Numbers 24:17

King Balak of Moab is worried about the Israelites on his border. He seeks out a prophet named Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites, but Balaam tells him he can only utter what God puts in his mouth. Still, Balaam is a prophet-for-hire (therefore reviled by the early Christians) and he'll do what he can. They travel together to a high place to view the Israelite encampment. Balaam goes up to a ledge by himself, where he is inspired by God to bless Israel and warn Balak that he cannot curse what God has blessed.

Balaam reports his prophecy, which of course enrages Balak. He asks him to view the Israelite camps from another perch, so perhaps he will have another oracle. The same response: Israel is blessed by God and there's nothing Balak can do about it. Then a third attempt. Balak is furious and tells Balaam he's not going to pay him a thing because he won't curse Israel. Balaam sees that his trip has been fruitless and says to Balak, "now that I am about to go to my own people, let me first warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come."

And part of this prophecy is: I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel.

This may or may not be a messianic prophecy--there is no reference to it in the New Testament, but many Christian scholars count it as one. It is one in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which was the first place I'd ever heard it. I don't know what it is about that verse but it sends chills up my spine. Maybe because the Pentateuch is an oral tradition story that wasn't written down for many centuries. Maybe because it is depicted as so hazy, as so far away. Therese, my partner Atrium teacher, sits 4 and 5 year old children down in the deep of December and holds up a board with these words written on it. When we sit there, so many thousands of generations removed from the original story, these words proclaimed by a prophet from another culture staring down at the Israelites, the vague muddiness of the prophecy given not to the Jews but to a king who opposed them--it reminds me of how grounded my own religion is in a deep faith with roots reaching far into the earth, into the distant past I can only barely fathom. There the words stare back at me. Could it be about the messiah? Could it only be referring to David? Could it be a false-positive entirely? But there it is.

So much about Christianity is known fact. Jesus Christ lived, a man, walked the paths from Galilee to Jerusalem, was crucified under Pontius Pilate--you've repeated the words, I'm sure. His apostles preached and wrote and argued and died horribly. The rulers opposing him had defined reigns and genealogies.

But Jesus walked in a time when Balaam's words were already ancient. It is often hard for me to fathom how far away these words were--Balak was king of Moab probably around 1200 BC. Like, near the time when the Phoenicians created the alphabet. Like a long long time ago. And that3200 years later I can sit in a montessori classroom on 39th street and listen to words that foretold the beginning of my religion?

There is much we do not know. And it thrills me.