#3: Balaam

26 Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room 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 he was angry and beat her with his staff. 28 Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

29 Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."

30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"
"No," he said.

31 Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

Numbers 22:26-31

Now, I'm not quite sure what Balaam was thinking, but if my donkey started talking to me, I'm pretty sure my first reaction wouldn't be to threaten it. I would probably try to run away...but maybe that's just me. I just don't understand why he argues with it! If he is gonna stick it out and have a conversation with his donkey, why would he be mean to it? Even if he didn't know God was the reason it could speak, common sense says he should be a little bit worried in this senario. This whole story is crazy (and by "crazy", I mean "stinkin sweet"), but I think the most ridiculous part is that he would threaten this talking animal. Seriously Balaam, what were you thinking?!