DailyCelestialchallenge:Tuesday -Animal kingdom

Happy and blessed day to all readers of steemit and @steemchurch. Following the #celestialchallenge by @sirknight I am writing about today's topic: Tuesday - animal kingdom

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The ass

The donkey is a domestic perissodactyl mammal similar to the horse, but smaller, with long ears, generally grayish in color and with the tail end populated with bristles; Commonly used as cavalry and charge and shooting animal. It is difficult to force a donkey to do something that contradicts his own interests

With the advent of agricultural machinery and modern means of transport, donkeys began to be used less and less since the beginning of the 20th century in rich countries, although they began to be used for tourism and as pets, and continue to be used as work animals. in developing countries. The miniature varieties are the most appreciated as pets against the trend of the past, when they valued the largest asses that could be used to produce large and strong mules. They are intelligent animals, cautious, friendly, playful and interested in learning. Once they have earned their trust they can be good partners in work and recreation.

Donkeys have a long reputation for stubbornness, but this is due to some people's misinterpretation of their highly developed conservation instinct.

Although in ancient times the donkey was vexed and frowned upon it was always chosen by God for good purposes as it is written in a passage of the bible:

A donkey speaks

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Have you ever heard of an ass that speaks? 'No,' you will say. 'Animals do not talk.' But the Bible says that an ass spoke. Let's see how that happened.

The Israelites are almost ready to enter the land of Canaan. Balac, the king of Moab, fears the Israelites. Therefore, send for a clever man named Balaam to come and curse the Israelites. He promises a lot of money, so Balaam climbs on his donkey and goes out to see Balac.

Jehovah does not want Balaam to curse His people. Therefore, send an angel with a long sword to stand on the road and stop Balaam. Balaam can not see the angel, but his ass sees it. The donkey keeps trying to get away from the angel, and finally lies down on the road. Balaam gets very angry, and hits her with a stick.

Then Jehovah causes Balaam to hear the ass speak to him. 'What have I done to give you blows?' Asks the ass

'You have made me look foolish,' says Balaam. 'If I had a sword, I would kill you!' 'Have I treated you like this before?' The ass asks. 'No,' replies Balaam.

Then Jehovah lets Balaam see the angel with the sword standing on the road. The angel says: 'Why have you struck your donkey? I have come to close your way, because you must not go to curse Israel. If your donkey had not separated you from me, I would have killed you, but I would not have hurt your ass. '
Balaam says: 'I have sinned. I did not know you were on the way. 'The angel lets go of Balaam, and Balaam goes on to see Balak. He still tries to curse Israel, but Jehovah makes him bless Israel three times

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The Bible distinguishes between ass, donkey and colt, and mentions 2 kinds of donkeys: the wild and the domestic.

1. Wild ass: The Asian onager, a strong and agile animal that lives in large herds in the Palestinian steppes. It is mentioned almost exclusively in the poetic and prophetic literature of the Bible.
2. Domestic ass. One of the most valuable animals of the ancient world. It is more elegant than its European counterpart: its ears are erect, its head is high and its fur is soft, usually a reddish brown.

The donkey was used as a beast of burden. Therefore, in the blessings that Jacob spoke, Issachar is compared to a "strong ass who ... lowered his shoulder to carry, and served in tribute." The donkey also pulled the plow, but the Mosaic law did not allow to unite it with the ox, slower but stronger. It was widely used for riding: Abraham, Balaam, the sons of judges and prophets, and women were riding them; the whites served for the real characters. In most cases, the saddle was simply a blanket, and the clothes of the disciples served that purpose when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on an ass. Military forces also used them, either as beasts of burden or as riding animals. They had the advantage of having a firmer footing than horses on difficult terrain.

Since the donkey was an unclean animal, the Jews could not use it for sacrifices or to eat. However, during a period of extremely severe hunger people paid up to 80 shekels for the head of an ass. Because he was unclean, nobody wanted to touch his body, let alone bury him. Towards this situation Jeremiah's prediction about Joaquin points: he would be buried as an ass is buried.

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Zechariah 9: 9
Rejoice exceedingly, daughter of Sion. Give joyful voices, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you, righteous and endowed with salvation, humble, mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the son of an ass.

We have to pay attention, because God may be speaking to us and not necessarily through a prophet, when he wants to, he can use a novice, an unbeliever even a donkey to speak to us.