My Hanukkah Story - Ariel Ministries

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fruit from the frucht So a line of Babylonian astrologers from generation to generation worshiped the true God and, having Daniel’s prophecy, and looked forward to the coming of the King of the Jews. From the Book of Daniel, then, one can conclude that Babylonian astrologers did know about what time the Messiah was to be born. However, the Book of Daniel says nothing about a star that would in some way announce the Messiah’s birth. So how, then, did the astrologers know anything about a star? D. The Prophecy of the Star For the answer to this question, one must go back even earlier in the Old Testament to the prophecies of Balaam, who was hired by the king of Moab to curse the Jews. Four times he tried to curse them, but each time God took over his mouth. Instead of cursing the Jews, he ended up blessing them. In the course of his blessings of the Jews, he came forth with four key Messianic prophecies. One of these prophecies is found in Numbers 24:17: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of tumult. Balaam, much to his own reluctance and regret, was forced by God to prophesy of the coming of the Jewish Messiah and he related that to a star. This is not a literal star because this passage further states concerning this star: And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel. The “star” and the “sceptre” are one and the same. Remember that the term “sceptre” is a symbol of royalty or kingship. This star that would rise out of Jacob is a king. Furthermore, Balaam was an astrologer. Even more significant was the fact that he came from the city of Pethor, a city on the banks of the Euphrates River in Babylonia (Num. 22:5; Deut. 23:4). So there is a double Babylonian connection here. There is, of course, the Book of Daniel, which spelled out how many years would transpire before the birth of the King of the Jews; but then there is the prophecy of Balaam concerning the star and, again, Balaam was part of the Babylonian School of Astrology. Hence, the revelation of a star in relation to the Messiah’s birth came by way of a Babylonian astrologer who, no doubt, passed the information down to his colleagues. Centuries later, Daniel was able to expound to the Babylonian astrologers as to the time that a star out of Jacob would come. 12 E. By the Revelation of God So, how then did the wise men know? Not by gazing at the stars in the pseudo science of astrology, but by revelation of God as contained in the Scriptures by means of the prophecies of Balaam and Daniel. Hence, the story of the Magi gives no validity to astrology whatsoever. III. The Gifts of the Magi The wise men gave Yeshua three types of gifts in verse 11: gold and frankincense and myrrh. All of these are full of Old Testament symbolism. Gold is the symbol of royalty or kingship, emphasizing that Yeshua is a king. Frankincense was the symbol of deity because it was part of the special incense burned on the Altar of Incense within the Holy Place, and the smoke penetrated into God’s presence in the Holy of Holies itself. Frankincense emphasizes that Yeshua is God. Myrrh was associated in the Old Testament with death and embalming, emphasizing his sacrifice for our sin. While the first line of that famous Christmas song, “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” is not biblically accurate, the last line that says, “King and God and Sacrifice” certainly is. By giving these gifts to the family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, the Magi provided the income for the family to be able to escape to Egypt, live there for approximately two years, and to have the income to finance their trip back to Nazareth after the death of Herod the Great. Other Messianic Bible Studies relating to the life of the Messiah available from Ariel Ministries are: #9, #16, #28, #31, #32, #35, #36, #40, #43, #44, #48, #49, #56, #60, #61, #69, #70, #75, #76, #94, #99, #127, #134, and #185. The “Life of the Messiah” is also available in both DVD and audio.
Report 02 from Israel Essays and Subjective Notes ... Taken in the Shadow of my Savior By L.G. “You will get to know their trials, their questions, their approaches, their stumbling blocks, their interests, their fears, and their hearts.” I was asked to introduce you to modern-day Israel . It would be my privilege to meet you and give you the tour, allowing you to fully experience Israel, even though you did not make it here ... YET! Of course, it will be absolutely a subjective impression. But who can really be fully objective? An important detail about your “tour-guide” is that I am not originally from Israel. I have lived in Israel since 1990, and yet, 21 years in the Land gave me an opportunity to voice some reflections, some thoughts, some views, even though they are very subjective. We were recently in the U.S., and one common remark was made to us by several different Americans. In a nutshell, that comment went a little something like this: “We were excited about going into the Land of God and meeting the people of God. We wanted to see places where Jesus had walked, where He had preached, and where He had discipled His chosen twelve. But we were surprised to see that what we had imagined or expected was not actually the reality we had witnessed. We discovered that the people are not as holy as we had predicted. They were just like us. Even the Messianic believers! You struggle with the same things we do! You are very real!” We do live in the Land ... the Land of God. And we are the Nation of God... His people. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Noah, Elijah, David, and Solomon is our God. Does this immune us from the power of sin? No! The theology of our faith shall yet be learned in the secret hidden place. We've been called to live here, in Israel, and to walk where Jesus walked, to visit places that are mentioned in the Bible, but like you - we live and experience the same things that every other believer does. I want to share with you some personal stories that will introduce you to modern-day Israel. You will read about people, whom God has brought into our life. You will get to know their trials, their questions, their approaches, their stumbling blocks, their interests, their fears, and their hearts. 13 Israel
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My Hanukkah Story - Ariel Ministries

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