Numbers 22:28-33. 28Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam. 29“You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!” 30“But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted. 31Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. 32“Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. 33Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”
Yes, this is a conversation between a man and his donkey. No, this is not from a cartoon movie like Shrek. However, it is supposed to be funny like Shrek.
Balaam was a famous prophet of God that was hired by a wicked king to curse the Israelites. Cursing Israel would be a pretty big sin, but still Balaam travelled to see the wicked king. Let’s just say, God was not happy about this. So God sent the Angel of the Lord to block the path of Balaam and his donkey. But here’s the joke – only the donkey could see the angel, not Balaam.
Three times the angel blocked the donkey’s path, three times the donkey stopped moving, and three times Balaam beat his donkey to get him to move forward. That’s when the Lord allowed the donkey to speak – “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” The funny thing is that Balaam doesn’t appear to be surprised at all that his donkey just talked to him.
The story of Balaam and his talking donkey is full of irony. Do you know what irony is? Irony occurs when something happens that we did not expect, or when the opposite of what we think will happen happens instead. For example, we did not expect the donkey to talk and be smarter than Balaam. The donkey is an “unclean,” stubborn, beast of burden, and yet he can see the angel but the great prophet can’t. That’s irony.
The advent of Jesus was also very ironic. No one thought God would ever become a person, least of all a helpless baby, but he did – how ironic. And if baby Jesus is the king of the world, he would never be born where the animals stay, in a manger, surrounded by a donkey. Would he? But God loves irony. He loves to do the opposite of what we think he will do. Even the cross is ironic. God should never save us by dying; he should save us by destroying all his enemies. But what if WE are his enemy too? We are all born as God’s enemy, selfish and sinful like Balaam. God should curse us all, but ironically, he blesses us all by sending Jesus at Christmastime. Now, like Balaam, Jesus couldn’t curse us if he tried. When we trust Jesus to save us, he can and will only bless us even though we deserve to be cursed.
Questions: Look at a nativity scene together. Can you see the irony of the Creator God being born as a baby in a manger? How has God blessed you this past year? Did you deserve these blessings? If not, then each blessing is an irony – but God loves irony.
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