Talking Donkeys

In Numbers 22, God had opened the mouth of the prophet Balaam's donkey to protest the beating that Balaam was giving her.  In case you don't remember the story, Balaam was a prophet given the ability to bless or curse a nation.  This gifting from God to Balaam was able to be exercised as God had willed,  but also was able to be used outside of the will of God to curse Israel.  That is what Balaam was on his way to do (curse Israel for a price) before this miraculous event occurred.  Balaam was going to choose greed and things of this world over God's will; even being a prophet of the LORD whom had known God's power and presence.  You would think one who knew God's Spirit and Grace would not desire to go against God's will for his life.  But I guess much like the angels in heaven whom had served God and knew His glory but had chosen to believe the lie and rebel against the LORD, Balaam had chosen the potential for his personal gain over the glory of God's promises.

Balaam was on his way to receive the bribe from Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the nation of Israel.  Balaam had saddled his donkey the way he always had and was on the road, blinded by his greed and distorted reality.  God's sovereignty was not going to be usurped.  God had called for Israel to be a blessed nation and not to be cursed.  It would appear that Balaam had the ability to choose to rebel from God's will, but there was going to be a price to pay.  An angel of the LORD was sent to stop Balaam.  The angel blocked the road with sword in hand.  This angel was not the floating on a cloud with wings and a harp picture popular in the world, this was a mighty soldier (heavenly host) of the LORD with sword out ready for battle.  This angel, sent by God, was ready to take care of business however it needed to play out, including killing Balaam.

Balaam's donkey had seen the angel and had gotten the message and continued to try to turn away from the road, only to receive a beating from Balaam.  When Balaam, who did not have the ability to see the angel, continued to press his donkey to drive forward, God, in His power, sovereignty, and most importantly, His mercy, opened the mouth of the donkey to speak to Balaam.

Here is an interesting couple of points to note.  The first point is Balaam had set out with his two servants.  Two witnesses are what were needed in the Hebrew courts, so this is not something that happened in isolation.  The second interesting point is that when Balaam's donkey had spoken, Balaam had engaged in a conversation with his donkey.

Imagine being either so fixated on something that you miss the incredible miracles that are happening right before your own eyes or so expectant of God to do miraculous things around you that supernatural events aren't a surprise to you.  I think, unfortunately, most people fall into the first category.  I would love to live a life that actually anticipated God to be working in astounding and miraculous ways so much to the point that when prayers were answered and His work unfolded I would not be in disbelief.

The story ends with God continuing to show mercy on Balaam by opening Balaam's eyes (spiritual sight) to be able to also see and also converse with the angel of the LORD.  You think the donkey talking would have slowed Balaam down and not actually led to a conversation with the animal; as if it were an every day occurrence.  In seeing the angel, Balaam finally falls on his face.  The angel admonishes Balaam for beating his donkey who was only trying to protect Balaam because the angel of the LORD had already decided that he would kill Balaam had he not stopped.  Balaam confesses his sin and repents.  Then Balaam is able to be put back into useful service for God once again.  

It makes me want to sit back and focus on what it is in my life that I am being so narrow focused on that I am missing God's work happening right in front of me.  God has shown that He desires us to use the gifts he has given to us for His purposes and not simply for our gains in this world.  God's will will be done.  God is patient with me, not wanting me (or anyone) to perish but come into repentance (2 Peter 3:9 NIV).  The trick is for me to not go off head strong into my plans and my ways, arguing with a donkey (and looking like a donkey myself).  I do pray God will open my eyes before it is too late, because if not, there is a penalty that will be paid for my willful rebellion.  Personally, I prefer to be on the repentance and blessing side and be able to be put into useful service for the Lord.

As Bad as Crack Cocaine

Here is a must read article about the epidemic of our times: Pornography and Women

This information and implications in this article are staggering.  One of the greatest dangerous is not only because it is so secretive and insidious, it is also skewing our perceptions of reality and relationships.  And if you understand anything about God, relationships are a HUGE deal to Him.  In fact, the term righteousness deals with being in a right relationship, no about good behavior.

The (Not So) Gospel Good News of Predestination

Whenever I hear of a different religion or religious point of view, I like to do some research so I can gain a better understanding of what it is that the people believe.  Of course, without long term study, I cannot give any faith a fair enough shake.  What I do find interesting, and I believe this is a fair generalization, most people don't understand what it is that they claim to be a believer in or follower of.  So from asking enough questions to just gain information, you can find the answers begin to run a little thin.  But what I find more troubling than just surface knowledge is when people don't understand the implications of what they believe.

For example, many Mormons may not know that the Mormon faith believes in many gods (polytheism) and not the one true God of the universe.  They believe that if you do what you are called to do in the faith, that you can actually become a god and have your own universe to create.  This is not something that is normally announced during an invitation time or alter call, "if you want to diminish the God of the universe and the sacrifice of Jesus and elevate yourself to be a god as the serpent promised Eve in Genesis 3, come on down and join the church."  It is something that is introduced over time in little bites.

So what I am interested in for the sake of this post is the implications of the concept of Predestination that people who are considered Five Point or Hyper-Calvinists hold to.  I am NOT trying to pick a fight or contribute to disunity.  I am certainly not trying to demean anyone and hope if there are any comments, that they are based on the desire to see truth brought to light and God glorified.  God is sovereign and He can do what He wants to with us.  As I mentioned above, in a limited time I can only gather so much about the concept.  There are a lot smarter people than I who have spent a lot more time with this than myself.  So far, I see that the concept to be a gray area that is causing confusion and distress in the body; two things that the Bible clearly speaks against.  My point will always be: What is the character of God and how does the entirety of His word match with that character.  I know people have expressed that Predestination is a beautiful thing.  I think that they are missing the implications of what they are believing.

The (Not so) Gospel Good News of Predestination
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the universe.  God created the world and man.  And it was good.


God had predestined that evil would be brought into the world through the serpent, once a great and beautiful creation that God had determined needed to be damned to an eternal hell that God created only for the serpent and the other angels that God would cause to want to rebel against Himself.  God needed a way to bring  the evil that He created into the world so that He could have a way of eternally damning and separating His creation from Him.  The woman and Adam were compelled to take of and eat of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  They had no choice.  If God had given them a choice, even though God would have been the one to have given the man and the woman the ability to choose, others would claim that God was not sovereign and then original Sin wouldn't have entered into the world.  If original sin didn't enter into the world, then God's sovereign plan from before time began to create and choose people to be forever damned into an eternal hell would not have taken place.  But since God is sovereign, Adam and Eve never had the free will to rebel against God's command and eat of the fruit.

Of course, the question would be, if Adam and Eve did NOT have free will to chose to accept the truth claim of God over the truth claim of the enemy, is it really sin?  Is it really rebellion if our actions are completely dictated by the Creator?  If you say that it is sin, and God is the one who pulled all the strings from His being sovereign, does that imply that God did the sinning or at the least that God created sin?  Does God tempt people and does God cause people to stumble and sin?

So, in Genesis 3, because of the fall of man, sin was made to enter into the world and all of creation was cursed.  But God had already made a way for His creation.  God spoke of the promise of the Seed, the coming of Jesus (God the Word in fleshly form as God the Son; fully God and fully man) who would come into the world to once and for all condemn all of those whom God had not chosen to be called His children.  Jesus would call to those whom the Father had given to Him and with His death on the cross, although able to redeem all of mankind and all of sin (past, present, and future) through this atonement, God chose that this mercy and justice would be conditional and limited to only those whom He was not condemning to an eternity in hell.


Jesus sent the disciples on the Great Commission, to go out into the world and be His witness to the condemnation that has befallen them.  For those whom God has chosen, they can become disciples, even if they didn't want to.  They can be forced by no act of their own will, love, and devotion to bring their praise and worship to the Father.  Since God loves a cheerful giver, then God will force certain people to cheerfully give.  The others who either do not give cheerfully, or do not give their full tithe, well, it is most probable that they are one of the condemned.  The witnesses will remind people that throughout their lives and their struggles, if they are not chosen, God is not their refuge.  God put the Spirit of the LORD on Him to leave the broken hearted unbound and to let the captive remain in captivity in this world and the one to come.


Here is the best part, no matter what you think you want or don't want, it doesn't matter.  It was predestined before time.  That confession, the repentance, the commitment, the surrender, it doesn't matter.  If you are not one of the elect, don't come to the cross, there just isn't room for you.