(Based on a message preached Sunday evening, March 2, 2025 at New Hope Baptist Church near Fulton, MO; this is not an exact transcription.)
Introduction: The story of Balaam and his donkey (I choose to use the word “donkey” or “beast” simply to avoid being accused of using vulgar terms) is one of the most unusual in the Bible. People have used donkeys for thousands of years, per a quick “Wikipedia” check, mostly for riding or hauling.
For Balaam, this was a ride which I doubt he ever forgot!
1 What Balaam’s donkey saw
Text: Numbers 22:22-28, KJV: 22 And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. 24 But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. 26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
We saw last week that Balaam had first refused a request by Balak, king of Moab, to come and curse “a certain people (Israel)”, but Balak’s messengers never mentioned the name “Israel” to Balaam. Then, Balak sent more princes, all of whom were more honorable; to make a second, maybe even sweeter deal for Balaam. He, just like the first time, said, “Let me see what God says about this and I’ll reply in the morning”. So far, so good.
God indicated to Balaam that it was okay to go with the men, but if, and only if, they contacted him first (Numbers 22 has the whole story). For whatever reason, Balaam got ready to go before anybody said anything and God was very displeased with this.
Isn’t that a classic definition of sin, to do what God expressly said not to do?
So now, Balaam is on his way, heading to Moab along with the princes/messengers from the king. Now, I can’t say for sure just what Balaam was thinking, or if he was thinking, as he was riding the donkey from Pethor, his hometown, to Moab. I doubt, though, he was anyway near ready for what was about to happen!
Remember that God was very angry that Balaam had ignored the command, and as a result rebelled against God. We don’t know when or how far from Balaam’s hometown these events happened, but we can rest assured they did. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and for some to say these incidents are myths, fables, or anything less than plain historical narrative are playing fast and loose with the sacred text. If God says it happened, it happened.
All right. According to verse 22, Balaam was riding the donkey and two servants (of his, implied) were along with him. I have to confess that I have no idea how fast a donkey can walk, but probably not very fast, if two men can keep up while still walking. A lot of information, as in real-world or experiential knowledge, is far higher than my pay grade or knowledge!
And it’s while he’s riding the donkey that we read about the first out of the ordinary experience. Again, based on my limited knowledge, donkeys tend to follow a straight ahead path, only turning when the rider (somehow) indicates that it’s time to go either left or right. People with experience riding horses say it’s easy to make them turn, just pull the reins until the horse goes in the rider’s chosen direction. Anyway, the donkey seems to be walking along the straight path until she saw something very much out of the ordinary.
This donkey saw something Balaam didn’t see—the Angel of the LORD!
Not once, not twice, but three times. Balaam didn’t see the Angel once, until later.
So what did the donkey see? The first time, she saw the Angel of the LORD standing “in the way”, which I take to mean the road, trail, or pathway this group was traveling. And not only did the donkey see the Angel Himself, but she noticed He had a sword drawn in His hand. I remember reading or hearing, somewhere, that if one’s sword was kept in the sheath, this meant peace but if the sword was drawn, this was either a warning or an act of punishment. No matter what it was, the donkey knew that something bad was going to happen unless she made a move.
May I digress for a moment? Those of us who have or used to have pets know that sometimes these animals can sense something before we humans ever notice anything. One such example that I’ll never forget took place during my military career. Our house didn’t have a backyard fence (we had to pay to have it installed) and one evening, our dog, a springer spaniel, did something I only saw once. She was a very mellow, “laid back” dog, as we used to say, but not this time. She got down on all fours, crawled slowly to our sliding back door, and let out a low, almost menacing growl. By the time I got there, she had already risen up and was fine, but I can assure you, we set out to get a backyard fence pretty quickly after that!
Still, the donkey didn’t receive any credit for moving out of the Angel’s way. The donkey left the path and went into the field, but Balaam didn’t like it, and “smote: the donkey. We’re not told what Balaam used, here, but I’m willing to say he expressed his displeasure clearly! As a side note, I only know a little Hebrew, and have some trouble understanding the verb. According to an online source, the verb “smote” is in the Hiphil stem, but I don’t know what that entails. At any rate, the donkey got the message, painfully clear, that Balaam wasn’t happy with the direction she was taking him.
Now here’s the second time the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD. The donkey noticed the Angel in a path of the vineyards, per verse 24, with a “wall” on each side. The word “wall” has several different meanings and definitions, and may refer to a wall of stone to make a border (see this and more on-line at https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7023.htm for the Hebrew word and, for a discussion of walls, https://biblehub.com/topical/ttt/w/walls_of_vineyards.htm).
This time, when the donkey saw the Angel, she “crushed” Balaam’s foot against the wall. Taking this to be a wall of stone, I’m pretty sure Balaam was not pleased when this happened! I doubt there was any permanent damage—as we’ll see, Balaam was able to walk up tall mountains—and the word “crushed” is also translated “pressed” (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3905.htm). We could say the donkey tried to get away from the Angel, she pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall of stone.
Balaam, just like before, “smote” the donkey again. But, he got back on the donkey and they rode, you guessed it, into experience number 3. The donkey saw the Angel but Balaam didn’t, and this time, the donkey did something different.
She promptly lay down. She could see the Angel standing in a narrow place (location not given) but there was no way to move either to the left of the right. The donkey might have guessed, if I go forward, the Angel may kill me, and I can’t turn to either side, so I’m just going to lay down until something happens.
This made Balaam furious! Twice the donkey had done something he didn’t like, and he beat her with something. Now, she lays down (“fell down”, verse 27) and Balaam took a “staff” and beat her. Of note, the “staff” was likely a walking stick, perhaps something like the “rods” which men, especially shepherds, had used for many years. It’s also the same word for the “staff” the Hebrew men held onto when they were preparing for the first Passover (Exodus 12:11).
A staff, then, was a fairly good-sized rod, as it had to hold up the weight of a grown man. Someone once described a “staff” like this as solid wood, like a tree limb, about 1 to 2 inches in diameter and about the same height as a grown man. I don’t know much about physics, either, but it’s a fair guess that a five-foot rod, with the full force of a grown man, would absolutely cause a lot of pain on any animal or human unlucky enough to feel it!
Balaam had been furious with his donkey, as we’ll see, but now he was about to receive an unforgettable lesson from a pair of unforgettable teachers!
2 What Balaam’s donkey said
Text, Numbers 22:28-30, KJV: 30 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? 29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. 30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
Balaam had apparently just finished beating his donkey with his walking staff when he got the surprise of his life. His donkey spoke to him! Likely, this was in Balaam’s own language, whether Hebrew, Chaldee, or whatever; the important thing is that he and the donkey, as incredible as this sounds, had a mutual conversation.
Something I like to do is guess what a person will sound like whenever he or she speaks. I’ve been surprised, believe me! During my military career, I worked with and knew a number of people who came from just about every state in the Union—and there were variations in accents, brogues, and the like even between people from the same state. For example, I knew some folks from New York City but they sounded a lot different than those from, say, Buffalo.
So. to me, I would have liked to hear what that donkey sounded like—did she have a smooth, pleasant, feminine voice (kind of like the “Please continue to hold; someone will be with you in just a moment” vocal boilerplate while you think you’re waiting for something, anyone, to pick up!) Note: I tried to mimic that voice but—well, I didn’t sound anything like whatever “she” sounds like! The congregation laughed, by the way!
No matter what the donkey did sound like, she was able to question Balaam, saying, “What did I do to deserve you hitting me these three times?” And Balaam’s reply? “You made fun of me! If I had a sword in my hand (remember, he hasn’t yet seen the Angel Who had a sword in His hand!), I would kill you!” Balaam was, I think, so furious, he was ready to kill his own donkey even though he may not have been anywhere near Moab, and he would have had to walk all the rest of the distance!
The donkey could not only speak, but think. She then asked Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, and haven’t you ridden on me ever since the day you got me? Also, have I ever done anything like this to you before? Balaam, of course, would have to say, and did say, no. Well, at least he was truthful at that moment.
Not much more to say here, except that I think Balaam and the donkey might well have stared at each other for a while. I mean, this was perhaps only the second time in all recorded history (see Genesis 3 for the first time; the serpent spoke to Eve) when an animal had the power of speech—and it was to rebuke a prophet!
I’m still not sure what Balaam was thinking at this point, but he was about to have a face to face encounter with Someone he wasn’t expecting. The Angel of the LORD had something to say.
3 What the Angel of the LORD had to say
Text, Numbers 22:31-35, KJV: 31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. 32 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: 33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. 34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. 35 And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
Once Balaam finished dealing with his donkey, and maybe wondering, “What’s next?” he received another shock. His eyes were opened and now he saw The One Whom the donkey had seen—the very Angel of the LORD! The Angel was standing in the way, and whether both feet were on the ground. or if He was hovering (I can’t think of another or better word) above the ground, makes no difference. The Angel had His sword drawn, out in the open, just as the donkey had seen at the first.
This also reminds me of the cherubim whom God placed at the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had sinned (Genesis 3). These cherubim had flaming swords and that proved God meant business about not allowing anyone—period—back in that garden. When someone’s sword is drawn, that’s a clear sign that he or she is serious about something.
Balaam, to his credit, bowed down to the Angel, even to the point of falling “flat on his face”. This was and is a more or less universal sign of worship, and here Balaam was worshiping the Angel. Some, including me, believe He was Jesus before He was born into this world years later.
Now we have the words of the Angel of the LORD. I personally think He spoke very directly, but maybe with a still, small voice, just like the voice Elijah heard at Mount Horeb. Sometimes, a quiet but direct sentence hurts worse than if you get yelled at. God of course has the right and privilege to use any tone He sees fit and, admittedly, there were and are times when we deserve a loud, solid blast to get our attention. But, I know personally, there are times when the Lord has spoken to me in a simple, clear, direct means and it hurts worse than just about anything else He could say or do. How does He get the message to you?
Well, He got the message to Balaam, and that’s a fact. He first asked Balaam the same question as the donkey, “Why did you beat the donkey those three times?” He then added, “I came up to stand against you because your way is perverse (evil) before Me.”
Balaam, as we read, had nothing to say but the Angel was just getting started. He then said this to Balaam, “Your donkey saw Me (though you didn’t) and turned away from Me three times. If she hadn’t, I would have killed you (just as you threatened your donkey) and saved her alive!”
I’m thinking Balaam had a moment of self-reflection before He said anything. He came to realize that he was wrong for going with the princes to Moab, and he was wrong for mistreating his donkey. Now he also realized, “I have sinned”, and not just because he literally didn’t see the Angel until the Angel opened his eyes (just like the two disciples in Emmaus, Luke 24).
Balaam offered to return home, another sign, I think, of genuine repentance, but the Angel had something else in mind. He apparently forgave Balaam, but he also commanded himto go but only speak the words he received from the LORD. We’ll see more about this in the next chapter or two, when Balaam arrived in Moab and met Balak.
Let’s see what we can take home with us from the text. First, remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it generally is. Balaam seems to have let the greed of promotion and great honor cloud his judgment. Then, when God puts a restriction on anything you or I might want to do, even if it’s good, it’s wrong unless He permits it. Remember, God told Balaam to go with the messengers ONLY if they contacted him first and there’s no record that ever happened.
Another thing is that when something goes wrong, it may be the Lord trying to get our attention. It’s a shame when animals are more aware of God’s presence than we are!
Finally, when we realize we’ve sinned, remember that the Lord would much rather forgive than discipline us. I hope none of us ever have to face the judgment of God when, A, it would have been better not to sin in the first place; and, B, to get and make things right with God before it goes too far. I heard someone say that it’s so important to get right with God, because it is so easy to get “wrong” with Him!
The sermon in a sentence: don’t be a Balaam!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
