Numbers 22:3
And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.
Israel, returning from the conquest of Bashan, had moved forward and encamped in the plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan by Jericho, beside the Jordan above the Dead Sea opposite Jericho on the very borders of Moab. Balak son of Zippor, king of the Moabites, saw that Israel abiding over against him was a many and powerful people. All Moab was exceedingly terrified and in trouble, sore afraid, filled with terror, and distressed because Israel was many.
The fear came from Israel's close proximity and from watching surrounding nations fall, though Israel had not molested Moab. Moab had learned that Israel had destroyed the Amorites and taken possession of their land. The Amorites before whom Moab had been forced to retreat had been conquered by the Hebrews, and territory the Amorites had taken from Moab was now in Israel's possession, and the hosts of Bashan had yielded to the mysterious power in the cloudy pillar with their giant strongholds now occupied by the Hebrews.
Moab dared not risk attack because armed resistance was hopeless against the supernatural agencies working for Israel, so like Pharaoh they determined to enlist sorcery to counteract God's work and bring a curse upon Israel. In that vain hope Balak kept conducting Balaam from one point to another to turn Israel's blessing into a curse. Fear-driven pressure seeks compromise and a curse, but the effort is vain and fails, because human applause and the fear of man are powerless to shake one who is firm as a rock and sustained by divine power.