WHEN IT’S OKAY BE A DUMB DONKEY!
“But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet (2 Peter 2:12-16 NASV).
“How many times do the New Testament writers quote the Old Testament?”
According to the Blue Letter Bible website, the answer is 855.
Now, the reason I make a point of this is because Peter, like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul (just to name a few) used the Old Testament to validate New Testament beliefs and behavior.
Peter uses no less than four Old Testament events in chapter two to confirm the certainty of God’s future judgment against ungodly behavior.
The false teachers were denying that God would bring judgment upon anyone who lived the way they said you could live.
In their contemptuous disregard for human or divine authority, they defiantly asserted that their fleshly desires were a better path to a life of freedom over the prudish restrictions of righteousness (so they said!).
If ever there was a time when this is relevant, it is now. We are living in a society that has largely lost any sense of the diabolical danger of living without restraint.
The very first event Peter references sets the stage by reminding us and them of the angels who transgressed their boundaries by rebelling against God (Jude 6). They introduced the world to the dark arts of fleshly pleasures and unbridled excess, and Peter describes them in verses 13 and 14 as those who have lost all sense of shame: “They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime…[having] eyes full of adultery they never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children…”
In a world that rejects God, that’s what you end up with.
Just stop and consider what we have witnessed this past week. Lives torn apart by accusations of past behavior; whether true or not, we know that what they’ve described happens on college campuses, in frat houses and along tree-lined neighborhoods; behavior that was and is a part of a culture that uses and abuses people.
The impetus for the “me-too” movement is the objectification of women and men (women of power are not exempt from evil desires). When pleasure becomes the highest order, it results in a “hell” of one’s own making. It shrinks your world until all that is left is the idol of “self.”
Don’t be led astray. What we witnessed was a demonic display of smoke and mirrors; not a political battle of left or right ideologies. We are witnessing the result of Satan’s war against God and His creation.
But hear what Peter’s reminds us of: God has been punishing those fallen angels; they have not escaped His judgment.
But sadly, people aren’t allowing that reality to inform their decisions. The line between truth and error, light and darkness, right and wrong has been blurred by a watered-down, feel-good philosophy that views any attempt at defining those truths as judgmental, old-fashioned and Bible-thumping hype.
But those examples of judgment are there/here to warn and encourage; to instruct us in the consequences of life without God, of how men and women end-up treating each other when life is lived for self. It happened once before and here’s how it looked: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5 NASV).
When people are self-willed, unprincipled, sensual, greedy, and exploitative (2 Peter 2)…and approve of those who practice those things (Rom. 1:32), you end up with a world gone mad! Even a dumb donkey can see where that leads. But I get ahead of myself!
By the way, I’m using “dumb” in its Biblical sense of mute, unable to speak; not stupid. He was a "dumb" donkey because he couldn't speak - until God enabled him.
So, what happened to that world in Genesis 6 (the second example)? “…He did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people…” (2 Pet. 2:5 NIV).
Again, it comes down to who we chose to believe. Either the world or the Holy Spirit inspired record of a historic, space-time reality.
The third example is found in verse six, where Peter writes: “…He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly…” (NIV).
Brethren, let me just state up-front that I believe the sin of homosexuality is as soul-destroying as the sin of adultery, idolatry, covetousness, drunkenness and slandering (1 Cor. 6:9-10). It is one of many deeds of the flesh that is condemned.
But the attempt by “false teachers” to negate the sinfulness of homosexuality or to portray it as the “way of righteousness” between two Christian men or two women who love each other is a destructive heresy.
Peter says that Sodom and Gomorrah was judged and destroyed by God for its “ungodly” behavior. Jude says that they were exhibited as an example of the punishment of eternal fire because they “indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh” (vs. 7). The story in Genesis 19 details how the men of the city “surrounded the house, both young and old…and they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them’” (19:5f NASV).
You’d think that would pretty much explain it.
But Rev. Patrick S. Cheng (theologian, seminary professor and ordained minister) wrote in a Huffington Post blog on May 25, 2011 that homosexuality was not the major offense that resulted in their destruction: " …The true sin of the Sodomites as described in the Bible has nothing to do with same-sex acts per se. Rather, the ancient Sodomites were punished by God for far greater sins: for attempted gang rape, for mob violence, and for turning their backs on strangers and the needy who were in their midst. In other words, the real sin of Sodom was radical inhospitality. And, ironically, it is often anti-gay Christians who are most guilty of this sin today."
This is why it is so important that we read and study for ourselves; to present ourselves as workmen approved of God, not ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). False teaching comes from many sources and in many settings.
And last, but not least, the fourth Old Testament example that Peter uses: “They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey – an animal without speech – who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness” (2 Pet. 2:15-16 NIV).
Get the context. If anyone should have done the right thing, it should have been Balaam, a prophet of God. He knew he could only speak what God put in his mouth. When the emissaries of Balak came tempting Balaam with riches and honor if he cursed the children of Israel, Balaam told them, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God” (Num. 22:18).
Now, brethren, that’s an awesome commitment to live by: “I’ll do nothing contrary to the command of the Lord!”
Sadly, they were just words to Balaam. In his heart, he loved the wages of wickedness. He saddled his donkey and headed off with the leaders of Moab. Along the way, the angel of the Lord stood in the way with his sword drawn, ready to kill Balaam.
The donkey saw the angel and headed off into a field. Balaam hit the donkey to turn her back into the way.
The angel then moved back into the path and the donkey ran into a wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against the wall. He struck her again.
Once more, the angel appeared in the way and instead of moving, the donkey lay down and Balaam struck her again.
God opens the donkey’s mouth and says to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
“Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now.”
Now, brethren, you’d think that a talking donkey would have shook Balaam to the core, but nooo! He’s so crazed that he talks back to the donkey.
After a few more exchanges between Balaam and the donkey, God opens Balaam’s eyes and he sees the angel of the Lord.
Peter credits the donkey with restraining the prophet’s madness. Balaam was so set on getting what he wanted that he couldn’t see the danger in front of him. He was so bent on going his own way that he was willing to compromise on what he knew he should or shouldn’t do.
Brethren, when is it okay to be a dumb donkey? When you know you are on the wrong road and the judgment of God stands before you. Better to be a dumb donkey than a greedy prophet. Better to be a dumb donkey than a condemned prophet judged by God. Better to not know the way of righteousness, than to turn away from the holy commandments handed to us.
It is like a dog returning to its own vomit – a pig after washing returning to the mud!
But it doesn’t have to be like that. In the midst of judgment, God preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, along with seven others. And He preserved righteous Lot.
The Lord knows to rescue the godly – and we know Him as Jesus! God sent Him so that judgment would not befall us.
Have you accepted Jesus?
