The Star of Jacob

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon

Numbers 24:17-19

I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near: there shall come a Star out of Jacob…

Our Lord, then, is compared to a star, and we shall have seven reasons to assign for this.

I. He is called a star as THE SYMBOL OF GOVERNMENT. You will observe how evidently it is connected with a sceptre and with a conqueror. Jacob was to be blessed with a valiant leader who should become a triumphant sovereign. Very frequently in oriental literature their great men, and especially their great deliverers, are called stars. Behold, then, our Lord Jesus Christ as the Star of Jacob. He is the Captain of His people, the Leader of the Lord's hosts, the King in Jeshurun, God over all, glorious and blessed for ever!

1. We may say of Jesus in this respect that He has an authority which He has inherited by right. He made all things, and by Him all things consist. It is but just that He should rule over all things.

2. Our Lord as a star has an authority which He has valiantly won. Wherever Christ is King He has had a great and a stern fight for it.

3. This kingdom of Christ, wherever it is, is most beneficent. Wherever this star of government shines, its rays scatter blessing. Jesus is no tyrant. He rules not by oppression. The force He uses is the force of love.

II. The star is THE IMAGE OF BRIGHTNESS. Our Lord Jesus Christ is brightness itself. The star is but a poor setting forth of Ills ineffable splendour. As Mediator, exalted on high, enjoying the reward of His pains, He is bright indeed.

1. Observe, that our Lord as a star is a bright particular star in the matter of holiness. In Him was no sin.

2. As a star, He shines also with the light of knowledge. Moses was, as it were, but a mist, but Christ is the Prophet of light. "The law was given by Moses" — a thing of types, and shadows — "but grace and truth come by Jesus Christ." If any man be taught in the things of God, he must derive his light from the Star of Bethlehem.

III. Thirdly, our Lord is compared to a star to bring out the fact that He is THE PATTERN OF CONSTANCY. Ten thousand changes have been wrought since the world began, but the stars have not changed. There they remain. So with our Lord Jesus. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. What the prophets and apostles saw in Him, we can see in Him, and what He was to them, that He is to us, and shall be to generations yet unborn. Hundreds of us may be looking at the same star at the same time without knowing it. There is a meeting-place for many eyes. We may be drifted, some of us, to Australia, or to Canada, or to the United States, or we may be sailing across the great deep, but we shall see the stars there. It is true that on the other side of the world we shall see another set of stars, but the stars themselves are always still the same. As far as we in this atmosphere are concerned, we shall look upon some star. So, wherever we may be, we look to the same Christ. Jesus Christ is still the same, the same to all His people, the same in all places, the same for ever and ever. Well, therefore, may He be compared to those bright stars that shine now as they did of old and change not.

IV. In the fourth place, we may trace this comparison of our Lord to a star as THE FOUNTAIN OF INFLUENCE. The old astrologers used to believe very strongly in the influence of the stars upon men's minds. But whether there be an influence in the stars or not, as touching this world, I know there is great influence in Christ Jesus. He is the fountain of all holy influences among the sons of men. Where this star shines upon the graves of men who are dead in sin they begin to live. Where the beam of this star shines upon poor imprisoned spirits, their chains drop off, the captive leaps to lose his chains. When this star shines upon the backslider, he begins to mend his ways, and to follow, like the eastern sages, its light till he finds his Saviour once more.

V. In the fifth place, the Lord Jesus Christ may be compared to a star as A SOURCE OF GUIDANCE. There are some of the stars that are extremely useful to sailors. I scarcely know how else the great wide sea would be navigated, especially if it were not for the Polar Star. Jesus is the Polar Star to us.

VI. Our Lord is compared to a star, safely, as THE OBJECT OF WONDER. We used to think when we were little ones that the stars were holes pricked in the skies, through which the light of heaven shone, or that they were little pieces of gold-dust that God had strewn about. We do not think so now; we understand that they are much greater than they look to be. So, when we were carnal, and did not know King Jesus, we esteemed Him to be very much like anybody else, but now we begin to know Him, we find out that He is much greater, infinitely greater than we thought He was. And as we grow in grace, we find Him to be more glorious still.

VII. Our Lord is compared to a star, as lie IS THE HERALD OF GLORY. The bright and morning star foretells that the sun is on its way to gladden the earth with its light. Wherever Jesus comes lie is a great prophet of good. Let Him come into a heart, and, as soon as He appears, you may rest assured that there is a life of eternity and joy to come. Let Jesus Christ come into a family, and what changes He makes there. Let Him be preached with power in any town or city, and what a herald of good things He is there. To the whole world Christ has proclaimed glad tidings. His coming has been fraught with benedictions to the sons of men.

worlddic.com