{"id":5721,"date":"2026-05-06T00:01:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T07:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/?p=5721"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:23:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T23:23:26","slug":"numbers-2319-20-god-is-not-a-man-that-he-should-lie-nor-a-son-of-man-that-he-should-repent-has-he-said-and-will-he-not-do-or-has-he-spoken-and-will-he-not-make-it-good-behold-i-ha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/?p=5721","title":{"rendered":"Numbers 23:19\u201320: &#8220;God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After Balaam heard his donkey speak and saw the angel, he was a changed man; he suddenly desired to be obedient to God! There is no clearer form of guidance than seeing an angel of the Lord, sword in hand, standing in the middle of a road blocking your way: \u201cGee, I wonder what God is trying to say to me?&#8221; So when Balaam arrived and King Balak commanded him to curse the Israelites, the prophet warned the king that he could only say what God allowed him to say. God already intended to bless Israel, just as He had been doing all along. Even if King Balak had been able to force Balaam to proclaim a curse on Israel, it would have been useless, hot air. God would continue to do what He had set out to do; however, Balaam would have missed the opportunity to be a part of it.<\/p>\n<p>God never changes His purposes, only the way he gets the job done, according to our choices. God&#8217;s ultimate goals will be accomplished, either with us or without us. The prophecies of God are accomplished on time or \u201cin the fullness of time,\u201d especially the things He foretold of the Messiah, promised to the people of Israel and all people everywhere. But He does want us to be actively involved in His plans and workings. <em>God incidences<\/em> or God-given opportunities to share His love arise in our lives daily, and He desires for us to participate in them so we can get to know Him better. Too often, though, we miss these opportunities because we are so focused in on the unimportant trivia of the day or caught up in taking care of our physical needs that we miss the spiritual.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;LORD, help us to see, open the eyes of our hearts, LORD, so we will see and act on the opportunities You give us this day.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p>=============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Numbers 23 KJV<a href=\"https:\/\/biblesociety-zimbabwe.org\/bible\/KJV\/NUM.23\/#\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>1<\/sup>\u00a0And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.\u00a0<sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on\u00a0<em>every\u00a0<\/em>altar a bullock and a ram.\u00a0<sup>3<\/sup>\u00a0And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.\u00a0\u00a0<sup>4<\/sup>\u00a0And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon\u00a0<em>every<\/em> altar a bullock and a ram.\u00a0<sup>5<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0put a word in Balaam\u2019s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.\u00a0<sup>6<\/sup>\u00a0And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.\u00a0<sup>7<\/sup>And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east,\u00a0<em>saying\u00a0<\/em>, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.\u00a0<sup>8<\/sup>\u00a0How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy,\u00a0<em>whom\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath not defied?\u00a0<sup>9<\/sup>\u00a0For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.\u00a0<sup>10<\/sup>\u00a0Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth\u00a0<em>part\u00a0<\/em>of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!\u00a0<sup>11<\/sup>\u00a0And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed\u00a0<em>them\u00a0<\/em>altogether.\u00a0<sup>12<\/sup>\u00a0And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath put in my mouth? <sup>13<\/sup>\u00a0And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. <sup>14<\/sup>\u00a0And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on\u00a0<em>every\u00a0<\/em>altar.\u00a0\u00a0<sup>15<\/sup>\u00a0And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet\u00a0<em>the\u00a0LORD\u00a0<\/em>yonder.\u00a0<sup>16<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.\u00a0<sup>17<\/sup>\u00a0And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the\u00a0LORDspoken?\u00a0<sup>18<\/sup>\u00a0And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:\u00a0<sup>19<\/sup>\u00a0God\u00a0<em>is\u00a0<\/em>not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do\u00a0<em>it\u00a0<\/em>? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?\u00a0<sup>20<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, I have received\u00a0<em>commandment\u00a0<\/em>to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.\u00a0<sup>21<\/sup>\u00a0He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the\u00a0LORD\u00a0his God\u00a0<em>is\u00a0<\/em>with him, and the shout of a king\u00a0<em>is\u00a0<\/em>among them.\u00a0<sup>22<\/sup>\u00a0God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn.\u00a0<sup>23<\/sup>\u00a0Surely\u00a0<em>there is\u00a0<\/em>no enchantment against Jacob, neither\u00a0<em>is there\u00a0<\/em>any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!\u00a0\u00a0<sup>24<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat\u00a0<em>of<\/em>the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. <sup>25<\/sup> And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.\u00a0<sup>26<\/sup>But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the\u00a0LORDspeaketh, that I must do? <sup>27<\/sup>\u00a0And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.\u00a0<sup>28<\/sup>\u00a0And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.\u00a0<sup>29<\/sup>And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.\u00a0<sup>30<\/sup>\u00a0And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on\u00a0<em>every\u00a0<\/em>altar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Balaam heard his donkey speak and saw the angel, he was a changed man; he suddenly desired to be obedient to God! There is no clearer form of guidance than seeing an angel of the Lord, sword in hand, standing in the middle of a road blocking your way: \u201cGee, I wonder what God [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5721"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5721"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15978,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5721\/revisions\/15978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}