Daniel's Christmas Disciples

This is the Truth Network. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Welcome to the Wednesday in the Word podcast, equipping our leaders of this great weekly Bible study held at Dario, our wonderful, gracious host. all across North Carolina. This is to equip, encourage, and guide you as you prepare to teach the word and guide the discussion at each location each week.

And we continue our journey now through the book of Daniel. Here we are with today's special guest, Dr. Sam Warren.

So who were Daniel's disciples? Who were Daniel's Christmas disciples, to be more specific? As we approach this special topical exposition. Addition. Of our Wednesday in the Word Leaders broadcast, and a message for everyone to encourage you.

If you're listening to my voice right now, If you are following Jesus Christ and you're tuned in to Dr. Sam Horn and myself having a conversation.

Somebody made an introduction at some point. They may have introduced you. to the camp counselor who introduced you to the camp pastor. Who introduced you? To the Lord of the camp, Jesus Christ.

They may have invited you to sit with them on the back row. In a service that you heard the gospel. And you came to know Christ. Dr. Sam Horn, there's this divine assembly line.

And we see these Wise men, the Magi, in Matthew chapter 2, they're a prominent part of the Christmas story. But They were Impacted, seeds were planted centuries before. By our hero of our previous podcast through the book of Daniel. The head of the Magi himself. Daniel, isn't it amazing, Dr.

Horne, how all of this connects? And it's, and this is a definite connection here, isn't it, sir? Yeah. You know, I actually believe that, Stu. I know there would be perhaps people who might challenge that, particularly when you think about the role that the Magi had.

In Daniel, and actually, you go all the way back to Moses' day, these were the magi, the magicians. that stood in Pharaoh's court.

So, when you think about these Magi that show up in Matthew chapter 2, they are the most unusual people to ever come. to worship a king much less the king of the jews so there's a long history of these Uh this this amazing group of men. That shows up in the Old Testament, and all of it is negative. Every bit of it is negative. These, these Pharaoh, in Pharaoh's day, the magicians opposed Moses.

In Daniel's day, they opposed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And did their best to discredit and damage and even destroy Daniel. And yet here they are 500 plus years later. And they're worshiping the king after coming on at least what had to have been an 18-month journey. to find him following a star.

And so the question is, how in the world did these men Know to make that journey? How do they know to make any kind of an association with that star? And you might say, well, they were astrologers. You know, they understood the astronomy of heaven. They attached astrological significance to the astronomy they knew.

I actually think it might be more than that. Is definitely more Dr. Horne and when you look at Daniel. Going back. When you look at these the all of these pagan cultures, I mean, to your point you just made.

This if any office was more inculcated with secular humanism. With divination and you know evil spirits in all kinds of pseudo-science It was the Magi of any culture going back to Egypt, going back to ancient Sumeria, moving forward to Babylon, moving forward to Medo-Persia. And even the Greeks, they had their wise men. And the Magi, these were scientists, these were historians, these were scholars, these were the erudite thinkers of the land. But suddenly, Someone is given favor by God.

And suddenly, someone is at the top of the Magi food chain. And so Matthew 2 didn't just happen. God. brought Matthew to about in the fullness of time. But Matthew 2 happened.

These these these magi Who there weren't three. I hate to break everyone's heart. I mean, there may have been three. We don't know. They weren't kings.

They may have been of nobility. We don't know, but we don't know that they were kings. And they weren't from Orientar, which is true. Everything about that. You just destroyed a whole Christmas character.

I hate to do it. And they include the Magi in these nativity scenes. They didn't come until Christ was a young lad, and they didn't come to the manger scene like the shepherds. And the angels there, they came to the house, it says. And so it's a little later.

And Mary and Joseph, Jesus is a wee little lad, maybe knee high, maybe two, maybe three, maybe four, but he's young, maybe, you know, maybe even just a, you know. 19, 22 months old. And so that, I hate to dispel all those things, but you know, because of the tradition, is well, they had three gifts, there were three wise men. And so, you know, whatnot.

So these are not, by the way, when I say these aren't hills to die on, we're pretty confident that they weren't kings, there weren't three, and we're pretty, we know they didn't come at the birth of Christ, okay, even though they're in nativity scenes. But I still don't criticize someone that has them in a nativity scene because. You know, people like to bundle the Christmas story together, Dr. Horne, and it makes it for a nice narrative, and then you don't have to explain so many things. But in our time, we want to go through the word and we want to break down this week.

The key Daniel passages pointing. These Magi five centuries later To the Christ child through the star, this galactic miracle that could very well be the Shekinah glory of God, because something in that star conjured up quadruple joy that we read in chapter two of Matthew.

So, we'll go into.

So, we'll start in Daniel, select scriptures that point to. Not the least of which is the amazing favor God gave Daniel over the kingdom, the power God gave Daniel. He was the top guy of the Magi. That kind of rhymed, I like that. And then the.

Connection with Matthew 2, which we're going to go and exposit some of those key verses and what these guys did that really showed the seeds planted centuries earlier by the top of their order, who was indeed a godly man, who no one looked more. More with greater anticipation for the coming Messiah. The star that was born. in Bethlehem. Than Daniel the prophet himself, and Daniel the great magi, the head of this order.

Dr. Horn quickly. By way of, I guess, a review, take us back into Daniel. Real quick, take us to some of the mountaintops that would have influenced. These guys weren't dumb.

They had all the writings. They had the same material, the prophetic material, because the Hebrews brought that material. They brought Jeremiah's writings. They brought these other writings of scripture, including the book of Daniel. No one else recorded what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, the great king, the greatest monarch of all time back then.

You know, Daniel chapter four was actually written by Nebuchadnezzar firsthand, you know, the first ever Gentile to pin scripture through the Spirit's inspiration.

So, Dr. Warren, take us by way of review. And the high points of Daniel that would have pointed these Magi To end up in Matthew 2 quickly.

So, I would say if I were trying to get our head around what's happening in Matthew 2, I would go back to the book of Daniel and I would focus on three things. I would focus on a stone. I would focus on a sun and I would focus on a star. Because all of those three things are tied together. In the book, in Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar gets a vision, a dream, and it troubles him.

Herod is going to get a dream or a vision and it's going to trouble him. He's gonna hear a rumor and it's gonna trouble him.

So here's a pagan king at the top of the world. Uh and he's troubled by this dream he keeps having over and over and over. And the dream at the end of the day is about a stone. That is cut out of a mountain, but not by any human hands. It has supernatural origin.

And when that stone arrives, it crushes. every kingdom that is gone before it. Remember in Nebuchadnezzar's dream The kingdom of Babylon was the head of gold, and then Persia was the chest of silver. And then Greece was the midsection of bronze, and Rome was the thighs and the feet of iron. And out of nowhere.

Carved out of a mountain comes a stone. And this stone crushes and pulverizes all of the nations. and then it it grows into a mighty universal worldwide kingdom that will never be shaken Now, the rest of the scriptures talk about a stone. that the builders rejected. And so here is the first major reference to that stone in the book of Daniel.

Then in Daniel chapter 7, when that dream comes back around again, but this time it comes to Daniel. That stone, we find out, is the sun. And that son, the son of man. comes in formal presentation to the ancient of days the one sitting on the throne and he receives a kingdom. and power and dominion and honor and glory.

and a people. And that sun is going to crush all of his enemies. And that kingdom that he has been given is a kingdom that is going to rule the earth forever. And the people that belong to him. are going to rule with him.

And Daniel takes that vision. and unpacks it. for the rest of the book. And at the very end of the book. He basically Um Finds out That he is not going to see that sun or that stone or that kingdom.

for his lifetime. But he gets a promise, and the promise is at the very end of the book. And basically. What what God says to Daniel is the people who are wise. The people who listen to the wisdom that I'm giving to you.

The people who embrace the sun. The people who recognize that son is going to have a kingdom, they are going to shine like the stars of heaven. And so in the book of Daniel, you have a stone, and you find out the stone is actually a sun. Who's going to set up a kingdom, and the people in that kingdom are going to be. Shining like stars.

You say, well, what's the point of the star? I can see the sun. And I can see the stone. But I'm not sure I know what to do with the star.

Well. If you go all the way back. to the book of numbers Moses tells Israel a story. about a profit. who was hired to curse them.

His name was Balaab. And so there was a king who was afraid. That the same thing would happen to him that happened to Pharaoh and all of the other kingdoms that stood in the way of Israel. during the days of Moses. And so he hired a false prophet to come.

And curse them because he thought, man, if I can get this prophet to curse them. Then then I'll be safe. And so you know the story. Balaam comes. And instead of cursing Israel, every time he opens up his mouth.

He ends up blessing that. And so this king is ticked. He's like, I paid you a lot of money. And I told you exactly what I was looking for. I didn't want you to bless them, I didn't pay you to bless them.

I paid you to curse them. And so the third time that Balaam tries to do the cursing. He says this, and so let me read it so that you catch it. The oracle, that's the word, the oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye has been opened. The oracle of him who hears the words of God and knows the knowledge of the most high.

Now remember, Balaam was a false prophet. And all of a sudden, he has gotten a revelation. from the true God of heaven. And he's basically saying to this king, look. I know what you paid me to do and I know what I came here to do, but I've actually heard the message.

And seeing my eye has been opened. I've actually had knowledge given to me from the Most High. And here's what I saw. I see him. But not now.

I behold him, but not near.

Well, who is he talking about? Who's the him that he's talking about? And here it is: a star will come out of Jacob. and a scepter will rise out of Israel. And it will crush the head of Moab, and it will break down all the sons of Sheth.

And on and on it goes. And so basically, this false prophet, way back in Moses' day, hundreds of years before Daniel. Looks at this nation that he came to curse, and he says, I can't curse them. I have to bless them. Because out of this nation is going to come a star.

Who is going to be a star? And he is going to rule the people.

So all the way back to Balaam's day in the book of Numbers, the coming of the Son of Man that Daniel saw was associated with a star. And everybody who belongs to him is going to shine like stars.

So 500 years after Daniel lives and dies. They're a group of people. From the part of the world where Daniel lived his entire life. who've heard about a star. and they see a star in the heavens that is unusual.

And they instinctively know that this star has to do with a royal birth. And they go all the way back. This is my personal opinion. I think they scoured everything that Daniel left, every scrap of writing that Daniel may have left. And they certainly scoured the wisdom of Daniel.

The wisdom of Babylon came from the gods of Babylon, but the wisdom of Babylon, the wisdom of Daniel, was in the Torah. And so they probably pulled out a copy of the Torah of Moses, the wisdom of Daniel, and started looking through those five books to find a reference to a star. And they found it in numbers. Chapter 22 and 23. And they understood that stock.

Had appeared, and they started following it, and they followed it all the way. to Jerusalem. And they found. the one that Balaam said, I see, but not now. I see, but not near.

Yeah. Hundreds and even thousands of years later, over a thousand years later, here are these magi who read what Moses wrote that became the wisdom of Daniel in Babylon, and they followed it to find Jesus. Wow, when they saw the star, They were filled. With exceeding great joy, verse 10. Of Matthew chapter 2.

I love it, Dr. Horn.

So you have the stone, Daniel 2. the sun, Daniel 7, and the star, Daniel 12, 3. referencing back to the book of Numbers. These were not dumb men. They were wise men.

And they were literate men. They could read. And they're looking and it's almost like a treasure map, as it were, leading to the Pearl of Great Price. And all of a sudden, in the middle of the search and the study, Someone walks out of the the room of scrolls. And he sees this glorious light.

And it's game on, and that started a journey. We don't even know if they were on camels. I mean, camels make a nativity scene look really nice, okay? If you're at Radio City, there are actual camels, they have names in the program. For the Radio City Rockettes, but Dr.

Horn.

Let's go to Matthew 2. Yeah. But I just want people to know how we get there. I mean, these are Daniel's disciples, these are Daniel's missionary disciples. And they showed up a little bit after Christ was born.

They weren't at the manger scene, they weren't there. They weren't the first responders like Uh shepherds. Mm-hmm. But in contrast to the shepherds, the shepherds had nothing. The wise men had everything.

The shepherds were illiterate, uneducated. The wise men were very well educated with multiple PhDs. And they had everything, and they were wise, and they were uber wealthy. The shepherds didn't go far to see Jesus. The wise men traveled from afar.

And so there's some great contrast in chapter. I believe it is the chapter five of my book, First Words of Jesus. I call it the wisest Christmas shoppers ever. If you were to go Christmas shopping for Jesus, I opened that chapter with that question: what would you get them? You know, what gift, what, you know, we always joke at Christmas, what do you give someone who has everything, right?

We always say that, right?

Well, truly, that's true of one person. His name is Jesus, because he is everything, and by him all things exist. Colossians 1 tells us.

So he's the king of kings, we cannot add nothing to him. But they came and gave him.

Some amazing gifts. And uh Dr. Horn.

I was going to ask you. Matthew 2, in the notes this week, I was kind of honing in on the. the response of them, you know, the exceeding joy starting in chapter 10. Going through chapter 11 and then the gifts they gave, can you tell us maybe what would be a good Wait, connecting, of course, Daniel to Matthew 2, but what's a good connection? A good way to approach this rich scripture.

Of the Magi. And of course, you got a whole part of it. You got Herod, you got the villain, you got all the rabbis who Jesus is just, you know, what, two or three miles away that they missed him. You know, they're like, and it takes these foreign guys. To get the, to really shake up the Jews a little bit and say, hey, this is your Messiah, this is the one who's been prophesied.

Don't you get it? He's like right up the street here. You know, and it's the pagans that figured it out, not the Jews. And so, anyway, go ahead. That's what's so amazing, right?

I mean, you know, when you think about this, if you go all the way back to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah preached and taught the people of God. about a virgin who would give birth to a son in Isaiah 7, 14. And then he talked about who this son would be in Isaiah 9. He talked about.

This son would have a name or a set of names. His name would be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He talked about a kingdom that would belong. This son in Isaiah 11 would have the spirit of God resting on him. And literally he would rule in such a way that all of creation would be changed.

And so Isaiah preaches this amazing message and nobody listens. Nobody, nobody listens. And so, as an old man at the end of his ministry, just before he's about to be slaughtered. He prays a prayer in Isaiah 64. And here's what he prays.

Oh, that you would rend the heavens. and come down. He says to the Lord, God, I can't change the heart of these people. You're going to have to come down. You're going to have to tear open heaven, and you're going to have to come down.

It's interesting as you read the account of Jesus' baptism. The heavens were torn open. The heavens were rent. And at the end of Jesus' life. The bail in the temple was rent.

It was torn. Same word that Isaiah used.

So God came down in answer to Isaiah's prayer. That he prayed 800 years earlier. You talk about a chain. How many times have you prayed for a son or a daughter or a friend? for a parent or a grandparent to come and know the lord And it just seems like God doesn't answer and God isn't hearing.

But here, 800 years earlier, Isaiah prays. And he prays. That God would tear the heavens and come down. 300 years or 250 years after Isaiah, a man named Daniel lives. And he prays.

That God would bring his kingdom. This stone, this sun. Would shine like a star, and those with him. And Daniel lived and died, and that prayer wasn't answered. for 500 more years.

And then all of a sudden, God begins to work in majestic ways. In this text, You find out that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of the world. of Herod the King. And you got a big problem because in In Matthew chapter one, you find out that Joseph and Mary are in Nazareth. Which is a week's journey away from Bethlehem.

How in the world are we going to get Joseph and Mary? To Bethlehem, so that the prophecy God gave to Micah in Micah chapter 5, verse 2 could be fulfilled. How is God going to do that? He could have said to Joseph, hey. Remember what I told Micah?

You got to get up. You got to get Mary packed up on the donkey and you got to make haste and get down. to Bethlehem, but that's not what he did. God moved. in an amazing way to get his Messiah to Bethlehem.

So he could be born there. And instead of talking to Joseph in Nazareth, He put an idea in the head of Caesar Augustus in Rome. Caesar probably didn't have a clue that Bethlehem even existed on a map. But he got the bright idea: hey, I need to number everybody in my kingdom, and I need to make sure we're getting the proper taxes. And so he sent out a decree from Caesar Augustus.

that the entire world, everybody in the Roman Empire should be taxed. And that had implications because to be taxed, you had to go to the city of your ancestors. And Joseph and Mary were both related through different sons. To an ancestor named David, and they had to go to David's hometown to be taxed. And that hometown was Bethlehem.

God moved. on earth this little infant to Bethlehem to be born on time. And then he moved in heaven. He had to get the Magi from Persia. All the way to Jerusalem.

And so he moved in heaven. He created or caused a comet or a star. To streak across the heaven, and immediately these men knew this was unusual. And they began scouring the texts and they found What it was all about, and they followed the star, they embraced Daniel's wisdom. That's why they were wise men.

And so they follow the star. God moved on earth, and God moved in heaven. You can say this way: God moved heaven and earth.

So that everything could line up so these magi could come and worship the king of kings.

Now, what is God moving in your life? What is God moving in your little orbit? You know, maybe it's not Caesar Augustus. Maybe it's your job. Maybe God moved in the heart of your boss and you got a pink slip and you don't know what to do with that because it's Christmas.

You don't even know how to tell your family that. Has it occurred to you that maybe God is at work moving you to the place where he's going to bless you abundantly? Has it occurred to you that maybe God is moving you somewhere so that child you've been praying for can get in a youth group and hear a youth pastor that will all of a sudden take them to camp and they'll hear a speaker and eventually they'll get saved. You have no idea what God is up to when he starts moving on earth. to get you there.

Wow. And it starts moving in heaven. Amen. Maybe he starts doing things that you can't explain on a human level. Maybe.

Maybe you're someone living in Iran and you have this hunger for God and you have no idea. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, God moves in heaven and you have a dream where he says to you, I'm going to send somebody to you and they're going to speak to you about my son. I'm not talking here about replacing the Bible and authoritative revelation that's binding on all Christians. I'm just talking about God moving in heaven to bring you to Jesus. And that's what he did with these magi.

And listen, when you get to Jesus, you want to do what these men did. Yeah, and that brings us to a real high point. It's real fascinating. And, Dr. Horn, I want to, and we'll come back to this at the end, but.

I just want to challenge people out there. When's the last time you shared your testimony? I mean, a testimony is basically. Before you met Christ. How you met Christ, and then your life after Christ, and how you're growing in Him and bringing others to Him, and what He's done in your life.

And so many listening have testimonies, and so many other people. What has God done to you? I mean, I've heard, I've heard stories. I mean, and I told this guy to write his story down. I can't remember his name now, but he.

His car broke down. Right in front of the church that his grandpa used to pastor. And he was half drunk. And he went in that church and he got radically saved and fell on the floor. You know, just God orchestrated a You know, just the transmission to lock up in a certain spot.

And everyone's got a story, everyone's got a testimony. And this is how. Centuries after Daniel, Daniel's disciples, those he had planted seeds with, those he had influenced in all of his writings. They find the sun. And of course, you know, the first part of this Passage.

Tells you a little of the history. You can spend some time on King Herod. He was an evil guy, he had his own family members murdered. One of the darkest things about Herod is closer to his death, which would have been after this event in Matthew 2. He he put out a decree that this was like maybe Days before he died.

He put out a decree to have all of the Wealthy Famous most loved people in all of Jerusalem in that area. executed at the moment he died.

So that it would force the whole city and the whole area to be in mourning. That's how evil he was.

Someone said, you were safer. To be one of Herod's pigs than to be one of his sons or daughters. And so, no, that's true. And so, this was a guy who said, Hey, where's he, you know, who said, You know, with clenched through clenched teeth, he said, Hey, where is this? You know, go find out to the wise men.

First of all, these guys are coming asking for who's the king of the Jews.

Well, Herod was the king of the Jews, he was appointed as king, he was the monarch of that area. And they said, Where's the king of the Jews? We want to worship him. Herod says, go find him so that we can join you to worship him. And so.

We know that he didn't want to, you know, you know, politicians will say anything to get elected, right? They'll say anything to get their way. And here he's, his position is threatened. And by the way, this was a probably a very large contingent of. Probably hundreds, maybe thousands of soldiers that traveled.

with this group from the East, there had been some decades earlier some real battles that happened that brought Herod to power from the Eastern uh folks, from Persia and others.

So there had been some dust ups, and for all he knew they were coming back to settle the score. But here they come to worship.

So they go to the star shows back up again. I love this. When they saw the star, John Piper calls this quadruple joy. It says they were filled. They were filled.

They were filled with exceeding. They were filled with exceeding great, they were filled with exceeding great joy.

So there's something. That their wealth And all of their academia accolades, all of their Power. And influence could not bring joy of soul.

So they saw something in this glory and could have been the star, could have been the Shekinah glory. I want you to comment on that in a second, Dr. Horne. You know, you have Luke 2, where it says, And the angel of the Lord. You know, it was around them, and the glory of the Lord showed round about them.

So it could have been that same glory. That was bound up in that star, there's some scriptural. And historical evidence of that. They saw the stars, they opened their eyes. And saw the star, and then it says that then they went.

They saw the child. with his mother Mary and they bowed down and worshiped him the child So they when they saw the star, they were filled with joy. opened their eyes when they saw the sun. They open their hearts. And they bowed down.

These great men who were probably accustomed to people bowing to them. for their wisdom. for their favor. for their grace, whatever, now they're bowing to a little bitty guy. And They worshipped him.

And I would have loved to have seen that moment. And then finally, they opened. When they when they you know after that they Opened their purses.

So they opened their eyes, they opened their hearts, they opened their treasures. and presented him with go gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We can spend a lot of time on that, Dr. Horn, but Effectively, gold is for kings. It's nobility.

You don't bring a gift to a party for a king. If it doesn't have gold in it, right? That's the, that's the, that's the. Right, right, no question. That is what you bring to kings.

And then. Frankincense, because he's God, and that's something that you offered. The incense was offered to gods. And also offered in sacrifice. And then myrrh is a fascinating one because it has dual meanings.

It's. It's not only a fine perfume. But Murray, I believe Dr. Horn was often used To put on dead bodies, the Hebrews used it to anoint the bodies.

So there was a lot of myrrh. Brought by Joseph Arithea to anoint the body of Jesus.

So.

So, this is something that Jesus would only need three days' worth of. But these are treasures that he could have carried with him. This young family could have helped them go to Egypt and could have helped them through the.

So, each gift, spend time on each gift. Because each gift has significance. Pointing again to the significance of the star. The star of the Christmas story. is the star that was born in Bethlehem.

the star that was a vir our virgin born Saviour, Jesus Christ. He's the star. He's the shining one. He is The Pearl of Gray price. He is who we worship.

And the whole story. From centuries before Daniel Even before that, numbers, even before that, Genesis 3:15, the serpent crusher. Everything points to Jesus. He is Our Saviour. He is our Lord, Dr.

Horne. We don't want anyone to shine more brightly this time of year than Jesus, but then there's a shining that happens. Those that. grow closer to Christ, will glow more for Christ. And no doubt these men went away different.

Because they encounter Jesus, don't you think? For sure. I mean, you can't come into the presence of Jesus and not be changed. And you can't submit yourself. to him and not be changed.

This was not just Admiration on the part of these wise men who came from the east. This was adoration. and submission.

So when you stop and think about it. You know, these men came. And Herod is contrasted.

So you got this big contrast going between them and Herod. Three times in Matthew chapter 2, we read about Herod, and we're told something about him. He was the king, Herod the king, Herod the king, or the king.

So it's like the author of scripture. Is helping you pick up on Herod's insecurity. I want everybody to know I'm the king around here. And I've been the king for a long time, and I'm going to stay the king, and I'm not going to have anybody. Threaten that.

And to your point earlier about his sons. He murdered a wife. And he murdered a bunch of his sons. Because he knew that his kingship was not a normal, he was not born as the king of the Junes. He didn't have a hereditary right.

To sit on the throne of David, he had been made a king by Rome. Rome said, We want a little puppet king, a client king, to rule over this troublesome part of the empire. And Herod, you're the best option we got.

So go down there, keep everything in line, and send us tribute. And Herod did that. And all of a sudden, he starts hearing about someone who was a born king of the Jews. And the idea there is not that he was born as a king. The idea there is that he was a hereditary king.

He was a king in the line of the kings of Israel, particularly David. And this was a big deal to Herod. Which is why he comes along and he tries to schmooze the wise men. Hey, listen, glad you guys came. Thanks for coming.

Hey, as soon as you find this born king, you come and let me know because I want to do the same thing you're doing. I want to seek him out so I can worship him. And that's not at all what Herod had in mind. But it is actually what the wise men had in mind.

So, you know, they come and the star leads them. The idea is that it led them precisely to where Jesus was. And when they found him, They fell down and worshipped him. And then they opened up their, to your point, they bowed their knee and they opened their heart. And then they opened up their gifts.

And they gave him symbolic gifts. These were worth an immense amount of money. In fact, this is probably how Mary and Joseph were able to survive in Egypt for the two years they were there. But beyond that, they were symbolic. The gold, as you said, recognized the kingship of Jesus.

over the kingship of Herod. The frankincense was an incense that the priests would offer in the temple. And so here's a recognition of his high priesthood. And then, of course, myrrh is the spice. that would would certainly be associated with his death.

And so here Jesus. uh receives the most unlikely worshipers. People who had no vested interest in him. In fact, people who had every reason to reject him, and the people who had a vested interest. Didn't come to seek him.

Herod actually went to the priests and the scribes and he said, Hey, I have a question for you guys. Uh this Messiah that you guys keep talking about. Where does your scripture say he would be born? And they didn't bow deny. Oh, he's going to be born in Bethlehem of Judea.

Micah chapter 5, verse 2. And they didn't ask any more questions. To our knowledge, they didn't go looking for him. Herod only looked for him. in order to kill them.

So here are the Israelites. They're indifferent. Herod is antagonistic. And the worst people in the Bible, the Magi. Are the ones who are seeking him?

Isn't that strange? It's strange, but it's no different than, you know, God uses the foolish things to confound the wise, but these guys were the wise guys. These guys were the wise guys. You know, we referenced that verse a lot from 1 Corinthians. These guys were the wise guys, but imagine, you know, Bethlehem is not 100 miles from Jerusalem.

I mean, it's a neighboring borough. It's five miles away. You can see the temple. You can see the temple, or you could have seen the temple from the shepherd's fields. And a great question our leader should ask, and any pastor preaching any of this should ask this question.

How could you be so close? To the living Lord Jesus Christ, the one who can save you, forgive you, heal you, bring you deep joy of soul. How can you be so close to him yet miss him? And it takes these pagan. idolatrous Wise men, magi.

To To get everyone excited. Suddenly, they're interested. Suddenly, Herod is interested in the King of Kings. Of course, he wants to murder him. And then he does create a horrible, dark bloodbath in killing everyone under the age of two, which is so sad.

And that's, you know, the story, that's later on in this passage. But, Dr. Horne, there's something you said multiple times that just stuck with me. About Daniel and the kingdom of God, everywhere you have it. In Matthew.

The theme of Matthew's gospel is the kingdom of God. You have that phrase in there over and over again. Matthew, we know, presents Jesus as the king of kings, right? And you see that, and he's the king who's coming to his kingdom. The loyal line of David is enunciated there in the first chapter.

And then you have this king Herod, you have the, but you could you could call it a tale of two kings. What's fascinating, though, the Magi. They another known quite well known title of the Magi is They Were King Makers. They were consulted to say, hey, we are going to be brought in to select anoint and kind of codify who's gonna be the next king. That was one of the things they did.

Dr. Horn, maybe you can speak to all the people surrounding King Jesus in this narrative But they lived and were consumed, sadly, with their own kingdom. and the importance of us seeking first His kingdom, and humbly bowing, opening our hearts, our eyes, and even our treasures, generously. To the true king. Can you speak to that?

Because the kingdom of me isn't doing too well. Look at the world around us, it's all messed up. But the kingdom of the sun, you know, recognized by these pagan guys. Yeah, so at the end of the day I'm always going to live for the kingdom of me until God arrests me, until God moves in my heart and he opens my eyes. To see what these wise men saw, the glory of God in the face of this baby Jesus.

And so Herod missed it. Herod missed it because Jesus was a threat to his kingdom. Yeah. And the reason I miss Jesus so often is because I perceive him as a threat. Jesus is never going to come in and allow me to sit on the throne that belongs to him.

So, if I'm going to bring Jesus into my life, he's going to sit on the throne, and that's the problem. I'm happy for Jesus to sit in the passenger seat. I'm happy to let him sit in the back. I'm happy to let him drive when we get into a mess. But at the end of the day, I want to be in charge of the kingdom of me, and I want Jesus along for the ride because he's a handy chap to have.

I mean, think about it. If Jesus is a handy guy to have, he can heal me when I'm sick. He can provide food when I'm hungry. He can fix any problem I have. He can walk on water.

And so he's a handy guy to have. in the passenger seat of the car. But the minute I let him drive, I've got to recognize I don't run the show anymore. And so if I'm Herod, I'm not about to let that happen. If I'm the high priests.

And the religious leaders of Jerusalem. I've got a lot of other things going. I got a pretty good gig. I got Moses. I got the people and I don't need.

A messiah, unless that messiah is going to come and elevate me. If Messiah comes and he picks me and says, oh man, these are the guys. Boys, we're getting together because we got to talk about how to overthrow Rome. I'm interested in a Messiah that's going to exalt me. But if the Messiah is going to demand something of me that means I'm going to have to humble myself like that publican over there, I'm not interested in that kind of a Messiah.

So that's the second reason people miss Jesus. Number one, they miss him because they don't want to give up the throne of their life. Number two, they don't want to be humbled in their life. And the third reason they miss them is because they're just not paying attention. I mean, the vast majority of people.

Had heard for sure about this incredible thing the shepherds saw. I mean, the shepherds went. and publish the news everywhere. And nobody Nobody moved. And so here you have this incredible story.

You got a king who's threatened. You got religious leaders who won't be humbled. You got people who are indifferent. And the two groups of people that respond are the ones you would least expect: shepherds. and magi Well, how many times does that happen in our world?

You know, all of a sudden, the person you thought was absolutely never, ever going to turn to Christ gets gloriously saved. I love it. And the guy that grew up in the Christian home went to church his whole life. basically sits around and does nothing for Jesus. He puts his dollar or his five bucks in the in the plate every Sunday.

And then he goes and does whatever he wants with his life. but he thinks he's in because he prayed a prayer camp. And he puts a little money in the plate and he's at church when he's supposed to be there. And and somebody comes in the door of that church. and they've got a body full of tattoos.

piercings everywhere, hair that looks like you know a parrot got hold of it and spilled ink all over it And the next thing you know, they're getting baptized. And the next thing you know, They are lighting the world on fire because they're telling everybody about Jesus. You know what happened? They came. Like the Magi King.

So it's a really, really powerful truth that we don't often think. Daniel's. Daniel was the point in the chain that led to the Magi coming. And you might be the point in the chain. that's going to lead to somebody else coming.

So You know, it's a wonderful story, and I love it. It's one of my favorite parts of the Christmas story. Yeah, who's looking for Jesus today? Because you planted that seed, you were in that divine assembly line. I love this last stanza of We Three Kings, which, by the way, The worst part of that hymn is the title.

After that, it's not too bad, you know, because they weren't kings and they weren't three, but they were, you know, it could have been those things. But we've got to really be careful. We want to be true to history and to the word of God. But. Listen to these words, Dr.

Horne. So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh. Come peasant king. to own him. The King of Kings salvation brings Let loving hearts Enthrone him.

And just a great stanza. By the way, this song, I don't know if you knew this, Dr. Horn, and you know, you look at this. I love the history of hymns. You've read a bunch of books on that, I'm sure, and talk about this as, you know, from your pulpit.

Dr. John Hopkins Jr. He wrote this song, He Didn't Have Kids of His Own. But in 1857, they called upon him to write this for the the Christmas pageant for the children. To kind of make sense of it, to kind of put in their words.

And that's how he came up with this. This great And if you look at the Christmas carol or Christmas hymn, We Three Kings. Each stanza breaks down the gold, the frankincense and myrrh. Very accurate, very true to what you've heard on this podcast and to what these things. likely stood for.

And then of course that final stanza. Even after The uh bring him incense golden myrrh.

Well, actually, before that, it says, Glorious now, behold him arise, King and God in sacrifice. Jesus Christ is our King. He's our God. He's our sacrifice. Hallelujah.

Alleluia.

sounds through the earth and the skies.

So you have these noble sages who brought him gifts that connected the cradle, to the cross and ultimately to the crown. Their gifts tell us the meaning of Christmas and the reason for his birth. Dr. Horne, it's fascinating. If you go to the Billy Graham Library.

And you get a Chicken salad croissant like I did last week. Maybe a cup of soup? Maybe a sweet tea? You'll sit down and you'll get a placemat on your tray. And you might read that place, Matt.

And this is the, and I brought this with me, Doc. I want to share this with you. Ready? Yeah. This is what it says.

And this goes back to the Divine Assembly line.

Okay. Circa. 1855, a Sunday school teacher named Edward Kimball won a teenager D.L. Moody to Christ. Circa 1870s, Moody traveled to India.

I'm sorry, Moody traveled to England. and awakened the heart of a young pastor named FB Meyer. circa ninete eighteen seventies. Meyer spoke at conferences for Christian leaders. was used by God to transform the ministry of Wilbur Chapman, 1893, Chapman had worked with D.L.

Moody and employed former baseball player Billy Sunday as his assistant. Wow. Circa 1900s. Sunday held a Evangelistic campaign in North Carolina. Which later resulted in inviting evangelist Mordecai Hamm to Charlotte.

1934, Hamm preached in the tent meeting where Billy Graham. was saved and they've got pictures of these characters. I may post this online too, but Dr. Horn.

Every one of us. Maybe it's not so glamorous. Maybe it's even more glamorous. If I think of the youth pastors. The counselors The people in my life, in my assembly line, that put up with me as a sty-nosed brat.

you know, making all kinds of trouble. you know, sitting on the back pew, making noises, making, you know, in church. That divine assembly line. Sure makes me grateful for the people God used, and I'm sure grateful. that Daniel's disciples that Daniel, centuries before, The wise men showed up.

The Magi showed up. Daniel... Was faithful to God's word. He purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. He prayed to God in the morning, noon, and night.

Even When faced, confronted with death by lions, he still did not bend. And he prayed one of the most powerful prayers in the Bible, and God heard those prayers. Those seeds were planted. And today. It may be the story of Matthew 2 and the wise men that bring many to Christ, thanks to the faithful witness of Daniel.

Dr. Horn, you want to add something to that as we close and then give us a prayer, please. You know, I just, it's just amazing that the God of Daniel, who was at work way back in Moses' day. And then in Daniel's day, and then in the day of the Magi, is still at work 2,000 years later doing the same thing. He is bringing people to worship Jesus.

He is humbling their hearts. He is opening their eyes. And he is giving them life at the feet of Jesus. You know, it's amazing to me when you think about these magi, they gave amazing gifts, they gave gold. And they gave myrrh and frankincense.

But they got a gift. far greater than what they gave. They got eternal life. And it doesn't matter what you give Jesus, you always get eternal life, which is a far better gift. He always gives you the better gift.

And so as we close out and as we think about this incredible story that you just told us. Maybe we're going to be. That Sunday school teacher. Maybe we're going to be that. uh kimball that that's going to lead the next billy graham to the lord Or that's going to influence a young boy at church.

You know, those little kids that run around and crawl under the chairs and get in the way, and you just wonder, why don't their parents get them in line? You could be looking at the next. Billy Sunday. You could be looking at the next Lotty mood. You could be looking at someone who is going to do great things in the kingdom of heaven.

And instead of being frustrated with them, bring them to Daniel's Jesus. and help them do what the Magi did, help them to worship. and help them to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Christ. And you do the same for yourself. Let's pray.

Lord, thank you that we have had such a wonderful time. as we always do in your word. And Lord, as we talked about. uh just the amazing trajectory of the stone. who became a son.

and a star that Lord would come in and literally light the world with the light of life. and pierce the darkness. Lord, I pray that you would help us this season to celebrate that sun, to worship that sun. to humble ourselves. before that sun.

and to receive from him the gift of eternal life.

so that we may live and reign with him forever, like Daniel's, that we would rise up and shine like the stars of the heaven. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Dr. Horne, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast.

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