The Spiritual Significance of the Ass
The Spiritual Significance of the Ass
In the modern English language the lowly ass carries with it a very negative connotation.
Here is how Webster defines the ass:
Noun
- a long-eared, slow, patient, sure-footed domesticated mammal, Equus asinus, related to the horse, used chiefly as a beast of burden.
- any wild species of the genus Equus, as the onager.
- a stupid, foolish, or stubborn person.
RELATED WORDS
idiot, fool, donkey, dunce, jerk, twit, blockhead, dope, imbecile, nitwit, simpleton, jackass, dolt, numbskull
The first two definitions are Biblically quite accurate inasmuch as they give us both the Biblically positive and Biblically negative applications of this particular beast.
The Negative Spiritual Significance of the Ass
In its negative application, the ass is called “a wild ass”, as we see in these verses:
Jer 2:24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
Hos 8:9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
We really are a wild ass by nature and despise the restraints of “the law of the spirit” upon our rebellious, stubborn and foolish old man:
Job 11:11 For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
Job 11:12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.
Wild or not wild, and ass is an unclean beast and symbolizes our uncleanness as we die in and to our sins:
Jer 22:17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
Jer 22:18 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
Jer 22:19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
This is what is “without the city”:
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
In its negative use, the generally accepted secular definition of this word is not at all inaccurate being:
a stupid, foolish, or stubborn person.
And all the related words are a fair description of who we really are by nature:
idiot, fool, donkey, dunce, jerk, twit, blockhead, dope, imbecile nitwit, simpleton, jackass, dolt, numbskull
We are no better than an ass when it comes to the Lord’s value for our redemption. You might think that the redemption of a man would require an ox, but the fact is that an ass is redeemed with a lamb just as we are:
Exo 13:13 And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.
So the ‘ass’ in its Biblically negative application is a type of all the stubbornness, the stupidity and the foolish nature of our own beast:
Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Rev 13:1 AND I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
The Positive Spiritual Significance of the Ass
We have saved the best for last, and will now look at the ass in its positive application in scripture. Again the dictionary definitions serve us well in pointing out what is positive about the lowly ass:
a long-eared, slow, patient, sure-footed domesticated mammal, Equus asinus, related to the horse, used chiefly as a beast of burden.
Long ears are used by the ass to help make it a very good ‘hearer’, making the ass a type of those who are given “ears that hear”:
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
The Lord rides upon an ass as He enters into His city, ‘New Jerusalem’, because an ass is sure-footed and is domesticated under His rule.
Isa 32:20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
Indeed the Lord chose to enter into His city, a type of His people (Rev 3:12 and Rev 21:2), on an ass:
Joh 12:14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
Joh 12:15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
In Isaiah 1 the ass typifies us as the Lord’s sheep who know His voice, and appreciate the giver more than the gift. As His ass, we do this even as the church world ignores, rejects and hates His doctrines:
Isa 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Abigail’s haste to go meet David “upon an ass” and become his wife after being delivered from her husband, whose name Nabal means ‘fool’, typifies us as we come out of Babylon riding upon the Lord’s servants and hastening to become the bride of Christ:
1Sa 25:42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
As Webster points out, the ass is chiefly a beast of burden, and in that capacity it carries our Lord, and at the same time it typifies our Lord who admonishes us and says this of Himself:
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
So it is really Christ within us who is carrying our burden, and is to us as the blessing of Issachar:
Gen 49:14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
Gen 49:15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
It is a true blessing to be strengthened to bear the Lord and His Christ, knowing that such labor leads to His rest:
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
The ass was used by the Lord to bear the wood to be burned up to offer up the Lord’s sacrifice of His only Son:
Gen 22:1 AND it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
Gen 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Gen 22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
We are both Balaam and his ass in the story of how Balaam’s desire for wealth and fame destroyed him with the Moabites and the Midianites, who had agreed with Balak, the king of Moab, to hire Balaam to curse Israel, the Lord’s people.
Here is a story of who we are in the Lord’s hands:
Num 22:17 For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
Num 22:18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.
Num 22:19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.
Num 22:20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.
Num 22:21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
Balaam’s Donkey and the Angel
Num 22:22 And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
Num 22:23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
Num 22:24 But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
Num 22:25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
Num 22:26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
Num 22:27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
Num 22:28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
Num 22:29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.
Num 22:30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
Num 22:31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.
Num 22:32 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:
Num 22:33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.
Num 22:34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD , I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.
Num 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.
If we are granted as the Lord’s lowly, sure-footed, ass, with ears to hear His voice and be used to bear His burdens with Him and to remain faithful to the end, then we will enter into His rest:
Deu 5:14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
If we are so blessed as to be used by the Lord to carry Him into His Jerusalem, as we are told He comes to us…
Joh 12:15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.
…Then we will be granted to rule with and fight with Him as great and glorious white horses, ruling the kingdom of this world and the kingdoms of all time in the thousand years and in the lake of fire:
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Other related posts
- The Spiritual Significance of the Ass (October 21, 2019)
- Teacher's Choice - "The Land, Which We Passed Through to Search It, is an Exceeding Good Land." (March 2, 2021)
- Study of the Book of Judges - Jdg 13:15-25 We Shall Surely Die, for We Have Seen God (July 5, 2021)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 21:11-17 They Fled From The Grievousness of War (February 10, 2018)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 60 (August 28, 2014)
- Awesome Hands - Part 132: "To bless or curse" (April 14, 2018)