And the ass said to Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine to this day? was I ever wont to do so to thee? And he said, No.
Balaam is riding to curse Israel for money. He has just beaten his donkey three times for stopping in the road. Now the donkey speaks. It points to a lifetime of faithful service and asks its master one question about his own conduct — and he answers with a single honest word.
The donkey asks its owner to think back over years of ordinary service. Balaam has to admit that nothing like this had ever happened before. One writer walks through what follows:
The donkey asked whether it had ever been in the habit of acting like this. The prophet admitted it had not. Then God opened Balaam's eyes to see the angel with the drawn sword in his hand. At the terrifying sight he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. The angel then told Balaam that he owed his life to the donkey three times. Balaam admitted that he had sinned, and said he was ready to go back (vv. 30-34).
Balaam's own "No" convicts him: there was no cause for the beating. Another writer weighs how a man should treat his animals:
A righteous man cares about the welfare of his animals. Even the kindness of wicked men, by comparison, is cruelty. Balaam proved this when he lost his temper with his donkey after the donkey submitted to the angel of the Lord. The Lord reproved Balaam for the cruelty of whipping his donkey (Numbers 22:24-33).
The donkey's question is reasonable; the man's rage is not. The animal saw what the prophet could not:
The donkey saw the Angel and turned aside from the threatening sword. What a thing, that the beast should have more perception than a man made in the image of God! "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isaiah 1:3). That was the Lord's complaint about His own people. They were morally dull, though He had been kinder to them than to anyone else. The very cattle could put them to shame!
The choice was deliberate. God picked the messenger that would humble this prophet most:
I grant you it is not a usual thing for God to make a dumb donkey speak; but were these circumstances usual? Was there not something deeply humiliating in having such an animal rebuke the guilty prophet? But this very fact was most significant. A donkey rebuked a man who did not lack natural intelligence. He soon became the vessel of the most beautiful declarations on God's part. Yet first the animal he rode warned him of his folly and sin.
Balaam answers the donkey as if talking with a donkey were normal — no wonder, no fear. One writer traces that calm to his greed:
Balaam was so carried away by his greed that this miracle did not terrify him. He replied just as if he had been speaking to a man. God did not change the nature of the donkey into that of a rational being. He simply made it say whatever He pleased, to restrain Balaam's madness.
Yet the strange method was itself mercy. Ordinary appeals had stopped reaching this man:
The strangeness of it was all the more likely to work on a heart hardened to ordinary appeals. It humbled him by making him realise how far he had sunk below the animal — the very animal whose actions his divinations claimed the power to interpret. And the mercy of God broke through the natural boundary lines to convict and save him. In breaking them, it should have broken down every barrier of sin and unbelief in him as well. … the infinite pity of God could not use even a man like this as a mere machine to carry out His purposes. He had to labour after his soul.
A man can be shaken without being changed. Balaam admitted the facts, saw the angel, confessed his sin — and went on:
Greed and his dealings with demons had blinded the eyes of Balaam's heart. Now we see that the eyes of his head were as blind as the eyes of his heart. At last the eyes of his head opened, and he saw the angel just as his donkey had. But the veil over the eyes of his heart remained.
- Blindness — the prophet could not see what his animal saw. The beast had more perception than a man made in God's image.
- Cruelty — Balaam's own "No" admitted the beating had no cause. The Lord reproved him for it.
- Rebuke — God chose the most humbling messenger possible. The creature he rode warned him of his folly.
- Mercy — the miracle broke through the normal order to convict and save him. God would not use him as a mere machine; He laboured after his soul.
- Hardness — his eyes opened and he saw the angel. But the veil over his heart stayed, and he went on.
Then Jehovah opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the Angel of Jehovah standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed and prostrated himself on his face.
Balaam is riding to Moab, hired to curse Israel, and three times his donkey has seen the angel of the LORD blocking the road with a drawn sword. Verse 31 is where God opens the prophet's own eyes — so why did he need that, and why did the sight change his posture and not his path?
The donkey needed no miracle to see the danger; the man riding it did.
Finally the Lord opened Balaam's eyes so that he saw the Angel standing in the way with a drawn sword in His hand (v. 31). In shocked terror Balaam fell on his face. The Angel then rebuked Balaam for the bad temper he showed in striking his donkey. He told him that if the donkey had not turned aside, He would have killed Balaam and spared the donkey (vv. 32-33). What a lesson this is, that an unbeliever is more ignorant of God than a beast!
The figure blocking the way is no ordinary messenger.
A heavenly being stood in the way with a drawn sword in His hand. He is called "the angel of Jehovah." This was no mere servant. It is the same messenger who appeared to Manoah's wife in Judges 13 and said His name was "Wonderful." He spoke with divine authority to her and to Balaam. To Balaam He said: "Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me… Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you." The speaker was none other than the One we know as the Lord Jesus Christ.
A drawn sword across the road is not a subtle message. Yet Balaam missed it, and a sword ends his story.
The angel that confronted him held a drawn sword in his hand. You would think its meaning could hardly be missed, especially as the sword blocked his way. Yet Balaam was blind to it, and he went forward to his doom, as the end proved. He never returned to his native land. The wealth and honour, if he ever got them, he never lived to enjoy. He fell by the sword. It was not the sword of the angel, who barred his way to Moab at the start. It was the sword of the very people he tried to curse against the purpose of God, as recorded in Numbers 31:8.
His failure to see was itself a symptom, and the warning in it reaches past him.
This was not in itself a sin. It was the consequence of sin, and it showed the moral blindness that sin always produces. In an unbeliever it is fatal. But take a believer who follows the impulse of his own will, even in the smallest degree. How can he discern the mind of the Lord? The blind unbeliever rushes onto the sword of the Lord and is destroyed. God preserves the believer despite himself. But when his eyes are opened, he finds that the Lord has been standing against him… Covetousness was the human element of this man's opposition to God. It was the screen through which he found himself rushing to destruction.
He falls flat, says he has sinned, and offers to go home. The wording of that offer gives him away.
Balaam saw that the powers of evil and his own cunning were no match for God. So this wilful man offers to return, confessing that he has sinned. But it is clear that the desire of his heart is still the same. He does not say he will go back because he has sinned. He says, "if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back". Why does he say "if"? Was it not perfectly clear that his going displeased God? Yet there was the lingering desire in his heart to go on in order to get the coveted reward.
Seeing something is not the same as being changed by it, and that danger reaches past Balaam to us.
Is it not possible for us to "see" in an intellectual way? Is it not possible to speak of the precious things of God without our own hearts being moved by them? As we read God's Word and come to understand it, let us exercise our hearts and consciences. Then the truth gets a firm hold of us and shapes our lives. "The eyes of your heart being enlightened" is the true rendering of Ephesians 1:18.
- Blind — Balaam's blindness was moral, not physical; commentators name covetousness as the screen he was rushing through.
- Opened — Balaam saw only because the LORD gave him sight, and what he saw was the Lord standing against him.
- Warned — The drawn sword blocked his road as a plain warning; he read no meaning in it, and by Numbers 31:8 he died by a sword.
- Bowed — Falling on his face and saying "I have sinned" is not repentance when the offer to turn back still hangs on an "if".
- Unchanged — Balaam's legacy is opened eyes with an untouched heart; our need is that the eyes of the heart be enlightened.
And the Angel of Jehovah said to him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, it was I who came forth to withstand thee, for the way [thou walkest in] is for ruin before me.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times; had she not turned from me, I had now certainly slain thee, and saved her alive.
Balaam, a prophet hired to curse Israel, is riding toward Moab, and three times he has beaten his donkey for swerving off the road. Now God opens his eyes: the animal he wanted to kill was the only thing keeping him alive.
The figure in the road is no ordinary messenger. One commentator names Him, and quotes what He said to Balaam:
A heavenly being stood in the way with a drawn sword in His hand. Scripture calls Him "the angel of the LORD." This was no mere servant. It is the same messenger who appeared to the wife of Manoah in Judges 13 and who said His name was "Wonderful." Both to her and to Balaam He spoke with divine authority. To Balaam He said: "I have come out to oppose you, because your way is perverse before Me… Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you." The speaker was none other than He whom we know as the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Angel called Balaam's way perverse. What Balaam was riding to do explains God's anger:
So we picture the prophet setting out from Mesopotamia for Moab, with Balak's silver and gold filling his soul's vision. He had no pity at all for the devastation and sorrow he was going to try to bring on a people who had done nothing to him. He did it all for his reward. The people of Israel had done him no wrong, yet he was willing to blast a whole nation — men, women, and children. Nothing more horrible could well be imagined. No wonder we read that "God's anger was kindled because he went" (Num. 22:22).
Balaam was rushing toward that sword and could not see it. One writer shows where such blindness ends:
The blind unbeliever rushes onto the sword of the Lord and is destroyed. The believer is preserved despite himself. But when his eyes are opened, he finds that the Lord has been standing against him. We may take warning even from a wicked Balaam. Satan often turns the tendencies of our own hearts into a thick veil. Then we fail to see the Lord's mind.
Three times the donkey saw what the prophet could not. One writer explains why God let Balaam ride on at all, and what the animal exposed:
God intended him to go, so that he might pronounce a blessing on His people instead of a curse. Morally, for Balaam himself, going was the most wicked act. Yet God brings out all His purposes through it. He is nothing more than a rod in God's hand. He goes, and the Lord meets him by an angel. He rebukes man's ways and man's wisdom by putting more sense into the mouth of a dumb animal than a man has. Though man has a mind, he uses it against God, which an animal cannot do. Man, in one sense, is more blind than Satan, because Satan believes and trembles. God could reveal Himself to an animal's eye as well as to a man's, whenever He pleased.
Every blocked step was a kindness. The Angel explains why only after the donkey has saved Balaam's life:
God then let the prophet know why all these obstacles stood in his way. He heard it in the fullest possible way, from the angel of the LORD Himself. How gracious of God, to make a man who was hurrying on to destruction stop and think, if anything could rouse him! But no, he was committed to wicked ways. Lawlessness must run its miserable course to an end no less miserable.
Balaam's reply in the next verse admits sin and offers to turn back — but the wording gives him away:
Realising that the powers of evil and his own cunning were no match for God, the wilful Balaam offers to return, confessing that he has sinned. But his heart's desire has not changed. He does not say he will go back because he has sinned. He says, "if it is evil in Your sight, I will turn back." Why does he say "if"? Was it not obvious that his going displeased God? Yet there was still the lingering desire in his heart to go on and get the reward he coveted.
- The Sword. An armed Angel stood in the road. Fereday identifies Him as the Lord Jesus Himself. The charge was against Balaam's heart, not his route: his way was perverse.
- The Greed. He was travelling for silver and gold. He was willing to ruin a whole nation that had never wronged him. That is what kindled God's anger.
- The Donkey. God gave sight to the animal and withheld it from the prophet — a rebuke to human wisdom. Balaam himself was only a rod in God's hand: God meant him to bless Israel, not curse them.
- The Mercy. Three blocked steps were three rescues. God stopped a man hurrying to destruction and made him think. Grace came disguised as an obstacle.
- The Waste. Balaam said "I have sinned," then added "if it is evil in Your sight." That is a confession with an escape clause. He rode on for his fee.
And Balaam said to the Angel of Jehovah, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me; and now, if it be evil in thine eyes, I will get me back again.
The angel of the LORD has just blocked Balaam's road, and his own donkey saw what the prophet could not. His answer sounds like repentance: he admits sin and offers to turn back. But his wording carries a condition, an excuse, and a desire he has not given up.
Everything turns on one small word: if.
Realising that the powers of evil and his own guile were no match for God, the wilful Balaam offers to return, confessing that he has sinned. But it is clear that the desire of his heart is still the same, for he does not say he will go back because he has sinned, but "if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back". Why does he say "if"? Was it not obvious that his going displeased God? Yet there was the lingering desire in his heart to go on and get the reward he wanted.
The sin Balaam admits is not the sin he committed.
Balaam acknowledged that he had sinned (v.34), but let himself down easily by pleading that he did not know the Angel was standing in the way. But he knew God had forbidden him to curse Israel, so his way was perverse before the Lord. He still did not decide to bless Israel, but offered to turn back if God was displeased. He had already been told of God's displeasure against any cursing of Israel, but he had no desire to take God's viewpoint himself.
One writer sees a warning in this for believers too:
His thought was only that he had failed to see the angel in the road. This was not in itself a sin, but it was the consequence of sin. As such it showed the moral blindness that sin always produces, and in an unbeliever that blindness is fatal. But what about a believer who follows the push of his own will, in any degree, however small? How can he discern the mind of the Lord? The blind unbeliever runs onto the sword of the Lord and is destroyed. The believer is kept safe in spite of himself, but when his eyes are opened he finds that the Lord has been standing against him... Satan often turns the special tendencies of our own hearts into a thick veil, so that we fail to see the Lord's mind.
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Other men in Scripture said the same three words.
Had Balaam any heart-knowledge of God he would have refused to go a step further after his experience with the Angel. His words "I have sinned" no more came from a conscience convicted by God than the same words from the lips of self-willed Saul in 1 Samuel 15:24.
One writer compares the habit to a child owning up:
It is not always a good sign when a man is quick to confess his sin. Have you not seen it in your children? It is a matter of common observation that the child who is always ready to confess his wrong never feels much about it... The quick and hasty owning, "I have sinned," is always suspicious; and it may be found in men even worse than Saul. Judas said the same thing. The readiness to own wrong, at least in general terms, may exist even where the conscience is seared and the state is utterly bad.
God gave Balaam sight, but only of one kind.
The eyes of Balaam's heart were blinded by his greed and his dealings with demons, and now we see that the eyes of his head were as blind as the eyes of his heart. The eyes of his head were opened so that at last he saw the angel as clearly as his donkey had done. But the veil over the eyes of his heart remained.
Every obstacle on the road was meant to stop him.
The angel of the Lord Himself then told the prophet, as fully as possible, why all these obstructions were put in his way. How gracious of God to make a man who was hurrying to destruction pause and think, if anything could rouse him! But no, he was committed to wicked ways. Lawlessness must pursue its miserable course to an end no less miserable.
- Self-will first. Balaam's road was already crooked before the angel blocked it. He had God's word about Israel and no wish to share God's view of them.
- Blindness follows. Not seeing the angel was not the sin; it was what sin produced. A believer who follows even a little of his own will loses the ability to read the Lord's mind.
- Half-confession next. "If it is evil in your sight" is the giveaway: he admits fault but keeps his option open, because the reward still holds his heart.
- Words are cheap. Saul and Judas said the same three words. A quick, general admission of wrong can sit beside a hardened conscience.
- Mercy refused, ruin reached. God blocked the road and explained Himself fully — kindness meant to make a man pause. But a will set on its own way runs to a miserable end.