Scripture Daily

Context No. 2518 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 22:26-30: in context

26The LORD’s angel went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27The donkey saw the LORD’s angel, and she lay down under Balaam. Balaam’s anger burned, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28The 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?” 29Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.” 30The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?” He said, “No.”

Balaam, the famous seer hired to curse Israel, is riding to his work when his donkey stops, three times, because she sees the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword. Balaam sees nothing. Enraged, he beats her. Then the LORD opens the donkey's mouth, and she asks, what have I done that you have struck me three times? Balaam, absurdly, argues back, until at last his own eyes are opened to the angel that has been there all along.

The irony is sharp. The renowned prophet, the man paid for his vision, is blinder than the animal under him. The donkey sees the danger and saves his life, and he beats her for it in his fury. Two things sit here worth taking to heart. Rage makes us lash out at the very thing that is protecting us, and pride can make the supposedly wise blind to what a humbler creature plainly sees. Balaam is sure he sees clearly and is the last to notice the sword in the road.

Whom am I striking out at in frustration who may actually be shielding me, and where am I sure I see clearly while blind to what is right in front of me?

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