One of the blessings of living in a rural area is freedom from the lights of a big city. To gaze upward on a clear night and see the array of celestial lights is breathtaking. The Psalmist best expresses the beauty of creation with these words … “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Ps 19:1 NIV).
The starry heavens are often mentioned in Scripture … “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” (Ps 147:4 NIV). Job knew their names … “He [God] is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted” (Job 9:9-10 NIV). The millions of visible starry hosts are but a fraction of God’s celestial mural of lights. Recent findings from the Hubble and Webb explorations confirm that.
As is often evident in Scripture, the use of a word may have more than one meaning and it must be defined and understood by the context of the passage. The Apostle John speaks of stars and angels… “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. To the angel [messenger, pastor] of the church in Ephesus write” (Rev 1:19-2:1 NIV).
In the Old Testament, there is one of the most profound uses of the word “star.” Revealing His sense of humor, God had a wayward prophet give a prophecy of the Savior coming out of the land of Israel. You will recall that the prophet Balaam, driven by greed and ambition (still have some of those around) was hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel. God did not permit him to do that but instead out of his mouth came the greatest of truths … “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel” (Num 24:17a NIV). God had revealed to Balaam that which would occur far into a future time centuries beyond his lifetime.
In this prophecy, two phases of Christ’s Advent were viewed as one whole. The “star out of Jacob” spoke of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him” (Matt 2:1-2 NIV).
Since the time of the Garden, God had promised to provide a Savior to atone for the sins of man. That found its fulfillment centuries later in the Cross of Christ upon which the sins of every individual were placed on Him and judged, so that by simple faith in that atoning work, anyone would have eternal life. Paul described the Savior’s sacrifice … “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9 NIV).
The second phase of Christ’s Advent prophesied by Balaam is yet future and speaks of His rule over the earth. Just as the prophecy concerning the rising star is now history, assuredly, a specter will come out of Israel. John, in the B sook of Revelation, describes Christ’s return to rule over the nations. “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev 19:15-16 NIV).