Balaam’s Talking Donkey

by Michael Ray Baggett

Have you ever watched the movie Francis the Talking Mule? Have you ever watched the old TV classic Mr. Ed about a talking horse? These were entertaining shows, even though they were unrealistic. But hold on! The Bible tells us about a prophet whose donkey really did talk to him.

Do you remember Balaam? Balaam is mentioned in 63 verses in the Bible. According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, his name means “Devourer.” This is the exact purpose King Balak, king of the Moabites, intended to use Balaam to pronounce a curse on the Israelites camped in the plains of Moab.

King Balak and the Moabites were terrified of the Israelites because they were numerous and had already defeated two powerful kings, taking their lands (Numbers 22:2-4). King Balak sent messengers to Balaam with divination fees to hire Balaam to curse the Israelites so that Moab could drive them out of the land (Numbers 22:5-8). The messengers spent the night while Balaam sought an answer from the LORD (Numbers 22:10). God’s reply to Balaam is clear:

“And God said to Balaam, ‘You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed’” (Numbers 22:12).

Now, what is so hard to understand about God’s answer? Balaam, then, tells the people to go back to their land because the LORD refuses to curse Israel and to let him go with them (Numbers 22:13). When the officials of Moab report to King Balak, he does not hesitate to send officials higher in rank to speak to Balaam. The message to Balaam from King Balak is: “Let nothing keep you from coming to me, for I will greatly honor you and do whatever you ask me. So please come and put a curse on these people for me” (Numbers 22:14-17 CSB).

But Balaam refused to go with them. Balaam told them, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the command of the LORD my God...” (Numbers 22:18).

Balaam sounds like a God-fearing man, right? Not so fast! Balaam does not end his reply with “I could not go against the command of the LORD my God,” but tells them: “Please stay here overnight as the others did, so that I may find out what else the LORD has to tell me” (Numbers 22:19).

What else could the LORD have to tell Balaam? King Balak's message is the same: to come and curse Israel. It's the same situation, right? Not exactly. Now the stakes have been raised, and Balak has Balaam’s attention! Balaam can be greatly honored and ask for whatever amount of money he desires! (Numbers 22:17). Balaam hopes for another answer from God. Well, God is not going to let him have his way- to a point. This time, God tells Balaam to go with them, “But you must only do what I tell you” (Numbers 22:20). So, Balaam saddles his donkey and goes with the officials of Moab.

Balaam and His Donkey Numbers 22:21-33

God grows very angry, incensed that Balaam is going! The angel of the LORD is sent to stand in his path. When the donkey sees the angel with his sword ready to swing, the donkey turns off the path and goes into a field. Balaam hits the donkey to redirect her to the path. The angel then stands in a narrow passage between the vineyards and a stone wall on either side. The donkey sees the angel and presses herself against the wall, which also presses Balaam’s foot against the stone wall! So, he hits her again. The angel goes ahead to a place where the donkey cannot turn right or left. When the donkey finds herself in this dilemma, she sits down under Balaam. Balaam is furious and beats the donkey with his stick to get up! (Numbers 22:22-27).

At that moment, the LORD opens the donkey’s mouth, and she says to Balaam, “...What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?" (Numbers 22:28).

Balaam answers the donkey: “You made me look like a fool. If I had a sword in my hand, I’d kill you now!” (Numbers 22:29).

“But the donkey replies, ‘Am I not the donkey you’ve ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before?’” (Numbers 22:30).

Suddenly, the LORD opens Balaam’s eyes, and now he can see what the donkey has been seeing all along the path. Standing in the way is an angel of the LORD with a killing sword in his hand! Balaam bows low to the ground on his face. The angel of the LORD explains to Balaam that he would have killed him had the donkey not turned away these three times (Numbers 22:31-33). Balaam finds himself eating crow- as a manner of speaking.

Why did the LORD desire to kill Balaam? Balaam’s mouth had spoken one thing, but his heart was going in another direction! We must look at other passages that reveal Balaam’s heart to understand what was going on. The New Testament uses Balaam as a negative example for those who love the gain of wealth through greed (II Peter 2:15; Jude 11). So, we gather that Balaam is pretending to honor God’s word but goes with the men to meet King Balak with greed in his heart!

God knows our hearts. Do we say, “I will do only what the LORD commands me,” but our hearts are far from him? (Matthew 15:1-9). The heart is said to be deceitful above all things. The question is even raised, “Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9). Do you know your heart?

Did Balaam learn his lesson about greed when his donkey talked to him? Lord willing, in the next lesson, we will see an even worse thing Balaam does, being driven by his greed.