Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” (Numbers 22:28-30 NKJ)
Several of you got the mystery picture right last week and more of you were very close. You knew it was some kind of critter. Only a few actually named the donkey. Ola, Deborah a
nd Rhonda. I may have missed somebody else, but those did get the
donkey right on the nose. (Pun intended.) Horses and cows were other guesses and a turkey goozle. I had to look up goozle. Then there were those many legged spiders on my camera lens. Thanks for giving me a laugh, Gin. I have taken pictures of spiders now and again, but not one with a thousand legs. I might run from that!
Since the mystery picture was a donkey nose, I started thinking about donkeys in the Bible. We always see Mary on a donkey riding to Bethlehem, but I didn’t see that actually written in Luke. Of course, Jesus did ride the donkey into Jerusalem before his crucifixion. That donkey was one blessed animal.
But then there is one of the most unusual stories in the Old Testament about Balaam and his donkey. I’ve quoted the donkey’s talking up top. Balaam must have been really angry to still think about killing his donkey when she was talking to him. That’s sort of like a quote I saw the other day from a comedian and I don’t remember who or where I saw it but he said he always thought about the saying “if these walls could talk” and wondered what could be more amazing than walls talking. Then, there is that story in the Bible where the walls did sort of talk when writing appeared on them. The Bible is full of miracles and unusual wonder stories. But you have to wonder why Balaam wasn’t totally amazed by his donkey talking to him instead of still thinking of punishing the animal. At least, he did listen to the donkey and change his attitude. Plus, it helped that the Lord then let him see the angel the donkey had already seen.
Okay, the picture up top is the last mystery photo for this round of mystery pictures. I’ll be drawing three winners on Sunday. The winners will get their choice of one of my books and a grab bag book by a different author. The contest is open to those 18 and over no matter where you live. Whether you win a book or not, I do hope you’ve all had fun playing. We’ll do another mystery photo contest again in a few months when my next Hidden Springs mystery, Murder Comes by Mail, is ready to release. Who knows? We may try some other giveaway even before that. And it’s surely about time for a newsletter contest too.
Now, get ready and guess. I’m expecting some imaginative guesses for this one. Or you may all know exactly what it is. Thanks so much for reading and for playing my guessing game. Oh, and remember. One donkey once talked, so be good to the donkeys you know.
Comments 54
The greenbottle blue tarantula has a little.
But, anytime my family makes me guess something I say either tarantula or Walmart. Hahahaha doesn’t matter what the context those are my answers. 🙂 thanks again for the fun!
Author
Always good to have a ready reply, Shay. 🙂 That’s sort of like when I’m playing Trivial Pursuit I just say Hemingway for any of the Arts & Literature questions I don’t know. So maybe you can surprise your family next time and say Hemingway instead of tarantula. LOL. Glad you enjoyed the game.
I have fun with these, not that I’m ever right. 😉
I’ll guess a stem with a ribbon around it.
Author
Nice guess, Ann. Not saying it’s right, but it shows you were looking. So glad you’ve been playing my mystery photo game with me. I finally found a few that were mysterious for all of you.
I believe as I examine closer I see the right side of the donkeys head and ear.
Author
You do want that to be part of a donkey, don’t you, Rhonda? I guess I could have been sneaky like that and used more close-ups of donkey parts. We shall see on Sunday. 🙂
I keep thinking it’s something inside an ear.
I HAVE NO CLUE!!! but sure am curious to find out! 😉
Author
Not sure whose ears you’ve been checking out, Judi, but hope that’s not how my ear looks inside. LOL. I know you were talking about some critter’s ear. And that’s a great imaginative guess. Not right, but very imaginative. I’ll post “the rest of the picture” on Sunday night. Thanks for playing my mystery photo game.
Me again.
Oh oh oh!
Mothra!
Moth man!
Hmmmmm
Tarantula?
A honey bee?
I like this game 🙂
Author
Those are some good guesses, Shay. Glad you stopped by to play. Is a tarantula green and black? Interesting. Great to have you join in on the fun.