God does not change His Mind?
18 Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak, get up and listen; son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say! 19 God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:18-19
Balaam was hired by Balak (who was king of the Moabites, an enemy of Israel) to put a curse on Israel. King Balak was afraid of Israel, since they had just conquered King Arad of the Canaanites and took his land, King Sihon of the Amorites and took his land, and King Og of Bashan and took his land! So the Israelites were numerous and defeating all their enemies that they ran across. It is no wonder that King Balak was afraid!
It is interesting to me that Balaam was a prophet known to be accurate. This means that he actually did speak to God! His actions proved that he had the tendency to obey God most of the time, since he insisted on going to God for answers first before he did any actions. It is also interesting that Balaam was not an Israelite. This tells me that God has always had His people – people that served Him, even if we are not aware of it. There have evidently always been gentile believers somewhere in this world.
Finally, Balaam was told to explain to King Balak that God does not change His mind! When God proclaims a thing, it is set! God told Balaam NOT to curse Israel, and even when King Balak changed locations that command from God was still in effect. God was not about to change His Mind about His People. That gives me MUCH consolation, MUCH peace, and MUCH comfort! I am just a human as the next guy, and I make as many mistakes as you – possibly more! However, God has promised to love me through it all! This passage comforts me, because it reminds me that God is never going to have His Mind changed by anyone or anything else – He said He loves me and will take care of me, and that IS what will happen! Praise the Lord for that!
