Friday, December 7, 2018

08 Believers, Too



Matthew 2:


The Wise Men who would travel from the East believed that a great King would soon be born.

They would arrive in Judea . . . following a miraculous sign in the sky . . . looking for a newborn baby who would change human history . . . and change the world.

When did they start their journey?

Did they, as Elizabeth, know before Jesus was conceived?

Did their distance from Bethlehem require that they travel for months . . . to be able to arrive at the proper time?

How did they learn about the coming birth of the Messiah?

I don’t think they figured it out . . . or saw it on their astrological star charts . . . or wised it out from their powerful intellects and minds.

I don’t think they knew about the birth of Jesus because they were students of the Hebrew scriptures.

It is true that they reveal that they had knowledge of the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah. The Hebrew Prophets preached about God’s Promises to send a specially anointed King/Priest. They even said that He would be born of a virgin in the city of Bethlehem. He would be born from the lineage of King David.

But apart from these specifications . . . an exact date and time is not revealed (in my opinion). Some Bible interpreters believe that a passage in the book of the Prophet Daniel (chapter 9) indicates an exact time . . . but I am without faith about that interpretation.

How did they know?

It is simple to me.

It is my personal opinion that the mystical men from the East found out the same way that Zachariah did . . . the way that Mary did. The way Joseph did and the way that the Shepherds did. 

The Angel Gabriel probably paid them a visit.

I do not have great confidence in the wisdom of men . . . and I do not think that God does either.

The Old Testament scriptures strictly forbid consulting the stars and the planets in an effort to discern God’s will or the future. The practice is clearly condemned and has no favor with God. It is NOT one of the tools or methods that He employs, encourages, or permits. God is the Director of the heavens . . . and I do not believe He would have permitted even a CLUE about what He was planning for Judea to be painted among the celestial bodies.

But what about the STAR that led the Wise Men to Bethlehem?

The bright body that appeared to the Wise Men (as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew) and led them to Jesus’ birthplace is clearly described as an illumination that was within the bounds of Earth’s atmosphere . . . not in outer space.

The bright phenomena “went before them.” (Matthew 2:9)

True celestial bodies cannot be described as moving in any direction that would prescribe a journey (movement from a place on Earth to a destination).

A single celestial body cannot be used to pinpoint a singular position on the globe. Using two stars or planets, or a planet and a star . . . a navigator can triangulate a position on the earth (the two celestial bodies plus the point on the earth), but this is not what the story of the journey of the Wise Men describes.

Then there is this information recorded by Matthew. The Wise Men lost sight of the miraculous light. They couldn’t see it. It disappeared from view.

A heavenly body in outer space is either there . . . or it is not. It is either in view at a particular time (cloudy skies aside), or it is not. It doesn’t come and go.

When the Wise Men lost sight of the light they stopped in to visit with King Herod, the ruling Monarch of the Land of Judah to see if he could help them apart from the star. Apparently these men were not particularly wise. “Hello King of the Jews . . . we’re here looking for a baby who was born King of the Jews . . . your replacement. Can you help us?”

“No, I can’t,” said the madman, “but good luck and let me know what you find out!”

King Herod couldn’t see the star.

The Elders of Israel that Herod consulted could not see the star.

But suddenly, the Wise Men could see it again (though, apparently Herod nor the Elders never did) and it “went before them” and led them specifically to the house where Joseph, Mary, and the child Jesus were living in Bethlehem, perhaps a year or more after the baby’s birth.

Matthew reports that the star “stood over the house” where Jesus was . . . bodies in the heavens do not do this.

This was not a conjunction of starts and planets . . . it was not a super nova . . . it was not any comet, asteroid or other heavenly body. It was a special, miraculous, leading sign from God that cannot be explained as a natural physical phenomenon.

Isn’t it strange?

The Wise Men had great faith . . . enough to compel them on a long, arduous, and dangerous journey.

King Herod believed. He was so strongly convinced that his faith led him to order the slaughter all of the babies in Judea up to two years of age.

The Elders of Israel believed that the Wise Men . . . and their insane King . . . were correct.

The primary actors in this drama . . . Zachariah and Mary . . . had difficulty believing . . . but the Wise Men, Herod, and the Elders believed without hesitation or debate.

Such, I have learned, is the nature of Faith . . . and the nature of the will and working of God.

Some fail to believe . . . they might be convinced and grow in their faith . . . others believe so effortlessly. The faith of Herod and the Hebrew Elders was not blessed by God . . . but the persistent faith of the Wise Men brought them to Jesus.

The plan and work of God marched on.


 



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