Jesus and Donkeys

15 And he took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
    the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
    and knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
    falling down with his eyes uncovered:
17 I see him, but not now;
    I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,    and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the forehead of Moab
    and break down all the sons of Sheth.
18 Edom shall be dispossessed;
    Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.
    Israel is doing valiantly.
19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion    and destroy the survivors of cities!”

(Numbers 24)

Sometimes, little things stick out.  Balaam was a man that needed to learn to listen to God before he presumed to speak for Him. It took God getting his attention through a talking donkey to wake up to that fact. After doing so, Balaam spoke more and more profound truth, until in his final oracle he got a glimpse of the distant future, and the Star of Jacob, the One who would come to impact all nations.  Of course, we will see a donkey again, with the fulfilled prophecy of Jesus riding on one as a victorious King. (And what manger scene is complete without one!) Jesus had a thing for donkeys. But then again, we can be pretty stubborn in our willingness to stop, listen, see the truth, and obey.