Visit of the Wise Men (Part 4)

IV. Conclusion

The story of the visit of the Magi is endearing even if it is has some unknowns and mysteries. The important thing is that the messages of this visit aren’t lost, which are:

●Jesus came for all, and is available to all, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female.

●Jesus meets us where we are.

●The gifts they brought reflect who Jesus is and why he came to earth:
(a) Gold for a king;
(b) Incense for God;
(c) Myrrh for the death Jesus would suffer.

As we enter the New Year, remember that Jesus came for you, he loves you, and wants you for his own. When somebody looks elsewhere for peace, comfort, guidance, or spiritual help, they are discounting Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God has all the answers, it’s God who really cares about you, and it’s the Holy Spirit who gives you what you need in terms of spiritual help. Don’t be looking in all the wrong places, when the God of the universe is only a prayer away.

Visit of the Wise Men (Part 3)

In earlier posts I began a discussion of the visit of the Wise Men (or Magi) to the baby Jesus. We commemorate this on January 6. See my earlier posts for more information on this topic.

III. Astrology and the Occult

Getting back to the Magi, let’s take a closer look at the role astrology might have played in this story. If the Magi saw astrological signs in the sky pointing to Jesus, does that legitimize astrology? Does that mean it is OK for us to look for signs from God through astrology, horoscopes, and the occult?

1. Occult Practices Condemned

This story of the Magi in no way legitimizes the occult, and should never be interpreted that way. The occult arts are specifically condemned in the Bible. Such things as divination, astrology, soothsaying, sorcery, witchcraft, and the like are strictly forbidden in the Bible. See, for example, Leviticus 19:31:

Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. NIV

See also Deuteronomy 18:10-12a:

Let no one be found among you … who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord… NIV

While the vast majority of those claiming to practice these black arts are frauds, there can be some power to them on occasion. See 1 Samuel 28 and Exodus 7 for examples.

However, any power the occult arts might have comes from the dark side, and Christians should have nothing to do with any of that. God will tell us whatever we should know, and we must never try to learn the future or get guidance in any other way. What possible legitimacy can there be in tea leaves, tarot cards, and Ouija boards? It’s best to stick with God’s ways of doing things, even if other ways may seem attractive to you.

2. Why Did God Communicate to the Magi?

If the Bible condemns such practices, why, then, would God communicate the coming of the Messiah to these Magi? First of all, we don’t know for sure how the birth of Jesus was communicated to the Magi – we’re only speculating. However, if God used the stars and planets to communicate to them, he did so for good reasons. I see two possible reasons why God reached out to these Gentile pagans:

a. Jesus Came for All

First, God was sending a message that Jesus came for all, Jew and Gentile. Having Gentiles – pagan astrologers no less! – come a great distance to worship the baby Jesus sends a powerful message. That message is that Jesus is not just the Jewish Messiah, but he is Savior of the whole world. Remembering that the word “nations” refers to the Gentiles, a prophecy in Isaiah predicted this about the Messiah (Isaiah 60:3):

Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. NRSV

b. Jesus Comes to Us Where We Are

Second, God reached out to these astrologers to demonstrate that he comes to us where we are. If a person isn’t a follower of Jesus, God will reach out to him or her in whatever way makes sense for that person at that time. In the case of the Magi, God communicated to them in a way they could understand and accept – signs in the sky.

If you are a follower of Jesus, God communicates to you by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you don’t need, and shouldn’t be looking to, any other means, especially the occult or non-Christian religious practices. The Bible is very clear that we aren’t to mix the beliefs and practices of other religions with Judaism and Christianity. Placing confidence in any other way is idolatry.

More on this topic in a future post.

Visit of the Wise Men (Part 2)

In an earlier post I began a discussion of the visit of the Wise Men (or Magi) to the baby Jesus. We commemorate this on January 6. See my earlier post for more information on this topic.

2. What Was the Star?

What appeared in the sky that motivated them to take a long trip to pay homage to this newborn King of the Jews? One theory is that these guys were astrologers, as mentioned earlier, and they saw the conjunction of two planets and a star. The planets and stars move with mathematical precision, so it is possible to go back in time and recreate what happened in the sky many years ago. Astronomers have calculated that there was such a conjunction around the time of the birth of Christ. These came together to give the appearance of a large star, but what was important to the Magi was which planets and star were involved. To astrologers, every planet, constellation, and major star have specific meanings. Knowing the prophecies of the Jewish Scriptures, these Magi saw a unique conjunction that indicated the fulfillment of these prophecies was at hand.

This is one possible explanation of the star they saw back home, but what about the star that led them to Bethlehem and hovered over the house? Matthew 2:9-10 tells us that the star that guided them from the East is the same one that stopped over Jesus’ house in Bethlehem:

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. NIV

My guess is that they did see a conjunction in the sky which informed them something special was happening in Israel. But the actual “star” they followed as a guide was supernatural and visible only to them. The reason I say that is because Herod and the gang were not aware of the star, based on Matthew 2:7:

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. NIV

Of course we’ll never know for sure – the main point is that God communicated to these Gentiles in a way they could understand. Today God communicates to you and me in ways that we can understand.

3. Why Was Herod Upset?

We may be puzzled by Herod’s reaction to the news that the Messiah had apparently been born (Matthew 2:3):

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. NIV

You would think Herod and Jerusalem would be overjoyed – the promised Messiah at last! Herod wasn’t ethnically Jewish, but had converted to Judaism to make his reign as king appear to be more legitimate. He certainly couldn’t be considered a devout Jew. The Romans had appointed him as puppet king and he could stay in power as long as there were no problems that would cause the Romans to send in the troops. The Messiah’s coming would be a threat to Herod’s power since the belief was that the Christ would defeat the Romans and establish his kingdom.

Herod must have believed that he would be overthrown by this military Messiah, and he and his followers would most likely killed. Herod was ruthless and quite jealous of his power, so any threat to his position would be upsetting to him and must be eliminated. When Matthew wrote “all Jerusalem” was upset along with Herod, it might be a bit of an exaggeration. I suspect he was referring to the ruling elites, not the common people. The common people were looking for relief, which they certainly weren’t getting from Herod, the Pharisees, and the other elites. You and I should look to Jesus for relief from the burdens we carry, and not depend on ineffective and even harmful worldly crutches.

4. When Did They Arrive?

The Magi are included in just about every manger scene, but they probably did not arrive the night Jesus was born. We get a hint in Matthew 2:11a:

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. NIV

Joseph and Mary were now in a house, so this visit must have taken place some time after Jesus was born. It may have been anywhere from a few days to a few weeks is my guess, maybe even longer.

More on this topic in a future post.

Visit of the Wise Men (Part 1)

I. Introduction

Wednesday, Jan. 6, was Epiphany, when Christians mark the end of the Christmas season by commemorating the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus. Epiphany is the last day of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” I would like to explain a few things about this story which is found only in Matthew 2:1-12.

This story has been the subject of scrutiny and speculation for 2,000 years. Just who were these Magi from the East? What motivated them to travel such a long distance to see a baby, and to bring expensive gifts? How did these pagans know that the King of the Jews had been born, and why should they care? What was that star? A conjunction of heavenly bodies? A comet? A supernova? A miraculous sign defying any natural explanation? How long after Jesus’ birth did these guys show up? Why was King Herod upset at the news, and all Jerusalem with him? More importantly, what does this story mean to us? I’ll try to briefly answer some of those questions, and will also explore some aspects of the story that are important for us today.

II. Some Answers

1. Who Were these Magi?

The first question is, who were those guys? The Greek uses the term magoi, which became Magi in English. They’ve been called kings, which they probably weren’t, and wise men, which they probably were. The terms Magi and wise men give us a hint that they were probably of the priestly class in either Persia or Babylon. They would most likely have been among the sorcerers and magicians of the type mentioned in the Book of Daniel. A common belief is that they were astrologers who saw something in the sky that led them to believe the birth of the prophesied Messiah had occurred.

More on this topic in a future post.

Religious States in the U.S.

The Pew Forum recently released results of a study about religion. Residents of all U.S. states were asked the question, “Is religion very important in your life?” Worship attendance, frequency of prayer and belief in God were also measured. The rankings by state are very interesting. Go to pewforum.org for the detailed results. Let me give you some summary information.

The top 20 “religious” states as measured by the criteria mentioned above were, not unsurprisingly, located in the South and Midwest, with the exception of Idaho and Utah (because of devout Mormons). The bottom five consisted of all six New England states (two sets of two states were grouped together – CT & RI, and NH & VT) and Alaska. New York was 39th and New Jersey was 30th. In the highest ranking state, Mississippi, 82% said religion was important to them. In the lowest ranked grouping (New Hampshire and Vermont), only 36% said religion is important to them. That’s quite a spread.

What I find interesting is that the lowest-ranking states are heavily Roman Catholic, especially Massachusetts and Rhode Island. New York, which is fairly Catholic was 39th Having these “Catholic” states in the lower rankings tells me that there are many turned-off and/or dropped-out Catholics in those states. These statistics beg the question, why isn’t religion more important to Catholics? I suspect a good number of Catholics attend mass with some degree of regularity, but religion isn’t important to them, meaning the Church and its teachings aren’t important to them.

The states in the lower and middle rankings generally consist of a mix of Catholics and Protestants in their populations (PA, IL, MI, OH). What’s happening is that the Protestant churches haven’t been doing a good job of reaching out to the unchurched, both former Catholics and nominal Protestants. They have been content to remain as they are, with the result that many of these churches are in decline. Only an average of 56% of people across all states responded that religion is important to them. That tells me that either churches haven’t been engaging in evangelism or they have not been feeding the people spiritually. It’s probably both, not either/or.

As the country continues to slide into humanism, relativism, secularization, and apathy when it comes to spiritual matters, the Church must engage the unchurched. Let’s begin reaching out to our communities and introduce the people to Jesus Christ. The field is ripe. Will you begin to harvest? The Church must either evangelize or it will fossilize.

At the same time, biblically-based preaching and good children’s and adult educational programs are important to feed the spiritually hungry. Studies say this younger generation is searching for spiritual truth. If they don’t find it in church, they’ll look elsewhere.

Another Terrorist Attempt

A Nigerian Muslim tried to blow up a U.S. airplane on Christmas Day, which became the last big story of 2009. Besides revealing holes and serious flaws in airport security around the world, what else does this incident tell us?

I believe it tells us that this Muslim World vs. The West struggle is not merely cultural but is religious at its core. Note that this was planned for Christmas Day, which commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. Despite its increasing secularization, Christmas is, in its foundation, a Christian holy day. It was not a coincidence that this attempt was made on the holy day of Christmas. Was the message to us “Allah is stronger than your Jesus.” (I know Islam reveres Jesus (“Isa”) as a great prophet, but not as the Son of God. Islam finds our understanding of Isa blasphemous.)

You may disagree with me, saying this struggle is more cultural than religious. However, what you fail to realize is that Muslim culture and religion are inseparable. While we in The West tend to separate the secular from the religious, such a division is unthinkable in the Muslim World (aside, perhaps, from Turkey, which is beginning to move away from its foundational principle of separation of mosque and state). Muslims justify their actions on religious grounds, calling Christians “infidels” and “Crusaders.” They use the Qur’an’s anti-Jewish and anti-Christian passages as the basis for their actions. “Jihad” is a religious term, steeped in the Qur’an. Let’s stop being so naïve.

The reason I mention the religious aspect of this struggle is that if we abandon the God who has blessed The West in so many ways, then God will abandon us. While we are not ancient Israel, we see in the Old Testament that when the Israelites abandoned faith in Jehovah and followed false gods, God removed his protection from them and they were harassed and defeated by their pagan neighbors (Philistines, Midianites, and all those other “–ites”, plus the Assyrians and the Babylonians). I can only conclude that The West may very well be defeated by the Muslims if we continue down the paths we have been following. Why should God protect us if we don’t care about him?

Christians, renew your faith in Christ, who redeemed you to be his own. Jews, return to the G-d of your fathers, who delivered your ancestors out of Egypt. If God is for us, what can man do to us?

Welcome to 2010!

It’s hard to believe that the year 2010 is here. Another decade is behind us, one that was highly unusual, to say the least.

Whenever we enter a new year, and especially a new decade, we anticipate things will be better. We’ll have a better economy, world peace, a better stock market, better technology, and basically better everything. Obama was elected because he promised “change”, meaning in most people’s minds a better government, a better life, and maybe even a better world situation.

Given history, I don’t think the 2010s will be any better than any other decade. But we can make our own lives better rather and we don’t have to rely on politicians, government, and others to do it. How do we do that?

There are lots of ways we can have a better life, one with reduced stress, more peace, and more fulfillment. Let me give a few suggestions:

(1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. When you have a close relationship with God (the purpose for which we were created y God), we are much more fulfilled. I can’t begin to tell you what a difference it has made in my life.

(2) Love your neighbor as yourself. When you are more compassionate, more caring towards others, and actually help others, you are a much better person, you feel good about yourself, and God blesses you in various ways.

(3) Be in community. We are tending to become a nation of loners, with few community ties. Become part of a church, and participate in community activities. At church you’ll learn more about God, have social interaction, you’ll find emotional and spiritual support, and you’ll end up being a more fulfilled and happy person as you worship and serve God.

(4) Change your priorities. Most of us are out of balance in some way. We might be workaholics, or we might be slackers. We must find the right balance for the sake of our sanity and our families. For many, God is either a low priority or isn’t a priority at all. That must change so that God is the top priority. When that happens, everything else falls into place.

(5) Change your attitudes. Many of us need attitude changes. We might be people pleasers, or we might be completely self-centered. Change your attitude to something more realistic and balanced. You’ll be much happier.

(6) Break bad habits and start good ones. Stop smoking, drinking, misusing drugs (both prescription and illegal), and staying out too late. All these are poor substitutes for the love and attention you are craving. Don’t engage in these self-destructive behaviors, but turn to God for your peace, love, comfort, and support.

If you follow these suggestions, not only will 2010 be a much better year, but you’ll be happier for the rest of your life. What have you got to lose? May God bless you as you turn your life around in 2010.