So Balaam gets up the next morning and saddles his she-donkey—a trustworthy creature who’d proven her value to Balaam throughout her whole life. Accompanied by the Moabite officials and two servants, Balaam starts to leave and the anger of the Lord flares up against him.
God, the Father sends the Angel of the Lord down to block the road. As Balaam rides along, suddenly his donkey sees the angel of the Lord, who is standing in the road with His sword unsheathed and raised high in the air. Unwilling to face such an opponent, the trusty donkey makes the wise decision to veer off the road into an open field to avoid trouble.
In response, Balaam beats the animal to turn her back onto the road.
The Angel of the Lord moves down the road, where it narrows into a path with walls on either side. Knowing her job well, that she must continue forward, the donkey squeezes between the Angel of the Lord and one of the walls, painfully squeezing Balaam’s foot.
In frustration, Balaam beats his faithful beast again.
Once more, the Angel of the Lord moves to block their procession. He places Himself in a much narrower space, making it impossible for the donkey to pass. Seeing the mighty warrior with His sword swinging, the donkey does the only thing she can do—she lays down before her Creator. Balaam, angered and embarrassed by her behavior, beats the donkey with his staff. That’s the moment the Lord opens her mouth and she speaks.
She asks Balaam, “What did I do to you that you would beat me in the space of three footsteps?”
“Because you’re playing a dirty trick on me,” Balaam replies. “If only I had a sword in my hand! I’d kill you right now!”
In response, the donkey asks Balaam, “I’m your donkey that you’ve ridden on in the past without incident, am I not? And I’m the same donkey you’re riding on right now, am I not? Am I in the habit of treating you like this?”
“No,” he admitted.
Then the Lord enabled Balaam to see Him. And he saw the Angel of the Lord blocking his way, with sword unsheathed. Balaam fell on his face, and the angel of the Lord asks him, “Why did you beat your donkey in the space of only three footsteps? I’ve come to oppose you, because I say that what you’re doing is perverted. The donkey saw Me and turned from Me in the space of those three footsteps. If she hadn’t turned from Me, I would have killed you by now and let her live!”
At this, Balaam replied to the Angel of the Lord, “I’ve sinned! I didn’t know that You were standing to meet me on the road. So now, since it displeases You, let me go back.”
But the Angel of the Lord said, “Go with the men, but deliver only the message that I’m going to give you.” So Balaam continued on his journey.
Wooooo-wee. Sin is a wicked thing in the hearts of men. God will often stop it with a command, but if He is not obeyed, if the sinner does not repent and ask forgiveness, God will often degrade the sinner’s thoughts and give them over to the desires of their heart.
O mankind, O ‘Christian’, beware this condition. (Please read the post Believer and Christian for the difference between the two)
Prideful to a fault and desiring in his deepest heart to take possession of King Balak’s promised riches, Balaam will do anything to get it—including severely beating an innocent animal who is bent on keeping him safe.
Take note that while Balaam reluctantly offers to turn around, he does not offer repentance, nor beg for forgiveness. To his credit, he admits to being sinful, but only because he doesn’t want to be killed!
The only way out of sin is to acknowledge it, repent, ask with a pure heart for forgiveness, and if necessary, ask the Lord for help, so the sin is not repeated. After doing that, turn around 180 degrees and don’t repeat the mistake again.
Take note also, that the Lord is not finished testing Balaam.
Because Balaam did not repent, turn around, and refuse King Balak, the Lord is sending him on to see whether or not Balaam will do as he is instructed.
Tough stuff…but, Balaam isn’t finished yet. Part 3 coming soon…