Numbers 24:17 (NRSV)
Read Numbers 24:17 on biblegateway.com
Verse 17I 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; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites.
Devotion
This text is regarded by scholars as a prediction that Israel will rule over Moab, an ancient kingdom across the Jordan River to the east. Reading the text through the lens of another star to which Christians have looked since the story of Jesus’ birth in Matthew was first told, we have different hope. Our hope isn’t about human power or the triumph of kingdoms in this world. It is for a star in the east that heralds the advent of the Kingdom of God; the kingdom that brightens our world “when night is dim.”
Prayer
God of light and life, open our eyes to see beyond our human and worldly hopes to the brightness of your glory in the face of Christ. May your kingdom come, we pray. Amen.