Monday, June 20,
2022
WHY WE CAN’T SEE ANGELS!
Num 22:21-33
21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled
his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
22 And God's anger was kindled because he
went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him.
Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
23 And the ass saw the angel of the Lord
standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned
aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass,
to turn her into the way.
24 But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of
the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
25 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord,
she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against
the wall: and he smote her again.
26 And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place,
where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
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.
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?
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.
30 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.
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and
he saw the angel of the Lord standing in
the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and
fell flat on his face.
32 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten
thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because
thy way is perverse before me:
33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me
these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee,
and saved her alive.
There is something
inside all of us, I
think, that would like to see an angel. We would love to have confirmation that
they exist because their existence would confirm every other
truth of Scripture. Perhaps that is the reason they keep themselves either invisible
or disguised. God wants us to believe by faith.
In our story today, Balaam was being recruited by the
enemy to curse Israel. They offered him status and money. Balaam tried
to find a way to accommodate them while remaining associated with the God of
Israel. It was not possible. While on his way with the enemy, an angel stood in
his way. Balaam didn’t see the angel but his simple animal upon which he rode
did. So, what should we do if we see an angel standing in our way?
The ass stopped! Stopping is always a good idea. Standing
still makes it possible to either gain insight or to curtail error.
We can focus on whatever the angel has to say to us.
The ass changed
direction! Balaam’s
beast understood that a change was needed. Sometimes we are so
focused on what we want to do and where we want to go that we fail to realize
that we are on the wrong path. God loves us enough to turn us aside. When we change
direction, it may harm or frustrate others. Balaam’s foot was smashed against the
wall, but he still did not see the angel. All he saw was an unwanted change in
direction and he reacted to that with violence.
The ass fell down! We may ultimately need to resign our duties
if we are being driven by one who does not see! It is better to do that than to
keep walking in a wrong direction. Those who do not see may react to us with hostility.
Finally, the ass
spoke! The most
amazing thing is that Balaam did not seem to find this strange. Instead, he
carried on a conversation as if it were the most natural thing. Because of the
testimony of his ass, Balaam also saw and heard the angel, and we learn
why he could not see. Verse 32 says: “because thy way is perverse before
me.”
Angels are ministering
spirits sent to
help us along our way. Most often they are invisible while they rearrange
circumstances and sometimes, they are disguised as non-heavenly beings.
Heb 1:14
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Heb 13:2
2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for
thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Dear Lord, let me carefully observe the
strangers and helpers you send to me today because I may be entertaining
angels. AMEN
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