"Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, 'I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times. Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but The LORD has kept you from being rewarded.' Balaam answered Balak, 'Did I not tell the messengers you sent me, 'Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of The LORD, and I must say only what The LORD says'?" Numbers 24:10-14 (NIV)
Balak, king of the Moabites, was fearful of the large number of Israelites near his country, so he sent for Balaam, an oracle, to have him put a curse upon the Israelites. (Numbers 22:5-6) Balaam was warned in a vision not to go with the messengers to the king and not to curse the people. (Numbers 22:12) He did not go with the messengers, so the king sent a larger group to summon him. In a vision that night God said to him "Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you." On his way to the king the angel of The Lord blocked his path and his donkey refused three times to go forward, even after being beaten, because he saw the angel of The Lord and the sword in His hand. After the third time, the donkey spoke to Balaam, and The Lord opened his eyes and he saw what the donkey saw. (Numbers 22:32-33) When he had spoken to the angel of The Lord, Balaam was allowed to go to the king, but instead of cursing the people, he blessed them three times.
As Joseph said to his brothers when they sold him into slavery, you meant it for evil but God meant it for good. (Genesis 50:20) Some of the evil plans that our enemies have in store for us, God can turn them into blessings for us. The people of God can be unaware of the evil that was planned for them which God turned into blessings. God can protect us from dangers seen and unseen. (Joshua 24:17, 1 Samuel 30:23, Ezra 8:31, Psalms 5:11, Psalms 12:7, John 17:15, & 2 Thessalonians 3:3) What He has done for others, He can do for us too. We just need to believe and obey.
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