The Slimmest of Evidence

Many Nativity scenes show a tableau  of the Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the Magi otherwise known as the Three Wisemen. Everything looks serene with the cattle standing patiently on the sidelines and camels sitting on their folded legs on the outside of a rustic stable.

The problem with this scene is that the  Magi didn’t actually arrive until Mary and Joseph were living in a house somewhere in Bethlehem.1  I wonder did the little family get stranded in Bethlehem after paying their taxes during the census? After all Joseph was not a wealthy man. We know this because of the offering taken to the temple as a fulfillment of the law eight days after Jesus was born. Mary and Joseph could only bring a pair of doves or two young pigeons. A well to do couple would have brought a lamb for the purification rites.2   After paying his taxes Joseph may have needed to work to make enough money to go back to their former home.

The surprise visit of the Magi and their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh came just in time for the impoverished family. They would need it for the next part of their journey  their harrowing escape to Egypt from the murderous rampage of King Herod. More than the timing of their visit and gifts I am fascinated by the very little knowledge that prompted the Magi to undertake their arduous journey.

There is a disagreement from scholars and historians as to the length of the Magi’s journey. Estimates range three from months to two years. In other words it took effort and patience to make such a long trip.

I wonder did they know of the of a prophecy given, by the ertswhile prophet Balaam centuries before the day the star actually appeared? Balaam actually had a vision of a Star rising in the East signifying a royal birth that would happen in the Jewish Nation of Israel.3  The Magi were the learned men astronomers and astrologers most likely from Persia.(Present day Iran)  They belonged to the ancient Persian Zoroastrian religion.  It is possible this  prophecy made its way into their ancient writings. If so, this was a slim piece of evidence for a royal birth to take hundreds of years after it was first given.

In 2026 we have so much more information about Jesus' birth than the Magi.  There are scientists like Joseph Kepler who assumed that the star of the three wise men at the time of Jesus Christ’s birth coincided with the great conjunction of the bright planets.  We have the Word of God that show the fulfillment of the Scripture. There are so many data points that Jesus met that substantiated his birth. If the Magi had only a slim piece of information to get them to make a difficult journey, it's not a cliche to say that Wise People still seek Him. Personally  I've looked at the evidence and I am convinced, like the Magi,  that Jesus, Emmanuel is the Messiah for which  people were waiting since the Book of Genesis. Have you started on your journey to  investigate and to meet this Jesus, the Promised One? If not, why not begin today?  I suggest you start with reading the Book of John in the New Testament of the Bible. 

 

In 2026 wise men and women still seek Him.

1. Matthew 2:7-11
2. Leviticus 12:6-8
3. Numbers 24:17

( For clarification: Yes, there may have been more than three royal visitors or wisemen who visited the young Jesus in Bethlehem. We usually say three because of the three named gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh,  that are mentioned in the Bible.) 

God is With Us in 2026!

 

God is With Us!

 In the Old Testament  it’s recorded The Hebrews were slaves for 430 years.  Enforcing slavery over the descendants of Jacob was  the fulfillment  of a prophecy given to Abraham not some random act. Pharaoh and his advisors may have thought that this was their brilliant plan to subjugate the Hebrews. The Bible  records God told Abraham  hundreds of years before the beginning of the Hebrews being enslaved this would take place. 

Genesis 15: 12-16

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

 Pharaoh was never in charge!

Please allow me to use my sanctified imagination to describe the lead up to the Hebrews being forced into total slavery 

Hebrews would have seen their freedoms stripped away,

Maybe there were signs saying no Hebrews  allowed

Hebrew schools were shuttered

Hebrews could only shop on Wednesdays

Hebrews were  not allowed on the job sites.

Hebrews must stay in Goshen.

Hebrews food was rationed.

Hebrews had their movements restricted.

Hebrews  were starved into submission.

Hebrews watched themselves become  enslaved in real time.

Resistance was futile.

The powerful Egyptian army supported by most of Egypts’ populace supported the Pharaoh’s plan to enslave them. Pharaoh accused the Hebrews  in his propaganda campaign that they were not loyal to Egypt.  “These Hebrews are not like us, declared the Pharaoh.” 

It didn't matter that these Hebrews  were born in Egypt. 

Their birthright citizenship was stripped away. It didn’t matter that for hundreds of years the Hebrews lived and worked peaceably with the Egyptians. It didn’t matter that  under God’s guidance one of the Hebrew ancestors, Prince Joseph, had saved the entire  Egyptian nation from ruin.  It didn’t matter that The Hebrews had never rebelled against Pharaoh’s government. Pharaoh accused the Hebrews as potentially being disloyal. Therefore they must be segregated and made slaves. 

I am sure many Hebrews prayed for freedom during their  four hundred years of enslavement  Surely some wondered why God did not answer their prayer.  ( They may have forgotten God told Abraham that his people would be held in bondage for four hundred years) God had a design to show the world His power and glory.

Therefore the Hebrews show us the way God has worked down through history. Even though they were praying:

God did not take the Hebrews  out of slavery.

God took them through slavery.

God did not keep  Shadrach Meshach and Abednego from the fire.

God delivered them from the fire.

God did not keep Daniel from the lion’s den.

God delivered him from the lion’s den.

God did not keep the storm from the disciples

God delivered and saved them through the storm.

God didn’t keep Lazarus from dying

God delivered him from death.

God did not save Jesus from the cross.

God resurrected  Jesus from the grave.

I am saying all this to say, in 2026 God may take us right into the trouble.

Don’t despair , get depressed or be defeated. God allowed us to get into this boat and sent us into year 2026. Now the storm is raging and the billows are tossing high. It may look like a ghost, but God is walking towards us.  Sometimes  it looks like  we are going down for the last time and we are leaning over the railing throwing up and can hardly stand. We  look to our right and see that Jesus is not worried.  

You may be saying how can Jesus sleep through this storm?

In 2026  Jesus may be asking  us where is our faith?

In 2026 we may be praying to get out of this mess.

However if I am reading my Bible right,

God  is saying to us I will bring you through this Mess.

Take courage my friend. Trouble don’t last always! 

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Deuteronomy 33:27a

One Minute Later and Then Eternity!

 

The New Year of 2026 had barely begun. Then came the shocking news from the Swiss Alps  that 40 people lost their lives in a horrific fire in a popular nightclub. . It gave me pause to ponder the fact that we never know when or how our earthly journey will end.  It's a sobering thought that our lives are so fragile.  Do these tragic events give you pause to think about the next part of your journey? For me it does.  When we die we are not taking anything with us:Not a degree! Not a job! Not one award, No Money! No Cars! No jewels or furs! No spouses or children! No titles! No food! No Drugs! No disabilities! Everything to do with this body is staying here on earth.  We have evidence that the ancient Pharaohs tried to take their wealth with them. Today we call their attempts antiquities and we view those items in museums. 

All those things that we sweat and labor over are going to be left on earth. Earthly troubles, trials and solutions are going to be left behind too. Thank goodness!  All the things that entertain us are left here. Since all these things are going to be left behind I ask why  do we put all our energy into them? 

It should be plain to us that there is something else going on with us other than what adorns us or occupies our time. Since we can all observe that nothing goes with a person when  that person dies it should make us stop and think. Steve Jobs died and all his wealth stayed here. Paul Allen died and his billions of dollars, sports teams and property stayed here. Steve Brotman died and he couldn’t take one thing from Costco with him. 

Follow me.  According to the Bible there is an eternity after death.  Therefore  should we not concentrate on the greater part of our journey of what comes next?  Maybe you are an annilhilationist you say nothing comes next. This is all there is. If so then one may do what one wants in this lifetime with no repercussions or consequences. 

That means I don’t need a social contract with you or with  God. I am free to do whatever I want. If I want to kill you I can do so. No problem. The state may put me to death in return for my killing someone else. So what, I won’t know about it anyway because I’m gone. I just ceased to exist sooner than I was going to cease to exist anyway. Insert any other thing into this paragraph.  If there is nothing after this life we can all be free to act without boundaries, live how we want, violate you  anyway I  want. What’s the worse thing you can do to me anyway except to kill me. Again you just hasten me to nothing which I will not know about anyway.

I don’t know about you, but this  annihilationist view just does not make sense to me. 

Then there are the variations of reincarnation theories. That we are going to come back again and again until we reach this supposed perfected state. Well I can’t reconcile this to science. If one egg and one sperm make one unique individual how is this possible? How can two different humans living at different times make uniquely you all over again.  How is the same dna replicated in two totally different people  or insects or animals to form a “cognizant I remember being here before person” over and over again? I cannot get with that program either.The reincarnation view does not make sense to me either.

The view that makes sense to me is this one. There is a God who is ruler over all. According to  this God’s Divine will God  created us humans. I start with the premise that God is infinite and knows all things and is neither bound by human limitations. God knew that when He created us that we were going to have problems. How did God know this? God had seen it before he created humans.  One of God's previously created beings, Lucifer, Satan,  had tried to take the Creator down.  Therefore if  this usurper tried to dethrone the Infinite God he is not  scared to try and take another created being, a human, down. 

In fact this impostor, named Satan,  Lucifer, the Devil  was so persuasive he was able to convince one third of the heavenly beings, angels,  in his  environment to join him.  Well that didn’t work out for him?  God ejected Lucifer and his followers  from Heaven. They were never able to go back.  Well  Lucifer wasn’t going to be happy with his little tribe. When Lucifer aka Satan saw that God had created some other beings on a planet called earth, he went into recruiting mode. 

 This impostor, Lucifer,  didn’t go for a direct attack   He used the art of deflection and deception to get to Eve,  We know the story of how she took and ate  the forbidden fruit   Satan told Eve that God was withholding some great truth from her.  Lucifer told Eve she could discover this truth herself by eating fruit from the forbidden tree.  The Bible said that Eve was deceived.  Adam, the primary person who heard the instructions directly from God,  saw right through the ploy.  However Adam  decided  he’d take up the offer of the impostor knowing that it was not right. 

 God knew all this would take place-afterall He is God. Like the greatest chess master, no disrespect to God, He saw way down the road. God had a plan. That Plan was God/Jesus. He was going to take the penalty and consequence for Adam who was willful and Eve who was deceived otherwise we would be kicked out of God’s family forever.  If God had not had a plan we would  have had  to live with the impostor wherever he was going to live. I hate to bring it up, but that place is called Hell.  

I  am glad that in 2026 I have been given the privilege to live with God. You also have that privilege, if you accept it.   I have  embraced God’s plan by accepting  the fact that God/Jesus paid the penalty for my sin on the cross for me. I accept Jesus Christ's generous offer and acknowledge  that He is the only way to God. None of us know when that last breath will take place.  Now is the time to prepare for Eternity. 

Now this makes sense to me. 

Jesus said I am the way the truth and the Life. 

No man comes to the Father but by me. 

John 14:6