| “And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?” (Numbers 22:28). |
| “Go your way into the village over against you … ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him … and they brought the colt to Jesus … and He sat upon him” (Mark 11:2, 7). |
| Here we have two different situations, hundreds of years apart, yet both involving a donkey. What is interesting is that both of these donkeys did something totally against their natural way. |
| In the case of Balaam, he was clearly going against the mind of the Lord, for he wanted to curse the people of Israel. The king of Moab had promised him a lot of money if he would do this. But the Lord had sent an angel to block Balaam’s way, and although Balaam did not see the angel, the donkey saw him, and would not go ahead. Balaam then hit the donkey with a stick to make it go, and suddenly the donkey spoke to him with a human voice. What a surprise that would have been! But Balaam was so intent on having his own way that he did not realize at first the seriousness of what was happening, and he actually carried on a conversation with his donkey, as if it were the most normal thing in the world! Eventually he saw the angel, and was very frightened. |
| When the Lord Jesus was going to ride into Jerusalem, He told His disciples to go and get a young donkey on which no one had ever ridden. Normally a man could not simply get on that kind of a donkey and begin to ride; it would probably buck him off quickly. To ride a young horse or donkey, you have to begin slowly, and go through what is called “breaking them in.” Gradually the horse or donkey gets used to having someone on its back, and accepts it. But the Lord Jesus simply sat on the donkey, and it quietly carried Him into Jerusalem without any trouble. |
| Both of these stories show us that God has control over His creation. When He wished, the Lord could give the donkey a human voice, and cause it to speak to Balaam. He should have immediately recognized that only the Lord could do this, but Balaam was so anxious to get that money that he could not see the angel of the Lord standing there in front of him with a sword in his hand. |
| The Lord Jesus rode the young colt into Jerusalem when no one had ever ridden it before, yet it went along without jumping, kicking, or bucking Him off. This showed clearly who the Lord Jesus was, yet still most of the people in Jerusalem did not believe in Him. Do you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior? |
