Daily Devotional · Numbers 22:12; 23:19–20
The Prophet Who Could Not Curse
Reflection
Israel was encamped in the plains of Moab. King Balak of Moab was terrified — he had seen what Israel did to the Amorites and he wanted them gone. He sent for Balaam, a pagan prophet with a real reputation for effective curses. "A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on these people." God came to Balaam and said: "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed." Then in a remarkable episode involving a talking donkey who saw an angel before Balaam did, God turned Balaam's journey into a lesson in divine sovereignty. Three times Balak set Balaam up to curse Israel. Three times Balaam could only bless. Balak was furious. Balaam's response was the most honest thing he ever said: "I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond what the Lord says." And his oracle: "God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, 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." The enemies of God's people cannot undo what God has blessed.
Background
Balaam is a complex figure — a real prophet with real spiritual gifts who ultimately compromised for money (Numbers 31:16; Revelation 2:14). His story appears in three books of the New Testament as a warning. But the Balaam narrative also shows that God can use even imperfect, for-hire vessels to speak His word — and that His purposes cannot be overridden from outside.
Truth
What God has blessed, no enemy can successfully curse. This is not naive optimism — it is the testimony of Balaam, an outside observer hired specifically to curse. When God has spoken favor over your life in Christ, the opposition of the world does not carry the final word.
Application
What voices — people, circumstances, internal accusations — are speaking a curse over your life right now? Write down each one. Then write beside it the specific blessing God has spoken over you in Scripture. Read God's word over each curse aloud.