Talking Animals?
When I was a child at home, my mom always had a Pekinese dog. Sometimes she would start howling, and he would begin to howl back. It was their way of communicating and talking to one another. I never understood a word, but I am sure they knew what the other was saying.
While reading the Scriptures this week, I read about a man named Balaam. Evidently, this man was able to bless and curse people, and when he did, it always came true. After the Israelites left Egypt and started for Canaan’s Land, the king of Moab, Balak, asked him to come and curse God’s people because they were so many. He sent messengers to Balaam and asked him to come, but Balaam said he would have to give the messengers an answer in the morning. During the night, God appeared to him and told him not to go.
The messengers returned home without him, and Balak was not pleased. He sent more messengers, more noble than the others. This time Balaam went with them but let them know he could only reveal what God wanted him to do. He saddles his donkey and
He saddles his donkey and starts off to Moab. God is not pleased. An angel with a drawn sword is standing in the road before him. And he cannot see the angel, but his donkey can. The donkey runs into a field and sits down. Balaam strikes the donkey.
A second time the angel is present, and it is in a narrow path. The donkey presses against the wall, and Balaam’s foot is hurt. He strikes the donkey again.
A third time the angel appears, it is a narrow place. So the donkey sits down and is struck by Balaam once again.
It’s at this point that God opens the donkeys mouth, and she begins to speak to Balaam. Numbers 22:28-31, "...'What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?' 29 Then Balaam said to the donkey, 'Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now.' 30 The donkey said to Balaam, 'Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?' And he said, 'No.' 31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed all the way to the ground." I don’t know about you, but I have never been able to carry on a conversation with an animal. It seems that Balaam was not surprised at all and talked to him.
There is a great lesson in this, however. When God tells us what He wants us to do, we are to obey it. Obedience is one of the great lessons in the Old Testament. As we read and study the word, we need to be obedient to its teachings and only follow our God. That will lead us to the eternal home.