Christmas 2016
Jesus was a King and a Priest and the Son of God
Mary Joseph Holy Spirt came upon Mary
Priest King Son of God
Luke 3:28 – 38 Matthew 1:1 – 17 Luke 1:35
Frankincense Myrrh Gold
Jesus was a Priest and a King and the Son of God. If you read Mary’s lineage, you will see that he was a Priest through her. He was a King because he was adopted by Joseph. And of course he was the Son of God. When the wise men brought Frankincense, they were saying I know that you are the Priest. When they brought Myrrh they were saying I know that you are the King. When they brought Gold they were saying I know that you are the Son of God.
King
When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, he could have taken her to the town square, accused her of adultery and had her stoned. If they had not been living in captivity, Joseph would have been King of Israel. The King was Cesar because they had been conquered. Joseph knew that his first born child was heir to the throne and this was very important to the entire nation. But he was a just man and thought about putting her away privately. And angel came to him and told Joseph to marry Mary anyway. So he did. Marriage ceremonies at that time included adoption of her children. All of Israel knew that he was their King and that just as soon as they would revolt against their present government Joseph would be set on their throne.
Here are some examples of Jesus behaving as King. When blind Bartimaeus sat begging and Jesus passed by, Bartimaeus called out Son of David, and then louder Son of David. This is like calling out Oh King, Oh King. Jesus answered him, with, what do you want? Excuse me, 2,000 years later, I know what he wanted. Bartimaeus called Oh King, he could have said they have stolen my lands through emanate domain, or my taxes are too high or I have had a dispute with my neighbor. So Jesus said, what do you want? The answer was, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus healed him. Mark 10:46 -52.
Palm Sunday Jesus told his disciples to go down this street and take an ass and bring it to him. Only a King can legally take your personal stuff. Matthew 2:1 – 9 please notice where it says very plainly in verse 5 “thy King” and in verse 9 were he is called the Son of David. And again John 12:13 – 15.
Pilate asked Jesus are you King of the Jews? Jesus answered Thou sayest it. Pilate knew and Pilate wanted to let him go Luke 23: 20.
Priest
In the Old Testament it was taboo for a common man to eat or touch Frankincense. Only the priest in the temple could eat the showbread and tend to the incense. Showbread was sort of like cornbread with Frankincense and cinnamon in it. And the incense was Frankincense. If a common man would attempt to, God would kill him immediately. Here are some examples of God killing someone because they didn’t follow the rules. Aaron had 2 sons that offered strange fire, they were vaporized. Ussa got a buzza when he stretched forth his had to steady the ark while it was in transportation. And so we know that under Old Testament law, no one but a priest could use Frankincense in anyway. Thank God that since the veil was torn in two at the time of the crucifixion. The common man may now use Frankincense.
After Mary got pregnant, by the Holy Ghost, she was afraid for her life, knowing that Joseph could have her stoned. She went to visit her cousin Elizabeth in another town. Elizabeth and her husband had been praying for a baby for many years, in fact all the people were praying for them to conceive. After Zacharias would die who would be the next High Priest? Zacharias was the High Priest. We know this because he went into the temple to burn incense. At that time the table of incense was in the Holy of Holies. The High Priest only went into the Holy of Holies one day a year, on the Day of Atonement. His job was to carry the sins of the nation and repent before God. There was a certain protocol for this job. He had to bath in the Laver, there were the dietary restrictions, his robe had to be just so, his robe had a bell and then a pomegranate sown all the way around the hem. This made a tinkling sound, when he walked or moved. The people would stand outside and listen for the sound of the bells. If they could hear the tinkling sound, they knew that the Priest was still alive and doing his job. If the jingle bells stopped, they knew that he was dead. So they used to tie a rope on the Priests ankle, so that if he was killed, they could drag him out. When the angel told Zacharias that his wife was going to have a baby Zacharias didn’t believe him. So the angel struck him dumb. Zacharias couldn’t speak until the child was born. Luke 1:5 – 23. Zacharias died young and John the Baptist was too young to fulfill his role as High Priests. So there was a hole in the line. Caiaphas bought his position. Upon John’s untimely death, Jesus was next in line. Caiaphas was the High Priest at the time of Jesus crucifixion. Caiaphas said if this man continues we will lose our position. Caiaphas knew that Jesus was the rightful High Priest.
Jesus was the only human begotten by God in the realm of the body.
Jesus was born to die. Mary wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes Luke 2:7. What are swaddling clothes? I will tell you. They are mummy wrappings. Mary took her baby and wrapped him up like a mummy. Ummm, let’s make a present day picture. Say your neighbor has a baby and instead of buying a crib for the nursery, they buy a casket and put the baby to sleep in a casket. That is so wrong it hurts! The shepherds knew they had the right baby. No one would do that. Furthermore, this is proof that it was very cold, Mary would not have wrapped him up in mummy wrappings like a dead baby if it was warm out.
The scripture doesn’t tell us that there was 3 wise men. We only know there was 3 gifts. Could have been one wise man or many more. We don’t know. But a caravan on the silk road always had a lot of people. Because of the robbers, you wouldn’t travel alone. There was probably 1000 or 2000 people in a caravan. Many camels and pack animals. You had to pack enough food, so let’s bring along some sheep and cows, and someone to care for them and someone to butcher them and cook them, for the entire trip. You had to pack enough water to get you and your animals to the next oasis. There was probably not an oasis every night. You had to pack enough clothes, it is cold in the desert at night. You had to carry tents to sleep in at night. (No hotels) You would hire several scouts to go before you to pick out a good place to set up camp tonight. There were many robbers on the road so you would bring along a small army of soldiers. This was a big deal.
How much time did they need to pack prior to the trip?
In 2013 my husband and I went to China. First there is the passport, and then the visa, this took about a year to obtain. My travel agent told me that there was no toilet paper in China so I should bring my own. One day while cleaning the bathroom I looked at the role of toilet paper and noticed that it was only half full or half empty. I thought that it was a better size to put in my purse. So I started stockpiling half rolls of toilet paper. It took several months until I felt I had enough. I bought hiking boots, a new bigger purse, an electric power cord, etc. Now it took me a year to pack for a trip to China and I live in the twenty first century. I think they probably needed more packing time than I did.
My husband is a shepherd. We butcher once a year. We butcher all male offspring, any old yews, and the ram. Then we pick out a few more just to thin the flock. Because my husband doesn’t’ want a big flock of several thousand. About 30 sheep is good for us. But I can see that the wise men, probably stopped thinning the flock several years before the trip so that they would have the extra that they needed.
I say a year, or maybe even 2 or 3 years, packing time.
The Silk Road was about 2000 – 7000 miles long. 2000 miles long as the crow flies. Much longer when you have to get permission to cross someone else’s land and get off track while searching for water.
It took about a full year to go from Chien (a city in the middle of China) to Rome.
So that is 2 years travel time. Let’s spend 6 months at destination to buy needed supplies for return trip.
That makes it a 2 ½ – 3 year trip.
That means God started the wise men planning this trip about 2 years before Jesus was conceived.
WHY?
God felt it very important for Jesus to have Gold Frankincense and Myrrh. If God felt Jesus (who was perfect) would benefit from Gold Frankincense and Myrrh, then do you think this stuff would be good for us?
When I was a little girl, my Dad gave my Mom Frankincense and Myrrh for Christmas. It was a rosin. It was literally a box of rocks. I was not impressed. Now it comes in a much more usable form. Essential oils. Now, not only may we use it, but we can.
Frankincense is for anything neurological. Jesus had to have nerves of steel to do some of the things he did. If prophecies of the future are true we may need nerves of steel too. Hope not, but let’s be prepared, just in case.
How much Gold Frankincense and Myrrh did they bring?
Don’t know for sure but, Fact: The Queen of Sheba brought 120 talents of Gold to Solomon (2 Chron 9:1 – 9) and she wasn’t worshipping. She came to prove him with hard questions. 120 talents of gold = 9000 pounds = $118,759,680.00 at today’s gold price. 2000 pounds = 1 ton. The queen of Sheba brought Solomon approx. 4 ½ tons of gold.
The wise men came to WORSHIP Jesus. I think they brought more.
Right after the wise men left, Joseph and Mary made the flight into Egypt. Matthew 2:10-13. Travel was expensive then, as it is now. They had plenty of money to make the trip.
Joseph and Mary did not need to sell the Frankincense and Myrrh for money. They got to keep it. And use it.
How much Frankincense and Myrrh did they bring? I don’t know, but I think it was a lot.
When was Jesus Born?
Haggai 2:18-21 says Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider it.
1 Corinthians 3:10 & 11 I have laid the foundation, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
The foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid when Jesus was born.
The 9th month of the Hebrew Calendar is Caslew or our December!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Forever in His Love
Diane Sutton
35 Moyer Lane
Shermans Dale Pa 17090
717-576-9030
debibleschool.net
admin@debibleschool.net