Talking to an Ass, a Lesson Learned From a Gentile Prophet

This weeks portion of scripture is called Balak and it is Numbers 22:2-25:9.  Although I won't go over the entire portion, I will share a very interesting truth.  That truth is this:  Even if The Almighty has to use a donkey to get His word across, He will.  This statement is made under the context of this portion of scripture.  Balak (not to be confused with Balaam) has sent for a gentile prophet named Balaam.  Gentile prophets, especially within jewish eyes, are not the best people.  The sages tell tale of G-D giving Divine Inspiration to "the nations" (the gentile nations) to steer away from them saying things like, "well if G-D would have given us prophesy, we would have repented too! na na na, whine whine whine (that last part was added by yours truly)".  So in order to silence all doubt in the matter of His Grace, The Lord raised up prophets from the gentiles as well as the chosen people.  These prophets of the nations, as the scholars tell it, started out upright and good, but soon fell from their righteous state only to soothsay and whore after other mystical practices.

However, we find here that Balaam, a prideful, gentile prophet, goes to meet with Balaak so that Balaak might try to get the prophet to curse Israel, so that he could overtake them.  On his way there, however, Balaam's donkey sees the Angel of The Lord and turns every which way out of fear to get away from Him.  Balaam, angered by his animal's behaviour, begins to beat the donkey and the Word says that The Lord, "opened up the mouth of the donkey" and the donkey basically said, "fool what are you hitting me for?!!  You've been riding me all your life, have I ever acted this way?!  NO!  Trust me, I know what I'm doing".  At that moment Balaam's eyes were opened and He saw the Angel of The Lord.  The Angel tells Balaam that he can go to meet Balak, but he should only say what The Almighty tells him to say.  Balaam does so, and it angers Balak, for he wanted Balaam to curse Israel, and instead, he blessed it.

This story shows us that Balaam, who as a gentile prophet was no better viewed in the eyes of the chosen people as a donkey, was capable of prophesying the Word of The Lord sufficiently.  Even if G-D has to open up the mouth of a donkey to speak, which in this case He did... twice (once with the actual donkey, and once with Balaam), He will.  Just as Jesus said, "the rocks would cry out" if His followers were unable to cry Hosanna in the Highest.  G-D's Will is done.  He will use whatever means He chooses, but it will never ever, ever be contradictory to what He has previously stated.  To do so would be to make Him a liar, which He is not.  There in lies the perfection and the beauty of our Creator.  It is in the fact that He can do miraculous, supernatural things, all within the realm of His own Word, and never outside it for He IS His Word.

Amen.