Numbers 23:23 NIV
“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!'”
All the attempts by the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, as commanded by King Balak, failed flat. It all started when fear came upon the Moabites because of the Israelites, who were to pass through their land during the Exodus. King Balak sent a message to Balaam, saying, “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed” (Num 22:5-6 NKJV).
Whereas the impact of Balaam’s ministry was known by the King, the people against whom he was employed to curse were God’s own people! In fact, taking from what Moses said about how whatever is done against Israel is actually done against God Himself (Exo 15:7), Balaam was trying to curse God! Oh, how impossible and a waste of time that is! On the contrary, by trusting in Balaam that much, King Balak was himself under a curse already; because the Scripture says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD” (Jer 17:5 NKJV). At any rate, what the duo was up to was already a failed attempt before they even started.
Despite the several warnings God gave to Balaam not to listen to the King, he still disobeyed. Why did he do that? The Scripture says, Balaam “loved the reward of wickedness” (2 Pet 2:15 AMP) or, simply put, he “loved being paid for doing wrong” (2 Pet 2:15 ERV). Nonetheless, soon he would discover that “There is no sorcery [that can prevail] against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!'”, as in our text. Hallelujah! That sorcery-proof and divination-proof divine shield is ours as well in Christ Jesus (Luk 10:19; Col 1:13). It is for us who trust in the LORD and whose hope the LORD is (Jer 17:7).
Pst. Emmanuel