Pisgah

Mount Nebo (view looking north).