The song of Balaam (4): Sing a star we look at!
[Numbers 24: 10-19]
What are you looking at? Are you looking at Jesus who promised to come again? As I spent last week after the Easter Sunday, the Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:19 came into my mind: “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” I thought about if we our hope in Christ is just the life of this world, we are the most to be pitied in the world. This is because our hope isn’t a life in this world but the life of the coming world. But how pity we are if there is no life of the coming world and the life of this world is everything? Why can we praise and worship God in the face of the death of our dear brothers and sisters in Christ? Why can we thank and worship God with gratitude in grief and tears? Isn’t it because we have hope in Christ? When the last trumpet sounds and when Jesus comes back, we will be suddenly transformed and will wear the glorious spiritual body and we will live with Him forever in Heaven. That’s why we can praise and worship God even at our beloved brothers and sisters’ funeral. I yearned for this resurrection hope and hope to live with the Lord forever in the eternal kingdom during the last week.
In the midst of this, I meditated on Balaam's fourth song in Numbers 24:10-19, and in particular came to think of the “A star” in verse 17. I thought about what or who the star God is saying to us through Balaam. Then I remembered “His star” in Matthew 2:2 of the Bible. “His star” refers to the coming of the magi from the east and arrived in Bethlehem when baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea about 2,000 years ago. The Bible says that when they saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him who was born King of the Jews (vv. 1-2). At that time, when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (v. 3). Like the star that would crush and tear down “all the sons of Sheth” in the Balaam’s song, the Moabites, in Numbers 24:17, King Herod and all Jerusalem were troubled (Mt. 2:3).
Look at Numbers 24:17 – “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.” Based on this word, I want to meditate on Numbers 14:10-19, the fourth song of Balaam, under the heading “The song of Balaam (4): Sing a star we look at!” and receive the lesson that God teaches us.
Look at Numbers 24: 10-11: “Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! Therefore, flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the LORD has held you back from honor.” The king of Moab Balak was angry. The reason was because Balaam blessed the Israelites three times (v. 10) even though Balak asked Balaam to curse them, his enemies (24:10) who camped in the plains of Moab (22:1) so that he might be able to defeat them (v. 6). Therefore, Balak told Balaam to flee to his place (24:11). Interestingly, however, King Balak said to Balaam that he would honor Balaam greatly, but the Lord had held him back from honor (v. 11). As I think of Balak's words, I came to think of one valuable lesson. The valuable lesson is that we must guard ourselves against being exalted and highly honored by the worldly people, the enemies of God's people. We should only desire our Lord God to exalt us and honor us. We are instructed that we should desire our Lord to exalt us and honor us and not the worldly people. When Balaam heard this, he said to Balak: “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, 'Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the command of the LORD, either good or bad, of my own accord What the LORD speaks, that I will speak?’” (vv. 12-13) What does it mean? Balaam told King Balak again that when he sent the messengers to him, no matter how much Balak would give him his house full of silver and gold, he could only speak what the Lord told him to speak. In other words, Balaam reminded King Balak that he couldn’t speak his own words in violation of God's command. Then Balaam told Balak in verse 14: “And now, behold, I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.” What does it mean? Balaam told Balak what the Israelites in the plains of Moab would do to the Moabites, the king Balak's people, in the future. Then Balaam sang the fourth song from verses 14-19.
Look at Numbers 24:15-16: “He took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, The oracle of him who hears the words of God, And knows the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered.” This is what we have already seen in the Balaam's third song, Numbers 24:4. Balaam, whose name means “the destruction of the people,” wanted to curse the Israelites according to his desire, but the Holy Spirit didn’t let Balaam to do as his desired, but rather made him to speak what the Lord wanted him to speak (Park). In other words, Balaam, the false prophet and the diviner, wanted to curse the Israelites at the request of King of Moab Balak, but God the Holy Spirit insisted on his lips not to speak as he pleased, but rather to speak blessings three times as God said (vv. 10, 13). Eventually, the Holy Spirit God opened the eyes of Balaam (v. 15), his spiritual eyes, and let him hear the word of God and to have the knowledge of the Most High God and enabled him to see the vision of God (v. 16). The Most High and Almighty God caused Balaam to see God's truth and humbled him (v. 16) to sing this fourth song (Walvoord). Then, what was God's truth that the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes to see? Look at verse 17: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.” The truth of God that He opened the eyes of Balaam's spirit to see was “a star” or “a scepter” that would come forth from Israel in the future, and “He” would destroy the Israel’s enemy, the Moabites, “all the sons of Sheth.” Here, the words the "star" and the "scepter" refer to the same thing that is the "king." The Bible verse about “stars” is found in Isaiah 14: 12-13 in the Old Testament. There Prophet Isaiah described the image of the star as the destruction of the Babylonian king. And the “scepter” is the symbol of royal power (Ps. 45:6) (Matthew) is referred to in Genesis 49:9-10: “Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” This is the verse where Jacob blessed Judah among his children, saying that “The scepter shall not depart from Judah” (v. 10). Here, “The scepter” in another word is “the ruler’s staff” (v. 10). This refers to the future tribe of Judah David who would be a king over Israel. After all, the “star” and the “scepter” of Israel, which God foretold through Balaam, referred closely to King David (MacDonald). And the Israel's enemy whom the star and the scepter of Israel King David would destroyed is Moab, “all the sons of Sheth” (v. 17) (Walvoord). That is, the God's truth that God had opened the Balaam's spiritual eyes to see was that in the future the star and the scepter of Israel King David would destroy the enemy of Israel Moab and Balaam sang this to Balak. Isn't it interesting to see how God worked in which Balaam, who Balak invited to curse the Israelites in order to defeat them but instead he blessed them and sang the final song to Balak that the future king of Israel would destroy Moab? In the third song of Balaam we have already meditated on (Num. 24:1-9), Balaam, captured by the Holy Spirit and sang the beautiful tents of Israel, sang that Israel would be exalted and be higher that King Agag (v. 7). In other words, what God opened the Balaam’s spiritual eyes to see was that in the future God would make the nation Israel stronger and greater and would be with the Israelites so that they would be victorious against their enemies and Balaam sang this. This song is more specifically mentioned in the fourth song of Balaam in Numbers 24:10-19, where Balaam sang the prophetic song that God would establish the king of Israel in the future, and gave him his enemy Edom and Seir (v. 18). And starting from verse 19 and on, God made Balaam to sing the other prophetic songs about that prophecy that God would destroy the enemies of Israel such as “Amalek” (v. 20), “the Kenite” (v. 21) and “Asshur” (vv. 22-24). But the question is, “ Does the fulfillment of these Balaam's prophetic songs end with only King David?
This fourth song, which Balaam sang in front of the king of Moab Balak, is, in a word, the star that God opened the Balaam’s spiritual eyes to see. Although the “star” (or the “scepter”) referred to King David from the tribe of Judah, close to the history of Israel, but ultimately it refers to Jesus Christ, the root and descendant of David. The Bible Revelation 22:16 refers to Jesus Christ as “the Bright Morning Star”: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” When King David of the tribe of Judah reigned over the nation of Israel, the Israel defeated Moab, so the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute (2 Sam. 8:2). But Balaam sang not only this prophetic song for David to destroy Moab, but also for the root and the descendant of David Jesus Christ to be victorious over the enemy of the true Israel, that is the church, Satan and death by His death on the cross. Furthermore, the star that Balaam looked and sang refers to Jesus, the bright morning star, who will come again. And when He comes again, He will judge Satan, his idols, and all the enemies of His Church, and will bring consummation of His salvation. What must we do? We must look to the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the bright morning star. And we must believe that the Lord Jesus will come again and destroy Satan, all idols, and the enemies of the Church. May we perform valiantly with the assurance of this victory (Num. 24:18).
(v. 1) “There's a royal banner given for dis-play To the soldiers of the King;
As an ensign fair we lift it up today, While as ransomed ones we sing.
Marching on, marching on, For Christ count everything but loss!
And to crown Him King, Toil and sing 'Neath the banner of the cross!
After praising the hymn “There’s a Royal Banner.”
(v. 2) “.Thought the foe may rage and gather as the flood, Let the standard be displayed;
And beneath its folds, as soldiers of the Lord, For the truth be not dismayed!
Marching on, marching on, For Christ count everything but loss!
And to crown Him King, Toil and sing 'Neath the banner of the cross!”
(v. 3) “Over land and sea, wherever man may dwell, Make the glorious tidings known;
Of the crimson banner now the story tell, While the Lord shall claim His own!
Marching on, marching on, For Christ count every-thing but loss!
And to crown Him King, Toil and sing 'Neath the banner of the cross!”
(v. 4) “When the glory dawns 'tis drawing very near It is hast-'ning day by day;
Then before our King the foe shall disappear, And the cross the world shall sway!
Marching on, marching on, For Christ count everything but loss!
And to crown Him King, Toil and sing 'Neath the banner of the cross!”
(Hymn “There’s a Royal Banner”)
After singing the hymn “There’s a Royal Banner,”
Pastor James Kim