The star which adorns Israel's flag is known as
the Magen David, or the "Shield of David."
Why does a star represent the House of David?
The reason is very simple. There are many Jewish Scriptures which indicate
the Messiah must descend from David, and in the Torah, the law of Moses,
a star is associated with the coming of the Messiah. The star of Numbers 24:17
is prophetically Messianic. The star is associated with Messiah's
coming. It is, then, appropriate for the Messianic star to be associated
with the House of David, since the Messiah descends from David (Isaiah 9:7).
So strong was the Jewish association of a star with the Messiah,
that the false Messiah Bar-Kochba, or Bar-Cochav (died 135 C.E.),
was called the "Son of a Star."
In Numbers 24:17 we read, "...there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre
shall arise out of Israel... ." This Numbers 24:17 prophecy associated Messiah with
a star. This Messianic prophecy is likely the inspiration which caused some
of the Magi to search the heavens.
In about 7-4 B.C.E. wise men entered Jerusalem following a star
which they had seen in the east (Matthew 2:1-2). They apparently
believed the star they followed was the Torah star mentioned in Numbers 24:17. They
asked where the Messiah was to be born. The chief priests and scribes informed
Herod that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, quoting a passage from
the prophet Micah as evidence
(Matthew 2:1-6).
The Messianic idea involves the concept of world
government (Isaiah 9:6-7). The star on Israel's flag indicates
the future world government of the Messiah, which, according to both the New
and Old Covenants (Jeremiah 31:31-40, Hebrews 8:1-13) will be
preceded by the world rule of
a false Messiah (Daniel 9:26-27, 11:40-12:1-4,7;
Revelation 13:1-8) .
