“WHEN A DONKEY KNEW BETTER”
“WHEN A DONKEY KNEW BETTER”
Beloved Unchained Family, highly estimated friends:
It is a sad thing when a man needs to receive a word of admonishment coming from a donkey; or even worse, it is very troubling to come to the conclusion that sometimes an animal may be more aware of spiritual realities than us. As a matter of fact, the Bible is clear in Psalm 32:9 that donkeys have “no understanding.” But receiving a reprimand from a donkey is exactly what happened with the prophet Balaam. That is what we read in Numbers 22.28:
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?”
However illogical or unimaginable things may seem sometimes, when it comes to the Lord’s affairs, nothing is out of range or off limits. The Creator God of the universe is not governed by human coherence or reasoning, and He is not contained by any of the laws of nature, whatsoever, for that regard.
Nevertheless, the main point here is not the peculiar character of this event - a talking-donkey performing verbal self-defense using understandable human language, but the spiritual wake-up call we can all learn from it.
I am convinced that a series of circumstances led the prophet Balaam to receive an “exhortation” from an animal, and here are some of them:
1. DISREGARD FOR GOD’S INSTRUCTION
There was a specific and clear command of the Lord that Balaam shouldn’t attend the request of King Balak and leave his place to go to Moab. But sometimes God proves His people by letting us choose certain paths in order to teach us important lessons. God had clearly said no, but Balaam kept flirting with the idea of talking to the moabites messengers, until he finally capitulated to their request and succumbed to their wish. Entertaining tempting ideas that are not in tune with what God approves are always dangerous and pervasive matters, and can lead to big trouble, as it did in Balaam’s life.
2. NOT BEING AWARE OF THE DIVINE
Many scholars agree that “the Angel of the Lord” we see here in chapter 22 and in several other apparitions throughout the Old Testament, including the Angel guiding Israel through the desert towards the promised land, is a theophany of the Lord Jesus Himself. Regardless of this being the true interpretation, the fact is that Balaam, nonetheless being a prophet, was not able to discern or notice the Divine presence of God through His Angel. That’s a great risk we all fall into and it must be avoided at all cost.
Differently from what happened with the young Jacob in Bethel, who recognized after his dream/vision that “the Lord is in this place and I didn’t know it”, Balaam, contrastingly, was face to face with the Angel of the Almighty God, and didn’t have a clue, until a donkey spoke.
3. PERSONAL GAIN OVER OBEDIENCE
The apostle Peter tells us in 2 pe 2:15 that Balaam “loved the wages of unrighteousness.”
King Balak had repeatedly offered several material and monetary compensations in order to convince Balaam to come and curse the threatening nearby Israelites, and even though Balaam ultimately blessed God’s chosen people three times instead, the Bible makes clear in Numbers 31 that he also induced the people to sin against God through syncretism and immorality, triggering devastating consequences for all.
What Balaam thought could be personal gain, was translated into serious issues and in an incipient maculation and stain of the very fabric of what the nation of Israel would become in regards to idolatry. Balaam is the perfect and clear representation that we cannot serve God and money, we cannot have possessions over devotion.
A very prudent man in the Bible reminds us in Acts 5:39 “not to fight against God”; indeed Saul of Tarsus was warned by Jesus Himself that “it is a hard thing to kick against the goads”, and the now converted apostle Paul alerts believers in Ephesians 4:18 about not being “brutish in understanding.”
Sadly, Scriptures show that Balaam’s life ended very tragically. Yet, we can certainly choose a better path today!
May the Lord give us wisdom and strength to always elect obedience over everything else contrary to His Word, let us be constantly aware and in awe of His holy and blessing presence, for which, there will not be, ever, any possible comparison.
Wishing peace, health and many blessings to your body and soul,
Pr. Joshua