The Lord God
and Balaam the soothsayer
And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you. And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us. And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.-Numbers 22:9-20***Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) was living in Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, when the Lord God told him to go out from his country and kin and come into the land he would be shown. Abraham journeyed away from Ur with his wife Sarah (Sarai), their father Terah and nephew Lot and began living in Haran, in northern Mesopotamia. Sometime after 205-year-old Terah died in Haran, 75-year-old Abraham, 65-year-old Sarah and Lot journeyed with their servants and possessions to Canaan, land inhabited by idolaters that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham's descendants and childless Abraham. When Abraham was in a deep sleep, the Lord God told Abraham that Abraham's descendants would be afflicted 400 years in a foreign land and the Lord God would judge the nation and Abraham's descendants would come out with great possessions and live in Canaan, and the Lord God made a covenant with Abraham. Ishmael was born to 86-year-old Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's maidservant. Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah. When Isaac was 40 years old, he was married to Rebekah, Abraham and Sarah's grandniece. Fraternal twin son Esau (Edom) Jacob (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was Isaac's favorite, and Jacob was Rebekah's favorite. In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel. During Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began journeying home to Canaan with his family, servants, animals, and possessions. Near Bethlehem, Benjamin was born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel died. When Joseph was 17 years old, his brother sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast. The merchants sold Joseph to Potiphar, an Egyptian official. After Potiphar's wife made a false accusation, Potiphar put Joseph in prison. At least 2 years after Joseph explained the meaning of a dream to the cupbearer who served Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and explained the meaning of a dream to Pharaoh's imprisoned baker, 30-year old Joseph explained the meaning of a dream to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh proclaimed Joseph second-in-command. After the 2nd time that Joseph's brothers were in Egypt during a famine to buy corn (grain), Joseph identified himself to them and told his brothers to move to Egypt with their families, including Jacob. Pharaoh heard about the reunion and expressed his generosity and hospitality. In Beersheba, Jacob offered sacrifices to the Lord God, and the Lord God spoke to 130-year-old Jacob. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons, and the tribe of Joseph became the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt, and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, and 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, their descendants the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born into the tribe of Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to get the Israelites and their animals and go worship the Lord God. Moreover, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to bless him. Before Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur, the Israelites asked for and were given an abundance of valuable goods, fulfilling the words that the Lord God spoke to Abraham. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, and the Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes and laws for the Israelites, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites, and the Israelites said they would obey the words of the Lord God. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai 40 days and nights with the Lord God, the Lord God gave Moses commands about the offering willing Israelites were to bring, and the Lord God described to Moses and showed Moses the likeness of the tabernacle, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the other sacred items the Israelites were commanded to make, and the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron, and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. Meanwhile, the Israelites thought they were abandoned and told Aaron to make gods to lead them. Aaron told the Israelites to bring him their gold earrings, and Aaron made a golden calf that the Israelites worshiped and Moses burned and ground. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron the high priest died. In Jahaz, the Israelites defeated King Sihon, and in Edrei, the Israelites defeated King Og. Sihon and Og were Amorites. King Balak was a Moabite descended from Lot and Lot's oldest daughter and their son Moab. Balak wanted Balaam the soothsayer (diviner) to accept a payment and accompany Moabite officials to Balak's kingdom and put a curse on the Israelites. Balaam told the Moabite officials to spend the night and he would reply according to the will of the Lord God. The Lord God questioned Balaam and told Balaam not to go with the elders and not to curse the blessed Israelites. After Balaam told the officials that he could not go, Balak sent a more prominent group to speak to Balaam. In Shittim, the Israelites engaged in idolatry with the Moabites, action that involved Balaam and the participation of the Midianites, the descendants of Abraham and his 2nd wife Keturah and their son Midian. Before Moses went upon Mount Nebo, and the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses the prophet died, and was divinely buried, the Israelites killed 5 Midianite kings, and Balaam, and the Midianite males, and took the Midianite women and children captive, and killed some of the captives. Approximately 1,400 years after Joshua, Moses' aide and successor from the tribe of Ephraim, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-25:18, 27:12-23, 31:1-54, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26