typology

October 14, 2023October 14, 2023

THE BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM OF THE THREE GIFTS FROM THE WISE MEN TO BABY JESUS

In the heart of the Christmas narrative, nestled within the Gospel of Matthew, lies the poignant story of the Wise Men, who embarked on a journey, guided by a star, to present three gifts to the newborn Jesus. These gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh – were not arbitrary but laden with deep symbolic meanings that transcend mere wealth and opulence. They speak volumes about Jesus’ identity, mission, and the salvation narrative that would unfold in His life and death.

Who were the Wise Men?

The Wise Men, or Magi, embarked on a quest, following the star which arose in the constellation of Virgo, to honor the birth of Jesus, whom they recognized as “the king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2). Their journey from Persia signifies a royal visit, as they sought to worship and present gifts to the newborn King.

The Gift of Gold – Jesus as our King

Gold, a precious metal, has long been associated with royalty and wealth. The gift of gold to baby Jesus symbolized His kingship. In the Old Testament, gold was a common gift presented to kings, as seen when the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon, bringing 120 talents of gold among her gifts (1 Kings 10:10). Thus, gold, as a symbol of kingship, acknowledges Jesus as the prophesied King, destined to reign eternally.

The Gift of Frankincense – Jesus’ Priesthood

Frankincense, a fragrant gum resin used in worship and as a sacred incense, symbolized Jesus’ divinity and role as a high priest. In the Old Testament, frankincense was a vital component of the sacred anointing oil used in the temple (Exodus 30:34). The gift of frankincense to Jesus underscored His role as our High Priest (Hebrews 9:11).

The Gift of Myrrh

Myrrh, a spice used for anointing and burial, foreshadowed Jesus’ suffering and death. It was a common practice to use myrrh for embalming, as witnessed in the burial of Joseph of Arimathea, where a mixture of myrrh and aloes was used to prepare the body of Jesus for burial (John 19:39). The gift of myrrh, thus, prophetically pointed to Jesus’ sacrificial death and His role as the Savior, who would die for the redemption of humanity.

Interpretations and Theological Perspectives

The gifts of the Magi have been subject to various theological interpretations, each unraveling layers of meaning and significance. Some scholars perceive the gifts as symbols of Christ’s threefold office as Prophet (frankincense), Priest (myrrh), and King (gold). Others view them as emblematic of Jesus’ dual nature as fully divine (gold and frankincense) and fully human (myrrh), bridging the gap between heaven and earth.

Historical and Cultural Context

In the historical and cultural context of the ancient world, the gifts of the Magi were not only valuable but also highly symbolic. Gold was a universal symbol of wealth and power; frankincense was associated with the divine due to its use in religious rituals; and myrrh, often used in burials, was a symbol of mortality. These gifts, presented to Jesus, were not only practical in nature but also prophetically significant, aligning with the various aspects of His life, death, and resurrection.

Relevance to Jesus’ Life and Ministry

The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, while symbolizing kingship, divinity, and sacrifice respectively, also find resonance in Jesus’ life and ministry. His teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection embody these symbols, offering a pathway to eternal life for humanity. The Magi’s gifts, therefore, were not merely offerings of wealth but a prophetic acknowledgment of the pivotal role Jesus would play in the salvation history.

Conclusion

The gifts from the Wise Men to baby Jesus extend beyond the physical offerings of wealth and luxury. They are imbued with profound symbolism, each gift echoing a facet of Jesus’ identity and mission on earth. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh, thus, serve as timeless symbols of Jesus’ kingship, divinity, and sacrificial love, weaving a rich tapestry that intertwines the earthly and the divine in the miraculous story of the first Christmas.

October 11, 2023October 11, 2023

THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS: VIRGO

“Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel.” Is 7:14 (NIV)

In this first sign of the Gospel in the Stars we see the prophecy of the Virgin mentioned in Isaiah 7:14, and the coming of the Desired Branch and Seed of Woman.

The sign of Virgo itself is a picture of a young woman holding a branch in one hand and a sheaf of wheat in the other. The brightest star is found in the sheaf of wheat and is called either Al Zimach meaning “the Branch” or Spica meaning “an ear of corn” or “the seed”. Both of these are prophetic pictures of Jesus who is called both the Branch in Zech 3:8, 6:12 and Jer 23:5,6 as well as the Seed such as in Gen 3:15.

Coma: The Desired One

The next decan in the sign of Virgo is that of Coma and once again the picture is that of a young woman holding a baby. This baby is The Desired of All Nations i.e. Jesus Christ and the ancient people knew this, here is a quotation from Albumazar, an ancient Arabian Astronomer of the 8^th century, “There arises in the first decan, as the Persians, Chaldeans and Egyptians and the two Hermes and Ascalius teach, a young woman whose Persian name denotes a pure virgin sitting on a throne, nourishing an infant boy (the boy, I say) having a Hebrew name , by some nations called IHESU with the signification IEZA, which in Greek is called CHRISTOS”. A latin translation of this work can be found in the British Museum and in it he explains that the Persians understood the meanings of these signs and it was Persian priests (the magi) who followed the star that arose in this constellation to find the baby Jesus when He was born.

Centaurus

Often when we see a combination of two different things in the Bible it is to symbolize Jesus’ dual nature as fully God and fully man and so the same is found in Centaurus. The Arabic and Chaldaic name for this sign was Al Beze which means “the despised” and refers to Jesus as in Is 53:3 “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” The Hebrew name for this constellation was Asmeath meaning “a sin offering” and in Greek it was Cheiron meaning “the pierced” and so in this sign we see Jesus as the suffering servant, despised and rejected of men and dying for our sins so that we may be forgiven.

Bootes

The last decan we come to in the constellation of Virgo is Bootes which comes from the root word Bo which means ‘to come’ in Hebrew and refers to Jesus as ‘The Coming One’ as in Ps 96:13 “Before the Lord: for He cometh, he cometh to judge the earth, he shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth.”

The picture of Bootes is a picture of a man walking with a sickle in one hand and a spear in the other. His Greek name was Arcturus which also means ‘He cometh’ and in Egypt he was Smat which means “One who rules, subdues and governs”.

Jesus came as a suffering servant to forgive us our sins but He is also coming again one day to rule and reign. This is the meaning of this sign as a whole, He who was born of a virgin, was fully God and fully man, but he was despised of men and died as a sin-offering for our sins but one day He will return to rule and reign. For more information about this sign you can watch our YouTube video at https://youtu.be/5EH3mmms4Sc?si=U01T_JzRsvljYdF7

January 6, 2023January 6, 2023

THE FOUR FACES OF GOD – THE FACE OF THE EAGLE IN JOHN

The last face of God we are going to look at is the face of the Eagle which is depicted in the gospel of John. The face of the eagle represents Jesus’ divinity as the eagle soars high in the heavens, so Jesus comes from the Heavens.

The Genealogy in John

The first thing we notice is that John doesn’t really have a genealogy as such, nor does it give any details regarding the nativity. In John we are simply told, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.’ This therefore points to Jesus’ divinity – He is, and He was and He is to come.

‘I Am’ in the Gospel of John

In Exodus God reveals Himself as ‘I Am’ and in the Gospel of John Jesus makes seven ‘I Am’ statements about Himself:

‘I am the bread of life.’ John 6:35

‘I am the Light of the World’ John 8:12

‘I am the door’ John 10:7

‘I am the Good Shepherd’ John 10:11,14

‘I am the resurrection and the life’ John 11:25

‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ John 14:6

‘I am the true vine’ John 15:1

And in John 8:58 Jesus says, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.’

John 3:16

A well known verse that appears in John that does not appear in any other book of the Bible is ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son’, thus pointing to Jesus as the Son of God.

No Ascension in the Gospel of John

Another point about the gospel of John is that there is no ascension. We see Jesus rising from the dead and appearing to people but we do not see His ascension because He is God, He was from heaven and He was going back to Heaven and John just tells us that Jesus did many other miracles that He did not include but that his aim in writing was so that we might believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

I trust you have enjoyed this series on the faces of Jesus and that it has helped you get to know Him better. In our next series we will look at how even the heavens declare the glory of God and foretell about Jesus.

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022

THE FOUR FACES OF GOD – THE SON OF MAN IN LUKE

In this series we are having a look at the four faces of God and how they are represented in the gospels, in the gospel of Luke we have the face of the man because Luke wanted to reveal Jesus as the Son of Man.

The Genealogy in Luke

In Matthew we saw that Matthew had the royal genealogy of Christ, in Luke we see the genealogy of the average man. This is because Luke wanted to focus on Jesus’ humanity rather than His royalty. In Biblical times there were two ways of writing a genealogy, the one was used solely by royalty and the other by the average man on the street so to speak. In the Bible we are given both, Matthew focussing on His royalty as the Son of David and Luke focussing on His humanity as the Son of Man.

The Nativity in Luke

In Luke we see the humanity of Jesus again expressed in the visitors to His manger when He was born. In Matthew we saw royal visitors in the magi but in Luke we see humble shepherds visiting Jesus’ cradle. These shepherds had no special title or prestige but were just humble men who had seen the angels in the sky over Jerusalem and had come to visit Jesus.

Jesus as a Boy

Luke is the only gospel which really shows us Jesus growing up and becoming a man. We see stories of Jesus being presented at the temple as a baby and then later when He was 12 being found in the temple. We are told that Jesus ‘grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.’ So it shows us that, like other little boys, Jesus also had to learn and grow.

Compassion in the Parables

Two parables found only in the gospel of Luke are the parable of the good Samaritan and the parable of the prodigal son. Both of these parables show example of compassion, the compassion the good Samaritan had on the man he saved and the compassion of the father for his prodigal son. Compassion is an emotion that relates to our humanity and shows Jesus as a compassionate and gracious God. Luke is also the only gospel that teaches about Zaccheus and Jesus going to his house while he was considered a tax collector and sinner, and therefore showing compassion on Zaccheus.

Son of Man

Luke often refers to Jesus as the Son of Man, and so we see in the gospel of Luke that he is emphasizing Jesus’ humanity. Luke uses this phrase about twenty-four times in his gospel compared to ten times in the gospel of John and 14 in the gospel of Mark. He is also referred to as the Son of Man thirty times in the gospel of Matthew where the focus is on Him being the Son of David.

So in the gospel of Luke, we see Jesus as the Son of Man, being fully human while fully God. We see Jesus’ human characteristics such as mercy and compassion and learn a lot more about His life outside of His ministry. We see Jesus in the face of the Man.

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022

THE FOUR FACES OF GOD – THE FACE OF THE OX IN MARK

The Gospel of Mark looks at the face of the ox, Jesus as the suffering servant who came to lay down His life for His friends. The ox has always been seen as a beast of burden, toiling hard in the fields and strong for his task. The ox was also used in some sacrifices in the Old Testament. So Jesus came to be a servant to man and to lay down His life for us so that we could enjoy eternal life with Him.

Mark Has No Genealogy or Nativity

One thing that is noticeable about the gospel of Mark is that it has no genealogy or nativity, this is because no one really cared where a servant came from, only what they were able to do for them. The gospel of Mark begins with John preparing the way for Jesus and then jumps straight into Jesus’ ministry.

The Ascension in Mark

Just before the ascension in Mark we see Jesus telling His disciples about the works or miracles those who believed in Him would do, the ways in which He had served mankind by casting out devils and healing the sick. After this it simply said Jesus was received into heaven and sat at the right hand of God.

Keywords in Mark

One of the keywords in Mark is ‘immediately’, this is because a master expects immediate obedience from his servant. Jesus likewise expects immediate obedience from His disciples.

Action and Laying Down One’s Life

Another focus of Mark is action and laying down one’s life. Mark’s gospel starts quite early pointing towards the crucifixion and there is more talk of laying down one’s life than in the other gospels. There is also far more focus on action and serving both in His miracles and in His parables and the general story of Mark.

Mark therefore focuses on Jesus being the suffering servant without genealogy or any concern for his birth and early life and focused on what He did for the people and what was expected of His disciples.

May 2, 2022May 9, 2022

THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES

This is our last post in the series on the Feasts of Israel and was the last feast in the Jewish religious year held on 15^th to 21^st Tishri, five days after the day of atonement. It is found in Leviticus 23:33-40:

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work. (These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.) So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”’ So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.”

April 29, 2022May 9, 2022

DAY OF ATONEMENT

The Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur, was an annual festival where an animal would be slain for the complete forgiveness of the Israelites and was the day the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies. This was held on the tenth day of Tishri each year and can be found in Leviticus 16:1-34.

The first thing Aaron would do was to take a bull for his own sin offering and then two goats, he would cast lots to decide which goat would live and which would die. The goat that was to die would be sacrificed and then the other goat was the scapegoat who would live but would be sent off into the wilderness as a sign that he was carrying away the sins of Israel.

He was to put incense to burn on the altar of incense so that the incense would conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant of the law and then Aaron or his descendent could go in and sprinkle the blood of the bull and of the goat on the atonement cover. He was also to take blood and put it on the horns of the altar seven times.

April 27, 2022April 24, 2022

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS

Today we look at the Feast of Trumpets which was the start of the Festival of Tabernacles season held in the month of Tishri at the end of the harvest season. The prophetic significance of these festivals lies in the future, in Christ’s second coming. The first set of festivals represented Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, Pentecost the coming of the Holy Spirit, and then there was a few months where there were no festivals which relate to the current church period, but then came the feasts around the Festival of Tabernacles which represent Jesus’ second coming, sometime in the future.

The Feast of Trumpets is described in Numbers 29:1-6:

“On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets. As an aroma pleasing to the Lord, offer a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs, a year old, all without defect. With the bull offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil; with the ram, two-tenths; and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. There are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their grain offerings and drink offerings as specified. They are food offerings presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma.”

April 25, 2022April 24, 2022

PENTECOST

Pentecost was a festival which stood by itself between the first set of festivals (Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits) and the second set (Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles). Pentecost was held fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits and is described in Leviticus 23:15-22:

“From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. Present the bread with seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings – a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.”

April 22, 2022April 24, 2022

FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS

Now let us consider the feast of First Fruits, this was the last of the three feasts held around the time of Passover and began on the 17^th day of Nissan which was during the feast of unleavened bread and fell on a Sunday. The feast is described in Leviticus 23:9-14:

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb, a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil – a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma – and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.”