The Star

Let's bow in a moment of prayer together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for today and all that you do. For truly, Lord, you are a great God and you are worthy of praise. We thank you for this Christmas celebration Sunday where we focus in once again on the coming of the Messiah, all that means for us. And today, Lord, as we look once again at one of the promises of your arrival, that Lord, we would live in anticipation of your coming again. In Jesus' name, amen. I love the Christmas story. I could preach the Christmas story every Sunday because there's so much in the Bible centered around the coming of the Messiah.

The theme of the Bible centers on the arrival of the Messiah. Everything is about the Messiah of Israel, his coming to this earth. When Jesus was here on this earth, he asked men, who do men say that I am? Who am I? And they would say, well, some say you're Elijah and some say you're one of the prophets, some say you're Jeremiah. He says, but who do you say that I am? Because in Christianity, the essence of that relationship is based on the identity of Christ. And Peter says, thou art the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Everything is about the arrival of the Messiah. John the Baptist, when he was in prison after preaching about the coming of the Messiah, as he was in prison, he sent some of his men to ask Christ, are you the expected one? It's taken from Psalm 40. The Erechomai, the long expected one, another title for the Messiah. Or should we look for somebody else? Because everything centers on the arrival of the Messiah. So when it comes to preaching a Christmas message, you never run out of material because the whole Bible is about the coming of the Messiah.

In fact, the Bible says in John chapter 20, that these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

And that believing in him, you might have life through his name. In other words, unless you believe that Jesus is the Messiah of God, then you cannot be saved. Everything is about the arrival of the Messiah. And so if we were to take you through a journey of scripture, we would tell you that the Messiah was promised as a seed way back in Genesis chapter three, verse number 15. That would be fulfilled in Galatians three, verse number 16. And then we take you to the book of Genesis once again and Genesis chapter 22 and tell you that the Messiah was promised as a substitute, that he would die in the place of sinners.

And of course, that was fulfilled in second Corinthians five, verse number 21. So we would take you through the promise of a seed, a promise of a substitute. We take it to Genesis 28 and say that there was a promise of a staircase, a staircase that would descend down from heaven, that would be the gateway to heaven. And that was fulfilled in John chapter one, verse number 51, when Christ said to Nathaniel, you will see angels ascending and descending on the son of man. And then we could take you to Genesis chapter 49 to show you that the Messiah was promised as Shiloh.

In other words, the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. In other words, the one to whom it belongs. What's that? The scepter. And that was fulfilled in Revelation five, verse number five. And then we could take you to the book of Deuteronomy and talk to you about the fact that the Messiah was promised as a seer, a prophet. Deuteronomy 18, that there would be one greater than Moses that would come. And of course, that was fulfilled in John chapter one and all throughout the gospels to show that this was the ultimate prophet of God.

And then we would take you from the book of Deuteronomy. We would take you, of course, to help you understand what the Bible says in the Psalms, to come to grips with all that the Bible says concerning the son of David.

Psalm 89, the covenant with David was fulfilled in Matthew chapter one, when you look at the genealogy of the Christ.

And then we could take you further in the Psalms, Psalm 118, that the Messiah was promised as the stone that the builders would reject. And sure enough, in first Peter chapter two, verse number six, we see the fulfillment of Christ as that stone the builders rejected.

Then we take it to the prophet Isaiah, because Isaiah tells you that in Isaiah chapter 11, verses one and two, that there will be a shoot that will stem from the root of Jesse, that shoot is the branch, the Messiah. Jeremiah 23, five and six speak of the same thing, that was fulfilled in Christ himself, the one who would come as the Messiah of God. And then we would take you further along in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 43, and tell you that the Messiah was promised as a, as a savior. And then we would take you to Isaiah chapter 49 or 48 and tell you that he was promised as the separated one or the sanctified one.

And then we would take you to Isaiah chapter 52 to tell you that he was a promised servant that would come. And then to Isaiah 53, the promised sinless sacrifice that would come, all of that, of course, fulfilled in Christ our Lord, as he came as the ultimate shepherd, the ultimate servant, the holy one of Israel, the separated one who would die for the sins of the world. And then of course, we would take you to the book of Ezekiel to show you once again, that he was that shepherd that would come.

Psalm 23, that was fulfilled in John chapter 10, that Christ was that shepherd. And then we could take you to the prophet Daniel, Daniel chapter two, to tell you that he's the promised sovereign that would arrive. And of course, in Luke chapter one, verses 32 to 35, we see the fulfillment of Christ as that sovereign king. And then we would take you further in Daniel, Daniel chapter seven, verses 13 to 14, to show you that he was the promised son of man. And in Mark chapter eight, verse number 20, Christ said that he was that son of man in fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel chapter seven, verses 13 and 14.

And then of course, we take you to Isaiah chapter nine, verse number six, to show you that the prophet was the promised son of God. And of course, all throughout the gospels, we see that Christ is that promised one. So you can go through the Old Testament and you can chase or trace the lineage of the Messiah as seed, as substitute, as staircase, as Shiloh, as the sovereign one, as the shepherd, as the sanctified one, as the separate one, as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and trace it all throughout the Old Testament.

But none of those are the topic for today. For the topic of today is found in numbers 24, where the Messiah was promised as a star, a star that would come out of Jacob. It says in verse 17 of numbers 24, I see him, but not now I behold him, but not near a star shall come forth from Jacob and a scepter shall rise from Israel. That one passage of scripture becomes the emblem on the flag of the nation of Israel star. It's called the star of David because there would be one who was a descendant of David who would be the Messiah of Israel.

But all the Jews know numbers chapter 24, that one of the titles for the Messiah is that he would be a star. And so I want to look with you this morning very briefly at what we call the prophecy of the star, and then the presence of the star, the purpose of the star, the person who is the star, and then some principles about the star. First of all, the prophecy of the star, it's numbers 24, verse number 17, just read it.

In the old testament, the Hebrew word for star means to shine forth, a brilliance, a blazing forth. In other words, when the prophet would speak of the star, it speaks of the one who is coming, who is a shining one, who will blaze forth his glory. And that is the essence of what is talked about in numbers 24. And so Israel would live in light of the arrival of this shining one. Now, it's important to understand that in Revelation chapter 1, verse number 16, when John gets his vision of the risen Christ, it says this, and in his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.

Remember 1 Timothy 6, 16 says that Christ dwells in unapproachable light. Now, this is very important to understand because you need to come to grips with everything that surrounds the coming of the star to Israel, for he is the ultimate one who shines brighter than anyone else. In Matthew chapter 2, verse number 7, Herod would say these words to the men, the Magi. Then Herod secretly called the Magi and ascertained from them the time that the star, he uses the word, appeared, which means when the star would shine.

He ascertained when they saw the shining forth of this star. In conjunction with numbers 24, we begin to understand more and more about this coming one who would shine forth his glory. And so we understand that there was a prophecy about the arrival of the star, which leads us to the presence of the star, when the star actually arrived. Well, we understand in Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter 2, verse number 1, Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?

For we saw his star, his shining in the east, and have come to worship him. The Greek text tells us that they keep asking the same question. They keep asking over and over again, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? Now the question comes to you and me, How is it these Magi knew that the star represented the king of the Jews? How did they know that? If you read the Bible, there's not much information in the Bible about the Magi. We have in Matthew chapter 2, Matthew's the only one that records the Magi.

There's a little bit in the book of Daniel, but outside of that, we know not hardly anything about the Magi. We can go back and read some history about the Magi, but the Bible speaks very little about them, which tells me this. It matters not where you have been. It matters not what you have done. It only matters who you seek. And that was the wise men. But the question still comes, How is it that these wise men, these Magi would know anything at all about this star? How would they come to grips with the reality that there was a king that was born?

How did they know that? That's a very important question. You have to ask that question when you study the story of the birth of Christ. We understand that the Magi were a priestly order and they were descendants from the Medes and the Persians. Some even suggest, and maybe it's true and maybe it's not, that their origin was in a place called Ur of the Chaldees. If you know the story of Abraham and the coming of the Messiah, and Abraham would be called out of Ur of the Chaldees. He was a pagan worshiper.

He was an idolater. He was a Gentile. But he was called by God. He crossed over the great river Euphrates, and God made a promise to Abraham that in him, all the nations of the world would be blessed because of one that would come from his loins. Wow. Could it be that in that prophecy, God was promising that even in his own home country, people would come to understand the truth about salvation. But these Magi, this priestly order, they were ones who were very much influenced by the Jews. This becomes very important to the story of Matthew chapter two, because we know that Judah was taken into captivity.

They were taken into captivity, into Babylonian captivity. And there was a Jewish individual who was used by God in a mighty way in Babylon. His name was Daniel. And listen to what the Bible says in the book of Daniel, the fifth chapter, the 11th verse.

There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, illumination, insight, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father, the king appointed him, listen, chief of the Magi, chief of the Magi, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners. In other words, Daniel had a high ranking position in Babylon. He was a Jew. And he was over the Magi. Now down through the centuries, the word Magi was corrupted, it became known as magicians, and became a synonym for sorcerers.

But in those days, there was, it was not easy to distinguish between the superstition of astrology and the science, the science of astronomy. And these men were stargazers. And Daniel took every opportunity as a leader in the public government of Babylon to influence all those around him about the arrival of the Messiah and the coming of the star that would come. And as he would oversee these Magi, these astrologists, these astronomers, he would inform them of a particular star. What star would that be?

The star of Numbers 24. So he would inform them, he would teach them, he would use, listen, his place in government to lead people he oversaw into the knowledge of the Messiah. That becomes a blueprint for all of you who live in the secular world. If you don't do that, you don't do your job. You just go to work. You got to do the work of an evangelist. Daniel did that because you see, you never know how you're going to influence people and how deep of impact it's going to make. So 600 years before the birth of the Messiah, as he influences these Magi to understand the arrival of the star, when you come to Matthew chapter two, you see some of the descendants of those in Daniel five, understanding that wherever this star is, whenever it appears, it's going to lead them to the King of the Jews.

They knew that because Daniel taught them that and they passed it down from generation to generation to generation. Now you ask, what would cause these wise men to follow the star? It's because they were influenced by this Jewish prophet who taught them about the arrival of the star and the presence of that star and all that it means, the shining forth of this illuminary. Now you have to go back to the Old Testament to understand that in the Old Testament, the Lord would manifest himself in light.

The glory of the Lord is the presence of God manifested in light. Go back to Genesis chapter one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. On day one, the very first thing he creates is what?

Light. Why? Because it is symbolic of everything that he is. He is the light of the world. And all that falls in place when you begin to understand the prophecy of the star in Numbers 24. So the glory of the Lord is the presence of God manifested in light. And so when the book of Exodus, you realize that the nation of Israel was led by a fiery cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night, all representing the presence of Almighty God. You also realize that the Bible speaks of the arrival of the Messiah in Matthew 17, when Christ is on top of the man of transfiguration, he unzips his flesh, and out of it comes this shining, blazing brilliance of light, because that's who he is.

God is light. In him is no darkness at all. And that light was veiled in flesh. And so when you read about the second coming of the Messiah, and you read about it in Matthew 25, and you compare that with Revelation chapter six, and you realize that when the Messiah comes, everything is, the sun grows dark, the moon grows dark, the heavens roll up like a scroll.

There is nothing but darkness. And then the sign of the Son of Man shall appear. And what is the sign of the Son of Man? It is the glory of God, the shining forth of the brilliance of his character. And so when the world is pitch black and the Son of Man returns, the glory of the Lord shines forth. Oh, by the way, when he came the first time, the glory of the Lord would shine all around those shepherds there in the fields of Bethlehem.

Why? Because it signified that God's glory had come to earth, that the star, the brilliance, the shining forth of this one prophesied in Numbers 24 had arrived in Bethlehem. So when the Magi come to Jerusalem, they come and they ask, where is he who was born King of the Jews? And in the Greek text it says repeatedly, where is he who was born King of the Jews? Where is he? Because you see, they were seeking him and the Jewish people were not. They weren't. It's almost as if, it's like, don't you guys know about this prophecy?

Didn't you guys hear about the star? Where have you guys been? You aren't Jews, aren't you? You don't get this? And so Herod calls in the scribes and they say, where is this King going to be born? They tell him in Bethlehem of Judea. They know, but it was the wise men who lived in anticipation of the star and they would follow the star as it moved from place to place because the star is the shining of the glory of God, the manifestation of God represented by light. It would take them from place to place to place until that one opportunity where it would shine down on the house where Jesus was.

We have seen the star. We have come to worship him who was born King of the Jews. So you have the prophecy of the star, you had the presence of the star, and then you have the purpose of the star. What was the purpose of the star? What do stars do? They shine, right? They shine. They shine brightly. They shine brightly. And so the purpose of the star was to shine because in the shining forth of the light becomes a revelation because light reveals what? Dirt. Reveals disease and damage and all kinds of disorder.

When you shed light on something, you're able to see it for what it really is. When Christ came to earth, he would shed light on humanity so that man would understand who he really is in light of the glory of God. He came to shine. And as he would shine forth his glory, what does Luke say? What does Simeon say that Luke says? Or what does Luke say that Simeon says? In Luke chapter 2, it says, Simeon says to Mary, a sword will pierce even your own soul to the end that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

This son who is the fulfillment of the prophecy and promise of the star is going to reveal the hearts of man. Why? Because that's what light does. It shines brightly and it reveals the truth about one's condition. That's why we bring you to the word of God because in thy light, the psalmist says, we see light and light is symbolic of the truth of God's word. And when God's word is opened up, it shines brightly and people who don't want their sin exposed don't like to hear what God's word says. Those who want to see God want to open his word and be exposed to the light of God.

And so the light shines for a purpose that it might reveal that which is dirty, that which is wrong. That's why in 2 Corinthians 4, it says that Satan has blinded the minds of the unbeliever so that they do not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. That they can't see the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh. That is Satan's main objective. His main objective is to get people not to see that Jesus is God. Because once you recognize Jesus is God, you bow before him, you submit to his lordship, and you follow him as king.

So Satan's main objective is to get you not to see the true essence of the light. And so the Bible says in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 19, pick it up in verse number 16, Peter says, for we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. So Peter is giving us this history lesson about what took place on the Mount of Transfiguration. That we were eyewitnesses to the majesty of God. We beheld this glory, and from heaven came this voice, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

And then Peter says this, and so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place. In other words, we have a more sure word of prophecy. We have something more sure than what we saw on the mountain. We have something more sure than our experience. We have this prophetic word. We have the truth of God. And because we do, it says, it says, it would do well for you to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

In other words, pay close attention to this prophetic word. Because when you do, and it shines down upon you, the day star, the morning star arises in your hearts. Who's that? Well, that's the person who is the star. Christ says in Revelation 22 verse number 16, he says these words, I, Jesus, am the bright and morning star.

He is that day star. He is the fulfillment of Numbers 24. In fact, the Bible says these words in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 21 verse number 23, and the city has no need, this is the city of Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth.

And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine upon it for the glory of God has illumined it and its lamp is the land. In other words, Jesus says, I am the bright and morning star.

There is no need for electricity in the new Jerusalem because there's no need for sun. There's no need for moon. Why? Because I am the light. The lamp is the light that illumines everything. You see, that's why when Moses said way back in Exodus chapter 33, Lord, I want to see your glory. Just let me get a glimpse of your glory.

And the Lord God says, you can't see me, Moses and live. So what I'll do is I'll hide you in the cleft of the rock and I'll walk by you. As I pass by, you'll be able to see the residual effects of the afterglow. Because if you look on me, you're going to die. No man can see me and live. Why? Because he dwells in unapproachable light. So therefore I will pass by. And when I pass by, you can see the afterglow. And Moses, even in the midst of the afterglow, his face would shine and radiate with the glory of the Lord when he would come down off the mountain.

Because the glory of the Lord is the manifestation of God in light. The presence of God manifested in brilliant light. And that is a sign of the son of man when he comes again. And that's why he created the light first.

Because everything is about the light of the world, who is the Messiah himself. Everything is about Christ. Everything is about the Lord God. And so we begin to understand not only the prophecy of the star, the presence of the star, the purpose of the star, the person who is the star, but some principles from the star. That's this. When the Magi came, they said, where is he who was born King of the Jews? We have seen his shining in the east and we have come to worship him. How do you know you have truly seen the light?

There is a compulsion to worship him. There was no compulsion on the part of Herod to worship him. There was no compulsion on the part of the scribes to worship him. And they knew the Old Testament. They were masters of the Old Testament. But there was no compulsion in their lives to worship him. Even when the Magi came, said we have seen his star. We have come to worship him. And the Magi would be able to direct them to Bethlehem because they knew about the prophecy of Micah 5 verse number 2. It had no effect on them.

You see, you haven't seen the light. If when you know the word and it has no effect on your life, you have not seen the light because you have not come to worship him. God is seeking true worshipers, those who worship him in spirit and in truth. He's not seeking false worshipers. He's seeking true worshipers. And we are the ones who worship God in spirit and in truth. And we are the ones who want to adore him. We want to bow before him. We want to lift his name on high because we have truly seen the light.

But those who have not seen the light, they don't care to worship the Son of God. They don't care to worship the Messiah. They don't care to bring their gifts before him. They don't care to bow before him because to them it makes no difference. But to us, it makes all the difference in the world. Isn't it interesting? That the Magi, with limited knowledge and limited understanding, had this unique passion and desire to pursue the King of Kings. And those scribes, with all the knowledge, did not. And you see, there are people today in church who know all the Bible verses, but they have no passion to worship the King.

They have no drive to seek him, to follow him, to bow before him. Oh, they might know what the Bible says, but just because you know what the Bible says, doesn't really mean anything at all.

If you know the God of the Bible, that means everything. Because the knowledge of God is not about an accumulation of information. It's about the fact that God in his glory has rubbed off on you. Put it this way, we are to live giving glory to God, right? We are to live giving glory to God. What does that mean? God is glory. We give him glory. We live to the glory and honor of God. That simply means this, that the glory of God lived out in the life of the believer is that we want to reflect the brilliant radiance of his person in and through our lives.

There is this passion to live for Christ. That's why the Bible says in Ephesians 5, walk as children of the light.

If you know the light, who is God himself, you shouldn't want to walk as a child of the light. You should want to shine brightly. Why? The Bible says in Matthew 5 that we are the light of the world.

We are the light. We are to let our light shine so brightly that others will see our God and want to worship our God. You see, we, as a result of Christmas, should glow. Should we not glow? There should be this glowing about our lives, this shining forth in our lives about the fact that we know the light and the light shines in us and now the light shines through us. We are to walk as children of the light. Therefore, there is this glow about our lives that is attractive about us, not because of our external looks, but because of what Christ has done on the inside.

And my prayer for you and for me this Christmas season is that we would come to understand the fact that we should glow for Christ. Way back when I was a kid, I had a Sunday school teacher who used to always say, if you know God, you will glow for God. If you glow for God, you will go for God. And then she would say, if you know God, if you know Him, you will shine brightly. There will be something about your life that causes you to shine. If you shine, you will share everything that God has done in your life.

If you're not going, it's because you're not glowing. If you're not glowing, it's because you don't know the God who is light. This Christmas season, may we be characterized by how we shine forth the glory of God, that those around us would know that Christ reigns supreme in our hearts and lives, that we live for Him, that we honor Him, that we glorify His precious name. Amen. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today, the great opportunity you've given us to live for you. And our prayer, Lord, is that we would live in the light of your glory and that Father, you would be seen through us. And whether we go to the mall or whether we go to our friend's house or whether we go to work or whether we go shopping or wherever we go this Christmas season, may it truly be that the light of Christ shines in and through us as your children, and that we would shine brightly, that we'd walk as children of the light for your glory and for your honor.

In Jesus' name, amen.