Do you remember Preacher Rowlett from my book, Along a Storied Trail? Before that book set in Appalachia with history of the packhorse librarians came out a few years ago, I let Preacher tell a Bible story here on One Writer’s Journal. Since I’ve been doing some features on some of my published books, I invited him back for a new story.
That first Bible story he shared was about the Widow of Zarepeth and Elijah. Here is the link – Preacher Rowlett’s story – if you want to check it out. It’s been a few years so even if you read it then, you might enjoy it again. But here’s Preacher ready to share a new story.
Now it is a fact that there are some unusual stories in God’s Word and they are stories we should pay heed to. Would you like to hear one of them?
I think I hear one of you askin’ about whether there might be a story about a donkey who did some talkin’. That takes some considerin’ for certain. But it is a story that us folks up here in the hills might have some understandin’ about. I’ve seen some folks who have those donkeys but up here we take more treasure in our mules, but them are part donkey. The mule, it belongs here in the hills. I don’t rightly know what we’d do without them, but this story is about a donkey.
You see there was this man named Balaam. He was reputed to see the future. We’ve been known to have a few of those type of folks up here in the hills. Sometimes an old granny what can just look a feller in the eye and know what his tomorrow is gonna bring. I never had much truck with such as that. Prefer to get my messages from the Lord and His Bible. But here’s how this donkey and Balaam story goes.
You see all these folks that were chosen by the Lord to be His people had been slaves in Egypt, but the Lord had brung them out. Because they had some bad misbehavings, and don’t we all fall short time and again, they had to spend a heap of time in the wilderness afore the Lord let them come into the land He’d promised them. But when all them Israelites started coming into these new lands, the folks already there got some worried. This king named Balak, he sent men to Balaam to see if he would do some prophesying to make him feel a little more courage in the face of all these folks ready to take over his land. Could be, we might feel the same worry was we to see folks coming toward our hills. But I could hope we’d be prayin’ on our knees ‘stead of running to find a soothsayer.
Turns out this man, Balaam, knew about God even though he wasn’t part of those people God had chosen. So, when the king’s men came calling, he told them he couldn’t give them no message except whatever the Lord told him. At first the Lord told Balaam to stay at home and not go with the king’s men, but that Balak wasn’t one to give up easy. He sent more men with more promises and the Lord told Balaam he could go with them but not to say nothing He didn’t tell him to say. Wouldn’t we have a better world if’n we all took time to listen to what the Lord said to us before we went off doing whatever we aimed to do?
Anyhow, Balaam saddled up his faithful donkey what had carried him on many a journey and set off with the king’s men. They was riding along fine as anything when all the sudden the donkey turned off the path into a field. Now most all of us have had an animal, be it a horse, donkey, or mule, that sometimes don’t listen or do what we aim it to do. That’s how come we have the sayin’ that somebody looks like a mule starin’ at a new gate when we don’t want to try something new.
I reckon the path the donkey and old Balaam were on could have been a new one for the donkey, but that wasn’t what made it veer clear out of the road into the field. What had that donkey moving a different way was that he saw an angel of the Lord with a big spear, drawn and ready, standing in the road. But old Balaam couldn’t see that angel there ready to stop him and stop him good. Balaam was mad as hops with his donkey and beat the poor critter to get him back on the road. Not far on down the road, they come to a narrow spot and that angel brandishing his sword was right there in front of them again. So the donkey, maybe feared to run off the road and get beat on again, edged past him but in the edging, he smashed Balaam’s foot against a wall. Old Balaam got all mad and beat on his donkey again before they got going on down the road. Well, you know when the Lord has a message to deliver He don’t stop on it until He gets it told. The donkey and Balaam got to this even narrower spot in the road where the angel with his sword was blocking it every bit. That donkey didn’t have no way to get past it. So, like any sensible animal, he stopped and lay right down, refusing to move another inch. And you know what that Balaam did? He went to beating on that poor animal again.
Now here’s where things get even more interestin’. You know that the Lord, He can do what in our heads can sound impossible, but the Bible says, plain as day, that ain’t nothin’ impossible with the Lord. So the Lord, He give that donkey a voice and not just his hee-haw voice. That there donkey looked up at Balaam whilst he was beating on him and spoke right out loud in whatever language Balaam was used to hearing. He said, “What have I done that has you beating me three times?”
Now here is a little wonder. Balaam didn’t seem the first bit surprised that his donkey was talking to him. He was just that mad, and he yelled back at that amazin’ talkin’ donkey and told him how the donkey had made him look like a fool and that were he to have a sword, he would kill the poor animal. Now listen good as we go on to the next wonder. This here donkey looked at him and talked sensible like. He pointed out how he was the same donkey old Balaam was always riding and how he hadn’t never done anything like not going where the man wanted before this. Balaam must have tamped down his mad fit just a little because he saw that the donkey was talking sense and he agreed that no, the donkey had been a fine ride all their years together.
That’s when the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes to let him see the angel of the Lord there in the road with that sword raised and ready. The Lord let Balaam know that if it hadn’t been for his donkey, that there angel would have certainly killed Balaam for doing what the Lord didn’t aim for him to do. That little donkey had saved old Balaam those three times. And I know you are gonna like this part of what the Lord told Balaam. He said He would have spared that faithful donkey. Balaam was in a more repentant mood then and admitted to his sin.
And it don’t say so, but I figure he was pettin’ on that donkey and givin’ him some extra cracked corn or whatever he had to feed him. The next time the donkey went off the path, I’m thinkin’ that Balaam surely did some hard looking to see what very good reason that donkey might have had to do such as that. Ain’t the stories in the Bible some of the most amazin’ things you ever heard? This one is in Numbers, Chapter 22. If’n you to have a Bible, you can read all about Balaam and his talking donkey there.
I hope you enjoyed Preacher stopping by to tell us another Bible story. My book giveaway is still going on. Leave a comment to get your name thrown in my giveaway hat to have a chance to win your choice of one of my books, autographed to you or to someone else if you want to give it as a gift. If you left a comment on Wednesday’s post, you got an entry, but you can get an additional entry by leaving a comment on this new post. You have to be at least 18 to enter and the deadline for entries is midnight EST March 1, 2025.
Tell Preacher what Bible story is one of your favorites.