Angels Stop Us … Hello Hump Day Readers. Here is our second devotion about Angels. Last week we learned about their support for us. Now we see how angels ‘stop’ us. If you are like me, I don’t think about angels in that particular category. Growing up in faith in Jesus had me thinking of the angelic angels flying around that first Christmas—singing to the shepherds and to the world that the Messiah has arrived. So, I ask you all, when has an angel stopped you?

Let’s start with the story about a guy named Balaam, along with his donkey found in Numbers 22. Pastor Greg Laurie said this about the naughty prophet: “Balaam was sort of a prophet for hire—more P-R-O-F-I-T than P-R-O-P-H-E-T.” How true that was. So who was this donkey-beating guy? Balaam was the son of Beor; he was a non-Israelite prophet and diviner who lived in Pethor which today, is probably located between the region of Iraq and northern Syria which now is southeastern Turkey. His ‘divining’ was more diving into trouble instead! No wonder why God was upset about this guy. You see, Balaam was hired by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the children of Israel. Doesn’t this tell you that Balaam’s ‘divining’ was also devious to the core? Indeed it was. He was money-thirsty and set out on his donkey to do the exact opposite that God would not want anyone to do. God is mad and takes this matter into his own hands by dispatching an angel, whose job was to stop Balaam from putting a curse on the Israelites. That’s the drama so let’s set the scene:

“The angel positioned himself in the middle of the road Balaam was traveling and drew his sword. He was prepared to stop the prophet by any means necessary. Balaam’s donkey saw the angel, but the prophet didn’t. The donkey veered off the road into a field. The prophet beat the donkey until it returned to the road. The angel moved to a narrow part of the road between two vineyard walls. The donkey tried to go around and pinned Balaam’s foot against the wall. Balaam got angry and beat the donkey again. The angel moved once more to a spot in the road, now it’s too narrow for the donkey to get around, so, the donkey simply laid down-smart animal. Enraged, Balaam beat the donkey yet again. And that’s when the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and it said: “What have I done to deserve your beating me three times?” “You made me look like a fool! If I had a sword, I’d kill you!” “You’ve ridden me all your life. Have I done anything like this before?” “Well, no.” Meanwhile, the angel was still standing there, visible to the donkey, invisible to Balaam. He finally made himself visible to Balaam and said:

“Why were you so hard on your donkey, beating her these three times? I came here as an adversary against you because I do not approve of the direction you’re taking, in more ways than one. Your donkey did the right thing. She saw me and turned away all three times. This donkey saved your life. Perhaps I would have killed you on the spot and let her live.” [Voice]

This is one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament. I just chuckle at God opening the mouth of a donkey and the final outcome of this story. An angel, a crazy man and a talking donkey—who but God could put this together, right? And that is exactly why God did this to remind us that there are things we should NOT be doing—like over-spending on Christmas presents, over-eating candy, cookies and all the baked goods that come with the season, etc.

We know in our hearts that doing so isn’t good for us but we do it anyway! And that’s when God sends an angel to STOP US. Maybe not like the humorous turn with Balaam and his donkey, but we will be stopped—period. So, let’s remember this Christmas that if you feel God is trying to stop you, for heaven sakes DO NOT KEEP GOING IN THE SAME DIRECTION! And definitely don’t talk to donkeys…have a conversation with the Lord instead. AMEN.