**Picture Contest VIII**

[Garland-Green]

What is going on in this picture?  

[AcuteCastle]

Is looking this up considered cheating? Cause I have no idea what is going on O.O...  

[angel allure]

Is there a higher quality resolution for this image somewhere? It's really hard to see the shadowed people.

I could be completely wrong, but my initial reaction to this image was that this was Herod on the horse, the two men in the background are dressed in fine garb...as if they might be part of the Wise Men/Magi & the couple in the shadows are Mary & Joseph escaping to Egypt. If that's so, then the angel has taken up the fight against Herod, alerting the Magi not to tell Herod of their finding of Jesus, leaving the symbolically shadowed figures of Mary/Joseph hidden from Herod's wrath.  

[Garland-Green]

Another illustration showing the same event.
The main focus is the donkey, the man and the angel.
Looking things up is not considered cheating. ^_^  

[real eyes realize]

Numbers 22, YHWH's angel attempts to smite Balaam, but his donkey evades the attacks thus saving Balaam's life. Balaam was a prophet (gentile, not israelite) who whored out his prophetic gifts to the king of Moab named Balak. Balak wanted to curse the Israelites and the second time he asked Balaam to help him do so, instead of listening to YHWH's first advice, Balaam asks YHWH again if he can go. This time YHWH lets him as long as he speaks only what YHWH tells him to speak. Balaam went off like "okay, it's all good; we can go curse the Israelites yay", however, that wasn't YHWH's will/heart at all; hence, the angel sent to smite Balaam. I always really liked this story because of how it corroborated that animals can see supernatural beings that we humans can't perceive with our eyes. razz  

[Garland-Green]

real eyes realize

Numbers 22, YHWH's angel attempts to smite Balaam, but his donkey evades the attacks thus saving Balaam's life. Balaam was a prophet (gentile, not israelite) who whored out his prophetic gifts to the king of Moab named Balak. Balak wanted to curse the Israelites and the second time he asked Balaam to help him do so, instead of listening to YHWH's first advice, Balaam asks YHWH again if he can go. This time YHWH lets him as long as he speaks only what YHWH tells him to speak. Balaam went off like "okay, it's all good; we can go curse the Israelites yay", however, that wasn't YHWH's will/heart at all; hence, the angel sent to smite Balaam. I always really liked this story because of how it corroborated that animals can see supernatural beings that we humans can't perceive with our eyes. razz

Yes it is. Thank you for your very informed and clever answer. ^_^
The donkey talking is often something people who do not want to believe the Bible is the word of God cite as a reason not to believe. Weird I feel, since we know God can do anything, and making a donkey talk would be a small task compared to for example creating the universe, or a human being out of the dust of the ground.  

[Ratsah]

Even after talking, he still wanted to kill the donkey. xp Thank God sent the Angel.  

[angel allure]

Ooh, I am unfamiliar with this story. I'm going to have to look it up.