The donkey is related to the horse but not related when it comes to some redeeming qualities. The donkey is not too brave. It is stupid. It is stubborn. It is lazy. A donkey will attempt to mate with anything! In these verses the donkey is taken as representative of all those unclean animals that cannot be used as a sacrifice of their first-born male.

1 – The Unredeemed Donkey (2 Chronicles 30:8-9)

If the donkey is not redeemed then its neck is to be broken. The unredeemed donkey is a type of the first born sinner who has not been redeemed by blood. Jesus tells us that we must be “born-again” by the covering of the blood of Jesus Christ by faith. God’s wrath will be poured on the unredeemed donkey. The lamb has to die for the donkey or the donkey dies! God will not wink His eye and look the other way. Those that reject the gospel will die. See Exodus 32:9-10, Jeremiah 19:15 and Proverbs 29:1. It is their stubbornness that will kill them. The stiff neck will be broken by God! There is no way out of hell so you need to make sure that you don’t get there!

I remember when I saw the biggest jackass ever and then I noticed in the mirror it looked like me! There are those who may remember their lives as unredeemed donkeys. That is cowardly, stupid, stubborn, lazy and immoral. Not all of these but some. No matter. A broken neck was what you have awaiting you!

2 – The Redeemed Donkey

What happens when a jackass is redeemed by the lamb?

The witness of Balaam’s donkey – See Numbers 22:1-35 & 2 Peter 2:15-17. A redeemed donkey is always better than a mad prophet! Balaam has gone astray and into falsehood. There are those in the Church today who have left the service of the Lord in their madness. Why have they done it? Like Balaam it is often for the money. Mammon is their God. See Revelation 2:14. The teaching of Balaam is dangerous. It compromises and mixes together everything. Why were the Irish government and every bishop in Ireland protecting the paedophile priests? Even an unredeemed jackass has more sense! Notice this redeemed donkey is very different from an unredeemed jackass.

• The donkey is allowed to speak. The unredeemed donkey goes “Hee-haw”! God gave this donkey the supernatural ability to say what was on his mind! The Lord gets the hold of the jawbone of an ass and he speaks. Balaam had been giving him a beating. What had he done to deserve it? The redeemed donkey is willing to bear the suffering of Christ. The redeemed donkey is able to speak sense – even God’s word to those that need it.
• The donkey was a good employee. The redeemed donkey saw what Balaam could not initially see – the Angel of the Lord. The Angel of the Lord would have killed Balaam and let the donkey live! Three times the donkey saved Balaam and three times the donkey was beaten. The donkey stayed faithful. Those who are not saved will eventually come to a place where they cannot escape and Christ will be angry with a sword in His hand!
• The donkey was brave. God will save the redeemed donkey and break the neck of Balaam. The donkey risks its life to save Balaam from certain death. The anger for our sin must be poured out on the lamb. This donkey is as brave as a horse.
• The donkey is industrious. A lazy animal has become a hard worker for the Lord. A redeemed donkey will always see the Lord. No one else could see the Lord until God showed it to Balaam. When talking to the unsaved, you are in affect talking to a jackass! The whole human race is this naturally from birth. They are stubborn, spiritually lazy, stupid about the things of God and fearful.
• The donkey shows others to the Lord. The donkey causes others to see the Lord. The unredeemed donkey gets destroyed like everyone else.
• The donkey becomes a carrier of God’s salvation. See Zechariah 9:9 & Matthew 21:5. The people ran out to see the donkey carrying Jesus in fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy. The people are crying out to Jesus, not the donkey. The donkey is bringing Jesus to the people. The people are crying out for Jesus to save them. This donkey was redeemed by a lamb.

How many people can say “I was a jackass” but now I’m redeemed by the sacrifice of the lamb. You can’t be redeemed unless you admit it! Don’t get you neck broke! You can’t save yourself. A donkey needs to be redeemed by the lamb. Don’t be a jackass. Listen to the advice of one jackass to another one. The unredeemed donkey experiences God’s justice. The redeemed donkey one will see God. Which one do you want to be?

Categories: Exodus