[Numbers 23] Rising Above Man’s Curse. In this chapter, the prophet Balaam continues to work with Balak to curse God’s people. Balaam had an accurate gift but a wrong motivation. He attempts to curse the people but finds that it isn’t possible to condemn that which God has blessed. Balak tries several times to sacrifice and humble himself to God to get God to work against Israel, but it doesn’t work. Your enemies are never so humble and spiritual as when they are seeking to do you wrong. The key to overcome when others are working against us spiritually is to seek the kingdom and refuse to be distracted.
[Num 23:1-30 KJV] 1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. 2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on [every] altar a bullock and a ram. 3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place. 4 And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon [every] altar a bullock and a ram. 5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. 6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab. 7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, [saying], Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. 8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, [whom] the LORD hath not defied? 9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth [part] of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! 11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed [them] altogether. 12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth? 13 And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. 14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on [every] altar. 15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet [the LORD] yonder. 16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus. 17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken? 18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: 19 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? 20 Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. 21 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. 22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. 23 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! 24 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. 25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do? 27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence. 28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon. 29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on [every] altar.
Balaam continues to work with Israel’s enemies despite a clear warning from God. It is interesting that although he is considered a false prophet, he still gives an unambiguous word of blessing over the people of God. There is integrity in Balaam even when Balak is furious that he cannot coerce Balaam into cursing the nation of Israel outright. You would think that God would abandon Balaam or that the spirit of prophecy would leave him, but that is not the case. The spirit of prophecy, once released, very much involves the will of the recipient and the will of the prophet. God told me one time, “if you say it, I will do it – if you do not say it, I will not do it.” That is a weighty responsibility that can affect you and the people you are involved with in unexpected ways.
Notice in this passage that Israel’s enemies sacrifice to God even though they realize God is not willing to curse the people. Your enemies are never so humble and spiritual as when they are determined to do you harm. This can be misleading and confusing if you are not cautious. The worst kind of rebel is a sweet rebel with a victim mentality.
Notice in v. 8 the reference stating “who can curse what God has not cursed”? We often put far too much credence in a superstitious way on the cursing of our enemies. They have no power over you when you are walking in God’s blessing. Galatians 5:20 says that witchcraft is a work of the flesh. If you are not in the flesh, witchcraft cannot touch you. What is witchcraft? It is the willfulness of man exerting itself into the affairs of God. If one cannot curse what God has not cursed, then this begs the question of what has God cursed? God’s curse is upon sin. God hates sin. The curse of God will descend on the children of disobedience. Jesus said in John 5:19, “I only do what the Father says do…” If you go and find out what this means in your life, then the curse when it comes will never catch up to you. Both the blessing and the curse are in a footrace to reach your life. Let your acceleration in obedience be such that even God’s blessings have to come on you and overtake you.
We know that Satan is behind all of this. Satan, as a serpent, is a constrictor or python. Pythons never attack fast-moving prey for fear of injury. They lurk in thresholds and places where diverging paths cross because there their prey will hesitate, and then they strike. Pythons kill not by suffocation but by crushing the heart of their prey. The scripture speaks of men’s hearts, failing them for fear. Do not pause in your walk with God or hesitate when decisions are called for. Act and move forward – if you make a mistake, God will cause it to prosper. If you hesitate and pause – the enemy will see you as an easy target.
Since Balaam cannot bring a curse on God’s people, he changes his tactic. He realizes if the people are seduced to sin that his master Balak will prevail. Notice in v. 21 that Balaam’s blessing says that “God will not behold iniquity in Israel…” Why? As long as your heart is to obey the mandates of God, the Father will regard your sacrifices. For us, when God looks at us, He sees the Lamb that was slain. As long as you are a kingdom seeker and not falling into the idolatry of outward dependence, the blessing will track you down. Consult Matt. 6:33, in comparison to your life situation and find out what seek the kingdom looks like. Most of us actually know what seek the kingdom looks like in our lives, but we are waiting for a convenient time – for our “ship to come in” for something to happen to make it favorable to obey God. This is deception. Act now. It wasn’t convenient to take two million people into the desert with no water and no food, but they obeyed. They operated at a faith level unprecedented in human history for all their failings and shortcomings, and God blessed them for doing so.
In v. 25, when Balak cannot coerce Balaam to speak harm over Israel, he wants to back out and leave them alone. In other words, he chooses indifference. The opposite of love is not hate – it is indifference. There will come a day when Balak and Balaam will pay with their lives for this little misadventure. For us, we learn how to keep silent when our enemies are plotting against us. We need to guard against binding people in our prayers. When we speak against those for whom Christ died, we set ourselves against God and will pay a dear price in the end. Make it your determination to speak neither good nor evil when you feel threatened but to simply put your trust in God and allow him like Lot from Abraham to bless our enemies away from us and go on to seek the kingdom in all things.
