Nevertheless, the LORD your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you.

—Deuteronomy 23:5

As I write this, I’m sitting in one of the comfiest chairs in my house, wrapped in warm cozies and thinking about making myself another cup of herbal tea because I’ve spent the weekend recovering from a lovely gift my students decided to share with me last week.

It’s late, I’ve tried writing this devotion three times, and what little energy I have left is waning, so I’m going to do something a little different today and beg your grace and forgiveness.

I’ve been reading through the first five books of the Bible in my quiet time, and as I was reading tonight, I found this verse. I don’t have a specific message or revelation, but it stood out. So I’m going to share some of my thoughts, and I’d love to hear some of yours as well.

What Deuteronomy 23:5 Reveals about God’s Love

For context, this is part of a several-chapter-long list of laws that God commanded the people of Israel to follow. But right in the middle of this list, we find today’s verse.

It references the story where a foreign king hired a prophet named Balaam to curse the people of Israel. No matter what Balaam did or where he instructed the king to go, the only thing that would come out of his mouth was a blessing.

And in these verses, we see why. God literally turned the words Balaam and the king intended to be a curse into a blessing. And why? Because He loved them.

God Turns Curses into Blessings Throughout Scripture

I see connections between this situation and several others in Scripture. The first curse I think of in Scripture is at the Fall. Because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion, everything is cursed. Humans, the ground, and childbirth. All of creation changed, but even then, God made a promise that a blessing would come in the form of the victorious Messiah who would put an end to sin and death.

I also think of Romans 8:28. This is the famous verse where God promises to work all things for the good of those who love Him. In essence, He is saying that even the worst of things (things resulting from the curse in Eden, and potentially feeling like a curse) would result in blessing if we allow Him to do His work.

This pattern is found throughout Scripture. Out of disease, He brings healing. Out of exile, He brings a remnant. From slavery comes sonship. And from death comes revival and life.

Restoration vs God’s Redemption

And that brings me to the idea of redemption. The cultural concept of redemption or the kinsman redeemer (at least as far as I understand it) is that someone, based on familial relationship, would be tasked with setting things right. With putting things back to the way they were. The wife becomes a wife again. The land goes back to being owned by the family.

I don’t think that’s the case with God, though. While the blessing God brings out of curses is different from what originally was, I think it’s often more beautiful in a way. Like the broken bowls that artists reassemble, filling the cracks with gold and creating a new piece of art.

When Jesus met the woman at the well, He didn’t just restore her to a right-standing relationship with her husband. He made her into one of the first evangelists. When Jesus called Matthew to follow Him, He didn’t just tell him to stop cheating people. He used him to write one of the Gospels.

I’m not entirely sure what my conclusion is here. My head is too foggy, but I’m thankful for a God who brings such rich, extravagant blessings, like redemption, out of the curses of life. Praise be to Him!