The Donkey Had More Discernment Than the Prophet - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Ms. Prata botches her explanation of Balaam because she has a predetermined narrative. She believes that OT prophets were morally pure and made no mistakes. So because Balaam was confronted by his donkey and the Angel of the Lord, Ms. Prata thinks he's a false prophet.

However, there is no evidence that Balaam was a false prophet. In fact, he precisely told King Balak's messengers what the Lord told him to say. 

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

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SYNOPSIS

Balaam’s talking donkey reveals his spiritual blindness and greed, contrasting Moses’ reverent response to God at the burning bush, illustrating how false prophets miss divine presence while pursuing personal gain. Balaam ridiculously argued with his donkey!

God is amazing, transcendent, and all-powerful. Of course He is so much more as well. In the dim, pre-dawn of human history, He created all the animals on Days 5 and 6. Day 6 is when He made the donkeys.

Cut to 1400 BC. The Prophet Balaam had been hired to curse the Israelites. (This is incorrect. The messengers sent by Balak, King of Moab, bought along the typical fee for divination, but the Bible does not say Balaam accepted it: 

Nu. 22:7-18 The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said. 8 “Spend the night here,” Balaam said to them, “and I will bring you back the answer the LORD gives me.” So the Moabite princes stayed with him.

This first set of messengers from Balak was turned away directly after Balaam received the word from the Lord [Nu. 22:13]. Balak sent more messengers [Nu. 22:15] and again wanted to pay Balaam [Nu. 22:17], but again, the Bible does not tell us that Balaam accepted the money. In fact, he twice said that even the king's entire palace filled with gold would not change the fact that he would tell only what the Lord said [Nu. 22:18, Nu. 24:13].

Balaam was not a hireling.)

God frowns upon His people being cursed, (Genesis 12:3), so Balaam has a problem on his hands. [What problem? Balaam was doing exactly as the Lord told him.)

As Balaam travels on his trusty donkey to the cursing destination, The Angel of the LORD stood in the donkey’s way. Most people consider The Angel of the LORD to be a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus, an event called a Christophany.

What ensued is both mystifying and hilarious. (This is the key moment of the story, but Ms. Prata just punts. "Mystifying." However, a careful Bible student would want to discover why the Angel of the Lord stood in the way, and why Balaam couldn't see him.)

Read Numbers 22:21-35 for the scene. Three times the Angel blocked Balaam riding his donkey. Balaam did not see the Angel, but the donkey did. And three times when the donkey saw, he turned aside, shrank against the narrow stone wall, or laid down. Three times Balaam struck the donkey for refusing to proceed.

The Lord then ‘opened the donkey’s mouth’ and the donkey asked Balaam why he keeps hitting him.

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “It is because you have made a mockery of me! If only there had been a sword in my hand! For I would have killed you by now!” But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing such a thing to you?” And he said, “No.”

Now, people who have a hard time with this passage, it’s the fact that the donkey talked. Not me. The serpent in the garden talked, and Balaam’s donkey talked. Fact. The LORD not only opened the mouths of those animals, he closed the lions’ mouths so they did not eat David in the arena.

What I am mystified by is the fact that Balaam argued with the donkey! He didn’t seem to notice (or care) that the donkey was suddenly talking. He was more angry that it ‘made a mockery’ of Balaam! By this point Balaam should have known that something supernatural was goin on. (Oh, so the situation isn't mystifying. 

Yes, something supernatural was going on, and that was that Balaam, though a remarkable prophet, could not see the Angel of the Lord. We have seen all through Numbers 22 that Balaam heard the voice of the Lord very clearly, and communicated those messages exactly with no equivocation. But he missed seeing the Angel of the Lord. Why?

Balaam received the initial command, Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you. [Nu. 22:20] Then after the talking donkey incident we find the Lord repeating this command: Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you. [Nu. 22:35]. This is the key, that this what Balaam needed to understand. We don't know what Balaam had planned to say beyond what the Lord told him, but we do know that the entire incident was designed to ensure he obeyed.

So what was his immediate response? He repented: 

I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.

The matter the Lord brought to Balaam elicited his repentance. Further, Balaam could only say what the Lord told him. No more, no less. And that is exactly what he did.)

But he was too consumed with his upcoming appointment with money (This is false.)

(for cursing) and with his feelings than to stop and immediately intuit that God was nearby.

Hint #1 that you may be a false prophet: fail to recognize the God whom you serve when He is standing right in front of you. And Balaam was false. (Revelation 2:14). (Let's quote:

Re. 2:14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.

No mention of Balaam being a false prophet.)

In contrast, I was thinking of Exodus 3 and Moses’ reaction to seeing the bush that was burning but not consumed. He called it a marvelous sight and said he must stop immediately to see it. When God said ‘It is I’, Moses hid his face, for he knew God is holy.

Balaam knew God but his personal god wasn’t Elohim, it was money. (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11). (Let's quote:

2Pe. 2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

Jude 11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

No mention of Balaam himself wanting money. It was Balaam's error [that is, not seeing the revelation of the Lord] that Peter and Jude said led some false teachers into a rush for profit.

It is interesting that when one reads the account of Balaam there is no mention of him being false or taking money for divination. He certainly erred, but that did not make him a false prophet.)

False prophets are motivated by greed. “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge people into ruin and destruction,” says 1 Timothy 6:9. (Sigh. This verse is not about false teachers [different from false prophets, by the way],it is about "people who want to get rich.")

Balaam’s way was error, and he loved the reward of unrighteousness. (2 Peter 2:15).

Moses and Balaam show us the fact once again, that there are only 2 reactions to Jesus. Moses recognized the situation was supernatural and thus, the holiness of our august God. Balaam ignored the supernatural-ness of the situation and argued with his donkey.