Numbers 22 - The Preaching Donkey

Not everyone who claims the Lord's name comes in His name.

Not all preachers are as good looking as this guy!

CONTEXT: Balak, the king of Moab, sees the Israelites heading his way. Out of fear, he hires Balaam, a famous 'divine consultant' who would study natural phenomena such as animal entrails or bird movements to predict the future. His pronouncements of blessing or curse were considered as money in the bank (the name Balaam means 'destroyer of people'). King Balak wants to pay Balaam a substantial sum to curse the Israelites, so he sent a delegation to hire him.

Numbers 22:18–35 (NIV)

¹⁸ But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God. ¹⁹ Now spend the night here so that I can find out what else the LORD will tell me.”

²⁰ That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.”

²¹ Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. ²² But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.

²⁴ Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.

²⁶ Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. ²⁸ Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

²⁹ Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said.

³¹ Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

³² The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. ³³ The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”

³⁴ Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”

³⁵ The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s officials.

Balaam's story goes on for two more chapters. Each time the king of Moab expected Balaam to pronounce a curse over Israel, Balaam instead blessed them.

Heidelberg Catechism

Q&A 26

Q. What do you believe when you say,

“I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth”?

A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who out of nothing created heaven and earth

and everything in them,

who still upholds and rules them

by his eternal counsel and providence,

is my God and Father

because of Christ his Son.

I trust him so much that I do not doubt

he will provide

whatever I need

for body and soul,

and he will turn to my good

whatever adversity he sends me

in this sad world.

He is able to do this because he is almighty God;

he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.

Summary

Balaam was the celebrity preacher of his day, who hobnobbed with heads of state and rich clan elders. He wasn't affiliated with any particular religion or god, but spoke for them all. He parlayed his ability to communicate with the gods into fame and fortune (his name turns up often in archeological digs). Certainly most of his divination tricks were snake oil, but, mysteriously, he also had ability to communicate with the LORD.

Initially, Balaam turned King Balak down, telling the king that no matter how much money got thrown his way, that he could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God. Notice how Balaam called the LORD 'my' God. Maybe Balaam was using this as a bargaining chip, or maybe he actually thought that the LORD belonged to him! Balaam was most certainly NOT one of God's people. Lots of people claim the LORD, but so many, like Balaam, make that claim for selfish gain.

But God gives Balaam permission to go to the king, but also gives him a very short leash, telling him that he could do only what I tell you. So it might seem odd when the next morning, as Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials, that the God was very angry when he went. But God knew Balaam's heart; his allegiance wasn't to the LORD, rather it was to the financial reward that the king offered.

So in one of the most comically ironic displays of God's sovereignty, the angel of the LORD stood in the road with a drawn sword in his hand to oppose Balaam. Yet the one who supposedly had such an exclusive talent to perceive the will of the gods in natural phenomena was oblivious to what so plainly stood right before him. Even the poor donkey could see what was going on.

  Dig Deeper  

Balaam's fame stretched into the New Testament, but not for the right reasons. He's mentioned in three different books, serving as a warning. Peter expresses it the most clearly in the second chapter of his second letter:

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies... ³ In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories... ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

So be on your guard. Not everyone who comes in the name of the Lord is truly coming in the name of the Lord. A quick way to check is to determine what they're pointing you to: is it to Christ crucified, or is it to a political platform or promises of health, wealth and prosperity?

And even us preachers can learn a lesson from Balaam's story when we get a bit full of our own ability to wax eloquently about God. It's good to be reminded that there's nothing special about us, since the LORD also spoke very clearly through the mouth of a jackass.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose will always will be done;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will stay true to God's Word and not follow after the world's enticements;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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