That Jesus the Messiah was born in Bethlehem is a
well known fact, celebrated all over the world. Hardly celebrated at all is that
His line includes a member of Israel’s enemies, Ruth the Moabitess. Hardly considered
at all is that God used a man who was a hated tax collector (Matthew) to write
a Gospel to His chosen people. Hardly known at all is that He used a reckless
prophet to prophesy the circumstances of Jesus’ birth.
Just as Luke tells us details about Christ’s birth that
Matthew doesn’t, so also Matthew tells us things the other three Gospels leave
out. “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in
Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw
his star in the east and have come to worship him.””[1] The
Herod mentioned here is noted as King, meaning Herod the Great (a different
Herod - the tetrarch - will be on the scene later). Matthew is the only Gospel
writer to tell us that while Herod was king, a very unusual phenomenon
occurred. For during this time, a very bright star appeared in the sky. This
would’ve been observed by people all over the middle east as that which Numbers
24:17 spoke of, “A star will come out of Jacob;”[2]
heralding the rise of Messiah. Thus, that Jesus was born in the time of
Herod is also fulfillment of prophesy.
But that prophesy in
Numbers is not from Moses. Actually, it is part of Balaam’s fourth oracle.
Balaam was the man hired by Balak to curse the nation of Israel (Balak was the
crown prince of Moab – for that reason he is referred to as Balak son of
Zippor. Zippor was king of Moab, see Num
22:4). This is one and the same Balaam who was rebuked by a donkey (Num
22:21-41) for his reckless ways before the Lord. Taken by Balak to view the
camps of Israel from various vantage points so as to curse them from afar,
Balaam is caused to prophesy blessing on them. Balak is driven to frustration,
at which point Balaam says, “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: “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.” [3]
It is this last sentence, “A star will come
out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel,” that the wise men of
the east would’ve noted as a sign of the coming of the Jewish King. A prophesy given by a reckless prophet to a
pagan king (Balak). A prophesy listened to by gentiles half a world away,
thousands of years later. A prophesy whose
fulfillment is now celebrated every year, world over.
· God’s word never
goes unfulfilled, no matter who He uses to speak or write it. How should that
knowledge impact your decisions today?
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