The song of Balaam (2): Sing the irrevocable blessing of God!

[Numbers 23: 18-24]

What do you think blessing is?  The Korean culture is really a culture of blessing, and Korean life is life of wishing and doing whatever you can to receive blessing.  The characteristics of Korean culture are sometimes expressed in terms of life and longevity and happiness.  That's why they put the word “Bok”(which means “Blessing”) on the handle of the house door, the doorknob, the silver spoon, the pattern, the pillow, the cushion, the rice bowl and so on.  Even if they are looking for a vacancy, they will find “Bok-dok-bang” (which means “Real estate agency” but the word “Bok” refers to “Blessing”) where they want to be blessed.  Also the Koreans five blessings: (1) Blessing of long life, (2) Blessing of fortune, (3) Blessing of peace, (4) Blessing of virtue and (5) Blessing of natural death (Internet).  In examining the blessings of the Old Testament Law, Poetry, and Prophecy, it is true that in many cases, the blessings are manifested on the surface of earthly prosperity, wealth, honor, longevity, and descendants, so that the physical, material, and temporal aspects appear to be highlighted.  But when we look at the New Testament, we can see that the blessings of the New Testament are inward, mental, spiritual, future-oriented and they are eschatological.  Especially we can know that suffering for Christ's righteousness and for the future resurrection and eternal life are blessings (Internet).  In conclusion, there are two major blessings in the New and Old Testament.  It is, firstly, the afterlife and spiritual blessings that are emerging in the foreground, and secondly, the realistic and visible blessings that can naturally follow in the dimension of God's grace in pursuit of spiritual devotion (Internet).  If there is difference, the blessings of the Old Testament are very conditional as blessings that come from obeying and keeping God's Word, while the New Testament blessings emphasize spiritual blessings in addition to material blessings because of Jesus Christ.  Here, we can also see often referring to the blessings of those who suffer for righteousness.  For example, look at Matthew 5:10-12: “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  Are we really longing for the blessings of those who suffer for righteousness?

In Numbers 23:18-24, we see the second song of Balaam.  Among the content of the song, this is what verse 20 says, “Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.”  Based on this word, I want to think about three things about the second song of Balaam, under the title “The song of Balaam (2): Sing the irrevocable blessing of God!” and receive the grace that God gives us.

                First, the second song of Balaam sings the truth of God.

Look at Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”  This verse is one of my personal favorite Bible verse.  The reason is because this word of God makes me to look and to trust in my faithful God who faithfully fulfills His promises to me.  Especially when I am weak and discouraged looking at myself and my environment, the Spirit restore my soul and encourages my heart whenever I meditate on this words and apply to myself like this: ‘Since my God doesn’t lie and change His mind, He will surely fulfill the promise that He gave me.’  And when I meditate on Numbers 23:19, the Bible passage that the Holy Spirit often reminds me of is 2 Timothy 2:13 – “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”  Although I know that I must hold onto the God’s promise word that He gave me and must live faithfully, I often doubt about God in unbelief and live unfaithfully.  At that time, when the indwelling Holy Spirit reminds me Numbers 23:19 and 2 Timothy 2:13, I get encouraged and strengthened by the fact that since God is faithful even though I am unfaithful He cannot deny Himself so He will certainly fulfill His promise to me.  The Spirit makes me bold with strength in my soul by enabling me to look upon the faithful God instead of me who is unfaithful (Ps. 138:3).  When I meditate on Numbers 23:19, the Holy Spirit also reminds me Isaiah55:11 – “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”  What a encouraging word of God this is.  I don't know how powerful this is.  How much power and hope does God give us through this word of promises to us that His word doesn’t return to God in vain, but will certainly fulfill His will.  As I meditate on these words, I gained the faith and assurance that 'My God will faithfully fulfill the word of promise to me.'  And the Lord gives me this faith and conviction, not only to comfort and strengthen me, but also to help me to be patient and to endure.  The reason is because God gives me hope of fulfillment of God's word of promise.

                In Numbers 23:19, Balaam took up his discourse and said to Balak, king of Moab, “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”  The reason why Balaam said this to Balak was because Balaam wanted Balak to know that God who promised to bless the Israelites, whom Balak wanted to curse even though they were the blessed people by God (22:12), was fulfilling that promise to the Israelties.  So no matter how Balak tried to curse the Israelites who had been blessed by God, Balaam actually had to bless them (v. 11).  And in fact, when we see the first song of Balaam that we have already meditated on (23: 7-10), Balaam knew that the Israelites were the blessed people when he saw only the fourth part of Israel whom God loved and chose and distinguished and multiplied like the dust.  That was why Balaam had to bless the Israelites (v. 11).  When Balak saw that Balaam blessing the Israelites, this was what he said to Balaam: “Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” (v. 11)  This was how Balaam replied: “Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?” (v. 12)  Balaam had no choice but to deliver the word that God had put in his mouth.  And that was what he confessed to Balak.  So Balak took Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah (v. 14).  The reason was because Balak wanted Balaam to see not all the Israelites but to see only the extreme end of them and curse them for him from there (v. 13).  So Balak built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar (v. 14).  And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the LORD over there” (v. 15).  “Then the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, ‘Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak’” (v. 16).  Then Balaam wrote a song and said to Balak, the first part of the song is Number 23:19, which was singing the truth of God.  Why did God let the king of Moab, Balak, who wanted to curse the blessed Israelites through unfaithful Balaam, to listen to this song of Balaam that praised the truth (faithfulness) of God?  I think the reason is because God gave notice to Balak, who wanted to defeat the God’s blessed people, the Israelites, by cursing them through Balaam, that Balak not only could defeat the Israelites whom God loved and chose but also Balaam couldn’t curse them because they were blessed people of God.  Also, I think God wanted both the false king Balak and the false prophet Balaam to know that they would be defeated by God and would receive God’s punishment.  The reason why I think this way is because truthful God is not only faithful in saving His people but also in judging the enemies of His people who opposed the Israelites.

As we are told in Hebrews 10:23, we must hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering because our God who promised is faithful.  We must believe in the faithful Lord.  And we must hold fast to the hope that the faithful Lord will faithfully fulfill the promise He has given us.  Let us sing hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness”: (v. 1) “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father There is no shad-ow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, They fail not As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be,” (v. 2) “Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love,” (v. 3) “Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!,” (chorus) “Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!  Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”

Second, the second song of Balaam sings the God's unchangeability.    

                Look at Numbers 23:20 – “Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.”  The Bible teaches that God is unchangeable.  God is forever same in His divinity and in His perfection, always in the same in His purpose and His promise (Internet).  For example, look at James 1:17 – “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  What does it mean?  It means that Heavenly Father does not change.  Unlike “the shadow cast” (2 Kgs. 20:11; Isa. 38: 8), God is unchangeable like the light that shining the light at the exact middle of the shadow cast continually so that there is no movement of the clock hand and no shifting shadow (Internet).  So in Malachi 3:6, the last book of the Old Testament, the Bible says “For I, the Lord, do not change ….”  And even in the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews said “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).  This unchanging God came to Balaam and gave him a word in his mouth (Num. 23:16).  And Balaam sang the song to Balak “I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.” 

                What lesson can we learn from this?  It was God’s will to bless the Israelites and gave them the word of blessing, and no one can reverse the will of God.  The unchangeableness of the divine purposes is a necessary consequence of the unchangeableness of the divine nature (Keil).  Thus, the writer of Hebrews also said in Hebrews 6:17 – “In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath.”  What does it mean?  God who made the promise to Abraham (v. 13) “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you” (v. 14), interposed with an oath in order to fully manifest that it was God’s unchangeable will.  And God swore by Himself because He could swear by no on greater (v. 13).  Won’t true and faithful God fulfill his oath?  The promise of the faithful and unchanging God is to give us His only-begotten Son, Jesus which is far better promise than God promised to bless Abraham.  And God fulfilled that promise about 2,000 years ago.  In fulfillment, God shed His only-begotten Son Jesus on the cross to cleanse and forgive all our sins.  And God has regenerated us to receive Jesus Christ as my Savior and gave us precious faith to believe in Jesus Christ.  Therefore, God has given us eternal life and eternal hope.  Now the word of God's promise to the church that isn’t fulfilled is the second coming of Jesus.  Jesus will come for sure.  This is an unchangeable truth.  The promise of Jesus' second coming that God swore to Himself will surely come true.  Jesus will come back to this earth and will take us our true home, Heaven.  Therefore, we can praise “Let us Sing of His Love” to God in faith: (v. 1) “Let us sing of His love once again Of the love that can never decay, Of the blood of the Lamb that was slain, Till we praise Him again in that day,” (v. 2) “There is cleansing and healing for all Who will wash in the life-giving flood; There is perfect deliv-'rance and joy To be had in this world through the blood,” (v. 3) “Then we'll march in His name till we come, At His bidding to cease from the fight; And our Savior shall welcome us home To the mansions of glory and light,” (v. 4) “So with banners unfurl'd to the breeze, Then our mot-to shall "Holiness" be, Till the crown from His hand we shall seize, And the King in His glory we see,” (chorus) “I believe Jesus saves And His blood makes me whiter than snow I believe Jesus saves And His blood makes me whiter than snow.”

                Third and last, the second song of Balaam sings the blessing of Israel.

From Numbers 23:21 and on, Balaam sang the blessing of Israel in three ways:

(1)   The blessing of Israel is that they are forgiven.

Look at Numbers 23:21a – “He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel  ….”

The reason why God didn’t see misfortune and trouble of the Israelites, whom God loves and chose, was because when they repented their sins God forgave their sins.  Those who have been forgiven by God are blessed by God.  Look at Romans 4:6-8: “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.  ‘BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.’”  Since the Lord doesn’t take into account of our sins, we are truly blessed in the sight of God (v. 8).  We are truly blessed by God because our lawless deeds and our sins has been forgiven and covered (v. 7).  Since our sins are washed away and are forgiven because Jesus died on the cross and shed His precious blood, we are truly blessed by God.  This reminds me the hymn “Everything is Changed”: (v. 1) “Ev-'rything is changed since my sins were forgiven, Ev-'rything is changed since I knew the Lord; Now my feet are walking the path-way to heaven; All the guilty past now is under the blood,” (v. 2) “Ev-'ry-thing is changed, to God's name be the glory!  Light instead of darkness fills my soul; Ev-'ry-thing is changed, 'tis the blessed old story; Trusting Christ I'm now ev-'ry whit made whole,” (v. 3) “Ev-'ry-thing is changed since the Spirit possessed me, Since He filled my heart with the Savior's love, Since He took away all the fears that distressed me, Helped me set my heart on the things above,” (chorus) “Ev-'rything is changed, praise the Lord!  Now I am redeemed thro' the blood: Free from condemnation, God is my Salvation, Ev-'rything is changed, praise the Lord!”

(2)   The blessing of Israel is the blessing of having God as King.

Look at Numbers 23:21b – “…  The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them.”  At that time, the Israelites had no king like the Gentile nations.  The reason was because God, who loved them, chose them, set them apart, and made them His special people, was their King.  And God, the King of Israel, is the God of warrior (Exod. 15:3) who fights for the Israelites and wins the war.  God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt and his army with power and won the battle against not only the king of Egypt but also all the gods of Egypt (Num. 23:22).  This reminds us “The song of Moses, the song of the Lamb,” which we have already meditated on in Revelation 15:3.  If you look at it, the Bible tells us that when Jesus comes again, we will transform suddenly, wear glorious spiritual bodies and go to the throne of God, and praise the kingship of God.  The Lord God Almighty is the King who will reign forever and ever, and He is the King of kings who is Almighty and Himself who rules the kingdom of Christ with great power.  The Lord God of all nations is just and angry with sinners who do injustice and judges them.   But He is God of truth who fulfills salvation as promised to the saints who are called and justified.  Because of that completion salvation, we will come before the throne of the glory of the God in Heaven.  And we will sing the kingship of God and sing this song of Moses, the song of the Lamb, “Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!” (Rev. 15:3)

(3)   The blessing of Israel is that they are protected by Almighty God.

Look at Numbers 23:23 – “For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done!”  Here, what is the diviner Balaam singing?  Isn’t he singing that the God of Israel protects the Israelites from any divination or fortunetelling by a diviner like him?  Balaam is singing that the king of God will reign over the Israelites and the mighty God will fight for them, and the Israelites will triumph and be protected by God.  Therefore Balaam sang in Number 23:24 as follow: “Behold, a people rises like a lioness, And as a lion it lifts itself; It will not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.”  What does it mean?  It means that Israel will rise like a lion, destroying their enemies completely (cf.: Num. 24:9) (Walvoord).

Therefore, we can praise the hymn “Be not Dismayed Whate’er Betide”: (v. 1) “Be not dismay'd whate'er betide, God will take care of you; Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you,” (v. 2) “Throu' days of toil when heart doth fail, God will take care of you; When dangers fierce your path assail, God will take care of you,” (v. 3) “All you may need He will provide, God will take care of you; Trust Him and you will be satisfied, God will take care of you,” (v. 4) “No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you; Lean, weary one, upon His breast, God will take care of you,” (chorus) “God will take care of you, Through ev'ry day, O'er all the way; He will take care of you, God will take care of you.  Amen.”

                Our God is true and faithful God.  He is God who faithfully fulfills His promises to us.  Also, our God is unchanging God.  He is God who doesn’t turn back the blessings that He has told us to bless nor can He do so.  That true and unchangeable God blessed us, and gave us true blessing in Jesus Christ.  God forgives all our sins and becomes our King, not only to reign over us but also to protect us.  Therefore, we must sing this irrevocable blessing of God.

Had to rely on my faithful God who never changes,

Pastor James Kim