{"id":30645,"date":"2015-12-13T11:20:29","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T16:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/?p=30645"},"modified":"2015-12-13T11:20:29","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T16:20:29","slug":"sunday-wtf-49","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2015\/12\/13\/sunday-wtf-49\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday WTF?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Numbers 22:21-34<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as his adversary.<\/p>\n

\"Balaam\"<\/a>Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; so the donkey turned off the road, and went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn it back on to the road. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it scraped against the wall, and scraped Balaam\u2019s foot against the wall; so he struck it again. 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. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam; and Balaam\u2019s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff.<\/p>\n

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, \u201cWhat have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?\u201d<\/p>\n

Balaam said to the donkey, \u201cBecause you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!\u201d<\/p>\n

But the donkey said to Balaam, \u201cAm I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you in this way?\u201d<\/p>\n

And he said, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed down, falling on his face.<\/p>\n

The angel of the Lord said to him, \u201cWhy have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me, and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely I would by now have killed you and let it live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, \u201cI have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now therefore, if it is displeasing to you, I will return home.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times? … Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you in this way?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[68],"class_list":["post-30645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-sunday"],"yoast_head":"\nSunday WTF?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times? ... Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? 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Jesus loves Fred far more than Fred loves Jesus, but he at least has the decency to recognize the unfairness of that lopsided relationship and he has long wished that he were better at maybe kind of sort of doing something more to correct that some day. A Baptist, an amateur, a Gen-Xer, a Gemini and a Mets fan, Fred lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and two teenage daughters. 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