(Continued-Chapter III-Early Rays of Messianic Glory)

In this oracle Israel's future condition is graphically painted. "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, Thy tabernacles, O Israel" (vs. 5). This verse is an exclamation of ecstasy over the future blessed and happy state of the nation. The following verse, continuing this exalted strain, compares Israel to valleys spread abroad in peacefulness, to fruitful gardens planted beside streams of water, and to lign-aloes groves planted by the Lord. In verse 7 her king is presented as being higher than Agag, the most powerful of her enemies, and his kingdom as being exalted. In the following verse her strength and power under this great king are presented as invincible: "He shall eat up the nations his adversaries, And shall break their bones in pieces, And smite them through with his arrows." This language read in the light of the preceding prediction is intelligible. As seen in the former forecast, God appears in her midst as her King. Hence under His leadership she is invincible.

Enraged by Balaam's blessing Israel three times, Balak ordered him to return home. In reply he asserted that, should the king give him a house full of silver and gold, he could not speak otherwise than as God instructed him. Then without any further ceremonies the prophet proposed to tell the king what would occur to his people in the latter days.

"I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not nigh:
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite through the corners of Moab,
And break down all the sons of tumult.
And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies;
While Israel doeth valiantly.
And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from the city" (Num. 24:17-19).

The ancient synagogue interpreted this prediction as a forecast of King Messiah.

"He who exerciseth dominion shall not pass away from the house of Jehuda, nor the Saphra from his children's children until the MESSIAH come."--Targum, Onkelos.

"Kings shall not cease, nor rulers from the house of Judah, nor sapherim teaching the Law from his seed, till the time that the King THE MESSIAH shall come, who will arise from Judah. How beauteous is the KING, THE MESSIAH, who will arise from Jehuda."--Targum Palestine.

Rabbi Akiba called Simeon, who led the revolt of the Jews against the Roman authority under Hadrian, בַּר כּוֹכבא son of the star-an evident echo of Numbers 24:17. This fact shows that this leading rabbi interpreted the passage messianically.

We have already seen that the latter days were understood by the ancient synagogue as a reference to the time of Messiah. Since Balaam states in unmistakable language that his vision is of the latter days, from this standpoint it is certain that the king was consistent in thus interpreting the vision.

The prophet declared, "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh." These statements assume on the part of Balak an acquaintance with the one whom the prophet saw in the distant future, otherwise he would have given additional and more definite information concerning him. This fourth oracle presupposes the information of the foregoing predictions. In fact, each utterance of this prophet is built upon the knowledge found in the preceding ones. Speaking in terms of the portrait painter, we may say that in the first prediction Balaam simply blocked out his picture and in each succeeding utterance he developed it and brought it to completion in the fourth and last statement. Since Balaam spoke all four oracles to Balak, since in the second and third predictions he had spoken of this future king of Israel who would rid the nation of sin and who would be higher and mightier than its most powerful foe, and since he in this fourth message assumed a thorough knowledge of the one whom he saw in the distant future, it is absolutely certain that here he is speaking of the same one. As we saw in our investigation of the second oracle, the description of Israel's coming King lays emphasis upon His being God in the midst of the nation, who cleanses it from all sin. In the third passage the emphasis is upon his human nature, in that he is compared with a human king, though mightier and more powerful. Under His leadership Israel becomes the most powerful nation upon earth. In the fourth oracle the seer stresses the time element of the prediction by stating that it pertains to the latter days and by informing us that he sees this great King in the distant future. Therefore it is certain that the same person is in view in the last three messages.

The conclusions just reached are confirmed by the further fact that the same picture of Israel's conquest of the nations and of her preeminence among them is described in the last three oracles. One who is familiar with the history of the struggles of the past and with the present tangled conditions of the world knows that it will take one who is mightier than man and who is more righteous and wiser than any mere human ruler to bring about the blessed and happy conditions described in these oracles. The pictures of blessedness being the same in these passages, it is certain that the Ruler seen in the last message is the same one appearing in the two preceding oracles.

The couplet, "There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, And a sceptre shall rise out of Judah," forms a parallel to the two preceding lines. Star is used as a synonym of sceptre. Metonymically, the sceptre stands for the one who wields it--a king. These facts strengthen the conclusions reached concerning this future King already described.

Verses 17 to 19 describe the complete conquest of this coming King over Moab and Edom. Some have concluded that the prediction ends here and that, since Saul and especially David won certain victories over these nations (I Sam. 14:47; 2 Sam. 8), it is the latter whom the prophet foresees. This view is indeed superficial. Balaam prefaced his utterance with the statement that it pertained to the latter days--the days of Messiah. This fact alone discredits this superficial interpretation. Looking toward Amalek (vs. 20) the prophet foretold the destruction, in the endtime, of this once powerful foe of Israel. Next he spoke of the conquest of the Kenites by Asshur, the great eastern world power in those ancient days. Looking westward he likewise predicted the final clash of Asshur with the great western empire (Rome) in the time of the end and the latter's complete overthrow. The trend of thought shows that this overthrow of the nations is to be brought about by the King who is to rise out of Israel. Therefore this future Ruler is to be the conqueror of the great and mighty nations of earth at the conclusion of this present age. As seen above, he is declared to be the one who overthrows both Moab and Edom. In verse 19, however, the political horizon enlarges until it includes the conquest and dominion of the world by Israel's Messiah. Verses 20-24 are but the detailed account of His triumphs over various peoples. But in verse 23 these conquests are attributed to God Himself: "Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?"

In what sense does God accomplish these great exploits? Directly or by using human agencies? Bible students know that He can and does act in both ways. The context is to decide in each case. In the second oracle we saw that at some time in the future God would appear in the midst of Israel as her King. Therefore, since He will appear as her King, and since in the fourth message the overthrow of the nations is attributed to Israel's Messiah and at the same time to God Himself, the only conclusion is that in the fourth oracle the prophet recognized the Messiah as God in human form, who conquers the world and who reigns in righteousness. This interpretation is confirmed by voices from the ancient synagogue.

"When the mighty KING of Jacob's house shall reign, and the MESHIHA the power-Sceptre of Israel be anointed, HE shall slay the Princes of Moab. . . . From them their King shall arise and their Redeemer be of them."--Targum Palestine and Jerusalem.

"KINGS shall arise out JAKOB, and the MESHIHA be anointed from Israel, and reign over all nations."--Targum Onkelos.

"At that time they shall blow a great trumpet, and then shall be fulfilled what is written, Num. 24:17: 'A STAR shall arise out of Jacob.'"-- Pesikta.

'"I SHALL SEE HIM' refers to the Redemption which will be the fourth, 'BUT NOT NOW.'"--Sohar Chadasch.

"God has decreed to build up Jerusalem and show a STAR.... This STAR IS THE MESSIAH."--Sohar (Num. fol. 85, c340).

The ancient rabbis were correct in interpreting this oracle as one which foretells the advent of Israel's Messiah. A study of the facts which we have gleaned from the predictions of Balaam and a careful comparison of them with the messianic passages which we have thus far studied prove that this prophet was speaking of the same one--the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the one of the tribe of Judah whose right it (world dominion) is.

"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; according to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the Lord said unto me, They have well said that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him" (Deut. 18:15-19).

This passage was generally interpreted messianically by the ancient synagogue.*

"A PROPHET from among thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, will the Lord thy God raise up unto thee, to Him shall ye hearken."--Targum Onkelos.

"And a RIGHT PROPHET (Prophet of Righteousness) will the Lord your God give you a PROPHET from among you, of your brethren LIKE UNTO ME with the HOLY SPIRIT, will the Lord your God raise up unto you; to Him shall ye be obedient."--Targum Palestine (Jerusalem).

"In fact the MESSIAH IS SUCH A PROPHET as it is stated in the Midrash on the verse, 'Behold my servant shall prosper ...' Moses by the miracles which he wrought drew but a single nation to the worship of God but the MESSIAH will draw ALL NATIONS to the worship of God. --R. Levi ben Gershom.

"The King Messiah shall be exalted above Abraham, be high ABOVE MOSES.--Neve Shalom.

Some commentators have seen in Joshua the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18:15-19. As we shall see from the following discussion, this position cannot be sustained because he in nowise played the role of Moses. Furthermore, after Joshua had been installed in office and had received the infilling of the Spirit of God, the statement is made, "And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face," etc. (Deut. 34:10). Therefore it is impossible to consider Joshua as the prophet foretold in this passage.

At the giving of the Sinaitic law, the children of Israel were terrified by the manifestation of the presence of God and pled with Moses to act as a mediator lest, seeing such demonstrations as those they had just observed and hearing a similar voice, they should die (Ex. 20:19; Deut. 5:23-28). This feeling of fear and dread and the anxious request for a go-between to deliver the Word of God to them determined the phraseology of the divine answer. The most suitable term to meet the need was נָבִיא prophet, one who speaks to men in behalf of God. Since there was no other occasion in the history of Israel similar to this one, naturally the Messiah is nowhere else given the designation of prophet. The choice of the messianic title used on a given occasion was determined by the circumstance which called forth the divine utterance. This same principle is seen in operation in everyday life. One's choice of words and figures is largely influenced by that which gives rise to his expression, by that which has immediately preceded, and by his own environment. In view of the historical circumstances and the psychological principle just noted, the fact that in no other passage is the Messiah called a prophet does not militate, as some critics assert, against the messianic import of this prediction. On the contrary, a careful and comprehensive study of these verses demonstrates the fact that the one appearing here is none other than the one seen in undisputed messianic passages.

In love and mercy God allowed the reigning Pharaoh of Egypt to subject Israel to the galling yoke of slavery. Thus he "made them to serve with rigour, and made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field." Israel in this condition was unable to throw off her yoke of bondage. Hence God spoke to Moses who was not subject to bondage like his kinsmen but who was enjoying full liberty and life by the royal favor: "Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt" (Ex. 3:10).

Messiah likewise is, according to many predictions, to deliver His people from bondage. This fact is clearly seen in the following quotation: "And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered unto him (for I am honorable in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is become my strength); yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth" (Isa. 49:5,6). From this passage it is evident that the mission of Messiah, while it includes the national rehabilitation of Israel in the land of the fathers, is indeed more comprehensive. A moment's consideration of it in the light of other passages shows that a moral and spiritual restoration not only of Israel but also of the Gentile world is foretold. This spiritual revival is to be brought about by King Messiah. Such an awakening is frequently mentioned by the prophets.

Both Jews and Gentiles are alike in need of this same quickening. They themselves cannot bring it about. A man cannot lift himself by his own boot straps. This thought is also expressed in the familiar saying that water cannot rise above its level. These statements being true, it is certain that Messiah, though a man in the real sense of the word, is not on a level with humanity. Were he in the same spiritual bondage, he could not liberate the race. Since Moses, the great deliverer of Israel from her Egyptian bondage, was not in the throes of slavery, as were his brethren, and since the antitype must correspond in general to the type, we may be sure that the Messiah is not in the grip of this universal spiritual bondage. This great truth is forcefully and beautifully expressed in the following quotation from Rays of Messiah's Glory by the late David Baron.

"But the same God Who promised redemption to the family of Abraham (Gen. xv. 13,14) also promised redemption to the family of man (Gen. iii. 15). And just as Israel's redemption from Egypt was accomplished by one 'from the midst of them,' who was in all things like themselves, except that he was not like them in a state of servitude, so He that should be the Redeemer of mankind was to be the 'Seed of the woman' (Gen. iii. 15), 'like unto Moses' (Deut. xviii. 18), real man, except that He was to be free from servitude to Satan, or, in other words, 'without sin'; for He could not, if He were Himself a slave to sin, ransom others from the power of it. And, since the redemption He was to accomplish was to be effected, as we shall see farther on, by being 'cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due,' He could only do so on the supposition that His life was not already forfeited through sin; for the decree of the Eternal is, 'The soul that sinneth it shall die'; so that, supposing the Messiah were even more righteous than Abraham, Moses, or any of the prophets, and only committed one single sin in His life, His life would have been lost for that sin (Ezek. xviii. 24), so that He could not even be His own Redeemer, and how much less the Redeemer of the world!" (pp. 193,194).

In order for Messiah to accomplish the redemption of the world, He of necessity is free from sin and iniquity in spirit, soul, body, and life. Confirmation of this position is found in the statement of the psalmist: "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him (For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever), That he should still live alway, That he should not see corruption" (Ps. 49:7-9). But Messiah, according to Isaiah 53, will redeem the nation of Israel.

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isa. 53:4-12).

Since no man can redeem another man, and since Messiah does redeem the nation of Israel, we must conclude that, though he is a man, he is more than a man. A further inference is that he is different from men in that he is free from sin. Therefore Messiah will be able to bring about the complete liberation of the race by the atoning sacrifice of Himself.

3. Mediator

Moses was the mediator who went between God and Israel. At the time of the exodus the children of Israel realized the necessity of a mediator. The late David Baron has forcefully stated the case.

"As an evidence of the necessity of a mediator between God and man, I might point to the universal consciousness of mankind as betrayed in the different religious systems; for there has never been a form of religion known, even among the savages and heathen nations, without the idea of mediation forming a part of that religion. The sense of God's incomparable holiness and supremacy, and the consciousness of both his own unworthiness and of having offended the Most High, has always prevailed with man (Josh. xxiv. 19; Amos iii, 3), which has made him long for a daysman (Job ix. 33) who should be the medium of reconciliation between God and him, or for 'a man who should make up the hedge and stand in the gap' (Ezek. xxii. 30) between the ineffable and holy Lord and finite, sinful man. Behold yon solemn assembly round Mount Sinai! The people, after careful preparation and cleansing, seek to draw nigh to their God. Here they are, 'brought forth by Moses out of the camp to meet with God,' and here, at the nether part of the mount, they await with fear and trembling an interview with the God Who had brought them out, by His almighty power, from the bondage of Egypt. God descended, but lo! it was in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, ... and there were thunders and lightnings, and the noise of a tempest, and the mountain smoking, and when the people saw it they removed and stood afar off. And they said to Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. Now, therefore, why should we die? for this great fire will consume us. ... Go thou near and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear and do (Exod. xix. 16, 18, xx. 16-20; Deut. v. 25,27). Here is an emphatic testimony proclaimed aloud by a whole nation, and endorsed by God Himself (Deut. v. 28), that there is a necessity for a mediator between God and man. Who is there who, in the light of this truth, will dare take it upon himself to approach God by himself? I tell him that the flames of the Almighty will devour him, 'for our God is a consuming fire.'"--Rays of Messiah's Glory, pp. 199, 200.

The Messiah is likewise to act in the capacity of Mediator. Israel did not desire to listen to the voice of God again after He spoke from the heights of Mt. Sinai and requested that Moses play the role of mediator. In answer to this petition the Lord assured the people that He would raise up this great Mediator-messiah who would speak the message of God to them.


Footnotes:

* "The Rabbis and Jewish commentators are divided in their application of this passage, which shows that they have no authoritative interpretation, but that each one utters only his own private opinion.

"Abarbanel suggests that Jeremiah was the prophet like unto Moses, and gives fourteen points of resemblance, which, however, are not at all distinctive. He says, for instance, 'Moses often reproved Israel for their sins, and so did Jeremiah.' Yes; and so did Isaiah, Ezekiel, and all the other prophets. Again, he says, 'Moses told Israel respecting their captivity and their deliverance there from, and so did Jeremiah'; but did not Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and almost all the other prophets, do the same? The fact is, Abarbanel was very unfortunate in his choice of a prophet to whom to apply this passage. 'Moses was a deliverer, the beginner of Israel's national independence, the author of the song of triumph, and, under God, supreme governor. Jeremiah was involved in the calamities of his people a witness of national ruin, the author of the Lamentations, and the helpless victim of oppression. He is, therefore, not the prophet like unto Moses.'

"Aben Ezra, and Bechai, and others, apply this passage to Joshua, but Joshua was not like Moses. He was not mediator, he was not the revealer of the will of God, neither had he any direct vision of the Almighty.

"Rashi, Kimchi, and Alshech say that the prophet like unto Moses implies a succession of prophets, one after the other. They acknowledge, therefore, that they could not find any individual to whom similarity to Moses could be ascribed. But against this interpretation we have, first, the fact that נביא (prophet) is singular--God says not prophets, but 'a Prophet'--secondly, that this word נביא is never taken collectively, nor are the prophets elsewhere spoken of collectively; thirdly, that sacred history points out no such succession of one prophet; and fourthly, this and the preceding interpretations are all contrary to two plain passages of Scripture: Numbers xii. 6-8 asserts distinctly that Moses was a prophet unlike the generality of prophets, and Deuteronomy xxxiv. 10-12, a passage inserted probably by Ezra, asserts that 'there arose no prophet like unto Moses. --Dr. Alexander McCaul.

¹ "The Lord distinctly maintains the supremacy of Moses, and traces that to His own sovereign appointment. It was true that the prophets among them spake as the Lord had instructed them, but there were particularly three things in which the pre-eminence of Moses was conspicuous. That which was exceptional and ecstatic with them was ordinary and on the level of his common experience with him. The prophets needed a special preparation for the reception of God's communications. They needed, as Kurtz has expressed it, 'to pass out of the sphere of the senses, and that of intelligent consciousness, into a state of supersensual perception.' The Lord made Himself known to them in visions and dreams. But He spoke to Moses in his ordinary every-day condition. The great lawgiver received the Divine communications, not when he was in a trance, or when he was asleep, but in his usual intelligent consciousness; and so it came to pass that the partial obscurity which was necessarily connected with the revelations that came through others was conspicuously absent in those which were made by Moses. Again, Moses saw the similitude of the Lord; and although this cannot mean that he beheld the unveiled glory of the Lord, it must denote that there was before him some visible and objective reality, which symbolised for him the presence of the Lord and from which, as from the mouth of a confidential friend, he received, not in dark and mysterious utterances, but in plain and unmistakable terms, the messages which he was to convey to his fellow-men. There was thus a difference, if not in the kind of inspiration which he enjoyed, at least in the nature of the revelations which were made to him; for as the mind of a man takes clearly in that which is only as a wonder or a dream to child, so Moses distinctly perceived that which to other prophets was little better than a vague and incoherent vision."--Moses the Lawgiver by W. M. Taylor.

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