January 6, 2024 • 23 mins
Embark on a historical voyage as we reveal the enigmatic Wise Men's role in the Christmas narrative, not as figures of a quaint nativity scene, but as pivotal characters who venture across deserts, guided by celestial prophecy. As we gather 'round, imagine the scent of frankincense wafting through the air, and let's trace the journey of these ancient travelers from Persia to Bethlehem. Their odyssey, sparked by the Star of Bethlehem and foretold by Hebrew prophecies possibly influenced by the likes of Daniel, intersects with the treacherous politics of King Herod's court. The gifts they bore—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—weren't just precious commodities; they were rich in symbolism, foretelling the destiny of the child they sought. Throughout the episode, we'll peel back the layers of history, examining how the Magi's visit, Herod's response, and the Holy Family's flight to Egypt set the stage for the Messiah's early life, as the scriptures narrate.
As the star fades, the story does not. Join us in the aftermath of the Wise Men's visit, where we confront the chilling reality of Herod's decree and the path of providence that led Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to seek refuge in Egypt. This section of our tale is not for the faint of heart, yet it's imbued with prophecies coming full circle as the family eventually settles in the town of Nazareth. In this compelling session, you'll learn how the threat from Herod's son, Archelaus, redirected the family's return, inadvertently fulfilling the prophecy of the Nazarene. This part of our narrative does more than recount events; it reveals the divine choreography at play in the Messiah's formative years. So, pour another cup of coffee, and let's share in the awe of how ancient wisdom, political intrigue, and the steadfast stars shaped history.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:00):
I'm Vic and I am so excited toconclude our Christmas story
with you this week.
Over the last few weeks we havetalked about John the Baptist,
mary and Joseph, the night thatJesus was born, and today I want
to talk about the Wisemen.
As we conclude the Christmasstory, it may seem a little
weird that we have waited untilJanuary to talk about the
(01:22):
Wisemen, but I think it is veryinteresting that the Wisemen
didn't actually come the nightof the shepherds, but the Bible
doesn't exactly tell us whenthey arrived to worship the
child, only that they did.
Often we understand the Wisemenas the three guys who came from
the east to bring their giftsto Jesus.
(01:42):
But it's a little more in-depththan that and a little more
fascinating and a little moreamazing than we ever thought
possible.
There are some pretty coolthings about the Wisemen from
the east who cared so much aboutthis Hebrew baby being born,
and why they followed a star inthe sky.
(02:03):
This is one of my favoritethings about the Christmas story
and I am so excited to share itwith you today.
So grab your cup of coffee orsomething to drink and let's get
ready to dive into this truestory of Christmas.
The Wisemen Our story opens with.
(02:27):
After Jesus was born, duringthe reign of King Herod, wisemen
from the east came to Jerusalemlooking for the one born king
of the Jews, because they sawhis star and have come to
worship him.
When Herod heard this, he wasdeeply troubled.
There was another king inIsrael when he had to know, so
he called the chief priest andscribes to search the scriptures
(02:51):
for the place that Christ wouldbe born, and they read from
Micah 2, which says O Bethlehemof Judah, you are not just a
lowly village, for from youshall come a ruler who will
shepherd my people, israel.
Then Herod summoned the wisemen and asked them to confirm
what time the star appeared inthe sky.
Then he sent them to Bethlehemand told them to return after
(03:13):
finding the child so that hecould go and worship him too.
So the wise men headed toBethlehem and the star they had
seen in the sky rose and wentbefore them to rest over the
place where the child was.
When they saw the star, theyrejoiced and going into the
house they saw the child withMary, his mother, and they fell
down and worshiped him.
(03:33):
Then opened their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and,
being warned in a dream not toreturn to Herod, they departed
to their own country by anotherway.
When they had left, the angelwarned Joseph in a dream to flee
to Egypt with Mary and thechild and stay there until he
tells you otherwise, becauseHerod wants to kill him.
(03:54):
So Joseph got up and packed upMary and Jesus and headed to
Egypt until the death of Herod.
When Herod realized the wisemen had outwitted him, he was
furious and ordered all boys twoyears old and younger in
Bethlehem to be put to death.
He did this in accordance withthe timeline the wise men had
given him.
After Herod had died, the angelappeared to Joseph and told him
(04:18):
it was safe to return toBethlehem.
So Joseph got up and packedMary and Jesus and headed back
to his homeland.
But when he heard Arcleus wasruling in his father's place and
again being warned in a dream,he withdrew to Galilee, to a
city called Nazareth.
And that's the story ofChristmas.
(04:38):
The Messiah has entered theworld and everyone, from lowly
shepherds to Gentile kings havecome to worship Him.
Now lets talk about a shortstory in Jerusalem, us First
(05:11):
location.
Our story takes place inJerusalem and Bethlehem, but
starts on a journey from Persiain the East.
At this time, the PersianEmpire spanned from modern-day
Iraq to modern-day Pakistan, andjust inside the Western border
was this elegant city of Babylon.
Now, you may remember Babylonfrom the Old Testament.
(05:34):
This was the place that thedivided kingdom of Israel was
taken during the exile.
This was the place of KingNebuchadnezzar, of Shadrach,
meshach and Abednego in thefiery furnace of Daniel and the
Lion's Den.
This all happened in Babylon,and anytime the Bible says that
someone is from the East, thisis what they mean.
(05:54):
The East is Babylon.
So the wise men from Babylon inthe Persian Empire came to see
this child, which leads us tothe second thing I think is
fascinating.
Persian wise men howled at.
The wise men from a city 900miles away from Jerusalem know
about much less care about ababy being born to a young
(06:15):
married couple.
Well, for that we have to goback to Daniel and the story of
Israel exile to Babylon.
King Nebuchadnezzar capturedJerusalem in about 597 BC.
He then forced all the Jews inBabylon to live in captivity.
Daniel was one of the peoplewho was moved.
A quick backstory on Danielhe's the son of King David and
(06:38):
Abednego, so naturally the kingwants him in his courts.
This is where we get the storyof Daniel's fast when he refuses
to eat from the king's table.
But him and his friends getstronger than all the other men
and Daniel becomes an advisor tothe king.
One day in the second year ofKing Nebuchadnezzar's reign, the
king had a dream that he didnot understand, so he called all
(07:01):
the wise men to see if theycould interpret the dream.
The wise men were consisted ofmagicians, enchanters, sorcerers
and astrologers, but none ofthem could tell the king what
his dream meant.
However, word got out that theking couldn't understand his
dream and that Daniel had wisdomand that he could interpret the
dream for the king.
(07:21):
So the king calls Daniel andDaniel rightly interprets the
dream.
Nebuchadnezzar is so impressed,he puts him in charge as the
chief wise man.
So now Daniel is the supervisorof all the magicians,
enchanters, sorcerers andastrologers in Babylon.
This position makes him thethird person in charge in the
(07:41):
kingdom, which is wild in thefirst place.
But Daniel does not spoil thisopportunity.
When Nebuchadnezzar diesthrough a very gruesome death,
his son, belchazar, takes over.
One night, belchazar is hostingthis elegant banquet with
everyone there and this handappears out of nowhere with
writing on the wall.
And again, like his father,belchazar calls all the wise men
(08:04):
, the magicians and enchantersand sorcerers and astrologers
and get them to interpret whatthe wall says.
What does this mean?
Again, none of them are able toanswer.
But Daniel can interpret it andhe tells the king Belchazar
that his kingdom and his reignis over because of the way he
has treated Yahweh and therefore, this very night he will be
(08:26):
overthrown by Mede and Persia.
And that very night, just asthe writing on the wall had said
, belchazar was slain and Dariusthe Mede takes over the throne
in Babylon.
Now Darius keeps Daniel and twoother administrators to oversee
the 120s satraps, aka localgovernors of the Persian Empire.
(08:46):
So again, we see Daniel risingthrough the ranks.
Now, during this.
Daniel is impressive and theking Darius wants to make him
ruler over the entire kingdom,which is why the other
administrators scheme to get himthrown into the lion's den in
the first place.
Historical fun fact Darius theMede came to power around 539 BC
(09:08):
.
His son, xerxes the first, isthe king in the story of Esther.
Xerxes the first had a son,artaxerxes, who was the king
that Nehemiah served andeventually appealed to in order
to rebuild the temple inJerusalem.
This will be important in amoment.
So Daniel is serving the king'scourt as an administrator over
(09:28):
the governors of Persia for KingDarius the Mede when, in Daniel
9, 25 through 27, he has adream and is visited by the
angel Gabriel, who tells himabout the anointed one who is to
come Now.
The anointed one in Greek isthe word Christos or Christ, but
in Hebrew the anointed oneliterally means Messiah, the
(09:50):
prince.
So Gabriel, the same Gabrielwho speaks to Mary, the mother
of Jesus, tells Daniel, almost500 years earlier, of the
promised Messiah.
In this chapter, chapter 9 ofDaniel Gabriel lays out the
timeline for the Messiah, andI'm going to run through it with
you really quickly, and I knowthis is going to be a lot of
math, but I promise it issomething so, so amazing.
(10:13):
So stick with me.
Gabriel says there will beseven sevens and then 62 sevens
before the anointed one meetshis demise.
So there has been some debatewhether or not the sevens are
sets of sevens, like if it'sweeks or days or years.
Most scholars have come toagree that these sevens are sets
(10:33):
of years.
In other words, the sevensevens would be seven sets of
seven years or seven times seven, which would equal 49 years
plus 62 sets of sevens, or 434years.
Now it's important for us toknow that during this time, the
world based their calendararound the lunar cycle, so the
(10:55):
calendar had 360 days, versustoday where we have 365 based
around the solar cycle.
So we need to add the 434 yearswith the 49 years and we get a
total of 483 years.
Now here's where it getsinteresting, because now we have
(11:16):
to multiply that 483 years notby 365 days, but by 360.
So that would give us about173,880 days.
So roughly, if we multiply thatby 365, we get 476 years and 25
days in our calendar.
(11:36):
So why does this matter?
Gabriel said that the time ofthe demise of the anointed one
would be 476 years and 25 daysafter the word went out about
the rebuild of the temple,artiserxes approved Nehemiah's
mission to rebuild the temple inroughly 445 BC.
So that means the demise of theanointed one, the Messiah, will
(11:58):
be 476 years and 25 days later,which is roughly 33 AD, exactly
when Jesus died on the cross.
So, through Daniel movesthrough the ranks of Debu
Kanesar to Cyrus the Great andbecomes chief wise man.
So he's over all theastrologers and being born
Hebrew.
And definitely after Gabrielspeaks to him about the promised
(12:21):
Messiah, he shares the timelineof the Messiah.
So, knowing the death date ofthe Messiah, daniel told
everyone he was in charge ofabout the promised Messiah.
So the astrologers were likelykeeping record of the skies.
When they saw his star, theyknew the Messiah had been born.
So I want to take a few minutesand talk about this star.
(12:42):
How did they know it was hisstar?
Well, this star was not onestar but a combination of stars
and planets.
Remember, the wise men wereastrologers.
They knew the skies intimatelyand they knew not only the
movement of the stars but of theconnection to the gods.
(13:02):
So the Bethlehem star was theperfect alignment of Jupiter,
venus, regulus, leo and Virgo.
Jupiter is the largest planetin our solar system and is also
the name of the highest god inthe pagan Roman world.
This is why Jupiter is calledthe king planet.
Regulus is a massive star.
Its name means little king.
(13:24):
It's located in the sky as theeye of the constellation Leo,
and for those of you who don'tknow constellations, leo is the
lion and the little king star,regulus, is the eye of the lion.
And what tribe is representedby the lion?
Judah, the very tribe that wasexiled to Babylon 500 years
(13:45):
earlier.
So we have this king planet,jupiter, the king star, regulus,
and the lion of Judah.
Now, venus is famously theRoman equivalent of the Greeks,
aphrodite, the goddess of love,fertility and birth.
So we have the king of Judahborn, and then, just east of the
constellation Leo, is theconstellation Virgo, which is
(14:07):
most often associated withvirginity.
So the skies are telling thestory.
Jupiter, the king planet,regulus, the king star, venus,
for birth, all align in the eyeof the lion Leo, next to the
constellation Virgo, toemphasize the virginity.
To the untrained eye, theseplanets aligning look like a
(14:28):
very bright star in the sky.
But to the wise men, who wereexperts of the sky, astrologers
trained for generations underthe teachings of Daniel, this
crazy happenstance of starswould have been unheard of.
And they knew, just as Danielhad prophesied.
The anointed one, the Messiah,the prince, king of the Jews,
(14:51):
was born.
And they knew it because thesky told them so.
The king of Judah is born to avirgin.
I love that God always speaksto us in a way we can understand
, even to Gentile kings.
So the wise men learned aboutthe Messiah from Daniel.
They saw his star in the sky,but then they brought gifts, but
(15:14):
not just any gifts.
They brought gold, frankincenseand myrrh.
Now, what is interesting aboutthese gifts is they were
intentional.
The gold is a symbol ofkingship for the child,
frankincense is a symbol ofdeity, of the child, and myrrh
is an abominable oil symbolizingdeath of the child.
(15:34):
Isn't it interesting how thesegifts show the destiny of the
baby, the God king destined todie.
So why these gifts?
How did they know to bringthese specific gifts?
Well, they knew from the starsthat the baby was the king.
They knew from tradition thatfrankincense was burned as a
Roma to the gods, emphasizingthe deity of the child, and
(15:58):
because Daniel's prophecy theyknew this child would die.
Okay, so now we know who thewise men are, how they knew
which star to follow and whythey brought their gifts, but
let's talk about when theyarrived.
When wise men arrived there'ssome debate on this.
I was always told growing upthat the wise men showed up two
(16:19):
years later, and the mainreasons for this were because of
the house, the child's andhered killing all the
two-year-olds and younger, whileother scholars have argued know
, the wise men showed up 12 dayslater and that's why we
celebrate epiphany, becausethat's when the wise men arrived
, but we really don't know whenthey arrived.
(16:40):
However, knowing what we doknow about the Katamala, the
guest room, it's entirelypossible that Mary and Joseph
moved back into the house afterJesus was born and when the wise
men showed up, they showed upto the house they were staying
in.
However, this picture makes melaugh because, knowing what we
(17:01):
do know about the hospitality inthis culture, they would have
overextended themselves to showhospitality to these kings, to
house them, feed them andwelcome them to Bethlehem.
So these kings from Babylonhave come to see this child.
Now the other part of theargument is about the child.
(17:22):
Child is a general term for aperson under the age of 13,
because at the age of 13, theywould have had their bet or bar
mitzvah and be considered anadult.
Now you may be asking if thewise men showed up 12 days later
, why did Herod kill everyonetwo years old and younger?
(17:42):
And it's a great question andthere are two possibilities.
The first is Herod was ruthlessand kind of known for excessive
murders, especially when therewas a threat to his throne, so
he could have just orderedeveryone two years old and
younger to ensure he got theright one.
But the other option is, whenthe wise men arrived, herod
(18:04):
asked them to tell him when theysaw the star in the sky.
So if he believed, the childwas born when the star first
appeared, two-year-olds andyounger makes a little more
sense.
So, as we have discussed inprevious episodes, jesus is the
fulfillment of the Old Testamentthrough covenants and
prophecies and the law.
(18:24):
So each time we meet togetherlet's talk about how this points
to Jesus.
So our story today is about thewise men seeing the star in the
sky.
That points directly to thelocation of the promised Messiah
, jesus, the king of Judah, bornto a virgin.
The message is clear even inthe stars Yahweh has become a
(18:50):
man.
So before we go, I want toclose our time together by
reading the scriptures fromwhich our story comes from today
, in Matthew, chapter 2.
I hope that as we listen andread this chapter together, that
you will embrace all that wehave learned and that this
passage will be illuminated foryou.
Let's read he asked them wherethe Messiah was to be born In
(19:42):
Bethlehem, in Judah.
They replied, for this is whatthe prophet has written.
But you, bethlehem, in the landof Judah, are by no means least
among the rulers of Judah, forout of you will come a ruler who
will shepherd my people, israel.
Then Herod called the Magisecretly and found out from them
(20:04):
the exact time of the star hadappeared.
He sent them to Bethlehem andsaid Go and search carefully for
the child.
As soon as you find him, reportto me so that I too may go and
worship him.
After they had heard the king,they went on their way, and the
star they had seen when theyrose went ahead of them Until it
(20:26):
stopped over the place when thechild was.
When they saw the star, theywere overjoyed.
Upon coming to the house, theysaw the child with his mother
Mary, and they bowed down andworshiped him.
Then they opened theirtreasures and presented him with
gifts of gold, frankincense andmyrrh and, having been warned
(20:50):
in a dream Not to go back toHerod, they returned to their
country by another way.
When they had gone, an angel ofthe Lord appeared to Joseph in a
dream.
Get up, he said, take the childand his mother and escape to
Egypt.
Stay there until I tell you,for Herod is going to search for
the child to kill him.
(21:11):
So he got up and took the childand his mother during the night
and left for Egypt, where hestayed until the death of Herod,
so until it was fulfilled whatthe Lord had said through the
prophet Out of Egypt.
I call my son.
When Herod realized that he hadbeen outwitted by the Magi, he
(21:31):
was furious and he gave ordersto kill all the boys in
Bethlehem and in its vicinitywho were two-year-olds and
younger, in accordance with thetime he had learned from the
Magi.
Then what was said through theprophet Jeremiah, then what was
said through the prophetJeremiah was fulfilled.
A voice is heard in RamaWeeping in great mourning, until
(21:56):
weeping for her children andrefusing to be comforted Because
they are no more.
After Herod died, an angel atthe Lord appeared in a dream to
Joseph in Egypt and said Get up,take the child and his mother
and go to the land of Israel,for those who were trying to
take the child's life are dead.
So he got up and took the childand his mother and went to the
(22:20):
land of Israel.
But when he heard that Arcleuswas reigning in Judea In place
of his father, herod, he wasafraid to go there.
Having been warned in a dream,he withdrew to the district of
Galilee and he went and lived ina town called Nazareth.
So it was fulfilled that wassaid through the prophets, that
he would be called a Nazarene.
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:00):
I'm Vic and I am so excited toconclude our Christmas story
with you this week.
Over the last few weeks we havetalked about John the Baptist,
mary and Joseph, the night thatJesus was born, and today I want
to talk about the Wisemen.
As we conclude the Christmasstory, it may seem a little
weird that we have waited untilJanuary to talk about the
(01:22):
Wisemen, but I think it is veryinteresting that the Wisemen
didn't actually come the nightof the shepherds, but the Bible
doesn't exactly tell us whenthey arrived to worship the
child, only that they did.
Often we understand the Wisemenas the three guys who came from
the east to bring their giftsto Jesus.
(01:42):
But it's a little more in-depththan that and a little more
fascinating and a little moreamazing than we ever thought
possible.
There are some pretty coolthings about the Wisemen from
the east who cared so much aboutthis Hebrew baby being born,
and why they followed a star inthe sky.
(02:03):
This is one of my favoritethings about the Christmas story
and I am so excited to share itwith you today.
So grab your cup of coffee orsomething to drink and let's get
ready to dive into this truestory of Christmas.
The Wisemen Our story opens with.
(02:27):
After Jesus was born, duringthe reign of King Herod, wisemen
from the east came to Jerusalemlooking for the one born king
of the Jews, because they sawhis star and have come to
worship him.
When Herod heard this, he wasdeeply troubled.
There was another king inIsrael when he had to know, so
he called the chief priest andscribes to search the scriptures
(02:51):
for the place that Christ wouldbe born, and they read from
Micah 2, which says O Bethlehemof Judah, you are not just a
lowly village, for from youshall come a ruler who will
shepherd my people, israel.
Then Herod summoned the wisemen and asked them to confirm
what time the star appeared inthe sky.
Then he sent them to Bethlehemand told them to return after
(03:13):
finding the child so that hecould go and worship him too.
So the wise men headed toBethlehem and the star they had
seen in the sky rose and wentbefore them to rest over the
place where the child was.
When they saw the star, theyrejoiced and going into the
house they saw the child withMary, his mother, and they fell
down and worshiped him.
(03:33):
Then opened their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and,
being warned in a dream not toreturn to Herod, they departed
to their own country by anotherway.
When they had left, the angelwarned Joseph in a dream to flee
to Egypt with Mary and thechild and stay there until he
tells you otherwise, becauseHerod wants to kill him.
(03:54):
So Joseph got up and packed upMary and Jesus and headed to
Egypt until the death of Herod.
When Herod realized the wisemen had outwitted him, he was
furious and ordered all boys twoyears old and younger in
Bethlehem to be put to death.
He did this in accordance withthe timeline the wise men had
given him.
After Herod had died, the angelappeared to Joseph and told him
(04:18):
it was safe to return toBethlehem.
So Joseph got up and packedMary and Jesus and headed back
to his homeland.
But when he heard Arcleus wasruling in his father's place and
again being warned in a dream,he withdrew to Galilee, to a
city called Nazareth.
And that's the story ofChristmas.
(04:38):
The Messiah has entered theworld and everyone, from lowly
shepherds to Gentile kings havecome to worship Him.
Now lets talk about a shortstory in Jerusalem, us First
(05:11):
location.
Our story takes place inJerusalem and Bethlehem, but
starts on a journey from Persiain the East.
At this time, the PersianEmpire spanned from modern-day
Iraq to modern-day Pakistan, andjust inside the Western border
was this elegant city of Babylon.
Now, you may remember Babylonfrom the Old Testament.
(05:34):
This was the place that thedivided kingdom of Israel was
taken during the exile.
This was the place of KingNebuchadnezzar, of Shadrach,
meshach and Abednego in thefiery furnace of Daniel and the
Lion's Den.
This all happened in Babylon,and anytime the Bible says that
someone is from the East, thisis what they mean.
(05:54):
The East is Babylon.
So the wise men from Babylon inthe Persian Empire came to see
this child, which leads us tothe second thing I think is
fascinating.
Persian wise men howled at.
The wise men from a city 900miles away from Jerusalem know
about much less care about ababy being born to a young
(06:15):
married couple.
Well, for that we have to goback to Daniel and the story of
Israel exile to Babylon.
King Nebuchadnezzar capturedJerusalem in about 597 BC.
He then forced all the Jews inBabylon to live in captivity.
Daniel was one of the peoplewho was moved.
A quick backstory on Danielhe's the son of King David and
(06:38):
Abednego, so naturally the kingwants him in his courts.
This is where we get the storyof Daniel's fast when he refuses
to eat from the king's table.
But him and his friends getstronger than all the other men
and Daniel becomes an advisor tothe king.
One day in the second year ofKing Nebuchadnezzar's reign, the
king had a dream that he didnot understand, so he called all
(07:01):
the wise men to see if theycould interpret the dream.
The wise men were consisted ofmagicians, enchanters, sorcerers
and astrologers, but none ofthem could tell the king what
his dream meant.
However, word got out that theking couldn't understand his
dream and that Daniel had wisdomand that he could interpret the
dream for the king.
(07:21):
So the king calls Daniel andDaniel rightly interprets the
dream.
Nebuchadnezzar is so impressed,he puts him in charge as the
chief wise man.
So now Daniel is the supervisorof all the magicians,
enchanters, sorcerers andastrologers in Babylon.
This position makes him thethird person in charge in the
(07:41):
kingdom, which is wild in thefirst place.
But Daniel does not spoil thisopportunity.
When Nebuchadnezzar diesthrough a very gruesome death,
his son, belchazar, takes over.
One night, belchazar is hostingthis elegant banquet with
everyone there and this handappears out of nowhere with
writing on the wall.
And again, like his father,belchazar calls all the wise men
(08:04):
, the magicians and enchantersand sorcerers and astrologers
and get them to interpret whatthe wall says.
What does this mean?
Again, none of them are able toanswer.
But Daniel can interpret it andhe tells the king Belchazar
that his kingdom and his reignis over because of the way he
has treated Yahweh and therefore, this very night he will be
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overthrown by Mede and Persia.
And that very night, just asthe writing on the wall had said
, belchazar was slain and Dariusthe Mede takes over the throne
in Babylon.
Now Darius keeps Daniel and twoother administrators to oversee
the 120s satraps, aka localgovernors of the Persian Empire.
(08:46):
So again, we see Daniel risingthrough the ranks.
Now, during this.
Daniel is impressive and theking Darius wants to make him
ruler over the entire kingdom,which is why the other
administrators scheme to get himthrown into the lion's den in
the first place.
Historical fun fact Darius theMede came to power around 539 BC
(09:08):
.
His son, xerxes the first, isthe king in the story of Esther.
Xerxes the first had a son,artaxerxes, who was the king
that Nehemiah served andeventually appealed to in order
to rebuild the temple inJerusalem.
This will be important in amoment.
So Daniel is serving the king'scourt as an administrator over
(09:28):
the governors of Persia for KingDarius the Mede when, in Daniel
9, 25 through 27, he has adream and is visited by the
angel Gabriel, who tells himabout the anointed one who is to
come Now.
The anointed one in Greek isthe word Christos or Christ, but
in Hebrew the anointed oneliterally means Messiah, the
(09:50):
prince.
So Gabriel, the same Gabrielwho speaks to Mary, the mother
of Jesus, tells Daniel, almost500 years earlier, of the
promised Messiah.
In this chapter, chapter 9 ofDaniel Gabriel lays out the
timeline for the Messiah, andI'm going to run through it with
you really quickly, and I knowthis is going to be a lot of
math, but I promise it issomething so, so amazing.
(10:13):
So stick with me.
Gabriel says there will beseven sevens and then 62 sevens
before the anointed one meetshis demise.
So there has been some debatewhether or not the sevens are
sets of sevens, like if it'sweeks or days or years.
Most scholars have come toagree that these sevens are sets
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of years.
In other words, the sevensevens would be seven sets of
seven years or seven times seven, which would equal 49 years
plus 62 sets of sevens, or 434years.
Now it's important for us toknow that during this time, the
world based their calendararound the lunar cycle, so the
(10:55):
calendar had 360 days, versustoday where we have 365 based
around the solar cycle.
So we need to add the 434 yearswith the 49 years and we get a
total of 483 years.
Now here's where it getsinteresting, because now we have
(11:16):
to multiply that 483 years notby 365 days, but by 360.
So that would give us about173,880 days.
So roughly, if we multiply thatby 365, we get 476 years and 25
days in our calendar.
(11:36):
So why does this matter?
Gabriel said that the time ofthe demise of the anointed one
would be 476 years and 25 daysafter the word went out about
the rebuild of the temple,artiserxes approved Nehemiah's
mission to rebuild the temple inroughly 445 BC.
So that means the demise of theanointed one, the Messiah, will
(11:58):
be 476 years and 25 days later,which is roughly 33 AD, exactly
when Jesus died on the cross.
So, through Daniel movesthrough the ranks of Debu
Kanesar to Cyrus the Great andbecomes chief wise man.
So he's over all theastrologers and being born
Hebrew.
And definitely after Gabrielspeaks to him about the promised
(12:21):
Messiah, he shares the timelineof the Messiah.
So, knowing the death date ofthe Messiah, daniel told
everyone he was in charge ofabout the promised Messiah.
So the astrologers were likelykeeping record of the skies.
When they saw his star, theyknew the Messiah had been born.
So I want to take a few minutesand talk about this star.
(12:42):
How did they know it was hisstar?
Well, this star was not onestar but a combination of stars
and planets.
Remember, the wise men wereastrologers.
They knew the skies intimatelyand they knew not only the
movement of the stars but of theconnection to the gods.
(13:02):
So the Bethlehem star was theperfect alignment of Jupiter,
venus, regulus, leo and Virgo.
Jupiter is the largest planetin our solar system and is also
the name of the highest god inthe pagan Roman world.
This is why Jupiter is calledthe king planet.
Regulus is a massive star.
Its name means little king.
(13:24):
It's located in the sky as theeye of the constellation Leo,
and for those of you who don'tknow constellations, leo is the
lion and the little king star,regulus, is the eye of the lion.
And what tribe is representedby the lion?
Judah, the very tribe that wasexiled to Babylon 500 years
(13:45):
earlier.
So we have this king planet,jupiter, the king star, regulus,
and the lion of Judah.
Now, venus is famously theRoman equivalent of the Greeks,
aphrodite, the goddess of love,fertility and birth.
So we have the king of Judahborn, and then, just east of the
constellation Leo, is theconstellation Virgo, which is
(14:07):
most often associated withvirginity.
So the skies are telling thestory.
Jupiter, the king planet,regulus, the king star, venus,
for birth, all align in the eyeof the lion Leo, next to the
constellation Virgo, toemphasize the virginity.
To the untrained eye, theseplanets aligning look like a
(14:28):
very bright star in the sky.
But to the wise men, who wereexperts of the sky, astrologers
trained for generations underthe teachings of Daniel, this
crazy happenstance of starswould have been unheard of.
And they knew, just as Danielhad prophesied.
The anointed one, the Messiah,the prince, king of the Jews,
(14:51):
was born.
And they knew it because thesky told them so.
The king of Judah is born to avirgin.
I love that God always speaksto us in a way we can understand
, even to Gentile kings.
So the wise men learned aboutthe Messiah from Daniel.
They saw his star in the sky,but then they brought gifts, but
(15:14):
not just any gifts.
They brought gold, frankincenseand myrrh.
Now, what is interesting aboutthese gifts is they were
intentional.
The gold is a symbol ofkingship for the child,
frankincense is a symbol ofdeity, of the child, and myrrh
is an abominable oil symbolizingdeath of the child.
(15:34):
Isn't it interesting how thesegifts show the destiny of the
baby, the God king destined todie.
So why these gifts?
How did they know to bringthese specific gifts?
Well, they knew from the starsthat the baby was the king.
They knew from tradition thatfrankincense was burned as a
Roma to the gods, emphasizingthe deity of the child, and
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because Daniel's prophecy theyknew this child would die.
Okay, so now we know who thewise men are, how they knew
which star to follow and whythey brought their gifts, but
let's talk about when theyarrived.
When wise men arrived there'ssome debate on this.
I was always told growing upthat the wise men showed up two
(16:19):
years later, and the mainreasons for this were because of
the house, the child's andhered killing all the
two-year-olds and younger, whileother scholars have argued know
, the wise men showed up 12 dayslater and that's why we
celebrate epiphany, becausethat's when the wise men arrived
, but we really don't know whenthey arrived.
(16:40):
However, knowing what we doknow about the Katamala, the
guest room, it's entirelypossible that Mary and Joseph
moved back into the house afterJesus was born and when the wise
men showed up, they showed upto the house they were staying
in.
However, this picture makes melaugh because, knowing what we
(17:01):
do know about the hospitality inthis culture, they would have
overextended themselves to showhospitality to these kings, to
house them, feed them andwelcome them to Bethlehem.
So these kings from Babylonhave come to see this child.
Now the other part of theargument is about the child.
(17:22):
Child is a general term for aperson under the age of 13,
because at the age of 13, theywould have had their bet or bar
mitzvah and be considered anadult.
Now you may be asking if thewise men showed up 12 days later
, why did Herod kill everyonetwo years old and younger?
(17:42):
And it's a great question andthere are two possibilities.
The first is Herod was ruthlessand kind of known for excessive
murders, especially when therewas a threat to his throne, so
he could have just orderedeveryone two years old and
younger to ensure he got theright one.
But the other option is, whenthe wise men arrived, herod
(18:04):
asked them to tell him when theysaw the star in the sky.
So if he believed, the childwas born when the star first
appeared, two-year-olds andyounger makes a little more
sense.
So, as we have discussed inprevious episodes, jesus is the
fulfillment of the Old Testamentthrough covenants and
prophecies and the law.
(18:24):
So each time we meet togetherlet's talk about how this points
to Jesus.
So our story today is about thewise men seeing the star in the
sky.
That points directly to thelocation of the promised Messiah
, jesus, the king of Judah, bornto a virgin.
The message is clear even inthe stars Yahweh has become a
(18:50):
man.
So before we go, I want toclose our time together by
reading the scriptures fromwhich our story comes from today
, in Matthew, chapter 2.
I hope that as we listen andread this chapter together, that
you will embrace all that wehave learned and that this
passage will be illuminated foryou.
Let's read he asked them wherethe Messiah was to be born In
(19:42):
Bethlehem, in Judah.
They replied, for this is whatthe prophet has written.
But you, bethlehem, in the landof Judah, are by no means least
among the rulers of Judah, forout of you will come a ruler who
will shepherd my people, israel.
Then Herod called the Magisecretly and found out from them
(20:04):
the exact time of the star hadappeared.
He sent them to Bethlehem andsaid Go and search carefully for
the child.
As soon as you find him, reportto me so that I too may go and
worship him.
After they had heard the king,they went on their way, and the
star they had seen when theyrose went ahead of them Until it
(20:26):
stopped over the place when thechild was.
When they saw the star, theywere overjoyed.
Upon coming to the house, theysaw the child with his mother
Mary, and they bowed down andworshiped him.
Then they opened theirtreasures and presented him with
gifts of gold, frankincense andmyrrh and, having been warned
(20:50):
in a dream Not to go back toHerod, they returned to their
country by another way.
When they had gone, an angel ofthe Lord appeared to Joseph in a
dream.
Get up, he said, take the childand his mother and escape to
Egypt.
Stay there until I tell you,for Herod is going to search for
the child to kill him.
(21:11):
So he got up and took the childand his mother during the night
and left for Egypt, where hestayed until the death of Herod,
so until it was fulfilled whatthe Lord had said through the
prophet Out of Egypt.
I call my son.
When Herod realized that he hadbeen outwitted by the Magi, he
(21:31):
was furious and he gave ordersto kill all the boys in
Bethlehem and in its vicinitywho were two-year-olds and
younger, in accordance with thetime he had learned from the
Magi.
Then what was said through theprophet Jeremiah, then what was
said through the prophetJeremiah was fulfilled.
A voice is heard in RamaWeeping in great mourning, until
(21:56):
weeping for her children andrefusing to be comforted Because
they are no more.
After Herod died, an angel atthe Lord appeared in a dream to
Joseph in Egypt and said Get up,take the child and his mother
and go to the land of Israel,for those who were trying to
take the child's life are dead.
So he got up and took the childand his mother and went to the
(22:20):
land of Israel.
But when he heard that Arcleuswas reigning in Judea In place
of his father, herod, he wasafraid to go there.
Having been warned in a dream,he withdrew to the district of
Galilee and he went and lived ina town called Nazareth.
So it was fulfilled that wassaid through the prophets, that
he would be called a Nazarene.
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