JANUARY 5-6, 2021! ……If this is where you just tuned in, work backwards or forwards so that you don’t miss the good news along the road! Yes, we actually took this beyond the Advent Season!
FINALLY! The wise men, the magi, notice something happening in the skies. The unusual happens. They follow up on this. They set out on a journey that takes about 2 years to get them to Jerusalem. You’d wonder that if they were so smart, why didn’t they know where to go directly. The real answer: I don’t know.
My answer: politics! Herod the Great, area governor/supervisor for Rome in those days, was a power to be reckoned with. He had spies. He had an ego as big as all get-out! Not to mention he was a little luney and self-centered to the max. The wise thing to do in those days and circumstances was to go present yourself and your mission diplomatically, and pump that man for as much information as possible so that you would know which way to go and not go.
That being said, I found an interesting treatment connecting some of the dots about the role of the wise men, and the role of Herod and possibly why he was as he was, why his sons turned out to be what they were and did, and what was happening as a sign of the times. Interesting information, except where the fellow presenting starts to editorialize about one of our former US Presidents. Other than that, interesting presentation.
Now, become wiser than what you were 5 minutes ago in biblical archaeological history… this is juicy!
That also being said, this is the Feast of the 3 Kings, the day o the 3 Kings. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrations that they arrived and brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In today’s kidspeak, gold, Frankenstein, and mud. Gold so he won’t be broke financially. Frankenstein so that he won’t have to be his own monster, but have a monster for a friend in need. Mud…that’s what people need when they want to purify their skin… a mud bath! And playing in the mud is therapeutic, although your mom won’t be happy about it.
January 5th leads to January 6th, and it might take 2 days to get thru this stuff before your brain needs a break. Epiphany 2021 – Calendar Date -per the Western Calendar, ours.
Ok, gold for honoring the kingship. Frankensense for the prayers that go up into the heavens with our messages to God. Myrrh for the bitterness we suffer and must taste when we taste death, as it is also used for embalming bodies. All gifts fit for a king to remind him of his life’s journey that he is born to trod. There are many more interpretations. The wise men, the magi really thought this out. There were three gifts, so we assume there were three wise men. Many depictions are of these fellows traveling only with themselves. In those days, such learned people traveled with a caravan of goods, people, supplies, relatives, and servants. Or maybe they did just travel with each other.
We shall know once the journal of the magi is deciphered, translated, etc. Yes, a “lost” book called: Revelation of the Magi by Brent Landau. Here is an interesting link to articles regarding such: http://mysteriouswritings.com/the-mystery-of-the-three-wise-men-and-the-star-of-bethlehem/ Hard for us to believe, but those wise men did keep some sort of journal. Why wouldn’t they! They were learned and wise!
Alrighty now. Here is the piece de ‘resistance! Another biblio-archaeological treatment, Michael Rood. This fellow is a pastor AND researcher. He digs deeply, indeed. Look him up after the vidclip. Get your notepaper and pen ready. He uses the approach from the Chaldean civilization as the wise men’s roots. However, look it up here. Chaldea is a sub unit of Persian history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaldea. Meanwhile:
Let’s move on to the part you waited so long for, a gift of music….
And the beat goes on…. but here we end our blog for the season…. until next time! Dec.1-Jan.6! Happy New Year to all, and to all a good blessing! (Gotcha!)
Advent Reads from Zee 