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It's a long section, but I'll 
read it in its entirety. Numbers 22, we'll read verses 
1 to 40. We'll review a bit, and then 
we'll jump into the Balaam narrative. So beginning in verse 1, then 
the children of Israel moved and camped in the plains of Moab 
on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho. Now Balak, the 
son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And 
Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were 
many. And Moab was sick with dread because of the children 
of Israel. So Moab said to the elders of Midian, now this company 
will lick up everything around us as an ox licks up the grass 
of the field. And Balak, the son of Zippor, 
was king of the Moabites at that time. Then he sent messengers 
to Balaam, the son of Baor at Pthor, which is near the river 
in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying, 
Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face 
of the earth and are settling next to me. Therefore, please 
come at once. Curse this people for me, for 
they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat 
them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom 
you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed. So 
the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner's 
fee in their hand. And they came to Balaam and spoke 
to him the words of Balaam. And he said to them, lodge here 
tonight and I will bring back word to you as the Lord speaks 
to me. So the princes of Moab stayed 
with Balaam. Then God came to Balaam and said, 
who are these men with you? So Balaam said to God, Balak, 
the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me saying, look, 
a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the 
earth. Come now, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to 
overpower them and drive them out. And God said to Balaam, 
you shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, 
for they are blessed. So Balaam rose in the morning 
and said to the princes of Balak, go back to your land, for the 
Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you. And the princes 
of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, Balaam refuses to come 
with us. Then Balak again sent princes 
more numerous and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam 
and said to him, thus says Balak the son of Zippor, please let 
nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will certainly honor 
you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore, please 
come, curse this people for me. Then Balaam answered and said 
to the servants of Balak, though Balak were to give me his house 
full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the 
Lord my God to do less or more. Now therefore, please, you also 
stay here tonight that I may know what more the Lord will 
say to me. And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, if 
the men come to call you, rise and go with them, but only the 
word which I speak to you, that you shall do. So Balaam rose 
in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of 
Moab. Then God's anger was aroused because he went and the angel 
of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against 
him. And he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were 
with him. Now the donkey saw the angel 
of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey returned aside 
out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the 
donkey to turn her back onto the road. Then the angel of the 
Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards with a wall on 
this side and a wall on that side. And when the donkey saw 
the angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and 
crushed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 
Then the angel of the Lord went further and stood in a narrow 
place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand 
or to the left. And when the donkey saw the angel 
of the Lord, she laid down under Balaam. So Balaam's anger was 
aroused and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the Lord 
opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, what 
have I done to you that you have struck me these three times? 
And Balaam said to the donkey, because you have abused me, I 
wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you. 
So the donkey said to Balaam, am I not your donkey on which 
you have ridden ever since I became yours to this day? Was I ever 
disposed to do this to you? And he said, no. Then the Lord 
opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing 
in the way with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed his 
head and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the Lord said 
to him, Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, 
I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse 
before me. The donkey saw me and turned 
aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from 
me, surely I would have also killed you by now, and let her 
live. And Balaam said to the angel 
of the Lord, I have sinned, for I did not know you stood in the 
way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases 
you, I will turn back. And the angel of the Lord said 
to Balaam, go with the men, but only the word that I speak to 
you, that you shall speak. So Balaam went with the princes 
of Balak. Now, when Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went 
out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the border 
at the Arnon, the boundary of the territory. Then Balak said 
to Balaam, did I not earnestly send to you, calling for you? 
Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you? And 
Balaam said to Balak, look, I have come to you. Now, have I any 
power at all to say anything? The word that God puts in my 
mouth, that I must speak. So Balaam went with Balak, and 
they came to Kirjath Uzoth. Then Balak offered oxen and sheep, 
and he sent some to Balaam and to the princes who were with 
them. Amen. Well, if you were at the conference 
in April, you may have heard something that made me cringe 
a little bit. When I first came up here from 
Southern California, I learned pretty quickly that there were 
certain things you could say in Southern California that you 
don't necessarily say in Chilliwack. I think you'd probably say, well, 
there's still things that you say that you shouldn't say in 
Chilliwack. But Pastor Barcelos referred 
to the weird Balaam stuff. The weird Balaam stuff. And again, 
knowing the audience, I kind of thought, you know, that's 
probably not going to go over well. If you didn't hear that, 
great. I was overly concerned for no 
reason. I get the sentiment. I'd probably 
call it the enigmatic Balaam stuff, the challenging or difficult 
Balaam stuff. If you want absolute answers 
in Numbers 22 to 24, I would suggest that you probably don't 
come the other Wednesday nights as we move our way through the 
Balaam stuff, or the Balaam narratives. There's a lot of puzzling things 
in chapters 23 and 24. The donkey stuff is actually 
the easy part of the Balaam narrative. But up until this point, remember 
the children of Israel had been wandering through the wilderness 
a total of 40 years. The actual wandering itself was 
about 38 years. They've arrived at their destination. 
So they're on the plains of Moab according to chapter 22 at verse 
1. they will stay on the plains of Moab to the very end of the 
book of Numbers. That's chapter 36, verse 13. And that's of course where the 
book of Deuteronomy takes place. It's a series of exhortations 
by Moses to the second generation to prepare them to enter into 
the promised land under Joshua to engage in the conquest. So 
the plains of Moab, they'll be here for a bit. So that's the 
larger or broader context. The story of Balaam is specifically 
in chapter 22, at verse 2, all the way to chapter 24, verse 
25. And essentially, Balaam is a 
prophet for hire. And while chapters 22 to 24 don't 
really commend him as a godly man, though there are some puzzling 
statements that are made, it doesn't necessarily as well condemn 
him as an ungodly man, but he plays a part in the situation 
that happens in Numbers chapter 25, while unnamed, but later 
on, in Numbers 31-16, we find out he had a part in that. And 
then, of course, the New Testament documents comment very unfavorably 
on Balaam. So, with reference to Balaam, 
he wasn't a godly man, he wasn't an Israelite, he was a heathen, 
he was a man, I probably refer to him as a seer. In the book 
of Joshua, in chapter 13, at verse 22, he's referred to as 
a soothsayer, So something of a sorcerer, a soothsayer, a magician, 
a man that was familiar with the various gods of the various 
peoples and could be hired for profit to do the bidding of the 
various peoples involved. So that's kind of a bit about 
Balaam. And we'll look a bit more later 
as we move through this material. But essentially what we have 
in chapter 22 is the meeting between Balak and Balaam. In 
other words, the oracles of Balaam in 23 and 24 is the primary emphasis 
in the Balaam story. But chapter 22 affords us the 
background or brings us to the point where we understand why 
it is that Balaam is in the narrative and why he's doing what he's 
doing. So when we look at chapter 22, we notice first the proposal 
for Balaam. The king of Moab sends a delegation 
of his elders or princes to offer him money to make a deal. So 
the proposal for Balaam in verses 1 to 21. Secondly, the rebuke 
from the Lord in verses 22 to 35. And then briefly tonight, 
the meeting between Balak and Balaam in verses 36 to 40. So first, the proposal for Balaam. Again, the location is given 
in verse 1. Then the children of Israel moved, 
camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across 
from Jericho. Now, the particular situation 
is fleshed out for us there in verses 2 to 4. Note the victory 
over the Israelites, verse 2. Now Balak, the son of Zippor, 
saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And that brings 
us back to chapter 21. In chapter 21, in verses 21 to 
32, we see the victory over Sihon, king of the Amorites. And then 
in chapter 21, verses 33 to 35, we see the victory over Og. And in some sense, that particular 
chapter, we titled our study there, The Wars of the Lord, 
based on 2114. Therefore, it is said in the book of The Wars 
of the Lord. Now, the brazen serpent is the 
most notable part in chapter 21, to be sure. It's invoked 
by our Lord Jesus in John 3 as an analogy to the crucifixion 
of our Lord Jesus. But the wars of the Lord, so 
the children of Israel, they're traveling through the wilderness. 
They're going to be going on a conquest. They're going to 
need to be prepared for that. They come from a situation where 
they had been slaves for several hundred years. They come from 
a situation where they had been subject. They're going to go 
to a situation where they're going to have to fight, and they're 
going to have to kill people, they're going to have to break things, 
they're going to have to take the land. And so these skirmishes along 
the way were preparatory on the part of God to get his people 
ready for battle. So the king of Moab had heard 
about the victory of the Israelites And then notice in verse 3, So 
this number, a great number of Israelites caused him to be fearful. 
They'd already triumphed in battle over the Amorites. and they had a great number of 
people. It's reminiscent of Exodus chapter 1, when the one pharaoh 
that was favorable to Joseph died. The new pharaoh was quite 
concerned about the great numbers of Israelites and understood 
all too well that if they rise up, we're going to have a big 
mess on our hands. And so the king of Moab is thinking 
in that same vein. He's thinking along that same 
line. Now note he gives this particular counsel to his elders 
in verses 4 and 5. He underscores the potential 
for disaster, verse 4, and then he counsels with them specifically 
in verse 5. Then he sent messengers to Balaam 
Again, let's just move to a few passages just to get some further 
commentary on Balaam. Turn to chapter 31. Chapter 31, 
specifically at verse 16. Look, these women, referring 
to what happens in Numbers 25, which we'll see in a few weeks, 
these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel 
of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, 
and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. 
So, we know he's a bad guy, but in chapter 22, we don't know 
that for sure. I mean, he's a pagan, he's outside 
of the covenant community, but he uses the covenant name Yahweh. Now, that shows familiarity, 
at least to a degree, that he was familiar with Israel's God, 
but he refers to him specifically as Yahweh, and if you look back 
in chapter 22, he even refers to him as Yahweh my God, according 
to verse 18. I could not go beyond the word 
of the Lord my God to do less or more." So again, a bit of 
an enigmatic situation facing us with reference to this man, 
Balaam. He seems firmly committed to only doing what God calls 
him to do. But again, I think there's hints 
in chapter 22 as we move through there that foreshadow the fact 
that he's not a good guy. Turn to the book of 2 Peter. 
2 Peter chapter 2, where we get New Testament commentary on this 
Old Testament prophet. And intriguingly, Peter receives, 
without any question, the talking donkey. I don't know that everybody 
in the church today tracks with the talking donkey. So I told 
Cam, he said he wasn't gonna be able to be here. "'Tis a wild 
ride," no pun intended. But notice in 2 Peter 2 at verses 
15 and 16. They have forsaken the right 
way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of 
Baor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. But he was rebuked 
for his iniquity, a dumb donkey, speaking with a man's voice, 
restrained the madness of the prophet. So not a favorable commentary. Notice in Jude's book, verse 
11, woe to them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, have 
run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished 
in the rebellion of Korah. And then in Revelation chapter 
2, specifically at verse 14, but I have a few things against 
you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, 
who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of 
Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual 
immorality. So based on that information, 
as we move through chapter 22, knowing what we know about Balaam, 
I think it helps us in our interpretation of a few difficult passages in 
chapter 22. So you can go back to chapter 
22. We've got the location. We've 
got the situation. The king of Moab is fearful. 
And so he concocts a plan to fetch this seer so that this 
seer can pronounce a curse upon this perceived threat, which 
is the children of Israel. So that moves us then under the 
proposal for Balaam to the proposal proper in verses 6 to 13. Notice, 
therefore, verse 6, please come at once, curse this people for 
me. Can't forget that. That is precisely 
what Balak wants from Balaam. He wants Balak to pronounce a 
curse upon the children of Israel. If the king of Moab can't best 
them on the field of battle based on military savvy alone, a hex 
or a curse or some kind of misfortune befalling them through the means 
of this man Balaam will certainly tilt the scales in his favor. 
But in verse 6 he says, So Balaam comes with a proven track record. This is puzzling. It is enigmatic. It is a bit of a difficulty. 
It is, to use Pastor Barcelos' language, weird. But nevertheless, 
he was proven. And so the plan, from an earthly 
perspective, from a human perspective, from a kingly perspective, the 
king of Moab is trying to stack the deck in his favor. Notice 
then the elders come and they propose to Balaam this particular 
plan. You see that in verses 7 and 
8. So the elders of Moab and the 
elders of Midian departed with the diviner's fee in their hand, 
and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. So 
they brought him money, probably not all the money, but at least 
a down payment or half the money. Once the curse has fallen upon 
the enemies, then you'll get the other half. They want to 
make sure that Balaam knows that there is money to be had in this 
particular venture. So verse 8, look at what we read, 
and he said to them, watch here tonight, and I will bring back 
word to you as the Lord speaks to me. So the princes of Moab 
stayed with Balaam. Now, whatever familiarity he 
had with Yahweh and the Old Covenant people of Israel, he didn't have 
enough familiarity. The fact that he entertained 
the thought of pronouncing a curse upon the children of Israel betrays 
a real relationship with the living and true God. As well, 
it shows a willingness on his part to be bought and paid for, 
for the right price, to pronounce a curse upon this perceived enemy. So, already I think we're starting 
to see that there's something not altogether right, even without 
a specific condemnation by the narrator in this chapter, other 
than through the donkey and the angel of the Lord, of course. 
But with reference to Balaam, his heart is not right before 
God. So the seer, the soothsayer, 
considers their offer. Now God does speak to him. Another part of the intriguing 
puzzle, which is the Balaam narrative. But I think what this shows us 
is that God is not beholden to the Israelite prophet. God can 
speak through a Balaam. God can speak through a Balaam's 
ass. God can reveal himself to Potiphar. 
God is not confined or constrained or restrained into those particular 
conventions that we like to place him in every now and then. God 
transcends, he's sovereign. If he wants to raise up a Balaam 
and use a Balaam to actually preach Christ, because I think 
that's what his oracles are about, at least in part, then God's 
going to raise up a Balaam to preach Christ. He can speak through 
Balaam, he can speak through Balaam's ass. So verse 9, then 
God came to Balaam and said, who are these men with you? Now 
this is like Genesis chapter 3, when God asks Adam and Eve 
questions, it's not for a lack of information on his part. It's 
when you see your child standing there with a cookie in his hand 
and you say, well who said you could get into the cookie jar? 
You know good and well nobody said he could get into the cookie 
jar. You're giving him the opportunity to come clean. You're giving 
him the opportunity to provide additional information. So when 
God comes to question Adam and Eve, it's not because he's lacking 
knowledge. It is to put them on the spot, 
and that's what's happening here with Balaam. Who are these men 
with you? Again, it's not a search for 
information. God owns the cattle on a thousand 
hills. He even owns the elders of Moab. So Balaam, verse 10, said to 
God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, 
saying, Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover 
the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me. 
Perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out. So as 
we might expect, the Lord's answer is brief to the point and where 
we would think it would go. You shall not go with them. You 
shall not curse the people for they are blessed. So Balaam rose 
in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, verse 13, go 
back to your land for the Lord has refused to give me permission 
to go with you. And there's indications along 
the way that Balaam's doing the right thing. And he is, in the 
grand scheme of things, doing the right thing. He is doing 
what God has called him to do. Now that brings us to this second 
attempt. Balak was not the kind of king 
that would take no for an answer. If he wants to buy a profit, 
he's going to buy a profit. And that's what we find in verses 
14 to 21. There's a second delegation. They've got more riches with 
them. Notice in verse 15, then Balak again sent princes more 
numerous and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam 
and said to him, Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, Please let 
nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will certainly honor 
you greatly. Now the honor there does not 
mean we're going to esteem you and revere you. It means we're 
going to pay you. Honor widows who are widows indeed, 
1 Timothy 5.3. That doesn't mean give them the 
best parking spots or the best bench in the church. It means 
to give them money so they can buy food and shoes. 1 Timothy 
5.17, honor, a double honor to those elders who labor in the 
word and doctrine. It doesn't mean we just esteem 
them or revere them or give them special accolades. It means you 
pay them. double honor to those elders 
who rule well, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. So this second delegation has 
come back loaded with more money to try to sweeten the pot so 
that Balaam will see the light. And even though Yahweh says don't 
do it, this money talks. Notice verse 17. At the end of 
verse 16, Now note the response. And I don't wanna impugn bad 
things on Balaam where it shouldn't be, but I'm suspicious that he's 
angling or fishing in verse 18. Then Balaam answered and said 
to the servants of Balak, though Balak were to give me his house 
full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the 
Lord my God to do less or more. I wonder if there was a bit of 
a wink wink If he's got more to give, let's do this. I think the New Testament commentary 
on him indicates that he's a greedy wretch. I mean, if he's a seer 
for pay, he's a soothsayer for pay, and if the king of Balak 
fears these Israelites enough, He's probably willing to dig 
a bit deeper. Maybe we need a third delegation 
just to sweeten the pot. I think verse 19 sort of leans 
this way as well. Now, therefore, please, you also 
stay here tonight. He'd already turfed them after 
the first delegation. He had no problem sending them 
away after Yahweh said, send them away. Why is He allowing 
them to lodge a night? And then He says, that I may 
know what more the Lord will say to me. You really think that 
God is going to say, well, now the deal is sweet enough, Balaam, 
so you go right ahead and you curse the covenant people of 
Israel. I think there's something afoul in Balaam's heart, and 
I think that the narrator, though not coming out and telling us 
and condemning him as a prophet for profit, is nevertheless telling 
us that not everything is bueno in the heart of this particular 
man. And again, I think this is important to build the case 
for when we get to verse 21, but we're not there yet. Notice 
then, in verses 20 and 21, we've got the divine instruction. So 
God came to Balaam at night and said to him, If the men come 
to call you, rise and go with them. But only the word which 
I speak to you, that you shall do. So Balaam rose in the morning, 
saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. So 
the permission to go with the men, obviously with the qualification, 
but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do. And 
then the departure of Balaam with the men. It is interesting, 
and again, it's subtle, but note what God says. If the men come 
to call you, and notice in verse 21, So Balaam rose in the morning, 
saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. Doesn't 
say they came and called on him. In fact, Gil reads it this way. 
Early, got up early. not waiting for the call of the 
princes, which showed how eager he was to be gone and how intent 
upon the journey. So the pot is sweet, and he wants 
it, and so now he's going. So then that brings us to the 
rebuke from the Lord in verses 22 to 35, the donkey part. But first, note the anger of 
the Lord, and this is a bit of a difficulty in verse 22. Note, 
then God's anger was aroused because he went. But God just 
told him to go in verses 20 and 21. I mean, have you ever read 
that and thought, that's odd. God just told him to go and now 
God's angry at him for going. Well, I think there's a rationale 
for that, and I think it's what I've tried to be trying to, you 
know, tilt the scale so that you'll see things are not right 
in Balaam's heart, and God knows that. God understands that. The probable situation is that 
God knew his intentions, and they were not good. He was motivated 
by a desire for money. He was in it for the bucks. He 
was in it for the shekels. Matthew Poole gives three particular 
interpretations as to how we make heads or tails out of God 
telling him to go in verses 20 and 21, and then God being angry 
that he went in verse 22. He says, First, because he went 
of his own accord with the princes of Moab, and did not wait till 
they came to call him, i.e., urged him to go, which was the 
sign and condition of God's permission. But rather, himself rose and 
called them, as it may seem, from Numbers 22-21. Or two, because 
those words did contain no approbation nor license but a bare permission, 
and that in anger, as Balaam might easily have understood 
if he had considered his own heart or the circumstances of 
his concassion. In other words, he's saying, 
and some of the older commentators do that, he's not commending 
him on this, but he is giving him permission. Our confession 
speaks of permission or permit a couple of times. It's one of 
those theologically loaded words when it comes to the decree, 
when it comes to providence, when it comes to how God does 
what he does. Does he just permit? I don't 
know that that's the best way to go. I think that Poole's number 
three is right on. He says, because he went with 
ill design and desire to do contrary to what God had charged him, 
to wit, to curse the people, as plainly appears from the following 
story and from Deuteronomy 23, for God hath been oft and justly 
angry with those who have done what God bade them, when they 
did it in evil manner, or for evil ends, as appears from Isaiah 
10 and many other places. Remember Isaiah 10, God raises 
up Assyria, and He uses Assyria to judge the northern tribes 
of Israel, and then God condemns Assyria for the way that they 
did it. They were wretched and vile and 
wicked in their conducting of it. So on the one hand, you've 
got God raising up this particular means of chastisement for the 
Northern Kingdom. They do their job, but they do 
it in a particularly nasty way. So then God brings judgment to 
bear upon them. So I think that's probably what's 
happening here. I think the narrator is foreshadowing 
bigger problems with Balaam. Balaam's going to serve his purposes. 
Balaam's gonna preach Christ, Balaam is gonna bless the people 
while the people, or while Balak wants them cursed, but nevertheless, 
there's problems in the man's heart. So we've got this anger 
of the Lord. The reason, that's the best attempt 
I can give, but the revelation of that anger is in verse 22 
as well. And the angel of the Lord took 
his stand in the way as an adversary against him, and he was riding 
on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. So that then brings 
us to the perception of the donkey. The perception of the donkey. This passage is great. This is 
just, isn't the Bible interesting? I don't know, I've not found 
in my time as a Christian any compellingness to the idea that 
the Bible is boring. I don't read my Bible because 
it's just so boring. Have you read numbers? I mean, 
where else do you get a talking donkey? Where else do you get 
a blind seer, which is Balaam, and you got a donkey who sees 
everything very clearly and very perceptively? So note, the donkey 
saw the angel, according to verse 23a. Timothy Ashley, in his commentary, 
says, the point of this whole story is that in contrast to 
the important status of Balaam as a seer, he is more blind to 
the presence of a messenger from Yahweh than his supposedly dumb 
beast. It really is an interesting juxtaposition 
and turn in the story. So the donkey sees the angel 
functioning as an adversary. In verses 23b to 27, again, I 
think that this whole thing is to condition Balaam or to move 
upon Balaam to approach his particular task with the proper motivation. Now, according to later revelation, 
he doesn't do that. But nevertheless, he accomplishes 
the task that God gives him. So God can take crooked things 
and make straight things out of them. God can take, you know, 
the wretched Balaam the prophet and nevertheless deliver to Balak 
blessing upon Israel with great nuggets of biblical Christology 
for us, and God's blessing in terms of new covenant privilege, 
through a Balaam. So the donkey, according to 23b 
to 27, sees the angel, and there's three particular instances. The donkey turns aside, and he's 
struck by Balaam. The donkey pushes herself against 
the wall and was struck by Balaam, verses 24 and 25. The donkey 
laid down and was struck by Balaam with his staff in verses 26 and 
27. Balaam is upset that his donkey 
is not performing the function of donkey that the donkey had 
always done. Now, the overarching theme in 
this section is not what Solomon tells us in the Proverbs, that 
a righteous man has regard for his beast. When I see commentators 
make that application, I just think, I mean, yeah, you shouldn't 
kick your donkey. But I don't know that the proof 
text is Balaam and his donkey. In other words, it's a right 
application, but a wrong text. God is fighting with Balaam. God is the adversary against 
Balaam. The donkey is simply the foil. The donkey is simply the one 
that is going to open, or the means by which God is going to 
open the eyes of the seer. So then after the perception 
of the donkey in verses 23 to 27, you've got the interchange 
with the donkey in verses 28 to 30. Again, don't ever let 
anybody tell you the Bible's boring. There is nothing more 
exciting than a man talking to a donkey. And you know what the 
most important or the most amazing thing in this is? It's not that 
the donkey talks. It's that Balaam just answers 
like this is a normal action. That's what's really bizarre. 
It's just, okay, the donkey says, and I'm gonna just answer. So 
note, 28a. Then the Lord opened the mouth 
of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, what have I done to you 
that you have struck me these three times? Timothy, Ashley 
again. The same phrase is used of opening 
a prophet's mouth in Ezekiel 3, 27, and Ezekiel 33, 22. since speaking animals were apparently 
unusual in Israel." That's an interesting comment. Apparently 
unusual in Israel? Come on, Timothy Ashley. That's 
the first time other than the talking serpent in the garden 
that we've met such things. But anyways, we'll... We'll give 
him a break there. Since speaking animals were apparently 
unusual in Israel, the narrator makes it clear that this is an 
act of Yahweh Himself. To discuss further whether donkeys 
have sufficient vocal cords to speak overlooks the fact that 
this is an act of Almighty God. The question of how the donkey 
could speak does not concern the narrator. See, that's what 
we do. Oh, well, donkeys don't have 
vocal cords like men do. Donkeys don't know vowels and 
consonants. They didn't learn the alphabet. 
How could they talk? That's not the point. Christians are great 
at missing the point. And therefore, they don't answer 
the objections of non-Christians when non-Christians say, well, 
donkeys can't talk. Well, if you're going to try 
to defend the vocal ability and prowess and possibility of a 
donkey speaking, you've missed the point of the narrative. Notice, 
then, the donkey's question in verse 28. What have I done to 
you that you have struck me these three times? The forlorn, ill-treated 
donkey asks a legit and wonderful question. What have I done? to 
predicate this kind of behavior. Now, the seer's response in verse 
29, again, this is more amazing to me than the talking donkey. 
So Balaam said to the donkey, because you have abused me, I 
wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you. 
Just so matter of factly, again, Ashley says, what is most surprising 
is the seemingly calm way Balaam answers the question, asked by 
his donkey. The reader must enter into the 
world of the story at this moment. The narrator is not concerned 
to have Balaam question the possibility of the donkey speaking. That's 
what we'd expect. How are you talking, donkey? Wouldn't that be the natural 
response? Wouldn't that be your response 
if you raised your hand at your dog and your dog said, why are 
you going to strike me? I've only ever been a good pup. 
You'd probably say, how are you talking? But that's not the point. The point is the adversary, the 
angel of the Lord, with a sword drawn to Bala, to underscore 
the gravity of the situation, to speak for Yahweh, to this 
man who wants him to curse the very nation of Israel. Back to 
Ashley, the narrator is not concerned to have Balaam question the possibility 
of the donkey speaking, but rather to report a rational conversation 
between the only two non-heavenly characters in the story. Poole 
makes this quite interesting observation, and Gil goes along 
with this as well, at least as an option. Balaam was not much 
terrified with the asses speaking, because he was much accustomed 
to converse with evil spirits. which often appeared to him and 
discoursed with him in the shape of such creatures." That's legit. You play with the occult, you 
get talking donkeys. You play with the occult, you 
get talking goats. You get all kinds of weird stuff. 
Then note the donkey's question in verse 30. So the donkey said 
to Balaam, am I not your donkey on which on which you have ridden? Ever since I became yours to 
this day, was I ever disposed to do this to you?" The donkey 
becomes quite the sympathetic character in the narrative. And 
you want to hug the donkey by the neck and say, what a good 
donkey you've been. Yeah. Balaam, why are you kicking 
your donkey? Why do you want to strike it? 
And of course, Balaam can only say, no. You have been a good 
donkey, you've been a good friend, a good burrow, you've served 
me well. And then that brings us specifically 
to the revelation of God in terms of a rebuke from the Lord. Note 
the divine power in verse 31, corresponding to verse 28. Verse 
28, then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey. Verse 31, 
then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes. He's a seer who couldn't 
see. He's messing with the God of 
Israel, and he has no clue who he has come up against. I mean, 
he can manipulate the gods of the Moabites, the gods of the 
Amorites, because after all, they're fake. But you've come 
up against Yahweh of Israel, the living and the true God. 
You're going to see things now, Balaam, that you hadn't bargained 
for. You're going to see that there are some things that far 
transcend anything that you have seen before. So the Lord opened 
Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in 
the way with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed his 
head and fell flat on his face. Good response. Excellent response. That's what the donkey did. The 
donkey saw the divine presence. The donkey saw the angel of the 
Lord. And what does it do? It lay down under Balaam. Well, 
now Balaam is the one laying down. Balaam is the one falling 
flat on his face. The angel of the Lord said to 
him, Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, 
I have come out to stand against you because your way is perverse 
before me. The donkey saw me and turned 
aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from 
me, surely I would also have killed you by now and let her 
live. In other words, Balaam, you think 
you're all that. You think that you know everything. You think that you can up the 
price and up the price and up the price. You think you can 
bring these ill motivations into this prospect. You think that 
you're going to manipulate me and get one over and somehow 
come out win-win and all of this. You ain't seen nothing yet. You 
didn't even see the angel of the Lord as it was standing there 
with sword outdrawn when the donkey itself saw it. You're no better than this ass 
that you threatened to kill. And if it wasn't for the donkey, 
I would have killed you myself. Verse 34, Balaam said to the 
angel of the Lord, I have sinned, for I did not know you stood 
in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases 
you, I will turn back. He learned a good lesson. If 
he was ill-motivated or badly motivated, this seems to be a 
good sign that perhaps God has brought those motivations into 
check, and he's at the point of saying, I will turn back. He seemed pretty bent on and 
pretty determined to go. I'm sure the gold at the end 
of the rainbow was quite enticing for him. Balak's got lots and 
lots and lots of dough. Just come with us, do your thing, 
curse the people, and you'll get it. But here he's willing 
to turn back. So verse 35, So God shows Balaam 
what he's up against. Not in terms of the king of Moab, 
but in terms of the God of heaven and earth. It's a check to the 
motivations, it's a check to the perspective of this prophet 
for hire. And then finally, the meeting 
between Balak and Balaam in verses 36 to 40, we're given the location 
in verse 36. And I point that out because 
Moses points that out. This is history. filled with 
a talking donkey and the manifestation of the angel of the Lord and 
a prophet who's got ill motives. It's all concrete. It's all happening 
in time and space. It's all part of the historical 
record and narrative. It actually took place where 
it says. Now, when Balak heard that Balaam 
was coming, verse 36, he went out to meet him at the city of 
Moab, which is on the border at the Ardon, the boundary of 
the territory. Then Balak said to Balaam, I think there's a 
gentle or perhaps not so gentle chiding here. What took you so 
long? Weren't you convinced I had the 
money? Weren't you convinced that I was willing to part with 
the money? Verse 37, then Balak said to Balaam, did I not earnestly 
send to you, calling for you? Why did you not come to me? Am 
I not able to honor you? Well, we know the reason because 
God trumps Balak. The Lord Most High takes priority 
and precedence in the life of Balaam over Balak. And this idea 
that Balak has hatched to curse the children of Israel so he 
can best them on the field of battle, it's as futile as Balaam 
trying to see the angel of the Lord until God opens his eyes. It's as futile as a donkey trying 
to open its mouth and form words with an alphabet it never learned 
without God. And so Balak is somewhat incredulous 
that you've taken so long. Now, verse 38, again, I think 
the motivation has been checked, not to the degree where Balaam 
is now a converted, godly, justified, sanctified, on his way to glorification 
sinner, but he's at least towing the proper line. Look, I have 
come to you. Now, have I any power at all 
to say anything? The word that God puts in my 
mouth, that I must speak. And brethren, I think that's 
the only requirement for Balaam as the seer that has been tasked 
to pronounce a curse upon the nation of Israel. So when the 
Israelites would hear these stories or would read these stories, 
they'd probably think, wow, that's interesting. God's using a non-Israelite 
to prophesy. Again, this isn't the only place 
where that obtains, but it's an encouragement. The God of 
absolute sovereign power and glory is not beholden to one 
particular convention. He's not beholden to one particular 
class of people. He's not beholden to only ever 
speaking through this man or through these men. He can speak 
through Balaam to accomplish his purposes. He can speak through 
Balaam's ass to accomplish his purposes. He is sovereign. He 
is unrestrained. He is free. He is glorious. He is majestic. He is sovereign 
and powerful. Verse 39, So Balaam went with 
Balak, and they came to Kirjath, Huzoth. Then Balak offered oxen 
and sheep. I don't know that we need to 
interpret this as sacrificial. And he sent some to Balaam and 
to the princes who were with them. Probably just killed a 
bunch of meat, and they ate together. And that sets the stage for verse 
41 to take him up to the high places of Baal. And then we have 
the oracles. So in chapter 23, verses 7 to 
10, chapter 23, verses 18 to 24, chapter 24, 3 to 9, and 15 to 19, you've got four 
oracles given by Balaam in response to Balak's request 
that he curse the children of Israel. And as I've said, there's 
some theology in there that we may not fully uncover because 
it takes some time. And I don't always have a ton 
of time on Wednesdays. There's just a lot going on in 
these oracles. And not to use the word weird 
again, but some of it is very enigmatic and not the walk in 
the park that, say, a Romans 6 is. And interestingly, Romans 
6 is pretty dense, and there's some tough stuff in there to 
deal with. But I think the final take-home analysis is the children 
of Israel pose a threat as they're marching through and have arrived 
now to the plains of Moab. They pose a threat to the nations 
around because they have seen the wars of the Lord and the 
triumphs of Yahweh. They're a threat that must be 
neutralized. But ultimately, as we continue 
through the book of Deuteronomy into the conquest in Joshua, 
they're not going to be neutralized. because God Almighty fights for 
them. As well, the folly of Balak, 
thinking he could buy his way out of a potentially messy situation. That might work with other nations 
and their fake gods, but it's not going to work with Israel, 
who has the true and the living God. And then the sovereignty 
of God. That is just a great sort of 
blessed message from this. He opens donkey's mouths and 
seer's eyes, and he turns proposed curses into blessings for his 
people. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you that it's so 
wonderful. It's such a privilege and a joy 
to read and study. We pray that you would cause 
us to reflect upon this passage to see first and foremost your 
sovereign power and your glory and your majesty. And as well, 
we thank you for the whole Bible. We thank you for these New Testament 
passages that give us further interpretation and help as we 
navigate through Old Testament passages. We pray that you would 
help us to be consistent and faithful and good with handling 
Scripture, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Comments, 
but no questions. It's just the excitement of the 
depth of scripture. I started reading a book from 
Buchanan in his introduction. I love the quote in there, just 
parallel to nature and science. He's like, you can spend all 
your life studying the human eye, or leaves, or bugs, or stars. And to go from the less to the 
greater is much more in scripture. We're not creating new things, 
we're just exploring again. Absolutely. Right? And mining 
more out of it. That's right. I love how you 
put a faith point. Yeah, I heard a story once of a, like in the 
Anglican church, they'd chop up scripture readings for the 
Lord's Day, and there was a little boy in a church service, he hadn't 
been to church, and I think, I don't know what they call him, 
the rector, the priest, or whatever they are in the Anglican world, 
was reading the shipwreck with Paul in the book of Acts, and 
got to, you know, this real exciting And the kid basically screams 
out, well, what happened? I think that's a good response. I mean, maybe not. A breach of the regular principle 
of worship. But we've been conditioned to 
lose our shock and surprise. I mean, every time you read through 
a gospel narrative, you go, yeah, yeah, I knew that. But think 
through it. I mean, Jesus just raised somebody 
from the dead. there ought to be a thrill every 
time we think about that, or every time we hear that, or moving 
through the book of Acts. Some people, they're like, oh, 
I've read the Bible so many times. OK, are you still thrilled by 
it? Because you should be. I mean, it shouldn't become old 
hat. It should be something that does 
exhilarate and thrill us and cause us thing. It's a good thing. It's 
a very interesting thing. Remember that Matthew Henry quote, 
I think it's from Ruth, when Boaz dips the bread and hands 
it to Ruth, not in any Eucharistic fashion, but Matthew Henry makes 
the observation, God could have made food, all of it taste the 
same. He really could have. I mean, 
all we need are nutrients, right? You don't need necessarily the 
tastes and the flavors and the textures. But God is the God 
of tastes and flavors and textures. I mean, the Bible could be, you 
know, three sentences. God is holy. You're a wretch. 
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It could be that. But we got 
a book with Balaam's ass. We got a book with Balaam. We've 
got a book with a whole myriad of just exciting, wonderful things, 
and yet it's a chore or a task to encourage people to read their 
Bibles. You should just really want to 
read it. People like to read it. It's fun. It's exciting. It's delightful. So there's my 
regular pastoral read your Bible, especially in the new year here. 
All right. Have a good rest of the week.