Recently, I was reading the story of Balak and Balaam, as narrated in the book of Numbers. If you haven’t heard of this duo, I’ll include a brief bio. Balak was the king of Moab at the time of this story. It is not entirely clear who Balaam is, possibly some sort of diviner. The passage doesn’t state where he is from either, but he was likely not an Israelite. He is the one who had the talking donkey, so you may remember him for that.

Introductions done, you might be wondering why I’m writing about them. The reason is simple, to remind us of God’s ever-faithful, unshifting, irrevocable lovingkindness and blessings toward His children. Hopefully, you will find this story as encouraging as I did.

As Numbers 22 narrates, King Balak wants to pay Diviner Balaam to curse the Israelites, because he has heard of how they dealt with the Amorites, and their sheer number. And so he sends elders of Moab and Midiam to Balaam. In Balak’s words, “A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed” (Numbers 22:5-6, ESV). Balaam clearly had a reputation for his divination, hence his being consulted by kings for such. But, what happens next?

Round 1: Balaam tells them to spend the night while he waits to hear what the Lord gives him. And what does God say? “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.” (Verse 12). And so Balaam refuses to go with them.

Round 2: Balak is Mr Persistent. He sends another set of officials, “more numerous and more distinguished than the first” and promises a very handsome reward. (Verses 15-17). He is upping the ante. Balaam says he cannot do anything God does not command. However, he is obviously tempted by the reward, so he asks the officials to spend the night, so he can find out, just in case, you know, God has changed his mind. Seeing as Balaam is clearly moved by the ‘handsome reward’, God tells him he can go with the officials to Balak.

And it is during this journey to Balak that we encounter a very strange incident, a talking donkey! I have to admit that this passage appears strange and even confusing. God okays Balaam’s trip, but then gets angry with him for going and almost kills him? Isn’t that odd? However, a clue to this seeming contradiction lies further on in verse 32, “Behold I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me.” God can see the heart of man, and he can clearly see Balaam’s motives and his perverted heart. Which is why God was angry with Balaam. Yes he was obeying God, but his heart was so not in it.

Again, this is an incredible glimpse into just how determined and driven God is to prevent the Israelites, whom He has blessed, from being cursed! That said, God also wants to show Balaam mercy, hence His going to the extent of causing Balaam’s donkey to talk! Possibly because Balaam at least had the sense to consult God first before proceeding, even though the result was in conflict to what he would have desired (i.e. cursing the Israelites and getting his juicy reward!). Or perhaps God was showing Balaam mercy for the simple reason that He is a merciful God. This gives us another glimpse into the extent to which God is willing to go to show mercy to even those who have perverse hearts.

Eventually Balaam arrives at a place called Bamoth-baal, which means “high places of Baal”. High places are usually places of worship, and can also be quite strategic for military purposes. From here, Balaam was able to see a fraction of the people (22:41), and he instructed Balak to build seven altars, prepare seven bulls and seven rams. Can you see the extent to which Balak was determined to have the Israelites cursed? Sevel altars! And so Balaam consults God again, and God tells him what to say, and of course, God tells Balaam to bless His people, because they are His very own precious people! Which is exactly what Balaam does.

Round 3: Now Balak is clearly not happy at this turn of events, but he is determined. In Numbers 23:13-14 (ESV), “And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

I should point out that Zophim means “field of watchers”, but more on that later. Again, Balaam goes to consult God. When he returns from his consultation and Balak asks him “what has the Lord spoken?”, he goes on to pronounce another blessing on the Israelites! Balak is understandably frustrated, and basically says, ‘okay I get that you don’t want to curse them, but at least don’t bless them!” But then, that is not how God works, He doesn’t just leave us ‘uncursed’, He blesses us. Isaiah 61:3 (NLT) tells us, “To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.”

God doesn’t just stop our mourning, he turns it into joyful dancing! As Psalm 30:11 (NLT) says, “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.”

Round 4: Back to the story, Balak is clearly desperate even to have these people cursed. “And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” (Numbers 23:27, ESV). He thinks it is location that is the problem, He does not realise that it is not the where, but the ‘Who’; The Israelites have the almighty God as their God! So Balak takes Balaam to “the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.” Peor is a mountain peak, so maybe Balak thought Bamoth-baal wasn’t high enough. You can see how desperate the enemy can be, trying so many angles and going to key strategic points, just to curse God’s people – from high places, to field, to mountain peaks. And you can also see how driven God is to make sure His people remain blessed. It doesn’t matter where, when, how the enemy tries to curse us, God is the God of the mountains, the valleys, and everything in between! (1 Kings 20, Psalm 95:3-5) It doesn’t matter how strategic the enemy is in trying to curse us, God is a master strategist (1 Chronicles 14:13-17). He is wisdom personified, and the giver of wisdom to boot (Isaiah 11:2, Ephesians 1:17, James 1:5).

This time around Balaam doesn’t bother following his usual routine. “When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him….” and he went ahead to pronounce a great blessing on the Israelites, as recorded in Numbers 24:3-9.

By this time, Balak was pissed! He tells Balaam, I was going to honour you, but “the Lord has held you back from honour” (verse 12). Ha! Held back from honour indeed. God certainly does not honour anyone who tries to curse His very own people. Balaam reminds Balak that he had already emphasised that he can only say what God instructs him to say. Balaam does not stop there though. He goes on to let Balak know just how the Israelites will destroy them and the rest of their enemies. What a consummate finishing! From wanting to curse God’s people, to becoming the cursed ones. Remember the promise God gave Abraham way back in Genesis 12:3? “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (ESV).

God’s promises always, always come to pass. Now don’t forget that these Israelites, the one God refused to let anyone curse, were a stubborn, rebellious, disobedient, complaining lot. But love oh love. I am so, so grateful that God is a merciful God, and that He is not a God that changes His mind willy nilly. He doesn’t change what He says about me because I have misbehaved, otherwise He will be changing His mind every day! One of the declarations Balaam makes (in ‘Round 2’) is recorded in Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?”

Malachi 3:6 (NLT) also tells us, “I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. And as Romans 11:29 reminds us, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

Beloved, as a believer, you are one of God’s very precious people, His very own, His beloved daughter or son. It is not because you are perfect that He loves you, not at all, and thank goodness for that. It is purely because of who He is. The Bible is clear that He loved us while we were still sinners, demonstrating it by sending His only begotten Son to die for us (Romans 5:8, John 3:16). This loving, merciful, amazing God, is our God. Our God. OUR GOD!

Deuteronomy 23:5 (NLT) says, “But the LORD your God refused to listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing because the LORD your God loves you.” Because God loves us, every curse intended for us has been turned into a blessing, Hallelujah!

The truth is that when God blesses us, no one can curse us. Balaam himself recognised this and said, “But how can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn those whom the LORD has not condemned?” (Numbers 23:8, NLT). And as Bob Marley put it, “Who Jah bless no man curse.”

This story shows the extent God will go to in order to protect the ones He loves. And there are so many scriptures that tell us of our heritage as God’s children, with regards to this.

Psalm 109:28 (NLT) says, “Then let them curse me if they like, but you will bless me! When they attack me, they will be disgraced! But I, your servant, will go right on rejoicing! Then let them curse me if they like, but you will bless me! When they attack me, they will be disgraced! But I, your servant, will go right on rejoicing!”

Isaiah 54:17 (ESV) reminds us that “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”

“So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”” (Hebrews 13:6, ESV).

Romans 11:29 also tells us that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (ESV). Or as the NLT puts it, “For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.” The Amplified explains it further “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable [for He does not withdraw what He has given, nor does He change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call]”. What a privilege we have as children of God. May we never take this for granted.

So, “what shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31, NLT). HALLELUJAH!

Need I say more? Beloved, the evil one may seem desperate and relentless in his attacks on us, just like Balak was. Nevertheless, remember that God’s love for us is far more relentless, more persistent, more powerful than any attacks of the evil one. I pray that whenever we feel discouraged because of what we are going through, we will remember that we are the beloved of the Lord, the blessed of the Lord, the beneficiaries of the Lord’s incredible goodness, mercy and every good and perfect gift He has to offer. May this knowledge strengthen, encourage us and fill us with hope. And in doing so, may our sorrow to be turned to joyful dancing. Amen and Amen!

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