VBS Class 1 - The Donkey in the Bible

Quick Facts:

Donkeys appear 154 times in the Bible!

Men like Abraham and Job in the Bible were rich — They measured their riches (in part) because they had a lot of animals, including sheep, oxen, camels, and donkeys.

Exo. 20:17 is the last of the Ten Commandments, and it says: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Deut. 22:10 - God told His people not to plow with an ox and a donkey together.

Why do you think that might have been?

(Maybe because the donkey and the ox would fight and hurt each other.)

Sampson (one of God’s judges) killed 1000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey!

Feedback: How Could Samson Kill 1,000 Men with the Jawbone of a Donkey? | Answers in Genesis

In the Bible book of Numbers, we read about a talking donkey! (We will learn about that some more in a little bit!)

Sometimes in Bible times, kings rode donkeys (2 Sam. 16:2)!

One time, there was a famine in Samaria that was so bad that people paid a lot of money just for a donkey’s head to eat (2 Kings 6:25).

The prophet Isaiah once described a vision of a chariot of horses, a chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels (Isa. 21:7).

King Nebuchadnessar in the Bible one time was made to look like an animal and to go live with donkeys and eat grass like oxen! (Dan. 5:21)

Jesus in Zech. 9:9 was prophesied to enter Jerusalem, riding the colt of a donkey (Matt. 21:5)

Bible Texts:

Baalam’s Donkey:

In the Old Testament book of Numbers, there was a wicked King by the name of Balak.

Balak was the King of Moab, and he did not like God’s people, the Israelites.

He did not like that the Israelites were traveling through his area after they left Egypt.

He wanted to curse the Israelites, so he asked a prophet named Balaam to curse them.

(Read Num. 22:1-6).

Did Balaam agree to curse God’s people? Is this something that he wanted to do?

You have to keep reading in God’s Word to find out!

In this story, we are going to read something very funny that happened to Balaam during this time!

Num. 22:8 - Balaam told the elders of Moab and Midian that he would see what God would tell him about this situation.

Num. 22:12 - God told Balaam - “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

Num. 22:13 - Balaam told the princes of Balaam: “The Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.”

At this point, do you think Balaam WANTED to go with Balak to curse God’s people? (Yes or No?)

Num. 22:15 - Wicked King Balak sent even more princes to talk to Balaam.

Num. 22:16-17 - Balak’s message to Balaam was: “Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.”

What do you think wicked King Balak was trying to do?

(Bribe Balaam to curse God’s people).

Num. 22:18 - Balaam told wicked King Balak: “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.”

At this point, do you think Balaam was a good guy or a bad guy? (Good or bad?)

Num. 22:19-21 - Balaam told the princes to stay the night with him, and he would see what God would tell him to do.

God told Balaam to go with the princes to Balak, but only speak what God told him to speak.

Balama arose and saddled his donkey in the morning and went with the princes of Moab.

This is where the story gets funny!

Num. 22:22 - God was angry with Balaam, and the Angel of the Lord stood in his way as he was riding his donkey!

Num. 22:23 - “Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.”

Num. 22:24 - “Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.”

Num. 22:25-27 - “And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.”

What will happen next?!

Num. 22:28 - “Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey (God made the donkey talk!), and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

How do you think Balaam will respond to this talking donkey?! (Let kids respond).

Num. 22:29 “And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!””

Yikes! Balaam wasn’t being very nice to his donkey, huh?

(As a side note, the Bible says that people are supposed to treat their animals well — Prov. 12:10 says, “A righteous man regards the life of his animal ...”)

Num. 22:30 the Donkey and Balaam talk some more! - “So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.””

In the next few verses (Num. 22:31-33) we learn that Balaam then saw the angel of the Lord, and the angel of the Lord told Balaam that he was standing in his way because of Balaam’s sin!

The angel of the Lord then told Balaam that the donkey basically saved Balaam’s life!

Is this the end of the story for Balaam? (No)

Balaam ended up going to see wicked King Balak.

Balak tried to get Balaam to curse God’s people. But you know what happened instead?

Balaam blessed God’s people! (Num. 23:7-12)

Old Wicked King Balak wasn’t done though; he tried to get Balaam to curse God’s people again!

Again, Balaam just gave God’s people another blessing! (Num. 23:18-26)

Balaam told Balak: “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do?’”

At this point, do you think Balaam was a good prophet or a bad porphet? (Let kids respond).

Old Wicked King Balak tried to get Balaam to curse Israel a 3rd time!

Do you think it would work? Do you think Balaam cursed Israel? (Let kids respond).

Well, for a 3rd time, Balaam just blessed Israel, rather than curse them! (Num. 24:3-9)

But Balaam wasn’t done!

Balaam blessed Israel one more time, and cursed some other nations, including wicked King Balak’s nation, Moab (Num. 24:15-25)!

Do you think Balaam was a good prophet?

Well, we might think that Balaam was good since he kept blessing God’s people, but unfortunately Balaam was actually a bad guy …

You see, Balaam couldn’t figure out a way to curse God’s people …

But if you keep reading, Balaam actually did convince the Israelites to bring a curse UPON THEMSELVES.

They brought a curse upon themselves because they started commiting a bunch of sins with the Moabites.

We know that it was Balaam that taught them to sin because:

2 Peter 2:15 tells us that Balaam “loved the wages of unrighteousness.”

So evidently Balaam DID eventually get paid by Balak when Balaam figured out he could get God’s people to bring a curse upon themselves when they sinned!

2 Peter 2:16 reminds us that Balaam “was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.”

And that reminds us of our funny story about a talking donkey!

Another story about a donkey in the Bible …

Jesus Riding the Colt of a Donkey:

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Review Questions:

Songs:

“God Made All the Animals” - Song "God made all the animals" Children's Music Video - YouTube

Games:

Pin the Tail on Balaam’s Donkey

Donkey Mask to order: Masquerade Halloween Scary Donkey Latex Mask Novelty Full hood Head Costume Prop | eBay