Balaam's Donkey
By John Hendrix
Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned 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 lay 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?" (Numbers 22:23-30)
Balaam's donkey might not have understood his master's behavior, but we see it enough to understand it all too well. Balaam was angry for two reasons: 1) he had made up his mind to do wrong; 2) he could not see the danger. He was ready to kill the donkey while the donkey was trying to save them both. He took no time to reconsider his actions; he simply lashed out at the donkey for the donkey's actions.
The fool hates correction (Proverbs 12:1) because he cannot see the danger, and he wants to continue on his foolish path. The source of the correction does not matter because the fool does not want to see the danger.
Just so, Balaam did not pause to consider why his usually faithful donkey was behaving so skittish; he just angrily beat the donkey and tried to continue on his way. He abused his donkey believing that the donkey was abusing him. Balaam's anger was so great that he did not even remember that donkeys do not talk.
How do you react when someone tells you that you are in sin (surely the gravest of dangers)?
Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? (Galatians 4:16)
Like Balaam, most people respond with anger. Pride makes it hard for them to believe that they are wrong. No one seems qualified to criticize their actions. And most people find it irritating to have to stop and think.
It must have been hard for Balaam to take criticism from his donkey, or to believe that his donkey knew what was best for the both of them. We often think that way too. But, someone does not have to be more intelligent or older than you to help you, or point out some danger to you. Unfortunately, most of us, when corrected, first think we are being abused. Then we tend to think about the "qualifications" (or lack thereof) of the one who is correcting us. We would do better to first think about the potential danger. If but a little child shouts, "watch out for the car!" we would be smarter to look for a car than stand around debating the child's ability to understand such dangers.
Of course, Balaam's donkey had "earned" the patience of his master. Balaam should have realized that this donkey was not prone to irritating behavior. This is a lesson for those of us who try to warn people about sin. Only if our words are few, if we show ourselves faithful, if other people see that we are not prone to act irrationally or spitefully-only then should we expect people to listen to our warnings. They still may not listen, but we will have done our duty.
The old word for donkey (like what appears in the King James Version), when applied to a human, meant that the person was being thick-headed, foolish or stupid. Only relatively recently has the word become so offensive, losing most of its original gist. Balaam was being the donkey: too thick-headed to see his danger.
We can learn a lot from donkeys. Balaam and his donkey show us how to give and receive correction. Criticize fairly and constructively having demonstrated your own faithfulness. Accept criticism and try to learn from it, no matter its source. These are marks of a wise man.