Balak - The Wicked Prophet Foretells Messiah

In the Torah portion of Balak, we learn about Bil’am, the Prophet Balak summons to curse the tribe of Israel. Bil’am doesn’t do what Balak wants him to, and instead blesses the tribe of Israel, foretelling the blessings Israel will receive, and predicting what will happen in the end of times.


It says in Numbers 24:17:

“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth.”

Bil'am prophesied that a coming king of Israel would destroy the enemies of Israel, defeating Moab and Edom, and eventually ruling over all mankind (the sons of Sheth). There is a Jewish tradition that the Messiah will fight in a series of final battles in which it will be Israel against the rest of the entire world. Maimonides refers to this tradition as "the wars of Messiah."


Targum Pseudo-Yonatan and Targum Onkelos paraphrase Bil'am's prophecies in regards to the end of times:

“I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but it is not near. When the mighty king of Jacob's house shall reign, and the Messiah, the Powerful-Scepter of Israel, shall be anointed, He will slay the princes of the Moabites and bring to nothing all the children of Seth, the armies of Gog who will do battle against Israel, and all their carcasses shall fall before Him.” (Numbers 24:17-18, Targum Pseudo-Yonatan)

“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh. When a king shall arise out of Jacob, and the Messiah will be anointed from Israel, He will slay the princes of Moab, and reign over all the children of men; and Edom shall be an inheritance, and Seir a possession of [Edom's] adversaries.” (Numbers 24:17-18, Targum Onkelos)


The territories of Moab and Edom back in the day correspond to the Transjordan territory. Bil'am's prophecies imply that King Messiah will claim the Transjordan (along with the disputed West Bank), ending the Middle East peace crisis. It says in Obadiah 1:21 that after this, "the deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom will be the LORD's."


The battles of Messiah will reach their climax with the battle of Gog and Magog. The rabbis speculated that in this final battle, the suffering Messiah, Messiah son of Yoseph, will die. After this, Messiah son of David, the conquering Messiah, will rise, destroy his enemies, and claim the throne of his father David. Bil'am's prophecy about the star that comes from Jacob and the scepter that comes from Israel supports this idea. Rabbeinu Efrayim says, in Yalkut Moshiach, "The words ‘I see him but not now,’ refer to the coming of Messiah son of Ephraim. The words 'Not near' refer to Messiah son of David." Rabbeinu Efrayim then relates the star that shall come forth from Jacob to Messiah son of Yoseph, and relates the scepter that shall rise from Israel to Messiah son of David. It says in Psalms 110:2:

“The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Your enemies.’”

Maimonides uses Numbers 24:17-18 as one of his primary proofs from the Torah of a coming of the Messiah. Maimonides takes a different meaning from Bil’am’s prophecies, and interprets them as referring in part to King David, whom he calls the first messiah, and in part to King Messiah, whom he calls the Last Messiah:

“Even in the section of the Torah about "Bil'am" it is said, and there Bil'am prophesied about the two anointed ones (i.e., messiahs)—about the first anointed one, David, who saved Israel from the hands of its enemies, and the last anointed one, who will arise from among David's seed and who will save Israel at the end of days. And there he says [in Numbers 24:17-181]: ‘1 see him but not now,’ this refers to David. ‘I behold him, but not near,’ this refers to King Messiah. ‘A star shall come forth from Jacob,’ this refers to David. ‘And a scepter shall rise from Israel,’ this refers to King Messiah. ‘He shall crush through the forehead of Moab,’ this refers to David, as it says, ‘He defeated Moab, and measured them with the line’ (2 Samuel 8:2). ‘And tear down all the sons of Seth,’ this refers to King Messiah, of whom it is said, ‘May he also rule from sea to sea’ (Psalms 72:8). ‘Edom shall be a possession,’ this refers to David, as it is said, ‘All the Edomites became servants to David’ (2 Samuel 8:14). ‘And Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession,’ this refers to King Messiah, as it is said, ‘The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau’ (Obadiah 1:21).” (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim ILI)

The apocryphal Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs also has something to say about Bil’am’s prophecies:

“And after this there shall arise for you a star from Jacob in peace. And a man shall arise from my posterity like the sun of righteousness, walking with the sons of men in gentleness and righteousness, and in him will be found no sin. And the heavens will be opened upon him to pour out the spirit as a blessing of the holy Father. And he will pour out the spirit of grace on you. This is the shoot of God most high; this is the fountain of life of all humanity. Then he will illumine the scepter of my kingdom, and from your root will arise the shoot, and through it will arise the rod of righteousness for the nations, to judge and to save all that call on the Lord.” (Testament of Judah 24:1-6)

Daniel studied many prophecies, but he paid careful attention to prophecies that might affect the exile his people were subjected to during his lifetime. Bilam's prophecies were a part of this second group, because they pointed to the Assyrian and Babylonian deportations and the Exile from the land of Israel.


Numbers 24:24 talks about ships coming from Kittim. When Daniel predicted the arrival of the Roman naval fleets, he referred to them as the ships from Kittim. This is how we know that Daniel studied the prophecies of Bil’am.


Daniel pleaded with God for insight into the future with prayer and fasting, and he did so until the angel Gabriel came to him and revealed what would happen in the end times. Gabriel told Daniel, in Daniel 12:13:

“But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.”

The angel told him in Daniel 12:4 to "conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time." This means that he was supposed to leave some kind of message for future generations. We found writings of his that came to be known as the book of Daniel, but are there other writings that we haven’t found yet? Maybe there’s still something to be found for satraps and astrologers, the wise men of Babylon and Persia. He could have left them something, like an instruction to watch for a certain sign in the stars. After all, how did the wise men from the east know that the bright star announcing Yeshua’s birth would point towards the birth of the King of the Jews? It says in Matthew 2:1-2:

“Now after Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’”

It says in Numbers 24:23-24:

“Alas, who can live except God has ordained it? But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, and they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; so they also will come to destruction.”

Bil'am looked into the future of the nations, even until the end times. He saw the coming of the Assyrians. He saw the gradual rise of Rome (Kittim) and how they would afflict the Jewish people (Eber). He asked rhetorically, "Alas, who can live except God has ordained it?" Then he says that "They [Rome] also will come to destruction." The Targum interprets Numbers 24:23-25 as a foretelling of the final battle, with Rome being the primary enemy:

“Woe to them who are alive at the time when the Word of the Lord shall be revealed, to give the good reward to the righteous, and to take vengeance on the wicked, to smite the nations and the kings, and bring these things upon them! And sails armed for war will come forth with ... armies from Lombardia, and from the land of Italy, conjoined with the legions that will come forth from Constantina, and will afflict the Athuraee, and bring into captivity all the sons of Eber; nevertheless the end of these and of those is to fall by the hand of the King Messiah, and be brought to everlasting destruction.” (Numbers 24:23-25, Targum Pseudo-Yonatan)

In this Torah portion, we learn about the prophecies of Bil’am, and how they represent an exciting and devastating future. Even knowing all of these prophecies, we still wish for the Messiah. May he come soon and in our days.


Balak: False Prophets & Hashem's Love for Israel

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