And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he struck her again.
Read Chapter 22
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
What offense does Balaam commit, except that he said one thing and plotted another? For God seeks out a pure vessel, one not corrupted by impurity and squalor. Balaam was tested, therefore, but he was not found acceptable: “For he was full of lies and guile.” In short, when he first inquired whether he ought to go to that vain people and was stopped, he made excuses. Later, when more important legates were sent and more copious things were promised, he was enticed by the richer gifts— although he should have renounced them— and decided that there should be another consultation, as though God could be affected either by a bribe or by gifts. The response was given as though to a greedy man and not as to one seeking the truth, so that he might be mocked rather than informed. He set out, and an angel met him in a narrow place. He revealed himself to the ass. He did not reveal himself to the seer. He revealed himself to the one; he disgraced the other. Nevertheless, in order that he himself...
The spirit which is carried out of itself to pride is made to remember the condition to which it is subject, owing to the ills of the flesh which it bears. This was rightly indicated though Balaam (if only he had been willing to follow obediently the voice of God!) in that his journey was retarded. For we see Balaam on the way to attain his purpose, but the beast under him thwarts his intention. The ass, stopped by a command, perceives an angel not seen by the mind of the man. For commonly the flesh, retarded by affliction, manifests to the mind the God whom the mind itself did not see, though it dominates the flesh, owing to the scourgings it receives.
