Tag: daniel

Fifth Day of Christmas–A Star
12 Days of Christmas · Christian. · Christmas

Fifth Day of Christmas–A Star

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Educated men in a land to the east of Israel saw a star which indicated to them that a great ruler would be born.

Matthew 2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

 These wise men, sages, astronomers, studied the sky and believed a great ruler would be born.  They may have came from the area which is currently Iran or Iraq. The prophet Daniel once held positions of power among the wise men of what was then Babylon and Persia.   We know little of why these men believed the star foretold a Kings birth.  But they followed the star to Jerusalem.

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

 It appears the star disappeared from sight for a period.  The men start asking people questions and they draw the attention of Herod.  The wise men ask where the baby would be found.  And Herod asks his scholars.  The scholars tell him Bethlehem, but notice these learned men of the scriptures did not leave the safety of the palace to seek out the baby.  They knew what the words said, but they did not act on that knowledge.  Herod tells the wise men they should head to Bethlehem.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

These wise men traveled a great distance to find the new born king.  If they came from Persia, they traveled over a 1000 miles to reach Jerusalem. Making all kinds of assumptions, including the not validated idea that they rode camels, the fastest they could have arrived was 10 days.  We do not know if the star appeared before the birth, or after the birth.

What we know is these men were determined to see this new king and when the star disappeared they asked questions to help determine the way.  And when the star returned, they rejoice with exceeding great joy.  Finding Jesus mattered to them.

Journal Exercise

What effort are you willing to put forth to discover all there is to know about Jesus?

When you find a way to know him better do you rejoice with exceeding great joy?  If now why not?

If you do, think of examples and  write them down as a reminder to you of the joy of discovering more and more about our King.