God’s Angelic Protection for His People

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Over the last few days, we have been talking about the unseen spiritual realm that intersects with this planet. This spiritual realm is also a place where God's angels are at work. Balaam was a man who could move into the spiritual realm and place a curse on people. When the Israelite people were traveling from Egypt to the land that God had given them, they had to pass through the country of Moab, whose king was Balak. He was afraid he would lose any battle against Israel due to the Israelites easy victory over the Amorites. Balak felt he needed some help to overcome Israel, so he sent for Balaam, the seer, to curse Israel so that he could defeat them. 

God told Balaam not to go at first, but Balaam would not hear the word no, and he pleaded until God said go, with the restriction that he was only to speak what God would give him. On the way, though, his heart began again to think of the promise of high reward and how he could get it (2 Peter 2:15). In God’s protection of His people, He sent an angel to cut off Balaam’s head. I know it is a weird passage of Scripture, but is it hard to believe that God, the creator of the universe, can allow an animal to speak back to his master as he is hitting him? When the donkey saw the danger of the angel on the path ahead he tried to steer Balaam away crushing his foot in the process. Balaam couldn’t see the angel and beat his donkey twice by the time we enter the story:

26Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or the left. 27When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. 28Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?" 29Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now." 30The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said. 31Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORDstanding in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown (Numbers 22:26-31). 

Balaam was oblivious to what his donkey was doing in saving his life. God opened up the donkey's mouth to show Balaam how his heart had become full of greed. The Lord would not allow His people to be cursed. If he was going to continue in his heart to give in to a spirit of greed, the Lord was ready to give His angel permission to cut off his head. Often, like Balaam, we go headlong into situations in ministry or work where there are unseen spiritual forces at work, and if we are not sensitive spiritually to God, demonic forces can influence us (Matthew 16:23). How merciful the Lord was to speak to Balaam through his donkey. 

Wouldn't you like to have been a fly on that wall watching the spectacle of Balaam having an angry conversation with his donkey! This story is another example of something happening in the unseen realm of which humans (Balaam) were completely unaware. It is interesting to note that the donkey was more aware of the invisible realm than Balaam was. I'm sure all of us who have a dog or a cat has noticed the animal looking around the room at something unseen by us. Animals have been known to sense a spiritual presence. It is possible that they are looking at angels that continually watch over us that are walking with the Lord. "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them" (Psalm 34:7). If you know the Lord through what Christ has done on your behalf, you have angels watching over you. Keith Thomas
This meditation is a shortened version of the more in-depth study: The Unseen Realm

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