December 22nd Family Christmas Questions / Advent Study
Here are the next questions for your family Christmas Study or Advent Study. They are followed by a creative idea on keeping Christ in your family Christmas. The answers to the questions appear at the end of this blog. One great benefit of doing this with your family is that it will become a tradition which transcends the Advent Season whereby you do a short daily Bible study as a family at every meal throughout the year. Answer each question True or False
According to the Bible… Today’s Advent Blog will make an excellent illustration for a Sunday school lesson or sermon. There is probably no area that better exemplifies the willingness of parents to settle for the easy presentation of myths and fables as opposed to serious academic scholarship and investigation than that of the events leading up to surrounding and following the birth of Christ. Two important lessons can be learned (and taught) from these blogs. First: Be a Berean - Acts 17:11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Second – Ask yourself, “What other things do I teach my children about the Bible that are not true?” and then never again settle for simplistic “Bible stories” rather than searching out the truth of the divine revelation of the holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word of God.
50. The Magi, upon seeing the star in the east, followed it directly to Bethlehem.
Keeping Christ In Christmas - Again, some have it backwards. They will attend church this Christmas eve, day or Sunday and then neglect church the rest of the year. As you teach your Sunday school class or as you travel with your family to church this Sunday or as you reflect with your family on those things you learned at church this Sunday discuss another important matter. It is not wrong to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Christ but this is not commanded in Scripture. What is commanded in holy Scripture is, Hebrews 10:23-25 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” This Sunday is a good opportunity to stress the importance of weekly church attendance. Discuss what constitutes “neglect” when it comes to a weekly meeting. Compare this with a weekly sports practice, a weekly club meeting, a weekly office meeting or a weekly academic class. What would constitute neglect over the course of a year? Now reflect on your own church attendance – do you and your family fall in the class of people who “neglect to meet together as is the habit of some” or do you fall into the class of people who do not neglect the weekly gathering of their church but are counted among the faithful? If you or your family are in the habit of neglecting to meet weekly with your church while faithfully attending it on Christmas Sunday, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day then make a commitment that this coming year you will faithfully support and attend your church.
The Answers to today’s Advent Questions - 51. F - Matthew 2:1 & 2, 9 - 11 (The Magi, upon seeing the star in the east, followed it directly to Bethlehem.) The answer to this question requires one to erase virtually all he has learned from Christmas cards, movies, TV and church Christmas pageants and to start over with the Word of God. It also requires of us a rudimentary knowledge of geography. Last but not least it requires of us a willingness to subject ourselves to the Word of God.
Preface: A short lesson in geography. If you had a map of the middle east before you, you would first locate Jerusalem. To the west would be the Mediterranean Sea but the Magi are from the east so you would look to the east of Jerusalem to determine where the Magi resided. Looking east you would see Assyria, Babylon, Persia, India, China and any number of other great eastern city states and domains. Having done this you would place the star in the eastern sky. Since we do not know which of these cities the Magi were from, but we do know that the star was in the east, then any city will suffice, given the fact that none of these cities will change the spatial orientation of the star. As you draw a line from one of these eastern cities to Jerusalem you would find yourself moving westward, the star being to your back (appearing in the east). Having moved your Magi to Jerusalem, your next city of interest is Bethlehem. You will notice on the map that Bethlehem resides south of Jerusalem. Thus after leaving Jerusalem the Magi did not continue westward but rather traveled in a southerly direction. According to the Biblical account the star was now leading them to Bethlehem and the residence of Christ. This is a radical change. Now, rather than being in the east it is in the south leading them onward. Having touched lightly on the geography involved lets look at the Biblical Revelation of the movements of the Magi and the star.
First: The Word of God says that the Magi, who were themselves from the East, saw the star in the East, then traveled to Jerusalem which would have been to the West placing the star at their back as they traveled. At that point the star was not providing specific aide in locating Jesus but rather was a sign which for some unknown reason caused the Magi to travel to Jerusalem. This is the first myth that must be overcome, that of the Magi were following a star to Jerusalem. Think now for a moment. Where were the Magi – “in the East”. Where did they see the star – “in the East”. Thus the Magi, east of Jerusalem, saw a star to their East, of both Jerusalem and the Magi. As a result of seeing this star which way did they have to travel – the answer being West. The Magi of the East, seeing a star in the East, traveled Westward to Jerusalem, the star at their back. We do not know why the Magi associated a star with the birth of Jewish king. We do not know why the Magi would want to honor a Jewish king. We do not know why these Magi from the East, upon seeing a star in the East, would then choose to travel West. do not know why they chose Jerusalem out of all the great cities to their west. We do not know why they unquestionably believed the scribes when they searched the Scriptures. There is no Biblical answer for any of these questions.
Second: We do not know why they came to Jerusalem. A star such as the North Star may lead us in a general direction but certainly not to a specific city. If you were in Chicago, Illinois you could locate the North Star and by keeping it to your back travel in a southerly direction. You could not however use the North Star to guide you to Houston, Texas. The Magi were not following a star Westward to Jerusalem. The star remained in the East as they traveled from the East westward to Jerusalem, keeping the star to their back. Using this type of celestial orientation it would have been impossible for them to have guided themselves to a specific city. Why they chose Jerusalem as opposed to one of the great western capitals of Egypt, Rome or Greece (or one of the other great city states of the middle east) is not known. What is known is that there were Magi east of Jerusalem. These Magi saw a star in the East. For some reason they associated this star with the birth of an Israeli king and set out for Jerusalem. The Bible does not say why they chose to go to Jerusalem. Many plausible explanations abound, but since the Bible is silent, so we must also be silent. It should be noted though that no prophecy of scripture foretells a star, no precedence in scripture sets the scene for the star. No one who was looking for the Messiah, as a result of studying the Holy Scriptures, would associate the star with His birth. For a reason, apart from the Word of God, the Magi saw the star and traveled to Jerusalem. The why of it remains a complete mystery.
Third: After Herod consulted the scribes and priests on behalf of the Magi, the star led them South, directly to Bethlehem and the residence of Jesus. Thus the star took them on an indirect route, first, prompting them, (for some reason unknown to us) westward to Jerusalem and then, contrastingly guiding them southward directly to Bethlehem and then finally bringing them to the exact house where Jesus was living.
The first star could have been a standard star created by God for this purpose or a comet or some other phenomenon put in place by God. This could have been created miraculously on the spot or something set in motion in the past and by the plan of God making it’s appearance at Jesus’ birth. Since it was a sign in the east it could have been any number of natural phenomenon miraculously put in place or motion by God.
The star which led the Magi from Jerusalem southward to Bethlehem and the child Jesus is however another matter. It’s characteristics were distinctly different in this appearance than in it’s first. This can be no natural star, comet or celestial event. It went on before the Magi leading them directly to the house where the boy child Jesus was residing. Notice the Biblical account in Matthew 2:9-11 9 And having heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. 10 And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. The star which appeared in the East now repapered causing them to rejoice This star now was geographical specific leading them to the exact location of Jesus Since Bethlehem is to the south of Jerusalem the star moves southward, leading them on. Jesus is now a child and not a baby Jesus is now residing in a house with Joseph and Mary and not in a manger. There are no shepherds as these have long since returned to their flocks and in fact are never heard of again.
An interesting footnote: The popular carol, “We saw three ships come sailing in…” (A traditional; English Christmas Carol of unknown origin an authorship. It first appeared in print in Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern, by William Sandys London: Richard Beckley, 1833).) This Carol seeks to deal with the dilemma that if the Magi were indeed following the star in the East then they would have to come from the West, perhaps Egypt or some other north African local, thus logically putting them in the Mediterranean ocean, traveling on three ships. Since the Bible does not state the mode of their transportation this would be plausible if the geographical center of the Christmas Revelation was England, a European city or the Americas. An American, an Englishman or European could easily view all the major African coastal cities as “from the east”. It is important to remember that the geographical frame of reference for the Christmas Revelation is Israel and not some European or American city. Thus east refers to east of Israel or more specifically east of Jerusalem. We must also remember that the Word of God states they were “from the east” , “saw His star in the east” and then went to Jerusalem (west) “to worship Him” .
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