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Christ In Type And Prophecy: Volumes 1&2 by Rev. A.J. Maas S.J.

1. TIME AND OCCASION OF THE PROPHECY.—In the first month of the fortieth year after their leaving Egypt, the Israelites encamped for the second time in Cades (Num. 20). Here Mary, the sister of Moses, died; here too the people again murmured against the Lord by reason of a want of water, and here Moses and Aaron committed the sin of diffidence in the help of God. Since Moses knew that they could hardly expect to enter Palestine from the south side on account of the strongly fortified towns, he led the people around towards the east, sending messengers from Cades to the kings of Edom and Moab, in order to obtain a free passage through their territories. Permission being refused, the territories of these princes had to be avoided, and thus it was that Israel came to Mount Hor. Here Aaron died; then King Arad (Num. 21), who had at first gained some advantages over Israel, was vanquished; but on their way south, which had to be taken in order to pass around Edom, the Israelites again murmured and were punished by the fiery serpents. Finally, the people advanced along the eastern boarder of Edom northward, till they reached the Arnon. When Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, refused them a free passage through his territory to the Jordan, they conquered his whole kingdom from the Arnon to the Jeboc; then Og, the king of Basan, was put to death, and his kingdom with its sixty fortified cities taken. Next the Israelites turned again southward, and encamped in the fields of Moab, across Jordan, opposite Jericho (Num. 22:1 ff.).

Balac, the king of Moab, was frightened, made an alliance with the Madianites, and being not yet confident enough in their combined forces, Balac sent to Balaam, the son of Beor, who lived in the land of the Ammonites, requesting him to come and curse Israel. After the well-known remonstrances on the part of God, the appearance of the angel, and the talking of Balaam’s ass, the soothsayer finally reaches the camp of Balac, where he is received with all possible splendor. First the prophet is led to the Baal heights (Num. 22:41; 23), on the eastern part of Mount Abarim, where he repeats the blessing of Abraham in spite of the seven altars and the seven burnt-offerings prepared by Balac. Balaam is now made to ascend the summit of Phasga (Num. 23:13 ff.), where he repeats, in spite of the same bountiful sacrifices, the blessing of Juda and the covenant blessing of Horeb. The third time Balac and Balaam ascend Phogor (Num. 23:27 ff.), where the prophet repeats the combined blessings of Abraham and Jacob. Finally, before leaving Balac, Balaam informs him of the future of Israel (Num. 24:14 ff.). They shall triumph over Edom and Moab; then the fate of the Amalecites (l. c. 20), the Cinites (l. c. 21, 22), and the Assyrians (l. c. 23, 24) is announced.

2. CHARACTER OF THE PROPHET.—No doubt Balaam was a Gentile soothsayer, who had, however, become acquainted with the history of Israel and with their true God, Jehovah, to whom he had consecrated himself. The motives of his service may have been like the motives of Simon Magus, since he seems to have been under the sway of avarice in the latter course of his history. He must have known the truth concerning the immortality of the soul and the future retribution; why else should he have prayed: “Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be like to them”? (Num. 23:10.) After being dismissed by Balac, Balaam may have gone over to Moses in order to reveal to him the prophecies enounced with the view of obtaining from the Hebrews the rich rewards which he had lost at the court of the Moabite king. Not obtaining what he desired he gave the wicked advice to the Madianites of enticing the Hebrews into sin, and thus rendering them odious to Jehovah (cf. Num. 31:8, 16; 26:1–3; Apoc. 2:14). He was slain among the Madianites by the avenging hands of Hebrews.

3. AUTHORSHIP OF THE PROPHECY.—It is not certain, as Driver says (Introduction to the Literature of the Old, Testament, 1892, p. 62), whether Num. 23 and 24 belong to J or E, or whether they are the work of the compiler, who has made use of both sources. Critics differ, the author continues, and it is wise to leave the question undetermined. Delitzsch (Messianic Prophecies in Historical Succession, translated by S. I. Curtiss, New York, 1891, p. 65) is a little more determined: “We admit that the narrative, as it lies before us, is combined out of several sources that may be clearly distinguished, and that the historical element, as it survived in the ‘sage,’ has been reproduced, not without literary co-operation, but without doubting the fact that the heathen sorcerer, contrary to his natural disposition, became a prophet of Yahweh, and that he received an insight into the future of Israel, whose significance only has its counterpart in the second part of the Book of Zechariah and the Book of Daniel.” Provided the Mosaic and inspired authorship of the prophecy in its present form is saved, we may grant any manner of composition.

4. UNCHRISTIAN APPLICATIONS OF THE PROPHECY.—a. Vershuir (Bibliotheca Brem. nova class. lii. 1, pp. 1–80) denies the relation of Balaam’s prophecy to the Messias in any sense, and regards it as applying alike to David, John Hyrcanus, and Alexander Jannæus. The seventeenth verse he refers to the first two, the nineteenth verse to the last. b. Michaelis and Dathe too have denied the Messianic character of the prophecy, applying it to David alone. c. De Wette endeavors to prove from this prophecy the fictitious nature of the whole story and the spuriousness of the Pentateuch.

5. MESSIANIC CHARACTER OF BALAAM’S PROPHECY.—1. Jewish tradition looks upon the passage as Messianic. The Targum Onkelos reads: “When a mighty king of Jacob’s house will reign, and the Messias will be magnified.” The Targum Jonathan has a similar paraphrase: “When there shall reign a strong king of the house of Jacob, and the Messias shall be anointed, and a strong sceptre shall come from Israel.…” Rabbi Simeon, the son of Yochai, taught: “Rabbi Akiba, my teacher, explained: There shall come a star of Jacob, Cosiba comes of Jacob; for when he saw Bar Cosiba, he exclaimed: This is the Messias” (cf. Jerusalem Taanith, fol. 68, col. 4). A similar testimony is found in Debarim Rabba (sec. 1): “The Israelites said to God: How long shall we be in bondage? He replied: Till the day comes of which it is said: There shall come a star out of Jacob.” In the Pesikta Sotarta (fol. 58, col. 1) we read: “Our Rabbis have a tradition that in the week in which the Messias will be born there will be a bright star in the east, which is the star of the Messias.” In Shemoth Rabba (sect. 30, fol. 129, 1) we read the following passage: “Parable of a man who went into a strange country and heard that a public trial was to be held. He asked a great talker when the trial would be held. His answer was: It is still far off. The man asked another the same question, and the answer was: It will take place very soon. The man said: I have asked the great talker, and he said it would not take place for some time. The other answered: You know that he is a talker, and do you think that he would like the trial to take place soon, not knowing whether his own case will be tried, and he will be condemned? Thus the Israelites asked Balaam: When will the redemption come? He answered (Num. 24:17): I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not near. The Holy Blessed God said: Do you not know that Balaam will go down into hell, and that he would prefer my salvation should not come?” Bechai (fol. 180, 4) reads: “I shall see him, but not now, must be understood of David; I shall behold him, but not near, of the king Messias; a star shall rise out of Jacob, of David; a sceptre shall spring up from Israel, of king Messias; and shall strike the chiefs of Moab, of David (3 Kings 8:2); and shall waste all the children of Seth, of the Messias (Ps. 72:18); he shall possess Idumea, of David (3 Kings 8:14); but Israel shall do manfully, of the Messias (Abdias, 21).” Another testimony we find in Pesikta Sotarta (fol. 58, 2): “At that time they shall blow a great trumpet, and then shall be fulfilled what is written, Num. 24:17: A star shall rise out of Jacob.” Sohar chadasch (fol. 44,2) reads thus: “I shall see him, refers to the redemption which will be the fourth; but not now, but in the latter days. The world has six days. On the fourth, the heavenly lights shall be taken away and cease, i.e., the sun, the moon, and the stars shall be hidden on that day, as they were in the creation.” It may be noticed in passing that the Messianic times are here placed into the fourth millennium, or after the first three thousand years. The Sohar (Num. fol. 85, col. 340) has the following remarks about Num. 24:17: “God has decreed to build up Jerusalem, and to show a star which shines besides seventy other stars, and out of which proceed seventy satellites, and seventy other stars will be taken with the same. This star is the Messias; his satellites are the apostles and the dignitaries of the Church.” A little later the same book continues: “At the time of the star’s appearance, the earth will tremble for forty-five miles around the place where the Temple is standing. And there shall be opened a cavern under the ground out of which shall come forth a fire that will set the earth on fire. The heavenly bird too will come forth out of the cavern, to whom empire is given, and the nations of the earth will be gathered under his sway. And the king Messias will appear in the whole world, and will take vengeance on the Edomites, and set the land of Seir on fire.” See also Sohar, fol. 58, 1; fol. 44, 4; Tikkune Sohar, c. 37; Pesikta Sotarta, fol. 58, 1; Pesikta Rabbathi, fol. 20, 4.

2. The Messianic character of the prophecy uttered by Balaam may be also recognized from the very context of the passage. For according to the verse immediately preceding the prophecy, Balaam expressly says that it regards the “latter days.” Now this phrase “latter days” is generally used of the Messianic times; (cf. Gen. 49:1; Deut. 4:30; Jer. 48:47; Is. 2:2, etc.).

3. Then again the contents of the prophecy point to the Messianic fulfilment. a. The victories of David, no doubt, were a partial fulfilment of Balaam’s prediction, and the language in which they are reported seems to point out their reference to the present prophecy (cf. 2 Kings 8:2, 13, 14; 3 Kings 11:15, 1; Ps. 59 (60):8.) On the other hand, David’s victories do not exhaust Balaam’s predictions, since they do not amount to a permanent conquest of Moab and Edom.

b. The Moabite stone informs us that the Moabites were again subdued by Omri, and kept in subjection for forty years. Then followed the successful revolt of Mesha (4 Kings 1:1; 3:4, 5), the new victory over the Moabites by Joram (4 Kings 3:21), their offensive war against Juda in the reign of Joas (4 Kings 13:20), and their final subjection by John Hyrcanus, B.C. 129.

c. As to the Edomites, they revolted under Solomon (3 Kings 11:14), and more successfully under Joram (4 Kings 8:20), were defeated under Amasias (4 Kings 14:7), and again under Ozias (4 Kings 14:22), but not completely subjugated, so that in the reign of Achaz they invaded Juda (2 Paral. 28:17).

d. Accordingly, we find that the prophets who lived centuries after David took up his prophecies concerning the Moabites and the Edomites, thus showing evidently that they had not been accomplished in the time of David. As to Moab, see Is. 15; 16:1–5; 25:10 ff.; Amos 2:1; Sophon. 2:8 ff.; as to Edom, see Is. 34:5 ff.; 63:1–6; Jer. 49:7 ff.; Lam. 4:21, 22; Ezech. 25:12; Amos 9:11, 12; Abdias, 17 ff.; both nations are referred to in Is. 11:14.

e. If it is evident that the prophecy has not been fully accomplished by any of the Jewish kings, it is also certain that the Moabites and the Edomites are common types in the prophetic writings signifying in general all the enemies of the kingdom of God, as they were the bitterest foes of the theocracy. Thus it is plain that the final overthrow of all those who oppose the kingdom of God is predicted by the prophet, and this final defeat is to be inflicted by the star that shall rise out of Jacob, and by the ruler who shall come out of Israel.

4. The fact that the last Jewish rebel who rose in the reign of Hadrian took the name Bar-cochab, i.e., Son of a star, proves the two propositions laid down in the preceding number: that the Jews of that period regarded the present prophecy as still unfulfilled, though Moab had long before vanished from history, and that the actual accomplishment, of the prediction was expected in Messianic times. Hence when Bar-cochab proved to be a failure, the disappointed Jews called him Bar-coziba, i.e., Son of a falsehood. Why should the false Messias have been called thus in reference to his former name Bar-cochab if this had not been regarded as the name of the true Messias?

5. If it be urged against us that Balaam could not have understood his prophecy, we may freely grant this premise, but we deny the inference drawn from it. Prophets do not necessarily understand the full import of their prophetic predictions (cf. 1 Pet. 1:11); and if this be true of the good and faithful prophets of the Lord, why could it not happen in the case of a Gentile whose heart was perverted, and whose dominant passion seems to have been that of the traitor apostle Judas?

6. Finally, the Fathers of the Church and Christian tradition have never given any other than a Messianic interpretation to Balaam’s prophecy (cf. Tübing. Quartalsch., 1844, p. 474; 1860, p. 654; 1872, p. 625 ff.; Reinke, Beiträge, vol. 4).

NUM. 24:15–19

Balaam the son of Beor hath said,

The man whose eye is stopped up hath said,

The hearer of the words of God hath said,

Who knoweth the doctrine of the highest

And seeth the visions of the Almighty,

Who falling hath his eyes opened.

I shall see him, but not now,

I shall behold him, but not near.

A star shall rise out of Jacob,

And a sceptre shall spring up from Israel,

And shall strike the chiefs of Moab,

And shall waste all the children of Seth.

And he shall possess Idumea,

The inheritance of Seir shall come to their enemies,

But Israel shall do manfully.

Out of Jacob shall he come that shall rule,

And shall destroy the remains of the city.

We may point out the following Messianic notes and characteristics contained in Balaam’s prophecy: a. The predicted ruler will belong to the family of Jacob. b. He will be powerful enough to destroy all Israel’s enemies, present and future. c. As the protevangelium describes a conqueror of the serpent, who himself will have to suffer in the struggle, as the second prediction given to Sem points out that man’s salvation will be brought about by God’s mysterious dwelling in the tents of Sem, and as, finally, the series of the patriarchal blessings implies the priestly office of the future Saviour of mankind, so does the present prophecy show forth the Redeemer’s regal and princely character. d. It is also worthy of note that Balaam is the first prophet who touches the time of the future Redeemer. Its indication, however, is couched in the negative terms, “not now,” “not near.”








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