Weekly Drash - Balak

Compliments of First Fruits of Zion
reprinted by permission of FFOZ

Parasha: Balak

Shout of the King

Balak - בלק : Balak
Torah : Numbers 22:2–25:9
Haftarah : Micah 5:6–6:8
Gospel : John 13–14

Thought for the Week:

Balaam attempted to place a curse on Israel three times. Each time, the LORD turned the curse into a blessing. Instead of cursing Israel, Balaam involuntarily spoke prophetic oracles of blessing over Israel. The oracles of Balaam offer several glimpses of Messiah and point toward His coming.

Commentary:

He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; nor has He seen trouble in Israel; the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. (Numbers 23:21)

King Balak retained Balaam to curse Israel with misfortune and sorrow. In his second attempt to curse Israel, Balaam exclaimed that he saw no misfortune or trouble in store for Israel. Instead they were blessed because “the LORD his God is with him.” Balaam went on to say, “The shout of a king is among them.” (Numbers 23:21)

The word translated as “shout” is the Hebrew teruah (תרועה). It is the same word commonly used of the shofar blast. Therefore, the line could be translated as “the trumpet blast of the King is among them.”

The Apostle Paul mentions the shout (teruah) of Messiah’s trumpet when he says, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

Believers know that the king’s shofar blast is the trumpet of Messiah. He is the coming king. The Targum Pseudo-Yonaton, an early Aramaic translation of the Torah, translates Numbers 23:21 to say, “The Word of the Lord their God is their help, and the trumpets of the King Messiah resound among them.”

Notice that the targum does not translate the passage to say, “The trumpets of the King Messiah will resound among them.” Instead, it says that the trumpets of King Messiah are resounding among us even now. Though we have not yet heard the shofar blast that will herald the coming of King Messiah, His trumpets are already resounding in our midst. Each time we blow the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), we rehearse the day of His coming. We may not hear the trumpets of Messiah yet, but the unseen world of spiritual darkness certainly does. When Balaam attempted to curse the people of God, he heard the deafening blast of the trumpet of Messiah.

Take courage. The trumpets of King Messiah resound in our midst.

Shavuah Tov! Have a Good Week!

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Ideal for Study Groups
 

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The Restoration Audio Book, read by D. Thomas Lancaster, contains six CDs and is narrated by the Author.
 

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