You can’t help but laugh a little when you read the interaction between Balaam and his donkey in Numbers 22:28-33, 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. 33The 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.” The lesson for us in this reading is that God will open up our eyes when necessary, but we need to be aware of the way situations open and close for us. When there is a blocked path in front of us and all we want to do is plow through it, we should pay attention to why it is there. We need to trust in God’s leading no matter how much it may not make sense to us.
2013 Day 71 – Numbers 22-24, Psalm 34
12 Tuesday Mar 2013
Posted in Daily Reading
Daily Devotion 
I’d like to know how that really went down. I mean, come on…a donkey talking? I don’t think I would’ve been so nonchalant about it. 🙂 But, I whole heartedly agree with you, Dino.
The other thing that stood out to me was Balaam’s 3 messages to the king. The first 2 times he did “magic” (as the CEV says), but the 3rd time he was pretty sure that God wasn’t going to change his mind, so he decided to simply speak. In that moment, the spirit of God came on him to give him the words to say. Not sure if there’s anything deep there, but it’s almost as if Balaam was testing the first 2 times to make sure that what he was hearing from God was accurate. When he determined it was, he moved forward the 3rd time. I think I do that at times. I double check a few times to make sure that what I’m hearing is accurate (that I’m not off my rocker) and after that has been established, I just move forward and it’s as if the Holy Spirit just guides. Just a stream of conscious. Not sure if it’s really all that deep. It just stood out to me.
Yes, it will be an interesting question to ask God when we see Him one day. “So, umm… When you said the donkey talked… Ummm… What did you mean by that?” 🙂
Ha!!! Totally!