NOTES for Num 24:15-17
The Lord grants Balaam an astonishing vision. “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near.” Balaam sees not simply God at a distance—he sees Him on His way. He is not yet near; He has not yet come. Balaam hears Him and sees Him from afar, but understands that His coming is still a foreseeing, a prophecy, and not an accomplished fact. During these days of Advent, of preparation for the Nativity, the Church reminds us that God was not always so close to His people. Only the birth of Jesus changed the situation. And now, as it were together with Old Testament Israel and the prophets, we await Him, looking from afar as He draws near to us.