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?” And he said, “No.” Numbers 22: 28-30, NKJV.
Dear God, please convince us that sin is unnatural in the realm of spiritual things, and help us to shun it, This we pray, in the precious name of Jesus!
You will notice that as I prayed to begin our study. I described sin as unnatural. I consider it as such, because it was never part of God’s original plan. The fact that the Godhead took the precautions, just in case,human beings sinned, is not an indication that it was “to be.” Foresight, is not an indication, of a fore-plan. I consider sin as unnatural, because of the bizarre behavior it promotes in human beings, and because of the chaos and disruption in harmony that it caused both in heaven as well as on earth (Revelation 12: 13-17). For that reason the author of sin had to be expelled from heaven (8, 9), so that God’s will could continue to prevail!
We are going to continue analyzing the downward spiralling of Balaam, “once upon a time” prophet of God, now turned, “curse-pronouncing magician,” as Scene No. 5, continues. When Balaam’s donkey steps out of the way of the “Angel of the LORD,” Balaam beats her to get her back “in the way.” When the poor animal, once again, moves further out of the way, to avoid walking into the Angel, Balaam’s foot gets scraped against the wall, and he beats his poor animal mercilessly! His madness is manifesting itself in the form of violence. His anger is pathological. He has become irrational. He is not thinking straight, it is an undiagnosed case of madness. But God will not let this poor creature suffer at the hand of the mad prophet. When God decides that it is enough, He will stop Balaam in a most unusual manner.
“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?” ‘ And he said, ‘ “No” ‘ ” (Numbers 22: 25-30). In his madness he would have killed his donkey.
He is so beside himself with rage, that he is arguing with a donkey! The donkey starts the conversation, and Balaam, void of all reasoning power, as a result of his great anger, answers! How angry can one become that he or she is unaware that something abnormal is taking place? Is it any wonder that when a person gets angry, we ask him or her, “Why are you mad? That state of unreality is definitely a sign of madness! God was trying to get Balaam to react, but to no avail! This man is telling his donkey that she has abused him! Who is in charge? The donkey, or the prophet? The next question was for him to stop and think about what was happening, “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?”
“Am I not your donkey . . .?” Balaam did you hear that? She is your donkey! Not even that initial statement is enough to make the prophet react. He had obviously gone too far. Out of his mouth comes a forced confession: “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.” That is what he said with his mouth, but his actions will show the contrary, “So Balaam went with the princes of Balak” (35c). He followed his heart. He went where his treasure was (Matthew 6: 21). He held on to Mammon, and in his madness, despised the LORD (24)! What a sad story! In his prophesy he desired to die the “death of the righteous” (22: 10). But he lived his life in unrighteousness, and died like the ungodly (Joshua 13: 22). To the very end, his interests were divided. Sin had made him mad!
My friends, let us “Beware! Sin will not only make you mad, it will eventually kill you (Romans 6: 23a)!