Numbers 22:35
And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
The command to go with the princes came only after the angel had withstood Balaam in the way, as renewed permission hedged with warning not to gratify the Moabites but to go only under the Lord's direction and speak only the word God would give him, because the Lord had already forbidden him to curse Israel. The journey itself was presumptuous folly, for he rose without being called in the morning and hastened to overtake the ambassadors, so that God's anger was kindled and the angel stood in the way ready to slay him because his way was perverse before him. He acted against the Lord's will from a double-minded inclination, with selfishness and covetousness in his heart, desiring to gain and keep the favor, honor, promotion and rewards of God's enemies while still professing to be God's prophet. The confrontation belongs to the account of his cruelty to his beast, which saw the angel and turned aside while he, blinded by passion and rage, beat it and ignored even its speaking, until he was terrified and bowed when the angel revealed himself. The animal was spared while its master stood exposed to destruction, and an angel spoke on its behalf.
God let even so presumptuous and covetous a man go on in order to glorify His name before the enemies of Israel. For no promises of promotion or rewards did he dare pronounce a curse against Israel, thus showing before Moab that Israel was blessed and conducted under the banner of the God of Heaven and that no curse from man could retard their progress. This testimony mattered because Israel must overcome the Moabites in order to overcome the inhabitants of Canaan. The same restraining power appears wherever God turns men bent on evil to a different purpose, as Balaam was met by an angel while going to curse Israel, and as Saul's messengers and then Saul himself were overpowered by divine influence and made to prophesy instead of carrying out their plans against David.
The angel who barred the road stood as a witness against cruelty to the donkey, and the same witness stands against all cruelty to animals. God sees the abuse of creatures entrusted to human care and will call men to account for it. Balak's leading of Balaam from one point to another in the vain hope of turning Israel's blessing into a curse, while Balaam could speak only the word God gave him, illustrates steadfastness under repeated pressure to compromise. Human applause and the fear of man are powerless against one sustained by divine power.