Wait, what?  God will use whoever and whatever He chooses to get our attention, warn us of danger ahead, alert us of fools in our path, while guiding us on His better path to glory!  God is God. We are not.  God knows and sees all—even our inside our hearts. We were created to worship God alone with all our hearts, minds, and souls—our very lives! We who believe God; belong to God.  True believers don’t use God to get what they want, manipulate others to their advantage, or give great tithes and offerings to be used as bargaining chips with God.  We don’t buy God or His blessings!  Not to worry; God sees through all human behaviors who try to outsmart God whose thoughts are always higher than our thoughts. 

Read on—to the end—only then will we begin to understand the power of God in all circumstances!  Yep, God really did speak to a man through his donkey!

Numbers 22

Balak Summons Balaam

Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.

² Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, ³ and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.

⁴ The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.”

So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, ⁵ sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in his native land. Balak said:

“A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. ⁶ Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.”

⁷ The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said.

⁸ “Spend the night here,” Balaam said to them, “and I will report back to you with the answer the Lord gives me.” So the Moabite officials stayed with him.

⁹ God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”

¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message: ¹¹ ‘A people that has come out of Egypt covers the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps then I will be able to fight them and drive them away.’”

¹² But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.”

¹³ The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak’s officials, “Go back to your own country, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

¹⁴ So the Moabite officials returned to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵ Then Balak sent other officials, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam and said:

“This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, ¹⁷ because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.”

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.”

Balaam’s Donkey

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.

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.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Don’t kill the messenger!  And don’t beat on the One who is helping you!

Moab’s leader, Balak, pays a sorcerer to put a curse on the Israelites so he can drive God’s people out of his land.  Balak wants life as it has always been—under his control.  Fear and anger, from losing control, drives Balak to seek help from Balaam, a man God spoke to personally with specific directions in a very unique way—through his donkey!  Balaam didn’t like the message of God so he tried to beat it out of his donkey but with no success.  Finally, Balaam listened to God and obeyed.

Wait, I have questions! Don’t you? Did it not seem weird to casually carry on a conversation with a donkey without a hint of shock and awe? Did this happen often to Balaam? Was it because he was a professional magician and just accepted this rare occurrence as normal in his line of work?  Mm, maybe there are better questions we need to ask ourselves…

Isn’t it even more foolish to think we can buy God’s help to do what we desire or bargain for our own self-will in life?  When faced with adversity; we want God to just take it away with the wave of His wand.  When faced with illness that causes us to pause; we demand immediate healing so we can get back to work. When we fall short of funds at the end of the month; we want God to rain down money from heaven—even if we were not the best financial managers that month. When we seek foolish friends who applaud us, affirm our own foolish behaviors but leave like mice for a sinking ship when troubles come, our prayer goes something like this: “God fix it. Put a curse on those who aren’t doing what I want. I’ll give a donation next Sunday.  Okay, thanks!” 

What will it take for us to completely surrender to God’s will?  If God can employ the services of a donkey; we can be sure God will use the unexpected to get our full, undivided attention—All for our good and His glory!

People in Old Testament times commonly believed in curses and blessings. (I’m thinking we still do, to some extent!)  Balak wanted the sorcerer, Balaam, to use his supposed influence with Israel’s God to curse the Israelites and halt their progress into Canaan.  But God influenced the sorcerer and used his donkey to speak! 

God evaluates both motives and actions. Individuals’ inner heart attitudes, such as Balaam’s desire for power and money, will eventually be revealed no matter what outward disguise they use. God can and will use all kinds of messengers to get his message across.

Spoiler alert:  God doesn’t need you and me to do his work. Read that sentence again and pause as God speaks to our hearts.  We are merely messengers of His Good News of salvation.  We are His ambassadors by His kindness, not by our cleverness.  Don’t kill this messenger but I’m going to say it out loud:  It’s not about us.  It’s all about God.  It angers God when we think it is all about us.  Forgive us, Lord.

Lord,

Lead me through all the rough and smooth places.  Help me focus my full attention on you, not the bumps in the road.  I give you me.  I give you praise for all you have done, are doing and will do in my life. I love you, Lord. 

In Jesus Name, for our good and Your Glory, Amen