There are many things people don’t know about the Bible.

This is due to the major lack of thorough teaching and education of biblical literacy in our world. Similar to how many people are scared to talk about their vulnerabilities and mistakes, many have overlooked the challenging moments and weaknesses of people in the Bible. Yet, if we really looked into these biblical figures in their hard times, we would learn a lot from the Lord.

Let us consider a few.

Did you know…

• Jesus became furious with some falsely religious people and started flipping tables over their fake religion
• Abraham was scared and called his wife his sister to protect himself in a difficult situation
• Rahab, a prostitute, is an ancestor of Jesus Christ after lying about some Israelite spies being in her home

For any honest Bible student, this stuff is sobering, but common knowledge. On the other hand, to those who haven’t thoroughly read and studied the Bible, some of these might come as a shock.

For example, here’s one of the weirdest things most people don’t know about the Bible:

A talking donkey corrects a corrupt prophet.

This is not Shrek stuff – it’s recorded in Jewish history. Here’s the story:

In Numbers 22, the story begins with how the nation of Israel had an enemy named Balak, who led the nation of Moab. Balak wanted to conquer the nation of Israel and attempts to hire the corrupt prophet, Balaam, in order to know secrets about Israel. Balaam knew how to hear God’s voice but also had his own carnal ambitions.

In this, Balaam gets bribed and begins to collaborate with God’s enemy. Balaam repeatedly ignores God trying to get His attention so God sends an angel to block Balaam’s path and Balaam refuses to pay attention to what God is doing.

So the Lord has a talking donkey trying to slow Balaam down from conspiring with Balak and Moab.

Wild, right?!

This story shows us how bizarre some situations must become in order for God to get our attention. We need to wake up to how detrimental and destructive our own carnal ambitions can be in our relationship with God.

We sometimes use God and His gifts and blessings upon our lives for our own gain and neglect the deeper levels of obedience that the Lord is wanting to produce in our lives. Since the flesh is a really deceiving nature that we face, we must combat and conquer it every single day. When it comes to our own lives and others, we cannot be fooled by the anointing that God may place upon us. We must press on to the deeper levels of obedience that the Lord calls us to, in public and private. It is through this greater commitment that we rise above the temptation to be like Balaam, who was gifted but carnal.

There may be a mighty ministry that God has given us, but we must also bear the meek nature of the Lord Jesus in becoming less in our flesh, and more in His Spirit. The Bible warns us in 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation to not bear the way, error, and doctrine of Balaam in the last days.

It is a strong message that we see from the Word of God in the Old and New Testaments that the mindset and example of Balaam ought to be rejected.

If we ever take the path or have taken the path of Balaam, we force God to use greater measures of getting our attention.

As wild as it sounds, let us not become so consistently carnal that God has to use absurd situations like a talking donkey to get our attention. If we were honest, we could look back at situations in our life that got so bad and painful but produced repentance in our hearts. Let us humble ourselves to seek the Lord and not become hardened to His voice.

Let there be less of us and more of Him!

Hector Robles hosts a podcast and bible study channel by the name of Sparrow.Podcast. On a weekly basis, you can find new content regarding the Bible and ministry. He lives and works as an engineer in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Savannah and they gladly serve at Calvary Apostolic Church.

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