Sat.’s Devo - Balaam and Zechariah

Read: Numbers 22:21-23:30, Luke 1:57-80, Ps. 58:1-11, Pr. 11:12-13 The story of Balaam and his donkey has always been a fascinating story to me. God had already told Balaam not to go, but he kept asking God till finally God allowed him to go but he could only say what God told him to say. The part that gets me is the fact that the Balaam has a two-way conversation with his donkey like it was no big deal that his donkey was speaking. The fact that Balaam was a sorcerer makes me think that he had seen other weird things so this was not so mind-blowing to him. Balaam hit his donkey three times and had to bless Israel three times. It must have upset Balaam to have to bless Israel because he finally found a way to get back. He ended up teaching Israel to worship idols and led them into idolatry. This eventually turned God’s blessing into a curse. John the Baptist is born and Zechariah is released from his muteness when he wrote John’s name. When he is able to speak he belts out all the things God has showed him about this baby while he was silent. Zechariah and Balaam were both prophets that had fallen under God’s discipline but their hearts were different. Zechariah was a righteous true prophet and Balaam was a wicked false prophet. Zechariah brought Jesus’ predecessor into the world where Balaam led to Israel’s downfall. Lord, we say like the Psalms: “Surely the righteous are still rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.” You are our righteous judge and our reward.