The Intervention of Angels

In 2018 Koko the gorilla died in her sleep at the age of 46. She understood American Sign Language and could sign more than one thousand words. One of the things about Koko that amused me was her love of cats. She had several as pets and was very gentle with them.

One day Koko got angry for some reason and ripped a sink from the wall. Then she pointed to her pet and signed, “Cat did it.” She had enough comprehension to cast the blame somewhere else.

It reminds me of the Old Testament story of Balaam and his donkey. God told the prophet to do a certain thing, but Balaam disobeyed.

He was going the wrong direction when the donkey he was riding darted off the road into a field. Later, his donkey brushed against a wall, hurting Balaam’s foot. Then the donkey went a little further and just laid down. Each time, the angry prophet beat the donkey.

Then an amazing thing happened. The Lord caused the donkey to speak. So the donkey turned to Balaam and said, “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” (Numbers 22:28 NLT).

A few verses later we read, “Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him” (verse 31 NLT).

Angels are involved in the life of every Christian. We don’t know how many times angels have stopped us from doing something we shouldn’t have done or protected us from harm.

Angels are like God’s secret agents. They’re not there to draw attention to themselves but to do the work of God.