Balak, the king of the Moabites in the Old Testament, would have liked to put a curse on the children of Israel. He was afraid that they would overrun his kingdom, so he sought out Balaam, a well-known magician and soothsayer, to pronounce a curse against the Israelites. Balaam evidently had some understanding that because the Israelites were already blessed by God he couldn't use any enchantment against them.
He said to Balak, "How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?" And he stuck to this line of reasoning even though Balak used powerful arguments to persuade him to pronounce a curse. Balaam finally said, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak." Num. 23:8; 24:13. So he blessed the people. Balaam had obviously intuited that God's blessing cannot be reversed.
There are countless examples in the Bible of how God blesses His people. Throughout the Old Testament we read of the great blessings that flow from obedience to God's commandments. The Israelites, with whom God established a special covenant, were assured that they would prosper in the city and in the field and that their storehouses would be full. Everything they undertook would be fruitful and productive, and their enemies would not succeed against them. See Deut. 28:1—9 . Anyone who learns to know and love God and obey His law can receive such a blessing.
