By: David Ben Berman (דוד בן ברמן)
Greetings to you from beautiful South Dakota. A few weeks ago I was in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at a table pondering the blessing of God in my life. The blessing of family and friends is a beautiful thing. My wife and I were blessed to spend time with our hosts, some of our children and grandchildren, including our daughters-in-law, for about a week. I am grateful for them and my lovely wife Janice who has been by my side these past forty-five years. We have experienced several trials and circumstances,but the Lord has delivered us from them all. In my experience, I have found that no one is truly poor who is rich with family and friends. But, even more so, no one is truly poor who is rich toward God. I should like to share with you one of several stories of the Christ advent, as taken from Matthew chapter 1:1-12, which are all truly incredible each in their own right.
This is a story about some Magi who were looking into the heavens for the sign of the birth of the King of the Jews. What’s interesting for us, as Christians, is they found it. According to Herodotus (aka “The father of history”), an ancient historian, the Magi were a sacred priestly order of the Medes, which had their power and influence minimized by Cyrus who conquered the Babylonians and Assyrians. They were a combination of both astrologers and priests whose wisdom was usually a reliable resource for the king. They were guardians of the true secrets and wisdom of the universe as they knew it. For those of you familiar with the fictional movie, Star Wars, the Jedi would be a close equivalent to this order. It is believed this sect was likely influenced by Daniel during the Babylonian exile of the Jews because Nebuchadnezzar referred to Daniel as the Rabmag (cf. Daniel 4) or chief magician who interpreted dreams from the God of the Hebrews. It’s believed by several scholars that this may account for some of the knowledge they possessed about the Hebrew religion.
Four observations are to be learned from this scripture:
Even though the Magi (pronounced Ma-gee) were of pagan origin, God reached them through the science they understood. He spoke to them through their means of grasping knowledge because of His grace and mercy foreshadowing His love to reach the Gentiles. God reached Moses—a felon—with a burning bush; He reached a frustrated prophet Elijah in a cave; He reached Jonah—the prophet who ran away from the purpose of God—in the belly of a whale; He reached a condemned thief on a cross. The question is has He reached you? Has He opened your understanding that you need a Savior? Only you can determine that. If He has reached you, are you living your life “poured out” for Him? There is nowhere you can hide from the presence of God. Listen to what King David writes in one of the Psalms, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me. And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, `Surely the darkness shall fall on me.’ Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed the darkness shall not hide from You. But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You” (Psalms 139:7-12, KJV).
The Magi, though pagan in their religious experience, were seekers of truth. They were seeking to worship God and were willing to do this at great cost. It is believed they may have traveled at least a thousand miles to get to Bethlehem. They had to undertake great preparation for this trip. To accomplish their mission, they needed certain things. Let’s look at some of these needful things. Being men of great means (wealth, etc.) they had to have a security force to travel with them for protection against marauders. They also needed great logistical support to take care of the needs for their (round trip) party of travel for both humans and animals. They put their lives, reputation, and monetary resources on the line. In other words, they spared no expense. The search for the God of the universe was too important. Most of all, they needed faith, as it says in the book of Hebrews, “But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6, KJV).”
King Herod, a non-Jew, was appointed as king of the Jews because he was “politically correct” out of convenience to Rome—the ruling power at the time. He maintained his rule by pleasing special interests, not unlike most politicians and businessmen in the corridors of power today. There is a cavalier attitude of “damn the torpedoes”—
move full speed ahead. The “little people” or masses are inconsequential. They have calculated the “collateral damage” estimates and are satisfied as long as their result is achieved—because the “means justify the ends.” Upon news of the birth of the Jewish child—true heir to the Everlasting Kingdom and throne (Luke 1:32-33), Herod is literally upset that a potential challenge to his political appointment exists. Herod pretends that he truly wants to join these Magi in worshiping the child as well. Today, there are many people throughout the world who have filled the houses of worship in honor of this Christ advent. But as Jesus taught the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter four, the true worshipers recognize, “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24, NIV). Jesus or Yeshua (his Hebrew name) also said, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, NIV). The question to you is, “are you looking for God, and are you truly desiring to pour out your sense of self to fill up your spirit with more of His character?” If you are, you have to keep it real because He truly knows your heart. Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 13 says, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (NKJV). For those of us who have found Him, we should remember that as true worshipers we must faithfully use the light of the Star of Bethlehem—the Holy Spirit to point the way to Yeshua that others may find Him. The question to us is, “are we being faithful in our commission (Matthew 28: 19-20)?” If not, “what are we going to do about it?”
When the Magi found the Christ child and worshipped, they came and presented their best, fit for a king—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Looking at this from a deeper theological perspective, gold is symbolic of his royal office as King (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation19:16), frankincense—symbolic of his High Priestly office (Hebrews 2:9-10, 5:1-10), and myrrh—symbolic of his Prophetic office connected with his future suffering,as foretold in Isaiah 53. Lastly, the Magi didn’t return the way they came. The Magi were changed men as they witnessed the presence of the King of Kings. They went in a different direction. We, too, like the Magi, are changed when we surrender our hearts to Christ and repent of our sins. Our lives don’t go back to the way we came, as we receive His forgiveness of sins and repent. In reflection, we find that in His presence there is fullness of joy—Why? Because He is Immanuel (God with us). He did not forsake the world He created to leave us in a fallen chaotic condition. Au Contraire—contrary to Thomas Jefferson, the Deist, God did not create this world to leave it to its own whim; He came to redeem us and sanctify (set us apart as chosen and special) us for His own. We should all join in a chorus of praise as King David, the great psalmist says in II Chronicles 16:28-35:
Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength
Give to the Lord the glory due His name.
Bring an offering, and come before Him.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved.
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad.
And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness.
Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.
Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord.
For He is coming to judge the earth.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation.
Gather us together and deliver us from the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
As we reflect upon the gift of God—Yeshua Ha Meshiach or Jesus the Christ—to the world, we should ponder and question as the Psalmist did in Psalm 116:12-13, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people.” All God requires is our heart completely turned over to Him. But this can only come by bringing the gift of the Magi. The best gift, spare no expense, is our heart given to Jesus—Yeshua. God has given us the light of the Star of Bethlehem—the Holy Spirit that shines in our hearts to lead others to Jesus. Use the light of your life to shine brightly for His glory.Remember, LOST LIVES MATTER.
Merry Christmas and May the Lord richly bless you in the coming year.
Shalom— דוד בן ברמן
