Our reading is Numbers 22:21-34. The Old Testament book of Numbers covers the 38-year period the Jews wandered in the wilderness after the establishment of the covenant at Sinai. Tradition tells us Moses wrote it. Yet, by the twenty-second chapter, Moses is dead, and the people are waiting to enter the Promised Land. That was a pivotal moment in their history.

The Jews were excited about their future, however other people in that area were not excited about their presence. The Jews were a new political force in that area of the world. Every nation responded to them in a different way. For example, the people of Moab only wished them harm. The king of the Moabites wanted the Jews to be cursed, and he wants the main character in our story, Balaam, to curse them. Balaam is caught in the middle between pleasing his king and pleasing God. As our reading begins, Balaam intends to deliver the curse, but God tries to stop him. Three times God sends an angel to Balaam. Each time, Balaam’s eyes are blind to the angel and deaf to his words. The unlikely hero in the story is Balaam’s donkey. According to the story, Balaam’s donkey sees the angel and tries to frustrate Balaam’s progress. Desperate to get Balaam’s attention, God opens the animal’s mouth, and the prophet listens. In the end, the curse is not delivered, and the prophet returns home.  

It is a story about communicating. God tried to communicate with Balaam three times without success. How many times has God tried to communicate with you without success? Could it be you are no different than Balaam? God is trying to communicate with us, but our ears are deaf. The problem is not God; the problem is us. According to the federal government, approximately 37.5 million Americans, or 15% of the population, is hearing impaired. This blog is not directed at the hearing impaired. It is directed at those who have perfect hearing yet fail to hear God. We fail to hear God for several reasons. Let me look at them.

When I was in college, I lived in a dormitory. In the basement there was a common room. It was a place to relax and visit. It was nothing fancy, there was a television set, ping pong table and some couches. One day I walked through and found another student sitting there deep in thought. I looked at him and said, “So what’s new?” He responded by saying, “I am dropping out of school; my mother has cancer. The doctor tells us she doesn’t have much time left.” I put my money in the pop machine and said to the same student, “So what are you doing this weekend?” He looked at me and said, “You didn’t hear me. My mother has cancer. She is going to die. I am dropping out of school.” I felt about two inches tall, and I listened to him for an hour.

Sometimes we don’t hear because we are preoccupied.  Something else has our attention. It may be a problem you are facing. It may be something that happened in the recent past. It may be some future event. I know it is true because I fight preoccupation all the time. I have always fought with preoccupation. It is a form of selfishness. Our preoccupations deafen our ears. God tried to speak to Balaam three times. How many times has he tried to speak to you? 

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Empire attacked the American Naval Base in Pearl Harbor. A short time later, the United States entered World War II. So much happened over the next few years. It is easy to glorify past victories, but it is hard to forget all the ugliness. Part of the ugliness was the creation of Japanese American internment camps. They were created by Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945). Executive Order 9066, which created those camps, was issued less than three months after Pearl Harbor. In time, approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans lived in those camps. 62% of the internees were United States citizens. Military historians tell us they were not created due to any military threat. They were created for one reason: racism! They were guilty of nothing but having Japanese ancestors. No matter how you spin it, it was ugly. Our world is still filled with prejudicial behavior, which frustrate us from hearing God.

Sociologists tell us three things about our prejudices. First, our prejudices reveal our insecurities. We are prejudiced against the groups who threaten us. Second, our prejudices give us a false sense of security. They make us feel like we are in control, yet that is not always true. Third, our prejudices are learned, we learn our prejudicial attitudes from others. Others are learning their prejudice attitudes from us – it is one of the things we teach our children.

Sometimes we don’t hear because we are preconditioned. How many prejudices do you hold? How preconditioned are you? God loves each one of us equally. God doesn’t play favorites. If you really want to hear God, then you must remove all your prejudices. Jonah, the reluctant prophet, refused to go to the Nineveh because he didn’t care for the people there. Some don’t listen because we are preconditioned. God tried to speak to Balaam three times. How many times has he tried to speak to you?  

There is an old Jewish Proverb that says, “No one is more deaf than a man who won’t listen.”  One of the most known Bible verses is John 3:16: God so loved the world he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Everyone seems to know it. Everyone loves it because everyone wants to be loved by God and go to heaven. We don’t have the same feelings about Leviticus 27:30. It says, “Every tithe of the land is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.”  In other words, the first ten percent of your income goes to God. How many people do you know practice Leviticus 27:30. We like John 3:16 because we want to be loved. We dislike Leviticus 27:30 because we don’t want to give our money away. We only listen to the Bible verses we like.

Sometimes we don’t listen because we are predetermined. In other words, we hear the words, but we decide to reject them. How many times has your doctor told you to stop smoking and start exercising? How many times has your financial adviser told you to stop spending and start saving? Only 10% of church goer’s tithe. The church is filled with predetermined listeners. Some don’t listen because they are predetermined. God tried to speak to Balaam three times. How many times has he tried to speak to you?

American writer Earnest Hemingway (1899-1961) once said, “I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”  The problem isn’t God; the problem is us. God tries to communicate with us in scripture, through the Holy Spirit, our dreams, prayers, meditation, and other believers, but we just aren’t listening. To get Balaam’s attention, God had to speak through his donkey. What does God have to do to get your attention?