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The way in which animals communicate the ‘seemingly’ obvious situation to humans distracted by misconceptions, wrong-thinking and misjudgments is best expressed by the lesson below.

A sorcerer, was summoned by King Balak of the Moabites to curse the Israelites as Moses was leading them toward Canaan. Balak promised to pay Balaam handsomely for bringing evil upon the Hebrews, whom he feared.

In the night God came to Balaam, telling him not to curse the Israelites. Balaam sent the king’s messengers away.

Balaam did, however, go with a second set of Balak’s messengers after being warned by God to “only do what I tell you.”

On the way, Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of God standing in their path, brandishing a sword. The donkey turned, drawing a beating from Balaam. The second time the animal saw the angel, she pressed against a wall, crushing Balaam’s foot. Again he beat the donkey. The third time the donkey saw the angel, she lay down under Balaam, who beat her severely with his staff.

At that, the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” (Numbers 22:28, NIV)

After Balaam argued with the beast, the Lord opened the sorcerer’s eyes so he too could see the angel. The angel scolded Balaam and ordered him to go to Balak but to speak only what God told him.

The king took Balaam to several mountains, ordering him to curse the Israelites on the plains below, but instead the sorcerer gave four oracles, repeating God’s covenant of blessing on the Hebrew people.

Finally Balaam prophesied the deaths of pagan kings and a “star” that would come out of Jacob.

Balak sent Balaam home, angry that he had blessed rather than cursed the Jews. Later, the Jews warred against Midian, killing their five kings. They also put Balaam to death by the sword.