i was 9 ...n the thought of a donkey talkin ...was hilarious and it was in the bible...i got to that part and said hol up...reread it 5 or 6 times...closed the book then went right back to it again...Numbers 22 requires you to think in non-traditional ways
in fact the entire book of Numbers is like that and is a judgment on greater spiritual Israel when they "Numbered" the people IE gave them names
Shemot(Names) is the other name for Exodus in Hebrew
Put it like this to understand the scene you have to understand three major plot devices
Balak wants Balaam to curse Israel because he says who Balaam curses is cursed and who he blesses is blessed. Its a logical battle that is incredibly hard to understand, but the imagery of Balaam on the Donkey and Jesus on the Donkey are linked because of the nature of the donkey. Remember the anger of God was kindled when Balaam chose to follow the Elders of Moab and his angel went out to meet him in several places where Balaam was "passing"
- Balaam who the story is about (whos name means Swallower of the People)
- Balak and the Elders of Moab who worshipped Chemosh (and sacrificed their children). These are the descendants of Lot (Veil) and can be thought of as stories that do not repeat or are not protected
- The idea of entities other than God putting words in your mouth
Genesis 49:14-16
In the land of Canaan only the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are "guaranteed"
this is in contrast to ideas like ancestor worship and bronze age polytheism. Balaam is regarded as a sorcerer who follows the people of Israel
..it was lowkey a generational thing... my great granddad did it to my granddad granddad did it to my dad... granddad n great granddad .. decided to do it to me before my dad it ......i did it to my sons ...
it was a funny test to get us to see if the preachers knew their bible...out of all the preachers.. my kids preachers knew it...the one in texas and the 2nd youngest in tacoma..... hell their preachers knew who exactly phoebe was...and their churchs had female decons too...
i never got around to askin my parents preachers.. because lowkey we stop goin...
everybody got a kick out of it ....donkey ... their preachers reacted entirely different vs the ones i had.... ..they cracked up
@JoelB