The Lost Donkey

Most have probably heard about the proverbial donkey who was tricked into moving by having a carrot dangled just in front of its face. This well illustrates the enticements that get us to chase riches, a better job, a more prominent “name” for ourselves. But there is another issue for those who claim to know God.

Typically when a donkey owner uses the carrot it is to get the donkey to move so the owner can get to where he wants. But what would happen if the owner leaves the donkey for a moment and the animal wanders off by itself? Now the donkey is completely focused on that carrot, so it pays no attention to where it is going. After a while, it grows tired. It still hasn’t gotten the carrot and now it is completely lost. This aptly pictures the man who, after chasing whatever captured his interest, may find he never really reached the state of satisfaction that he wanted and now is spiritually lost.

There is nothing wrong with having money, “climbing the ladder,” or having fame. But as the Bible warns us, “know that the true God will bring you into judgment for all these things.” (Ecc.11:9) One feature of that judgment was how much we paid attention to our relationship with God. Did God take a “back seat” to our pursuits such as in the case of Jesus’ illustration linked earlier from Luke 12?

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Talking Animals -- Believable?

I came across someone the other day who claimed that talking snakes and donkeys in the Bible proves how absurd it is to believe in the Bible. That person is not alone. Unfortunately for all those that feel that way, they are sadly mistaken and/or misinformed.

Indeed, the book of Genesis does mention that a snake did talk to Eve. But it was because it was being manipulated as a ventriloquist does a dummy. Who was the ventriloquist in this instance? Revelation 12:9 reveals that is is/was Satan the devil. What about the instance of the talking donkey? Numbers 22:26-31 reveals that Jehovah (or an angelic representative) was the ventriloquist in this instance.So in both instances, the animals were being controlled by intelligence unseen to the human eye.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, let's consider WHY these events happened and are recorded. In neither account was the point that animals can talk.

In the Eden account, the context tells the reader that God had set up an extremely simple means for humankind to prove their loyalty to God. It was as simple as a parent putting the cookie jar in easy reach of their child and then telling the child “do not touch this.” How much does the child love, respect and obey their parent? That is the test. In the case of the parent, eventually they will reward their child with a cookie. In the case of Adam and Eve, would God after some undisclosed time see their faithfulness and finally remove the restriction? We’ll never know because they went for the “cookie jar” (the forbidden fruit) very quickly. Satan implied that God was unfair and restrictive. Eve bought that idea hook, line and sinker. Why Satan chose a snake and not some other creature isn’t revealed and isn’t important. No matter what creature he chose, the same conversation would have played out. The important part of the account is that Jehovah God revealed to mankind why sin and imperfection are part of our lives no matter how hard we try to do what is right. The account, along with other scriptures, also reveals God’s means of fixing the situation.

But what of the case of the talking donkey? The context of the passage (linked above) shows that Balaam, enticed by riches, was on his way to utter a curse against the nation of Israel. His rewarder, Balak, was a ruler in opposition to Israel and wanted their demise. Balak believed that just Balaam’s spoke words had the power to destroy Israel. So once again, obedience to God and respect for his ways was being put to the test. Once again, the unseen spirit realm became involved in dramatically illustrating how God feels about obedience. The donkey was used because of the situation. It could have been a horse, it could have been a camel (other animals commonly mentioned in scripture as human carriers), it could have been any animal. Balaam was riding a donkey, hence God used the circumstances.

As a sideline: While researching this topic, I came across a web article claiming that God has a special hatred for snakes. That idea is so utterly absurd, I wasn’t even going to mention it. But then it occurred to me that even in Genesis we learn that ALL God’s creation was viewed as good. Obviously, this would include all animals, even snakes.