Eating the Bible: The Voice of Wisdom

Tonight’s story comes from the Book of Numbers. In it, Balaam’s donkey is given the gift of speech to inform him of an an angel along their path. Three times in the story does the donkey obey the angel and stop, and three times Balaam beats the donkey; it is then that God “opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you that you have struck me on these three occasions?'” (Numbers 22:28) God then opens Balaam’s eyes so that he can also see the angel in the road.

The biggest question out of this story is why could the donkey feel the presence of the angel while the sorcerer could not?

It is a question that, reworded, can be applied to your faith. Do I feel the presence of God? Am I obeying Him? This story shows that it isn’t only the powerful who are aware of the Lord. It is a reminder to keep your heart open to His touch.

In Eating the Bible, Rena made Three-Bean Burritos to accompany this story. Using three types of beans signifies the three attempts the donkey made to make Balsaam aware of the angel. And because burro means donkey in Spanish, she thought that burritos would be a good meal choice. I decided to detour from her recipe and create Thee-Bean Nachos instead. (I had a craving for Moe’s nachos…) So for us this week, Mexican Monday happened on Wednesday!

Three-Bean Nachos

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C canned light red kidney beans, drained (liquid reserved)
1/2 C canned pinto beans, drained (liquid reserved)
1/2 C canned black beans, drained and rinsed
tortilla chips
1 C shredded cheese
toppings: shredded lettuce, diced tomato, diced red onion, sour cream, queso, etc

Steps:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a nonstick skillet saute onion and garlic over medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper. Once onion is translucent reduce heat to low and add the beans. Gently mash the beans with some of the reserved liquid until you reach a desired consistency. (I opted to keep it pretty chunky)
Place a layer of nachos on an oven proof dish (i.e.: baking sheet, casserole dish, cast iron skillet) top with bean mixture and shredded cheese. Place in oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve with desired toppings.