3/26 Numbers 24:17

¹⁷ I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Balaam was offered a great reward to curse Israel, but he insisted that he would only say what the LORD spoke to him. He divined some of the blessings that God had spoken before to the patriarchs such as, "Those who bless you I will bless and those who curse you I will curse." Genesis 12:3 The king who called him was furious and tried again from three different locations to have Balaam utter a curse from God toward Israel.

After the third word of blessing from God, Balaam uttered this final oracle. Once again it sounds like portions of God's word in the past. Balaam was looking forward and seeing King David's conquest of the surrounding regions. But by using the "scepter" he was also pointing to the son of David who would reign forever and crush all who are opposed to His righteous reign (Genesis 49:10).

Kings and kingdoms come and go. Even David, a king appointed by God who would fulfill this prophecy, only reigned for a generation. The things man esteems so highly last just a brief moment in time. The star that was coming is forever, and there is nothing anyone can do to change that fact. Those who enter the kingdom of God now by faith in the star, Christ Jesus, will be in it when He comes to reign over all. Those who reject Him now will be rejected then.

Balaam was a very spiritually gifted man, but in the end he gave in to worldly gain. He found another way to receive a reward without prophecy. He told the enemy king the secret to defeating Israel was through carnal temptation. Sadly, that was what was defeating Balaam at that very moment.

Reminder: "We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).