Talking animals in the Bible

Today I came upon a familiar passage about a talking donkey once again and decided to drill a little deeper. I was reading Numbers 22. The background to this story is that Israel, after wandering in the dessert for almost 40 years, was beginning its conquest to take over the promise land. They began East of river Jordan by defeating the Canaanite king of Arad, Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan (Numbers 21). Here they encamped along river Jordan across from the city of Jericho, Balak king of Moab was naturally frightened. He decided to call on Balaam to put a curse on his enemies. Now Balaam must have been a famous spiritual guru around that region who perform divination for a fee (Numbers 22:7).

Now the first interesting thing I observed is that this non-Jewish, money making soothsayer/sorcerer, was actually communicating with the Jewish God (the Lord) quite regularly (verse 8). In fact he was normally quite obedient to God's command (verse 13). So when God said no, Balaam refused Balak's request to put a curse on God's people, despite the handsome reward and most certainly the treat that came with refusing the king's request. This story is another affirmation that God speaks to his creation in various ways (see Romans 1:18-20).

The second interesting and quite puzzling thing I observed is that when Balak offered a second request with a bigger reward (and likely a bigger threat for refusal) and when God told Balaam to agree to go, he was opposed by God's angel along the way. So did God want him to go or not? I think the talking donkey provided the answer! (I won't go into the question how I can believe that a donkey can talk. I think the answer is similar to believing in any miracle. The article "Talking Snakes, Donkeys, and Believing the Bible" gives a good treatment on that.)

The article "Balaam and the Donkey" showed me these interesting points:

• Balaam knew God and carried out his commands, but he was an evil man, driven by money rather than love of God.
• The angel threatened Balaam because Balaam was obeying God in his actions, but in his heart he was rebelling, thinking only of the bribe.
• The "oracles" of Balaam in Numbers correspond to the blessings God promised to Abraham: Israel will be as numerous as the dust of the earth; the Lord is with Israel; Israel will inherit the promised land; Israel will crush Moab, and from the Jews will come a Messiah.
• Numbers 31:16 reveals that Balaam enticed the Israelites to turn from God and worship idols.
• The fact that the angel asked Balaam the same question as the donkey indicates that the Lord was speaking through the donkey.

The third and perhaps the most interesting observation from Numbers 22 is why was Balaam not shocked when the donkey spoke to him? This article "Did Balaam's donkey really talk to him?" gave me something to reflect on:

"Why was Balaam not shocked into silence by the donkey speaking to him? Surely, it must have come as a surprise to him, and under normal circumstances, the obvious reaction would be for him to at least ask how she came to be speaking. The Bible doesn’t tell us why he didn’t find it odd to be addressed by a donkey, but we do know something about his state of mind. First, he was in rebellion against the Lord, going to Balak for his own purposes and not those of the Lord. Second, the donkey’s refusal to continue down the path enraged him so that he beat her out of anger because she had mocked him and made a fool of him. Anger has a way of curtailing rational thought, and perhaps he was so intent on exerting his dominance over the animal that he lost the ability to think clearly. It wasn’t until the angel opened Balaam’s eyes to see reality that he relented in his anger against the donkey, listened to the angel, and repented. Verse 38 tells us that Balaam went to Balak and told the king, “I must speak only what God puts in my mouth," which just goes to show that God can use anyone, even a donkey and a rebellious prophet, to do His will and speak His truth."

So what have I learned today? I probably see God's miracles every single day. The fact that I am in a "healing" business should give me plenty of examples of seeing God's miraculous work. It may not be animal talking or manna from the sky, but human body itself is a work of wonder (see Psalm 139:14 and a very nice book "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made" by Philip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand). How do I react to these wonders? When I hear God's voice, do I obey? Are my thoughts consistent with my actions? When I obey God am I doing it grudgingly or out of love for him?

Thank you Lord for the lesson I learned today, from a talking donkey!