SCRIPTURE: NUMBERS 23
BIBLE VERSES:
“Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!” He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?” Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, curse them for me.” So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” (Numbers 23:11-13)
BALAAM’S FIRST ORACLE (vs. 1-12)
Balaam told Balak to build 7 altars and prepare 7 bulls and 7 rams to offer to God. Then Balaam seek the Lord and God gave Balaam uttered his oracle: Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’ How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced? From the rock peaks I see them, from the heights I view them, I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!” (vs. 7-10)
BALAAM’S SECOND ORACLE (vs. 13-26)
Then Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah and built altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Then Balaam went to meet the Lord and utter this oracle: “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless, he has blessed, and I cannot change it.No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among thej\m. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’. The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rat till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims.” (vs. 18-24)
Then Balak said to Balaam: “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all” But Balaam answered: “:Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says” (v. 26)
THOUGHTS;
God let Balaam speak a blessing not a curse. His oracles assured the Israelites of God’s presence, protection (v. 21) and power (vs. 22-24). This displeased Balak because Balaam announced the amazing fact that God had accepted the Israelites as his own purchased possession and His people.
Balak took Balaam to another place to entice him to curse the Israelites. He thought that a change of scenery might help change Balaam’s mind. But changing location won’t change God’s will. We must learn to face the source of our problems. Moving to escape problems only makes the solving more difficult. Problems rooted in us cannot be solved by change of scenery or location. It needs us to change our heart.