The Gathering week 4

TheGatheringWeek4 Matthew 2:1-9

Cast of Characters:

Herod:

Was a descendant of Esau (Edomite or as the Romans called them Idumea ) During the intertestament period both the Maccabeus and John Hyrcanus fought and subdued the Idumeans and forced them to convert to Judaism and be circumcised however, when the Romans took control of the area they chose Herod's father Antipater to rule all of Judea. (1,2,3)

Heord was paranoid and a very cruel leader who would punished any uprising against him with cruel recourse. He won over his critics and foes by ellaborate building projects like

*

He built relentlessly -- cities, palaces and fortresses, some of which still stand:
* the fortresses at Masada, Antonia and Herodium
* the port city of Caesarea
* the huge edifice at the top of the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron
* the massive fortifications around Jerusalem as well as three towers at the entrance to the city (the remains of which are today erroneously named the Tower of David) and much more (4)


Toward the end of his life he tried to have his family killed because he was sick (his father was poisoned by the Jews) but many of them escaped and ruled after his death. This is one of the reasons why he was afraid of the message for the Magi.

Magi:

The Magi were not kings but sorcerers or magicians who studied the stars (This was considered a science and was respected in Jesus' day). They came from the east and were thought to be Chaldeans (Abraham's original people) and were followers of Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster's believed

Ahura Mazda is the beginning and the end, the creator of everything which can and cannot be seen, the Eternal, the Pure and the only Truth.

Daena (din in modern Persian) is the eternal Law, whose order was revealed to humanity through the Mathra-Spenta ("Holy Words").

For these, asha was the course of everything observable, the motion of the planets and astral bodies, the progression of the seasons, the pattern of daily nomadic herdsman life, governed by regular metronomic events such as sunrise and sunset. All physical creation (geti) was thus determined to run according to a master plan—inherent to Ahura Mazda

The Struggle is between order and chaos and the order is affected by humans agreeing with Asha and having "good thoughts, good words, good deeds" (Humata, Hukhta, Hvarshta in Avestan), for it is through these that asha is maintained and druj is kept in check.

The Zoroaster's were prominent in the east when Daniel was in Babylon. (Dan 2) 5 and I think during this time the people of Iran began to look for signs the only way they new how and God revealed to them his son through there sorcery.

The Gifts 5

1. The three gifts had a spiritual meaning : gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) as a symbol of priestship, and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death.

* Sometimes this is described more generally as gold symbolizing virtue, frankincense symbolizing prayer, and myrrh symbolizing suffering.


The gifts would have been worth enough to sustain the young family when they escaped to Egypt.