Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "The Christmas Waltz" (Frank Sinatra)




Welcome to Tuesday and New Year's Eve!!!  Will you watch the ball drop?  Will you ring in 2020?  Got your resolutions ready?  Have you picked out your New Year's Eve blog to read?  What's that...you don't have a blog that you read every New Year's Eve?  Well, friend, you're in the right place.  Because right now, that's what I said, right now you are in Notesland, the swingin' Notesland!!!  "What is Notesland?", you may ask?  It's the hippest blog on the planet filled with instruments and insight, musical themes and Messianic theology.  It has exactly what you are looking for as a music lover and it's all FREE!   That's right friend, always ad-free, and pop up free (if you have your security up to date that is).  All the focus is on the music and The Message.  It's Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!  Welcome!

Today is a special day in Notesland as we countdown the most read blogs of 2019!  But before we get to that, let's explore just a sample of what makes Tuesday's Musical Notes THE blog you read this week and every week...

Today's featured song is a perfect example of why Tuesday's Musical Notes should be your go-to blog for New Year's eve!  This song is one of a regal few who happen to have that oom pah pah, that 1,2,3, that 3/4 time that is rarely featured at Christmas or for that matter popular music.  AND it is by the Chairman of the Board, Ol Blue Eyes, The Voice.  You might know of him by his given name...Frank Sinatra.


"The Christmas Waltz" is a cherished seasonal classic that has been covered by many artists.  Most notably:  Peggy Lee (1960), Doris Day (1964), Bing Crosby (1966), Pat Boone (1966), The Osmonds (1976), The Carpenters (1978), Barry Manilow (2002), as well as many others.  In fact, Harry Connick Jr.'s cover from 2003 was the first to make any of Billboard's charts.  His version of "The Christmas Waltz" peaked at #26 on the Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart.

And now we'd like to welcome you to this year end synopsis of the best of the blog!  Here's 2019's best from Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!

Speaking of charting, we here at Tuesday's Musical Notes, with the assistance of Google's Blogspot, keep track of the number of "reads" each week's blog receives from November to November of each year.  While it isn't Billboard, we find checking in on the top 10 every year to be fascinating, and nostalgic.  Thank you so much for finding Tuesday's Musical Notes and then coming back each week to see if we're silly or serious, or maybe just to check in on some trivial aspect of a favorite song!  Regardless of your reason, Google tracks 'em and we count 'em down.  

Without any further blah, blah, blah, here are the top ten read Tuesday's Musical Note from 2019!

Welcome to the countdown!!!

#10!

Usually, our end of the year countdown features more than 10 songs due to several ties.  This year our retrospective of the best of Tuesday's Musical Notes only has one.  Of the songs tied at #10, one features a set of Righteous Brothers, the other The King of Pop! 

At #10 here's:



Comin' in at #9 is the youngest song in this year's end of the year survey.  Not only is it the most recent non Christmas blog written at Tuesday's Musical Notes, but it also features the song that came out most recently.  Here's the band Creed from 1999 with the #9 entry in Tuesday's Musical Notes year-end countdown.


Most of the songs appearing as a feature on Tuesday's Musical Notes are international successes.  This worldwide acclaim bolsters the artist's popularity while it's foreign chart successes continue adding to the song's longevity.  Tuesday's Musical Notes is proud of the fact that readers all over the world "click in" to read each week.  Over the course of the Note's 7 1/2 year history, we have over 37,000 hits from these top ten countries: United States, France, Russia, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Canada, Vietnam, Belgium, and a country that is only known as the Unknown Region (whoever you are in that Unknown Region... a huge THANKS!  Chances are you read Tuesday's Musical Notes at some risk.  Our prayers are with you each week!!!)  It just goes to show you that great music is border-less and that all of us as are a part of one race, the human race (everything else is skin shades and culture), that enjoys great musicianship combined with an incredible lyric. Thanks to all of you around the world who read The Notes!!! 

Now on with the countdown!

Our song at #8 features a group whose popularity peaked in the late '60s and early '70s.  Here's the granddaddy of  psychedelic songs with the 8th most popular blog for 2019.


One might think it odd that a blog that is driven towards promoting Evangelical Christianity would feature a song about the moon being in the seventh house and the alignment of the planets.  Baby, You ain't seen nothin' yet!  The blog at #7 is a blog about associating with the enemy of Christians.  Yes, the devil.  Here's Van Halen with their 1978 hit from their eponymous debut album.  (As a warm-up, you may want to make sure you listen to, and turn up "Eruption" from the same album.)


We cannot express this enough.  Tuesday's Musical Notes is a blog about our relationship with God.  It is a blog that holds the Bible as the source of all truth.  It is a blog that proclaims that Jesus is the focus of the Bible.  It is a blog that attempts each week to encourage the journey to restoration from the broken relationship we have with God through Jesus.  It is also a blog that attempts to encourage believers to be more like Jesus today than they were yesterday.  

While we absolutely love music of all kinds, the driving force behind Tuesday's Musical Notes is never the highlighted song or artist.  Tuesday's Musical Notes is written each week with an extreme desire to see those who are separated from God come to be restored through knowledge of the saving sacrifice of Jesus.  

The theme of several Tuesday's Musical Notes is travelling down roads.  Some of the notes are very direct in their traveling pathway...





 Others are more indirectly "road" songs:



As you can see, "roads" and their destinations are a reoccurring theme at Tuesday's Musical Notes.  In fact, there is a road that we mention on several occasions throughout Notes history.  It is called the Roman Road.  It is a pathway that will step by step show you the way to revitalizing your relationship with the God who created and loves you.  Won't you take the first step down that road today...

You see friend, the Bible says this:


Romans 3:23 NASB/The Message/KJV  - we must acknowledge that our relationship with God is severed due to our disobedience called sin

Romans 5:8 - NASB/The Message/KJV  - God desires the relationship to be restored and provides a way for that to occur

Romans 6:23 NASB/The Message/KJV  - we must realize that if we do not "change our ways" and restore our brokenness we will depart from this life to a place separated forever from God and everything else that could ever be construed as "good".  God provided a way for that not to happen and you can spend your eternity future with Him and those who have accepted His sacrifice

Romans 10:9-10 - NASB/The Message/KJV  - when we confess that Jesus is THE restorative power through His death, burial, and resurrection, we are saved from the "bad" eternity future

Romans 10:13 NASB/The Message/KJV   - Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven.  It sounds so simple, yet there it is.  Call on the Name of Jesus, turn away from the bad things that you consistently do, believe Jesus is who He said He is and did what the Bible says He did, and you will forever be with Him

Romans 11:36 - NASB/The Message/KJV  - through Holy Spirit's power, (which resides in you upon your turning from your sin) make Jesus the Boss, the King, the Priority of your life and allow His message to flow through you, changing you into His likeness in the process 

THIS message is why Tuesday's Musical Notes exists...

And that's our tribute to "Roads".  A subject frequented here at Tuesday's Musical Notes!

#6!

Movies and their soundtracks feature heavily into Notesland.  The song at #6 is emblematic of why.  It is so intrinsically tied to its movie that it is a rare occasion that one is not mentioned without the other.  It was also the debut song for  2019.


You've read 'em, we're countin' 'em down...

Before we go on to the top five of 2019's most-read Musical Notes.  We'd like to draw attention to the Honorable Mentions, those notes who just missed this year's collection of the best.  Interestingly enough, it was a tie by the same artist,  Sir Paul McCartney.  'nuff said...



#5

Let's go for a ride with our driver Joni Mitchell in our "Big Yellow Taxi", the # 5 most-read blog for 2018!


Tuesday's Musical Notes loves to feature a variety of musical acts and songs.  From one-hit-wonders to the titans of music's landscape.  Hopefully, you have noticed the diversity of beats and players in this year's recording of the cream of the crop from 2019.  (Honestly, I'm getting tired of writing "countdown"...it could be very creative from here on out!)

Without doubt, One of those titans of the musical landscape is Eric Clapton. His song is the feature for Tuesday's Musical Notes 4th most read blog of 2019.  


Ascending the ranks of our salute to "lyrics and life-saving" is the blog from the first of April.  You know, that time of the year where you can expect the range of the weather goes from rainy to monsoon making it very easy to sing the song at #3...


Closing in on the top of the pops!  Only two more Notes to go and we'll know what was the most read for 2019!  Before we do, we mentioned that Google/Blogspot keeps a rolling tally each time one of the 395 Tuesday's Musical Notes are read.  You can find any of those Notes in the archives to the left of the screen.  You can also search for your favorite artists or songs to see if they have been twisted terrifically on Tuesdays!!! (I know the search featureworks!  I've tried it!!!) That being said, each year we want you to be aware of the most read blog EVER!  

Once this blog took the top spot it has stayed there and eclipsed all of the other blogs in Notesland. It debuted on February 18, 2014, and soared into the musically annotated atmosphere.  Enjoy the most read blog at Tuesday's Musical Notes ever...open that door already!


Thanks again for taking the time each week to join us in the celebration of music and Majesty!  I enjoy the challenge of being able to take a song and see just how it can be applied to our lives and our eternities.  In fact, you might say that I'm Into Something Good...


Any guesses to #1?  I confess it was a surprise to me as I was putting our year-end encyclopedia of enlightenment together. (Told ya it was gonna get creative!) It comes to us from early in the year, January 15 to be specific.  In fact, 4 out of the 5 blogs from January were featured in the top ten.  That's a new stat for those keeping the books!!  (Analytics anyone?)  Our #1 joins the #2 song in featuring acts from Great Britain as a part of the British Invasion of the '60s.  Nope, not the Beatles.  Nope, not the Rolling Stones.  This solo act is known for her penchant to hang out...Downtown...

The #1 blog in 2019 for Tuesday's Musical Notes...Petula Clark, "Downtown"


And there you have it, friend.  Petula Clark's Downtown joins these past year's best Notes:


That's it!  The best Tuesday's Musical Notes from 2019 all wrapped up in a New Year's eve toast to you our wonderful readers!  We can't say thank you enough for checking in each week from all over the world.  We hope you will continue to enjoy the Notes as we explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new...wait, sorry...

To be continued in 2020!!!  Happy New Year!!! 

Tuesday's Musical Notes is a production of Crossgate Entertainment.  The views and opinions expressed attempt to be Biblical and life-altering.  The Notes are produced in the palatial second story offices of yours truly, Randy.  No animals were injured as a result of these proceedings.  Thanks again and we'll see you next year here at Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!

'Til Tuesday 2020

Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (Brenda Lee)


Welcome to Tuesday and the Christmas Eve edition of Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!

It is Christmas Eve AND it's Tuesday!!!  There's only one way this day could be better!  You guessed it!  If today were Christmas Day AND it was Tuesday!!!  A Tuesday Christmas has happened a couple of times in our favorite blog's history.  In 2018 and in the first Christmas of Tuesday's Musical Notes, 2012 ("Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Joy to the World" (Trinity Choir 1926), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Do They Know its Christmas Time" (Band Aid))  

This year we'll make do with the 2nd best day of the year on the best day of the week as we wrap a few presents, roar a few Christmas songs, relish Santa's snacks, rejoice in time with family and friends as we celebrate, and do just a little rockin' around the Christmas tree! 


Written in 1958 by legendary composer Johnny Marks, (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Gene Autry), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas" (Burl Ives)) "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" has saturated radio during the season with countless covers by the popular musicians of the last 61 years.  

Brenda Lee's first recording of today's featured song occurred when she was only 13 years old.  That recording featured musicians Floyd Cramer on piano and Boots Randolph on sax, as well as others.  It became a signature song for Lee and has been featured many times as the backdrop to Christmas television shows and movies.  Most notably, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" was well placed in the 1990 film Home Alone.  ("Home Alone" - fake party)

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" continues to be a perennial favorite. So far, for 2019 it has hit its highest position on Billboard's Hot 100 at # 8.  The song has been downloaded in excess of 1,000,000 times placing it in the 5th place for Christmas/Holiday singles according to Soundscan.  Not too shabby for a song that perhaps seems dated with its tomes of "Hops" (dances/parties) and jolly voices singing carols.  

Part of the charm of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is its sentimentality.  It seems to take us back to a simpler time when the innocence of kissing under the mistletoe was alluring.  It also reminds us of the splendor that most Christmas trees bring to one's home when decorated well and the fun to be had on Christmas morning as families literally rock around it.  

But what does this center of decorating, gifts beneath it, rockin' around it, mean?  Is there symbolism to which we should defer (or defir! Sorry, Couldn't resist..)?  Yes, Virginia, there is a rhyme and reason for why we display a tree and its adornments (who must be placed in just the right spot...can I get a witness?) during the Christmas season. Here is a brief article that sheds some light or hangs some lights on this time-honored traditional decoration.  The History and Meaning of the Christmas Tree by Meg Bucher from crosswalk.com, December 12, 2018 


I must confess.  The extent of my involvement with our Christmas tree is getting it down from the attic.  My wife is exceptional at doing the decorating and truth be told has an addiction to ornaments.  I am happy with this "attic" role as is my loving spouse in her decorating role. I fear any tree I would attempt to attire in Christmas finery would wind up looking like Charlie Brown's sad little stick. (Ugh!!!  I killed it!!!) 

I do, however, ponder each year about the significance of this beautiful addition to our home and look forward to it being in our living room with its beautiful lights and our "abundance" of ornaments.  Some of my ponderings are similar to some of the narratives in Ms. Bucher's article, but I feel the need for the restatement of a few.

Throughout the Bible, there are writings of 3 trees in particular.  The first was placed in the Garden at the beginning.  Genesis 2:16-17 New American Standard Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel  This tree was forbidden for the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, to even touch.  You may know the rest of the story as Eve and then Adam disobeyed the rule and was punished with separation from the relationship they had originally enjoyed with God and by expulsion from the garden.  All the evil that has ever been experienced by humans in this world, is a result of that succumbing to temptation and disobedience.  

The next tree is one the Bible only eludes to as it has already been fashioned into an object of purpose.  Luke 2:8-16 NASB/The Message/KJV  This tree had been fashioned into a useful piece of equipment for the feeding of animals.  It was a tool where the "Bread of Life" would be laid as a baby.  It would serve as an implement in the process of restoration from the broken relationship seen in the telling of the previous tree.  

The final tree is altogether different.  It served only one purpose from the moment it sprouted.  While it performs as the setting of the most horrific form of capital punishment ever conceived, it is beheld as a thing of beauty by some.  Those who would hang from it were considered cursed by the ancient Israelites.  This tree, however, served as the final piece of the puzzle to reconcile man back to God.  The torn relationship could be renewed, never to be severed again, all because of the Sacrifice that hung on this tree.  Luke 23:26-49 NASB/The Message/KJV

Dear friend, there is much joy in the fact that our relationship with God can be restored.  We, however, do have to ask for that restoration through admitting that we are at our nature evil and we do things that are wrong. We also must turn away (repent) from that evil and wrong-doing and ask for the restorative power of Jesus' sacrifice to make us right with God.  Joy!  Exceeding Joy!  is the result of doing just that.  

Before you rock around your Christmas tree this year, why don't you take a moment?  Look at a Christmas tree and ponder.  What does that tree represent for you? Is it just something that is a storing place for your gifts and ornaments?  Or is it emblematic of something deeper, something life-changing, something more significant than any of the temporal things under your tree?    

This year, let the Christmas tree mean more than it ever has.  Let the evergreen remind you of the future eternity in heaven you can have with Jesus if you accept His leadership on your life.  Let the tree's triangular shape remind you of God, the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God, the Holy Spirit, who wait for you to accept the ultimate gift that They provide.  Remember the 3 trees above and rejoice that we no longer are slaves to evil.  Let Rockin' around it mean something different.  Let that sentimental feeling be replaced with the feeling of a restored relationship with God and the knowledge of where your eternity future will be spent.  Let your dancin' in a new, old-fashioned way have significance.  You'll find this holiday WILL be a happy one as you experience Christmas like you never have before.  

Merry Christmas from Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!

'Til Tuesday,

Serving HIM by serving You,
randy 

  








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Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Carol of the Bells" (David Foster, Pentatonix)


(Think "Carol of the Bells" before reading any further...)

Welcome, today!  We've things to say!  Here at the blog. Makes you agog! 
'Tis time to read, if you're in need.  Words filled with hope.  Notes played with scope.
Welcome to Tuesday, better than Monday. You're at a place of peace and good cheer.
Songs with new meaning. Ready for streaming.  Sing right along with no need to fear.
Welcome! Hi there! Welcome! It is Tuesday!!!  Howdy! Greetings! Howdy! It is Tuesday!

Had enough?  I'm running out of rhyming words so let's enjoy the real versions of the Christmas Carol Classic:  


Need vocals?  


This favorite of the season was written in 1914.  The music was composed by Ukrainian Mykola Leontovych with words by Peter Wilhousky who also had a Ukrainian heritage.  It is based on the Ukrainian Folk Song "Schedryk," a song for the celebration of the coming year.   After the Soviet Union took over Ukraine, "Carol of the Bells" soon fell out of popularity.  It was introduced to a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall for its first performance in the United States on October 5, 1921.  Since that time, it has been recorded by a diverse set of popular musicians. Every few years a new iteration of the classic song will come along and soar to the top of request emails (alas, no more radio request lines...) and streaming playlists.  

Most versions of the song support the upbeat ostinato, a series of notes repeated continually. This lends to the song's popularity as it becomes easy to remember, while not necessarily easy to sing.  With each new arrangement and every variation of "Carol of the Bells," one feels the positive pulsing of the beat as they attempt to catch up to the lyric.  Let's face it.  This song is really contagious!!!

It is a rare occasion that I have heard an unpleasant bell ringing.  I absolutely love the variety of happy sounds that bells make. It is a sound telling the world of something new, perhaps very different.  There is even a word that means the ringing of the bells, tintinnabulation. For you Hooked on Phonics folks, [ tin-ti-nab-yuh-ley-shuhn ] 

Bells have also been used as a call to arms, attention getters for announcements, or to signify a time of meeting for communities or religious organizations.  At one time in many countries' histories, a town crier would use a bell to cry out information from government entities or local goings-on. Alas, this art form was replaced by print media, which has been replaced by digital media, which will be replaced by...

There was a time when many churches even had handbell choirs.  If you are fortunate to live in an area where there is such an ensemble, do yourself a favor and go to a concert.  Especially a Christmas concert!  You won't be disappointed!!!  

The Bible says absolutely nothing about bells ringing to announce Jesus' birth.  In fact, when Jesus was born it was not a very happy time for God's chosen people.  They were inconvenienced by a census, which inevitably meant that taxes were about to go up...(hmmm has that really changed in 2000 years?).  They were occupied by a government that looked at them as second-class citizens.  And their own religious rulers had reinterpreted scripture in such a way as to make the rabbinical laws (ones of their own making) equal to God's law.  

But in the midst of all of this chaos and oppression, came Hope, Peace, and Great Joy!!!


At this point in historical culture, the only people class lower on the social status ladder than a carpenter, Joseph's profession, were the shepherds.  Imagine, hanging out in the field, in the dark, listening to the snores of sheep, when an angel appears telling you that everything you know has just changed and everything you had been taught has just been fulfilled.  These sacrifice-keepers became witnesses to a taste of heaven as a multitude of angels began praising God.  The angels had just told them..."throw cares away, Christmas is here, bringing good cheer, to young and old, meek and the bold."  Actually, they told them to not be afraid but to rejoice because the long-awaited Messiah, whom the shepherds would have had at least a cursory knowledge, had arrived in a very unexpected way.  All the shepherds needed at this point were bells to announce Jesus' coming.  Yet they were too poor for the luxury of such an item, so they did their best to tell everyone they encountered what they had experienced. 

"Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed."  Luke 2:17-18 The Message 

Like clanging bells, the shepherds went about Bethlehem telling the news.  And folks listened...   Angels were seen!  God had been glorified!! Messiah had come!!!

This season, many of us need to unwrap the cloth from around our clappers.  We need to be shaken like bells until our joy and excitement about the reason for this season are exclaimed...loudly.  We need to take the angel's advice, put away our fear, and rejoice!!!  Because as we will see, Jesus did not remain a baby.  He did not remain in Bethlehem. But what He did is a word of good cheer that should have us ringing boldly that Christmas is here!!!

'Til Tuesday,

Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings" (Barenaked Ladies with Sarah McLachlan)



'Tis the 10th of December and all through the village.  The folks all had coffee and hopes for no spillage!  Their shopping had started, their trees all were up.  They wondered if frothy was what's in their cup?  They broke out the tunes, the songs for the season, and carefully remembered this fun has a reason.  

While on their short breaks, they searched and they read.  The blogs about music were just the right med.  "What's this!!!", they exclaimed as they clicked on one site.  "I think it's the one, it all looks just right!"  "Welcome to Tuesday!" was its opening line.  The more that they read it, the more they felt fine.  A smile continued as on they did journey.  This place was good healing, no need for a gurney!  "It's balm for the soul, a site worth perusal!"  They told all their friends, no need for refusal. 

"It is time! It is time! The blog it did shout.  "We have something in here worth reading about!  So stop by and rest, take a break from the busy.  Just breathe, take a moment as not to feel dizzy.  Filled with music and meaning and other nice quotes, 'Tis time for the blog, Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!"


  

Like so many Christmas recordings, today's featured song was never released as a single.  The album in which it appears, Barenaked for the Holidays went as high as #64 on the Billboard album charts.  The song is the combination of 2 cherished Christmas songs, neither of which is sung very often at churches anymore, that lend themselves very well together.  With its stripped-down instrumentation, recognizable melodies, and Sarah McLachlan's descants, this medley of the songs is a welcome reminder of simplicity and normalcy at a time that can become chaotic and abnormal.   

Barenaked Ladies submitted an earlier recording of the "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" portion of this song that appeared on the 2000 various artists' album Christmas Songs.

The story of the "Three Kings" has always been a fascination to me. Their story is one of song and legend.  There are many interesting, but non-biblical ideas that float around every year at Christmas about these visitors to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  The truth about these travelers is far more interesting than any legend.

As we read the Bible we are quickly reminded that the stories contained from Genesis to Revelation are connected and all point towards Jesus.  The story of the magi is no different.  How did they know about the star?  From where did they depart for the journey to Bethlehem?  How many magi, wise men, kings, soothsayers, or stargazers were there?  What was the purpose of their gifts?  These are just a few questions that surround these foreign visitors.   For the answers to these questions, one should look at the ancient history of Israel.   

Let's begin with who these folks were.  The only reference to the origin of the magi is found in Matthew 2:1.  It says only that they come from the east.  This would mean these men came from Iran, Iraq, or some area of Afghanistan.  This is a land in which the Israelites were familiar as they had been taken to some parts of this region during the time of the Babylonian, then Persian conquest of the region.  The book of Daniel provides some incite into the historicity of who they were as Daniel encountered and eventually was numbered among the court magicians or magi during the time of Israel's captivity.  The suggestion has always been that Daniel never returned to Israel. Thus the magi we see in the birth narrative of Matthew could have easily been descendants of Daniel's or one of his counterparts.  

Daniel, being a "son of Judah" (Daniel 1:6 New American Standard Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel), would have been instructed in all of the prophecies of the Deliverer that God had promised throughout the times of the prophets and especially the revelations that were included in the Pentateuch especially since the prophecies spoke of the liberator coming from the same tribe as Daniel. (Genesis 49:10 NASB/The Message/KJV) This association with Daniel would have led to the Messianic prophecies being written down, passed down, orally told, or at the very least discussed throughout magi antiquity.  There is a strong likelihood that the magi of Matthew had studied the prophecies regarding Jesus from texts that were written and recorded during the captivity of Israel by Babylon and Persia.

The magi arrived with an agenda.  Their search for the reality of the prophecies was close to being over as they witnessed the sign in the heavens that they had been told about.  "

"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” - Matthew 2:2 NASB/The Message/KJV

So what prompted the magi of Jesus' time to be looking for a star?  Again, they referred to their own ancient writings.  This time, however, the prophecy came from a person from their own region rather than those who were seeking a deliverer from their captivity.  You may have heard of him, he is known for being told his shortcomings by a donkey.

The rival country of Moab was looking for a way to secure their boundaries from the fledgling nation of Israel, who had just demolished the Amorites and took their land.  The Moabite king, Balak, decided he would hire a man of Peor (Mesopotamia, modern-day Iran, Iraq, or Afghanistan...hmmm we've heard about folks from this region already...).  This man's name was Balaam.  He was an evil man but was considered a prophet to which God spoke. (Just proves God can use whoever He wants to see His purpose accomplished) Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel so that they would not devastate Moab as they had the land of the Amorites.  God intervened and gave Balaam blessings instead of cursings to say over Israel.  Read the entire interchange and Balaam's blessings here:  Numbers 22-24 - NASB/The Message/KJV

Did you see what was said in verse 17? 

“I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near;
A star shall come forth from Jacob,
A scepter shall rise from Israel,
And shall crush through the forehead of Moab,
And tear down all the sons of Sheth."

While Balaam had gone to Moab previously, he made the above portion of his blessing prophecies from his own home in Peor.  There is a strong likelihood that this would have been written down somewhere, not only in the ancient writings of Israel but in the writings of the ancestors of Balaam. Ancestors who seem to have been the Magi of the time of Daniel, who, by following the logic of today's Musical Notes, could have been ancestors of the magi who sought out Jesus.  

Yes, there are many "likelihoods", "could haves", and suppositions on my part in today's Notes, however, all of these Magi, (Balaam, Daniel et. al, and the Magi seeking Jesus) seemed to be linked through the study of the Biblical narrative.  

The Bible is plain that Herod had all of the male children under the age of 2 killed. Again, refer to Matthew 2 NASB/The Message/KJV. Therefore, Jesus would not have been in the manger anymore and would have been as old as two by the time of the Magi's visit.  Thus making many of the songs we sing about the wise men and most theatrical portrayals of the Nativity incorrect.

The Bible also tells of 3 gifts.  Gold, Frankincense, and Myrhh.  These gifts would have been in a quantity enough to provide for the escape to Egypt when Herod made the above decision.  The Bible never tells how many wise men actually were a part of the entourage.  

Here is a great article that expounds further and perhaps more scholarly than your humble blogger ever could:  "The Wise Men and the Star" by Eric Hovind - creationtoday.org

The Bible nerd in me finds all of the interconnections of this story fascinating.  And I find the TRUTH regarding the wise men far more interesting than the legends and misconceptions regarding their visit with Jesus.  Again, I have taken some leaps that I have not substantiated...yet.  Study it for yourselves but remember the most important message of this story and this blog is not how many magi or kings there were.  It isn't even whether or not they were present at the manger.  The most important message is that merry gentlemen should find rest and have no dismay as they remember Christ our Savior was born upon this day.  To SAVE us ALL from satan's power where we HAVE gone astray.  With this realization, we can go about spreading tidings of Comfort and Joy!  Comfort and Joy!! Oh, tidings of Comfort and Joy!!!

'Til Tuesday,

Serving HIM by serving You,
Randy
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