“His enemies will be his possessions —
Edom and Seir, possessions.
Israel will do valiantly,
From Yaakov will come
someone who will rule,
and he will destroy
what is left of the city.”
-Numbers 24:18-19
In Balaam’s third oracle, notice that Numbers 24:19 contains a Messianic prophesy.
As I mentioned yesterday, one of the key Biblical principles we should not overlook is that when a prophecy is given, chances are high that it’s not just a one-time happening, but could very well occur again in the near future and occur yet again in the far future.
That is why throughout the TANACH, we will get so many different phrases referring to multiple events.
For example, take a look at the following prophetic phrases:
“a star rises from Jacob”
and
“a scepter comes forth from Israel”.
Notice how both of these phrases can be referring to BOTH King David and the Messiah.
Also, it’s interesting to note that in the ancient Middle East, kings were often referred to as “stars“.
In terms of the present moment, Balaam, in his third oracle here, is referring to a king from Jacob who is going to lay waste to the inhabitants of Moab (remember Moab is referring to the modern Kingdom of Jordan).
Balaam then goes on to say the residents of Edom will be taken captive and that Amalek will be utterly destroyed to the point where they will never ever resurface again.
Next, let’s take a look at a part of verse 17.
“a star will step forth from Ya‘akov,
a scepter will arise from Isra’el,
to crush the corners of Mo’av
and destroy all descendants of Shet.“
Who in the world are the descendants of SHET?
Surely, this is NOT referring to SETH who are the immediate family of Adam and Eve?
Well, no.
Here’s who the descendants of SHET are.
Recently, some recent Egyptian documents have been dug up that contain information about a people called the SHUTU who resided in MOAB during this same time period.
Again, we have three points of positive confirmation: the location of MOAB, the same time frame, and the fact that the word “SHUTU“ has a similar pronunciation to “SHET” and minus any vowels (which is how Hebrew is written), it is the exact same word.
Hence, the “SHUTU” is probably without question who Balaam is referring to when he says “the descendants of SHET“.
Onward to verse 18.
“His enemies will be his possessions —
Edom and Se‘ir, possessions.
Israel will do valiantly,”
Okay, the reason EDOM and SEIR are lumped together here is because they are actually one and the same place.
SEIR is actually located inside of EDOM.
Onward.
Now Verse 20 signifies an important turning point you need to be aware of.
All of the nations (Edom, Moab, and Shut) listed BEFORE verse 20 are destroyed as a direct result of the Hebrew military destroying them.
However, the destruction of the nations AFTER verse 20 are destroyed by other means (but still due to divine judgement) such as being conquered by other nations etcetera.
Let’s focus our attention on verse 24 because I believe it points to a people group that it is going to have a big impact on Israel’s future as we move forward in our Torah studies.
“But ships will come from the coast of Kittim
to subdue Ashur and subdue ‘Ever,
but they too will come to destruction'”
First, let’s deal with ASSUR.
Although, this is still up for debate, some scholars believe this may be referring to the Assyrian Empire.
However, others will say that ASSUR here was just a small tribe that resided for a brief time in the NEGEV (a large desert region in Southern Israel).
One thing we know for sure however is that later on ASSHUR will be a term used to refer to Assyria which today is Iraq.
Let’s move on to the word KITTIM.
KITTIM was actually believed to be the name of an island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Now here’s the thing.
The prevailing modern scholarly consensus is that KITTIM is simply an earlier name for the people group who would later on grow to become Israel’s arch enemy.
I’m talking about the Philistines .
How is this so?
Well, the Philistines also went by the name “the Sea Peoples” because they came from the West via the Mediterranean Sea.
Notice the connection.
The KITTIM was believed to be the name of an island in the Mediterranean Sea and the Philistines were nicknamed the Sea People because they came from the West by means of the Mediterranean Sea.
But that’s not all.
Egyptian records dating back to around 1200 B.C. indicate that these so-called Sea Peoples (AKA the Philistines) attacked the coastal region of Canaan and then after that moved southward and attempted to take over EBER in the upper part of the Sinai Desert.
The conclusion?
In mentioning “KITTIM“, Balaam could very well be prophesying that people group who as I just said became Israel’s most feared arch enemy: the Philistines.
Oh, and by the way, did you know that Philistine is just another word for “Palestine“?
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