Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - TWO MORE FACTS

 TWO MORE FACTS

The fact that the Magi were not there at the time of Jesus’ birth and the lineage of Herod as it relates to the attempt on Jesus’ life are both interesting aspects of the Messiah’s birth not often mentioned. There are others that often do not warrant much attention including these two.

In the book of Ruth, we are told of the migration of Naomi and her family from Bethlehem to Moab due to famine. There, as events unfolded, a Moabite woman, Ruth, became a daughter-in-law of Naomi and later came back to live in Bethlehem when the famine was over. Ruth married Boaz and they had a son, raised by Naomi.

Then Naomi took the child and…became a nurse to him. 

[And] the neighbour woman gave him a name, saying 

“There is a child born to Naomi…” 

(Ruth 4:16,17)

This child “of Naomi’s” was called Obed.

He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 

(Ruth 4:17)

It was to Bethlehem and to Jesse, the Bethlehemite, that the Lord sent Samuel to find David.

 

…For I have provided Myself a king among his sons. 

(1 Samuel 16:1)

And so from Bethlehem God provided a king for Israel just as He would many years later provide a king for the world from the same city.

The second interesting fact is the time between when something is requested of God and its’ fruition. For over 400 years, the Hebrew people languished in Egypt and prayed for deliverance without any apparent result. It’s evident that God’s timing is His own and that we must be patient and alert to recognizing His answer when it comes. The Israelites apparently did not and begged Moses to take them back to Egypt.

“Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying,

‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it

would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians that that

we should die in the wilderness.” 

(Exodus 14:12)

The Israelites did not recognize their deliverance when it was there for them. It was also 400 years from the time of the last Old Testament prophet and the predictions of a coming deliverer and the birth of Christ. Once again, the people were not alert to what was taking place and were not expecting the answer when it came. For when Christ was born, neither the leaders nor the people were ready. The Bible states that:

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(John 1:11)

Four hundred years and then not recognized when He came. Will the same happen to us? After all, it’s been many years since we were told that He would return. And so, as Peter says:

…scoffers will come in the last days…saying, 

“Where is the promise of His coming? 

For since the fathers fell asleep, 

all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 

(2 Peter 3:3-4)

In the Bible there are numbers which are important and the number three is indicative of completeness and divine perfection. We have already missed, in many ways, two occasions when God answered promises; hopefully we can do better with number three when it occurs.

At least, it gives one something substantial to think about.  

Dr Spencer Barclay Dec 1, 2024

Dr. Barclays Bible Study - The Book of Ephesians Part 1

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - THE BLESSING?

                                                                         

                                  THE BLESSING?

One of the most disturbing stories surrounding the birth of Christ is tol in the book of Matthew in chapter 2.

Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, 

was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death 

all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, 

from two years old and under…

(Matthew 2:16)

This gives further evidence that the wise men did not visit Jesus at His birth but a number of years later - but why such a scene? Was Herod really so cruel or was there something else involved?

This atrocity and its inception really goes back to the days of Issac, Rebekah, and their sons Esau and Jacob. It involves the situation where Jacob, with the help of his mother Rebekah, tricked his father Issac into giving him his father’s blessing instead of his older brother Esau, to whom it rightfully belonged. Esau became very angry at this turn of events and…  

So [he] hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, 

and Esau said in his heart "…I will kill my brother Jacob.” 

(Genesis 27:41)

Now Esau went on to have many offspring and…

 

…Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.

…the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir. 

(Genesis 36:8-9)

Now, the Edomite people lived in an area south of Judah until they were displaced by conflict and eventually settled again in a portion of Judah and became known as the Idumaeans but still descendants of Esau.

Antipaster, the progenitor of the Herodian dynasty that ruled Judea under the Romans after the Roman conquest of that area, was an Idumaean and the antecedent of the Herod in the Biblical story of Jesus. Thus, Herod himself was really a descendent of Esau. Therefore, trying to kill the Messiah, of the lineage of Judah, was really an attempt to carry out the old threat of Esau to kill his brother Jacob.

It’s amazing how events related in ancient history have an influence on events many years and centuries later and how they still influence world events today. An ancient curse by Esau was the trigger for the Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod as well as the attempt to kill the Messiah shortly after His birth.

It all gives one something more to think about.  

Pastor Jasmine Trott Nov. 24, 2024

Dr. Barclays Bible Study - The Book of Jonah Part 10

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - THE MAGI

THE MAGI

The story of the Magi - wise men from the East - visiting the Christ Child after His birth, is one of the most enduring stories of the Christmas season that we have. This is documented in only one place in the Bible - in the book of Matthew. Here it states:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, 

…wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? 

For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” 

(Matthew 2:1-2)

When reading these stories it is important to distinguish what is related in the Bible to what is not; even though some of the other material may be ancient, they are non-biblical sources. For example, we often refer to the three kings but the Bible mentions neither the number of visitors nor that they were kings. We commonly see illustrations of these wise men coming to the stable where Jesus lay but the Bible clearly states that:

…when they [the wise men] had come into the house, 

they saw the young Child with Mary, His mother, 

and fell down, and worshiped Him… 

(Matthew 2:11)

If we truly believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that:

 

…the word of God is living and powerful…

…which lives and abides forever…

(Hebrews 4:12 & 1 Peter 1:23)

and comes from a God…

 

…who cannot lie… 

(Titus 1:2)

…then we must be careful to state what the Bible relates and not change it to suit what we think it should say. Mixing falsehoods with the truth does not enhance the truth but only tends to enforce more of that which is false. The wise men were not at the stable as depicted by so many stories, nativity scenes, and songs but came sometime later, perhaps up to two years, after Christ’s birth.

In focusing only on the time of the visit, we often miss the other implications that the coming of these men may mean. For instance, they were Gentiles, probably Zoroastrian in religion, who came to worship a God unknown to them. They were the first gentiles who reached out to Christ and gave the indication that Christ would be for everyone.

They bowed and worshiped at the sight of Christ. They did not do the same at the kingship of Herod and so did not give homage to worldly authority but did at the Godly Kingship of Christ.

They gave their time to come to a king they did not know nor to whom they owed allegiance. Not only did they give of their time, they gave generously with their wealth and delight, bringing expensive presents and with exuberant joy, just the way we should do to the God we know and to whom we do owe allegiance.

They were obedient to what they had been taught or told. They knew about the coming of the Messiah and were willing to follow what they had come to believe. In addition, they were obedient to the angel who told them not to return to Herod. We must also decide whether to believe God or honour the world.

Lastly, they would have had many of their own beliefs and traditions and what they did would have gone outside their own culture and faith. Are we willing to do the same when we see the truth in front of us?

By realizing all of what we can learn from the Magi gives us again something else to think about.

*Writing adapted from Who Were the Magi and Why do They Matter by Brian Barrineau