"There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of
Israel."--_Numbers 24:17._
THERE was a king named Balak, whose land the Israelites were to pass
through. They promised not to do any harm to him or his people, if
they might go quietly through; but he was afraid and angry, and wanted
to have them cursed, hoping to bring God's anger on them. That was a
very wicked and foolish notion of King Balak's; and God would not let
it bring harm upon His people. They had not deserved to have His anger
called down on them, and so He would not be angry with them.
And when Balak's friend Balaam tried to speak curses, God turned them
all to blessings; and, instead of saying they should come to a terrible
end, he could only say how happy and well off they should be, with
God to take care of them, and be their King. He even went on to say
that a Star should come out of Jacob, and a Sceptre should rise out of
Israel--and that meant that our Saviour should be born among them. He
is called a Star, because He came to give us light; and you know a star
showed the way to the place where He was born. And a sceptre is the rod
a king carries in his hand. So when He was called the Sceptre, it meant
that He should be a King.
Only think how angry Balak was, when Balaam could not curse, but only
blessed. I wish he had been afraid, and seen it was not God's will that
he should hurt the Israelites; but instead of that, he went on in his
wickedness, and was miserably killed at last; for God took care of His
people, and would let no one do them any harm.
Now, recollect, bad words and bad wishes do harm to the person that
speaks them, not to those they are meant for. If a bad boy came and
abused a steady one for going to church, or saying his prayers, it
would be very bad for himself; but if the good boy kept on quietly,
nothing that the other could say would hurt him one bit. God would take
care of him as surely as He took care of the Israelites.