The Destruction of Amalek and Assyria

Balaam’s final words before leaving Balak, King of Moab, contain curses on Amalek, the Kenites, Asshur and Eber. He evidently knew about a lot of different nations and their dealing in that area.
His first target was Amalek, who was the son of Esau’s son Eliphaz and his concubine Timna. The long hatred of Esau’s children towards the sins of Israel has never been forgotten. Israel had fought against them for generations. King David would later crush the Amalekites, but not before they spread elsewhere. During the time of Esther, it was an Amalekite named Haman who caused the king of Persia to pass a decree to destroy the Jews, which was discovered and he lost his life. Purim commemorates this event. Balaam declared that Amalek’s end would be destruction .

He then turned to the Kenites, a tribe of Midianites that had been traveling with the sons of Israel, but encamped outside the main camp. He told them they would be consumed with fire and held captive by Asshur. This is interesting because the Kenites had a long history of being expert smiths. They worked with fire and metal. They were nomads. Well known Kenites include Heber, husband of Jael who staked Sisera to the ground with a tent peg, and Rechab, whose descendants never drank alcohol. They were taken captive by the Assyrians when the Kingdom of Israel fell in 722 BC.

Then Balaam spoke a truth that even he had to wonder about. ‘Who can live except that God has ordained it?’ Balaam knew that God gave and took life as the Creator. He recognized that he could only do and say what God wanted him to, and that even his own life was in the hands of God. He then spoke of the coming of ships of Kittim (Rome) and the eventual fall of Assyria and Eber, lands to the north of Israel that would fall in the distant future. Assyria would fall. They would come to destruction.

God knows exactly what is going to happen. He tells us the end from the beginning so that we will believe Him when those things come to pass. God brings nations down and raises them up. Perhaps Balaam even knew his own downfall was near at hand for his involvement with this event. He knew he would die, and so would the king of Moab.