When Donkeys and Horses Get Voices
When an old workhorse will no longer cower before or acquiesce to an evil and cruel master no matter how much that master bullies, berates, beats, brutalizes, threatens, terrorizes, and assaults that old horse, look out. That may very well be a sign that old workhorse was never the cruel master's to master. The true master, the master of both the abused and the abuser is returning and judgement against the wicked, that imposter, fraud, crook, that coward of a human has begun. And yet, all is not lost for the wicked. The real master will give a voice to that old workhorse, a voice to say, “enough”, a voice to say "repent"! Will the wicked relent from their wicked schemes? In time we shall see. Moral of the story, when donkeys and horses find their voices, ancient masters must tune their ears to listen, to hear, renounce their wicked past, and move in the direction towards what is right. All who have ears, let them hear.
This thought is inspired by a story in Hebrew Bible in the book of Numbers (Hebrew- Bemidbar or In the Wilderness). The story goes something like this:
A wicked man, rode his donkey on his way to commit a wicked act. Two of his servants followed alongside him. On the way, the donkey saw an angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in hand. In seeing this and fearing God, the donkey turned off the road and went into a field. The wicked man’s spiritual eyes were so tightly shut, he could not see the angel. He beat that donkey mercilessly, trying to get it back onto the path towards wickedness and destruction and in opposition to God.
Beaten, the donkey continued and once again, the angel blocked their path. This time, after having been beat so badly by the wicked man, the donkey tried to walk a “middle path”—it tried to obey its master, the wicked man, by bypassing the angel with its sword drawn. To do this it had to squeeze up against the side of a wall so as not to touch the angel. In doing this, the wicked man’s foot scraped against the wall. That wicked man he beat and terrorized the donkey a second time.
After this, both donkey and man pressed on. The angel went ahead of them again and this time, blocked their way entirely so that they couldn’t pass. The donkey, seeing the angel blocking the path entirely, came to a complete stop in the middle of the path and laid down. That wicked man was now incensed! He got so angry, he bludgeoned the donkey with a stick.
The abuse to this donkey was so intense, and the wickedness of the wicked man so great, God intervened. First, God gave the donkey a voice with which to speak, communicate, and reason with this wicked man. The donkey said to the wicked man, “What have I done to you, that you have beat me, abused me, assaulted me these three times?” The man said to the donkey, “YOU are making ME look like a fool! If I had a sword I would kill you right now!”
The conversation between the man and the donkey going no-where, God intervened yet again and opened the wicked man’s eyes so he saw the nature of his spiritual reality. He finally saw the angel of the Lord, sword drawn, ready to end him. This wicked man had not realized that he was standing on the precipice of his own demise. It is here, finally, that the wicked man relented, bowing down, falling on his face.
This time it was the angel who spoke and asked him, “Why have you beat, abused, and assaulted your donkey these three times? I have come as an adversary to you because your way is wicked and perverse. The donkey saw me, and turned away these three times. If it had not turned away, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live.”
Again, when donkeys and horses find their voices, listen, hear, renounce your wicked past, and move in the direction towards what is right. All who have ears, let them hear.
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