Stars and Scepter
Imagine the king’s surprise when Balaam began to bless Israel. Although angry, the king still wasn’t ready to give up. He took the prophet to another mountain peak where he could see only a small part of Israel and built another seven altars, offering again bullocks and rams. Balaam “went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments” (Num. 24:1). Yet again, instead of Balak getting the curse that he was willing to pay so much for, Balaam—under the control of God—uttered another blessing over Israel. A third time Balak arranged for seven altars and their sacrifices on another peak, but Balaam knew it was useless to ask God for permission to use magic on Israel. Looking on Israel’s encampment from this third angle, he blessed the nation again (Num. 23:27–30; Num. 24:1–10), and Balak sent him home in disgrace for his failure to curse Israel.
Read the parable Balaam told in Numbers 24:15–17. What was this a prophecy of, and how was it fulfilled? Gen. 49:10; Matt. 2:1, 2.
“Seeking clearer knowledge, [the wise men] turned to the Hebrew Scriptures. . . . Balaam belonged to the magicians, though at one time a prophet of God; by the Holy Spirit he had foretold the prosperity of Israel and the appearing of the Messiah. . . . The prophecy of Balaam had declared, ‘There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel.’. . . Could this strange star have been sent as a harbinger of the Promised One?”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 59, 60.
Bible students long have seen in these words a Messianic prediction, that of the coming Redeemer, Jesus. The image of a scepter (power) and a star (light) both are apt symbols of Jesus. Though the Lord used, at the time of the prophecy itself, local symbols, which would have meaning to those who heard it then, the principle behind the prophecy—that of Christ’s power and victory—apply to the whole world. Jesus is the light of the world and the rightful owner of it, and no matter what humans’ plans are, in the end the whole world will see Him prevail. See Isa. 45:23, Rom. 14:11, Phil. 2:10. However much injustice in the world, we have the promise that God will prevail, and that justice will, as well. How does that promise help you cope with all the injustice you see now?
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