The story of Balaam and his argument with a donkey was a favorite of mine in childhood Sunday School. I remember well the book and accompanying flannelgraph figures showing the donkey straying from the path, crushing Balaam’s foot against the wall, and finally lying down on the path, t
o the great consternation of his master.
As you know, and can read for yourself (Numbers 22), after the third beating, the donkey has had enough. He rebukes Balaam for beating him, when in reality, he was protecting him from the angel of the Lord who was threatening to kill him.
It never occurred to me then to question how it was that an animal could talk, since the text says that the Lord opened his mouth. But what I did not understand at the time was that Balaam’s being on the road at all was in violation of God’s will.
God had told Balaam in a dream not to go with the men, only later to grant him permission. But the encounter with the angel, that turned into a warning to speak only as he was instructed, didn’t really address the underlying character of this prophet.
What the later history of Israel shows, and New Testament references confirm, Balaam wanted to curse Israel, and was willing to do so for money (2 Peter 2:15). Failing that, he found other ways to harm Israel via idolatry and immorality (Revelation 2:14).
Unlike my childhood impression of him as a slightly misguided prophet, now I realize that the story really is how God can use even His enemies to bless His people, and that even a lowly beast may somehow possess more wisdom than an evil man.
“He was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey
–a beast without speech–
who spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.”
2 Peter 2:15