"23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse[c] before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35 And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak."
Numbers 22:23-35
The circumstances of Balaam's double-mindedness being as they were, it was inevitable that a divine confrontation should take place, and it is this that forms the substance of these verses. There were, it seems, two elements in that confrontation: on the one hand, it was the expression of the divine anger (this is the force of 'adversary' in 22) against Balaam for what he was intent on doing. On the other hand, it was designed to restrain him from advancing further on a road that was inevitably to lead him headlong into disaster. The impressive and frightening thing, however, is that although Balaam's ass could 'see' the angel (the animal's reaction to the sense of the supernatural is entirely convincing, in this regard). Balaam himself remained entirely unaware of the angel's presence until he was abruptly brought to his senses by the speaking of the animal (another supernatural and miraculous manifestation). One feels for the ass in this story clearly terrified as it was by the presence of the angel, on the one hand, and harassed and illtreated by Balaam on the other. It was, as we say, caught between two fires. As such, it represents the suffering brought upon the entirely innocent by those who are out of joint and at odds with God. The blight that unconsecrated lives inevitably spread all around them is one of the uglier and more shameful aspects of sin.