The next group of angels all in some way protect or guide
people, so I have called them all Guardian Angels.
Read: Numbers22.22-35
The Israelites are being led by Moses through the desert on
their way to the Promised Land of Canaan, but the lands through which this
caravan of ex-slaves passes is not empty. It belongs to various tribes, none of
whom are pleased to see this huge crowd enter their territories. What if they
decide not to move on? Balak, the king of Moab, decides to send for a Moabite
holy man, Balaam, to curse the Israelites. Numbers 22.1-21 describes how Balaam
is reluctant to go at first – he recognises the power of the God of these
people. Eventually he concedes, and sets off on his donkey to meet the King
near where the Israelites are encamped.
In the story in today’s reading, though, we discover that,
though Balaam is now keen to make the journey, his donkey has other ideas. The
donkey can see what Balaam can’t, that there is a large and ferocious angel
barring the way. Eventually the donkey points this out to Balaam (this is one
of only two “talking animal” stories in the Bible – the other is the snake who
talks to Eve in the Garden of Eden).
In the end, though Balaam does meet with King Balak, he refuses
to curse the Israelites. He cannot curse what God has blessed.
·
Have you
ever found the way ahead that you wanted to take blocked? Looking back have you
ever seen that this was actually a good thing, even if it felt frustrating at
the time?
·
Whose
voices do you listen to when you need to make a decision? Do we sometimes need
to pay attention to the voices of the “donkey” , the voices we are tempted to
write off as unimportant?
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