“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. God brought them out of Egypt; They have the strength of a wild Ox. There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’ Numbers 23:21-23
This is an oracle of Balaam, a man who was hired by Balak, King of Moab to curse Israel. Balak tried to lure Balaam with gold and silver. God told him not to go with the officials of Balak. He wanted to go with them and wanted all those rewards. Ultimately, God permitted him to go with the officials. This man did not utter a single curse on Israel instead he blessed them, for God stopped him from cursing them.
Israel, a nation separated by God. God brought them out of Egypt and was leading to their promised land. In this journey they faced many problems, but God rescued them from each problem. He gave them laws and regulations. He stayed with them in the camp. Not to mention, the presence of the Pillar of fire and cloud on the camp.
In this whole journey, they did not see much positivity. Yes, God did perform some miracles in their lives. But was not blessed by anyone. No other nations supported them or allowed them to use their Highways. they sinned, grumbled and was punished. God punished them every time. They had to purify themselves every now and then beacuse of the presence of the Holy God.
But now, here a third person has arrived to curse this people. God won’t allow that. for he is the fourth factor staying with them. He made Balaam bless Israel. After a long tiring journey, there is someone blessing them.
A farmer gets up early in the morning to work on the field. He uses his ox for various purpose, like pulling cart, ploughing the field, threshing the grains etc. In all these activities, ox gets beaten up every time it slows down. Life is not easy for that ox. Ox always sees his master beating him. But when an outsider comes to the farmer to enquire of his well being, he will say, ‘strength of my Ox is uncomparable.’
Lives of Israel were like the life of an Ox. They toiled so hard. They had to face many difficulties, beatings, punishments not like other nations who had their own land and lived a peaceful life. But when an outsider comes to curse them, he is forced to see the strength of an ox, not just an ox but the strength of a WILD ox, hard to control and tame.
We might not see anything good in our lives. Like this wild ox we may be troubling our Master and getting beaten up every time. But this Master sees the strength in us. If this Master is staying among us. If He is our fourth factor, no third person can curse us. He sees the strength of every arrows, placed in the QUIVER OF GOD.
May GOD bless u all..