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Balaam rode upon his ass to go to
Moab; he thought now he should do as he pleased, and have the money Balak
promised him; but God would not give Balaam the power to curse His people;
and without God Balaam could do nothing. The angel of the Lord came
to stand in the way before the disobedient prophet; but Balaam was not
thinking of God, and he did not see the angel. But the ass saw, and
turned out of the road for fear, and Balaam beat the ass to turn it back
again. Soon after, they came to a road through some vineyards, with
a wall on both sides; and the ass saw the angel standing with a sword
drawn in his hand, and pressed close to the wall, and hurt Balaam's foot,
and he beat the ass again. Then the road became very narrow; the
angel stood before, and there was no room to turn, and the ass fell down
under Balaam. Then the prophet was very angry, and he beat the poor
ass again with his stick; but it was not the ass that was rebellious and
disobedient; no, it was the prophet who was so wicked, and so foolish, and
the angel was sent to him. Balaam did not see the angel, and
therefore he was cruel to the poor ass. But
God has power to do all things, and He did a very wonderful thing then; He
opened the mouth of the ass, and enabled it to speak. Animals have
not reason, nor the power of speaking, as most of us have; God has not
given them these things. He has given them instinct; He teaches them
how to find their food, and how to take care of their young. He has
made them very useful to man. What
did the ass say? It said, "Am not I thine ass, upon which thou
hast ridden for many years past? What have I done? Why hast
thou smitten me?" Balaam said, "Because thou hast not
obeyed me; I wish I had a sword in my hand, for now I would kill
thee." But the ass said again, "I have been thine ass a
long time; did I ever do so before?" And Balaam answered,
"No." Then God opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the
angel standing before him, with a sword in his hand, and he was very much
afraid, and fell down on his face. The angel asked, "Why hast
thou smitten the ass three times? I came out to meet thee, because
thou wast rebellious and disobedient, and the ass saw me and turned
away. If the ass had not turned away, I should have killed thee, and
saved her alive." Then Balaam said, "I have sinned, I did
not see thee standing in the way; now then, if thou art displeased, I will
go back again." But the angel said, "No, go with the men
to Moab, but speak only what I tell thee." Then
the angel went away, and Balaam went on to Moab. But was he sorry
for his disobedience? No, he was frightened, but he was not
humbled. He could not now curse Israel with his mouth; for God, who
enabled the ass to speak, took away from Balaam the power to say what he
wished. But his heart was not changed; he was rebellious and
disobedient, and covetous still.
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