seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Numbers 22:21 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.[a] 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.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite town on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I really not able to reward you?”
38 “Well, I have come to you now,” Balaam replied. “But I can’t say whatever I please. I must speak only what God puts in my mouth.”
39 Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and gave some to Balaam and the officials who were with him. 41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, and from there he could see the outskirts of the Israelite camp.
a. Numbers 22:32 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.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.[a] 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.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite town on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I really not able to reward you?”
38 “Well, I have come to you now,” Balaam replied. “But I can’t say whatever I please. I must speak only what God puts in my mouth.”
39 Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and gave some to Balaam and the officials who were with him. 41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, and from there he could see the outskirts of the Israelite camp.
It's a talking donkey! Yep....
Now my dad was a deacon in the church and we had a set of Bible Story Books. There were all kinds of cool stories. There was one about a guy who was walking down the lane.... God and the devil got into an argument about who could make him take his jacket off. The devil huffed and puffed and the man only pulled his jacket tighter around him.... then God lit up the place with warm sunshine and the man took his jacket off.
I thought that I had read the story of Balaam's Donkey in that set of Bible Story Books. I had completely forgotten that the story of Balaam's Donkey was actually Biblical!
Oh... and did you notice the tongue twister at the end of the story? I guess that's why I associated it with the Bible Story Collection instead of the Bible itself. "Balak took Balaam up to the Bamoth Baal!"
Anyway....this is from the easy English site.
God knew that Balaam did not want to please him genuinely. He knew that Balaam was greedy for money. Probably, Balaam was hoping to persuade God to allow him to curse the Israelites. Then Balak would pay him well. So, although God allowed Balaam to go with Balak’s officials, Balaam’s real reason for his journey was still wrong. And God had to let Balaam know this. God wanted Balaam to realise that he would allow Balaam to bless the Israelites only.
God was not trying to punish his prophet, Balaam. He wanted to persuade Balaam to do the right thing. That was God’s plan for Balaam always.
Balaam’s donkey saw the LORD’s angel three times. And it refused to pass the angel three times. Balaam became very angry and he struck the donkey each time. Then God caused the donkey to speak. The donkey reminded Balaam that it had never done anything wrong before. Therefore, there had to be a good reason for its unusual behaviour.
Then God allowed Balaam to understand what was happening. Balaam saw the angel with the sword. He was afraid, so he fell down to the ground. Then the angel told Balaam that the donkey had saved Balaam from death. And the angel told Balaam that his (Balaam’s) attitudes were wrong. Balaam was behaving in a manner that made God angry.
Immediately, Balaam agreed that he had sinned. He said that he would return to his home. But the LORD’s angel told Balaam to continue his journey to the country called Moab. And Balaam had to speak only the words that God gave to him.
God was not trying to punish his prophet, Balaam. He wanted to persuade Balaam to do the right thing. That was God’s plan for Balaam always.
Balaam’s donkey saw the LORD’s angel three times. And it refused to pass the angel three times. Balaam became very angry and he struck the donkey each time. Then God caused the donkey to speak. The donkey reminded Balaam that it had never done anything wrong before. Therefore, there had to be a good reason for its unusual behaviour.
Then God allowed Balaam to understand what was happening. Balaam saw the angel with the sword. He was afraid, so he fell down to the ground. Then the angel told Balaam that the donkey had saved Balaam from death. And the angel told Balaam that his (Balaam’s) attitudes were wrong. Balaam was behaving in a manner that made God angry.
Immediately, Balaam agreed that he had sinned. He said that he would return to his home. But the LORD’s angel told Balaam to continue his journey to the country called Moab. And Balaam had to speak only the words that God gave to him.
So Balaam tried to sneak off and do as Balak requested for the money. It was for the money.... see....
Now this is from the blueletterbible.org site.
The unusually difficult circumstances of this journey might have suggested to Balaam that his trip was not of God. Yet Balaam probably took it all as being attack from the enemy, and used the circumstances to strengthen his hope that God wanted him to work as a prophet for hire.
This shows the great difficulty of judging God's will by circumstances. Many circumstances can be interpreted two ways - if not more.
Balaam was so irrational and angry that he answered back without hesitation. He seemed to be unimpressed by a donkey that carries on an intelligent conversation with him.
I've got a tiny personal prayer requests this morning. I'm going to an interview on Monday. A local Southern Baptist Church is in need of a Church Secretary. It's only a part time job.... but being a church secretary is more a a mission than a job. Please say a prayer.... TIA
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