March 7 - Numbers 22:28

Then the Lord gave the donkey

the ability to speak.

Numbers 22:28

 

The stories in the book of Numbers keep getting stranger, don't they? 

 

In fact, these are some of the stories that make people doubt the Bible ... and/or ... play cut and paste with the sections that don't make sense to them.

 

But, if you think about it, the story of Baalam and his Ass is only strange if you don't believe that God is powerful and the spiritual realms are real.

 

I often explain it like this ... I point to room we're in and say, "Is this world real?" Yes! And then I point to the ceiling, "Is heaven real?" Yes! "Now, normally," I say, "we can't see heaven and the spiritual realms, can we?" No. "So imagine a barrier between them which is like six feet of concrete." Okay. "Now, occasionally," I say, "isn't the barrier between heaven and earth a little thinner? For example, didn't God speak to the prophets and don't angels occasionally appear?" I guess so. "So it's not that heavenly realms aren't real, it's just that we don't commonly see what's all around us, right?"

 

"So, is it possible ... reasonable ... that '31 the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand'?"

 

And here's the thing ... If we admit that God is powerful and the spiritual realms are all around us, then God occasionally opening people's eyes is indeed reasonable. Furthermore, if we believe that creator of heaven and earth is truly powerful, then it may be very weird but couldn't it be equally possible that God could make a donkey protect his master's life ... and on extraordinarily rare occasions, talk to his master about it?!!

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who'd rather believe

in a powerful God of the (wierd but) possible,

than a little God for whom all things

are impossible