Prophecies of Messiah – Numbers 23:21: The Shout of a King

Num 23:21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

The Targum (Jonathan) applies this Scripture to the Messiah:

Num 23.21 (Ps.-J): “The Memra of the Lord their God is their help, and the trumpet-call of the King Messiah echoes in their midst.”

John Gill commentary on Numbers 23:21

and the shout of a king is among them; of God their King, the Shechinah of their King, as the Targum of Onkelos; his glorious Majesty, to whom they make their joyful acclamations, upon his appearing among them, and on the account of the victories he gives them over their enemies: or of the King Messiah, as the Targum of Jonathan, the King of kings, the Lord of lords; and so, in an ancient writing of the Jews (k), this passage is referred to the days of the Messiah: and this shout may respect the joyful sound of the Gospel, one part of which is, that Zion’s King reigns, and which proclaims him to be King, and speaks of the things concerning his kingdom, both the kingdom of grace, and the kingdom of glory; some respect may be had to the sounding of the silver trumpets by the priests on various occasions in Israel; see Num_10:1.

(k) Pesikta in Ketoreth Hassamim in Numb. fol. 25. 4.

Num 23.21 (Ps.-J): “The Memra of the Lord their God is their help, and the trumpet-call of the King Messiah echoes in their midst.”

Logos=Memra

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word {λόγος ‘logos’}, and the Word {λόγος ‘logos’} was with God, and the Word {λόγος ‘logos’} was God.

λόγος=Memra in the Targum
Memra is used 596 times in reference to God. It is used throughout the TaNaKH when the Scriptures refer to God revealing Himself in His creation or interacting with mankind.

Here are a few examples.

Genesis 1:27
And the Word of the Lord created man in His likeness, in the likeness of the presence of the Lord He created him, the male and his yoke-fellow He created them.

Genesis 7:16
And they coming entered, male and female, of all flesh unto him, as the Lord had instructed him; and the Word of the Lord covered over the door of the ark upon the face thereof

Genesis 17:7…And I will establish my covenant between My Word and between you

Genesis 18:1-2
Therefore was there a word of prophecy from before the Lord unto Abraham the Just, and the Word of the Lord was revealed to him in the valley of vision; and he sat in the door of the tabernacle, comforting himself from his circumcision in the fervour (or strength) of the day.

Genesis 19:23-24

And the Word of YHWH caused to descend upon the peoples of Sodom and Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven. (Targum Jonathan)

Exodus 3:14…And the Word of YHWH said to Moses: “I am He who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was: and who in the future shall say to it ‘Be!’ and it shall be.” And He said: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘I Am’ has sent me to you.” (Jerusalem Targum)

Exodus 20

And the Lord spake all these words, saying: [JERUSALEM. And the Word of the Lord spake all the excellency of these words saying:]

Leviticus 26:12 And I will set the Shekinah of My Glory among you, and my Word shall not abhor you, but the Glory of My Shekinah shall dwell among you, and My Word shall be to you for a redeeming God, and you shall be unto My Name for a holy people (Targum Jonathan)

Numbers 10:35

JERUSALEM. It was when the ark went forward. Mosheh stood, with bands (outstretched) in prayer, and said, Arise now, O Word of the Lord, in the power of Thy might, and let the adversaries of Thy people be scattered, and make Thine enemies flee before Thee. But when the ark rested, Mosheh lifted his hands in prayer, and said, O Word of the Lord, turn from the strength of Thy anger, and return unto us in the goodness of Thy mercy, and bless the myriads and multiply the thousands of the children of Israel.

Isaiah 45:17, 25…But Israel shall be saved by the Word of YHWH with an everlasting salvation. By the Word of YHWH shall all the seed of Israel be justified. (Targum Jonathan)

¶.Hosea 1:7…But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Word of YHWH, their God. (Targum Jonathan)

Jewish teachers of the Apostle John’s era have ascribed six attributes to the memra. John assigned every attribute to Jesus in the first chapter of his gospel. The attributes are:

1. The memra is individual and yet the same as God (John 1:1-”and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”).

2. The memra was the instrument of creation (John 1:3-”All things were made by Him” and John 1:10-”the world was made by him”).

3. The memra was the instrument of salvation (John 1:12-”But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”).

4. The memra was the visible presence of God or Theophany (John 1:14-”And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”).

5. The memra was the covenant maker (John 1:17-”For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”).

6. The memra was the revealer of God (John 1:18-”No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”).

Voice of Jesus is likened to a trump
Rev 1:10 I came to be in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Rev 1:11 saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last; also, What you see, write in a scroll, and send to the seven assemblies of Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.

Voice of Jesus brings back the exiles
Joh 10:3 The doorkeeper opens to him, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
Joh 10:16 And I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must also lead those, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock, one Shepherd.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
Joh 10:28 And I give eternal life to them, and they shall not perish to the age, never! And not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand.

The trumpet/shofar call of Messiah is associated with the coming of Jesus, celebrated yearly on the Feast of Trumpets, where He comes to sit as King over all the earth and resurrects the dead.

Psa 47:5 God has gone up with a shout, YHWH with the sound of a ram’s horn.

1Th 4:16 Because the Lord Himself shall come down from Heaven with a commanding shout of an archangel’s voice, and with God’s trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise again first.
Mat 24:31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet; for a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.

Joh 5:25 Truly, truly, I say to you that an hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and the ones hearing will live.
Joh 5:28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear His voice.
Joh 5:29 And they will come out, the ones having done good into a resurrection of life; and the ones having practiced evil into a resurrection of judgment.
Joh 11:43 And saying these things, He cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus! Here! Outside!

For more on the subject of the Messiah see:

Jesus is Messiah YHWH

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