Balaam and His Donkey

BALAAM AND HIS DONKEY
Numbers 22: 1-35

INTRO:

A farmer who wanted to sell his donkey. A potential buyer showed up and looked the animal over. He asked if he could hitch him up to the wagon and see how he worked.
The farmer did so and climbed up into the wagon with the customer handing him the reins. The customer tapped the reins but the donkey didn’t move. He said, “Giddyup” but the donkey just stood there. He cried out “Ya Donkey” but it just looked straight ahead.
The farmer got down off the wagon, picked up a two by four and hit the animal right between the eyes. While the donkey staggered the farmer got back up into the wagon and said, “Now try it.”
The customer tapped the reins, the donkey moved out and the old farmer said, “He’s a good donkey, but sometimes you have to get his attention first.” Aren’t we like that sometimes?
We say we want God’s guidance but often God has to first get our attention? Well, today we want to talk about the opposite scenario. A time where God used a donkey to get a man’s attention.

APPLY: We have probably all told the story of Balaam’s donkey one time or another ever since we were little children.
BUT, this is an unusual story for a number of reasons... not the least of which is a talking donkey.
So, what I want to do this morning is introduce the major players in this story and then see what applications God may have in mind for us.
So 1st let’s start with the Donkey.

I realized I didn’t really know that much about donkeys when I first read the text, so I did a little research on the internet.
One sermon I read on the net noted that in Bible times “Donkeys were all-purpose vehicles (like ATV’s) and they were used for transportation, carrying loads, grinding grain, and plowing fields.
They were kind of like a pick-up truck for a farmer.
Whenever a city was conquered in the ancient world, the type of animal the victorious king would ride as he entered a defeated town would make all the difference in the world to the people. If he was seated on a horse, the city was doomed; it was a sign that he had come in war, riding his “warhorse.” If he was riding a donkey everyone would breathe a sigh of relief because this was a sign that he was coming in peace. Riding a donkey is a sign of peace. The king has not come to conquer but to forgive, so don’t be afraid.

They were highly dependable.
Very gentle and extremely friendly to people.
In fact – the only major drawback to donkeys is their supposed “Mule headedness”
But most of the sources I read noted that “...the infamous donkey stubbornness keeps these animals and their riders out of danger”
When a donkey senses danger – they simply “...tend to freeze”
They refuse to move.

So, the reaction Balaam’s donkey had to the angel of God was natural.
ALSO,
did you know that donkeys were often part of major Bible stories?
• Abraham saddled his donkey to take Isaac to be sacrificed (Gen 22)

• Joseph’s brothers took donkeys with them to get food from Egypt (Gen 42)
• Moses saddled his donkey to go on his trip to Egypt to free Israel (Ex. 4:20)

• And, of course, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem a week before He was crucified in order to fulfill the prophecy that He would do so (Matthew 21:5; Zechariah 9:9)

And, here are some other facts about donkeys:
* their 1st born male offspring were the only “unclean” animals that God’s law required to be redeemed by sacrifice of a lamb. Ex. 13:13

* The law required that a man’s Donkey HAD to rest on Sabbath Day. (Exodus 23:12)

* If it was stolen, the thief was required to pay back twice the donkey’s value (Exodus. 22:4)

* Exodus 23:5 specifically commanded that “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you... fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.”

* AND the donkey was one of only two animals mentioned in the 10 commandments

Exodus 20:17 said “You shall not covet your neighbor’s OX OR DONKEY...”
So Donkeys were highly valuable to God’s People... and to God Himself.
So, that’s the Donkey.

Now let’s turn our attention to the Midianites... and one of their kings. A man named Balak.

Balak was a troubled King. One day – he wakes up and finds a whole horde of Israelite people marching thru his land. That doesn’t make him happy He’s afraid they’ll eat up everything in sight and leave the land desolate.
So he considers fighting them, but he’s smart enough to know that he can’t fight these trespassers on his own so he sends messengers to a famous prophet who is said to be connected to God and he’s going to ask Balaam to come curse these Israelites so that he can have God’s help in defeating them.

This Balaam has a reputation that when he blesses someone they get blessed. When he cursed them they are cursed and stay cursed.
So, Balak sends an entourage to Balaam with a financial reward for his services... and he’s turned down cold. Balaam talked to God and God told him to stay home.

Balak thinks that maybe he wasn’t persuasive enough, so he sends a larger and more prominent group of men to bring a much larger and more tempting payment for Balaam.

At first Balaam turns them down, but he still enquires of God... and this time God gives him permission to make the journey to Balak... but only if he does and says exactly what God tells him to do and say.

When Balaam actually does arrive he ends up NOT ONLY not cursing the Israelites... - he actually blesses them 3 times - at God’s direction. And a frustrated Balak storms off... and apparently never attempted to fight Israel again (Judges 11:25)

So that brings us to the prophet Balaam.
Balaam was a prophet of God.

There were some preachers and scholars who believe that wasn’t true. There are many who believe that Balaam was just a greedy pagan prophet engaged in sorcery.
One preacher dismissed him by simply saying that:
“Balaam was not a Jew. He was a foreigner from Mesopotamia”
Now that preacher WAS right - Balaam was NOT an Israelite. He was NOT one of God’s chosen people ... he WAS an outsider.

But - it seems - he was still a prophet of God.
And there’s a couple of reasons for believing that
1st – if Balaam was simply a pagan prophet God wouldn’t have cared if he’d cursed Israel. Pagan prophets and priests could curse Israel all day long and it would have meant NOTHING.

But Balaam was a prophet of Yahweh.
When Balaam spoke, he had a reputation of speaking for the one true God
2nd - When Balaam referred to God he always called God by His covenant name.
For example, in Numbers 22:8 Balaam tells Balak’s messengers,
“Stay here and I will bring you back the answer the LORD gives me."

Notice that word LORD.
What IS unique about it? (It’s in all capital letters)
Whenever you see “GOD” or “LORD” in all capital letters in your English translation that’s the translators’ way of telling you that this is God’s personal name: “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”.

So Balaam isn’t inquiring of some pagan god. He’s talking to Yahweh. He’s talking to the God you and I believe in.

3rdly – God used Balaam to make a prophecy about Jesus.
In his third blessing of Israel, Balaam made this declaration:
"I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel...” Numbers 24:17

Many scholars believe that this was the prophecy the Wisemen from the East used when they followed the Star in the East to find the newborn King – Jesus.

So I’m convinced that Balaam was a prophet of the one true God.
And Balak sends messengers to obtain his services in cursing the Israelites.
Each time he’s asked, Balaam goes to God and gets his instructions.

And up to that point in the story I have no trouble following what is going on.
But then, while he’s on his way to King Balak – at God’s command - an angel of the Lord tries to kill him. Not once. Not twice. But three times.

Why? What happened?
I’m not quite sure, but it’s fairly obvious that somewhere along the line – Balaam decided to sell God out. The money and the prestige were just TOO GOOD to pass up. I suspect that some time in the night Balaam decided to play along with God – right up until the moment when he got close to the Israelites - and then he’d CURSE them.

He figured God didn’t know what he was thinking, so he could fake God out until the last moment.
Of course... you can’t fake God out.

That’s the belief of fools
In Psalm 139 David speaks to God and says:

“...You have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD....” Ps 139:1-4

I can’t go anywhere.
I can’t say anything.
I can’t EVEN think anything without God knowing all about it long ahead of time.

So Balaam thinks he can betray God without getting caught.
And an angel is sent to kill him.
Now think about that for a minute.
Do you think for a moment that if an angel of God wanted Balaam dead that the angel couldn’t have gotten the job done?

Do you really think that if God wanted Balaam destroyed... He even needed an angel?
OF COURSE NOT.
He’s God. He can do whatever He wants.

So I don’t think the angel was sent there to kill Balaam.
I think he was there - to teach Balaam a lesson
And I think we’re told the story of how God taught Balaam this lesson so that we could also learn a lesson or two.

What did Balaam need to learn?
Well, I thought it was fairly obvious
• Don’t mess with God.
• Don’t try to manipulate Him or anything that belongs to Him
• It’s dangerous.
• It’s scary
• And it can get downright deadly if God wants.
I have been in churches where certain people thought they could manipulate the congregation because
• they had enough money
• or because they had enough power and prestige
• or because they had enough friends to sway the vote on the board.

That’s not really a smart thing to do with God.
God is not mocked.
You don’t want Him to come against you.
And that’s the message of the angel that was sent against Balaam.
That’s why God told Abraham “I’ll bless those who bless you and I’ll curse those who curse you”
So that’s the first lesson – don’t mess with God.

The second lesson is more comforting
And the lesson is this: God will not give up on you easily
If you or I mess up He’ try to stop us.
He’ll try to send obstacles to slow us down.
Balaam is on his way to sell out to King Balak and the angel stands in his way, and his donkey runs off into the field.
So Balaam becomes angry and beats his donkey and gets her back onto the road and the angel of the Lord stands in his way a second time and his donkey swerved into a wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against it.

So, again Balaam becomes angry and beats his donkey and gets back on the road and again the angel stands in his way, and again the donkey reacts to the angel and this time just lays down in the road.
Balaam is in the process of beating donkey one more time when God gives him a message from the mouth of the beast and then opens the eyes Balaam.
THREE TIMES Balaam tried to reach his destination and disobey God.
THREE TIMES God stood in his way.
Why would God do that?
Because God hadn’t given up on Balaam.
In II Peter 3:9 we’re told:
"God is not slow in keeping his promise as some count slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but that all should come to repentance."

God didn’t want to give up on Balaam.
And God doesn’t want to give up on you or me either.
God has never been willing to do that.
That’s why
• Jesus spent His time with common uneducated laborers.
• Jesus spent His time with those who had little money or influence.
• Jesus spent His time with Prostitutes and sinners.

Jesus NEVER gave up on anyone.
Now, He didn’t excuse their behaviors.
He didn’t overlook their sins.
He simply spent time with them because He refused to accept the human idea that people never change!
Jesus never accepted the idea that “That’s the way they’ve always been... and that’s the way they’ll always be.”
Not with God.
The repeated theme throughout Scripture is that anyone can change
They can change. And many have... because of the blood of Jesus Christ

So the first two lesson of Balaam’s story are
1. Don’t mess with God
2. God never gives up on anyone.
And the third and last message from this story of Balaam’s donkey is this:
God will use whatever it takes to accomplish His will.
ILLUS: Don Francisco wrote a song called “Balaam”... last words of the song say this:
“... that donkey still would not get up but she began to speak
She said, "Balaam you're to blame, the way you beat me is a shame
'Cause all I've done is tried to save your life!"
Then the Angel of the Lord appeared with a flamin' sword in his hand
Balaam fell down on his face, a very frightened man

The Angel said, "Balaam, you'd be dead if your donkey hadn't detected
That I was waitin' there to part your hair when you and my sword connected"
Balaam then repented for his sin
And he promised not to act like that again

And I hope he learned his lesson about God's reward for greed
But you know it's that talkin' donkey that's really strange indeed
Now that donkey's just a donkey but she's still the thing God used
And that's the point I want you all to see
The Lord's the one who makes the choice of the instrument He's usin'

We don't know the reasons and the plans behind His choosin'
So when the Lord starts usin' you don't you pay it any mind
He 'could have used the dog next door if He'd been so inclined.”
God could use the dog next door if He was so inclined?

God can – and does - use whatever He wants.
But the ultimate tool God He’d like to use is you.

You’ve been given a great privilege... but you’ve got to realize that the only way you can do what God wants you to do is to imitate Balaam’s lowly donkey.

God used the donkey because it was something Balaam trusted.
He used the donkey because it was something Balaam depended upon.
He used the donkey because it was a mule-headed creature that would do whatever it needed to do no matter what the cost.

And that’s the kind of servant God wants you to be.
• He wants you to talk to someone who trusts you.
• He wants you to talk with some who depends upon you.
• He wants you to be mule headed enough to stick with it until that person listens.
Most of all He wants someone willing to stand between their friends and judgment.

Look at this: three times Balaam beats his reliable donkey because he was too wrapped up in himself to see God’s road block in front of him. By the 3rd time he got his staff out he was going ballistic!!! Red-in-the-face and spitting mad!
Then, right there in the middle of Balaam’s donkey-beatin’ hissy fit, God opened the donkey’s mouth, and it started talking. I wish I could’ve been there for that one! The original "Mr. Ed".
The donkey demanded, “What on earth have I done to you to make you beat me these 3 times?” Notice that Balaam, supposedly one of the wisest of men, doesn’t seem at all surprised by this talking donkey. Instead, he proceeds to have a rational conversation with one of God’s most ignorant animals. When his counseling session was over, however, the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes to see what he’d been missing. Wonder who felt like a donkey then?
When God “opens our eyes”, and we see how far off course we’ve gotten, we’re faced with a crucial decision: turn back to God - or - defy him and go farther down the road to destruction.
INVITATION

Contributing Sermon
Given by Jeff Strite