Balak’s Bidding
In the book of Numbers, Balak, king of Moab, was terrified of Israel. He saw the Israelites not as a people under God’s care, but as a threat to be neutralized. Because he couldn’t destroy Israel militarily, he sought out Balaam—a hired pagan seer whom Balak believed could bend God’s will for a price. Balak wanted Israel cursed, and Balaam entertained the idea for personal gain.
Something eerily similar is unfolding today. More and more voices who identify as Christian are sounding far less like followers of Jesus, the King of Israel, and far more like Balak on the hills of Moab. They speak the language of faith, wrapping themselves in moral concern using biblical vocabulary. But in the end, their messages serve an ancient purpose: to curse Israel and the Jewish people. They are doing Balak’s bidding.
Candace Owens, the social media political pundit who recently converted from Reformed Evangelicalism to Catholicism, uses her newfound identity to support anti-Israel arguments, seeking to poison the world against the Jewish state. Among her libelous claims, she has called Israel a “demonic nation,” promulgated one of history’s oldest antisemitic lies—that Jews control the media—and accused Jewish people of orchestrating the transatlantic slave trade. Her hateful rhetoric reaches more than 20 million followers across social media platforms.
Political commentator Tucker Carlson has become another leading voice of anti-Israel rhetoric, often cloaking his condemnation in personal “Christian” concern. According to a December 2025 study by the Jewish People Policy Institute, Carlson’s negative criticism of Israel rose dramatically, from 48.9% to 70.3% in one year. His rapidly growing anti-Israel content significantly outperforms his other material, sometimes doubling viewership and reaching millions.
In the digital economy, online clicks pay and outrage sells. Anti-Israel rhetoric spreads quickly, provokes reaction, and builds platforms. One side cheers; the other side responds. Both generate engagement, which nets visibility, influence, and often money for content creators. The goal becomes commerce, not commentary.
Because cursing Israel can be lucrative, Balak’s bidding attracts willing messengers eager to collect their rewards.
In the past, critics in the church disguised hostility toward Israel in the language of biblical interpretation. They redefined Israel, blurred God’s covenant promises, and reduced the Jewish people to relics of a bygone Old Testament era.
Now, the subtlety is gone. The message is open, aggressive, and dangerous. Israel is called a mistake. The Jewish people are treated as a problem. The Jewish state’s existence is framed not as a marvel of God’s providence, but as an obstacle to peace. That is not a minor political opinion. That is Balak’s old hostility dressed up in modern clothes.
Balak did not care how the curse came, only that it came. He was willing to pay for it. Balaam was willing to entertain the offer despite understanding God’s will enough to ask, “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” (Num. 23:8).
Many still line up to carry out Balak’s bidding. They may dress their words in morality, theology, or altruism; but they still feed the ancient impulse to curse whom God has blessed. In the end, man cannot overturn His blessing. God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—”I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you”—has not been revoked (Gen. 12:3). People cannot simply edit that warning to fit the mood of the age.
When Balaam opened his mouth to curse, a blessing came out instead. So it has been, and so it will be. However fiercely the nations rage, however persistently Israel is slandered, and however many Balaams arise in every generation, God’s covenant stands. Israel remains blessed, not because the nations approve, but because the Lord has spoken.
