Why does Balaam say 'God is not man' (Numbers 23:19)?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

In Numbers 23, Balaam, a prophet for hire, was relaying messages from God to king Balak who tried to hire him to curse Israel. God told Balaam that He would not allow Balaam to curse His people (Numbers 22:12). However, in response to Balak's repeated insistence that Balaam find a way to curse Israel, God spoke through Balaam to tell Balak that He was not like mankind. Men and women regularly sin (Romans 3:9–18) and are unreliable liars. However, God let Balak know that He was not like men. Instead, when He said something, He meant it and would not change His mind or be proved a liar. Therefore, He would not allow Balaam to curse Israel no matter how much Balak coerced or paid Balaam to try.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The account of Balaam is an interesting one because God used a man intent on doing harm to His people to proclaim His God. In Numbers 23:19, quoting God, he said, "God is not a man, that He should lie."
• We learn about Balaam, a "prophet for hire," in Numbers 22 when Balak, the king of Moab hired him to curse Israel (Numbers 22:6).
• Balaam originally rejected the offer, not because he was a man of principle, but because God explicitly told Him that He would not allow Balaam to succeed (Numbers 22:12).
• However, after a second attempt and an increase in the financial reward, Balaam asked God again who permitted him to go to the king, still insisting that Balaam would be unsuccessful (Numbers 22:20).
• God was angry, however, at Balaam's desire to try to curse Israel. As Balaam traveled to the king, the Angel of the LORD stood in the path to prevent him. Balaam was blind to the Angel. However, his donkey was not, and it refused to keep going. After trying several times to get it to move forward, Balaam beat the donkey, who finally just lay down (Numbers 22:22–27). Remarkably, God allowed the donkey to speak (Numbers 22:28–30) and for Balaam to see and talk with the Angel of the LORD (Numbers 22:31–35). Balaam acknowledged he had sinned against God and God showed Balaam mercy by allowing him to continue his journey.
• The prophecies that Balaam received from God are recorded in Numbers 23. The second prophecy is the one that contains the phrase, "God is not a man."
• The full verse explains what He meant when He said He was not a man. He said, "God is not a man, that He should lie." That is, unlike men who lie as their normal, even expected behavior, God is not sinful—he does not lie. Whatever He says is true. God told Balaam multiple times that He would not let him curse Israel. What God was saying to Balak in Numbers 22:19 is that trying again was pointless because he was not dealing with a man who can be bought to change his mind, but with God who never lies.
• We see a similar idea in 1 Samuel where king Saul grabbed Samuel the prophet in hope for a new message after Samuel had declared God's intention to take the kingdom away from him. In reply, Samuel told Saul, "[God] will not lie or have regret; for He is not a man that He should have regret" (1 Samuel 15:29). Like with the Numbers’ passage, the point is that men change their minds, but God keeps His word.
• Note that while Balaam was ultimately thwarted from cursing Israel, he did find a way to indirectly harm Israel by offering counsel to entrap the men of Israel with the woman of Moab so that they would commit idolatry (Numbers 25:1–3, 31:6).

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• The account of Balaam is in the Old Testament. However, the New Testament remembers him as a wicked man.
• Peter spoke about certain false teachers in his time as those who "followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness" (2 Peter 2:15). That is, the greed that marked Balaam's willingness to hire himself out to anyone also marked those false teachers.
• Jude, perhaps speaking about the same false teachers, also likens them to Baalam, saying that "they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam" (Jude 1:11).
• In the book of Revelation, Jesus rebukes the church in Pergamum (Revelation 2:12) because "you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality" (Revelation 2:14). In that case, it was not Balaam's greed that was highlighted, but his final trickery to subject Israel to idolatry with the Moabites.
• However, despite Balaam being remembered as wicked, because he spoke what God told him to say, he accurately represented God. Paul spoke about salvation, calling it "the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the ages began" (Titus 1:2). That is, Paul bases our hope on the fact that God cannot lie. Similarly, the author of Hebrews says we have "strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us" because "it is impossible for God to lie" (Hebrews 6:18).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17) which means that God never changes. As men and women, we lie and change our minds constantly. We are unreliable and sinful. However, God is not like us.

This gives us great hope. God's promises are like "a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul t" (Hebrews 6:19). Everything He promises will come to pass. In Balaam's day, He did not allow Israel to be cursed. However, when Israel began committing idolatry, God punished her severely, a promise He previously made. Even now, Israel remains scattered because of God's promise to not let their sin go unpunished. However, God has also promised a future for Israel. She will finally be in her land and all her people's hearts will be changed, bringing salvation to the nation (Jeremiah 31:31–34). We can trust that promise because it came from God.

Likewise, as believers, we also have unshakable promises. Jesus ascended into heaven two-thousand years ago with the promise that He would return (John 14:2–3). We have not seen Him, yet we know He is returning. Our hope, as the author of Hebrews said, is grounded in Who God is.

But not only has Jesus promised to return for believers, but He has also promised to bring judgement on the world (Revelation 19:11–16). That, also, is an ironclad promise. It cannot be changed because Jesus is fully God and God is not like a man who changes his mind. This means that all sin will be done away with, and all His enemies destroyed.

We have these and many other promises in Scripture. We know that each is "yes and amen" (2 Corinthians 1:20) because God is not like us!

UNDERSTAND

• Unlike humans, God does not lie or change His mind.
• God’s Word stands firm regardless of human schemes, as seen in His protection of Israel despite Balaam’s efforts.
• Because God cannot lie, we can trust every promise He has made, including judgment and salvation.

REFLECT

• Where in your life have you doubted God’s promises because you assumed He might change His mind like people do?
• How does knowing that God never lies or shifts His intentions affect your trust in His plan during difficult seasons?
• In what areas are you tempted to manipulate outcomes rather than rest in the reliability of God's word?

ENGAGE

• How does Balaam’s statement that “God is not a man, that He should lie” challenge our culture’s tendency to project human flaws onto God?
• What do Balaam’s and Balak’s repeated attempts to change God’s mind reveal about how we often misunderstand God's nature?
• How can we as believers grow in confidence that God’s promises are certain and unshakable?