Reflection on Balaam’s Donkey
Blog 163
“… the angel of the Lord demanded, Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting Me.” Numbers 22:32
We started a new sermon series this week on unbelievable happenings in God’s Word. The title this week was “When Donkeys Speak”. To be honest, I was familiar with the story but had never experienced the depth of it.
Wayne, our Pastor at a satellite campus wove his own story into the story of Ballam and his donkey. It was a fascinating parallel. To set the scene, the Israelites were moving towards the Promised Land and had defeated several armies in their journey. Balak, the Moabite King was frightened of their 600,000 fighting men; so, he sent his entourage on a 400-mile journey to enlist Balaam, a prophet for hire, to return with his men in order to curse the Israelites.
Balaam sought God, who said “No, don’t go. You are not to curse these people for they have been blessed.” Balak’s entourage returned empty handed. But Balak refused to accept “no” and sent another entourage to convince Balaam to come. Again, Balaam sought the Lord, and the Lord said, “ok go, but only say what I tell you to say.” So, Balaam set out, but the Lord was angry with him. God knew Balaam’s heart and the enticement of wealth offered to him.
An interlude to the story is that Wayne had his heart dead set on a career, even though many advisors warned him against it. The longer Wayne stubbornly pursued that career, the colder his heart grew toward the Lord.
An angel of the Lord attempted to deter Balaam by standing in his way with a drawn sword, but Balaam was so intent on going that he was deaf and blind to the spirit of God. However, the donkey saw danger and attempted three times to dissuade Balaam and was severely beaten for what Balaam saw as stubbornness. Finally, the donkey laid down at a passageway that was impossible to get through. And at that juncture, the Angel of the Lord confronted Balaam and opened his eyes to his disobedient heart.
Wayne and his wife were not in a good place. She had begged him over and over again to come back to church with her. Finally, to get her to back off, he went and was shocked at the message. The pastor said “there is a person in this room who was like a giant bonfire on the beach, bright and glowing. But year after year the waves diminished it until the flames were extinguished.” Wayne was uncomfortable but determined he wouldn’t respond unless God spoke his name. The next words from the pastor’s mouth were: “Wayne B_____ , this message is for you.” Wayne made his way to the altar and wept and repented for 30 minutes; and the fire in his soul began to reignite.
How often do we drown out God’s voice because we think we have a better idea of what to do with our life? We ask for God’s blessings, but not His direction.
If you want the full story of Balaam and his donkey’s adventure, it is found in Numbers Chapter 22-24. An interesting read indeed.