Numbers 23:23

The great question in this moving scene is this: "Can Satan succeed in cursing the people of God, and so keep them out of the promised land?" This is not only a question about redemption, and about the joy of redemption at the start of their journey. It is a question at the end, when they have shown all their unfaithfulness — unfaithfulness even after the Lord had brought them to Himself. Can Satan succeed then? No.

Balaam, who used enchantments, had to admit that "there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel." When the elders of Moab and Midian came from Balak, they were sent "with the fees for divination in their hand" (Num. 22:7); and when Balaam claimed to go and meet the LORD, he went "to look for omens" (Num. 24:1). No natural power could overcome the people of God, and no devilish power could prevail against them either.

In His own dealings with the people He will see everything and take notice of everything. But with the accuser it is a question of righteousness. God sees only this: according to the purposes of His grace, He has given a ransom, and the sins of His people are atoned for. He could not in justice see those sins. So the accuser's mouth is forced to confess that there are none. The enemy has no power against Jacob. And the ground is clearly taught. The words are said of Jacob and Israel, not of God; and they say not what Israel has wrought, but what God has wrought. Israel had the place, but the work was God's work.

According to what time? The time when Israel was faint and weak. They were discouraged by the long road, and they had not yet conquered any of their enemies across the Jordan. Their enemies were much mightier than they (Deut. 7:1, etc.), and yet he says, "What has God wrought!" The moment he sees them under the eye of God he says that.

In God's wisdom he was just the man to declare even to the enemy that it is entirely a question of what He has wrought, not in any way of Israel's doings or deserts.

God delights to speak of Jacob and of Israel. When we see Jacob in all his weaknesses and failures, God's mercy and grace shine out in His dealings with him. When we see Israel, the prince with God, we see the one whom God has enabled to be an overcomer. Whether in Jacob or in Israel, God's greatness stands out.

We need to be sober and watchful. We need to be strong in the Lord, wearing the breastplate of righteousness and the belt of truth. But we have no need for alarm and dread. We may walk through this evil world with a calm mind. We know the Lord's hand protects us, and we know the enemy has no power.

Egypt could hold Israel for centuries, but Egypt's wickedness ripened. When the hour came, no power in the air or on the earth could stop God's judgments on Egypt and His mercies on Israel. No enchantment and no divination will ever frustrate God's plan in the future.