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166 neled along two paths—the zodiacal cycle on the one hand, and the Returning Star’s course on the other hand. The zodiacal references are strongest regarding the Age of the Ram (and its god!) at the time of the Exodus, and become oracular and prophetic as the Seer Balaam envisions the Fu- ture, when the zodiacal constellation symbols of the Bull and the Ram (‘“bullocks and rams for sevenfold sacrifices”) and the Lion (“when the Royal Trumpet shall be heard in Israel’’) are invoked (Numbers Chapter 23). And it is when envision- ing that Distant Future that the Balaam text employs the sig- nificant term At the End of Days as the time to which the prophetic oracles apply (Numbers 24: 14). The term directly links these non-Israelite prophecies to the destiny of Jacob’s offspring because it was used by Jacob himself as he lay on his deathbed and gathered his children to hear oracles regarding their future (Genesis Chapter 49). “Come gather together,” he said, “that I may tell you that which shall befall you at the End of Days.” The oracles, indi- vidually stated for each one of the twelve future Tribes of Israel, are deemed by many to be related to the twelve zodia- cal constellations. And what about the Star of Jacob—an explicit vision by Balaam? In scholarly biblical discussions, it is usually considered in an astrological rather than an astronomical context at best, and more often than not, the tendency has been to deem the reference to “Jacob’s Star” as purely figurative. But what if the reference was indeed to a “star” orbiting on its course—a planet prophetically seen though it is not yet visible? What if Balaam, like Akhenaten, was speaking of the return, the reappearance, of Nibiru? Such a return, it must be realized, would be an extraordinary event that occurs once in several millennia, an event that had repeatedly signi- fied the most profound watersheds in the affairs of gods and men. This is not just a rhetorical question. In fact, the unfolding events were increasingly indicating that an overwhelmingly significant occurrence was in the offing. Within a century or THE END OF DAYS