A Star And A Prophecy

A STAR AND A PROPHECY
When the prophet Balaam was hired by Balak, king of Moab, to come and to prophesy against the Israelites, he instead foretold the future greatness of Israel. In the midst of this prophecy, he gave this cryptic description:

I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near;
A star shall come forth from Jacob,
And a scepter shall rise from Israel,
And shall crush through the forehead of Moab,
And tear down all the sons of Sheth. (Numbers 24:17).

Whereas Jacob had promised that the scepter would not depart from Judah, Balaam says that the scepter shall arise from Israel. They are actually saying the same thing, but with a different emphasis.

Jacob|Balaam|
Genesis 49:19|Numbers 27:17|
Emphasizes that, once the scepter has come, it will not leave the house of Judah.|Emphasizes that the scepter will come to Israel.| To what does this star refer? Is there a star connected to the coming of Messiah? Yes, there is. It might be significant that the only Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament tells of the single sign that was used to bring the foreign Magi to Israel to greet the newborn King of the Jews.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:1-2).

What was it that drew the Magi to Israel in search of the newborn king? It was the star. It was the fact that they saw His star in the east. They did not know of the prophecy of the Bible that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, so they naturally came to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. They make no mention of any other prophecy of the Scriptures. But they somehow knew that the star signified the birth of One who was destined to be the King of the Jews.