In Num. 24:17 we see a precious crystal in the book of Numbers – Christ as the living Star – which is fulfilled in Matt. 2:2 and has to be our experience in our Christian life and church life today.
In Numbers we see how Moses prophesied that a Sat shall come forth out of Jacob; this star is Christ, and the fulfillment of this is in Matt. 2 where the magi came to Israel, led by the star, to worship the newborn Christ.
They saw the star at its rising and have come to worship Him; when Herod heard that, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem was troubled with him. Instead of being happy, they were troubled.
When the Lord will come back, many believers will be troubled, for they won’t be ready for His return.
The magi enquired of the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and they knew that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem; the chief priests and scribes had the Scriptures and the verse where Christ had to be born, but they didn’t have a heart to seek Christ.
They had the Word in letter but not the living word speaking to them and shining in them to seek after Christ.
Then the magi went and found Christ, the newborn King, for the Star led them after they left Herod and the priests; then, they departed home by another way.
We need to be those who see and enjoy Christ as the living Star, the Star out of Jacob, and we need to see how can we become the duplication of Christ as the Star out of Jacob.
In Rev. 1:16 we see that the Son of Man had seven stars in His hand, and in v. 20 the mystery of the seven stars is revealed – they are the messengers of the seven churches.
To be a star, to be the duplication of Christ as the Star, is to be a messenger of the churches. When the Lord was writing to the seven churches, He didn’t write to them directly, but to the messenger of each church; everything was funneled through the messenger.
This means that, if we don’t have messengers in the local churches, if we don’t have those who have the divine message and the fresh message from the Lord to His people, we don’t have His speaking to the churches.
A messenger is someone who enjoys Christ as the Messenger of God and as the fresh message of God to dispense to God’s people.
We need to aspire to be the messengers in the churches, those who not only see and gain Christ as the living Star but also become His duplication and reproduction, being those who receive Christ as the fresh message of God and convey this message to God’s people.
Christ is the Star out of Jacob, whose Goings forth are from Eternity and to Eternity
Num. 24:17 says, There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob; this Star refers to Christ. The fulfillment of this type of Christ is found in Matt. 2:2, in the words of the magi – who were learned men from the east.
They came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star at its rising and have come to worship Him”. The magi didn’t say, “We saw a star” or “we saw the star” but “We saw His star”.
We need to not just see stars…but see His star, the Star our of Jacob, Christ as the living Star. This is certainly the fulfillment of Num. 24:17, for the star spoken in the Old Testament was shown to these learned men – these heathen people.
It is very interesting that the star was not shown to any of the people of Israel – who already had the Scriptures – but to these pagan people.
The Jews had the Scriptures concerning Christ and they knew where He would be born; they even gave the magi the indication of the location of where the Christ was to be born, but they didn’t see the star of Christ, neither did they have a heart to follow it and find Christ.
The Jews had the knowledge in letters concerning where Christ was to be born (as prophesied by Micah in Micah 5:2), but these learned men from the east received a living vision of Him; eventually, the star led them to the place where Christ was (see Matt. 2:9-10).
What we want today is not merely a doctrinal and objective knowledge of Christ but a living vision of Christ; may the Lord give us a seeking heart after Christ so that we may have a living vision of Christ. There is a wonderful footnote on this Micah 5:2 in the Recovery Version Bible, which I highly recommend.
This verse prophesies concerning the incarnation of Christ in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:4-6; Luke 2:4-7). Although Christ came forth from Bethlehem, His goings forth were from ancient times, from the days of eternity. This refers to Christ’s eternal origin and indicates that in eternity, before the creation of the earth, Christ was preparing to come forth. Christ’s appearing, His manifestation, began in eternity. From ancient times, from the days of eternity, the Triune God was preparing to come forth out of eternity into time, to come with His divinity into humanity by being born in Bethlehem as a man. His creating of all things was His preparation for Him to come out of eternity into time. This was the purpose of creation. Then, while the “locusts” were operating to consume Israel (Joel 1:4; 2:25), Christ came forth.
Christ’s going forth, His appearing, is a continuous matter. At the time of His incarnation He began to come forth. After His incarnation, He continued to go forth through His human living, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His outpouring of the consummated Spirit (who is the reality of Christ Himself), and His spreading through the preaching of the gospel to the whole inhabited earth. All these are great steps in Christ’s going forth. His going forth has not ceased but is continuing today. Christ’s going forth, His manifestation, will consummate when He comes back with the overcomers as the mighty ones (Joel 3:11) to defeat Antichrist and cast him into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:19-20), when Satan is cast into the abyss (Rev. 20:2-3), and when Christ sets up His throne to reign as King (Matt. 25:31, 34, 40). At that time His appearing will be complete. Micah 5:2, footnote 1, Recovery Version Bible
Hallelujah, Christ is still going forth – even right now, through the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth!
He is still going forth in us by being dispensed into our spirit and spreading from our spirit into our soul – our mind, emotion, and will – and eventually into our mortal body!
His comings forth are still going on until we will be transfigured and become His bride, marry Him, reign with Him for one thousand years, enter with Him in His kingdom, and be His wife forever and ever, Amen!
Christ is the real Sun (Mal. 4:2) but, strictly speaking, He doesn’t appear as the Sun during the age of night (which is this age); rather, He shines as a star until the dawn comes.
When Christ came the first time, He appeared openly as a star, but when He comes the second time, He will be the morning star (Rev. 2:28; 22:16) to His overcomers, to those who watch for His coming.
To all others, He will appear later as the sun.
May we be those who find Christ and know Him as the living star, the Star out of Jacob, and may He be going forth in us until we meet Him as we become like Him!
Lord Jesus, save us from merely having a doctrinal knowledge about Christ without the living revelation of who You are. Give us a heart to seek after You so that we may receive a living vision of Christ. Amen, Lord, may we find You and know You as the living Star, the Star out of Jacob. May we not merely search the Scriptures but come to You, the Living Star, so that You may shine on us and in us, and so that You may make us the same as You are, living stars in this dark age until You return!
Finding Christ as the Living Star by seeing a Living Vision of Christ in the Bible
This portion in Matt. 2:1-12 concerning the magi looking for Christ by the living star shows us that finding Christ is a living matter and not a matter of mere doctrinal knowledge of the Bible.
It is one thing to know the Bible, to even memorize the Word of God, and to have a good understanding of the doctrines in the Scriptures, and it is something else to have a living revelation of Christ in His word.
The star appeared far away from genuine religion (the Jewish religion), far away from the temple in the Holy Land, far away from the Jewish religious center, far away from the priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and all the religious people.
The star appeared showing something of Christ in a heathen land, and three magi from the east saw it and followed it.
Merely to hold the Bible in our hand and read Micah 5:2, which says that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, doesn’t work, we may have the Bible, but we may miss the heavenly star.
What is it to have or find Christ as the living star? The star is the living revelation, the living vision, not the old and dead doctrinal knowledge of the Scriptures, not the dead knowledge of Micah 5:2 in this case.
What we need today is not more Bible knowledge but the heavenly vision, the up-to-date instant vision, the living vision from God, the vision that our human concepts can never teach.
To hold the Bible in our hand is easy, but to wait and look unto the star is rather difficult; to read the Bible is easy, but to have the living vision of Christ in the Bible is rather difficult.
We may study the Bible and even get a degree in studying the Bible, we may learn all that the Bible has to say about Christ, but we simply can’t determine when the star will come, that is, we can’t really see and know Christ as the living star.
We all need to see Christ and find Him as the living star.
We need to ask ourselves what do we have: do we have the Bible verses or do we have a living vision of Christ? Do we have good scriptural knowledge or do we have the heavenly star?
Do we have the teachings concerning God’s old way, or do we have the up-to-date instant vision? Merely having the Bible in our hands doesn’t guarantee that we have and know Him as the living star.
To know Christ today is something living, not something according to the knowledge of the Bible in dead letters but according to the living, heavenly star.
It is easy to set up a religion according to what the Bible says we should do or not do; it is easy to set up and impose certain practices and activities based on the Bible, but our religion will reject the living vision of Christ, and the living star will not be there.
Whenever and wherever a religion is set up, the Lord will not be there, for we can’t confine, restrict, or circumscribe the Lord with our religion.
May we never set up a religion in the church life; may we never insist on some methods or practices that are right and good, for when we do this, the Lord will have to leave, because the living vision of Christ cannot be contained in our forms and practices.
When we insist that we’re right in what we do and practice and say, while the others are wrong, the Lord may leave us and go to the ones who are wrong. Oh Lord!
When we come to the Bible, we need to come to the Lord and ask Him to open our mind and understanding to see a living vision of Christ, the living star! We need to pray-read the Bible, praying over the Scriptures so that we may come to the Lord as we read and be infused with Him as Spirit and life!
Lord Jesus, open our eyes and mind to understand the Scriptures. Enlighten the eyes of our heart to see a living vision of Christ. Oh Lord, we don’t want to have a mere objective and doctrinal knowledge of Christ but a living vision, an instant revelation of the living Christ as the living star! Save us from being religious people who, according to the Bible, do things in a certain way, have particular practices according to the Word, but cannot receive or have the revelation of Christ, the living Star! Lord Jesus, may we receive spirit and life as we come to Your word, and may we find and know You as the living star in this dark age today!
Read this article in the Romanian language / citiți acest articol și în limba română la următorul link, Să-L găsim pe Cristos ca Steaua vie văzând o viziune vie a lui Cristos în Biblie.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1970, vol. 1, ”New Testament Service,” pp. 277-278, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 10, Christ as the Star out of Jacob.
- Hymns on this topic:
# And to the messenger / Of the church in Philadelphia write: / These things says the Holy One, / The true One, / The One who has the key of David, / The One who opens and no one will shut, / And shuts and no one opens. (Scripture song)
# Not just by the outward teachings, / But by His anointing moved; / Not just by the outward pattern, / But by inward vision proved. / Not by human rules or rituals, / But by heaven’s rule within; / Not by human-made decisions, / But by guidance giv’n of Him. (Hymns #908)
# In the age of Revelation, / Out from all denomination, / We are in the local churches, / In spirit one. / Nothing old or religious binds, / Everyone’s a star that shines; / Every church a golden lampstand, / Burning with Christ. / Christ and a burning church, / Christ and a burning church, / Christ and the church with the saints, / all shining stars! / Hallelujah, hallelujah, / Lord, we’ve given our all to Thee / To be burning in the spirit, to be / shining forth with Christ. (Hymns #1264)
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