Party Crashers

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew chapter 2 verses 1 to 12.

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After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born the king of the

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Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all

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Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the

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Christ was to be born. They told him, in Bethlehem of Judea. For so it is written by the prophet, and you,

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O Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are by no means least among the rulers of Judea. For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people

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Israel. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.

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And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.

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After listening to the king, they went on their way, and behold, the star they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.

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When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and they worshiped him.

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Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

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And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

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In the name of Jesus. All right, awkward question for you. Have you ever been to a party or a family gathering where someone arrives who no one expected to be there or maybe even worse probably shouldn't have been there?

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Right? You ever have that happen? Have you ever been that person? You know, yeah, it sounds like everyone's having a good time.

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You open up the door and everyone goes, ugh. How do we say that nowadays? Awkward.

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Well, this is what's going on in our gospel text today, and I'm going to kind of help you understand that the fact that these magi showed up at the birth of Jesus is a big deal.

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It's like, who invited them? And I think we'll see if we can get this, get what's going on here.

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If you remember the book of Daniel, the book of Daniel is the last place where we saw these guys.

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And these were the guys who, well, tried to get Daniel killed by throwing him into the lion's den.

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Remember that? The magi were the ones who were behind all that. So let's go back in time a little bit here to kind of pick up a little bit of our context.

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We're gonna go to Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2. And we're gonna read out this chapter because it's a great story, but it'll help us get the idea of what the magi are all about.

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Because this is where they came from, from the area of Persia and Babylonia. Here's what it says in Daniel chapter 2.

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In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His spirit was troubled.

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His sleep left him. I'm having problems sleeping right now because of my back, so I understand what's going on there.

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So then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, the Chaldeans, be summoned to tell the king his dreams.

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And you'll see there the magicians and enchanters. This is the general group known as the magi. These are the wise men who are the ones who are the counselors to the kings.

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So their task is to tell Nebuchadnezzar his dreams.

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Seems like an easy task. So they came and stood before him. And the king said to them,

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I had a dream and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. So the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, Oh king, may you live forever.

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Tell your servants the dream and we will show you the interpretation. The king answered and said to the

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Chaldeans, well the word for me is firm. If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb and your houses shall be laid in ruins.

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Now those of you who have a difficult boss, I would argue your boss is not nearly this difficult.

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Okay. This is not a boss you want to have. So let me see if I have this straight Nebuchadnezzar. I've got to tell you the dream and its interpretation.

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And if I don't, you're going to kill me and take my house and lay it in ruins. Wow. Okay.

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Now you'll notice here Nebuchadnezzar is not about to be deceived. If these

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Magi really have the powers and the insight to divine mysteries to figure things out, well then they should have the clairvoyance enough to be able to know what his dream is and then give him the interpretation.

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You see he's expecting supernatural spiritual powers to be bestowed upon these Magi and the reason is quite simple, because this is what they claim for themselves.

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So when you look at Israel in captivity in Babylon, the

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Magi and the Jews are often in conflict, especially in the palace.

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And so it's the Magi who, well, they're behind the whole Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thing.

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They're behind Daniel and the lion's den. These guys are not only spiritually clueless, they're like spiritually hostile.

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They're enemies of God. And we can kind of see this as the story unfolds. So the king answers, said, the word for me is firm.

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If you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you special supernatural guys, you shall be torn limb from limb.

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Your houses shall be laid in ruins. But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor.

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Therefore, show me the dream and its interpretation. They answered a second time and said, let the king tell his servants the dream, and then we will show its interpretation.

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The king answered and said, well, I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word for me is firm.

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If you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You've agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time changes.

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Therefore, tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation. At this point, they realized they're in deep kimchi.

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The Chaldeans answered the king and said, there is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.

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The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except for the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh.

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The gods? Plural? See, there's the problem. These guys are idolaters.

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They believe in many gods, and so spiritually clueless, they are now about to lose their lives unless something happens.

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Now, if I remember right, in the book of Genesis, there was this fellow named Joseph, and Joseph was able to interpret the dreams of this fellow named

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Pharaoh. You see, there's a pattern here. So, because of this, the king was angry, very furious.

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He commanded all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. Time's up. You guys all get to die.

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So, the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed, the Magi, and they sought

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Daniel and his companions to kill them. So, Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.

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He declared to Arioch, the king's captain, why is the decree of the king so urgent?

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Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel, and Daniel went in and requested that the king appoint him a time that he might show the interpretation to the king.

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Then Daniel went to his house, and he made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

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You may know them under different names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I'm sure the conversation went something like this.

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Fellows, we're going to die. Get on your face right now and pray.

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If God doesn't intervene, we're dead tomorrow. So, he told them to seek mercy from the

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God of heaven concerning this mystery. Mystery. I seem to recall something about a mystery in our

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Ephesians epistle text. More on that later. Hold the word, because Epiphany is all about the revealing of mysteries.

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So, we need to pray that God would have mercy concerning this mystery, so that Daniel's companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

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So, then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Daniel blessed the

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God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.

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He changes times and seasons. He removes kings, sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise, knowledge to those who have understanding.

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He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him.

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And you'll notice here, he prays. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego pray.

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God answers their prayer. They respond with thanksgiving and with praise of the

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God of heaven. To you, O God, my fathers, I give thanks and praise that you have given me wisdom and might, that you have made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king's matter.

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So, therefore, Daniel went to Ariok, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon.

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He went and said thus to him, do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king. I will show you,

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I will show the king the interpretation. So then Ariok brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him,

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I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.

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The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Beltshazzar, are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?

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Daniel answered the king and said, no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a

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God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.

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Hmm, great answer by the way. No, no one can show you this. Only God can, but God has revealed it to me.

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And so Daniel then says this, to you, oh king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries, there's that word again, hang on to it, we'll come back to it, he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be.

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But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me not because of any wisdom that I have, more than all the living.

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You'll notice Daniel's really quick to say, listen, it's not because I'm so holy, it's not because I'm so great, it's not because I have more wisdom than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

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You saw, oh king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you.

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Its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

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As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces.

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Then the iron and the clay and the bronze and the silver and the gold all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found.

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But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

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This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. You, oh king, the king of kings, to whom

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God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power and the might and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over all of them, you are the head of gold.

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Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all of the earth.

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And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.

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And as you saw the feet and the toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom.

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But some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay.

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And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.

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As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.

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And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people.

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It shall break in pieces all of these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold.

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A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.

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Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him.

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The king answered and said to Daniel, truly your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.

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Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and the chief prefect over all of the wise men of Babylon.

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You can kind of think of this as a little bit of a showdown. The Magi versus, well, those who believe in Yahweh, these exiles from Jerusalem.

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And well, the Magi were shown to be powerless, shown to be clueless, and of course they bore a grudge.

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And as the book of Daniel unfolds, they oppose God, and they oppose

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Daniel, and they oppose Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego, and conspire and scheme in order to have them put to death by one way or another.

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And every one of their plots ends up becoming foiled. So when we leave the book of Daniel and the children of Israel return, well, back to their promised land in Israel, this is the last that we hear of the

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Magi, until our gospel text this morning, which begs the question, what are they doing in Jerusalem?

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Who invited them to Jesus's birthday party? And of course this kind of begs another question, how come the chief priests, the scribes, and the religious leaders were utterly clueless about the birth of the

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Messiah, while these pagan idolatrous fellows are somehow in the know as to what's going on?

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Well, it sounds like a great mystery to me. Let's see if we can unpack our mystery today.

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Coming back to our gospel text, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.

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I think the Greek is better translated, look, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.

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What are they doing here? It's not like behold, it sounds so holy and stuff, it's more like, huh? What? Okay, that's really kind of the sense of the

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Greek. So they came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who is born the king of the

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Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.

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Hmm, what is going on here?

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Well, let me help you out just a smidge here. Remember our sermon hymn, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright, westward leading, still proceeding.

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Westward leading. Now, let's go back in time a little bit here. You remember Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden, whole snake incident, that didn't go very well for us.

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But immediately after, immediately after, Adam and Eve were punished for their sin.

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Here's what it says in Genesis chapter 3, God drove out the man and at the east of the

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Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

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You see, when man was punished they were cast to the east of Eden.

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And these men are coming from the east, but they are traveling westward. Think of it this way, you can think of it as the light of these flaming swords are now drawing them back to Eden, to the tree of life.

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You see, the tree of life with the second Adam, it's not what you would expect in this earth, it's the cross itself.

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The king has been born and he's calling subjects, his subjects, into his kingdom, calling them to himself from all the nations.

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In fact, we read in our epistle text, this mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

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See, there's this great mystery being revealed, the mystery that God isn't just saving those who are genetic descendants of Abraham.

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He's saving people from every tribe, nation, language, peoples. He's calling them to himself.

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And so they are coming from the east, traveling west to meet the new king and the second

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Adam. God is calling them back to Eden. That's what's going on here.

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Now, when Herod and the king heard this, he was troubled. You bet your bippy he was troubled.

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Because, well, Herod wasn't exactly of the tribe of Judah.

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In fact, he was an Idumean, which means he's really kind of a

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Gentile, raised to practice Judaism, but he's not of the tribe of Judah.

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And he's troubled. Yeah, troubled because he's all about fear and power and control.

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He had one of his wives killed, killed two of his sons as he's getting ready to die because he was afraid that they were trying to usurp him.

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Right? The guy is a sick puppy. But here's the other piece of all of this. Have you ever wondered, why is it that when we read in the

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Old Testament about the first and second king of Think about this.

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Saul is the first king of Israel, but he's not of the tribe of Judah. He's of the tribe of Benjamin.

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And during his reign, he totally rebels against God, doesn't believe the word of the

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Lord. And God raises up David while Saul is king.

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So David is the anointed but not yet reigning king of Israel while there is another king already.

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You see, all of that typology points straight to this. And let me help you with another biblical text here.

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Go back into the book of Genesis. Look at Israel's last prophecies given to his sons, who are the heads of the tribes of Israel.

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And Israel prophesies that the scepter will never leave

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Judah. This is what he promises. But is

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Herod from the tribe of Judah? No, he's an Idumean.

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So in other words, the fact that this usurper takes over the throne of Israel made it so that his appearing should have alerted everybody who knew their

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Bibles that the Messiah was about to appear. And so Jesus is born the king of the

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Jews while Herod is still king. And he, like Saul, tries to put

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Jesus to death. And it had to be so in order to fulfill Israel's prophecy.

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Do you get it? Start to connect all the pieces together and you're seeing that there's a lot of facets to this mystery.

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So yeah, he's troubled, okay, all right. Yeah, he's troubled because he knows he shouldn't be on the throne.

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He has no right to it. He is not of the house and the lineage of David. He is not of the tribe of Judah.

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And so while he is still reigning, God fulfills his prophecy and Jesus is born.

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So the scepter never really leaves Israel. And so you'll notice these fellows from the east, they're there to recognize and pay homage to the one who was born the king of the

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Jews, the rightful heir of David. Westward leading, still proceeding, indeed.

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So Herod's troubled. He can feel a threat to his own kingdom.

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So he assembles all the chief priests and the scribes of the people and he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

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They told him, well, in Bethlehem of Judea. So for so it is written by the prophet, and you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah.

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For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Oh, there's a prophecy not only regarding the birth of the

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Messiah, but that he would be a ruler of Judah. So they know the

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Word of God. Now, fascinating thing here, these pagan fellows from the east, the star can only take them so far.

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Nature can only take you so far. Scripture is very clear in the book of Romans that what may be known about God is plain to us because God has shown it to us from the invisible, namely his invisible attributes, attributes, his eternal power and divine nature.

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They've been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made.

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Nature glorifies and says that there is a God, but nature doesn't take us to Jesus.

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And in the same way, this star, whatever this miraculous thing is, can only take, well, these

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Magi so far. You see, they assume, well, the king has got, if he's being born, he's got to be in the palaces of Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel.

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But they are thinking wrong and the star cannot take them all the way. They need something else.

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They need the written word of God. And so the written word of God is giving them the key that takes them the rest of the way.

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Does that make sense? And in the same way, we would be wise to pay attention to the word of God ourselves.

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But these men clearly do not know their Bible. And as the gospel of Matthew unfolds, we find that the religious state of Israel in the time of Jesus is apostate.

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The Pharisees have taken over, have usurped the word of God with their so -called tradition of the elders.

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They have brought in all kinds of doctrines that are not taught in scripture, have made void the written word of God, and they are literally in the name of Yahweh following a religion that they have made up.

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And as a result of that, they are utterly blind. If they hadn't have done so, they may quite well have easily figured out that Jesus had to be born and would have come with the

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Magi to worship Christ, but they didn't. So Herod summoned the wise men secretly.

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He ascertained from them by what time the star had appeared, and he sent them to Bethlehem saying,

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Go, search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.

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He doesn't really want to worship Jesus unless he means worship at the end of a sword. So after listening to the king, they went on their way, and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.

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This is truly a miraculous star, more akin to that pillar of fire and smoke that led the children of Israel.

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It's more akin to that. Miraculous indeed. So with the word of God, they know that the

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Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, not in Jerusalem, and now the star with the revelation of the word of God takes them the rest of the way to the very house where Jesus is.

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So when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, and going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down, and they worshipped him.

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Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts—gold, frankincense, myrrh.

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These are truly gifts befitting not only of a king, but of one who is also going to die and rise again.

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The treasures themselves speak of Jesus' deity, of his kingliness, and of his death and his resurrection.

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And then being warned in a dream, these wise men, these Magi from the east,

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God now speaks to them in a dream, warns them not to return to Herod. They departed to their own country by another way.

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So what do we learn from this? God is calling the

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Gentiles to himself, fulfilling the promise given to Abraham that all nations would be blessed at the seat of Abraham, who is

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Jesus. And Jesus is that stone that was cut not with human hands. Remember Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the stone that was cut not with human hands, that smashes the image of all of these powerful nations and governments, and brings them to naught, and then grows into this huge mountain.

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You see, Jesus is the one born of the Virgin Mary. So this stone not cut of human hands even hints at the virgin birth itself.

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But what do we say of all of this? How is it that the people in Israel are so blind spiritually that those who opposed

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God in the past are the ones being called who are now in the know? The answer is simple.

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They've abandoned the Word of God and they've mixed with it human doctrines and traditions and things that are contrary to Scripture that make it, well, come to nothing.

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They are in the dark now. And we would be wise to pay attention to this fact because we too are not above falling in such a way.

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And it's important that we do not listen to the false doctrines and the false teachings and the ravings of the people running around the landscape today, who in the name of Jesus are prophesying falsely, leading people astray, taking their eyes out of the written

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Word of God, and putting them on themselves. There's many different ways in which this happens.

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But in doing so, you make void the Word of God and you return back to spiritual blindness, just like the

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Jews and the scribes in the time of Jesus's birth. Had they really understood the light of the

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Word of God, then they would have gone with the Magi, the wise men, to worship

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Christ. And they did not. And no sooner does Herod figure out that the

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Magi are not returning, that he sends a garrison of soldiers to destroy and kill all of the young children of Israel, of two years of age and younger.

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That's spiritual blindness and hostility. So now the tables are flipped.

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But keep this in mind. Keep this in mind. God's Word can be trusted.

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Psalm 119 says, Oh how I love your Torah. It is my meditation all the day.

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Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, and it is ever with me.

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I have more understanding than all of my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ages, for I keep your precepts.

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I hold back my feet from every evil in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.

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And how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than the honey to my mouth.

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Though through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.

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And what verse 105 says this, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

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Think of it this way. It is only in the written Word of God, that Word that is a lamp to our feet, that we too are guided to Bethlehem just like these wise men.

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Where we too are taken to the very feet of Jesus so that we may worship him and receive from him forgiveness and mercy, grace and salvation.

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It is only through the written Word of God. Do not listen to the voices who would take your eyes out of Scripture, who would throw you back on your own reasonings and your own things that you think, well this is going to be possible and this can't be possible.

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Don't listen to the voices that say that miracles are not possible, therefore Jesus never rose from the grave.

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They are lying to you. Do not listen to the people who say, well we can make up our own doctrines.

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I know it says in Scripture that same -sex marriage is a sin, but we have a better word from God because love is

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God. Don't listen to these voices. Or the one who claims to get up and say that I am hearing direct revelation from God, thus saith the

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Lord, this is the year of riding the wind or of your breakthrough, of your prosperity, provision and abundance.

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These people are quacks and Jesus warned us about them, that they are false teachers and they have no light in them.

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Do not listen to them. Only the written Word of God is the lamp that is capable, the light that leads us to Christ.

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It is now our star that calls us from all different nations for us to follow, to come to the feet of Jesus.

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And as one of our hymns said this morning, so bring Christ, incense, gold, myrrh, come peasant king to own him, the king of kings, salvation brings.

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Let loving hearts enthrone him. Raise the song on high, the virgin sings her lullaby.

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Joy, joy for Christ is born, the babe, the son of Mary. You will not find this birth heralded in the stars.

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You will not find this birth heralded in the constellations and astrologers know nothing of it.

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It is only found in the written Word of God and the testimony of the

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Apostles and the Prophets. God's Word is a lamp to our feet and our light to our path.

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May God grant us an ever -increasing knowledge of this light so that we may never again walk in darkness.

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In the name of Jesus, Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744 And again that address is

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Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744 We thank you for your support.

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All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message.