12 You MUST NOT put a curse on these people, because THEY ARE BLESSED! Numbers 22
Numbers 22, gives the account of Balaam the prophet, who was known as a man who could curse people for money. In the verse above God spoke to Balaam directly, in the night. God had said only Joshua and Caleb, would enter and possess the land of their inheritance or Promise, yet God Himself told Balaam these same people were Blessed. God’s people are a Blessed people! Even in His judgement God wouldn’t allow them to be cursed; they were under His protection.
2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,
an undeserved curse does not come to rest. Proverbs 26
Balak, king of Moab, had sent messengers to hire Balaam to curse Israel. He called them ‘a People has come out of Egypt’, too powerful for him. He didn’t say anything about the fact that God had ruined Egypt because of them. Nor did he say that they had destroyed two Amorite kings and were living in their land. But Balaam didn’t jump at the money they offered. He told them to spend the night there while he sought God – he showed wisdom in that. Important decisions in our lives should be brought before the Lord for His approval or not. Balaam didn’t know the situation and so he laid it before God at night. A well known Christian speaker said he had learned through experience not to accept speaking engagements on the phone, but to pray first. Pressure to accept an offer at once may well indicate it needs further prayer and consideration.
In the same conversation, God told Balaam NOT TO GO WITH THEM. Balaam initially obeyed that command but Balak the king, ‘sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first’, with an improved offer. Balaam followed the same routine by seeking the Lord again that night.
God eventually gave Balaam permission to go with them, but warned him, ‘Do only what I tell you’. Numbers 22:20
Balaam was in this situation for personal gain, but God had warned him to do nothing except what He permitted. In a further dramatic encounter on the way to Balak, he was again told, ‘Go with the men, but Speak only what I tell you’.
Balaam was no doubt enticed by the money being offered to him. (It’s interesting that the Bible recorded he was sent a divination fee. A fee to curse, yet many fail to bless the Lord’s servants, to their own loss). He went with the princes of Moab to see if he could get something from the situation. However, on the way, the Angel of the Lord confronted him and warned him, ‘that his path was a reckless one’. His own donkey had saved him three times, but he’d beaten her. He was angry with the donkey, but she’d saved his life! This man had power to curse, even a nation, but he didn’t see the Angel nor his reckless path. Even people with strong spiritual gifts can completely ‘miss it’. WE need to be asking God to show us His way for our lives and then obey.
God bless and keep you today.