And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.
Balak slaughtered oxen and sheep to feast Balaam and the princes accompanying him, and while supplying that hospitality he led Balaam from point to point in renewed attempts to get him to turn Israel's blessing into a curse. The entertaining was not mere courtesy but part of a deliberate strategy of repeated persuasion carried on through movement to new locations. Familiar intercourse, generous hospitality, human applause, and mounting pressure were all brought to bear in vain upon a man upheld by divine power.
Such efforts fail because steadfastness of that kind rests upon the word of the Lord and cannot be shaken by either the favor or the fear of man. No amount of flattery or intimidation can move one who is sustained by God from the decision that His word requires.
Balak slaughtered oxen and sheep to feast Balaam and the princes accompanying him, and while supplying that hospitality he led Balaam from point to point in renewed attempts to get him to turn Israel's blessing into a curse. The entertaining was not mere courtesy but part of a deliberate strategy of repeated persuasion carried on through movement to new locations. Familiar intercourse, generous hospitality, human applause, and mounting pressure were all brought to bear in vain upon a man upheld by divine power.
Such efforts fail because steadfastness of that kind rests upon the word of the Lord and cannot be shaken by either the favor or the fear of man. No amount of flattery or intimidation can move one who is sustained by God from the decision that His word requires.