Why would God use a donkey? (Numbers 22:27–33)
Numbers 22:27-33 :27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord a opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you." 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?" And he said, "No." 31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out c to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live."
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Asked February 15 2023
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Anonymous
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Leslie Coutinho
Supporter
Numbers: 22-28: And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, "What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?" Balak, the king of the Moabites, and his people were sore and afraid when the children of Israel pitched in the plains of Moab in Jordan at Jericho, for the people of Egypt then came to abide over against him. Balak sent the elders of Moab and Midian with rewards of divination to Balaam to curse the people of Egypt. Lord God then revealed unto Balaam, "Thou shall not go nor thou shall curse the people 'for they are blessed.'” (Nub 22:12) Balak sent yet again more honorable men than those who were sent before. The Lord came unto Balaam at night and said unto him, “If the men come to call thee rise up and go with them, and what I shall say unto thee that shall thou do.” (Nub 22:20) The honorable men that came were told to tarry by where Balaam stayed and the Lord said unto him, “If they come to call thee again, rise and go," but when Balaam woke up in the morning he saddled his ass and went with the princes of Moab. God’s anger was then kindled because he went without being called again. As now Balaam used his own wisdom knowing the Lord speaking to him and revealing to him, the Lord then sent His angel that appeared unto the “ass alone” who then turned aside out of the way and went into fields. Balaam then began to smite the ass and the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and spoke through the ass to Balaam. (Nub 22:23,28) Zechariah revealed the Lord would come to give salvation, and He would ride upon the ass that would lead men kind who are all unclean things having all their righteousness as filthy rags. (Zec 9:9/Isa 64:6) Every lost sinful man today goes about in their life as the colt, and is saved by the grace of God the Father, who unties them from Satan and his demons. As the Lord Jesus sent his disciples to loose the ass and the colt that is with her and bring it to Him, those who stood there did not stop the disciples and let them take it and go, (Mark 11:5) thus bidding them to “come unto Him,” our Lord Jesus the Shepherd who leads us through the gate and the Father who opens it for us. (John 6:37) Zechariah 9:9: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
Balaam was greedy for gain. Now this is exactly the OPPOSITE of the kind of man that God wants us to be: "...God's steward... must be above reproach. "He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain." Peter tells us in 2 Peter 2:15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, Greed is sin (Luke 16:15). "Then he [Jesus] said to the crowd, 'Don't be greedy! Owning a lot of things won't make your life safe.'” God had to get through to him somehow. Balaam, the donkey's owner, must have loved prestige, too. I.e. he was proud. God was humbling him through a talking donkey! Also, Balaam was to reveal God's will. But when he failed, God didn't need a human to reveal His will. He could use an animal! "The donkey is a better 'prophet' (or 'seer') than Balaam." (Deffinbaugh). Balaam was called a seer. "But he could not see God if He had bit him!" (BibleTools.org).
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