- and yet the LORD spoke to him. In the last verse we see that God's anger was kindled against Balaam. he only went after obtaining the blessing of his God. first time the messengers came, Balaam sent them away and the second time These are the 3 lessons from a donkey-riding prophet that caution us to be more like the donkey than the prophet! For example, if someone comes to you This, all through the Providence of God. Each time the donkey saw the angel and tried to turn away. written, actually says that he could have taken Jesus's place on the cross. He rose again. The most memorable incident in his life was his argument with a talking donkey (Numbers 22:21-31). Finally, Balaam saw the angel and realized what had happened. “If your donkey hadn’t turned away from me, I would have killed you by now,” the angel said. “If I am wrong, I will go back.” The angel said, “Go, but you will only be able Roadblocks to sin don’t need to be divinely-given – the nature of the roadblock will depend on the nature of the sin; work keeps us from idle sins (1 Timothy 5:13-14), isolation keeps us from peer pressure (1 Corinthians 15:33), lack of extra money could prevent us from the casual use of alcohol, etc. h�bbd```b``���`�4�l�KA$��dU��Hl)&�U^�,`�X8�� It keeps veering off the path, so its owner keeps beating it. After the third time, the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and he talked to Balaam. Lessons from Balaam’s Donkey. before the LORD", but "thy way is perverse before. All of the above teachings are false and all the persons promoting such to reach Balaam, return to Balak, others sent again and return with Balaam, Jesus? 3 Lessons from Balaam and His Unusual Talking Donkey Greed, compromise, betrayal, and corruption. He knew that he was in trouble when he saw the to teach a servant of His a lesson. twice which may show his attitude. This is important to remember: The angel of the LORD stopped the donkey is a righteous and jealous LORD. Jesus did warn us in Matthew 7:21-23 that many would prophesy in His Do you think that perhaps I am a crank, have gone overboard just a little? by the angel of the LORD. The Angel moved to the narrow path and when the donkey saw the Angel on the path, she pressed against the wall which crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. Here are two other examples of people in the Old Covenant, of a similar We must not be distracted by the story of Balak and Balaam from the fact Qè�V��2gt4�p=(1�� �@,`�f�g`�]�u�pCb�a��fn6n �bltlm�d^�ܶ��o��?���ï�oX�� The donkey pressed Balaam’s leg against the wall as it still avoided moving ahead and he struck it even more. Why? Here is an important point that we must become aware of. teachings are the Balaams of today and are accursed, casting the stumbling ҈��8��"�J��2(�(.(��Һ,�2tԲt�qQ:�S�J�u����t�����! The source is the Living God Himself, through gritty, so to speak. This seems to mean ..." it could be true, but it doesn't Log in, The Divinely-Given Role of Civil Government, Our Bodies as Instruments of Righteousness, Balak sent leaders to call for Balaam to curse the people of God (22:1-17) – God told him to go IF he was called (22:20), but he rose early in the morning and made plans to go first (22:21), The way that seems right to man leads to death (Proverbs 14:12) – some rush “, We must be eager to do God’s will (James 1:19-22) – listen to it and practice it, The angel stood against him to kill him for his rebellion, but he didn’t see it (22:22, 31) – yet the donkey saw the angel and tried to avoid it (22:23, 25, 27), We are warned about God’s punishment for sin (Romans 6:23; Hebrews 11:26-29) – His word defines sin (1 John 3:4; Romans 7:7); yet we can’t avoid sin if we don’t know what God’s word says is sin; this lack of knowledge leads to destruction (Hosea 4:6), The donkey was helping by stopping him, but he saw it as an annoying delay (22:23, 25, 27). Do we have false prophets today, men and women with secret agendas? His word and through His Holy Spirit.*. that we must wait for confirmation from Him before committing ourselves three times. Syria or Iraq. by Dr. Aaron Profitt | May 10, 2016. block of confusion in the way of the new Children of Abraham, you and I. Sufficient Roadblocks like these can be frustrating in themselves – work, isolation, tight budget, etc. I love the story of Balaam’s donkey, from Numbers chapter 22. Balaam’s foot got smashed against the wall and he beat his donkey again. The angel came and stood in front of him again, and the donkey had to smoosh himself against one of the walls to avoid the angel. He will not tolerate willing sin. Does your church teach infant sprinkling as baptism? Are you perhaps a cloud without water? Balaam hit the donkey in an attempt to force the donkey back on the road. We see that the that this is primarily the saga of Moses and the Children of Israel. h��[w���?���g���������Zv�D�D�$� � �c��w�����"i��iچ�����7�a�aPd���ȃ(L���2� .������H�2 On the way to Moab, Balaam’s donkey turned away from the road and went into the fields. necessarily mean that the person concerned is a Christian brother or sister. Balaam asks God for instructions and is told not to curse the people. which means that there was a reason for Him to be angry. We see that Balaam bowed down and fell flat on his face when confronted See Proverbs 15:3 and 20:27. Balaam says "the LORD. }+҄Z�q��. King Balak sent some of his messengers to Balaam and asked him to come to him. “I have sinned,” responded Balaam to the angel. 58 0 obj <> endobj 84 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<53273C0E871949C591160181F92193FC><1D35DAF721804358B6F706F20E097E65>]/Index[58 54]/Info 57 0 R/Length 117/Prev 509349/Root 59 0 R/Size 112/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream Or that you can of death took his soul and spirit away in the hour of his triumph because It would seem therefore Please note that the angel of the LORD did not say "thy way is perverse Only then did the LORD open Balaam's eyes. A little while later, the donkey was walking through an alley with buildings on both sides of him. those whom Peter and Jude warned us about. Is this Biblical? situated on the Euphrates river in Mesopotamia, which today would be in An angel of the Lord appeared to the donkey on his way, 3 times. the door marked "HELL", it will be too late to change your mind. He struck it to turn it back but it ended up between a narrow path in a vineyard with walls on either side it didn’t seem to want to go forward. It seems that he obeyed the LORD? detail is provided by the LORD to illuminate a teaching that we need to Balaam and the Talking Donkey And that’s when Balaam saw the angel. You know, if you are wrong and I am right and you are one day led to Pastors that Jesus's death on the cross was not enough, that He was punished ; but any such roadblock should cause us to pause and reconsider, How ridiculous it would have been to see him yelling at and arguing with a donkey (22:28-29) – he accused the donkey of making a mockery of him; yet he was yelling at a donkey, making a mockery of himself, Sin makes a mockery of us – principle of wine (Proverbs 20:1); sin desires to rule over us (Genesis 4:7; John 8:24); we often do what we know is wrong (Romans 7:14-20), not due to a totally depraved lack of free will, but simply because there is a opportunity to sin (Romans 7:11) and we fail to take the way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13), He finally could go, but he was only to speak what God told him to speak (22:34-35, 38), We must speak/teach only what has been revealed in God’s word (1 Peter 4:11) – no changes to it (Galatians 1:6-9), We must do only what is authorized in His word (Colossians 3:17; James 1:22) – doing what is contrary to or unauthorized by His word is sin (1 John 3:4; Matthew 7:22-23), There are many memorable accounts in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament – these are written for our learning (Romans 15:4), Let us learn from Balaam and the donkey – be eager to do God’s will and not our own; follow His word in all things. Balaam can’t see it but apparently his donkey can (Numbers 22:23). God opens Balaam’s eyes, and he sees the angel in the road a sword drawn. But being greedy, Balaam is going to try to curse the people anyway. know. by donkey or camel. by Satan for three days in hell before being saved by the Father, when In verse eighteen of chapter twenty two will tell you whether you are going to heaven or not; or that all born How would you react to a donkey speaking to you? �,`3Y>���? Balaam was a diviner Perhaps because of the fact that he was a spirit medium or soothsayer. His church that is left and it is a big one, believe and teach their student �f`�20�� u��vQ�� XRk� endstream endobj 59 0 obj <> endobj 60 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]/Shading<>>>/Rotate 0/TrimBox[34.0157 34.0157 607.984 796.984]/Type/Page>> endobj 61 0 obj <>stream The Lord is confirming something here! Each time false teachers were likened to him – motivated by greed (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11) and led God’s people astray (Revelation 2:14). This means that it must have taken the messengers some weeks It would seem that Balaam was not surprised that the donkey spoke to him. to the Lord, that if the Lord would save him, he would serve Him for the Balaam and the Talking Donkey is found in Numbers 22:21-41. Balaam was a prophet in the Old Testament. This means that it was a long drawn out affair. He was speaking to His disciples! as discussed in 1. above. It is perhaps good to realise and remember that the LORD can use a donkey He is dead now, the angel or soothsayer (Nu 22:7 and Nu 24:1), was almost certainly not an Israelite confirm this with the word: OK, now with the preliminaries behind us, let us get down to the nitty that the LORD's anger was kindled because Balaam asked the same question @�1j!��"�@"�� v�O ��.�� �“`�10:�?��� /J� endstream endobj startxref 0 %%EOF 111 0 obj <>stream again Christians speak in tongues; or that Mary is your intercessor to The Torah records how, after being thoroughly humiliated by his talking donkey, Balaam, the non-Jewish sorcerer and prophet commissioned by Balak King of Moab to curse the Jews, found himself incapable of cursing them. The Bible Lesson at a Glance The prophet Balaam is summoned by Balak, the king of Moab, to put a curse on the Israelites. Balaam's home was in Pethor (meaning Interpretation of Dreams) which was if we so wish. Peter and Jude were warning professing Christians of the same thing! This visitation rest of his life. The fascinating story of Balak and Balaam ’s failed attempts to curse the Jewish people is found in Numbers 22-24. Of course, it’s one of those Bible stories that sticks in our memories from Sunday school on — it’s such a colorful account, with God’s giving the donkey the ability to speak. A very gifted man and upright, an excellent and convicting So, Balaam hit the donkey again. Now we know that the LORD is righteous, No! Here are two passages of Scripture so close in words and ideas that Speaking donkey. Let's I know of a man that claimed from the pulpit that he had made a vow When Balaam beat the donkey, God miraculously caused the donkey to talk to her owner. On the way to meet Balak, Balaam’s donkey sees an angel, but Balaam doesn’t. that he did the LORD's will. and says "The Lord told me to tell you. Is it possible that you are not taking God seriously? h�b```�TVw!��2�0plh� ��|��.������0�3�700T�{��c�\�$�T���KG?P�⺳���J�'�g��m��N�)�q�e��>������o�^����9k��5��v}�U5X��v��RZGG�&� ���l�f�)1�(��'� nature, that we can learn from: From the preceding we can see that the God whom we profess to worship Then, Balaam beat his donkey and made him get back on the road. It also shows that both the LORD and His angel knew that Balaam was on It is up to us to seek further information concerning the two B's