If you tell someone that there is a story about a talking donkey in the Bible they might look at you crazy. But then again the bible is full of miraculous and crazy events that a talking donkey is the least of their worries. The story of the talking donkey is mentioned in the book of Numbers 22:21-39 where we see God miraculously causing the prophet Balaam’s donkey to start speaking.
The background of the story is that the prophet Balaam was a greedy prophet who wanted to curse the Israelites on behalf of the Moab king Balak who hated the Jews. Balaam was not a Jewish prophet but he was known to prophesize things from God that came true. He might have gotten his revelations from God but his intentions were not always right. He was filled with greed and wanted to use his prophetic powers to gain money and materialistic things.
When Balak the Moab king offered him money to curse the Israelites He said that God did not want him to go to curse the jews. Balaam was secretly tempted by the money that Balak had offered him to condemn the Jews. God knew what was truly in Balaam’s heart. God told Balaam that He can go but only say what God wants him to say.
Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the Moabite officials. But God was very angry with him when he found out what he really wanted to do, which was to curse the jews. . God sent an angel who stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road. This happened three times until the donkey fell down and the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”
Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. Balaam realized that he had sinned against God and went back to the king and told him that he can only say what God wants him to say. The story goes on to say that every time Balaam tried to curse the Jews he ended up blessing them instead.
The moral of this story is that God will do anything to make sure that you do not go against his plan including making a donkey talk. Balaam was filled with so much greed in his heart that he did not even realize that his donkey was actually talking to him. Many of us have gifts that are given to us by God but if we choose to use those gifts to oppose God and use them for our own greed and selfish ambition then sooner or later God will get in our way. He will make a donkey talk to get your attention. We are all tempted by greed and the things of this world but if we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ we will know to walk in his ways. Hebrews 12:2 says “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author, and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”