BALAAM'S TALKING DONKEY

NUMBERS

CHAPTER 22

            Welcome back to Daily Bread!  So, you couldn't wait to learn about the talking donkey story, huh?  I must admit, it's quite unusual.  But before we begin the study of our story, we have a Daily Bread Stick. 

            Back in Biblical times, as well as today, you have people who are inspired by God.  There are many different names for these people, and different kinds of inspiration as well.  As for the kinds of inspiration, some people hear God in their dreams, others see visions with angels of the Lord, some hear the Lord speak in a totally conscious state, and some people call the inspiration of God or the Holy Spirit intuition.  Now some of the names that these people are called, are prophets, seers, diviners, etc.  As to whether or not the inspiration of these people comes from God or not is something that must be discerned.  There always will be people who claim to be things they're not, or get their inspiration from ungodly sources, and those might be called soothsayers, wizards, fortune tellers, etc.  One way to conclude who is divinely inspired and who is not is whether what they claim comes to pass.  Now, back to our story.

            The children of Israel camped in the plains of Moab (Moab was made up of the children of Lot) on the east side of the Jordan river by Jericho. Balak, the king of Moab knew what Israel did to the Amorites and the Moabites were afraid of the children of Israel.  Moab conferred with Midian because they were afraid that Israel was going to attack all the neighboring countries of the Amorites. 

            There was a man named Balaam from Edom who was a diviner, and Balak sent messengers to him saying, There is a people that came out of Egypt.  There are so many of them that they cover the face of the earth, and they've taken over the land next to me.   I know that whoever you bless is blessed and whoever you curse is cursed, so come now and curse these people so maybe we can defeat them and chase them out of the land.

            And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left with the diviner's fee in their hand; and they went to Balaam, and gave him Balak's message.  (Balaam was not a true prophet, but as you'll see, God will use him anyway)  Balaam told them to stay the night and he would bring them word later, after the Lord spoke to him. 

            God came to Balaam and said, Who are those men with you?  And Balaam answered, Balak, the king of Moab sent them to me saying there is a people that came out of Egypt and they are many.  He wants me to curse them for him so he can defeat them and drive them out. 

            God said to Balaam, You will not go with them.  You will not curse the people, for they are blessed.  So Balaam got up in the morning and told the princes of Balak, Go home, the Lord refuses to give me permission to go with you. 

            The princes of Moab went back to Balak and said, Balaam refuses to come with us.  Balak sent more princes that were more honorable than the first, and they went to Balaam with the message from Balak, Don't let anything stop you from coming to me.  I will give you a very great honor and will do whatever you ask if you will come and curse these people.

            Balaam told Balak's servants, If Balak was to give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go against the word of the Lord my God to do less or more than He says.  Stay here tonight in case God tells me something different.

            God came to Balaam that night and said, If the men come to call you, get up and go with them, but do not curse the people.  Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

            Now, it doesn't say anything about the men coming to call Balaam, and for Balaam to try and outguess the Lord by inviting Balak's servants to stay in case God changed His mind was not the right thing to do.      

            God's anger was stirred up because Balaam went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way hindering him.  Now, Balaam was riding on his donkey and two of his servants were with him.  The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand, but Balaam could not see him.  The donkey turned and went out of the way of the angel and into the field.  Balaam struck the donkey to lead her back to the direction he wanted her to go. 

            Then the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards which had a wall on each side.  When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed herself into the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall, so he struck her again.  The angel of the Lord didn't give up.  He stood in a narrow place where there wasn't any way to turn to the right or to the left.  When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam and he grew angry and struck the donkey again with his staff.

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

            Imagine that!  I wish the children of Israel could have heard it.  A talking donkey!  Balaam answered, Because you mocked me.  I wish there was a sword in my hand right now ... I'd kill you!  The donkey replied, Am I not your donkey that you've ridden on ever since I was born until this very day?  Have I ever done anything like this before?  Balaam said, No.  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 Balaam bowed down and fell flat on his face. 

            The angel of the Lord said to him, Why have you struck your donkey these three times?  I went out to get in your way because your way is wrong.  The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times.  If she hadn't turned out of the way, by now I would have killed you and saved her alive. 

            Balaam said to the angel, I've sinned.  I didn't know that you stood in the way to hinder me.  If you don't want me to go, I'll go home again.  The angel said, Go with the men, but only the words that I tell you, is what you will tell them.  So Balaam continued on with the princes of Balak.

            When Balak heard that Balaam had come to him, he went to meet him and asked, Why didn't you come to me when I called you the first time?  Don't you want me to honor you? 

            Balaam said, The word that God puts in my mouth is what I'll speak.  Balak sent oxen and sheep to Balaam and his servants and the next day, took Balaam to the high places (where they worship their gods) so that from there he might see the amount of people that Israel had.

            So here's what we have so far.  Balak, king of Moab, scared of Israel, hires Balaam to come and curse God's people.  Balaam inquires of God what to do and God says, You will not go nor curse them, they are blessed.  Balak summons Balaam again and promises he will give him riches and fame if he curses the Lord's people, and Balaam foolishly presents the situation to God again.  This angers God and He sends His angel to kill Balaam but Balaam's donkey sees the angel and averts him.  The Lord then enables Balaam to see the angel that his talking donkey saw, and he sees his sin also.  Now, the angel tells Balaam to continue on to Balak, who continues his quest to convince Balaam to curse God's people.

            You won't want to miss the continuation of this story, so join us again next time, here at Daily Bread. 

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