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Numbers 24:17 & Revelation 22:16 :: December 14, 2025
Week #3: “Come, O Promised Star of Jacob”
“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
As we light each Advent candle, we anticipate the arrival of our Lord by focusing on the biblical truth captured in the beloved carol, “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus.”
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]
Our first candle was a candle of freedom. When Jesus comes, He will release us from our fears and sins. We will find our rest in Him.
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE AGAIN.]
Our second candle was a candle of joy. Jesus is the true fulfillment of all of our longings. When He returns, He will fill the world with His glory and His people with unending joy.
[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE.]
Our third candle is a candle of hope. A brand new stanza of our song begins:
“Come, O promised Star of Jacob,
rise upon this harrowed earth;
fill the silence of our waiting
with the cry of holy birth.”
This predicted name for Jesus came from a very unlikely source. A pagan prophet from the East named Balaam tried to place a curse on Israel, but all that came of his mouth was blessing! In Numbers chapter 24, Balaam shared a vision he received from the LORD:
“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17).
More than a thousand years before Christ was born, Balaam caught a glimpse of Jesus–the light of the world and our only hope. When Jesus comes, He will dispel the darkness with all of its coldness, emptiness, depression, and despair.
“The Bright Morning Star” will shine His light of hope on us (see Revelation 22:16).
Come, Thou-Long Expected Jesus!
***
Photo by Jonas Von Werne
Lyrics of new stanza 2 by Krystin Getty. Used by Permission of Capitol Records.
