Balaam & the Talking Donkey

Balaam and the Talking Donkey is found in Numbers 22:21-41.

Balaam was a prophet in the Old Testament. King Balak sent some of his messengers to Balaam and asked him to come to him. They spent the night and, the next morning, Balaam saddled his donkey and went to see the king.

God wasn’t pleased that Balaam went with the men and sent an Angel to stand in the way. Balaam was riding on his donkey and the donkey could see the Angel standing in the way. The Angel had a sword in His hand.

The donkey moved out of the way of the Angel and went into the field. Balaam hit the donkey in an attempt to force the donkey back on the road. There was a narrow path between the vineyards with a wall on each side.

The Angel moved to the narrow path and when the donkey saw the Angel on the path, she pressed against the wall which crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So, Balaam hit the donkey again.

The Angel moved again to a tighter place where they couldn’t move in any direction, so when the donkey saw the Angel, she lay down on the ground under Balaam. That made Balaam so angry and he hit the donkey again with his staff!

The Lord ‘opened the mouth’ of the donkey! The donkey spoke to Balaam and said “What have I done that you have hit me three times?” Balaam told the donkey that she had abused him and hurt him.

The donkey replied “Haven’t I been the only donkey you have ridden since I became yours? Have I ever done this before?” Balaam answered “No.”

Then Balaam could see the Angel with the sword in His hand standing in their way and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. The Angel asked him why he had hit the donkey the three times when the donkey was just walking around Him. Balaam answered that he had sinned and didn’t know the Angel was there, but he would return home if that was what the Angel of the Lord wanted. The Angel told Balaam to continue, but to only speak the words that God told him to. 

The kids love these stand-ups! This includes the color and black & white with directions. They can be used for visuals, review or take home. Click here to download.

 

This donkey paper bag puppet was created for this lesson and to use when we learned about donkeys as a farm animal (at home learning). This includes the color and black & white. This is a good project since you can make the donkey 'talk' ☺. Click here to download.

With this new Balaam's Talking Donkey song, students will sing the events that happened. This includes a one-page black & white song and the color flipchart. Click here to download.

Thanks to  Jeanne Dickson for permitting me to share her songs and create these flipcharts. The first verse is about Balaam, so you could just use that and sing it a couple of times if you do not want to sing about the other men in the song. Click here to download.

I found this donkey at Kohls, but any donkey will do. He thought it was so funny that the donkey was talking!  I also used this time to discuss how to treat animals and that God makes all the animals. We don't hit or kick or hurt animals. They depend on us to take care of them.

Click here to print the lesson.

The Newsletter Foldable can be used as a review handout, sent in the mail or in an email, especially for those unable to be in class. The same lesson is included for the teacher.

 This is the inside with the lesson and pictures. On the outside, Jeanne adds notes and assorted items. She might add a Bible verse, memory verse, a Bible song or two, a picture to color, a reward reminder and/or notes about class and hello to students. You could add a puzzle, maze, worksheet, whatever you prefer.

Click here to download the Newsletter Foldable.

Click here to download the updated visuals.

Click here to download the pictures to color.
(These are the same as the visuals but are black & white.)

Click here to see the early elementary level lesson and printables.