The Gospel According to a Donkey

We actually mention two donkeys in this article. One in Moses' time; one during Jesus' time on this earth.

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Transcript

Title: The Gospel According to a Donkey

SubTitle: A donkey knew more about the plans of heaven than her master.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2076577/episodes/18000083

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The Gospel According to a Donkey

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Balaam was a powerful diviner called by the king of Moab to curse the desert wanderers -- the nation of Israel. Before leaving to get closer to Israel's position, Balaam received clear instructions from the Most High about how to behave. As Balaam made his way with his servants and some dignitaries, some attitude inside Balaam needed to be addressed. The Most High used a donkey to try to get a new attitude over to Balaam. The donkey saw the Angel of the Lord in the way. The Angel had a drawn sword.

As the donkey tried to avoid the danger ahead, the donkey acted in unusual ways. The second time the angel appeared, the donkey crushed Balaam's foot against a wall -- the wall was probably made of *rock*. 

*What was the lesson Balaam learned as God spoke through the donkey?*

The Most High showed Balaam how annoying he was. After the third time the angel appeared to the donkey and not to the prophet, the prophet was so mad at the donkey that he was ready to kill her. Here's what the Scripture says about that third time:

Num 24 Verse 26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. 

28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

NOTE: The donkey is asking riddles. Even the donkey knows that questions can be good teaching tools. Note also that the number three was important for the donkey to mention.

Verse 29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said.

NOTE: The donkey has finished speaking. Balaam recently said,"If I had a sword, I would kill you!" He was expressing the kind of attitude that the Most High wanted to share with him.

Verse 31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. 

So he bowed low and fell facedown.

NOTE: Balaam bowed down. This may be the start of a learning moment for Balaam. 

By the way, I have good friends who wonder who the angel of the Lord is. He could be the archangel Michael, or someone else. I believe the Angel of the Lord here is Jesus himself before he was born. I don't believe everyone was alive before they were born, but I believe Jesus was.

Verse 32 The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times?" 

NOTE: There's the number three again. The question has been repeated by both the donkey and the Angel of the Lord. 

I don't think Balaam will answer that question well, so let me offer some ideas about why Balaam had beaten his donkey. 

*About The Plan*

Because the donkey had not followed the plan. 

The plan was to keep up with the Moabite and Midianite escort. 

Project a good front. 

Give excellent customer service. 

Don't embarass the chief in front of his potential clients. 

Help close a good deal. 

However, the Angel of the Lord had a different plan, and it was the donkey who knew it best:

37b The Angel of the Lord continued: "I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. 

33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”

NOTE: The number three appears all over this story. The donkey has mentioned the word once. The Angel of the Lord has mentioned it twice. That's three times the number three has been mentioned by the powers submitted to the Most High.

I think there's a lesson I could learn from this story:

A donkey might see more than I do, the great contributor to the Gospel According to the Rock audio podcast.

If you would, please pray for me that I retain the ways the Lord is trying to impress upon me, in Jesus' name.

I believe the Angel of the Lord had been preaching the gospel to Balaam.  In the future, Jesus -- the Angel of the Lord Himself -- would put away his sword and choose to be born in human flesh. Jesus in the future would be well-behaved as a public figure. He would ride into Jerusalem during the last days before His crucifixion on a young donkey. While He was open and honest about the failures of religious leaders, He was gentle. He did not resort to raising His hand against those in power. However, the size of the crowd that followed Him alarmed most of the authorities in Jerusalem. 

Just as there were three appearances of the Angel of the Lord that involved Balaam's donkey getting beaten, Jesus would be three days and nights in the grave.

And as I need to mention, Jesus died -- but He didn't stay that way.

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