It is a few weeks after the traditional epiphany is observed here in the west. For those who do not know, the epiphany is a name given to the event where the wise men from the east had come to Jesus house to visit and worship him. The time is now known but it was not on the same day as Jesus’ birth. It could be anytime, possibly up to two years since the birth.
The bible is full of connecting threads. That is because it is ultimately written by the same author. It is made up of sixty six books, written by forty different people over a period of thousands of years yet all with the same story and none contradicting the others. For the most part, these guys didn’t even know each other.
Today I am going to connect another one of these threads.
The epiphany story begins where most everything else begins – in the book of Genesis. In this case, Genesis 49:10. Jacob is about to die and is giving out blessings to his sons. Verse 10 is for Judah.
The scepter will never depart from Judah, nor a ruler’s staff from between his feet, until the One comes, who owns them both, and to him will belong the allegiance of nations. (Gen 49:10)What this is saying is that the leadership of Israel will not leave the tribe of Judah until the Messiah comes.
The situation in Judea at the time of Jesus birth was a tense one. The ruler, Herod, was not of the tribe of Judah. He wasn’t even a Jew and he knew it. He was appointed by the Roman emperor. As such, it appears that the prophecy of Jacob had fallen short. Indeed, the priesthood was in mourning because they thought God had either lied or was wrong. The rod had passed from Judah and as far as they knew, Shiloh (the One) had not come. They had no idea that in Bethlehem, Shiloh had come.
The next part of the thread picks up several hundred years after Jacob’s death. The Medo-Persian empire has just taken over Babylon. A man named Daniel is placed as ruler over a hereditary priesthood in Persia known as the Magi. (Daniel 6) For this reason, they contrive to have the king kill Daniel by arranging the lion’s den incident. It didn’t work.
Daniel 1-6 are a historical account of Daniel’s life, but 7-12 are some of the prophecies given to him. One of these prophecies describes exactly the day when the Messiah will come to Jerusalem and be declared king. This is Daniel 9:24-27. The second part of the 70 weeks prophecy as it is now called.
Finally we come to the period in history which we now call the epiphany. (Matthew 2)
After Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of King Herod, wise men arrived in Jerusalem from the east and asked, “Where is the one who was 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, as was all of Jerusalem. 4He called together all the high priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. (Matthew 2:1-3)Notice that it does not read “three wise men arrived in Jerusalem from the east”. No, it just says wise men. This translated to “wise men” is the word back in Daniel that is used to describe the Magi. The same Magi Daniel was placed in charge of.
History paints us a picture of this time in which Jesus was born. It roots the biblical story to our world in a way that is perhaps not done in the typical Sunday schools.
Rome was not the only empire of the known world. Indeed, the land they dubbed Judea was a buffer between Rome and another empire of equitable strength and size. The Parthian empire lay just to the east of Judea. Some years before Jesus’ birth, Judea was part of the Parthian empire. Pompeii had conquered Judea in 63 BC. Mark Antony launched a campaign against the Parthians which ended in a disastrous defeat. It also ended in a sort of cold war truce between the empires. The river Euphrates being the border between them. It became a policy of Emperor Augustus to not provoke the Parthians so long as they did not cross the river.
Herod was appointed by the Roman empire to rule over Judea. It was a position gained through favors and a more than a little subterfuge. He was not even in Judea at the time of his appointment. He was in hiding because the of the insecure situation in Judea at the time. Herod was king of Judea while in Rome for three years until the Romans recaptured Judea and deposed its current Parthian king, Antigonus. After which, Herod arrived in Jerusalem.
The Magi of the Parthian empire were not just administrators. They were also king makers. It was their job to find a successor to the king when his time was nearly up. This was not an unknown fact at the time of the birth of Yeshua.
Have you ever asked the why question when reading this story? Why would an entire city and a king be greatly disturbed by the arrival of three old guys and their camels? They wouldn’t. However, if a group of king makers from a rival empire showed up with their military escorts, that might be cause for alarm. If these guys then gave a hint that the ‘King’ they are talking to is not the real king, but instead they want to see the one BORN king of the Jews (rather than appointed) you can see why Herod might be a bit uncomfortable.
So you can see, this is a story in the making for some time even before it happened. This thread continues into the future. Among the gifts given by these three Magi who were of an order likely educated under the teaching of Daniel, were Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. There may have been other gifts, but these are important because of their prophetic nature. Gold was for Jesus’ kingship. Frankincense for his position as priest and Myrrh because he would die.
Fast forward to the book of Revelation. Gifts are brought to Jesus then, as well. Except this time, the prophetic gifts are just Gold and Frankincense. King and priest after the order of Melchizedek (or Malki Tzedek), yet another thread that begins in Genesis. He is alive forever more.