Story Lines
Inspirational Christian Stories and Bible Illustrations
for kids of all ages
for kids of all ages
The Talking Donkey
The Biblical account of Balaam and his donkey focuses on greed, misdirection, anger, forgiveness, surrender, deliverance…the list goes on.
But what I am really caught up on right now is how my reaction towards a talking donkey would have been much more different than what happened with Balaam! The Bible states that after the donkey asked a question, Balaam answered and proceeded to carry on a conversation with a talking animal. I personally would have screamed like a tiny girl and ran for the hills!
Read the account in Numbers 22:21-39 and see if you can work out what the message of the story is.
Editor's Note: Balaam is a complex character. The prophet Micah (Micah 6:5) writing at a later time, looks back at the above incident and records how Balaam prevented King Balak from doing evil. On the other hand, Balaam is portrayed negatively in Deuteronomy 23:3-6. Balaam’s life certainly ended in disobedience. He was killed in battle after somehow being involved in advising people who turn away from the Lord (Numbers 25; 31:8-16). Nevertheless, in the above story he seems to learn a lesson and do what the Lord commands.
But what I am really caught up on right now is how my reaction towards a talking donkey would have been much more different than what happened with Balaam! The Bible states that after the donkey asked a question, Balaam answered and proceeded to carry on a conversation with a talking animal. I personally would have screamed like a tiny girl and ran for the hills!
Read the account in Numbers 22:21-39 and see if you can work out what the message of the story is.
Editor's Note: Balaam is a complex character. The prophet Micah (Micah 6:5) writing at a later time, looks back at the above incident and records how Balaam prevented King Balak from doing evil. On the other hand, Balaam is portrayed negatively in Deuteronomy 23:3-6. Balaam’s life certainly ended in disobedience. He was killed in battle after somehow being involved in advising people who turn away from the Lord (Numbers 25; 31:8-16). Nevertheless, in the above story he seems to learn a lesson and do what the Lord commands.
Story and Illustration by Jason Harrison - reproduced by kind permission: https://www.drawforgod.com/ - info@grace-lines.net