Turning a Curse into a Blessing

Duet 23:4-54 For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you

came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you. 5 However, the LORD your God would not listen to

Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your

God loves you.

A) In Christ Jesus the curse has been broken

Gal 3:13-14 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of

the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in

order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ

Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:2121 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become

the righteousness of God.

B) In Christ Jesus we become children of Abraham and heirs of promise

Galatians 3:26-29 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of

God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed

yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all

one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and

heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:99 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

C) In Christ Jesus a curse is turned

into a blessing

Matt 5:11-12 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all

kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who

were before you.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who

have been called according to his purpose.

Gen 50:20You intended to harm me, but God

intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Balaam son of Beor pronounced three oracles intending to curse Israel

Numbers 23:7  

Then Balaam spoke his message:“Balak brought me from Aram,

    the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.

‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;    come, denounce Israel.’

Each attempt to curse was turned into a prophetic blessing

1. A people set apart for blessing

Numbers 23:8-98 How can I curse

    those whom God has not cursed?How can I denounce

    those whom the LORD has not denounced?

9 From the rocky peaks I see them,    from the heights I view them.

I see a people who live apart    and do not consider themselves one of

the nations.

2. The immutability of God’s favor

Numbers 23:17-2117 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, “What did the LORD

say?”18 Then he spoke his message:

“Arise, Balak, and listen;    hear me, son of Zippor.

19 God is not human, that he should lie,    not a human being, that he should change his mind.

Does he speak and then not act?    Does he promise and not fulfill?

20 I have received a command to bless;    he has blessed, and I cannot change it.

21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob,    no misery observed in Israel.

The LORD their God is with them;    the shout of the King is among them.

Comprehensive nature of God’s favor

Numbers 23:27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me

from there.”

Numbers 24:2-92 When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him 3 and

he spoke his message:“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,

    the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,4 the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,

    who sees a vision from the Almighty,    who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

5 “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,    your dwelling places, Israel!6 “Like valleys they spread out,    like gardens beside a river,

like aloes planted by the LORD,    like cedars beside the waters.

7 Water will flow from their buckets;    their seed will have abundant water.“Their king will be greater than Agag;

    their kingdom will be exalted.8 “God brought them out of Egypt;

    they have the strength of a wild ox.They devour hostile nations

    and break their bones in pieces;    with their arrows they pierce them.9 Like a lion they crouch and lie down,

    like a lioness—who dares to rouse them?“May those who bless you be blessed

    and those who curse you be cursed!”

a) “tents and dwelling places”

Speaks of God’s design on blessing the home and family, children

b) “like valleys they spread out”

Speaks of God’s intent to expand, bless, and make fruitful

c) “Their seed will have abundant water”

Speaks of God’s intent to prosper and make productive

d) “They shall have the strength of an ox”

Speaks of victory over challenge and their enemies

D) Whatever the world has tried to curse you with, God speaks victory over you

Romans 8:31-35 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these

things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for

us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is

God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right

hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or

nakedness or danger or sword?

Romans 8:37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.