Study in the Epistle of Jude # 55: Verse 11

by Chris McCann

EBible Fellowship (http://www.ebiblefellowship.com)

Welcome to the Electronic Bible Fellowship’s Bible study. We are continuing in the book of Numbers. We have been studying Jude, and we came to verse 11, which speaks of Balaam. This has directed us to Numbers 22, where we read of this unusual and strange account of Balaam and his donkey. Balaam is on the path to go to curse Israel, contrary to the will of God. God has set Himself as an adversary against Balaam, and He is ready to destroy him. Yet for God’s own purposes, He gives the donkey, the ass of Balaam, eyes to see the danger that lies ahead.

This ass has spiritual eyes to see. We are very confident that this ass is representing true believers, just as Exodus 13:13 indicates that the ass is used as a picture of the child of God when it says, “Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb.” That is pointing to believers. The blood of the lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, redeems us.

In Numbers 22:26, we read:

And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place…

We have seen that this word “narrow” can be translated as “tribulation.” In this particular context, it means that the road that Balaam is traveling on has indeed narrowed to the point that there is nowhere to turn—either to the right or to the left. Consequently, the rider, Balaam, must continue down the path that he has chosen. Yet the donkey, once again, sees the Angel of the Lord. We read in verse 27:

And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.

Now this is extremely unusual. This donkey was able to see God Himself. God is a Spirit (John 4:24), so the donkey must have had spiritual eyesight. God gave this animal the ability to see the Angel of the Lord, whereas Balaam could not. Balaam saw nothing ahead. He felt very sure of himself and the way that he was going. He thought that God was on his side and was pleased with him, yet that was the furthest thing from the truth.

The donkey finally falls down under Balaam because she cannot go aside as she did the previous two times. When the donkey turned into the field the first time, that was a picture of believers taking the Gospel to the world. When she turned to the wall the second time, again it was a picture of the believers in the churches and congregations who were going about the business of occupying with the Gospel until Christ comes. It was a picture of those who were taking that Gospel into the world, those who were building up the spiritual wall of the Kingdom of God by bringing a Gospel that saves individuals who are then added unto that wall.

However, now we have come to the point were God has advanced upon Balaam to a place where there is no way to turn right or left. The donkey has no avenue of escape. Spiritually, this indicates that the true believers in the churches no longer have an avenue to minister the Gospel to the world. In other words, we have come to the time of Great Tribulation when the testimony of the two witnesses is finished, as the ass falls down under Balaam.

Balaam’s anger is kindled and he smites the ass the third time with the staff. This language is pointing, in a figure, to the death of the donkey, even though in this case, the donkey does not die. It relates to Revelation 11, where we read of the two witnesses who minister the Gospel in the churches for a period of time. That time ends when Satan is loosed out of the bottomless pit and overcomes them (Revelation 11:7); then they are lying dead. Their dead bodies are lying in the street of that great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, for three and a half days (Revelation 11:8). This is just like the donkey, which for a short period of time is lying under the weight of Balaam as Balaam smites her with a staff.

Why does God give us this information that he has smitten the donkey with a staff? The staff has to do with the Word of God. In Psalm 23, we read this of the Good Shepherd: “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.” The Word of God is typified by the staff.

However, in Balaam’s case, the staff is not a source of comfort, but a means of affliction, as it is in the hands of anyone who, like Balaam, is a false prophet. Those who are unsaved in the churches and congregations take the Word of God and they do violence with it. They do violence to the Law so that it becomes a weapon in their hands, a destroying weapon whereby they can smite the true children of God with their false teachings and doctrines and gospels. They can cause the churches and congregations to go down the road that leads to destruction and become another kind of a gospel, where the blessing of God has left altogether. In this way, they have smitten the congregation with the staff, just as Balaam has an actual staff historically and he takes it and rears back and smites the donkey with it. This is happening all the time.

In Hosea 4:12, God uses the language of a staff. We read there:

My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

Here, the staff is declaring, because it is associated with the Word of God, which is to be declared. However, those who follow the way of Balaam make the declaration something that brings no source of comfort, no blessing, and no help in any sense. Rather, it brings true affliction, spiritually speaking, as the believers are driven out of the churches with these kinds of gospels. They no longer fit in with their particular congregation and they are asked to leave. “Why do you not move on and find a church that is more suitable for you and your strange beliefs?” This is what the leaders of the church say when they do not like the questions that the believers ask regarding the doctrines that they hold in the confessions and creeds that their denominations are particularly attached to.

Finally, those believers are driven out of the congregation. John 16 verse 2 indicates that when someone is driven out of the synagogue, they are spiritually being killed. (Being driven out of the synagogue is the same thing as being driven out of the church—the synagogue is the Old Testament church.) It is killing them as Balaam is smiting the ass with a staff. The unsaved in the churches have now risen up against the saved because it is the time of the Great Tribulation.

We go on to read in Numbers 22:28:

And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

One thing we know about this donkey is that she had never talked previously. She had never said anything before because she was a donkey. She was an animal, and animals do not have the ability to talk as mankind does. God has not gifted them in the same way that He has gifted man. Perhaps there are a few types of birds that can mimic certain sounds and speak a few words after being trained, but that is about the limit of the animal kingdom’s ability to speak. God is certainly performing a miracle here as we read this:

And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

This is an incredible thing. Never in the history of the world, as far as I am aware and as far as what the Bible relates to us, do we read that an animal was able to talk. This is most unusual. God is telling us that this animal was a dumb animal—that is what someone is when they cannot talk or speak.

There are individuals who are born with these kinds of afflictions in which they cannot hear or they cannot speak. We have some instances in the New Testament where Jesus went about healing; He would cause the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. A man who had never spoken could speak normally and plainly.

This is spiritually pointing to someone who was an unsaved sinner. Once they do become saved, they are able to speak the words of the Kingdom of God, just as everything that Christ did in His healings pointed to salvation. When the blind was made to see, it was pointing to spiritual eyesight. When the dead were raised to life, it was pointing to the salvation of the dead soul. Therefore, we know that when God caused the dumb to speak, it was a matter of salvation; it was a healing that pointed to salvation. So it is with this donkey. This donkey could not speak; she was dumb. That is what we read in 2 Peter 2:15-16, which says:

Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

God makes a point of letting us know that this donkey was dumb; it was a dumb animal. God uses the word “dumb” when He indicates that He is now causing the dumb to speak. That is what He does with all true believers. All true believers are dumb, and then they are given the ability to speak by God. Likewise, God is opening the mouth of this donkey.

The timing of God causing this donkey to speak is also significant. We saw that this donkey represents the true believers. She is on the pathway that Balaam is traveling in order to curse Israel. As the donkey went into the field and into the wall, she was a type of the believers. Yet it is only now, when finally there is nowhere to turn left or right (which we have seen is pointing to the time of Great Tribulation) that the Lord opens the mouth of the ass so that she can speak to Balaam.

We see something that I think relates to this in Psalm 39:1-4. It says there:

I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.

Here we see that the Psalmist, who is writing under the inspiration of God, is saying that he was dumb for a period of time while the wicked was before him, then the Lord opened his mouth and caused him to speak. The next thing we read is that he might know his end. God has given us a lot of Biblical evidence that tells us that once we get to the time of the end, once we reach the final stage of earth’s history known as the Great Tribulation period, many Scriptures and many passages of the Bible dealing with end-time events will be opened up. Yet prior to this, the believers were not able to declare these things, at least not soundly and confidently. They were not able to share the truths related to the end to such a degree, as they will be able to once God opens up the Scriptures. Daniel 12:4 clearly lays this out. We read there:

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words…

Saying, “Shut up the words,” is like saying, “Be thou dumb.” It is as if someone’s mouth is shut up—they are not to speak these words. God, in a real sense, has caused His people to be dumb concerning end-time events. They simply did not have the proper knowledge. The verse continues:

…shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

God implies that it is at the time of the end when He will unseal the book and open up the understanding of His people. At that time, He will increase their knowledge and cause them to speak and declare these things. In other words, the Lord will open up the mouths of the true believers once we reach the time of Great Tribulation.

In Luke 21, we see a verse that relates to this. Luke 21 is a chapter dealing with the Great Tribulation and the end of the world. It is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24 or Mark 13, where Christ is also answering the disciples’ question, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” In answering, Christ says in verses 14-15:

Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

God is going to give His people a mouth and wisdom to speak and declare and send forth the Word of God to the churches and the world. They will speak regarding the end of the Church Age and the end of the testimony of the two witnesses. They will declare that the Holy Spirit has left the churches and has come out of the midst of them, and that Satan’s spirit has entered in. God will put these words into the mouths of His people.

This is what He says to Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 1. Jeremiah is a book that is primarily dealing with the judgment of God upon the church during the time of Great Tribulation. We read in Jeremiah 1:9:

Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

This is what God was telling us in Numbers 22 with the donkey, which typifies the true believers. Balaam’s donkey has been yoked with Balaam in a real way. Balaam has had the superior position upon the donkey. He has directed the course of the donkey from time to time by steering her down wrong roads and frightful paths. However, there comes a point when the donkey will not go any further. She sees the Angel of the Lord and the judgment of God. She sees that God is waiting to destroy any that travel down that path, and she falls down and refuses to go any farther. They have traveled together for quite a distance, but now, there is an end to their relationship. The time has come where the donkey simply cannot go any further with Balaam. The Lord opens the mouth of the ass and she says unto Balaam, “What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?”

Then we read in verse 29:

And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

We see Balaam’s intent. We see that, in a figure, he has slain the donkey. This is all according to God’s purpose, and that is why there is an emphasis upon the “three times”—the number three is a number that points to the purpose of God.

Then verse 30 says:

And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.

The donkey is testifying to her innocence. She is telling Balaam how faithful a donkey she has been and how obedient she has been to Balaam previously. In all the days of their riding together, in all their journeys, the donkey was a faithful donkey. Balaam could rely upon her and trust her; she was never one to rebel against her master.

The picture here is that the true believers were never one to rebel against the proper church authority. They were commanded to not forsake the gathering of themselves together (Hebrews 10:25). They gave respect unto the leadership in the church—the elders the deacons and the pastor. They knew that God required them to meet together in the church during the Church Age, and they therefore went despite the false doctrines and the many things they saw that were not correct. They went obediently. Politely and very submissively, they perhaps came to the authority of the church pointing out some errors by raising questions related to Scripture. They were very much law-abiding members of the churches and congregations and some of the most faithful members of the church. They had a great and strong desire to do things God’s way as God was impressing it upon their hearts.

This is what the donkey is saying. She is saying, “Now Balaam, look at my character. Look at the history of our relationship and you will see that I am not a rebellious creature.” True believers are saying the very same thing today to those that are in the churches. “We have gone along. We have congregated in the churches and congregations faithfully up until now. We have sat under your teaching. Even though we have disagreed doctrinally on some things, we knew that we were to gather together. Therefore, we have submitted to the authority of the church and to the discipline of the church and to everything that God had established within the churches.”

It was never our place to usurp the authority of the pastor or the elder or the deacon during the Church Age. However, now we have come to the point where we can see with the spiritual eyes that God has given us that the Angel of the Lord is standing there with His sword drawn in His hand. This is the sword that God warns about in Ezekiel 3. Later on, in Ezekiel 33, God is speaking to the watchman who sees the sword coming upon the land and telling him that he must warn the wicked that the sword is about to come. Only the one who is given spiritual eyesight will see that sword.

We see the judgment of God about to fall. It has come down upon the churches and congregations of the world and we cannot go any farther. We cannot travel this path any longer; our testimony is now finished. This is not our will—God is working these things out. He is the One who has given us the eyes to see this. He is the One who is now opening up our mouths to declare these things.