The King Who Feared the Blessed and Hired a Curse
Balak the son of Zippor was the king of the Moabites during the time when the children of Israel, newly delivered from Egypt, were poised on the borders of the Promised Land. Balak represents the external, political, and military power that seeks to suppress God’s people, driven by fear and resorting to desperate, unorthodox measures.
The name Balak means “waster” or “spoiler,” fitting for a man whose desperate political maneuverings ultimately sought to destroy a neighboring people.
Driven by Overwhelming Fear
The story of Balak begins with palpable dread. Having witnessed the miraculous power of the LORD that enabled Israel to defeat the mighty Amorites, Balak and the people of Moab were gripped by terror at the sheer multitude and divine protection surrounding the Israelites.
Numbers 22:3 (KJV): “And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.”
Realizing that his military strength was useless against a people supernaturally protected, Balak employed a tactic common in the ancient world: he sought to cripple Israel spiritually by hiring the famous diviner, Balaam, to pronounce a powerful curse upon them.
Numbers 22:6 (KJV): “Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.”
The Futility of Human Opposition
The core of Balak’s narrative is his frantic, repeated attempts to manipulate a curse, only to be frustrated by the unstoppable, prophetic blessings spoken by God through Balaam. Balak tried everything:
- Offering Great Riches: He promised Balaam immense honor and wealth (Numbers 22:17), appealing directly to the prophet’s covetousness.
- Changing the Location: He desperately moved Balaam from one “high place” to another—from the high places of Baal to the top of Pisgah to the top of Peor—believing that changing the vantage point would change the prophecy (Numbers 23:13, 27).
- Appealing to Logic: He challenged Balaam after each blessing, asking, “What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether” (Numbers 23:11, KJV).
In every instance, Balak was utterly defeated, not by Israel’s army, but by the immutable will of God, who declared: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19, KJV).
The Sinful Alliance and Its Aftermath
Frustrated in his attempts to curse God’s people directly, Balak followed the wicked counsel of Balaam: since God protects His people from external curses, the only way to destroy them is to tempt them into internal sin.
This partnership resulted in the “doctrine of Balaam,” which led the Israelites to commit fornication and idolatry with the Moabite women, bringing God’s judgment upon themselves and resulting in the death of twenty-four thousand (Numbers 25:9, KJV; Revelation 2:14, KJV).
Balak’s reign as a spoiler ended ignominiously. His ultimate strategy failed to preserve his kingdom, and the prophet Micah later enshrined his actions as an example of wicked consultation against God’s people:
Micah 6:5 (KJV): “O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.”
The Defence of God’s Blessing
Balak stands as a perpetual figure of the world’s desperate attempt to defy God’s plan. His story is a massive assurance for the “Defence of the Truth”: If God has blessed His people, no worldly power, no matter how politically motivated or resourceful, can successfully curse them.
The great lesson for those awaiting the Lord’s Return is that our only real danger comes from the “doctrine of Balaam”—the temptation to compromise our holiness by embracing the world’s idolatry and immorality, a corruption that Balak helped to orchestrate. As long as we remain separate and hold fast to the Blessed Hope, the plots of all the Balaks of this world are utterly futile.