Scripture Daily

Context No. 1372 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 24:1-9: in context

1When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to use divination, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him. 3He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says; 4he says, who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, and having his eyes open: 5How goodly are your tents, Jacob, and your dwellings, Israel! 6As valleys they are spread out, as gardens by the riverside, as aloes which the LORD has planted, as cedar trees beside the waters. 7Water shall flow from his buckets. His seed shall be in many waters. His king shall be higher than Agag. His kingdom shall be exalted. 8God brings him out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. He shall consume the nations his adversaries, shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them with his arrows. 9He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed.”

Balaam has been hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel, but three times now the curse has turned to blessing in his mouth. This third time, seeing that it pleases the LORD to bless Israel, he does not even resort to his usual omens; he simply sets his face toward the wilderness where Israel is encamped, and the Spirit of God comes upon him. He looks out over the tribes spread below and speaks: how lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel, like valleys spread out, like gardens beside a river, like cedars beside the waters. And he ends with the ancient word: those who bless you are blessed, and those who curse you are cursed.

The wonder of this scene is that a man hired and paid to curse Israel cannot do anything but bless them. Balak brought Balaam out again and again, expecting a curse for his money, and every time the words that came were blessing, because the blessing God had placed on his people could not be reversed by any human curse, however much someone was paid to pronounce it. What God has blessed, no one can curse. There is real comfort in that for those who belong to God. We may feel the ill will of others, the words spoken against us, the curses muttered or shouted by people who wish us harm; but if God has set his blessing on us, no human curse can undo it. The malice of others, their attempts to speak evil over our lives, cannot overturn what God has decreed. Balaam, looking for a way to earn his fee, found that the blessing was simply immovable; the Spirit of God turned his intended curse into words of blessing and beauty over Israel. Those who are God's are held by a blessing stronger than any curse, and the hostility of others, real as it is, cannot finally reach the security of the one God has determined to bless.

When others wish me ill and speak against me, can I rest in the truth that no human curse can undo what God has blessed, that the malice of others cannot overturn the security of the one God has set his blessing upon?

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