~ Peering Down the Corridor of Time ~
WE REVISIT BALAAM’S PERSONAL AUTHENTICITY , from his own statement, as a prophet of God. He says that this is “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:” (Num. 24:15-16)
Prophecy can only be known by its outcomes. We note here that these verses end in a colon; since we know they have been transliterated into English, we also know that this means a grammatical clarifying statement is coming. Because of this, we anticipate what follows will be a dramatic declaration of future events. The prophecy will be substantially more than we first think, and will be both prophetic and apocryphal. It will speak of the nations that confront Israel in the time of Balaam, the nation of Israel in its various darkest hours, the nations that surround Israel in a future time, and above all, the Messianic solution of God for the ages-old disruption of the cosmos.
This is the prophecy: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth. Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong. A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city.” (Num. 24:17-19)
It is not difficult to interpret what will happen to the nations in front of Israel during Balaam’s time. He mentions here Moab, Edom, and Seir (cf. Num. 24:17-18), and subsequently the Amalekites (Num. 24:20)—all of them are directly in harm’s way in the impending Israelite invasion that the Bible historically records under Joshua’s leadership of the armies of Israel. It will be a long and bloody campaign, and will end exactly as this prophecy portends. Israel will inherit the land bequeathed them by the faith of the patriarchs, beginning with Abraham and progressing through Isaac and Jacob. This has been simmering in the national cultural consciousness throughout the period of Exodus, and will now rise to the surface in battle-cry as Israel begins to rise to her destiny.
But there is a strong warning for Israel here also—one that they will ignore, as Moses prophesied earlier. “But if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.” (Deut. 30:17-18) Balaam’s vision reveals that “A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city.” (Num. 24:19)
This refers most specifically, given the context of the previous two verses, to the advent of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Balaam sees hundreds, even thousands of years forward in time. Israel will worship other Gods, as Moses revealed, and God’s wrath will fall upon them, not once, but three times. Each time they will be cast from the Promised Land.. The here-future-prophesied earlier Babylonian and Assyrian exiles, as horrific as they were for Israel, were very light in comparison to that which we see when judgment falls against the nation after the high priest and the Sanhedrin council directly and intentionally manipulate the circumstances leading to Jesus’ crucifixion. The nation will subsequently be thrown into a two-thousand-year holocaust lasting into our own times.
The predicted destruction of the nations of a future time as they surround Israel is not clear here, other than the fact that the annihilation of the surrounding nations of Balaam’s time are best understood as a foreshadow of things to come. However, later O.T. prophets, notably Ezekiel and Isaiah speak extensively to these same future events. So also do Jesus and Paul and Peter and the Book of Revelation in the N.T. This quote from the latter book is sufficient: “Demonic spirits will gather the kings of the whole world for the battle on the great day of God Almighty, to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” (Rev. 16:14, 16) Even now we see daily in the news the growing focus of the nations gathered around Israel.
But we turn more specifically to what we believe is the prophesied person of the Messiah. Balaam says that “he sees him, but not now.” (Num. 24:17a) We don’t have this gift, most of us, to see into the future. But Balaam ‘whose eye sees clearly’ does, and he is seeing at least fourteen hundred years here, to the time of Jesus’ incarnation and ministry; he is most probably also seeing past time and into the eternity of Jesus’ reign. It is Jesus who’s “star will come out of Jacob.” (Num. 24:17c)
The star from the east will guide the wise men to his birth (cf. Matt. 2:1-2), and Jesus’ genealogy (cf. Matt. 1:2) clearly puts him as a descendant of Jacob. (cf. Matt. 1:1-2a, 16) More to the point, Jesus’ prominence in our extended cultural heritage, using the poor analogy of the celebrity of modern movie stars, is far and above the other political or religious or social icons of his day—or any other. Balaam refers to the power that this future leader will have, saying “a scepter will rise out of Israel.” (Num. 24:17d) The author of Hebrews reveals “About the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.’” (Heb. 1:8)
Balaam’s prophecies, despite his imputed character deficiencies, proved/are proving true. Peter gives us insight to Balaam’s—in fact, to all prophet’s—foresight. “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:20-21) Peter’s admonition comes just before his caution about Balaam as a (semi?) false prophet (cf. 2 Pet. 2:15-16)
What are we to make of such things? Are they too lofty for us? Perhaps. Are they beyond our comprehension? No, but care must be exercised; prophecy is only proven true in its outcome. Are they of great importance to our daily walk? Maybe so—we draw encouragement from the finished prophecies as we await those to come. Maybe not—our lives are lived daily in the moment, not yesterday or tomorrow, and far more important than prophecy is the next decision we will make.
Q. Am I always trying to figure out tomorrow, and missing out on today?
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