Christ's First Coming: The Seed of Jacob

The Promised Seed given to Adam, Abraham, and Isaac was not fully realised, but the Lord still continued to reveal progressively who would be the real Seed. In the time of Isaac, the Lord gave His word to his descendants that Jacob was chosen through whom the Messiah would come.

How was the promised Seed seen in the line of Jacob? The answer is found in Num. 24:17. In this passage, a prophecy came out from the lips of a heathen prophet, Balaam. Balak the king of Moab attempted to hire Balaam to curse the chosen nation of God, Israel. So Balaam was persuaded to prophesy curses on Israel but “he was kept from doing so and instead, prophesied blessing upon them as recorded in 23:7-10; 23:18-24; 24:3-9, 15-19; 20-24.” However, though it was from the lips of the heathen, it is marvellous to note that the Messiah is denoted here as from the seed of Jacob. This is indeed the progressive revelation of God to make clear what He has said in Gen. 3:15.

In the climactic prophecy of Num. 24:17, Balaam saw the greatness of the nation of Israel “there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.” What do the Star and Sceptre signify here? Keil said, “The sceptre, which was introduced, as a symbol of dominion even in Jacob’s blessing (Gen. Xlix. 10), is employed here as the figurative representation and symbol of the future ruler in Israel.” In other words, the content of this oracle of God is that Balaam saw a man who would come sometime in the future from the tribe of Israel (Jacob) as a king who would triumph. The Star and the Sceptre were the symbols of His reign.

In addition, the greatness of “a Star and a Sceptre” indicates that the coming King will be the future Deliverer for Israel. He will bring victory upon the nation of Israel over the enemies of His people. The biblical record shows that there had never been found in the history of the nation of Israel such a King. Thus this is the prophecy that has not been fulfilled yet but one day it will come to pass. The “Star” and “Sceptre” speak of the promise of a king like David who will bring victory over the enemies of Israel. As Reich rightly observed, "There is a remarkable combination of the earthly and the heavenly natures of the Coming One in Balaam’s vision. He saw in Him One who would be both Star and Sceptre. Our Lord clearly refers to this prophecy when He says of Himself: “I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and Morning Star” (Rev 22:16). The language used by Balaam was that concerning earthly things, but the intention was to show the heavenly and spiritual nature of the Kingdom of God administered by the Divine-Human Christ."

Thus, Num 24:17 speaks unmistakably of the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah is the Star out of Jacob and a Sceptre that shall rise out of Israel. The writer of the gospel of Matthew understood it clearly when he wrote the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ, he listed Jacob as belonging to the Messianic line (Matt. 1:2). In other words, the Messiah would come from the Seed of Jacob.