Advent Readings: Numbers 24:15-17 and Revelation 22:16

HOPE 🕯

It is dark in my special spot in the house where I spend time with God each day. I light a candle, producing a dim glow. During Advent, I am waiting for the celebration of the birth of Jesus and His triumphant return to the world, when He will stomp out the darkness for all eternity.

The world was shrouded in darkness prior to the birth of Jesus. I recall this passage in the Old Testament. Isaiah writes:

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.  Isaiah 9:2  (CSB)

We have Jesus today. We don't need to live in darkness. He is our light and salvation. Close your eyes and picture your church's Christmas Eve service, the part when the congregation holds candles. A single candle is lit in a darkened sanctuary. That candle then lights another candle, which lights another, and so on. Lit only by a congregation holding candles, the sanctuary grows brighter and brighter. Symbolically, this is how the season of Advent should progress. With each day's reading and prayer, the light in our hearts and the joy we feel anticipating the birth of our Savior shall cause our hope to grow brighter and brighter.

Numbers 24:15-17

Balaam’s Fourth Oracle

24:15 Then he proclaimed his poem:
The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened;
16 the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God
and has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:

17 I see him, but not now;
I perceive him, but not near.
A star will come from Jacob,
and a scepter will arise from Israel.
He will smash the forehead of Moab
and strike down all the Shethites.

Revelation 22:16

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

CSB