Numbers 22:36

The Bible says in Numbers 22:36-41, “And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.[37] And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?[38] And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.[39] And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjath-huzoth.[40] And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.[41] And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.” God gives us freedom to make our own choices in life, but be careful what choices you make. Many of our troubles are of our own doing because we made the wrong choices. Balaam made a very bad choice. He went with king Balak in order to try and benefit materially from it. But Balaam could not change the Word of God no matter how badly Balak wanted him to do so. God’s Word is immutable. No man can stop it, no man can alter it, and no man can change it. “Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, and today, and for ever.” What God says will happen is what will happen. God said that the children of Israel and the descendants of Abraham would be blessed. No one could speak the Word of God and say anything different: impossible. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Balak had his religious rituals and ceremonies and Balaam joined him in those, but those things meant nothing. What counts is the Word of God and what it says.

The Bible says in Numbers 23:1-7, “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.” King Balak’s goals as a leader of a nation were not realized. He made one crucial mistake when he said in Numbers 23:7, “Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.” It says in Genesis 12:1-4, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:[2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:[3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.[4] So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.” God always keeps His promises. Every nation that curses Israel will be cursed. Look at what finally happened to Hitler. That will be the final end of everyone who “curses” Israel. The leaders and the nations who bless Israel are the wise ones because those nations will be blessed. “All families of the earth” are blessed because Jesus came in the lineage of Abraham, and Jesus died for all of our sins.

The Bible says in Numbers 23:8-17, “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?” Balaam asked an important question in verse eight: “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?” A wise person will find out what God says in the Bible and adjust their own attitudes and decisions by what the Bible says. The Bible is God’s Word. It is interesting that the descendants of Abraham and Israel and the Jewish people were in the forefront of what was going on in current events, and they still are. They also will be at the return of Christ. Foolish are those who go against Almighty God and hate Israel and the Jewish people. That is the reason for the Battle of Armageddon when Jesus destroys all the armies of the world who come against Israel in the valley of Megiddo. The Bible describes what happens to the enemies of Israel in Revelation 14:18-20, “And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.[19] And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.[20] And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

One thing that we can notice about king Balak in these verses is that he heard the truth and had a chance to change his mind and believe God’s Word, but each time that Balak was told about God’s will for Israel, Balak continued on in his own way. Balak continued to believe in that which was contrary to God’s Word. Balak was stubborn. He did not want the truth. The same thing happens to everyone who refuses to come to Christ. God gives them chances to hear the Gospel of Christ, but they reject it every time they hear it. It says in John 3:19-21, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.[20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.[21] But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

The Bible says in Numbers 23:18-30, “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.” Verse nineteen is interesting because it tells the difference between God and man. It is very simple. Man lies, but God does not. Man’s word cannot be trusted, but a wise person will read the Word of God and trust it with his life. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

In verse twenty-six Balaam said to king Balak, “All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do.” We should all do that. We read the Bible not just to read it, but to also put it into practice. Unfortunately for Balaam, it was not true. Balaam went with king Balak when God told him not to. Balaam did not obey God in that very important commandment from God, and because of that Balaam was forever an example of a false prophet because the real reason for what Balaam did was money even if that meant disobeying God to get it. That was very similar to what Judas did when Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus.

Notice also verse twenty-one that says that God “hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob.” Once you find forgiveness by faith in Jesus Christ, you will always be forgiven. When God sees you, He will not see your sins. If you are honest about your own sinfulness, then you know how wonderful it is to be justified (just as if you have not sinned) in God’s eyes.

The Bible says in Numbers 24:1-9, “And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.[2] And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.[3] And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:[4] He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:[5] How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel![6] As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.[7] He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.[8] God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.[9] He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.” When you look at Israel and the Jewish people the way that God looks at them, then you will be a supporter and a lover of them. It is a spiritual issue. God established Israel through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God promised that Israel would be a great nation. God loves Israel. Eventually, the Lord will make Israel the nation that they were meant to be: the greatest on the earth and full of the knowledge of the Lord. God will do this at the Second Coming of Christ when they will look upon Him whom they have pierced. Everyone who is right with God will look at Israel and say, “Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.”

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