Good Friday morning! We woke up to a nice little snow this morning. The radar didn't even show it on the map; must have been a little rogue snowstorm. Last night in our life group bible study we ran into old Balaam again with his talking donkey. I like that story; it showcases the unexpected in our lives. A quick summary goes like this: A king by the name of Balak saw the mass of Israel coming and sought some magical help. Balak sent for Balaam, sparing us no small confusion for a bit with the name thing, and asked him to curse the Israelites, but God told Balaam that he should not curse them. The second time Balak sent for Balaam with a bunch of princes, and God allowed Balaam to go as long as Balaam said only what God told him to. However, God wasn't pleased that Balaam was going and sent an angel to stand in the way of Balaam's donkey. The donkey saw the angel, Balaam didn't. Naturally the donkey tried to go around the angel standing with drawn sword in front of her. On the third time, the angel stood at a narrow place where the donkey could in no way avoid running into the angel. The poor donkey, faced with being beaten the third time by her master or dying through trying to plow over an angel of the Lord, did what any good donkey would do and sat down under Balaam. Then the story gets funny.
Balaam's donkey is given the ability to speak by the Lord, and asks why her master is beating her for the third time. Balaam responds as though donkeys had a habit of speaking to him on a regular basis; telling the donkey that he wished he had a sword to kill her. The donkey asks Balaam why he would be unfair to his faithful servant who had carried him so many times without rebelling in any way. Balaam doesn't have a good answer, but then the angel asks Balaam the same question from a different view. The angel informs Balaam that had he succeeded in forcing the poor donkey to run into the angel, the angel would then have killed Balaam and spared the donkey. Incidentally, you should remember that the angel is holding a drawn sword, the very thing that Balaam wished he had to kill the donkey. Balaam now sees the angel and falls on his face.
I like this story because I can easily imagine myself in Balaam's place. Of course, I would have fallen right off the donkey onto my fanny pack in sheer astonishment. As you read this story in Numbers 22, you quickly realize that the story is about one donkey and one jackass. All of us have at times made a fool of ourselves in front of the Lord. Imagine having a donkey tell you that you are being terribly unfair in your ignorance, and then having to answer the same question from an angel! Now this is not just the messenger from God that has the great prophets Daniel and Ezekiel dropping to their faces in front of them, but an angel fully armed and ready to smite any fools that try to force a way through or over him. This angel does not comfort Balaam with a "don't be afraid" as Daniel, John, and many others will hear. No, this angel is the "Be afraid, be very afraid!" angel that Balaam must answer. Balaam does repent of his sin at this moment, but later in Numbers we run into Balaam again, once more on the wrong side of the Israelites and God. That second time, Balaam doesn't make it. Perhaps he sold his wise and faithful donkey at some point.
If you have a wise and faithful servant, you may want to listen to her when the unexpected happens. Especially if that wise and faithful servant has never spoken to you before. And never never try to plow over an angel of the Lord!
Have a great Friday!
Bucky
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