FBCWest 704 | When a Donkey Sees More than You
Recorded On: 03/22/2026
Bulletin
Hymn # 409 “When We Walk with the Lord”
SCRIPTURE READING – 2 Corinthians 5:6 -9
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate
Praise and Worship
“In the House”
“What an Awesome God”
“Praise You Anywhere”
Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“When a Donkey Sees More than You”
“Good Grace”
Sermon Notes
Numbers 22:21 Balaam goes with the leaders of Moab
Numbers 22:22 God is angry with Balaam and sends an angel in his way as an adversary
Numbers 22:23 – 27 The donkey sees the angel repeatedly blocking the way. Balaam strikes the donkey repeatedly
Numbers 22:28 – 30 The Lord opens the donkey’s mouth and it speaks and Balaam argues with the donkey
Numbers 22:31 – 33 The angels says if not for the donkey the angel would have killed Balaam
Numbers 22:34 & 35 Balaam acknowledges his sins and offers to return, the angel gives him permission to proceed but only speak what God says
Numbers 22:36 – 41 Balak offers sacrifices to Baal and gives some to Balaam and then takes him to the high places of Baal
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
The narrative of I'm filled with irony, comedy, and long-term sadness. It's filled with a man who is paid to not only discern the future, but to change it by allowing God's people to be defeated. However, this person, the future, can't see what's in front of him. We're going to take a look at who or what sees what's in front of him and how that spares his life.
Stories, narratives. It's the one we're going to take a look at. It's interesting because it's filled with irony. It's filled with comedy. To lay down the road, it will be filled with great tragedy and sorrow, but it's a story that we need to apply to our people and to those who claim to speak for God. So if you have your Bible and you should, turn to Numbers chapter 22 and we're going to start with verse 21. Now the context you remember is last time we take a look that the king of Moab at sent a delegation to Baileum to come and speak to and curse God's people because there were two mighty for them. Baileum said, well, I got to check with God first.
Go. So he told him, you can't go and they go off and then they send a bigger, more distinguished delegation with more money. And instead of Baileum saying, well, God already told me no, he says, well, let me check a gun again with God. And God says, you can go, but things that I tell you to speak. And so that's where we are now. So in verse 21, it says this. So Baileum rose a rose in the morning and settled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab. But God was angry because he was going.
Now, they think that God has changed his mind because he said no and then he said, yes. So now he's saying no on the going. No, God didn't change his mind about going. Baileum was going so he might curse God's people. He was going to figure out a way to get a. Not to do God knowing the intentions of his heart was angry with him because he was going to get rich. And so because God was angry, an angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he's writing on and his two servants were with him.
So we've got Baileum writing on a donkey and we've got a couple of servants all proceeding with Baileum towards Moab. And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the term from the way and went into the field. But Baileum struck the donkey to turn her back into the way. Now here's the irony to begin with.
Baileum got hired to discern the future and then change. Because the king of Moab said, I can't defeat these people unless they're cursed. And so Baileum has been hired to curse the people of God so that he might defeat them in battle. So this person who's supposed to not only be able to see the future and discern it can change it. But he can't see what's in front of him because he spiritually blind. But it's interesting he spiritually blind but is donkey who has a reputation, donkey's ever reputation.
I'm not being that bright and being uncooperative or as southerners might say, can tankarist. So we've got this person who supposedly has spiritual insight blind and doing what God doesn't want him to do while the donkey can see spiritual matters and is changing direction. Because he sees as an adversary. But Baileum is in service because he's blind. So he strikes the donkey. The donkey didn't do anything wrong.
The donkey in essence is protecting him. But that's not what he sees. Then the angel of the Lord stood up of the vineyards with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. Now we've moved a little further and we're in a vineyard and vineyards usually have rows and then their walls protect the vineyard. So we're now in this position. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself to the wall and pressed Baileum's foot against the wall so he struck her again.
The angel is there to put as an admonition. Some doesn't do what Baileum is contemplating doing. But again, he's blind. He doesn't see it. But the donkey does.
Again, the person who can see the future can't see in front of him. The Baileum thing keeps strikes the donkey again. The donkey is protecting him. Instead of appreciating what the donkey has done for him, he beats it.
The angel of the Lord would further have stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right to the left. So now the angel basically says, I've done a critical junction. There's no, the donkey can no longer do anything to get out of the way. You either go back or you go forward and if you go forward, you're going to die. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she had no choice. Can't go the right, can't go the left. So she lay down under Balaam.
So Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with a stick. Seems that that's his answer to everything, violence. Let's beat the donkey because the donkey is doing what I wanted to do, even though the donkey is doing precisely the best thing for its master, protecting him. And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey. Now this is where she said to Balaam, what have I done to you that you have struck me these three times? Now, I haven't had a lot to do with the donkey. There was a TV show called Mr.
A. Falkin Horse. Even that's kind of highly unusual. So if a donkey were to talk to me, that's not right, that's not normal. Something's going on here. But Balaam is so locked into what Balaam wants to do, then Balaam is a donkey.
So now he's going to have a conversation and argument with the donkey. Because you have made a mockery of me, if I had a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now. Again, interesting irony. The ain't God has a sword ready to kill Balaam. And Balaam says, if I had a sword, I'd kill the donkey that has been done instead of what Balaam should go.
So, wait a minute, why are you talking to me? What's going on here? Frankly, and the title of the today's sermon is, when your donkey sees more than you, I wanted to use a different word, but I did it.
And your gluteus maximus sees better than you change your direction. And so, again, having an argument with the donkey, and the donkey makes more sense than he does. Because the donkey is saying, in all the time I've been your donkey, if I ever not done what you've asked me to do, maybe there's a reason now, I'm not doing what you want me to do. I'm not going to the direction that I'm changing courses, because maybe there's a reason.
The donkey said to Balaam, am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all of your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you? And he replied, no. I mean, he's having a conversation with a donkey.
Although, I guess, sometimes talking to the donkey is better than some of those people we talk to. I don't know. But he's acting like, this is normal conversation. And you want to say, and again, I think he, after saying no, he should have said, then why are you doing what you're doing? Quite frankly, he's losing the argument because he's wanting to kill the donkey and the donkey said, have I ever been bad to you? Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam.
First, the Lord opened the eyes, I mean, the mouth of the donkey. So maybe sometimes, when you hear from people who generally don't make sense, to seem to be making sense, maybe because you're blind, maybe because you don't see the correct way. So then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand, about all the way to the ground. Now, finally, this man who supposedly be able to discern the future and can, by cursing, now sees spiritually what's happening. And he bows down because he understands he's not worthy. And the angel of the Lord said to him, have you struck your donkey these three times? The whole life of come out as an adversary because of your way was contrary to me.
Not where he's going, but what he's going to do. He goes, I came out as your adversary and your donkey protected you. But the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now and let her live. The donkey, in a sense, was Balaam. The donkey was willing to change directions, not Balaam.
The donkey was willing to stop, but not Balaam. And the angel said, I'd have killed you, and let the donkey live. Now, I am not God. That's good for me and good for you. I'm not too sure why God didn't just kill him because we're going to see down the road. In my humble opinion was God should have.
But God does what God does because God has his reasons and he didn't ask my advice. So the situation is he let Balaam live at this point, but he would have killed him. So what the angel of the Lord is basically doing here because I. That Balaam was going to there to collect the money so that he might curse God. And what God did, he's put, he had put the fear of God into Balaam. So that Balaam would not violate his command.
And Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then if it's displeasing to you, I will turn back. Now notice two things.
One, he acknowledged his sin. That's a plus, but he didn't repent. He was, I'm willing to turn back if that this pleases you. The goal is of what's displeasing to God.
It's what Balaam tends to do when he gets there. And oftentimes we on our journey, don't consider whether on our journey we're journeying to please God or not. It's not the direction of the journey. It's what you're doing to honor God there. So he goes, I'm willing to, again, I will turn back. Now I want to turn back.
Are you caught me? Because the call of the money is too much for him. God placed the fear of him and him, but he still wants to try to... But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I tell you. So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balaam. So he continues on the journey.
Now again, me trying to be reasonable would go. A name of the Lord had a sword that was going to kill me. My donkey saw it, protected me, and I had a conversation with my donkey. Maybe I should just go home. But he's not interested in going home. He's interested in doing what he wants to do.
He's just going to figure out a different way to do what he wants to do. And unfortunately, the tragedy in this story will... Is that he's going to skirt what God told him to do. Why not cursing? But instead of blessing, but he's going to make an effort to collect his money. And when Balaam had heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is then on boarder at the extreme end of the border. So when the king heard that Balaam is finally showing up, he doesn't want to wait till he goes to beat him.
So he's anxious. He's convinced that the only way that Moab can defeat Israel is if Balaam curses them. And as we discussed last time, God had told Israel to begin with, not to invade, not to attack, and not to occupy Moab. Peter just listened to God.
This whole story would have been unnecessary. Then Balaam said to Balaam, did I not urgently send you to call for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you? Why did you take so much time? Now notice, usually most of us give excuses.
So we were probably said, well, you know, on my way, God sent his angel to stop me. So that kind of caused some delay. No. His answer is this. So Balaam said to Bala, behold, I have come now to you. Okay, you may think I'm late, but I'm here now. I got here. Am I, you know, the Lord, the word that the Lord God puts in my mouth?
That shall I speak. So he, he tells Balaam, at least he's somewhat honest there, that I can only tell you, but God tells me to tell you. With that, but that's why I'm here. I will only be able to speak, which again, the contract is, cursed the sons of Israel. He doesn't curse the sons of Israel, then he doesn't get paid.
Could he be there? Because he can't get paid doing what God told them not to do. And Balaam went with Balaam, and they came to Karus, who was lost. And Balaam sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent them, and the leaders who was in. So the people of Moab and the king make a sacrifice to their God, which is Balaam, not to the Lord God. And they offer some of the offering to Balaam. And I, for two reasons, one, Balaam then participates in that sacrifice, which means he's identifying with the gods of Moab, not the God of Israel.
But also, because he's in his, expertise as a diviner. So usually what he does is he takes a liver, and chops it up, and then just, divides what the future is. So they probably sent the liver so that he can do his job to discern the future.
He told him, it doesn't matter what the liver says. what God says is what I will do. Then it came about in the morning that Balech took Balech and brought him up to the high places of Balech.
And he said from there, he saw from there a portion of the people. So, would Balech has done a said, this is my problem. I'm going to take you up on this mountain where we offer sacrifices and we worship our God Bale. And only a portion of the sons of Berserid. So, in essence, this is just a portion. I think I'm going to be defeated. So, I need you to curse them.
You see, the world is never satisfied when we say, I can't do that. Because my faith prohibits me. I can't do that because that would be displeasing to God. I can't do that because that would not honor God. You see, oftentimes the world won't take no for an answer. We have to be prepared to trust God and to be faithful to Him, not just one time, not just the three times that He was prevented on His journey. But in every opportunity, here's the sacrifice, here's the problem, always showing why you should bow down and worship someone else.
Bale. I have a lot of antipathy from Bale. The New Testament kind of shows the same thing. A man who claims to speak or the future is an interested in the future. Is an interested in truth. Is it even interested in the world of God?
He's interested in Himself. Get out of it. Unfortunately, there were a lot of pastors like that. They preach kind of a semi-gospel so that it might be popular. So that the church might grow and they might have a building program, not because they're thinking that the community that they're serving deserves it. But that I can show how wonderful I am and that some other bigger church should hire me. So that I get a bigger salary and a bigger profit.
And more people say how wonderful you are. So that I can go to a bigger church and get more money and have a bigger end. But when you water down the word of God, how much influence do you really have? Sure you can do like Bale.
It's a dirty issue. Pretend that you're going to follow. We've got to even put the fear of Him in you. But what we clearly see not from Bale is the tomb. Great commandments. Number one, the love of the Lord with your God was all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength.
We don't see that. The other thing which is interesting, the very first of the 10 commandments is this, they're weird to have no other God before us. Balems God is like many in our culture today. Money. I just had more of it. I had more of it. I could do more things and I could be more influential. I said, the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil.
And we're going to see next time that Balems love for money. We'll cause him to teach evil. Advice.
Now because he loved the Lord God, it was all his heart, all his mind, all his soul, all the strength. Now your God may not be money. Maybe something else. Sometimes it's leisure. You know, 10 o'clock if I can get out of bed and come to worship God, really tough. That's why we have online messages. You don't have to get up. You watch it at home.
So often our conveniences are more than God. And while money may not be our God, all too often it's us. What do I want? What's best for me? What makes me happy or popular?
We need to learn the lessons of Balems. And to trust God and as we say, and obey Him. Or there's no other way to be happy in Jesus. But to trust.
And all God's people said.