Donkey Conversaton
I have never heard an animal speak. I could probably locate some people who would swear that their dog said this or that. I could probably find a “cat person” who understand “meow-meow”. I think I would probably fall to the ground if an animal spoke to me in a normal human-like voice.
The story of a “donkey conversation” happened when the people of Israel were on the outskirts of the country of Moab. The king of Moab and his son had heard of a “prophet for hire” I suppose. They reached out to this prophet (Balaam) and asked him to come with them. He wisely said that he would need to ask the Lord first. The Lord said no, so the people left. The second time the king of Moab sent a larger entourage to ask Balaam to come with them. This time they came bearing gifts and promises of much larger gifts. The Lord said “no”. Balaam asked them to stay the night and he said that the Lord told him to go, but only say what he’s told by God to say. (I’m suspicious of Balaam hearing the Lord say what he wanted him to say.) So he heads out with the entourage from Moab. As they are traveling along the road, the donkey sees the angel of the Lord blocking the road with a drawn sword, but Balaam doesn’t see the angel. They scoot by without incident. It happens again and the donkey runs off the road into a field nearby. What happened next cracks me up. Check this out….
26 Then the angel of the Lord moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all. 27 This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.
28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.
29 “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”
30 “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?”
“No,” Balaam admitted.
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. (Numbers 22:26-31 NLT)
This wasn’t just a few words, Balaam and his donkey actually carried on a conversation. I suspect Balaam was never the same after this incident.
Let me say that I believe that God, who created everything could direct animals to talk in any language they need to speak to get a person’s attention. God is Sovereign and can do ANYTHING He pleases. Things get a little sideways when I try to tell God what He should do and when He should do it.
I want to improve my listening skills with the Lord. I want to also improve my obedience to His will and His call upon my life. I am sometimes guilty of telling the Lord what I want and expecting Him to comply with my plans. The Lord invites me into His plan and that is where peace, provision and protection is found. I need to simply be obedient to who He’s calling me to be and to do what He’s calling me to do. I do not need a “donkey conversation” to come to that conclusion.
Pressing On!
Dwayne