Audio Version read by Kathy Bird
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Jesus Born - The Three Kings - Herod Dies EMPEROR AUGUSTUS ORDERS A CENSUS to be taken throughout the Roman Empire, so everyone has to return to his ancestral home for registration. Joseph, who is a descendant of David, returns to his native city of Bethlehem in Judea to register. Traveling with him is Mary, who is soon to have a child. The city is crowded with others who have come to register and no rooms are available so they take shelter with the animals. MARY GIVES BIRTH TO A SON and she wraps him in bands of cloth and lays him in a manger. Angels appear to shepherds tending flocks in the fields near there and say to them: "Don't be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. This very day in David's town your Savior is born--Christ the Lord! And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." ( A manger is a feeding trough or box to hold hay for horses or cattle to eat ) Suddenly a great army of heaven's angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God: The shepherds hurry off to Bethlehem and find the baby lying a manger. They tell Mary and Joseph about what the angels told them and all who hear what the shepherds say are amazed. After the eighth day, the baby is circumcised and given the name Jesus as the angel had told Mary and Joseph. The time came for them to take Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, because every first born is to be dedicated to the Lord according to the law of Moses. (Found in the Book of Luke: Chapter 2) AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the ancient times near the beginning of creation, mankind's calendar was measured by length of the days and nights, the position of the stars and the cycle of the moon. The Chaldean and Egyptian astrologers became quite learned on the movement of the astronomical bodies. The Jewish calendar was measured in terms of harvest times, the ripening of the fruit on the trees, the rainy winter months and religious festivals. In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar's calendar made a great advance over contemporary calendars and had 365 and 1/4 days a year. This was to be the start of the Christian Era calendar meaning everything that happened before the birth of Christ was noted B.C., and everything that happened after the birth of Christ was noted A.D. (Anno Domini) Latin for "in the year of our Lord". This Christian Era calendar was introduced to the world in the sixth century or 600 A.D. There was a start error in this calendar and it is now agreed that the beginning of the era should have been fixed at least four years earlier. So instead of Jesus being born at 1 A.D., it is thought he was born in 5 B.C. (Found in the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary) ASTROLOGERS COME FROM THE EAST to King Herod asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We observed his star at it's rising and have come to pay him honor." King Herod is greatly disturbed along with the rest of Jerusalem and asks the priest and scribes where the Messiah was to be born? They reply, "In Bethlehem of Judea, and here is what the prophet Micah has written: since from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" (Micah - Chapter 5:verse 1) Herod sends the astrologers to Bethlehem and instructs them to return with information about the child so that he can pay homage to the Messiah too. THE ASTROLOGERS FIND THE BABY JESUS with Joseph and Mary, and present their precious gifts. They are warned in a dream not to return to Herod and they return to their country by another route. Joseph receives a message from an angel of the Lord in a dream: "Get up and take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. Herod is searching for the child to destroy him." Joseph takes Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt. Herod realizes he has been deceived by the astrologers and becomes furious. He orders the killing of all the male babies younger than two years old in Bethlehem and the regions surrounding the city. Then what was said by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: Rachel bewailing her children; no comfort for her, since they are no more." (Jeremiah: Chapter 31:verse 15) HEROD DIES and is succeeded by his son, Archelaus, as king of Judea. Joseph is told by an angel of the Lord in a dream to take Mary and the child and return to Israel, fulfilling what was said by the Lord through the prophet Hosea: Joseph hears that Herod's son is now king and he is afraid to go back to Judea, but he is guided by God to settle in the city of Nazareth, in Galilee. ( Found in Matthew: Chapter 2:verses 22-23 ) |