As we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ during Advent, First Readings challenges us to find Christ in Old Testament descriptions. For example, from the First Reading of Monday of the Third Week of Advent (Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a), we can find Christ in this narrative:
The oracle of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, of one who sees what the Almighty sees, in rapture and with eyes unveiled. I see him, though not now; I observe him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel (Numbers 24:16-17a).
While the Israelites were still in Exodus, Balaam, an Ammonite prophet, received words from God of Israel and prophesized that Israel would conquer its enemies because God had blessed this nation of His. In this context, Balaam said to Balak, a Moabite king, that Israel would defeat Moab and other nations because God had blessed Israel with the Messiah (Christ). Balaam did not use the word, “Messiah” but indicated the Messiah as a star and a scepter (Numbers 24:17a).
Indeed, it was a star of Christ rising from Israel that guided the Magi from the east to where he was found with his Holy Family (Matthew 2:2,9). And a scepter that rises from Israel symbolically suggests a king of Israel, namely, Christ (i.e. Hebrews 1:8-9). In fact, when the Magi saw the star rising above Israel from the east, they identified the star with the birth of a new king of Israel (Matthew 2:1-2).
In the First Reading of Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent (Genesis 49:2, 8-10), through Jacob’s blessing on one of his twelve sons, Judah, the fourth one from Leah (Genesis 29:35), the coming of Christ was indicated as a king from the Judah’s line:
You, Judah, shall your brothers praise - your hand on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah is a lion’s cub, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches, lies down like a lion, like a lioness—who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and he receives the people’s obedience (Genesis 49:8-10).
Jacob foresaw extraordinary strength and dignity in Judah so that all his brothers, including ones older than he, would exalt him. Being strong, Judah is associated with a lion, a kingly animal. Because Christ is, indeed, the triumphant lion of the tribe of Judah with the Davidic roots (Revelation 5:5).
In fact, Balaam was not the only one to see Christ as a conquering king to reign over all nations but Jacob certainly foresaw Christ the King to emerge out of the his lineage through the branch of Judah, for he, too, recognize a scepter. As a scepter is rather synonymous to king’s ruling authority and power, the permanent presence of the scepter with Judah’s line suggests that the royal lineage of David, who is of the tribe of Judah, is eternal (cf. 2 Samuel 7:10-16; cf. Luke 2:31-33; Revelation 1:6; 11:15).
Through Balaam’s oracle (Numbers 24:8-10) Jacob’s prophetic blessing on Judah (Genesis 9:8-12), we recognize Christ as a Davidic eternal King with majestic authority and power, as a star rising from Israel.
In the First Reading of Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent (Jeremiah 23:5-8), we see Christ as a wise Davidic king, who is right and just. Thus, under his reign, the Kingdom shall enjoy peace and prosperity. This prophecy of Jeremiah also sees Christ the King as the redeemer of his people.
Jeremiah prophesized God’s will to send Christ, as the eternal Davidic King, to redeem those who are lost:
See, days are coming - oracle of the Lord - when I will raise up a righteous branch for David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name to be given him: “The Lord our justice.” Therefore, the days are coming - oracle of the Lord - when they shall no longer say, “As the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt”; but rather, “As the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north”—and from all the lands to which I banished them; they shall again live on their own soil (Jeremiah 23:5-8).
When Christ the King comes and reigns with his scepter, as the star rising over Israel, the domain under his rule shall enjoy peace and prosperity, as all nations shall be subjugated to his power and authority, symbolized with his scepter. And he hails from the royal line of David, who descended from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, who is a son of Isaac, whose father is Abraham. And Christ the eternal Davidic King saves his people and redeems those who are lost.
Christ the King, like a shepherd who goes out to find his lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14//Luke 15:1-7), redeems those who have been lost. In fact, he has already done this – redeeming the humanity through his blood (Ephesians 1:7). And the way Christ the Davidic king of justice and righteousness redeems us is compared not only to how God delivered the Israelites from Egypt but more to how He redeemed them from the Babylonian Exile. This suggests that Christ is coming to redeem us from this temporary world plagued with sin to his eternal Kingdom. This is, indeed, the new exodus, Christ the Davidic King will lead with his Davidic roots in shepherding (1 Samuel 16:19-23). With Christ the Davidic King shepherding us, we have nothing lacking and nothing to be afraid of, all the way until we dwell in the House of the Lord (Psalm 23:1-6; cf. John 14:2-3).
In the Gospel Reading of Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent (Matthew 1:18-24), we see how the incarnated Christ is recognized as a Davidic King. It is through Joseph, who hailed from the lineage of David, accepting Mary, who was already pregnant with the incarnated Christ, as his beloved wife. This is why the Archangel Gabriel called Joseph, “Son of David” (Matthew 1:20).
As our preparation for the coming of Christ is in progress, through the above readings from the Old Testament, we appreciate how God had revealed His will to send His only begotten Son to us as the Christ (Messiah), the lion of the tribe of Judah, the eternal Davidic King, who rules all nations, with his scepter, wisely with justice and righteousness, centuries before the coming of Christ,
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