Numbers 23:20

20 "Behold, I have received a command to bless; 1When He has blessed, then 2I cannot revoke it.

Numbers 23:20 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 23:20

Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless
The people of Israel, to pronounce a blessing upon them, to declare them a happy people:

and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it;
God has blessed them, has determined to bless them, has promised to bless them, has blessed them in the victories he has given them, and will complete the blessing of them, by bringing them into the land he has given them: so the blessings which God has designed for his spiritual Israel, and bestows upon them, are irreversible; they are blessings indeed, spiritual ones, and are for ever; he blesses them with himself, as their covenant; God, their portion here and hereafter, with Christ his Son, and all things with him, with righteousness, peace, and pardon, with his Spirit and the grace thereof, with sonship, heirship, and eternal life.

Numbers 23:20 In-Context

18 Then he took up his discourse and said, "Arise, O Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor!
19 "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 it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good
20 "Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.
21 "He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them
22 "God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Genesis 12:2; Genesis 22:17; Numbers 22:12
  • 2. Isaiah 43:13
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