The Scepter, the Star, The Saviour

Good morning. Today I need to issue a couple of cautions about the message. You'll be safe, don't worry about it. But just things to be aware of. The first is we're inclined to rabbit trail today. So that'll be one thing. We'll be rabbit trailing. Just kind of get your mind around that. The other thing is we'll be doing some things a little backwards. So just kind of be prepared for that. backwards is the way it's going to be. But it'll be all right. We'll be OK.

So we began with this Matthew 2, 1 and 2 passage here, announcing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem of Judea, the days of Herod the king, a nasty man. The Romans made sure that Herod was a nasty fellow because they wanted to keep the Parthians out. Magi from the east arrived from Parthia. arrived in Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? We saw a star in the east and have come to worship him."

Now, we're going to start there, but why the warning about rabbit trails and going backwards? Well, you're going to find out here. Hopefully, I won't start talking backwards. But who were these magi? Who were they? How is it that these Magi would have the star get their attention. Guys coming from the East asking about the King of the Jews, why would that happen? How did the Magi know that the King of Jews had been born? How did they know? Well, so we're going to answer those questions, okay? Keep in mind about a star and a scepter, those two things.

A star was a common symbol for a king in the Bible, all the way back into the Old Testament prophets, and even into the New Testament, Revelation 22-16. It was also the case in other literature of the day, so it was something that was common to not just the Jewish culture, but other cultures around them. A star was a common symbol for a king. Next, a scepter was also a common symbol for the rule of a king, certainly in the Bible, starting in Genesis and continuing on in some Old Testament passages, and also in other literature of the day. Everybody would have recognized a star and a scepter as having this significance during biblical times and in the surrounding area even. Oh, one more thing I forgot, almost forgot.

What to keep in mind about Jacob and Israel. This man Jacob was also called Israel. One of the patterns we see in the Bible is that oftentimes double names are given. Peter isn't Peter, he's Simon Peter, and also called Cephas, triple name. The people of Israel all descended from Jacob and were also called Jacob. Sometimes the people, in addition to being called Israel, were simply called Jacob after the name of the one from whom they were descended. As in our own culture, a lion was thought of as a symbol of power. So all these symbols would have been very commonly understood, and we understand them well, especially this one about the lion. A symbol of power.

Now, you have from Genesis, and you also have this on page one of your handout, The ancestry of Jesus Christ in Genesis, starting with the seed of the woman in Genesis 3.15 and continuing through the line of Seth, line of Shem, line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and in Judah, one of Jacob's sons. So the ancestry of Jesus Christ follows through and essentially gets narrower as it goes through the book of Genesis. So those are the Genesis references.

And now here in this one in Judah, we want to take a little closer look. Remember that this great famine was what brought the sons of Jacob into Egypt in order to get food. The famines in Judah were occasional and not that uncommon. So they went from there into the land of Goshen.

And what we see in Genesis 49, and this is before the Jews had been taken as slaves, Jacob blesses his 12 sons there just right before the time of his death. So now you have this timeline, and we'll be kind of tracking through this timeline. Here is this timeline, roughly the year 1800, Genesis 49, Jacob, who is also called Israel, in his last days blessed each of his sons, each of the father of the tribe of Israel that goes by that name. When he got to his son Judah, the portion of the blessing that is recorded in Genesis 49, 8-10 tells about Christ who will be king over Israel.

So here is Jacob blessing his sons and in the blessing he includes Christ coming. he would be king over Israel and the king of kings and lord of lords over the Gentiles so Genesis 49 8 through 10 it goes like this Judah your brothers shall praise you your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies your father's sons shall bow down to you hmm your father's and all the rest of the tribes would bow down to him So he would have a place of primacy among the tribes. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And we're going to talk about that. Until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

So here he's giving among the blessings to the various sons. This is the one son who would be ruler over all the others. This is the one son whose line will be the line of the kings through David and ultimately including Christ. So some key points here I want to take a look at out of this passage we just looked at. Genesis 49, 8-10. Judah's brothers and their descendants will bow down to Judah and to Judah's descendants, since Judah's tribe will be the one in authority over them. Just his. That's verse 8. Judah is like a lion, powerful. That's what we see in verse 9. He is like a lion, powerful.

Shiloh, verse 10, is the English spelling of the sound of the Hebrew word. And some of the translations, including the one we just read, just simply carry it over from the Hebrew without saying what it is. We want to take a look at what it is. Until Shiloh comes means that the kingly line of Judah will not end until he comes to whom it, the scepter, belongs. until he comes to whom the scepter belongs. So, the scepter would have been the symbol of the ruler. The one to whom the scepter belongs is the ruler, and that would be the case for any of the rulers in that part of the world during that time. The scepter belongs to the one who is ultimately and completely in charge.

Now, But the Jews at this point in time were all made into brick-making slaves after the time of Joseph. So here is an Egyptian tomb painting from the Valley of the Nobles, painted just probably towards the end of the time when the Jews were captive in Egypt. And notice that they're of different skin colors, so they had people who were slaves from different areas. Okay, here is Pharaoh's mark and the brick made with straw. So the Jews got really good, I mean really good at making mud bricks with straw. I mean experts, very good at it. Because when you have generations after generations making these things, you do become very good at it. So that's what they did.

Now, the time of the Exodus, they left Goshen there was then the crossing and we go back to the crossing of the Red Sea Crossing of the sea rather and then after crossing the sea then going down Towards the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula to the Sinai where Moses received the law That's what we've been talking about here from there. They headed north and of course I'm telling the simple version because they actually wandered around and eventually ending up there in Moab. Now, next timeline, you have this on page 2.

When Moses led the twelve tribes, these were the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob, toward the promised land, Balak, the king of Moab, hired a well-known prophet named Balaam, named Balaam, to curse the people of Israel. By the way, that's Balaam son of Beor, who was written about three times in one of the walls of the temple there in Jordan. So he's a real guy. Balaam, son of Baor, was hired to curse the people of Israel, also known as Jacob. So at this time, which is approximately 1400 BC, That's not exactly how it turned out. He was hired to curse them, but was he able to? No. God would not allow it. God had other plans in mind and would not allow him to do the cursing.

So Numbers 24, 15 through 17 gives this account for us. So here's Balaam and he's riding on a donkey and he gets stopped and the donkey sees more than Balaam does. as the account goes. And so Balaam, as he is halted, and the Lord says, look, you better watch out what you're doing. Be careful about what you're being hired to do. The account of Balaam there is given there in Numbers 22 through 24.

That's the entire account. So some people will say, how can you believe all those made-up stories in the Bible? It's just mythology, right? That's what people will say. and including about this story of Balaam. And that's why we bring up the fact that here is the temple writing that includes his name, Balaam son of Baor, three times and says that he was a great prophet. And so that is located in Jordan and it was found in 1967. So we have other historical record confirming this.

Now, part of Balaam's words in Numbers 24, 17 are these, I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. So here's his prophetic words. So Balaam said that this man that he was prophesying about, him, was not then present, but he could see him in the future. So here's Balaam, basically a pagan prophet that the Lord had spoken to, giving a prophecy. And it's recorded in Numbers 24, which means that in some way Moses got this and put this prophecy from Balaam in scripture.

A star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel. What does a star stand for? It's related to the king. And the scepter, what does that stand for? It also relates to the power of a king. So a star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel. The star and scepter were both symbols of this coming King, who would be from the people of Israel, that is, Jacob in the future.

So here is this pagan prophet that the Lord had corrected and directed, actually giving a prophecy here that Moses records in the book of Numbers. So now we step ahead, keeping these first two events in mind. About the year 1000, we have this. Here is David's kingdom. David's kingdom, they're centered in what was to become the city of David, Jerusalem, in Jerusalem. And so you have the various events, starting with Goliath and things of that sort. David dealing with Saul. David being crowned ultimately king. And now we see where this lion thing comes in here, and the scepter.

By the time of King David, who was of the line of Judah, the first of his line are to be king, David wrote Psalm 45, 6, and 7. Okay, so here's David of the line of Judah, a king, the first of a line of kings, writing Psalm 45, 6, and 7. Now in that, what does he do? Hebrews 1, 8 and 9 quotes Psalm 45, 6 and 7 and says that this passage refers to God appointing Christ who will reign as the future king with a scepter.

So it's getting more and more specific, this is Christ, it's specifically Him, that is exactly what is intended with confirmation of it in Hebrews. Psalm 45, 6, and 7, and you could look at Hebrews 1, 8, and 9 as well, reads this, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy above your fellows.

Now we come to the time when the Jews are taken off into exile, the time of the Babylonians coming in and tearing down the temple, the first temple, the Temple of Solomon. And in that time, by the time of Daniel, who had been taken to Babylon and pressed into service there, we find that Daniel, because of his great wisdom and insight from God, had been made chief of the Magi in Babylon. There is some parallel here between Joseph going into Egypt, right? Here's this foreign land. Joseph going into Egypt and what we find here with Daniel. Daniel's in this foreign land and yet is being given a position of authority.

Now, one of the things that happened is he was made chief of the Magi in Babylon. Chief of the Magi in Babylon. Daniel 5, 11, and 12 says that. So here is Daniel who is called in as chief of the Magi to interpret. What is this handwriting on the wall when it was the last days for Babylon? He's called in as one who was chief of the Magi. And so he interprets the handwriting on the wall.

Wade, Wade, and found wanting. And your days are up. This party's over. This party's over. So in Daniel 5, 11, and 12 it goes like this, There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods, this of course is a pagan speaking, and in the days of your father illumination, insight, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him.

And King Nebuchadnezzar your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conquerors, Conjurers rather, Chaldeans and Diviners. This was because of an extraordinary spirit and it goes on. The point being there this magicians, this is Magi. This is Magi.

Now, you might have thought that they had forgotten the Jewish prophet Daniel, the memory of Daniel and what Daniel had done and said and all that. In fact, they have not. This is the tomb of Daniel marked And people come there as a place to vacation. It's very interesting. They have not forgotten Daniel and his place and his influence, even though he was a Jewish, and not in the full sense, prophet among them.

So even to this day, that's something that is well known. And Nancy and I crossed paths with a fellow in Carson City, who was from around this area. And when the name Daniel was brought up, his ears perked up and his eyes lit up. Ah, Daniel, I know about that guy. Even today, there are a few places in the Middle East that claim to mark the tomb of Daniel, like this one. There's actually a few of them that make that claim, interestingly.

Now on to The Magi, we see now, and this is on page 2 of your handout, the timeline, having likely received the prophecies of the Old Testament, that is Genesis 49, 8-10, Numbers 24, 15-17, Psalm 45, 6-7, First through Daniel, and then through the other Jews living in Babylon and the Persian Empires. Because remember, many Jews came back to Israel, but many stayed. So there was a continuing Jewish presence, and a continuing awareness of these Jewish prophecies.

Along with a reverence for Daniel, and along with the fact that Daniel had been the head of the Magi, and those would have been carried on as a tradition among them. So now we have this, the time of the birth of Christ. Then we have the biblical account where the Magi then come from the East, what was then the Parthian Empire, and they come from the East with these traditions.

Why would they know that there was a star that marked the birth of the king? It's because of all the ways that the Lord had brought this into their culture, even using Daniel as the means to bring the message along. So they would have come from Parthia into Jerusalem asking, where is he who has been born King of the Jews?

Traveling, we don't know that there were three. Some people like to infer because of the three different kinds of gifts, but there may have been two, there may have been five, we don't know. But they would have come, I imagine they would have come in some kind of a caravan, possibly, coming into Jerusalem. But think of this.

There in Jerusalem, Herod had been assigned by the Romans to keep the people from the East from coming in. So now some guys come from the East, and they come asking, where is he who has been born King of the Jews? That's going to get his attention. I guarantee it. So now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea in the days of Herod the King, a very, very nasty man.

One of the jokes, the jokes that the Roman Emperor had, he did a play on words. He said, it's better to be Herod's pig than Herod's son. Because he had one of his sons killed because he was fearful that the son might usurp his power. And the two words sound similar in the original language there. So, he was a nasty man. So these Magi, ones who have a tradition that comes from Daniel, who was the head over the Magi, saying, Where has he who has been born King of the Jews?

For we saw his star. They knew it wasn't just some star. it's his star the one marking he who has been born king of the Jews in the east and have come to worship him we've got no doubt it's him he's the one he has been born and we've come to worship him it's all very clear in their understanding we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him then Herod secretly called the Magi Verse 7, call the Magi and determine from them the exact time the star appeared. I want to know about this star. Tell me the exact time the star appeared, because they said he who has been born, they saw it as marking his birth. After hearing the king, they went their way, and the star which they had seen in the east, so they had seen it back in earlier times, seen in the East, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the child was. There have been various attempts to try to match this up with some sort of a convergence of the stars and special astronomical events and some special comet or something of that sort. From this description here, I would say that such efforts may be misguided, because it appears that the star had the ability to point out the particular direction. Notice that their observance of the star brought them where first?

Jerusalem. It brought them to Jerusalem first. It was only after that that they went to Bethlehem. And how did they find out Bethlehem? Because Herod asked the scholars, where is the king of the Jews to be born? He's going to be born in Bethlehem. And there are at least two Bethlehems in Israel at that time.

And Micah 5.2 spells out this one, about six miles south of Jerusalem. This one, not the other one that's near Nazareth. So here from Jerusalem, they head down to Bethlehem, about a half dozen miles to the south there.

And as they head that direction, it doesn't take long, as they head that direction, they bring gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh, those three gifts, and that's why it's concluded that there are three wise men, magi. Sometimes said kings, but actually not kings. Magi is the best term. But we don't know how many, but those were the number of gifts that they brought. And these were also gifts of great value. All of them would have been costly gifts.

So now Jesus is called the Lion of Judah in the book of Revelation. He is the one to whom The scepter, the symbol of power, is due. The scepter of Judah, the lion of Judah, that's him. He's the one. His star was seen in the east, the star being the symbol of the king.

His star was seen in the east by these Magi, who had almost certainly gotten their tradition from the prophet Daniel. So the Magi sought the king of the Jews, which of course alarmed Herod to no end. And it came to death on a cross. Now Herod sent soldiers down to Bethlehem when the Magi did not come back through Jerusalem to talk to him.

He sent them down. But remember he had asked, at what time did you see the star? And so he used that as the basis for telling them, here's the age of the babies that you're going to kill. And by a study of various things, probably about 300 babies were killed that night. But Christ wasn't among them.

Why? Christ had to die, but this wasn't the time and it wasn't the place. Christ's death on the cross needed to take place, and so the Lord was protecting God was protecting Jesus here at this point in time. And Jesus would die on the cross and would rise again. That was by God's design and intent and even the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah 53, said that Christ would die and be buried and rise again. All this was told about ahead of time. So this is the account of how the Lord increasingly focused the attention upon Christ as the one who would fulfill these prophecies, and how the Lord brought about these magi to come and look for the King of the Jews, and how the Lord preserved, in two different ways, how the Lord preserved Christ during this dangerous time with Herod. is that the Magi were warned to go home a different way. And two, Joseph was warned to take Jesus and his mother and to get out of there. The Lord protected. Why? Because Christ must die. And as we've looked at here, Christ must die for our sins and all the other purposes that God had for Christ dying on the cross for us. And then Christ also must rise again as well.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that as we look at these series of events, even in the midst of certain tragedies, you have carried out your plan and you have indeed brought the Savior and protected the Savior so that he would die at the right time and for the right purpose. And Lord, we take comfort in that, because even in our own lives, as various things happen, and even intense, extreme things, even as things are shocking and surprising and disturbing around us at times, we can look and see that your hand is in it, and that you're working, and that you have a plan. And that plan includes your immense and great love expressed to us. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.