Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said… (Numb. 22:28)
When the elders of Moab came to Balaam to ask him to curse the children of Israel, we read that God told Balaam not to go with them and not to curse the chosen people. But when Balak, king of Moab, sent ambassadors to him a second time, Balaam agreed to go with them. During his trip the donkey on which Balaam was riding left the road and went into the field. Balaam began to beat the donkey, trying to get her back on the road that led him to the king of Moab. But the donkey turned the other way, pressing the foot of Balaam against the wall. Again he began to beat the donkey and it went back to the road. But when the angel of the Lord stood before her with his sword drawn in a narrow place where it was impossible to roll to the right or to the left, the donkey lay down under Balaam. Balaam’s anger inflamed, and he began to beat the donkey, and at that moment the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and the donkey spoke with a human voice.
Since Balaam was so stubborn in his heart and did not obey the voice of the Lord the first time, God had to do something supernatural to make Balaam finally realize that he is not going the correct way – and God opened the mouth of the donkey. When we are deaf and do not obey the voice of the Holy Spirit, God has to force our “donkey” to speak, so we can see that we have turned aside from His perfect will. This “donkey” could be our flesh, our health, our financial condition, etc. God has hundreds of ways to speak to us loudly and clearly.
But do we have to expect the supernatural to happen, so that we decide to dedicate our heart to God completely? Do we have to wait for the donkey to speak to understand what the Holy Spirit wants from the Church today? Do we have to wait for a fire to come down from the sky, so that we can turn aside from other gods, and idols, as it was in the days of Elijah? Or do we need to spread a coat and require special signs from the Almighty, to believe that He is able to bring the “Midianites” into our hands?? Should we wait until the water will pour out of the rock, not to doubt that, even though we walk through a desert, Almighty God is still with us and continues to care for us?
Pavel Gurzhiy