When They Saw the Star
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Nativity Scenes
St Francis of Assisi
AD 1223 - Italy
Not all present at one place at one time on the night Jesus was born.
A beautiful tradition and teaching tool, but not accurate.
No record of animals, angels, nor a star....
Few Bible characters are as well know, yet so clouded by myth and tradition as the Wise men mentioned by Matthew.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
Number? Names? Means of transportation? Specific country from which they came?
From the East
(Parthian Empire and it’s territory - Once known as Babylon)
In NT times the Parthian Empire rivaled the Roman empire for strength. Israel was a tiny buffer country between these to great world powers.
Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon 3097 μάγος
3097 μάγος [magos /mag·os/] n m. Of foreign origin 7248; TDNT 4:356; TDNTA 547; GK 3407; Six occurrences; AV translates as “wise man” four times, and “sorcerer” twice. 1 a magus. 1A the name given by the Babylonians (Chaldeans), Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, sorcerers etc. 1B the oriental wise men (astrologers) who, having discovered by the rising of a remarkable star that the Messiah had just been born, came to Jerusalem to worship him. 1C a false prophet and sorcerer.
A priesthood of magicians....
You already know something about their ancestors
The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”
Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
That’s were it started.
Babylon - > Medo persia
Darius said to Daniel:
“Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.
Daniel was one of the founders of this
Influential government official
He prophesied of the coming Messiah
Gave a very precise timeline of when the Messiah would come, down to the very year.
Due to Daniels influence These wise men, would definitely have had access to the Hebrew scriptures...
Numbers 24:17 (NKJV)
“... A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, ....”
They are wise men… they exist to accumulate knowledge. That knowlege would have been passed down through many generations of
Parthian empire of the NT. The peopl eof that region would definitely have known of the promised Jewish Messiah.
The Wise men fully expected to find one who had been born King of the Jews.
His star in the east.
Supernova, comet, super alignment of the planets.
s
Something provided a very unusual sign....
Seams to have appeared only to the Magi.
Not a typical star
Celestial bodies normally move from East to West due to the earths rotation
This star led the maji’s south from Jerusalem to Bethlehm.
Led them to a specific spot and stood directly over the spot wehre JEsus was.
You can’t tell what normal stars are over.
No natural star can do all of that.
Could it be that that star wasn’t a star at all.
But rather was the shekinah glory of God that had once stood over the tabernacle
Pillar of cloud and fire
Accompanied Jesus all throughout His life.
Baptism, transfiguration, ascension, already appeared to the shepards on the night of His birth. The glory of the Lord shown round about them.
It shouldn't surprise us that it would have manifest itself as a star and led the Wise Men
On this first Christmas Night. Just as the Shekinah Glory stood over the tabernacle in the OT,
It now stood over the God tabernacled in the flesh....
It gave light to Israel but darkness to Egypt.
Only the eyes of the Magi were opened to see
The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
When I saw the light I rejoiced with great joy...
Oh holy night, the stars were brightly shining...
The world has to acknowlege the accumulation of knowlege and experience over the centuries.
Thank you God for intervening in human history.
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
Herod was a puppet king of Israel, installed by the Roman Senate.
Had competition now.
A paranoid tyrant
Done much to taxed heavily
Spent extravagantly
The Roman emperor Augustus said it would be better to be pig than his son”
Josephus records, “Herod the king was so concerned that no one would mourn his passing, that just before he died, in those weeks leading up as he was getting weaker and weaker, he arrested and placed all of the prominent Jewish leaders in custody and left an order for every one of them to be killed when he died so he could be sure there would be an outpouring of grief in the streets of the city”
Little wonder that ghe sprang into action immediately when the wise men showed up with news of a rival king being born.
Names and number is conjecture....
Probably a large contingent of men...
Immediately gathered all the chief priests and scribes and demanded to know whee the prophecy was found.
They went everywhere asking… the city was troubled....
How shocked the Wise men must have been when they discovered that no one really know about this....
Their answer from the prophet Micah:
So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
If they had looked just a little further:
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
God with us!
Christmas time of year accentuates our emotions.... If it’s dark it’s really dark....
No matter what your walking through, If you have Jesus in your life, you have Emmanuel
King Herod is only interested in preserving he power, securing his crown, and eliminate his competition.
Dismisses the preists and meets privately with the wise men.
He wants to worship.
He really wants to murder.
When did the star appear.....
Murders children from two years and under.
There is no evidence that the star was always there.....
The star reappeared and guided them to the exact place where the young chld lay.
When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
Living in a house
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Gold- Diety
Frankincense - Purity as a priest
Myrrh - Anointing as a King
Perfectly Foreshadowed his ministry
Had the right motive, they came to worship Jesus.
Wise men still seek him!
Spiritually perceptive men
God warned them in a dream....
Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
Their obedience....
Their defiance....
Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
Fulfilled a prophecy by Jeremiah....
God sent an angel to warn Joseph and flee to Egypt.
This journey took nearly two years....
The star seems to have dissapeared for much of the time, they just kept going in the direction it last pointed....
Two years....
What did the journey cost....
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
That star led them to the star...
He who numbers and names the stars
Is worshipped by the stars
Jesus who holds the seven stars in Rev
The bright and the morning star....
They followed that star that may have been the shekinah glory of God.
A manifestation of God’s personal presence which took the form of a cloud.
A visible appearance of God (theophany)
They rejoiced on the days it was not visible.
They rejoiced on the days when it reappeared.
Oh how the rejoiced when the found the child.
But I’m talking to some people who rejoiced when ........
Just keep on walking
His Glory is traveling with you!
Just like the wise men, when you get to the end of your journey, your going to be able to fall down and worship Jesus..
Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.
Guess what, we’re still worshipping, devil!
Happiness is temporal
Joy is eternal
I will reJOYce with exceeding great joy.
rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
HOw can you do that Paul
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
You know how I can hang on here....
Because I’ve got a date with destiny over there.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
How James:
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Paul form a prison cell
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
How Paul?
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
Rejoice always,
How Paul?
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.