We Three Kings of Orient Are

 

 “We Three Kings” (original title: “Three Kings of Orient”) is a Christmas carol written in 1857 by John henry Hopkins, an Episcopal rector in Pennsylvania. It is based on Matthew 2:1.

The Bible never says that three kings visited Jesus in a manger on the night of his birth. John and Mark do not mention the incident at all because they talked about Jesus as an adult. Luke talks of the shepherds but not the magi. Only Matthew, in 2:1-16, relates the event, saying that during the time of Herod, who died in 4 BC/BCE, that magi “from the rising of the sun” (the east) arrived to see and worship the king of the Jews, whose star they had seen.

Several questions come to mind:

1.      Who were the magi and how many of them were there?

No one knows exactly who these men were but many later traditions say that they were possibly astrologers from a learned priestly Zoroastrian caste in Persia. They were not occultists but were considered to be masters of the then current understanding of science.                                                     

The idea that there were three wise men possibly derives from the fact that they brought three gifts: gold. Frankincense, and myrrh. Some Christian traditions say that there were twelve magi.

2.      What was the star?

No one really knows. Was it a supernaturally moving star that settled over Jesus’ location? (Matthew 2:9). Was it an otherwise unknown comet? Was it a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn (7 BC/BCE) or of Saturn and Venus (6 BC/BCE)? Was it a transient astronomical event like a distant supernova? (The first historically documented supernova observation did not occur until 1006 AD/CE).

3.      Where did the magi visit Jesus?

The wise men came to see Jesus in a house “oikian” (οἰκίαν, Matthew 2:11), not in a manger “phatne” (φάτνῃ, Luke 2:7).

4.      How old was Jesus when the magi arrived?

Luke 2:1-16 describes how, on the night of Jesus’ birth, angels appeared to announce the birth to shepherds who ran to the stable to see the “brephos” (βρέφος). A “brephos” was an unborn child, newborn child, or an infant.

Matthew 2:1-18 relates that that the magi visited the “paidion” (παιδίον) in a house. A “paidion” is a young one, a little one, or a child.

After a message from God warned them about Herod the magi returned home by a different route. Matthew 2:16-18 tells how Herod, in a fit of anger, jealousy, and insecurity about losing his position as king of Judea, ordered what is now known as the massacre of the Innocents. All boys under two years old and younger living in the area in or near Bethlehem were to be slaughtered.

Matthew 2:13-16 tells how God warned Joseph of Herod’s evil plan to kill Jesus. Joseph left for Egypt with Jesus and Mary.

Hello Guyana!

 Guyana has just been added to the list of 136 countries from which this blog has been viewed. The Church is is for everyone in every culture! Thank you for your interest! Praise the Lord! Μαράνα θά.

מרנאתא

Where is Sinim?

 

Isaiah 49:12 refers to a country named סִינִים (Sinim). It is never again mentioned but obviously was known at the time. Modern thought believes that this is possibly a reference to China, very far to the East.

The modern English word sino comes from the Late Latin word sinae which is a plural form which translates as “Chinese.” The Latin word may possibly be derived from the Old Chinese word 秦 (Qin). This word is often used in compound-word constructions such as Sino-Russian or Sino-Japanese. It is the root of the English language descriptive word sinitic, which means “relating to Chinese things.”

The Jews may have traded with the Chinese as early as the 3rd Century BC/BCE, with other possible contacts in the 7^th and 8^th Centuries. In the 11^th Century, a small Jewish trading settlement was established at Kaifeng. The Mandarin-speaking Jewish merchant’s modern descendants are now assimilated into the mainstream Chinese culture and, in 2016, numbered about 600-1000 in China and 20 in Israel.

In the 16th Century, the Ottoman Empire established a trading relationship with China in part because of a love of Chinese white porcelain. The Chinese are known to have had a merchant colony in Jerusalem during this period.

Chinese porcelain fragments have been found in the Middle East. In 2024, a broken piece of a Chinese porcelain bowl from the Ming Dynasty was found during a dig on Mt. Zion outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Chinese inscription translates as “Forever we will guard the eternal spring.“

The Identity of Luke the Physician

 

Luke was probably from Antioch, Syria.  He was the writer of the Gospel of Luke and was a gentile Christian who never personally met Jesus. He became a Christian after Paul taught him about the gospel. Using his scientific approach learned as a physician, his two scriptural books, Luke [κατὰ Λουκᾶν; According (to) Luke] and The Acts of the Apostles [Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, Acts (of the) Apostles], are the result of his numerous interviews of surviving first-generation Christians. In Luke :1-4, he says that he has carefully investigated everything before recording it. 

He was with Paul on several journeys and was present when Paul met with James and the elders (Acts 21:17-20) in Jerusalem.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:6, mentions “more than 500 brothers” to whom Jesus appeared after his resurrection and that most of them were still alive. The mention of 500 witnesses to the risen Jesus was meant as a challenge to people living at the time Paul wrote the passage to check it out if they wanted to. Luke’s careful investigation probably included interviews with many of the elders and many of the 500 brothers. Luke 34:33.

Luke may be the Lucius mentioned in Acts 13:1. Lucius in Romans 16:21 may also be the same man. Because they are named together in 2 Timothy 4:10-11, Titus and Luke may have been brothers. 2 Corinthians 8:18.

Jump in the Fire

 

Lyrics: https://genius.com/Metallica-jump-in-the-fire-lyrics

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ll1-yV8YSw

Metallica is probably the most well-known heavy metal band in history.  One of their concerts held in Moscow, Russia was attended by over one million people. Yes, one million. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W7wqQwa-TU

 

Metallica is sometimes called Satanic due to songs like Jump in the Fire and The God That Failed. The truth is probably that they are agnostic or secular deists; not explicitly anti-Christian or pro-Christian. Their music focuses on dark themes like fear, alienation, despair, drug addiction, death, the end of the world, how unfair life can be, war, continuing the cycle of childhood abuse, personal struggles, corruption, injustice, suicide, disappointment, and anger.

 

James Hetfield, the lead singer, seems to probably be a deistic agnostic. He was raised in a strictly devout Christian Science family. The God That Failed is about the cancer death of Hetrick’s mother, who, as a Christian Scientist, refused all medical treatment. Her faith that proper thinking would correctly align reality around her failed her.

 

The song, Jump in the Fire, is from the band’s first album, Kill ‘Em All (1983). It is told from Satan’s point of view but is not explicitly pro-Satan. It actually aligns with the traditional orthodox view of Satan. He invites the listener to willingly jump into the fire without any hesitation.  

 

The song was written by 16-year-old Dave Mustaine, the original guitarist for the band, and was about sex. After Mustaine was fired by the other members of the band, the song’s lyrics were changed to their current form. Mustaine went on to become the driving force behind the band named Megadeth. He has since become a born-again Christian.

 

Jump in the Fire presents Satan inviting people to jump into the fire. He tells them that they are his prey and that they should “jump by your will or be taken by force. I’ll get you either way.” Like the seductive villain of the Candyman films, he invites people to “Be my victim.” Many people are quite ready to do it.