Actually this long Christmas carol will not fit in a nut shell, but it does give the adoration story of the kings. It was written by John H. Hopkins, Jr. in 1857.
We three kings of Orient are,
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to Thy perfect light.
Born a King on Bethlehem's plain,
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign.
Frankincense to offer have I,
Incense owns a Deity nigh;
Prayer and praising all men raising,
Worship Him, God on high.
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb.
Glorious now behold Him arise,
King and God and Sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Sounds thru the earth and skies.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to Thy perfect light.
Amen
I love singing these traditional Christmas carols, but I also love, in a different way, just reading the words. This is a perfect ending for our three (or many more) kings who followed the star to find Jesus, the foretold king (our promised Messiah).
Merry Christmas,
Paulita
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
A Spring Reminder
This is the time of the year when our tulip tree blooms. This is not the same tree as our neighbor's which greets spring with a burst of large fushia-colored flowers. Our tree produces delicte cup-shaped blossoms that you have to get up close to see. They are light green with orange and yellow centers.
A few years ago, when my husband was enjoying his hobby of painting, he chose to paint a picture of our tulip blossoms. We made his picture into a Christmas card and I wrote the following:
One hardly even notices these blossoms
hidden among the leaves of the tulip tree
without walking close and gazing upward.
May they remind you to come close to the manger
and gaze at God's Christmas gift to you -
a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita
A few years ago, when my husband was enjoying his hobby of painting, he chose to paint a picture of our tulip blossoms. We made his picture into a Christmas card and I wrote the following:
One hardly even notices these blossoms
hidden among the leaves of the tulip tree
without walking close and gazing upward.
May they remind you to come close to the manger
and gaze at God's Christmas gift to you -
a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Prophecy Trivia & the End of the Nativity Story
How did Matthew know about the prophecies from the old scriptures that he used in his Gospel narrative? Matthew was a Jew writing to Jews to convince them that Jesus was their prophecied Messiah. The prophecies hidden as they were (or so it seemed to me) could be known by all Jews who were familiar with the scriptures. I, like many other Christians, accept Matthew's assertion that these actually foretold this part of Messiah's story.
I looked up Ramah and discovered two things: 1. Rachael (see yesterday's blog), Jacob's beloved wife died near there during childbirth. 2. Rama was the town where, historically during the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Judah, King Neb detained captives prior to deportation. The captives deemed too old or too weak to make the trip to Babylon were slaughtered. This was the primary fulfillment of the prophecy in Jeremiah 31:15. Later Matthew applied it to another slaughter: Herod's slaughter of all the boys two years old and under, after the birth of Christ. (Matthew 2:18)
Now for the end of this part of the Christmas story, and one more prophecy:
"After Herod died, an angel of the 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, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: 'He will be called a Nazarene.'"
OK. I don't know who the prophets were who said this, but I can tell you that Nazareth was an insignificant place, lacking in commendation and with a certain crudeness in the Galilean dialect. In fact, Nathanael, when he first learned of Jesus of Nazareth, asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" So my Bible dictionary says, "Thus the word Nazarene was a fitting title for the One who grew up 'as a root out of dry ground, dispised and rejected by men.'"
(Isaiah 53:2-3)
Anyway, we've come full circle. Our story started in Nazareth and this part ends in Nazareth. (Read again Luke 2:1-7)
Merry Christmas,
Paulita
I looked up Ramah and discovered two things: 1. Rachael (see yesterday's blog), Jacob's beloved wife died near there during childbirth. 2. Rama was the town where, historically during the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Judah, King Neb detained captives prior to deportation. The captives deemed too old or too weak to make the trip to Babylon were slaughtered. This was the primary fulfillment of the prophecy in Jeremiah 31:15. Later Matthew applied it to another slaughter: Herod's slaughter of all the boys two years old and under, after the birth of Christ. (Matthew 2:18)
Now for the end of this part of the Christmas story, and one more prophecy:
"After Herod died, an angel of the 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, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: 'He will be called a Nazarene.'"
OK. I don't know who the prophets were who said this, but I can tell you that Nazareth was an insignificant place, lacking in commendation and with a certain crudeness in the Galilean dialect. In fact, Nathanael, when he first learned of Jesus of Nazareth, asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" So my Bible dictionary says, "Thus the word Nazarene was a fitting title for the One who grew up 'as a root out of dry ground, dispised and rejected by men.'"
(Isaiah 53:2-3)
Anyway, we've come full circle. Our story started in Nazareth and this part ends in Nazareth. (Read again Luke 2:1-7)
Merry Christmas,
Paulita
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Story Less Known
If you've kept current with this blog, you will remember that Herod called the Wise Men in secretly so he could find out exactly when the star had first appeared in the sky. Then he sent them on to Bethlehem to find the new king. He told them to be sure to come back and tell him, so he could go and worship him, too.
But after the Wise Men found Jesus and presented their gifts to him, they were warned in a dream NOT to return to Herod so they went home by another route.
Pretty wise, huh?
Matthew 2:13-16 continues the story: "When they 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.' so he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt 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.'" (Hosea 11:1 written about 723 BC)
Matthew 2:17-18 "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
'A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachael weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.'" (Jeremiah 31:15 written about 597 BC)
One of my Christmas treasures is a figurine called "Flight to Egypt." It is of Mary and the young Jesus riding on a donkey with Joseph walking alongside leading the way. It graphically tells this less known Christmas story.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita
But after the Wise Men found Jesus and presented their gifts to him, they were warned in a dream NOT to return to Herod so they went home by another route.
Pretty wise, huh?
Matthew 2:13-16 continues the story: "When they 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.' so he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt 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.'" (Hosea 11:1 written about 723 BC)
Matthew 2:17-18 "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
'A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachael weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.'" (Jeremiah 31:15 written about 597 BC)
One of my Christmas treasures is a figurine called "Flight to Egypt." It is of Mary and the young Jesus riding on a donkey with Joseph walking alongside leading the way. It graphically tells this less known Christmas story.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita
Monday, April 7, 2008
O Come Let Us Adore Him
Every Christmas pageant has three Wise Men dressed in either bathrobes and cardboard crowns, or in purple velvet as royalty. Usually the Wise Men sing "We Three Kings of Orient are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar..." as they come down the church aisle to the manger scene.
Who were these kings who came to worship Jesus? Where did they come from? What did they see in the sky and how did they know what it meant? Oh yes, and how many were there? One last question: Why did they go to Jerusalem and not Bethlehem?
The Wise Men (kings) came from the east. The trade route from Egypt ran through Israel northeast through Damascus, up to Haran, and followed the Euphrates River to Babylon and points east. The Wise Men, who were perhaps astrologers living in the east, studied the stars. When they saw an unusually large star in the sky they checked out their sources of information including prophecies concerning signs in the sky. They ran across a prophecy concerning a coming great king, made by an obscure prophet, Balaam, from Pethor in northern Mesopotamia. Balaam's story is found in Numbers 22-24. His prophecy (made around 1425 BC) is found in Numbers 24:17:
"I see him, but not now;
"I behold him, but not near.
"A star will come out of Jacob, a scepter will rise out of Israel...."
Balaam knew about the nation of Israel because the king of Moab had hired him to curse this large company of poeple coming toward his country, but God wouldn't let him do it. (My, this is getting complicated. Read the story, Numbers 22-24)
Anyway the nation of Israel was settled in Judea (or Israel) by this time and that's where the Wise Men headed. They wanted to greet this new king and honor him with gifts. They set out for Jerusalem since that was the capital city, and where they supposed the king would be. When they arrived, they went to Herod's palace and asked where the new king was. AND they told Herod WHY they had come.
Matthew 2:1-12
"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 'In Bethlehem in Judea,' they replied, 'for this is what the prophet has written:
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. (Micah 5:2)
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to 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 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. On coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."
Do you really think three Wise Men would create a stir such as what occurred, or do you think perhaps it was a large delegation that appeared at the palace? Only three kinds of gifts were named but they cover what is fit for a king: gold (of course), frankincense (the religious gift) and myrrh (for his burial), but the Bible doesn't say how many people came - perhaps three, perhaps more.
NEW KING? WORSHIP HIM?
Next time I'll tell you King Herod's reaction when the Wise Men didn't come back.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita
Who were these kings who came to worship Jesus? Where did they come from? What did they see in the sky and how did they know what it meant? Oh yes, and how many were there? One last question: Why did they go to Jerusalem and not Bethlehem?
The Wise Men (kings) came from the east. The trade route from Egypt ran through Israel northeast through Damascus, up to Haran, and followed the Euphrates River to Babylon and points east. The Wise Men, who were perhaps astrologers living in the east, studied the stars. When they saw an unusually large star in the sky they checked out their sources of information including prophecies concerning signs in the sky. They ran across a prophecy concerning a coming great king, made by an obscure prophet, Balaam, from Pethor in northern Mesopotamia. Balaam's story is found in Numbers 22-24. His prophecy (made around 1425 BC) is found in Numbers 24:17:
"I see him, but not now;
"I behold him, but not near.
"A star will come out of Jacob, a scepter will rise out of Israel...."
Balaam knew about the nation of Israel because the king of Moab had hired him to curse this large company of poeple coming toward his country, but God wouldn't let him do it. (My, this is getting complicated. Read the story, Numbers 22-24)
Anyway the nation of Israel was settled in Judea (or Israel) by this time and that's where the Wise Men headed. They wanted to greet this new king and honor him with gifts. They set out for Jerusalem since that was the capital city, and where they supposed the king would be. When they arrived, they went to Herod's palace and asked where the new king was. AND they told Herod WHY they had come.
Matthew 2:1-12
"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 'In Bethlehem in Judea,' they replied, 'for this is what the prophet has written:
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. (Micah 5:2)
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to 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 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. On coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."
Do you really think three Wise Men would create a stir such as what occurred, or do you think perhaps it was a large delegation that appeared at the palace? Only three kinds of gifts were named but they cover what is fit for a king: gold (of course), frankincense (the religious gift) and myrrh (for his burial), but the Bible doesn't say how many people came - perhaps three, perhaps more.
NEW KING? WORSHIP HIM?
Next time I'll tell you King Herod's reaction when the Wise Men didn't come back.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita
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