Star out of Jacob
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 52, “We Have Waited for Him, and He Will Save Us,” on Gospel Library
Start
More than a thousand years before Jesus was born, a man hired to curse Israel blessed it instead. He said, “There shall come a Star out of Jacob” (Numbers 24:17).
Read Together
Balaam was a prophet from outside Israel. Balak, the king of Moab, paid him to curse the Israelites camped nearby, and the Lord let him speak only blessings (Numbers 22:5–6; 24:10).
17I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
9When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
What It Teaches
Balaam saw someone far in the future. “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh” (Numbers 24:17). A Star would rise from Jacob’s family, and a sceptre, the rod a king holds, would come out of Israel.
Wise men from the east saw his star and came to Jerusalem asking, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:1–2). The star went before them to the house where the young child was, and “they rejoiced with exceeding great joy” (Matthew 2:9–10).
On the other side of the world, a Lamanite prophet named Samuel promised a new star as a sign of the Savior’s birth (Helaman 14:5). When the day came, the night stayed as light as noon, and a new star appeared (3 Nephi 1:19–21).
Jesus calls himself “the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). The morning star shines brightest just before dawn.
Talk About It
The wise men traveled a long way following a star. What helps our family keep our eyes on the Savior this Christmas week?
Take to Church
Balaam saw a Star coming out of Jacob more than a thousand years before the wise men followed one to Bethlehem. Jesus is the bright and morning star.