HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 514
N U MBERS 2 3
place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all.
27 This time when the donkey saw the angel, it
lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam
beat the animal again with his staff.
28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to
speak. “What have I done to you that deserves
your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.
29 “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me,
I would kill you!”
30 “But I am the same donkey you have ridden
all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever
done anything like this before?”
“No,” Balaam admitted.
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and
he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the
roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the
ground before him.
32 “Why did you beat your donkey those three
times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look,
I have come to block your way because you are
stubbornly resisting me. 33 Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would
certainly have killed you by now and spared the
donkey.”
34 Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the
Lord, “I have sinned. I didn’t realize you were
standing in the road to block my way. I will return home if you are against my going.”
35 But the angel of the Lord told Balaam, “Go
with these men, but say only what I tell you to
say.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials.
36 When King Balak heard that Balaam was on
the way, he went out to meet him at a Moabite
town on the Arnon River at the farthest border
of his land.
37 “Didn’t I send you an urgent invitation?
Why didn’t you come right away?” Balak asked
Balaam. “Didn’t you believe me when I said I
would reward you richly?”
• Anger
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38 Balaam replied, “Look, now I have come,
but I have no power to say whatever I want.
I will speak only the message that God puts
in my mouth.” 39 Then Balaam accompanied
Balak to Kiriath-huzoth, 40 where the king sacrificed cattle and sheep. He sent portions of
the meat to Balaam and the officials who were
with him. 41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could
see some of the people of Israel spread out
below him.
Balaam Blesses Israel
Then Balaam said to King Balak, “Build
me seven altars here, and prepare seven
young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.”
2 Balak followed his instructions, and the two
of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on
each altar.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by
your burnt offerings, and I will go to see if the
Lord will respond to me. Then I will tell you
whatever he reveals to me.” So Balaam went
alone to the top of a bare hill, 4 and God met
him there. Balaam said to him, “I have prepared
seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull
and a ram on each altar.”
5 The Lord gave Balaam a message for King
Balak. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give
him my message.”
6 So Balaam returned and found the king
standing beside his burnt offerings with all the
officials of Moab. 7 This was the message Balaam delivered:
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NU MB E R S 2 2 :2 9
Even in Bible times, donkeys were
stubborn creatures! Balaam’s anger
immediately flared up against the donkey.
Notice that Balaam automatically assumed
he was right. It was all the donkey’s fault.
Fortunately for Balaam, he realized the
donkey saved his life. The next time your
pride is hurt and you feel anger rising up
within you, don’t assume you are right.
Instead of trying to justify your actions,
see whether you can justify your motives.
This will tell you if your anger is warranted.
10
“Balak summoned me to come from
Aram;
the king of Moab brought me from
the eastern hills.
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me!
Come and announce Israel’s doom.’
But how can I curse those
whom God has not cursed?
How can I condemn those
whom the Lord has not condemned?
I see them from the cliff tops;
I watch them from the hills.
I see a people who live by themselves,
set apart from other nations.
Who can count Jacob’s descendants,
as numerous as dust?
Who can count even a fourth of
Israel’s people?
Let me die like the righteous;
let my life end like theirs.”
11 Then King Balak demanded of Balaam,
“What have you done to me? I brought you to
curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed
them!”
12 But Balaam replied, “I will speak only the
message that the Lord puts in my mouth.”