By Christopher Dryden
22 But God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, 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 made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell 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 oppose you because your way is perverse[c] before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35 And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.
Numbers 22:22-35 (ESV)
Previous to this episode, Balaam had turned down a request from Balak to do him a favour and curse the children of Israel for a decent amount of money. Now, he’s received an increased offer to do a job he knows he cannot do, because God told him so. What’s interesting is how this journey exposes Balaam’s motives.
Balaam was up for the payday that he was about to get from Balak. That degree of stubbornness not only left him blind to divine opposition, it even left him on the brink of killing a donkey who had shown trustworthy character for years.
As people get hung up on a talking donkey, what’s going on in the story gets overlooked. Consider the mercy of God for Balaam. He was careening into doing something that would not end well for him. The donkey was smart enough not to mess with a messenger of the Lord on three different occasions even if it required her to take severe and unwarranted beatings from her stubborn and blind master.
As stubborn as Balaam was being, what does it say about the human capacity to set its course against the Lord? What does it say about the steps God takes to give us every opportunity to turn from actions that could have dire consequences? It might amaze us to look back in our lives at the ways that God has shown mercy on us by placing things in our way that initially frustrated us but was really doing us a favour.
Balaam is not the only individual in scripture who needed to be knocked off his feet to come to his senses. Saul also known as Paul had to be knocked off his feet for the light to be switched on to the error of his ways. Determined as he was to reach Damascus and do damage to the church of God, Jesus brought some light on the situation for him to eventually see straight.
We can go blundering into so many things blinded by ambition and greed, motivated by that which highlights how far we are from the righteous, gracious, kind and loving nature of God. We can be that way-minded despite others seeing better than we do where we’re headed.
As we acknowledge our tendency to be stubborn and have received His mercy, it’s a good point to remember others around us who might similarly be hellbent on doing what they want to do and blindly heading in the wrong direction. Maybe a speaking donkey won’t be able to convince the people, but we can certainly pray that God will have mercy on them so they can see the error of their ways before they make an ass out of themselves.
Ask – How would you describe Balaam’s attitude before he finally saw the angel of the Lord for himself?
Seek – Can you recall times when God had to turn the lights on to show you the error of your ways?
Knock – In prayer, ask the Lord to show you where you might be straying from what He’s called you to do. Pray likewise for God’s mercy on those you know to be stubbornly pursuing a perilous path.
(Upper Photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash)
(Inner Photo by Anna Kaminova on Unsplash)
