God turns Balaam’s curses into blessing

23:1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 23:3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went to a deserted height. 23:4 Then God met Balaam, who said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 23:5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 23:7 Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying, “Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’ 23:8 How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced? 23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned among the nations. 23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like theirs.” 23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!” 23:12 Balaam replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” 23:13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.” 23:14 So Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 23:15 And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there. 23:16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 23:17 When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 23:18 Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor: 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? 23:20 Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 23:21 He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation as king is among them. 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. 23:23 For there is no spell against Jacob, nor is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘Look at what God has done!’ 23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain.” 23:25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!” 23:26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, I must do’?” 23:27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.” 23:28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness. 23:29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Balak keeps trying to make Balaam curse Israel, but the Lord keeps putting blessing in Balaam’s mouth instead. The passage shows that God’s word stands firm, and no pagan ritual, kingly pressure, or divination can overturn what He has chosen for His people.

Balak wanted Israel cursed. Balaam was hired to speak against them. But each time Balaam prepared altars and sacrifices, God met him and gave him only one message to speak.

In the first oracle, Balaam says he cannot curse the people whom God has not cursed. He sees Israel as a people set apart by God. He also speaks of their great number and says he cannot reverse God’s blessing.

Balak is angry because the plan fails. He brings Balaam to another place and tries again. But the second oracle says even more clearly that God does not lie or change His mind like people do. When God has blessed, no one can undo it. Israel is not under spell or divination. The Lord is with them, and He is their King.

The passage does not say Israel had no sin. It says God would not allow Balaam’s curse to stand against the people He had chosen to bless. The repeated sacrifices and different viewpoints do not control God. His word controls the outcome.

• God is not trapped by human plans.
• The Lord placed His own words in Balaam’s mouth.
• A curse cannot stand against whom God has blessed.
• God’s word is true and does not fail.
• Israel is shown here as a people set apart by God.
• Divination and spells cannot overcome the Lord’s purpose.

• Warning: Do not trust ritual, magic, or spiritual technique to control God.
• Warning: Human power and royal pressure cannot reverse what the Lord speaks.
• Promise: What God blesses cannot be finally undone by man.
• Promise: The Lord is with His people and reigns among them.
• Command: Speak only what the Lord gives, not what people demand.

This passage stands in Israel’s wilderness journey and guards the covenant promise that God gave to Abraham. It shows that the Lord keeps His people under His blessing even when enemies try to curse them. In the wider Bible, this points to the larger truth that God’s saving purpose cannot be stopped, and His word remains sure.

Do not try to manage God with religious methods. Do not think human power, politics, or spiritual tricks can secure what only God can give. Trust His word, fear His kingship, and rest in the fact that His purposes stand.

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