Shekinah Fellowship: The Great King Over All

Sunday, December 20, 2015

The Great King Over All

Have you ever been curious about why the Wise Men or the Magi came to visit Jesus upon His birth?

*How did they know exactly when to arrive?

*And how did they know where to look for the new coming King?

*How in the world would they find an infant in this far away nation.

*It would be akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.

*When did these wise men know when to precisely leave for this likely year long journey?

In the first place, the Bible doesn't precisely mention that there were only three of them (Luke 2:1-12).

There may have been more than three.

They did bring at least three types of gifts, but these were customary gifts to kings in this age.

Also, there most certainly could have been more than three offerings.

And the question of why would they bring gifts has been asked?

It was certainly customary to have dignitaries from several nations be present for a coronation of a new king (Glory to the newborn King).

And no one would approach a king without a gift or without bringing an offering.

How did these wise men from the entire known world at the time, know Who to look for, what to look for, when to find Him, and where to find the soon-to-be-born King and Messiah?

They apparently already knew the why of finding Him from Daniel's written messages recorded for posterity in Babylonia.

When Daniel and Israel where being held captive by Babylonia, they imported their religion and history, including their knowledge of God with them.

These conquests also included gathering up all wise men of the Medes, Persian, and all nations under his rule for the kings private council and the nations under Babylon's domination represented all the know peoples, nations and languages that were known at this time (Dan 6:3, 6:25).

Daniel was apparently in this council and not only that, he was the head over it all (Dan. 5:29, 6:1-3).

Since Daniel had previously proven to Nebuchadnezzar, and most recently, King Darius, that God does exist and knows not only the whispers in a king's chamber, but his dreams too, he had placed Daniel as the highest authority (next to the king) in Babylonia.

This included the position of Governor, placing Daniel over all authorities in the greatest kingdom of that present world.

And subsequently, this included reigning over all wise men (Dan. 2:12, 48).

Ironically, Daniel's title was actually rab mag or "chief of the Magi" (Dan. 5:11).

But after thousands of years had passed since Daniels pronouncement of a soon coming king, how did they know exactly when and where to arrive?

And how was Daniel able to predict the exact date of the Messiah's arrival (Dan. 2:12-48, 9:24-26)?

Daniel was a man of prayer and Gabriel answered his prayer and told Daniel not only when He would come, but when He would be crucified (Dan. 9).

The location must have obviously been common knowledge to these Wise Men, otherwise they could only have guessed at it.

And only guessing about the when and where of the Messiah's birth would have been sheer, blind luck for them to ever find Him.

If it was too early, they would have missed Him and if they were too late, baby Jesus and His parents would have already fled to Egypt (Matt. 2:13).

The book of Daniel makes it obvious that he foreknew when the coming Savior would be born and He must have known where but this was also reveal to other prophets as well and so was still common knowledge even in the minor prophet's day (Micah 5:2).

Since Daniel was the leading Magi of the nation he was being held captive in, it makes sense that this was taught to the nation and was incorporated into their religious prophecies.

Eastern religions had long used astrology to try and predict certain events and this star was obvious to them the sign they had almost certainly looked for.

Ancient eastern customs and prophecies had long predicted a world ruling king to be born in this same time.

This was a residue of Daniels teachings that were recorded for posterity and remained to the day of Christ's birth.

During this time in history (5 AD-0) nations were expecting a great king coming out of the Jews.

These nations may have been influenced by Daniel and his writings, since he knew when and where the Christ would be born (Micah 5:2).

The ancient Persians and the Hebrews had similar beliefs, more than any other nation at that time.

They also believed in one God, did not worship idols and saw light as a symbol of God.

How perfectly fitting that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Savior since the name means "house of bread".

He is known as the Bread of Life and that He was in a manger which is a feeding trough that usually had grain.

This fits with Jesus saying "I am the Bread of Life".

But where exactly would they find Baby Jesus and how?

They had been following the star, but this only pointed them in the right direction, toward Judea.

But how could they know exactly where to find Him in a fairly large country or city?

The Old Testament prophet Micah knew the Savior would be born in Bethlehem.

Daniel must have known this and passed this on to others in Babylonia.

He had already recorded the number of days until this prophecy was to be fulfilled (to the minute!).

And "...when they saw the star, they rejoiced, with exceeding great joy (Matt. 2:10)" knowing this must be the place.

But it was only when the star came directly over [literally, "stood over" like someone or something stood over] the child did they know for certain where the infant would be.

This explains the "exceeding great joy", since they had finally found Him.

After perhaps a year or more, and having traveled thousands of miles, with no map, no guide, only a star to guide then, they now beheld the star.

This star had shown them precisely where the new King was.

Herod the king and all the so-called religious experts; the Chief Priests and Scribes could, could not even find Him, lest Herod would have had him killed (Matt. 2:3).

But foreigners, from another continent away, knew exactly when, where, and how to find Him. They followed the star and apparently knew when this epic event would happen.

The Christmas tree often has a star on it. The Star of David, Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, is described as a star...He is the Bright and Shinning Star, and also called the Bright and Morning Star and even a Saving Star (Ish. 60:1-4, Rev. 22:16, Num. 24:17).

The Great "I Am" is He!

Every child who has ever worried about Santa finding their home is dwarfed by the question of how the Wise Men found Baby Jesus.

Daniel, inspired by the Holy Spirit and informed by Gabriel, must have been responsible.

If we are wise, then we too will find Jesus.

We know where to find Him.

And Jesus stays with us every day of the year.

Engaged in the traditional celebration of Christmas, we may minimize the significance of the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem.

In fact, the traditional date of Epiphany, January 6, often passes unnoticed in our churches.

Yet it has implications for all people, even outside the Hebrew tradition and faith.

For centuries the Jews have awaited the coming of their messiah.

Yet the visit of the Magi reveals God's intention to make known that this Child had come for all people, for all are created in God's image.

Our Creator's continual desire is to be known and acknowledged by each of us.

The Gospel narrative of the coming of the Magi presents us with at least three considerations.

First, having heard about and celebrated the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, we must continually seek him.

Then, once having found Christ, we must acknowledge His divinity through our daily living.

And finally, as we reflect on the gifts presented by the Magi, we can see their significance for Jesus and for us:

GOLD

This is one metal that is universally considered precious. The gift of gold, representative of royalty, affirms that Jesus, the Son of God, is Lord and ruler of the people of the earth.

FRANKINCENSE

This fragrant resin was used by the priests in their ultimate offerings to the Most High. It was symbolic of the priesthood of Jesus and His life as the supreme offering on behalf of God's people.

MYRRH

This balsam was of multiple uses—as an offering, as a component for consecration oil, or mixed with wine to strengthen and give courage to those condemned to die. The gift of myrrh signaled the consecration of Jesus as the atonement for our sins.

Like the Magi, having celebrated the birth of Jesus, reflected on the purpose of His life and mission, and experienced our personal encounter with Him, we cannot return to our previous lifestyle as the same persons on the same road.

We return as changed persons, on a different road, to lead a new life.

Praising God, acknowledging with Paul that in Christ there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free men, between men and women, but we are all one in Christ, and considering how this truth is to affect your daily acts.

Praying throughout this new year that this confession of our faith may be confirmed in our daily living at home, in our nation, and in our relationships with other people.

Faithfully working toward the day until God calls us home, and hopefully we'd hear Him say, "well done my good and faithful servant...
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Matthew records that the Wise Men found the child after following the star.

The word for child is different than the word for baby.

A child was no longer considered an infant.

Clearly the language shows that Jesus was not a newborn.

There are a number of Christmas plays and programs that depict the Wise Men arriving with the shepherds and giving their treasures to the baby Jesus.

There is no way that the Wise Men arrived with the shepherds.
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Nowhere does the Biblical record describe these men as kings.

We hear the song We Three Kings and take it for gospel.

The Wise Men were Magi, a class of advisers that were part of the Babylonian society.

The Magi were well known for various skills such as, diplomacy, the interpretation of dreams, and politics.
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Nowhere does Matthew tell us that there were three Wise Men and there are no names given.

In the Middle Ages names were attributed to the Wise Men but there is no scriptural basis for this.

The Wise Men created an incredible stir when they entered Jerusalem and
this implies that there was a large group of people traveling with the Wise Men.

The Wise Men traveled from the East and likely from the area of Babylon.

This would have been a journey of nearly 900 miles and would have months of travel time.

These Magi would have not traveled alone and would have likely been accompanied by an armed caravan.

The only time that the number three is even implied is with the three treasures, gold, frankincense and myrrh.
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Even with the mystery and intrigue that the visit of the Wise Men created there is something that we can know for sure, they gave more than three gifts.

There were only three earthly treasures as I mentioned above but there was the gift of personal worship.

However many Wise Men there were, they bowed down and worshiped Jesus.

The fourth and often forgotten gift is one that we need to remember because it was more important and far more valuable than any of the treasures.