We See Him Clearly
It’s all about me. Have you ever met anyone who, from everything you could see on the outside, that was the theme of their life? Years ago I met an elderly woman who had serious health problems. She was in pain, real, chronic pain every day of her life. And when I would go over to visit her, I usually just spent time letting her speak about her pain because that’s what she needed. But one day her daughter came over. And her daughter only talked about herself—how hard her job was, how difficult her life was. And the only conclusion I could reach was that in this woman’s life it was all about her. But, I have to admit, at least she showed up. There are many people out there who show that it’s all about them by not even caring enough to show up. This evening we hear the words of a man who had that as the theme of his life. This man is named Balaam. Balaam was a godless, wicked man whom the Lord used to share his truth to people of his time and to us today. The theme of Balaam’s life was, “it’s all about me.” And we keep that in mind as we read these opening words in Numbers 24: “15 Then he proclaimed his poem: The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened; 16 the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God and has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:” (Numbers 24:15–16 HCSB)
Notice how Balaam speaks about himself. He says, ‘Look at me, I’m the one who sees.1 I’m the one who hears the word of God.2 I’m the one who understands God’s knowledge.’3 And as if we didn’t hear him the first time, he finishes by reminding us that he is the one with open eyes.4 And what is it that he sees, hears, knows and sees? In verse 17 we read: “I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob,” (Numbers 24:17 HCSB)
Balaam tells us that he sees a “him” in the future and far away. And what is this he? He is a star that rises and shines. What Balaam saw dimly and darkly the Magi saw clearly. From God’s word they saw the truth so clearly that they traveled for months to see this shining star. And if that wasn’t amazing enough we see him even more clearly than the Magi do. They saw Jesus at about two years old. But we, as we look at the pages of scripture, see him at every age. We see him fulfill thousands of prophecies. We see him shine out for Jews. And even more amazing, we see him shine out to us Gentiles.
And yet there is this powerful irony in these words. For the Magi traveled hundreds of miles over many months to see this light shining out of Jacob. And all we have to do is travel to our desk, our bed, our couch and see him even more clearly. And very often we don’t. We know it would be easy to read our bibles. But there are times that we don’t. Work, hobbies and habits get in the way. Or just plain laziness gets in the way. How horribly sinful it is to not have to travel at all to see this light shining in God’s word and yet we don’t. We like to think that we act like godly wisemen. But so very often we act like godless Balaam.
When the light shines on our sin, we see it and mourn over it. We repent of our sin. We repent of our laziness. We repent of our lack of zeal. But where will we find that zeal once again? Find that joy and zeal to read God’s word on your own here in these sacred pages. Find it here in what we learn about these Wisemen. These Magi were not Jews. And neither are you. But this Christ-child forgave their sins and gave them joy and zeal both to travel home and to share what they had learned. And so I ask you: are you a Gentile? If the answer is ‘yes,’ then know that this Savior is for you too. And he grew up, lived and died to take away your sins—even the sins you commit when you should have joy and zeal at reading his word and seeing his light shine.
We seem him clearly. We see a star that shines. But through Balaam we see even more. We read: “17 and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites. 18 Edom will become a possession; Seir will become a possession of its enemies, but Israel will be triumphant. 19 One who comes from Jacob will rule; he will destroy the city’s survivors.” (Numbers 24:17–19 HCSB)
The context behind these words is important. The king of Edom is named Balak. Balak paid Balaam to curse the Hebrews. But instead, Balaam prophecies that an Israelite King would crush Edom. This happened in the Old Testament. But this prophecy is both a picture and a promise of what happens to all those who oppose our Lord Jesus. The enemies of Jesus both fight and bite against him. But Jesus is the one who triumphs.
And this is precisely why we return to these ancient words. Because these words were true then. And they are always true now. When you look out there in the world and you see less and less people coming to church, or when you look in here and you see people dying off and seemingly there are none to replace them it is ever-so-tempting to conclude that Satan has won. But return to these words. For we see the truth clearly. When the Israelites looked up to the hills and saw the Edomites there it looked dark and bleak, but Jesus triumphed over the Edomites in battle. When Mary and Joseph had to run for their lives right after the Magi visited all things looked dark and bleak. But they clung to the promises of God’s word. When Jesus was dying, naked on a criminal’s cross the day turned to night as if to preach how bleak and dark all hope was. But Jesus had promised that even this was part of his plan.
We see him clearly. We see a star that shines out even to us Gentiles. We see a scepter to triumph over all his enemies. So, in this new year, if you’ve gotten out of the habit, open up your bibles once again and read it. And unlike Balaam who thought the the world revolved around himself, you will see this start shine and you will see this scepter triumph. Amen.
1 הַגֶּ֖בֶר שְׁתֻ֥ם הָעָֽיִן
2 שֹׁמֵ֙עַ֙ אִמְרֵי־אֵ֔ל
3 וְיֹדֵ֖עַ דַּ֣עַת עֶלְי֑וֹן
4 וּגְל֥וּי עֵינָֽיִם