When The Donkey Starts To Talk | Numbers 22

Season 2 | When The Donkey Starts To Talk | Numbers 22

Some stories are just so odd that it's just easier to ignore them and move on...why try to make sense of something or try to understand a spiritual truth about something that can't possibly be real?! 

In Numbers 22, the people of Israel are on the verge of entering the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness. A neighboring king gets nervous as they approach so he hires a guy named Balaam, who is able to see visions and give prophecies, to go scare Israel away. God tells Balaam not to go, but he eventually goes anyway. On the way, the path gets narrower and narrower...and the donkey sees the angel of the Lord. The donkey avoids the angel, but Balaam (who can't see the angel) strikes the donkey on three separate occasions. At this point the Lord speaks to Balaam through the donkey! 

Are we listening for what God has for us? Are we heading down a path that God might have warned us about, but we just don't seem to be getting the message? Are there donkeys in our lives that are trying to point us in the right direction? 

This is a passage about discernment!

Also...We put the 'explicit' designation on this podcast because we use the term 'ass' to refer to the donkey. This was done based on the translation we used. We didn't want to get into trouble...hence the label. We also wanted to catch your attention in case you listen to this in the presence of younger ears and aren't ready to explain how a donkey had a different name back in the day...or why Lisa seems to have a potty mouth!

___

This podcast is a partnership between 40 Orchards and Processing Faith…

40 Orchards, with Steph and Lisa, invites people to wrestle through Biblical texts using the ancient Jewish concepts of midrash.

In a 40 Orchards study, every question is safe, everyone is welcome, and every voice is valued. We believe there’s room for all of us. No person and no question is off limits—because we know that together we can expand each other’s experience of what is sacred, whole, and good. 

You can learn more about 40 Orchards and sign-up for a study by going to 40orchards.org.

Processing Faith is a space created by Jason Steffenhagen for people to do exactly that…process their faith. It’s not one thing…but more like a good recipe. It’s like 1 part pastoral care, 1 part theological exploration, and 1 part wrestling with all the questions. 

You can learn more about Processing Faith and sign-up for a free 45 min session by going to processingfaith.com.