No Fear

Numbers 22:3
And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.

Moab was a kingdom to the east of the Dead Sea whose king was Balak. This vast plain was an area that God was going to lead Israel through on their way to the promised land. Balak did not want the nation of Israel to come through his land. He feared that they would conquer him and take everything that he had on their way though.

Balak sent for Balaam, a prophet and a man of God, to come and curse the Israelites. His thought was that if Balaam cursed the Israelites, then he would be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. But Balaam wasn’t the type of man to just casually do what he was asked. Instead, he said that he needed to talk to God and find out if a curse on this people was what He wanted. God said no. More than that, God said these people are “blessed”.

Interestingly enough, God didn’t say that they would be blessed, but that they are blessed. He was talking present time, right here, right now, these people, His people, are blessed. Not a lot you can do with that one but go back and say, “Nope, God’s blessed these people. You’re not going to get a curse out of me.” So Balaam went on and not only did he not curse the Israelites, but he blessed them right in front of Balak. I bet that was annoying!

But it wasn’t just Balak that was afraid; the Bible tells us that Moab, the entire nation and the land in which they lived, was afraid. Why was Moab afraid; why were they “sick with dread”? Because they already knew that Israel was the nation of God. They knew when they saw the Israelites setting up camp around the area that God’s people couldn’t be stopped from gaining their inheritance, that God wouldn’t allow them to be turned back and robbed of the blessings He had already promised to them.

How does this relate to us? Moab, for the Israelites, was a land that they had to dwell in and pass through on the way to the promised land. It was ruled by their enemy, Balak, who did not want to lose what he had. Today, Moab is all of the world and society that we as Christians are camped in and around. It is ruled by our enemy, the Devil, the prince of this world, who does not want us to get back all that he has taken from us. (John 14:30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,) But we are children of God. We are His people. We should have peace of mind and strength of heart knowing that all of this world, and the Devil, are exceedingly afraid and sick with dread! Not because of us, but because of our heritage!

We are blessed already, and will continue to be blessed, because that is God’s promise. There is no person or being who can curse us or rob us of our blessings. We are heirs to the Throne, royalty through the Blood of Christ, and because of that, we make the Devil and his minions sick with fear. Rejoice, stand tall, and fear not, for our enemy is terrified!