'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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