Numbers 24:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Every preacher must constantly reflect with deep seriousness that while he is charged with the task of guiding the wayward, he must guard against becoming ensnared in wrongdoing himself. He should remember the words of Paul: ‘By it you judge your friend, by it you condemn yourself (Rom. 2:1).’ Consequently, Balaam, though endowed with the Spirit of God for proclamation yet constrained by his own fleshly desires, acknowledges: ‘He who hears the words of God, knows the skill of the Highest, and perceives God's vision in a dream, collapses, yet his eyes are opened.’ The one who fell had his eyes opened; he recognized that he ought to proclaim the truth, but he chose to ignore the life of righteousness. He is the one who succumbed to iniquity, and yet was granted insight through his holy message.

Balaam commences his fourth oracle in a manner similar to the third, expressing the fervor of his prophetic insight. He proclaims, “He who listens to the words of God, who receives a revelation from the Most High, who perceives the visions of the Almighty, prostrates himself in prophetic ecstasy, yet his eyes are wide open to what lies ahead.”