"1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem."
It's alarming how we can be so easily misguided by others if we are not mindful to read the Word of God carefully. I'm not sure how it is in Germany, but in the USA, we had always thought there were THREE wise men from the East. This is due to Chrismas cards which print 3 wise men on the cover, Christmas plays which would cast 3 characters for the wise men, and even storybooks of Jesus' birth would say there are 3. However, here it clearly states only 'wise men' (also in vs. 16), it never mentioned how many there were. The best assumption of the number 3 could possible come from the fact that 3 gifts were given to Jesus (vs. 11). People probably assumed that each wise men gave Jesus one gift, hence there must have been 3 wise men, and it could have possibly been correct. However, God never intended to tell us through the Bible how many there really were.
This shows us how easily God's Word can be changed and worst yet, twisted, even if just one word is changed. In the case of the number of wise men, it's probably not so severe to our hopes of Salvation if we thought there were 3. Even then, just imagine the percentage of people in the world (or must just USA) believing there are really 3 wise men who visted Jesus. They probably will keep believing that until they die and never pay much attention to this verse or realize the mistake even if they read it. This may not be a severe problem. However, it becomes severe in the case of Adam & Eve and in matters regarding Salvation. Imagine how many people mistaken the Word of God and the gospel of Salvation. We are all quite familiar with the story:
"16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Gen 2)
"4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3)
Although God will most likely not ask us how many wise men there were before He lets us enter Heaven, this small misunderstanding can serve as a warning for us to read the Word of God carefully. We should be careful not to be influenced by other people, media, commercialism, etc..., and definitely not Satan's tricks in twisting the Word of God; because it could cost us our Salvation.
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6 comments:
"Da stand er auf und nahm das Kindlein und seine Mutter mit sich bei Nacht und entwich Ägypten."
"Da stand er auf und nahm das Kindlein und seine Mutter mit sich und kam in das Land Israel."
These two verses shows on the one hand the blind confidence of Joseph and on the other hand that God will lead us. He will guide and protect us. He will lead us back to home (=...kam in das Land Israel.)
Matthäus 2, 9+10:
"...Und siehe, der Stern, den sie im Morgendland gesehen hatten, ging vor ihnen her, bis er über dem Ort stand, wo das Kindlein war.
Als sie den Stern sahen, wurden sie hoch erfreut"
The star is a symbol of God that his son Jesus, who is not a normal human but a God,is born and the star shines brightly in the dark night. That means there is a light in the darkness, there is a light that leads you out of the lost world.
We will come from the perdition into the light of Jesus.
The star also symbolizes hope, saving and a new beginning.
Matthäus 2, 11
"... und gingen in das Haus und fanden das Kindlein mit Maria, seiner Mutter, und fielen nieder und beteten es an und taten ihre Schätze auf und schenkten ihm Gold, Weihrauch und Myrrhe."
I think the content of this verse is very surprising. Imagine if you are one of these wise men. Would you kneel in front of a baby and give him presents? Frankly, I wouldn`t recognize that this baby is Jesus, even if I have seen the star. But the three man immediately realize, that they have the son of God in front of them. I think it is right to call them "three wise men". Like they have given Jesus presents made of gold we should do the same and give Jesus our heart made of love and we should kneel in front of Jesus und pray with all trust und strenght we have.
so than i also will leave my short verse.
Mt 2:10
When they saw the star they were overjoyed.
(Als sie den Stern sahen, wurden sie hoch erfreut.)
Its just so true. here in germany there are also many people who would say without doubt that there were three wise man visiting the little child. Even if some of them know that this is not exactly written in the bible, they still like the imagination of the "tree wise man" a black one a with one with a black beard and one with a white on (or something like that ..but there was always a black among them) Seem that they forgot about the rightous God who means what he has sais.
hmm why i took the verse?
its always heartwarming to see people being "overjoyed" while seeking Jesus.^^
PS:you may check http://www.bibleserver.com/index.php
there you can read german or english bible.
Mat 2:1 Da Jesus geboren war zu Bethlehem im jüdischen Lande, zur Zeit des Königs Herodes, siehe, da kamen die Weisen vom Morgenland nach Jerusalem und sprachen:
It would be interesting to know, where these wise men came from. The only thing we know, is that they came from the east (in german: "Morgenland").
Although they were from a foreign country - a country where the true God was not worshpipped (at that time Israel was surrounded by gentile countries, that had many gods) - they were actually the only ones who have seen the star and come to worship Jesus. It was not one of the Israelites - the chosen ones of God- to come to Jesus and to worship him. But it were the wise men - men of a gentile nation - to come and kneel down before Jesus.
I'm truly enjoying all the sharing. There is much insight in your reflections. I'm definitely learning from all of you and I'm certain that you are all learning from each other as well. Keep up the good work!
May the Lord keep our zeal strong.
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