As we are noting the tremendous importance of Moses’ writings in describing the Savior that God promised to send, we need to briefly note that the Christ is all over the pages of the Pentateuch. He is seen in the Tabernacle and the priestly garments that are described in Exodus 35-40. He is the light of the world (the menorah), the bread of life (the table of showbread) and the means by which God dwells with men (the Ark of the Covenant) and so forth.
He is also the focus of the sacrificial system
in Leviticus. All the requirements (male
lamb, without defect, etc.) point to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. The various
feasts are prophetic of the major stages of the ministry of Messiah (Passover:
the Cross; Pentecost: His ascension; etc.). These are all worthy of study and are
foundational for later writings in the Old Testament as well as background for the
Incarnation.
But having noted these things, our approach
here is to zero in on specific prophecies that define God’s Savior, so we will
move on to two more passages.
Num. 24:17-19
The fact that there are Messianic truths in
the prophecies of Balaam is somewhat astounding, were it not for the fact that
Balaam did say he would only say that God gave him to say (Num. 22:20,38). Balaam uttered four prophecies. In the first (23:7-10) he said God had
blessed Israel and would not curse them.
In the second (23:18-24) he said God saw nothing in Israel to cause Him
to curse them. In the third (24:3-9) he
described Israel as beautiful, and her King as higher than other kings, and
that those who blessed Israel God would bless (from the Abrahamic Covenant,
Gen. 12:3). This certainly touches on
the Messiah, God’s Son, to whom God promised to give the nations as an inheritance
(Ps. 2:6-9).
The fourth prophecy (24:15-24) builds on this
ascendency over the nations, where the Most High says, A Star shall come out
of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel. Balaam continues on to describe some of the
victories of this King. Some believe
this refers to David, who did, in fact, experience victories over some of the
enemies referred to in this prophecy.
However, what is described goes beyond David. In my view it is like the Psalms of David
where he cries out to the LORD to deliver him from his enemies. David is trusting in God to fulfill Psalm 2
in his situation, to crush the enemies who rage against him. But the ultimate fulfillment, both of Balaam’s
words and David’s Psalms, is foreshadowed in David but complete in the Christ
(e.g. Rev.16:16-21).
Jesus Christ is truly a perfect fulfillment of
all that Moses described by the Holy Spirit.
Read Rev. 11:15: The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.
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