May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed! – Numbers 24:9b

Today's Scripture Reading (February 4, 2025): Numbers 24

Abram was in Ur of the Chaldees when God called him to move to an unknown place. It takes a lot of faith to go with God to a place that not only have you never been, but that there isn't even a name by which the place is known, at least not one that you have ever heard before. Yet, that is precisely what God does to Abram. It was a "come with me" moment. Abram would likely be asked to follow the Euphrates River from Ur as it winds northwest toward modern-day Turkey. Then, he would follow the fertile crescent as it made a turn south along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea until he came to Canaan and the land that God was going to promise to Abram's descendants.

Do you ever wonder what would make Abram go to such a place? I do. The answer might be relatively simple. Abram heard the voice of God as he made this promise to him. 

The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you.

"I will make you into a great nation,

    and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

    and you will be a blessing. 

I will bless those who bless you,

    and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

    will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:1-3).

Abram, go, and I will bless you. Not only that, but I will also curse those who curse you. And it wasn't just Abram of whom God was speaking. It was the nation that would emerge from Abram's descendants. The biblical identity of that nation is Israel. However, we shouldn't miss the transactional nature of this promise. God promised Abram and his descendants that if they passed the blessing they would receive from God on to the world around them, God was willing to bless those who blessed Abram and curse those who cursed Abram. From our point of view in history, God promises to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.

It has not been a great time for King Balak. First, he hires Balaam, a prophet, to curse Israel. But it is a task that, from Balak's point of view, Balaam is unequipped to complete. In his first attempt, Balaam simply fails to produce an effective curse on the nation. But Balaam isn't done. He attempts to curse Israel a second time, except that this time, what comes out of Balaam's mouth is not a curse but a blessing. But Balaam still isn't done. In his third attempt to curse Israel, he actually curses Balak. And the curse that he utters is straight from the blessing God gave to Abram during his call to move to Canaan. "May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!" Balak sought to curse Israel. Balaam ends up reminding his employer that the result of that curse would be that King Balak would be the one who felt the effects of that curse. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Numbers 25