The Bible records a plethora of inconceivable, but true, accounts of God using any source he chooses to make His will known to man. And the story of a talking donkey is in good company along with a burning bush in Exodus 3:2 or the gentle breeze in 1 Kings 19:12, as well as a huge fish big enough to swallow a man as did in Jonah 1:17, as proof of the miraculous mouthpieces God may choose to speak through.
In the story of Balaam, we find a man who professed obedience to the Lord but grappled with a greedy heart. Balaam was highly regarded by the Moabites and Midianites as a soothsayer Joshua 13:22 and Numbers 24:2-9 who was able to bless or curse with his words.
Although Balaam lived among pagan idolaters, he himself professed great knowledge of God. As the Israelites encroached on the plains of Moab, the king of the Moabites, Balak, summoned Balaam. He feared the Israelites would attack, and he wanted Balaam to put a curse on them. At first Balaam was reluctant, but in the end, the money that Balak offered him for cursing them outweighed any other reason Balaam had not to do it.
Balaam rode his donkey along with the Moabites to go and curse the Israelites. God knew Balaam’s heart and his ways. To end Balaam’s misplaced anger, greed and selfishness, God sends an angel to block the path. But Balaam, intent on his assignment, doesn’t notice the angel. But the donkey does. Three times.
The first time, it causes the donkey to swerve away. And in an unsettling reveal of Balaam’s true nature, Balaam beats the frightened donkey back onto the path. The second time, the angel stands in a narrow path with walls on both sides. Again, Balaam burst out his frustration by beating the poor donkey. Finally, on the third account, the angel stands where “there is no room to turn, either to the right or the left” in Numbers 20:26.
The donkey was so frightened that it laid down, with Balaam still on his back. Balaam responded by beating the terrified animal who did not have any control over the situation at all.
At this point, Scripture tells us that the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and the donkey spoke. He asks Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” the outraged Balaam cried out, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand I would kill you right now” Numbers 20:29.
The donkey reasoned with Balaam asking, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” Then God opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel in the road, sword drawn. It was only at that point that Balaam fell on his face in reverence. The angel admonishes Balaam, asking why he beat his donkey heartlessly instead of realizing that his path was reckless.
Now Balaam, a man who claims such devotion to God he can speak his very words, admits that he has sinned. He responds with “I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back” Numbers 20:34. With that said, Balaam turned back and stood by his pledge to only do what the Lord told him to do, by not cursing the Israelites.
In this account, the voice of God came through a donkey to convince Balaam of how his desire for prize money was blinding him and separating him from the work God had called him toward. In other accounts like the prophet Jonah, God used a storm, a huge fish and a tiny worm to speak on His behalf to a selfish prophet to reveal Jonah's sinful heart towards a people that was in need of God's grace, His mercy and salvation.
Disobeying God never pays off. We cannot run from God, nor can we thwart His plans to do a thing. Scripture is full of wisdom and life lessons if we will seek them out and follow the right path.
Hold Fast, -Bren
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