From the beginning

Foretold

Jesus said Moses wrote about Him. It is not a secret code. It is a lot of page: a line, the numbers He counted, the signs He named, and the days He appointed.

Walk it the way the text walks. The Hebrew is still on the page. When a preacher stretched a name, or forced a number, we say so.

The line

It runs from a garden to a town, in the order the text already walks.

01Seed02Names03Nations04Priest05Ram06Joseph07Scepter08I AM09Lamb10Bread11Rock12Curtain13Goat14Serpent15Prophet16Redeemer17House18Pierced19Stone20Immanuel21Branch22Egypt23Bethlehem24Donkey25Silver26Covenant

The numbers

It counts a week, a wait, and a people, then fourteen generations, ten words, a third day, seventy, and a tally.

SevenFortyTwelveFourteenThird dayTen wordsSeventy447

The signs

He named them Himself: a fish, a star, a prophet, a rest, and a bow.

JonahStarElijahSabbathBow

The days

These are appointed times: first fruit, fifty days, booths, and a year of release.

01First fruit02Weeks03Booths04Jubilee

The signs · 02 of 05 · Numbers 24 · Matthew 2

A star out of Jacob

A hired prophet tries to curse Israel. A star comes out of his mouth instead.

The text
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.

The word

כּוֹכָב

star, a shining one, a ruler rising (kokav)

Walk this word

What happens

  1. 01Hired to curse

    Numbers 22:6

    Balak sends for Balaam. Come, curse this people for me. They are too many. The king wants a word as a weapon.

  2. 02The mouth will not curse

    Numbers 23:8

    How can I curse whom God has not cursed? Three times the word comes out blessing. A hired prophet cannot sell what is not for sale.

  3. 03A star out of Jacob

    Numbers 24:17

    I see him, but not now. He sees a star, and he sees a scepter. The poem is about a ruler, spoken by a man who wanted to go home paid.

  4. 04We saw His star

    Matthew 2:2

    Magi from the east. Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star and have come to worship Him. Herod is afraid. The teachers open Micah.

Read it this way

A king hires Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam opens his mouth and cannot. Instead he says: I see him, but not now. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel. Kokav (כּוֹכָב) is a star. Shevet is a ruler’s staff. A king from Jacob, spoken by a man paid to curse.

Matthew has men from the east asking, where is He who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star. Two things that rhyme in the open: a poem about a ruler, and men who came looking for one.

Then it is named

The other room. Same line. A Person with a name.

Matthew 2:2

Some sayBalaam’s star is poetry. The Magi following a star is a later Christmas tale.

The curse would not hold. A star and a scepter got spoken anyway. The Magi were not the first to look up.

Open Numbers 24

The copies sometimes differ — that is Witness. Words you already say out loud sit in Words with weight. Foretold is what the page already says. It is not a decoder ring.