Here we have Israel singled out, and partitioned off to be a separated and peculiar people—a people who, according to the divine thought concerning them, were never, at any time, on any ground, or for any object whatsoever, to be mingled with or reckoned amongst the nations. “The people shall dwell _alone_.” This is distinct and emphatic. It is true of the literal seed of Abraham, and true of all believers now. Immense practical results flow out of this great principle. God’s people are to be separated unto Him, not on the ground of being better than others, but simply on the ground of what God is, and what He would ever have His people to be. We shall not pursue this point further just now; but the reader would do well to examine it thoroughly in the light of the divine Word. “_The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations._” (Chap. xxiii. 8, 9.) But if Jehovah, in His sovereign grace, is pleased to link Himself with a people; if He calls them out to be a separate people in the world—to “dwell alone,” and shine for Him in the midst of those who are still “sitting in darkness and the shadow of death,” He can only have them in such a condition as suits Himself. He must make them such as He would have them to be—such as shall be to the praise of His great and glorious name. Hence, in the second parable, the prophet is made to tell out, not merely the negative, but the positive condition of the people. “And he took up his parable and said, ‘Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless; and _He hath blessed;_ and I _cannot_ reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath _God wrought_! [not, What hath Israel wrought!] 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.’” (Chap. xxiii. 18-24.) Here we find ourselves on truly elevated ground, and on ground as solid as it is elevated. This is, in truth, “the top of the rocks”—the pure air and wide range of “the hills,” where the people of God are seen only in “the vision of the Almighty”—seen as He sees them, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing—all their deformities hidden from view—all His comeliness seen upon them.