The Talking Donkey

Are you serious? Donkeys don't talk! Things impossible with man, are however possible with God. Let's look at a true incident in the Old Testament.

Numbers chapter 22 gives us the account of Balak the son of Zippor, the king of the Moabites, endeavouring to hire Balaam the son of Beor to curse the children of Israel. The reason being, the Moabites were terrified of the Israelites. Balak sent the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian to Balaam.

Numbers 22:8-13

"(8) And he [Balaam] said to them, 'Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.' so the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

(9) Then God said to Balaam, 'Who are these men with you?'

(10) So Balaam said to God, 'Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, has sent to me, saying,

(11) 'Look a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now and curse them and drive them out.'

(12) And God said to Balaam, 'You shall not go with them, you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.'

(13) So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, 'Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you,"

The princes of Moab returned to Balak and told him that Balaam refused to come with them. Balak sent even more high ranking princes to Balaam with the promise that Balak would greatly honour Balaam if he would curse the children of Israel. Balaam again asked them to stay overnight.

Numbers 22:20, 21, "(20) And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, 'If the men come to you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you - that you shall do.' (21) So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab."

What is going on here? God had told Balaam that he was not to curse the children of Israel. Why is God now saying to Balaam to go with the princes of Moab? The answer is obvious, God was testing Balaam. Maybe Balaam was thinking about the great honour Balak would bestow upon him. Whatever it was he was not thinking clearly.

Numbers 22:22, "Then God's anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding his donkey and his two servants were with him." The verses that follow tell us that the Angel of the Lord barred the way with His drawn sword in His hand. The donkey saw the Angel of the Lord and turned aside into a field. Balaam forced the donkey back. Then the Angel of the Lord two more times stood in the way. The donkey the third time had nowhere to go and simply laid down with Balaam on her back.

Numbers 22:27-33

"(27) And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam's anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

(28) Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, 'What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?'

(29) And Balaam said to the donkey, 'Because you have abused me. I wish there was a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!'

(30) So the donkey said to Balaam, 'Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?' And he said, 'No.'

(31) Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His sword drawn in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face.

(32) And the Angel of the Lord said to him, 'Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.

(33) The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live'."

What a predicament! God had to cause a donkey to speak in a human voice to make Balaam understand how close to dying he was!

How about you? Does God have to do something drastic in your life to make you realise your need of salvation? None of us is given any guarantee how long we will live on this earth.

Don't be like the rich man in  Luke 12:19, 20, "(19) And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink and be merry.' (20) But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided'?"

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the Saviour!

Jon Peasey

Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com

Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]

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