Behold Him

“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.”

Numbers 24:17 NIV

I love history. And I’ve often pondered the many details of Jesus’ birth that long ago night in Bethlehem. As Christmas approaches, I thought we might enjoy a step back in time to see some of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled during His first advent to earth. To understand why He came and why some of the people of His day missed the significance of His coming.

It actually began before the foundation of the world, but the prophecies came to light in the Garden of Eden.

In the beginning God created:

Adam was created to be the perfect image-bearer of God. Adam had one restriction. He could do whatever he wanted except to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam failed. His disobedience to what the Creator forbade, caused a cosmic shift in the universe and broke the whole world. God cursed the evil one who had enticed Adam and Eve, and He handed out consequences to Adam and Eve for their sin. But in those consequences there lived a promise:

I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.

Genesis 3:15 NIV (emphasis mine)

The One to come, the Redeemer, would crush the one who had taken the whole world captive to sin.

Many years later, God called one man, Abram, to follow Him to a land that he had never been. God made many promises to this man, some that still await fulfillment today. But one promise led directly to the Redeemer, to Jesus who is called Christ/Messiah. The promise had to do with a child…who came in a miraculous way. Isn’t it interesting that God used miraculous births to bring about His purpose to restore what was broken in Eden?

Abraham had no children, but God promised him this:

“As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Genesis 17:15 NIV (emphasis mine)

And when the time was right, Sarah at 90 years old gave birth to Isaac, who brought us one step closer to the Redeemer. One other interesting thought – Isaac was nearly sacrificed on an altar by his own father per God’s instructions. God stopped the actual sacrifice, but it was a foreshadowing of the day when God Himself would offer His perfect son Jesus on the altar of a Roman cross. God gave so we could live.

Years after Isaac’s birth, his son Jacob became the father of twelve sons, the tribes of Israel. One son became a prince in Egypt and saved his family so the fulfillment of the Redeemer could still come to pass. But it was Judah, Jacob’s most infamous prodigal son, who returned to his father after twenty-two years in a far country who was later told:

“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.”

Genesis 49:10 NIV (emphasis mine)

The Redeemer would come from the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Judah holds the scepter and the Messiah is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. God also promised another man, a king from Judah’s line, that his house would be singled out to bring forth the promised One. One day David’s son would sit forever on David’s throne.

God said to David:

“Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”

2 Samuel 7:16 (emphasis mine)

David died and was buried in his city, so God wasn’t talking about David reigning forever. Rather He spoke of One who would come and take the scepter and sit on David’s throne and rule the nations.

Jesus is called the Son of David. One day He will rule the kingdoms of the world. They shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

However, many years would pass before Jesus came. In the meantime, the kingdom David ruled would be split in two. Both sides would eventually be carried off to foreign lands and for hundreds of years they would be oppressed by their enemies. Prophets would arise and talk of the coming Redeemer, but people were losing hope.

Then one day the word of the Lord came to Micah, a prophet during the reigns of the kings of Judah and Samaria saying this:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Micah 5:2 (emphasis mine)

Ahh, Bethlehem. The word brings goosebumps. The place today is nothing like it was in that sleepy little town where both David and Jesus were born. And when He came, the people were hungry for the Redeemer.

Four hundred years of silence had followed the last of the biblical prophecies and the people of Israel groaned under the weight of oppression from Rome. They thought their Messiah would come to free them from Rome’s tyranny, but they didn’t understand the promises. They couldn’t see the whole picture because they were only looking for the ruler whose scepter would come from Judah’s line and David’s line and sit on David’s throne forever.

So when the shepherds were watching the lambs on the hillside, those lambs who were intended for the temple sacrifices, they didn’t realize that the great joy that was proclaimed was a Messiah who came to save them first and foremost from their sins. Then He would tackle their enemies. But first, He needed them to see their need. He came to crush the serpent’s head when He died on that cross. They’d forgotten that first promise and wanted only the ruling king who would set them politically free. They didn’t know that their biggest problem was the need for freedom from their sins, not freedom from their political enemies.

So God announced His good news to the shepherds who were paying attention:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:10-11 NIV

Before those shepherds heard this good news, God sent the angel Gabriel to a teenage girl, who willingly submitted to God’s plan for a miracle child. Later that same angel appeared to her betrothed Joseph and assured him that Mary had not sinned against him, but was carrying God’s Son.

Joseph was told to name the baby Jesus:

“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20-21 NIV (emphasis mine)

When we look at the manger, we don’t see a throne. We see the shadow of a cross and the joy of an empty tomb. That’s because the scepter that Jesus carries is for a time that is not yet.

Christmas is a time to remember why He came. He had promises to keep to Adam and Abraham and the broken tribes of Israel who needed their sins washed white far more than they needed relief from outside oppressors. Because if we are honest, we all know that if we don’t find healing and saving from what’s inside of us, we will never be truly free even if every oppressor on earth were vanquished.

Jesus knew that. God’s plan had to first take care of what Adam had broken in the garden. Then the scepter could rise from Jacob’s house out of Israel, one to rule the nations forever.

The baby had to come first to save us from ourselves. The Messiah will come again to rule the world, and we shall behold Him far differently then. Our songs won’t be of a silent night or a babe in a manger. But that day will be a holy one. A righteous one. And even more joyous than His first advent.

That day is coming.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

Revelation 1:7

We will not mourn Him then if we know Him now. May this season draw each of us to truly see what the prophets foretold. That the Messiah came to set us free from sin’s tyranny not man’s tyranny. Evil will meet His justice, but this time, while there is still time, He came to show us mercy.

Behold His grace. Behold Him.

Shalom and Merry Christmas!