Today I started reading Matthew 2, and the first thing I noticed was that men who had spiritual sensitivities found baby Jesus before the Jews!
Scripture says, “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of King Herod, about that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and we have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1-2 According to the Greek translation, “wise men” meant Magi which is the singular word for Magus, a name given by the Babylonians (also known as the Chaldeans), Medes, Persians, and others, to wise men who acted as teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, sorcerers and magicians. It’s strange to me that “spiritual” men who follow astrology saw the sign of the Coming King before the teachers of the Law and the Prophets did. I’m taking a guess, but part of me thinks, it’s because the Pharisees were taken over by a spirit of religiosity. What I mean is that instead of seeking an authentic relationship with God, they sought to earn salvation through the works and traditions of men. Or even worse, their pride kicked in and they believed they could read and make sense of scripture through their own understanding. I sometimes wonder if the Pharisees paid attention to the prophets as much as they did the Law of Moses? Since the Law was written by the finger of God onto a tablet perhaps they thought that was more important than the Word of God coming out of a man’s mouth? I suppose I probably would have thought the same way if I hadn’t experienced the Spirit of God myself, or the Words that he dropped into my heart that bubbled up out of my mouth. You see when a person looks at another man’s face they usually don’t see what God created. They often see with eyes of hate, and their vision is mutated by the log of pride that proudly sits in their own eye. We wrestle with God. We wrestle with man, and we wrestle with ourselves. We are quick to judge, quick to doubt, and quick to fall into juxtaposition; and yet we wonder why we find it hard to love and to forgive. Anyway, let me get back to the Law and the prophets before I forget what I wanted to say. Perhaps the Law was written to act like a mirror - to show humanity why we are in desperate need of a Father. In our own power, we fail. Our rebellious hearts naturally follow the flesh and go against the purity of who God is. Without the Law to show us how evil we are, we would have no idea how depraved our natural instincts are. So the Law is good and it is true because it reflects how perfect our Creator is; and thus we should take correction from it. And the only way for us to do this is to submit our flesh and learn to be obedient to it. When we begin to align our thoughts, feelings and actions to the Will of God, we have finally learned the beginning of Wisdom. The truth is we are all sinners and we all fall short of the glory of God, and without his grace we are condemned to eternal death. And that is where the prophets come in and why the stories of the Old Testament are so important! All of them point God's grace that is gifted us through his beloved Son, Jesus! Every prophet in the Old Testament prophesied the coming of Christ. Isaiah referred to him as the Suffering Servant and "unto us a child would be born." Micah said the Messiah would come out of Bethlehem and Hosea said he would be called from the land of Egypt. Zechariah said he would ride a donkey and also said he would be betrayed for silver. David wrote all about our righteous King through his many psalms, and Solomon referred to him through his precious Song. Perhaps the most interesting of all is Daniel, the young Judean boy who was led into exile and taken under the wing of the king of Babylon. Daniel shared the date when the Lord would be born, and described what the signs would be like when the Day of Judgment comes. Yet, scripture refers to the secret being bound in the hearts of men. Daniel was a special man. He was gifted by God to have great wisdom, and was given the ability to interpret visions and dreams. But you see, his own brethren did not believe him. Yet, the Babylonian, the Medes and the Persian kings did. Scripture says Daniel was exiled from Judah and indoctrinated into the Babylonian culture. He was placed into the royal service and he served the kings who reigned, from Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus. He was promoted to the position of Chief Magician and ruled over all the wise men throughout the region of Babylon. Daniel was able to tell and interpret many dreams because of the revelation power of the Holy Spirit. He was visited by angels and he was told about the first coming of the Messiah, and the great and terrible Day of the Lord. He saw history take place and unfold into the end of the generation. And Daniel saw Jesus. In Chapter 7, Daniel says, “I watched is thrones were put in place in the ancient one sat down to judge his clothing with as white as snow his hair like purest well he sat on a fiery thrown with wheels of blazing fire and a river of fire was pouring out flowing from his presence millions of angels minister to him and millions done to attend to him then the court began its session in the books were opened.” During Daniel’s time and position serving worldly kings, he never abandoned his God. He always spoke the truth in love while he followed the customs of their culture. He paid respect to these gentile kings while he prayed and intervened. There were many wise men among them, many Magi’s. But Daniel had the revelatory power of the Most High God, the God who holds all power and authority. Deuteronomy 32:8 says, “When the most high assigned lands to the nations, when he divided up the human race, he establish the boundaries of the peoples according to the number in his heavenly court the sons of God. “ Ephesians 6:12 says, “We do not fight against flesh and blood but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” So you see, people who have spiritual senses should be given some credit. It means they know there is an unseen realm upon which the sons of God and the angels and demons live. This means they may have knowledge of things unseen and may have been gifted some wisdom to reveal some of it. The question is, 'Does it point back to Jesus?" Spiritual wisdom into the unseen realm can be both dangerous and overwhelming. There are many evil spirits at work. And yet, Holy Spirit guides us - how do we know which way to go if we don't listen to Him? Without intimate connection to the Word of God and a heart that is willing to fully submit yourself to Him, a person who is spiritually sensitive could easily be deceived and misled. They could follow their intuition when it is wrong, and the truth could easily be overthrown. They could follow their own worldly beliefs and experiences instead of submitting to the Will of God. My hope is that teachers who preach the Word of God would start speaking this spiritual truth to the Church. As a spiritually sensitive person, I spent many years trying to make sense of my world. I was misled over and over again through things like higher education, human psychology and New Ageism, With so much false doctrine and so many false teachers and false prophets, it is very easy for a new believer in Christ who is a spiritually sensitive person to fall into the concept of Universalism. But thank God Holy Spirit chases us down and allows us to become broken! Hebrews 12 is my Life Chapter for it speaks to the Christian who is willing to be corrected. Fear of the Lord is truly the beginning of wisdom, and that is why I believe the Truth in Love is so important! Since followers of Christ are all called to go and make disciples of men, then the truth is I am to share the Gospel and remind people to be obedient to it. Pastors have the responsibility of shepherding people, and New Testament prophets have the responsibility of edifying, extorting and encouraging them. The Lord has showed me what my calling is. It is to extend the Sword of the Spirit and pray for God’s creation, as I walk with them - through conviction and NOT condemnation.
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