Wacky Bible Stories 2

A forgetful deity, a talking donkey, and an over complicated plan.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• wacky
• bible
• stories
• christian
• jesus
• god
• atheist
• agnostic
• azsuperman

[slicingwater]

I think I Know which fairy tale Donkey from Shrek comes from now.

[azsuperman01]

@slicingwater That's funny, because I thought the same thing the first time I saw Shrek!

[Jesrael1986M]

As a Christian, I agree with you that this story is REALLY wacky, but somehow that only seems to add to the beauty of the Scriptures. If everything in the Bible was neat and 'pat' I would really doubt if God was the author. For me this "quirkiness" seems to add to its "truthiness". Real thing are messy,quirky, not what we would have expected.

As for the "talking animal", if it is a "fairy tale", why is the concept never again used in all of the scriptures? It happened once-ONLY once.

[azsuperman01]

Jesrael1986M - If wacky talking animal stories "add to the truthiness" of the Bible, what would take away from the "truthiness?"

If the Bible is a storybook of fables, what would prove it to you?

[Varien123]

"Hate filled atheists spewing their acid"? Tell me, what part of what he said.. is not true? Seriously man, open your damn eyes. You get a good point shoved in your face, and you just blow it off. Tell me whos the idiot.

[heathdwatts]

That was a good one. The "god" of the bible is a completely insane, maniacal bastard.

"Gods are to morality, as toilets are to food."

[omegahillproduction]

As you can see, God put both Balak and Balaam through the fire. He gave Balaam mulitple opportunities to be obedient and stand on His word. Then he gave Balak an opportunity to be obedient and understand that he could neither curse nor defeat those whom God called blessed and victorious. The donkey speaking was merely to get Balaam to wake up to the sin of covetousness and greed which he'd committed in his heart by desiring Balak's prizes over the Word of God.

[omegahillproduction]

...those who curse you be cursed!" (Num 24:9b) And so Balaam blessed the Israelite people three times. So Balak ordered him to go home with none of the financial compensation promised him. Now Balaam responds by saying even if you gave me all your silver and gold, I can do nothing but what the Lord commands. And then Balaam delivers a prophecy of Yeshwah the Messiah (Num 24:17, cross reference Mt. 2:2) and a second message about the coming victory over Amelek. So...

[omegahillproduction]

was trying to buy off the Lord God against his people. Instead of obeying Him, seeking Him or trusting Him, Balak tried to turn to divination and bribery and brought Balaam down with Him. They tried this bribery 5 times, and each time the Lord gave Balaam a message for Balak. "God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind...I have received a command to bless, he has blessed, and I cannot change it."(Num 23:19-20) "May those who bless you be blessed, and...

[omegahillproduction]

"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. (1 Sam 15:22) But this was already told to us in the story of Cain and Abel: "In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering," (Gen 4:4) So Balak...

[omegahillproduction]

Now, about the claim that God never sent him another message, that is false. In fact, God inherently delivers this very same message to Balak that Balaam should have given to the first group of messengers: "Don't put a curse on those people because they are blessed." (Num 22:12); "How can I curse whose whom God has not cursed?" (Num 23:8)

But this message wasn't good enough for Balak. See Balak was determined to appease God with sacrifices because he rejected God's word...

[omegahillproduction]

creatures and creations that are made to praise the Lord. Simply put however, the animals have no choice but to do as God commands. Free will is a right extended only to people. So, if by his very nature, God would cause a sheep to get Moses' attention, or the stones and woodwork of a house to obey Him, if we wanted to get Balaam's attention, who'd been driven mad by money and inconveniences (2 Peter 2:16), then yes, he could and would make a donkey talk, or appear to Balaam as doing so.

[omegahillproduction]

God made Balaam to hear the his donkey that could see the Angel to which Balaam had made himself blind. But God will try to reach people even if the animals or rocks have to do the speaking: "You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it." Habakkuk 2:10-11; "“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”" Luke 19:40; Psalm 148 tells of all the...

[omegahillproduction]

He WANTED to take that money. God doesn't violate our free will, but he WILL allow any path that we choose against him to be more difficult, and sometimes blocked.

He says, "since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done." Romans 1:28 and Genesis 6:5 "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."...