The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress

“I Shall See Him, but not Now.”

When the Israelites were on their way to Canaan, Balak, the king of Moab (a descendant of Lot), called Balaam to curse Israel. The Lord turned his curse into a blessing, through which they received additional light, calculated to dispel the thought that the final deliverance from Satan’s usurpation would be immediate on their entrance into Canaan. The Scripture account of it reads, Balaam, in a vision from God, said, “I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.” ²⁵ GSAM 44.2

This multitudinous seed that sprang from Abraham is spoken of by Paul on this wise: “Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” ²⁶ GSAM 44.3

The heart of Israel need not have fainted or been discouraged by the prediction of Balaam that the consummation of their hope is “not now,” nor “near;” for the Lord, not long before this prophecy, had pledged his own life that the glorious state should finally come. Through Moses he said, “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” ²⁷ In the days of the prophet Habakkuk, 863 years later, the same truth was reiterated, but spoken of as an event yet future: “for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” ²⁸ GSAM 44.4