The Commandment to Bless

For nearly forty years, the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. Just as God’s people were on the threshold of entering the promised land, an enemy of Israel witnessed this cavalcade of humanity marching through his land and was overtaken with fear. The leader of this tribe of enemies was Balak, king of the Moabites. Before this event, God gave victory to the children of Israel over the Amorites, which caused fear to rise in Balak’s heart. Instead of calling upon his soothsayers, he sought out a wayward prophet, Balaam, to come and curse God’s people. Balak approached Balaam with the promise of financial gain if he would only speak curses upon these people walking through this land. If Balaam were in any relationship with Jehovah, there would not have been any need for him to accept bribery. Still, he ignored a specific command from the Lord, that he was not to curse God’s people because they are a blessed people (Num 22:12).

The Blessing Of Abraham
To be blessed speaks of increase, and it goes back to what is known as the blessing of Abraham. In the book of Genesis, Moses recounts Abraham’s story and how that God would speak to the heart of Abraham and instruct him to leave everything behind and head toward a place that would be revealed to him by God. Upon receiving these instructions, the Lord spoke to Abraham and informed him that should he choose to accept these terms, God would make of him a great nation, and through him the entirety of the world would receive the blessing. And when God makes a promise, He keeps His promise.

The Love Of Money
Yet, God knew that Balaam would go despite what was said, and he allowed him to accept the invitation. While traveling to pronounce a curse on the people of God, something interesting took place that should have been a warning sign to Balaam: the donkey spoke. Understand that everything a believer might go through in life is a test. How will that person act or react during that test? Balaam would not handle this test positively. He saddled his donkey and began his journey when an angel of the Lord stood in the way to prevent him from venturing further into sin. The donkey saw the angel with a sword drawn in his hand and would not go any further. However, Balaam did not see the angel and grew angry at the donkey, striking the animal on three separate occasions. Suddenly, the Lord caused the beast to speak. The reason for this event taking place was the love of money. God gave a specific command in Exodus 20 that His people were to have no other gods before them. For Balaam, money was his god. He desired gold while trying to please God, and that never ends well for anyone.

Seven Altars
Upon his arrival, Balaam instructed Balak to prepare seven altars—a perfect picture of religion. God instituted that there be one altar, which is a type of the sacrifice of Christ. That altar was a type of what Jesus Christ would accomplish for us at Calvary’s cross, where He would defeat the powers of darkness on our behalf. There is no need for any other altar. Yet Balaam erected seven. As Balaam stood before those altars, the words that came out of his mouth infuriated Balak, as five prophecies were given that would not bring a curse upon God’s people.

The Prophecies
The gist of the first prophecy is found in Numbers 23:8. The doctrine of this first prophecy is located in Romans 9, where Paul explains that Israel has been chosen, numbered, separated, and blessed by God. The second prophecy is such a powerful word, as the Lord would speak through this backslidden prophet and declare: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it” (Num. 23:19-20). If God declares that He will bring something to fruition, then He will bring it to completion. God promised Israel a land that was flowing with milk and honey, and God has never reneged on a promise. Because of His very nature, God cannot lie. Neither will He change His mind regarding the said promise. What He blesses, nothing can reverse it. Let this be a lesson to the entire body of Christ that God desires to bless His people in every way imaginable.
Balaam continues to prophesy that God has not seen any iniquity in Jacob; neither has He witnessed any perverseness in Israel, which speaks of justification by faith. When anyone comes to the Lord Jesus Christ and accepts His redemption plan, not only does He accept us, but He views us as though we have never sinned. In previous chapters, we find many faults and failures with Israel, but God says that He cannot see any fault within them. He sees them as perfect.
Throughout this second prophecy uttered by Balaam is one of God’s most fantastic promises and revelations given in Scripture. When God blesses a man, woman, tribe, nation, or land, nothing can reverse that blessing. The only thing that hinders that blessing is the individual, tribe, or nation turning their backs on God. Every child of God should boldly proclaim that we are blessed, and not one single thing can reverse it.
Balaam’s third, fourth, and fifth prophecy further angered the sovereign, as he would extend this blessing toward Israel. As God brought them through Egypt, He would get them through every trial and tribulation that would arise in the future, including the great tribulation. The star out of Jacob speaks of Christ, for He is the scepter that will rise out of Israel. It would be some fifteen hundred years into the future when Christ would make His debut on this earth, but specifically, this speaks of the second coming of Christ, which is soon to take place. When Christ comes back the second time without sin unto salvation, He will have dominion over the entire planet, destroy the Antichrist, and reign supreme as Lord of all.

God’s Economy
When a person enters into the family of God through Christ, they enter into God’s economy, which is not tied to the world’s system. Because that person is now entered into God’s economy, there is a guarantee of blessing. Many of God’s blessings are conditional, meaning that blessings will follow if God’s people follow His commands. The question now becomes, how do we follow those commands? The answer is, we cannot. There is nothing that a Christian can do within his strength and abilities to keep God’s commands. Thankfully, Christ did. And through faith in what He has accomplished for us at Calvary, we have become law keepers.
All blessing comes through faith in Christ and what He did at Calvary, which now becomes a way of life. God’s blessings, and God’s economy, covers every aspect of the believer’s life, whether it be spiritual, physical, financial, domestic, or any other area in life. And just as the prophet spoke nearly thirty-five hundred years ago, what God has blessed, nothing can reverse it. If believers keep their eyes on Christ, if Christians place their faith in what He has done for them, and if the body of Christ continues to look to Jesus, then blessings are guaranteed. Included in these blessings is assurance of victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Regardless of how strong the enemy might be, despite the great assault upon one’s life, and no matter how often those attacks come, victory’s rightful place is with God’s people.
This scenario provides the Christian with much faith to believe God for every blessing to fill his life. The enemy of our soul does a great job of filling the child of God’s mind with questions, doubt, and unbelief. Yet in this story, God’s people were declared blessed. As a believer, proclaim your blessings and believe God for what is needed.

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