Numbers 22:21-23 — And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

I’m sure you remember the story of Balaam’s ass. Unfortunately, its effect has been diminished as it’s often told as, almost, an amusement in Sunday School. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about a man who does everything he can to profit by doing as little of God’s will as he can get away with (and never let it be forgotten that he came to a bad end — see Numbers 31:8). It’s also the story of God’s warning posts on the path to destruction, and of the spiritual world that surrounds us. I beg you not to take this, or any scripture lightly, even if there is a smile to be had …

For now, let’s concentrate on the ass, and her behavior. First, let us note that she was aware of the angel of the Lord — and Balaam, despite his occult knowledge, was not. Now it is true that there are many things in the physical world that animals detect and we do not. It is also true, as the Reverend Arthur Ritchie put it, that:

The Holy Ghost teaches us that there is a vast and very lovely spiritual world lying behind, being as it were veiled by, this natural world of sense. That spiritual realm is the natural home of the angels. Balaam’s ass was given power to discern the form of one of these bright spirits opposing the sinful prophet’s course. Afterwards the prophet’s own eyes were “opened,” as the Bible puts it, and he too saw the menacing messenger of God.

Why was it, do you suppose, that God enabled first the ass and then it’s master to see the angel of the Lord? It was surely to allow them to see the warning signs on the path to destruction.

To develop that thought — let’s look, second, at what the ass did when she saw the angel. First she turned into a field. There was room to turn round — but Balaam didn’t take the hint. Then she chose a narrow path, where progress would be difficult. Balaam still didn’t understand. Finally, the ass knew there was no way forward, and fell down before the angel. Even then, Balaam was focused on his reward, not on the question of why his faithful ass should suddenly behave so oddly — until His eyes were opened too.

So what happened here? I believe God was giving Balaam increasingly obvious “Stop” signs. He could, of course, have killed Balaam immediately. His greater purposes dictated a more merciful course.

I get two lessons out of this. The first is, when you go on a mission “for God”, check your motives.

The second lesson — my focus — is that if God puts a block in your way, take notice! He is a patient God, slow to anger — long-suffering — but if you keep ignoring those stop signs then, sooner or later, the angel,of the Lord is going to cut you down!