“He saved others!” “This Man receives sinners!” That’s honey from Satan, the defeated lion’s carcass.
As Balak heard Balaam’s so-called “curse” over the children of Israel, it sure sounded like a blessing to him. “What have you done to me?” he yelled. “I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!” (Num 23:11). The king of Moab must have been losing his mind. Balaam responded, “Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” (v 12). That couldn’t be the problem, thought Balak. I know what the problem is. Balaam had said, “Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number one-fourth of Israel?” (v 10). He must be intimidated by the huge number of them. “Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there” (v 13). How did that go? To the top of Pisgah they went, and Balaam declared, “God is not a man, that He should lie…He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them” (vv 19-21). Thank the Lord, this is also true of God’s people today! “And you…He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col 2:13-14). You’d be better to say nothing at all, fumed Balak. But he still wanted to try again. So this time they went to the top of Peor. Had Balaam been intimidated by the encampment? No! “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel!…Like gardens by the riverside.…His king…and his kingdom shall be exalted” (24:5-7). True! All true, because God has spoken it and it will surely come to pass.