We can learn a lot from animals. For example, I once had a bird, two cats, a dog, and a guinea pig – all at the same time. They all got along. The bird flew around inside the
house, sat on the cats’ heads and backs, and shared the guinea pigs vegetables. The dog watched the whole affair and simply enjoyed her “brothers and sisters.” My pets had wonderful attitudes toward one another. They got along. They shared. They obeyed my commands (most of the time). We could learn to be more like my pets.
In today’s Numbers 22:21-35, Balaam had a pet donkey. Balaam could have learned a few things from his donkey.
Balaam was self-absorbed. His donkey was alert and focused not on herself, but on what was around her. For example, verse 23a tells us, “When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord…” Balaam’s donkey loved Balaam. She tried three times to protect him from the angel in the roadway. Verse 23b describes the first time she tried to protect Balaam saying, “she turned off the road into a field.”
Numbers 22:12 says, “But God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.” Even though Balaam knew that God did not want him to go and curse the Israelite people, Balaam kept going back to God to try to persuade God to let him go. Why? Balaam was thinking only of himself and his desire to get the money promised to him. Balaam could have learned to be a bit more like his donkey. He could have learned to pay attention to what God, his Master, told him to do. He could have acted in ways that showed that he truly loved God. He could have done whatever was necessary to protect God’s people from the evil that Balak intended to do to them.
Balaam’s donkey wasn’t the only donkey in the Bible. Donkeys are mentioned dozens of times. We’re told of they intelligence and their need for direction. In John 12:14, “Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it.”
I’ve learned a few things from my pets. I’ve also learned from the donkeys in the Bible. I hope you have learned from them, too. Let’s pray that God will make us humble and obedient to God just as Balaam’s donkey humbly obeyed Balaam.
Numbers 22:21-35:
“Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. 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. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.
Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against it. So he beat her again.
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. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?’
Balaam answered the donkey, ‘You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.’
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.
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.
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. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her.’
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.’
The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, ‘Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.’”