The Latter Days in Numbers 24:14-17 + book corner

Numbers 24:14-17

“And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

So he took up his oracle and said:

“The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,

And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened;

The utterance of him who hears the words of God,

And has the knowledge of the Most High,

Who sees the vision of the Almighty,

Who falls down, with eyes wide open:

“I see Him, but not now;

I behold Him, but not near;

A Star shall come out of Jacob;

A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,

And batter the brow of Moab,

And destroy all the sons of tumult.

This is the famous story of Balaam and the talking donkey.

Moab and Israel never got along. There were troubles and wars back and forth. Their best export was Ruth and Naomi; Ruth was the daughter of Eglon the son of Balak! She would later be the great grandmother of King David.

Baalam was on the mountain looking down on the Israelite encampment (for they had not yet entered the Land.) when he made his prediction. The interesting part is that the shape of the arrangement of all the tents was as a cross with the tabernacle in the middle. Did Baalam see the cross when he said, ‘I see Him, but not now, I behold Him, but not near (in time). The Star is the Messiah. So this latter day’s prophecy would take a good thousand years to come true.

Book Corner

I just finished reading Countdown 1945 by Chris Wallace. It is a great book that deals with the creation and use of the Atomic Bombs that ended WWII in Japan. I was particularly interested because I taught a week-long CAD class at Los Alamos, New Mexico many years ago. Los Alamos is where the bombs were created. I remember going to a small museum where they had models of Little Boy and Fat Man (the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Los Alamos is a fascinating place.