articlesforchristians

The First Prophecy (Numbers 23:9-10)

• Numbers 23:9-10 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
  • Balaam’s first prophecy predicts that Jacob (Israel) will become a countless multitude as plentiful as dust.
    • God gave Abram (Abraham) a similar prediction when He said Abram’s seed would be numerous as dust. (see Gen. 13:16)
  • Balaam says Israel will “dwell alone” and not be “reckoned among the nations.”
    • From AD 70 to 1948, Israel did not exsis as a nation; thus, other nations did not recognize her.
    • Since 1948, the Jewish state has often stood alone as enemies have risen from within and without. Israel has conducted six major wars.
    • The “fourth part of Israel” may allude to the division of the camps into four sections around the tabernacle. From the mountain, Balaam could not even count one-fourth of the number of people in one section of the camp

The Second Prophecy (Numbers 23:21-24)

•  Numbers 23:21-24 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
  • Balaam says that Israel has kept its spiritual integrity, steered clear of perverseness, and is destined to become a ruling nation. He speaks of a great lion and a young lion, echoing Jacob’s final blessing to his son Judah. Jacob foretold that Judah would be like a lion and that a ruler would come from him.
    • Genesis 49:9-10 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
  • Shiloh is referring to the Messiah.

The Third Prophecy (24:5-9)

• Numbers 24:5-9 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 lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as 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 an 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.
  • The promise of blessing on those who bless and cursing on those who curse Israel is the same promise given Abram (Abraham) at the beginning of the Abrahamic covenant.
    • Gen. 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
  • The phrase his seed shall be in many waters may allude to the Jewish people who will eventually dwell throughout the world.
  • As in the second prophecy, the lion emblem represents Judah, the tribe of David, and Jesus Christ.
  • “his king shall be higher than Agag”
    • 1 Samual 15:7-8 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
  • “God brought him forth out of Egypt”
    •  Matthew 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

The Fourth Prophecy Numbers 24:17

• Numbers 24:17-19 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre 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.
  • The prophecy “a Star out of Jacob” is believed to be what the wise men allude to when they search for the infant Christ Child and reported, “We have seen his star in the east” (Matt. 2:2).
    • Christ’s birth, accompanied by a unique cosmic sign, occurred in Bethlehem of Judea (see Matt. 2:1).
  • The word Scepter used in Numbers 24:17 relates to rulership; Jacob used the word when he predicted that the sceptre would not depart from Judah until Shiloh (a name used to identify the Messiah) comes (see Gen. 49:10).
  • The phrase “Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion” is about Jesus. He came out of Jacob (Israel).
    • Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.