Matthew 2: Of Dreams, Stars, Wisdom, Destiny. Don’t Worry, God is in Control, working out all things!

Matthew 2

Wise men from the eastern lands asking about the new born King of the Jews.

– How did they know? 

• The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding…Proverbs 9:10
• The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have a rich understanding. His praise endures forever!…Psalm 111:10

– Somehow they deduced it from a star appearing & rising 

• And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;…Luke  21:25
• And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke….Joel 2:30

Our stars…

• Each one when born comes with a star??

• Stars can be seen…rising
• It identifies who we are in the spirit?
• It shows the potential of our lives, what we are born to do?
• Guides divine helpers to one
• …the enemy also looking so as to destroy…take out the light?

Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”…Genesis 15:5

“I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;…Genesis 26:4

– and the wise men came to worship 

• They had a revelation of the significance of the Star
• The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship…Psalm 19:1
• Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah…Psalm 50:6
• And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints….Psalm 89:5
• The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory….Psalm 97:6

These wise men were not Jews but knew to look for God.

… They came to worship the King of the Jews

…For salvation is from the Jews…John 4:22

God reveals Himself to all that seek Him.

• Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near….Isaiah 55:6
• But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul…Deuteronomy 4:29
• And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart…Jeremiah 29:13
• Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets….Amos 3:7

Revelation 1:1-6, 20 (AMPC)

1 [This is] the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries]. God gave it to Him to disclose and make known to His bond servants certain things which must shortly and speedily come to pass ^[a]in their entirety. And He sent and communicated it through His angel (messenger) to His bond servant John,

² Who has testified to and vouched for all that he saw [^[b]in his visions], the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

³ Blessed (happy, ^[c]to be envied) is the man who reads aloud [in the assemblies] the word of this prophecy; and blessed (happy, ^[d]to be envied) are those who hear [it read] and who keep themselves true to the things which are written in it [heeding them and laying them to heart], for the time [for them to be fulfilled] is near.

⁴ John to the seven assemblies (churches) that are in Asia: May grace (God’s unmerited favor) be granted to you and spiritual peace (^[e]the peace of Christ’s kingdom) from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits [^[f]the sevenfold Holy Spirit] before His throne,

⁵ And from Jesus Christ the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead [first to be brought back to life] and the Prince (Ruler) of the kings of the earth. To Him Who ^[g]ever loves us and has ^[h]once [for all] loosed and freed us from our sins by His own blood,

⁶ And formed us into a kingdom (a royal race), priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion throughout the ages and forever and ever. Amen (so be it).

²⁰ As to the hidden meaning (the mystery) of the seven stars which you saw on My right hand and the seven lampstands of gold: the seven stars are the seven angels (messengers) of the seven assemblies (churches) and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Interesting Notes:

• “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me…John 15:26
• However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come…John 16:13
• the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you…John 14:17
• And John bore witness saying, “I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and it remained upon Him….John 1:32
• The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD… Isaiah 11:2

The pairing of the 7-fold Spirit of God

• Wisdom & Fear of the Lord
• Understanding & Knowledge
• Counsel & Might
•  
• > > Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Isaiah 11:2, Zechariah 4:6??

https://images.app.goo.gl/jWwfWMmoQwXq9rNs5

 

What is our response when we hear about Jesus the Messiah ?

• Troubled (like Herod & Jerusalem) or joy / worship?

Is the enemy looking for your star?

Has the enemy taken / destroyed your star?

Does the enemy even care about your star?

Possibly ones star represents what one is predestined to achieve ( ones divine potential / destiny ) for the kingdom of God in this life?

• But stars are also related to angels (above)
• Is our star the angel assigned to us (guardian angel?), to empower us with certain abilities to achieve a certain objective??
• … Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,…Ephesians 3:20
• Or is it a measure of His grace upon us to achieve His given objective for our lives>>
• …And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work….2 Corinthians 9:8

The wise men worshiped and gave gifts to the King of Kings.

• Do we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord & King and surrender our most precious gift ( our lives) to Him?

God then speaks to the wise men in a dream… ( not before?) to warn them not to go back to Herod.

• We become a target once we get a revelation of Jesus Christ??

Joseph also warned in a dream.

• Importance of dreams – a way for God to speak to us.
• Am I ignoring God by ignoring my dreams?
• … Not living by every word from the mouth of God?…Deuteronomy 8:3

Boys under 2 years killed – parallels to Moses?

• The enemy trying to destroy the bright stars of the kingdom of God to try prevent the purposes of God in the world.
• Moses was to save the Jews, Jesus was to save the world.

God is always in control.

What do the gifts brought to the King of kings represent??

• Gold >> treasure, symbol of kingship?
• Frankincense >> perfume, for worship, symbol of deity, High Priest? 
• Myrrh >> anointing oil, sacrifice, symbol of death?

God’s vision comes with provision??

• Furthermore, the Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing. And the LORD gave the people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that they granted their request. In this way they plundered the Egyptians….Exodus 12:35-36
• He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes….Psalm 105:37

Called out of Egypt…

• In the world but not of the world…John 17:15-16

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose…Romans 8:28 (NASB)