The blessings of God’s children

 Numbers 24:5 ‘How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!’

In the above verse our Lord acknowledges his children. He sees his people and their dwellings to be beautiful. In this world, the looks of people are always filled with irritation hatred and jealousy. But our Lord looks at us in good intentions with joy. We read in Psalm 103:13 ‘Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.’ We see the Lord blessed Israelites with blessings that they did not realize it were given to them. Even our lives are filled with blessings without our knowledge or realization. Many times we understand that God is blessing us only when other people point it out. Let us meditate on the blessings that the Lord has given to us.

Numerous

Numbers 22:3 ‘And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.’

In the above passage we read the Moabites saw how numerous God’s children had become and they dreaded in fear. Truly speaking, when the Lord blesses his children they will be multiplied and will be more in number. We read in Number 21:25 ‘And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.’ We see fear came over the Moabites because the Lord was with the children of Israel and they battled with Amorites, defeated them and captured all their cities. This people are ordinary people, they are more in number with the strength of God. The Lord blessed them numerously. We read in Isaiah 51:2 ‘Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.’ When Abraham was a single man, the Lord blessed him and increased him. Abraham obeyed the words of God and journeyed according to his will and he was multiplied abundantly. We might be alone with no background, people around us might think we are alone and helpless. We should not forget that our Lord is the Lord of Abraham.

We read in Deuteronomy 2:9 ‘And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.’ According to this verse, the Lord had clearly instructed his children not to bother Moabites. The Israelites had no intention to destroy or battle against them. But looking at their numerous numbers, the Moabites were filled with fear. The Lord has called us, he has blessed us and he will multiply us.

Overcomers

Numbers 22:5 “He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.”

Here we read about Balaam, who is called to curse the Israelites. We read in Joshua 13:22 ‘Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.’ We read he practiced divination. Also we read in Revelation 2:14 ‘But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.’ We see Balak to entice the Israelites to sin. But the Lord is not allowing his people to be cursed. The Lord shuts the mouth of Baalam from cursing his children.Whatever the curses are, the Lord always helps his children to overcome them. If the Lord has blessed us, who is there to curse us? Our Lord is mighty enough to change our curses into blessings. The Lord changes the curses of Israelites into blessings. No matter how cunning the enemy might come, our Lord can turn that around to be a blessing. We the children of God will be overcomers with the strength of God.

Previously in chapter 22, the Israelites they were overcomers. Eventually, they were not vigilant which led them to land up in a troublesome situation. We read in Numbers 31:16 ‘Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.’ We the children of God should be very cautious and should learn to resist devils to be the overcomers. We need to be consistent and should pray without ceasing.

Strong

Numbers 22:6 “Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.”

            We read the King Balak himself confesses that the people of Israel are mightier than him. The King invites Balaam and requests him to curse them to drive them out of the land. The King saw Israelites as strong people. The people of Israel were captives and they are ordinary people. They do not have any weapons to battle against anyone. They did not realize their power. But the King saw them to be potentially competitive and mighty. Even in our lives, we do not know our strength but the enemy knows our inner strength and will be scared. We read in Exodus 1:19 ‘And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.’ This passage we read about the Hebrew women. The midwives consider them to be stronger than Egyptian women. We read in Exodus 1:20 ‘Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.’ The Lord himself comes down and strengthens his children.  The Lord has given strength to his children. Let us stop saying that we are weak and weary. When God has strengthened us, let us not declare that we are weak for we are strong.

Blessed

Numbers 22:12 “And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.”

            Earlier we saw that they called Balaam to curse the people of Israel. But turns out Balaam cannot curse them as the Israelites were blessed by the Lord God. We read the Lord himself tells Balaam not to curse them for they are blessed. This is something that we should never forget. We are blessed. We see the Lord made a covenant with Abraham and he gave him promises in Genesis 12:2-3 ‘And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.’ These promises are being fulfilled to this very day. When we greet one another, may we say ‘You are blessed’ The Lord blesses them that bless you. Amen.