A Talking Donkey!

Did you know that donkeys . . .

• are stronger than horses even though smaller? 

• have big ears so they can hear other donkeys miles away?

• are actually more cautious than stubborn?

  
  

Maybe that's why It was no accident that God used the humble, misrepresented donkey to get the attention of a man who needed the donkey’s big ears to hear an unmistakable message from God.

It’s not that Balaam was a bad prophet.  When Balak, the King of Moab, saw the Israelites’ advance into his territory, Balak was afraid. He feared losing his land if the Israelites continued their successful raids.  What’s a king to do?

King Balak sent a desperate message to Prophet Balaam, who was camped in Moab with the Israelites and getting ready for their Moab raid. King Balak wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites to stop them.

When Balaam consulted God, he had big enough ears to hear an unequivocal “no” to Balak’s request. 

But Balak wouldn’t take “no” for his answer. He sent a team with monetary incentives to persuade Balaam. Balaam asked God about the money. God’s answer was still a big NO!

Balaam must have resisted God’s answer, maybe because the reward  Balak dangled in front of him was tempting. In a night vision, God told Balaam he could go with the king’s representatives, but only to repeat God's instructions.

If Balaam needed this repetition, it meant that God knew Balaam was tempted by the money and the king’s good favor. References from 2 Peter 2:15 and Jude 10 confirm this. This journey to the king was a test Balaam didn’t study for.

An interesting thing happened on the trip.  An angel appeared, but only Balaam’s donkey saw him.  The donkey stopped with its feet planted as if in cement. No matter how much Balaam beat the donkey, the donkey wouldn’t budge. 

Nothing worked.  Balaam’s donkey just folded his legs under him and plopped down to wait for the angel to

move that Balaam couldn’t see.

Finally, the donkey had enough.  To Balam's surprise, the donkey opened his mouth and spoke directly to Balaam. It went something like this (my paraphrase)::

Hey, you, with the big stick.  Haven’t I been your very own four-footed faithful friend?  And you beat me for it?

What surprises me the most is that Balaam talked back to the talking donkey:

              You have made a fool of me, and if I had a sword, you’d be dead.

Then God opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel that had stopped the donkey.  The angel reprimanded Balaam for beating his donkey, who behaved more obediently than Balaam had. When Balaam saw the sword in the hand of the angel, he realized he was in trouble. 

The angel told Balaam that he would have been dead in his tracks except for the donkey.  Talk about a put-down!

So what’s the point of the story?

• God knows how to get our attention. 

• We need donkey ears and more donkey caution to obey God.

• God’s NO doesn’t change, but God’s YES always waits!

• God gave man authority over animals, and God can change it if he wants to.

• 
  

Don’t be like Balaam.  Follow the donkey instead.  He saw the messenger from God and stopped to listen, no matter who tried to push him forward. What would happen if we did the same?