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The Friendly Talking Ass. Balak, one of the kings of Moab, again sends word to Balaam, "Come put a curse upon Israel, if you don't, they will eat me up like an ox eats up grass." Again Balaam must first confer with the Lord. Again the Lord tells him that he must not put a curse upon Israel because they belong to Him. But after much insistence, the Lord allows Balaam to go to Balak but to do only what He tells him to do.
The next morning, Balaam saddles his trusty donkey and heads for Moab. The Lord becomes angry with Balaam. Why? Was it because of his eagerness to get to Moab? Was it because he secretly, in his heart, intended to do what Balak wanted when he got there? We do not know, but the Lord sent an Angel to block his way.
It's a fantastic story. One that demonstrates that the Lord can use most anything to bring us to our senses. It would appear that the donkey could see the Angel but Balaam could not. Certainly this is God's prerogative. When the donkey sees the Angel blocking the road, it runs off the road into a field. Balaam had to beat her to get her back on to the road. Then as they were passing between two walls along the road, the Angel appeared again. To pass the Angel, the donkey had to press against one of the walls and in the process, she crushed Balaam's foot. So Balaam beat her again.
Then the Angel appeared again, this time at a place where it was too narrow to pass so the donkey laid down. Again, Balaam beat her. Now the scripture says, "the Lord caused the donkey to speak." The amazing thing was that Balaam seems to accept a "speaking donkey" without question. "What have I done that I deserve to be beaten three times?" To which Balaam replied, "You have made me look like a fool. If I had a sword, I would kill you." Finally the Lord opened Balaam's eyes and he saw the Angel. The talking donkey didn't bother him but the sight of the Angel caused him great fear and he fell with his face to the ground.
The Angel said to Balaam, "Why did you beat the donkey?" "If she had not moved away from me, I would have killed you by now." Well Balaam admits that he had sinned in his heart and that his intentions were wrong for going to Moab and that he would turn around and go back home, but the Angel told him to go on to Moab, but "Do only what the Lord tells you to do." When Balak hears of Balaam's coming, he goes out to meet him only to learn that Balaam can do only what the Lord wanted him to do.
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