Many years ago in a land far away, the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians. For 400 years Pharaoh brutalized the Israelites and forced them to make bricks and build the great storehouses of Egypt. When Moses came along, a new hope dawned. They wondered if he would be the chosen one who would deliver them from slavery. But after he murdered an Egyptian, he was forced into exile in the Midian desert for 40 years, and the people continued to suffer.

After Moses received special training with his shepherd’s staff, he returned to Egypt, confronted Pharaoh, and set the Israelites free. Moses led them through the Red Sea, gave them God’s Law at Mount Sinai, and led their march to the Promised Land. But the Israelites continued to complain against Moses and God, so they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

At the end of this 40 years, they headed north toward the Promised Land. They had to travel through the territory that was inhabited by the Amorites. Moses politely asked King Sihon for passage through his land, but he refused and advanced his army against the Israelites. Under the leadership of Joshua, the Israelites made quick work of the Amorites and took over their land.

After this, the Israelites continued toward Bashan, a fertile territory famous for its oak trees and cattle. Like King Sihon, King Og of Bashan sent his army against the Israelites and they encountered the same fate. From there, the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan River across from the city of Jericho.

Now that the stage is set for today’s story, let me introduce you to our cast of characters!

Balak: King of Moab (1-4)

Introducing first, Balak! Other than being the son of Zippor and the King of Moab, we don’t know much about him. The Moabites were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot. They settled the land on the east side of the Jordan River and worshipped many pagan gods, but their chief god was Chemosh, to who on occasion they would even present human sacrifices.

Balak was terrified by the Israelites! He knew that a people of this size (some estimate over 2 million people) would consume his pasturelands. He compared the horde of Israelites to an ox that licks up the grass of the field. He had also heard about what the Israelites did to the Amorites and the people of Bashon. The thought of them being camped at his back door made him sick to his stomach.

Balak was smart! He knew that the Israelites were too numerous and too strong to attack with militarily, so he decided to attack them spiritually. He gathered a group of Moabite and Midianite elders, gave them with a large sum of money, and commanded them to travel 400 miles to the banks of the Euphrates River and summon the services of a great soothsayer.

Balaam: The Soothsayer of Pethor (5-20)

This leads us to the next character in our story: Balamm, son of Beor, a soothsayer and sorcerer of international renown. People probably called him the “The Powerful Prophet of Pethor”, the “The Marvelous Medium of Mesopotamia”, or “The Diabolical Diviner from Down Under!” He practiced all sorts of divination and magic arts, including the observation of natural phenomenon to determine the will of the gods, the interpretation of visions, dreams, and animal behavior, and most famously, the ability to pronounce blessings and curses that came to pass.

When the elders of Moab and Midian arrived at Pethor, they gave Balaam the letter from Balak requesting his services to put a curse on this people who had come up from the land of Egypt. Balak believed that Balaam’s powerful curses would allow him to conquer the Israelites. He knew that a spiritual attack would give him a better chance than a physical advance.

Balaam was intrigued by this request, but he was even more intrigued by the large money bags in the hands of the elders (Balaam was greedy and usually contracted his services to the highest bidder). But before he jumped in head first, he wanted to test the spiritual waters. He invited the elders to stay the night while he sought the will of God.

As a diviner, he was used to speaking to the gods. He believed that the God of the Israelites was just like any other deity that he could manipulate. But God gave him a clear message to stay away from Moab. So, he refused to go with the elders.

When the elders reported this to Balak, he got more distinguished representatives and an even greater sum of money to entice Balaam. On the surface, Balaam still refused Balak’s offer, saying that no sum of money could get him to go against the command of the Lord, but when he woke up the next morning, he told the representatives that God gave him permission to go. I think the best way to understand verse 20 is that Balaam was lying. I think he saw an opportunity to manipulate God and Balak at the same time. So, he decided to go to Moab!

Balaam’s Unnamed Donkey (21-30)

That brings us to the third and most surprising character of our story: Balaam’s donkey. Apparently Balaam had owned this donkey for a long time and she had become his trusty companion on countless journeys. The next morning he saddled his donkey and headed west.

The Lord was angry with Balaam for going to Moab. So, he placed his angel in the middle of the road with sword in hand to oppose him. Balaam was blind to the angel, but the donkey saw it very clearly and veered off the road and into a field. Balaam began to beat her.

As they continued along, they came to a narrow path with vineyards and rock walls on both sides of the road. The donkey saw the angel again and pressed up close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against the rock. He was so angry with her that he began to beat her again.

Then the angel stood on a narrow pass and there was no place to turn around. This time, the donkey just lay down in the middle of the road and refused to go any further. Balaam was so furious with her this time that he beat her with his staff.

Please do not miss the divine irony in this scene! Donkeys were famous for their stupidity, yet this foolish beast saw the angel standing on the road. Balaam was a famous soothsayer who was internationally known for his insight into spiritual matters, and yet, he did not see the spiritual reality of the living God standing before him. Moreover, Balaam was an expert at interpreting the behavior of animals, but he couldn’t figure out why his dumb donkey wasn’t cooperating.

Well, that brings us to the best part of the story. Notice what it says in verse 28, “The Lord opened the donkey’s mouth.” God performed a miracle and enabled the animal to speak in a clear intelligible language. What did the donkey say? She said, “Balaam, raise your staff again, and I’ll beat your …” Just kidding! He said, “Hit me again and I’ll call PETA.” No, the donkey simply asked Balaam why he beat her three times and pointed out the fact that she had always been faithful to him. He was humiliated by the whole event.

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel standing there with his sword drawn, and his humiliation turned into humility. He bowed low and fell facedown, confessed his sin, and showed a willingness to turn back. But the angel told him to go on with the princes of Moab, but he warned him to only speak what the Lord told him to speak.

Yahweh: The Lord God of Israel (31-41)

Even though we have already encountered the fourth character in the story, allow me to introduce you to him anyway. He is Yahweh, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the Sovereign Living Lord God of Israel. He is the one who orchestrated all of these events to display his power over all other powers and to show his faithfulness to his people by blessing them and leading them into the Promised Land.

I don’t have time to give you a detailed account of Numbers 23-24, but let me summarize how God ironically used this wicked warlock to accomplish his purposes. When Balaam finally got to Moab, Balak took him up onto a series of mountaintops where he could see the Israelite encampments and told him to pronounce curses on his enemies. But every time Balaam spoke, God put his message in his mouth and he blessed the Israelites instead of cursing them.

The high point of Balaam’s blessings came in Numbers 24:17 when God actually used this manipulative magician to utter a messianic prophecy: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” This messiah will conquer all the enemies of God’s people in the last days.

After God turned the tables on Balak and used the sorcerer Balaam to pronounce blessings instead of curses upon his people, Balaam showed the true nature of his character by giving Balak some evil advice. He told him that even if he couldn’t overcome the Israelites through military might or diabolical divination, there was still another way: sexual seduction. He told Balak to send the prettiest girls of Moab to the Israelite camp to seduce the men into committing sexual immorality and idolatry.

The best way to break the blessing God’s people was to get them to commit idolatry. It is the old strategy: If you can’t beat them, try to make them beat themselves. God eventually held Balaam responsible for his sin. In Numbers 31:8, we learn that the Israelites killed Balaam in during the Midianite raid.

Well, now that you have heard the tale of Balaam and the talking donkey, I would like to highlight a few lessons that we can take away from the story.

1.) The Temptation toward Witchcraft

Like Balak, when many people (including Christians) get in a bind today, they are tempted to turn to witchcraft. I’m not just talking about overt forms of witchcraft like Satanism, Wicca, and Voodoo; I am talking about all forms like black magic, psychic healing, mediums, fortune telling, séances, Reiki, dowsing, Ouija boards, ghost hunting, and some forms of yoga.

Some of us ask the question “Does anyone really participate in these things?” Others ask, “Are these things really dangerous?” The answer is a resounding “Yes” to both questions. These practices can open people up to real demonic forces.

Many people get involved in these things out of mere curiosity. Others get involved to solve some problem in their life. They may seem outrageous to you now, but if you have a disease that the doctors can’t diagnose or you have a missing child, is easy to be tempted. If you ever find yourself tempted toward any form of witchcraft, run the other way!

2.) God’s Sovereignty

In this story, God shows his sovereignty over the physical and spiritual world. He shows his power over the physical word by causing a dumb donkey to speak a human language. He shows his power over the spiritual world by allowing the donkey to see the angel and causing Balaam to bless the Israelites.

God foiled Balak and Balaam’s attempts toward evil and used them for good. God protected the Israelites from a threat that they didn’t even know about. He does the same thing for us all the time. He protects us from harms we can’t see and he even uses evil to advance his purposes and accomplish his plans in our lives!

Also, just as God used this dumb donkey to humiliate powerful prophet, he is still in the business of using the foolish things of the world to humble the wise. He still uses the weak things to baffle the strong. So, just in case you think you have occasion to act proud or strong or independent, be careful! God just might make a donkey out of you!

3.) God’s Faithfulness

Finally, this story shows us how God was faithful to his people. He made a covenant with Abraham that he would multiply his people and give them the Promised Land. God was now making good on his promise in spite of this threat from Balak and Balaam.

God still keeps his promises today. Indeed, Jesus will return one day and defeat all of the enemies of God’s people once and for all. So, let’s thank God for his faithfulness to us by being faithful to him!