Christmas, And Signs In The Sky — Part 2

Biblegems #290

As we saw in Part 1, the imagery in Rev. 12:1-2 accurately depicts an astronomical alignment of stars and planets, and also represents an astronomical “sign”:

         Rev. 12:1-2  A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.

To understand the “sign” it is essential to understand the meaning of the passage itself.

John’s vision of the woman and the dragon in Revelation 12 is the story of Satan’s failed war designed to destroy the Messiah and the people of God. Here is a brief interpretation of the text:

The pregnant “woman” (v.1) represents Israel, the "mother" of the Messiah. “Clothed with the sun”(1) represents Israel and the child-Messiah she carries as the light of the world. The “moon under her feet “(v.1) demonstrates how the Messiah triumphs over darkness (evil). The “twelve stars on her head (v.1) are Israel’s twelve tribes or twelve patriarchs, as seen in Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9-10. The labor pains (v.2) describe Israel’s agony under foreign rule in waiting for the Messiah.

The “dragon” (vv. 3-4) represents Satan, his demons, and world governments under his control. This blood-red, seven-headed dragon sweeps a third of the stars (angels—and, perhaps an astronomical display as well) from the sky to the earth, revealing Satan’s power and influence over human affairs. The dragon’s “seven heads” represent a future confederacy of world governments under the authority of the Antichrist in the Last Days. Likewise, the “ten horns” represent ten nations during this same time frame, three of which will work in cooperation with this confederacy until the Antichrist overpowers them and absorbs them into it. The “seven crowns,” therefore, are the seven leaders of those governments.

The prophet Daniel called this powerful alliance of world governments a “beast”—the world’s final superpower—under the control of the “little horn,” the Antichrist. John’s vision is another view of Daniel’s vision of these “Last Days” events (Dan. 7:7-8, 23-24: 8:9-10).

In Revelation 12:5 Jesus is born, and Satan’s effort to have him destroyed as a child is unsuccessful. Verse five then skips ahead to Jesus’ Millennial reign, following His ascension (“snatched up”) into heaven.

In response, Satan seeks to destroy God’s Chosen People Israel during the Great Tribulation (1,2060 days / 31/2 years), but God protects her (Rev. 12: 6-17; Dan. 12:11).

The point of John’s vision is that Satan truly believes that he belongs on God’s throne and has committed himself to that hopeless cause, destroying all who oppose him.

That’s why it is imperative that we put our faith in Jesus. This is war, where people get injured, maimed and killed. But Jesus has already won, and He offers us eternal life and a place in His eternal Kingdom where we will enjoy an eternity of peace, security, joy and perfect health after the war is over.

         John 16:33 “I have told you these things (Jesus said), so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

What Happened To The Gifts Of The Magi

Biblegems #254

Question: Is there any record in the Bible or history as to what happened to the gifts brought by the magi to Joseph and Mary?

The Bible does not tell us what happened to the gold, frankincense and myrrh brought by the magi. There are only traditions and some reasonable speculations.

Tradition

The Monastery of St. Paul at Mt. Athos, Greece, once displayed a 15^th century box containing, according to tradition, the gold, frankincense and myrrh presented by the magi. These were originally displayed at the Holy Palace of Constantinople since the 4^th century. Following Constantinople’s fall to the Ottoman Empire in the 1400’s, the godmother of the Empire’s king offered them to the Monastery of St. Paul, where they remained until Christmas, 2014, when they were sent for display to Ukraine and Belarus. We don’t know for certain the legitimacy of the items inside the box.

Another tradition claims that the two thieves crucified along side of Jesus had stolen the gifts of the magi, while another tradition points to Judas, treasurer for Jesus’ disciples, as misappropriating the items for his personal gain.

Other Possibilities

One other tradition that has some merit suggests that Joseph and Mary used some portion of the gifts of the magi to pay for their hasty escape from Bethlehem to Egypt.

         Matt. 2:13, 15    When they [the magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him”  …where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Jesus’ family had little financial means to support their journey, their extended stay in Egypt and their eventual return to Nazareth, other than these gifts. While there is no direct evidence, the speculation is reasonable.

Another reasonable possibility is that these treasures—or at least a portion of what remained—may have been used for Jesus’ burial. While the tomb was provided at no expense (Matt. 27:57-61), the spices used to cover the body were costly. Not only so, but myrrh was one of the standard aromatics used in the burial of the dead. Mary may well have chosen to use it for the burial of her son.

In the end, what matters most is that God chose not to include this tidbit of information in the Scriptures. God guides our focus away from relics, and away from satisfying curiosity for curiosity’s sake. He knows our tendency to slip into worship of created things rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25), and He knows our tendency to focus on trivia at the expense of eternal matters (Matt. 23:16-19).

The gifts of the magi are not about the gifts; they are examples of human beings sacrificing their wealth, their time, even their lives to worship Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords. The magi we will see in heaven; the gifts we will not.

When Jesus Learned He Was God

Biblegems #253

Question: At what age did Jesus understand His identity as the Son of God?When did He know that He was the Messiah?

The Bible says little concerning Jesus’ childhood. Extra-biblical texts claiming knowledge of his childhood are unreliable.[i] The Bible does shed some revealing light, however.

Jesus was human, like us in every way, “yet was without sin” (Heb. 4:15). As an infant, he did not understand his identity as God incarnate. This ignorance of his divine nature and messianic role was a temporary choice made in heaven, a choice to strip himself of such divine qualities as omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence:

         Phil. 2:6-7  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

          

Jesus matured gradually. At the age of twelve it was said:

         Luke 2:52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.     

Unlike other children, Jesus’ unique nature as the virgin-born Messiah of Isaiah 7:14 had been revealed to his earthly parents:

         Matt. 1:20b-23  …what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

They knew he was the Son of God and eternal King of Kings:

         Luke 1:31-33  “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Jesus grew up hearing of the angel visits to his parents, and later to the shepherds in Bethlehem. He heard the story of the Wise Men from Persia and saw the carefully preserved treasures they had brought.

And as Jesus learned to read and understand the Scriptures his mind awakened to the words he himself had given to the prophets from heaven—prophecies of his birth, death, resurrection and return in glory. Reading Scripture triggered his memories as God prior to his human incarnation, memories that would then guide him throughout his adult life. For, as he reminded the two disciples on the road to Emmaus just after his resurrection:

         Luke 24:25-27  He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

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[i] Several non-canonical documents contain fanciful legends about Jesus’ infancy and early childhood. Most were composed between the second and seventh centuries, A.D.: “The Infancy Gospel Of Thomas,” “The Infancy Gospel Of James,” “The Syriac Infancy Gospel,” “The Infancy Gospel Of Matthew” and “The History Of Joseph The Carpenter.”

Terrified By Angels

Biblegems #208

Question: I always imagined an angel encounter would be beautiful and reassuring. What was so terrifying to the shepherds about the appearance of just one angel announcing Jesus’ birth?

The “terrifying” angelic encounter is found in Luke 2:

         Luke 2:9-10 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Angel encounters in Scripture often (though not always) describe people being “frightened” (Gk. phobos— from which we get our word phobia). Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, unexpectedly encountered an angel while alone in the Temple:

         Luke 1:12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, had a similar experience:

         Luke 1:30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

The shepherds outside Bethlehem, however, were far more than simply startled or “troubled” by an unexpected angelic visitor. Their experience was probably more like that of the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, for he witnessed more than just the sudden appearance of one angel:

         Ezek. 3:23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory that I had seen jby the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face.

When Ezekiel sys, “the glory of the Lord stood there…” he is describing a heavenly being surrounded by indescribable light that flooded his senses, radiating from a non-earthly origin. This is a glimpse of the light of heaven, a slight parting of the veil separating the dimension of God’s kingdom on the spiritual plane from the dimension of the material universe.

This would be much like what the shepherds witnessed when the dark night sky gave way to the glory of “…God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see (1Tim. 6:15-16). Artistic portrayals of that scene usually depict a soft beam of light emanating from an angel hovering in midair, casting a spotlight upon the shepherds as if they were actors on a stage. But according to Luke 2, heaven’s light was so intense that “the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Lk. 2:9).

The word “glory” always refers to someone or something other than itself. The corona of the sun is a radiant, beautiful powerful display of an unapproachable ball of nuclear fission. The corona is what we are able to see of the sun, without actually seeing the sun itself. It is the “glory” of the sun. The glory that flooded the shepherd’s field and dissolved the night sky into day did not radiate from the angel, rather it was “the glory of the Lord” Himself!

The shepherds got a glimpse that night of what every follower of Jesus will see one day in heaven itself:

         Rev. 21:22-23  I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.