Week 7 Numbers 22-24
The story of Balaam and his donkey is one of my favorites. It’s really Balaam’s story. But even though the donkey is a bit player he’s not just decoration either.
I don’t know for sure what-all Balaam’s special talents were. He was a kind of shaman…maybe a diviner, maybe he could influence events, maybe he could cure illness.
But one thing he definitely had was a reputation for being able to bless or curse people. That’s what Balak needed him for. Cursing.
Balaam had direct communication with the Lord on five different occasions in the story. And in the story’s roughly 96-verses Balaam spoke 28-verses of prophetic blessing that came directly from the Lord. On the surface it looks like Balak is the villain and Balaam the hero – a real man-of-God type guy.
But then I remember the donkey. He had three direct revelations of his own from the Lord. And he miraculously stared talking ‘human’. But that didn’t make him a real donkey-of-God type donkey.
Balaam and his donkey play similar roles – instrumental roles. They both had unusual religious experiences. And they both got some special (temporary) language capacities.
But that’s about as far as it went for both of them. After his conversation with Balaam the donkey reverted to his inarticulated braying. And after his conversations with the Lord and his prophetic blessings Balaam reverted to his normal behaviour – doing what his paymaster wanted in the first place.