Behold, The People Shall Rise Up as a Great Lion

This is a religious conflict. Once you understand that, everything falls into place.

And the Lord met Bil῾am, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go back to Balaq, and say thus.

And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Mo᾽av with him. And Balaq said to him, What has the Lord spoken?

And he took up his discourse, and said, Rise up, Balaq and hear; hearken to me, thou son of Żippor:

God is not a man, that he should lie; nor the son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not perform? or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Behold, I am bidden to bless: and he has blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

He has not beheld iniquity in Ya῾aqov nor has he seen perverseness in Yisra᾽el: the Lord his God is with him, and the trumpet blast of a king is among them.

God who brought them out of Miżrayim; he has as it were the strength of a wild ox.

Surely there is no enchantment in Ya῾aqov, nor is there any divination in Yisra᾽el: in due time Ya῾aqov and Yisra᾽el are told what God has performed.

Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

(Numbers 23:16-24)

This is the source of the operational name given to Israel’s attack on Iran. This mercenary prophet, Bil’am, was hired to curse Israel. He tried, but his curses were converted to blessings by divine intervention. On his next attempt, Bil’am’s prophecy resonates with contemporary significance:

And he took up his discourse, and said, The speech of Bil῾am the son Be῾or, and the speech of the man whose eyes are open:

the saying of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, but having his eyes open:

how goodly are thy tents, O, Ya῾aqov, and thy tabernacles, O Yisra᾽el!

like the winding brooks, like gardens by the river’s side, like aloes which the Lord has planted, and cedar trees beside the waters.

He shall pour the water out of his buckets, moistening his seed plentifully, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

God brought him out of Miżrayim: he has as it were the strength of a wild ox: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.

He couched, he lay down like a lion, and like a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesses thee, and cursed is he that curses thee. (Numbers 24:3-9)