We read from Holy Scripture this evening, Numbers chapter 24, Numbers 24. This recounts the last part of the fairly well-known history of Balaam, who had been called from the east by Balak, the great king, to curse the children of Israel who were encamped on the east side of the Jordan and preparing to enter into the land of Canaan. And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not as at other times to seek for enchantments. But he set his face toward the wilderness, and Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes, and the Spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable and said, Balaam, the son of Beor, hath said, "'and the man whose eyes are open hath said, "'he hath said which heard the words of God, "'which saw the vision of the Almighty falling into a trance, "'but having his eyes open. "'How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, "'and thy tabernacles, O Israel, As the valleys are, they spread forth as gardens by the river's side. As the trees of line aloes, which the Lord hath planted in his cedar trees beside the waters, he shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters. and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt. He hath, as it were, the strength of a unicorn. He shall eat up the nations, his enemies, and shall break their bones and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion, who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam. And he smote his hands together, and Balak said unto Balaam, I call thee to curse mine enemies. And behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. Therefore, now flee thou to thy place. I thought to promote thee unto great honor, but lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honor. And Balaam said unto Balak, Speak I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord to do either good or bad of mine own hand. And what the Lord saith, that will I speak. "'And now behold, I go unto my people. "'Come therefore, and I will advertise thee "'what this people shall do to thy people "'in the latter days.' "'And he took up his parable and said, "'Balaam the son of Beor hath said, "'and the man whose eyes are open hath said, He has said, which heard the words of God and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty falling into a trance, but having his eyes open, Now what follows is our text. I shall see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh. There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. and Edom shall be a possession. Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies, and Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city. That's the end of our text, and we'll read on. And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable and said, Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he perish forever. And he looked on the Kenites and took up his parable and said, strong is thy dwelling place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock, Nevertheless, the Kenite shall be wasted until Asher shall carry thee away captive. And he took up his parable and said, alas, who shall live when God doeth this? And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim and shall afflict Asher and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish forever. And Balaam rose up and went and returned to his place. And Balak also went his way. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, the birth of Jesus Christ, as we have already read in this day, His coming was the fulfillment of all the Old Testament. As Zacharias is going to prophesy himself that the coming Christ will be the fulfillment of prophecy, As we read this morning, that even Jesus Christ pointed out to his disciples that his coming and all that he did was the fulfillment of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms. So we see that here tonight. Tonight, we're going to examine one of the most stunningly clear and beautiful promises of the coming Messiah. an amazing prophecy of His coming, not only because of its clarity and its promised power and victory, but because God gives that prophecy by way of a false prophet and a very, very wicked man, Balaam. The son of Beor is a name of infamy in the Holy Scriptures. Not only does he appear here in these chapters of the books of Moses, but in the book of Revelation itself. The Lord Jesus, speaking to John and in John to all the churches, warns the churches about the error of Balaam the son of Beor. Which error? It is the error of a false prophet. Balaam the son of Beor, in his prophecy, is not motivated by love for God, or a desire to see this star that he saw, but greed, greed for money and honor that Balak, the king of Moab, had promised him, and was used as an instrument in order to tempt Israel, the people of God, to fornicate and commit idolatry against God in the hopes that God would forsake them. This man, therefore, is an enemy of Jacob, the people of God, from whence this star will come that he prophesies about. He comes with the purpose of cursing Jacob, cursing Israel for King Balaam, and when that fails, Then later, he's going to give advice how Balak might destroy the people of Israel, he hopes, by using the young women of Moab to seduce the men of Israel into adultery and fornication and idolatry. Nevertheless, from this wicked, carnal man filled with the lusts of flesh and pride of life, A false prophet, mind you, comes one of the most stunningly beautiful prophecies in all of Scripture concerning the Christ. One that especially sets forth the sovereignty of God and the power of God and the victory of God in sending the Messiah. Even Balaam himself admits Verse 13, and later, that what he speaks is the word of God. And we read that the Spirit himself placed that word in Balaam's heart and shook it out so that he spoke it even to his hurt. Three times this man prophesied great prosperity for Israel. Balak is disgusted and wants him to shut his mouth. Yet, before he leaves, he has one final prophecy from God. That even this wicked man, this man of even vision and understanding, must speak. and speak only what God tells him to speak. And that final word is the word by which he reveals the source of the blessing and strength of Israel. This star that will come out of Jacob. Consider with me the star out of Jacob. We look first at the unique identity of this star. The figure of a star is a striking figure. There's not many clear allusions to the Messiah as a star. Not as clear as this one. And there's several important characteristics of a star that reveal something about the coming of the Messiah, this person. On the one hand, stars are creatures. They were made. They were made during the week of creation by God. They're substance. They're physical. And yet, of all the creatures God made, stars literally stand out. And what makes them striking is in the first place, they're located in the earthly heavens. They are not located in the earth itself or on the earth itself, but in the heavens. The heavens that we even mentioned this morning, the vastness of space, where all is dark, yet there are the stars shining in that darkness. And there's many things about the stars now that apply to this picture, things like their longevity. We understand that stars can be born and can die, but everyone knows that their longevity is greater than all other creatures. They are light. They are identified with light. And so they are also closely associated with heaven where they reside, heaven which is their home. And it's these things that make them pictures of a number of things, but especially the heavenly beings we know as angels. Job 38 verse 7, we read about the day stars singing together, which refers to the angels that rejoiced in the dawning of the creation. They can be even pictures of the fallen angels. Isaiah 14 verse 12 refers to the devil before he fell into sin as Lucifer. And that name Lucifer simply means the day star. The day star. And strikingly, if we go to Revelation, The same book that also we'll soon mention, Balaam the son of Beor. We have the vision of the seven candlesticks. But there are also seven stars in the right hand of the Christ. And we're told that those seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches. That is, the seven ministers or pastors of those churches. So it's remarkable that they're heavenly bodies, and they refer often in picture to heavenly creatures like the angels that dwell in heaven. What's different here, however, is this star comes out of Jekah. This star, therefore, doesn't have a heavenly source. Elsewhere, the idea of stars is they represent the heavenly beings. The idea is even that they come from heaven. Their source is from heaven. But this star arises out of an earthly source, from human beings. So we can already see that what we have here is a divine revelation from God, who is the Lord of heaven, and something that concerns conception and birth of a woman, so that this is a man. Not a heavenly creature at all, but a man. Yet, most glorious with the glory of heaven. That's another aspect of stars. They stand out for their glory. In fact, the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, when he's teaching about the glory of the resurrection, and he wants to make the point that creatures are different and have different glories, and the resurrection will reflect that, speaks about the varying glory of the stars. There's one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, and then there's the glory of the stars, which also vary in glory. And instinctively, we think of light. What's the glory of a star? Well, it's light. It's the idea of pure light, intense light. And light, we know, is always a picture of the perfections of God, and especially His righteousness, but really all the perfections. Daniel 12, verse 3 says, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. What makes stars glorious is that they shine in the darkness and over against the darkness. We read of the morning star, that shines out in the great darkness of the dawn, heralds the dawning of a new day, the coming of the Son of Righteousness. Also, when we look at the biblical description of stars, We see that the glory of stars also is not limited to their light, but that light, which is a picture of the perfections of God, especially his righteousness, is found in the rule of stars. When one looks at the biblical description of them, always nearby or close by is the idea of dominion or rule. You may immediately think, perhaps, you children, of the creation story and how on that day that God made the sun, moon, and stars, He made one, to rule the day, the star we know as the sun, and another to rule the night, the moon. And then he made the stars also, and the idea is they participate in that rule, especially of the night. They rule. That is, they're symbols of the righteous power and authority of God over all the creation, over the earth, day and night. They're a symbol of the righteous rule of the kings that God has appointed on the earth to rule over kings or kingdoms and peoples, to rule even over sin and wickedness. Those are all what stars are used to represent. And so it should not surprise us that this figure of a star out of Jacob is paralleled with that of a scepter. And we read that out of Jacob he shall have dominion. In a certain way, that really doesn't have to be added if one really knows what stars are all about. But the Scriptures add this. To emphasize the point, everyone knows a scepter symbolizes the authority and power of a king over his kingdom. It is a symbol of his dominion, his power, and his right to rule in that kingdom. Another part of the figure here, then, is not simply the longevity and the permanency of a star itself, but of this rule. The idea is this rule of this star, this scepter, shall be an everlasting and universal rule. Even more about this figure is that this is a rule, however, over people. Not a rule over other stars, not a rule simply over the night, but over people. Right along with the vision is that he shall rule not only over the little nation of Israel from which he comes, but he will rule over the nations round about. By wool we read he shall smite the corners of Moab, destroy the children of Sheth. He shall possess Edom and Seir. Amalek shall perish forever, and Asher and Eber." All very, very powerful nations that ruled the world at this time. Not only that, But this shall be a star that has a scepter and dominion, not only over the living, but the dead. When he comes, as Balaam himself recognizes, Balaam will be dead for many years. This is a vision, he says, of the latter days. And yet, Balaam says, I shall see him, and I shall Behold Him. That means that this dominion and this power is over such things as life and of death, of salvation and of damnation in the realm of human beings. That's the figure. Now the reality is Jesus Christ and especially His coming in His birth. It's a stunning figure of the birth of Jesus Christ from the womb of the Virgin Mary of the tribe of Israel. It's striking that in the figure it describes something that's obviously not a literal star. But a person, I shall see him, verse 17. He comes from out of human beings, out of Jacob shall he come, verse 19. makes clear that everything that he previously prophesied about the glory of this star, the strength of this star, the security and victory of Israel under the dominion of this star, all concerns the rule of a man. And it comes in the future. After Balaam is dead, I shall see him, but not now. I shall behold Him, but not nigh. The idea is He shall come long after I am gone, after I have passed this world in death. Now surely, there was, as is often the case, even in Messianic prophecies, a particular or a limited Fulfillment. A typical fulfillment, we might say. There was that here too in the reign of David. Great King David from the tribe of Judah. If you read the history of David, you will learn that it was literally true that David took possession of Moab and Edom and put them to the tribute. But even then, Anyone who really truly reads the prophecy, including those who lived in David's time, knew that couldn't be the real or complete fulfillment, that it was only limited under David. It's as if the finger of Balaam points directly to the manger in Bethlehem and the birth of Christ. Then that star came out of Jacob. He certainly fits the description. A baby. A man who came out of Jacob, conceived from the womb of an Israelitish woman from the line of David. But even more than that, he is a heavenly being whose origins is directly from God. He's the eternal Son of God sent from heaven to earth. That's the importance of this prophecy. That we know this is the case is confirmed in two ways, beside the fact that Jesus simply fits the description. Number one, Jesus himself tells us this. Again, it won't surprise you in the book of Revelation. Jesus himself in Revelation 22, verse 16 says, I am Jesus. the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. Not only that, but this was confirmed at the very birth of Jesus by one particular miraculous event that is recorded in Matthew 2. You may recall the visit to Jerusalem than Bethlehem of certain wise men from the east, likely even from the very country and land from which Balaam himself came. When they come, they explain their arrival by telling the king and others in Jerusalem, and not by accident, the king of Jerusalem, is from Edom, Herod. And they tell him that they're seeking the king of the Jews whose star they saw in the east and have come to worship him. And many have wondered about these strange men who came from the east and how they knew that he had a star, this king of the Jews. And the answer is that through the dispersion of the Jews and spreading of the Old Testament with them, these wise men from the East were students not only of the stars, which was common in their land, but the Scriptures. And through the guidance of the Holy Spirit in their heart, he directed them to this text. and the understanding that when the Messiah would be born, a star would signify His birth. And they see that star. And they take themselves to Jerusalem where they expect this glorious King out of Jacob to be. They understood Him to be the King of the Jews. Even the long-awaited King of the Jews. And it's their very actions, Gentiles who come to worship the Messiah at his birth that make inexcusable the actions of wicked Herod, the king, and the scribes, and the Pharisees, and the rest of Jerusalem, who paid no attention to that star whatsoever. They not only ignored that star, but they ignored the preaching of the wise men who correctly interpreted this prophecy, even though they're not Jews. Stunning prophecy indeed. Makes the prophecy even more striking. It's not only given by a Gentile and a false prophet besides, but it will go on to be interpreted correctly and praised by more Gentiles. And that helps understand too the universal significance of this star of Jacob. shows that although there will be benefits for Jacob and the destruction of these nations, the real benefit will be universal, as also will be the destruction. Let's look next at the glorious rule of this star out of Jacob. Like all stars, this star is full of glory. But it's a heavenly glory. The idea of this prophecy of a star out of Jacob is although he comes out of Jacob, he still is a star, a heavenly star. That is, the glory of this star is not the glory of human power. The glory of this star is not human power in the midst of the darkness of human weakness. It's not the light of man's intellectual knowledge in the darkness of human ignorance. It's not the light of human economic prosperity in the darkness of human economic misery. It's not the light of earthly peace in the darkness of earthly strife and division. No, this is a star, a heavenly star. That is, the splendor of the light of this star is the light of God shining in the darkness. It is the light of the power of God in the midst of spiritual weakness of mankind due to sin and death. It is the light of the righteousness of God in the darkness of man's guilt and sin. It is the light of the grace of God in the darkness of God's condemning wrath. It is the light of God's eternal life in the darkness of eternal death. It is the light of God's holiness in the darkness of man's depravity. But there's more. This is the rule of the splendid power and authority of God to establish His kingdom and destroy all enemies of his kingdom. This is an element of the coming of the Messiah that's almost universally ignored today. Not only ignored in the world, but even in the church, even when such a prophecy is quoted in this time of year. It is amazing. how this prophecy is known, and known even in the world. It's not a mistake that you will often find a star on the Christmas trees, or a star over the manger scene that supposedly dictates these three wise men that come. There's a celebration that we often find this time of year of a seemingly harmless little baby who brings a certain light into this world that's beneficial to all. He brings peace to all men. He comes to save all men and give eternal life to all, or at least to offer it. And it's as if no one ever read the prophecy. In fact, it flies right in the face of Balaam's prophecy. What shall this star even do when he comes? He smites the corners of Moab. He destroys the children of Sheth. He possesses Edom and Seir from which Herod comes. He destroys Amalek forever. And we read he shall have dominion and destroy him that remaineth of the city. That's who was born in that manger. In the setting, of this prophecy makes clear that this is the very heart of the prophecy. It's not some incidental aspect. It's the very heart of it. The nation of Israel is ready to enter the promised land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness because of their unbelief. And here they are, poised to enter, but they're surrounded by powerful, powerful enemies who threaten to destroy them. Agag, and Og, giants. Edom, and Seir, and Moab, and Amalek. And the astounding thing is many of my relatives come from the same lineage. And the astounding thing even more is they're all enemies of one another. They've been fighting in that land for hundreds and hundreds of years. But when it comes to Israel, they're united in their hatred. They're united in their opposition. The prophecy indicates that when the star comes to destroy those remaining in the city, the idea is that all the enemies are united as one city, one nation, one people against Israel. That's an astounding thing. Did you ever notice that about the world? They can fight and blow each other up and fire missiles and send tanks, but they're all united in their hatred of the kingdom of God. They're all united in their despising of God and of his Christ. The previous chapter speaks of the hatred of Edom. Go back and read. That was supposedly a sort of brother of Jacob. Esau. But he doesn't even do the brotherly thing and let him simply pass through his land and pay for whatever water and fodder that he uses. There's Sihon of the Amorites and Og of Bashan, and now Balak of Moab, who hires this famous prophet, this hired-gun Balaam, to curse them. to turn God against them and advise them how to destroy these people. But a star shall come, and the idea is he completely destroys all these enemies. He destroys all The children of Sheth, we read. He smites all the corners of Moab. That is, nothing escapes, not even to the corners. He defeats Edom so thoroughly they become Israel's property. He destroys all that remains in the city. That is, anyone who manages to escape the other destruction. Point is, it's really something that we emphasize this morning, and one reason I selected this text to preach on tonight. It fits very well with the idea that Christ, who descended to this earth, ascended to heaven again. And what the nature of his salvation is, even when he comes first to earth, when he comes as a star out of Jacob, we mustn't imagine that he, after he's born, simply is content to destroy the literal children of Moab and Edom on behalf of the physical nation of Israel. Oh, did he make that plane? You remember the story, right? The wise men come and they tell Herod, who's from Edom. He's from Edom, the very people being mentioned here. And what does he immediately do? Oh, when you find him, come back and tell me, so I can worship too. But he wanted to murder him. He was a threat. This star out of Jacob, this babe in a manger was a threat. And then when he's born, he has to flee. One might look at that and say, that can't be the Messiah. At least if one is looking for some sort of earthly victory, earthly destruction of earthly and physical enemies, one doesn't expect the story to start this way. That Herod almost gets him and has to kill all the babies of Bethlehem to try to do it. And Jesus has to flee with his mother and father to Egypt to live there until Herod dies. And Herod just seemingly dies. An old man. Well, that's because his victory isn't that kind of victory. This is the mistake the Jews make when Jesus claims to be this star. This is the mistake Herod is going to make when he even tries to kill him with a sword. And it's still the mistake many Christians today make. They suppose the coming of Messiah was simply to establish an earthly physical nation. Some say literally of Israel, God's people. What he's going to do is he's going to destroy all the Arab nations. That's Moab and Edom. He's going to destroy all the Arabs. He's going to get rid of all these mosques, especially that mosque that's sitting right there in Jerusalem where the old temple used to be. That's what they're looking for. And if they're not looking for that, they're looking for him still to establish a physical earthly kingdom with Christians at the apex. The proper understanding of this is pointed out by Balaam himself. When among all the destruction and all the nations he destroys, he mentions the children of Sheth. Don't know if you caught that. Maybe you scratched your head and say, who are the children of Sheth? And that's a good question. The fact is, there never has been. a child of Sheth or a nation of Sheth. The literal meaning is the children of tumult. It refers to all those who are filled with tumultuous rage and hatred and opposition to the kingdom of God. That's what it refers to. It's, as it were, a phrase that encompasses all the nations and all the peoples. All the human beings and all the fallen angels rise up against this star, against God and His Christ. This, of course, was fulfilled on the cross. By the redemption of his blood, by which he obtained our deliverance from God's righteous wrath and the curse of the law, he destroyed and became the victor of all the children of Tumal, who accomplish his justice. Satan and death and hell became the victor over them, ultimately. fulfilled in the last day, as Balaam said, in the latter days. The second coming, when he comes to judge the quick and the dead. He will judge and destroy all ungodly unbelievers. All those who disobey his commandments impenitently. All those who tried to destroy him and his church in time and history all the false prophets, all those who used false prophecy to seduce into fornication and idolatry, which is still going on. He really takes them all and casts them into the lake of fire, destroying them all without exception. And that's the reference, you understand, to those opening lines. That's how we know that God shook these words out of Balaam. I shall see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh. There will not be a pleasant meeting for this wicked false prophet Balaam. Oh, he shall see him. He shall see him in the judgment on the last day. When he comes again, every eye shall see him, even those that pierced him and Balaam's eyes too. but not as those who are in close communion, nigh, but as those who are cast off. There's a warning here to all enemies of this Christ. The enemies of this Christ are those who refuse to believe in who he is. And God has made plain who he is. God has given his holy scriptures and God has published those holy scriptures over the whole world. How many, how many are ignorant of the holy scriptures and what they have to say? Who's ignorant that the babe born in Bethlehem is a star and comes as a star out of Jacob? He comes to save from the enemies of God, and he does save all who believe in him for salvation. All the rest, make no mistake, will be destroyed. The warning is this. You shall see him, and he comes to destroy you. And the warning is this. The only way of escape is faith in Him. Faith that He will save you and deliver you. That brings us to the heavenly benefits of this star. This belongs to the splendid glory of this star. For it's clear also from the prophecy that those whom He destroys, He destroys for the benefit of His church, of God's church and of God's kingdom. for Jacob out of whom he comes, for the true spiritual Israel, which are who, the New Testament says, the sons of Abraham, the sons of Jacob, the sons of Israel, are all who believe in Jesus Christ, who have the faith of Father Abraham, who believe they are not righteous by their own works, which they have done, but righteous with his righteousness alone imputed by faith. The message of this prophecy is that the star comes out of Jacob in your interest, in my interest. He comes with heavenly benefits for us. There's an amazing picture of stars, especially the sun. The sun is capable of such destruction, and at the same time, amazing benefits. He breaks the powers, we read, of his enemies so that Israel shall do valiantly. Does it even know? Not only does this star atone for our sins, but he imparts that power unto us from heaven. We saw that this morning. By the gift of his Spirit, he breaks the power of Satan and death and sin in our own heart and gives us his grace so that we are not overcome by them. but rather have dominion, as he prophesies. That's why the hostile nations, even when they took Israel captive, never were ultimately successful or prevailed against Israel. It's true, we're surrounded by our enemies like one great city. Find the enemy even with our own heart. But they cannot and will not and do not prevail. The child of God does valiantly. He truly fights. And in that fight finds victory. Finds that the power of Satan and sin and death is indeed broken. Of course, ultimately fulfilled in the last days. Days of the Antichrist whose purpose is the ultimate destruction of the church. Then the church will be surrounded and it seems impossible, but the church will defend herself against them and be faithful to the truth and walk of God. The elect will not be deceived. Why? Because a star has come out of Jacob and a scepter out of Israel. Even more so, the Scriptures remind us that the benefit is that the church itself will be glorious like unto His glory. Since the star arises out of the church, the church shares in that glory. Yes, perfectly when He comes again. That day when even the stars that seem to last forever shall fall from the heavens. And oh yes, when that happens, everyone will know the end is near and Christ is coming. But even now, is not the church glorious with the righteousness of God? Is not the church glorious with the light of God's life? Is not the church glorious with the light of God's holiness in the midst of darkness of depravity? Is not the glory of the church her holiness of life? And we have that again because the star has come out of Jekah and is for Israel. So live, brethren and sisters, especially in light of the birth of Christ that we celebrate with glorious hope of that perfection, the day the scriptures say will dawn The day when the day star shall arise bright, shall arise in our heart and will appear in all the splendor of the clouds of heaven. And we shall live and reign with him forever and ever. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father which art in heaven, we thank thee for our Lord Jesus Christ who has arisen, the star of Jacob. And may we look to Him according to that picture, see His glory and see His dominion, see His rule even in our own lives and hearts now, and look forward to His coming when He shall come and perfectly destroy all His enemies and redeem His people in righteousness. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.