December 19, 2004

Ho'omo'o ke Hokulea (Follow the Star of Gladness)

Following the Star of Gladness The Three Wise Men, from a retelling of the Christmas Story Hawaiian style... Copyright Hawaiian Resources Co. Ltd. All rights reserved

As some of you know from last years blogging and some obvious hints (such as featuring the refrain on my poetry blog) I love the Carol "We Three Kings" As a child it was so mysteriously different from the others, as is "O Come O Come Emmanuel"... I can remember my Mom, God Bless her, saying " I don't like it its as nearly close to "Jingle Bells" as we have in the hymnal, because we don't know if there were three kings or three thousand... We don't really know their names... Oh the Catholics think they do but they weren't written down..." EST... This was a household that never had Santa Claus or Rudolph, and we weren't allowed much mystery...

After I became a Believer, and became involved in leading worship, I discovered all the verses to "We Three Kings" and was struck by the power and majesty of them. For the story of Christmas is not just the infant in the manger, but the Man on the cross, and the God-Man on the throne of Heaven.

Every year at holiday time, my days of contemplation are not complete without a re reading of two great novels that I never grow tired of, one is "The Fourth King" by Norbert Coulehan, and the other is "Ben Hur" By Civil War General, Lewis Wallace. Yes Ben Hur of the movie, but that is only the kernel of the tale, really the whole book deals with the Wise Men and one in particular... Both books are out of print but you can get them via Amazon Used books...Both have a much different take on these gentlemen than what my conservative Baptist upbringing allowed...

I have also learned that we may know more about these travelers from afar than we thought. As I was studying the book of Daniel I found this passage fascinating....

NOW in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.
Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
And the king said to them, "I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream."
Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation."
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, "My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap.
"However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation."
They answered again and said, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation."
The king answered and said, "I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm:
"if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation."
The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, "There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.
"It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."
For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon;
he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, "Why is the decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel.
So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Daniel answered and said:


"Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
For wisdom and might are His.
And He changes the times and the seasons;
He removes kings and raises up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have understanding.
He reveals deep and secret things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And light dwells with Him.

"I thank You and praise You,
O God of my fathers;
You have given me wisdom and might,
And have now made known to me what we asked of You,
For You have made known to us the king's demand."

Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation."
Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, "I have found a man of the captives* of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation."
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?"
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, "The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king.
"But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:
"As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.
"But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
"You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome.
"This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs* of bronze,
"its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.*
"You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
"Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
"This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
"You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
"and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all--you are this head of gold.
"But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
"And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
"Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.
"And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
"As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
"Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold--the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.
The king answered Daniel, and said, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret."
Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate* of the king.


From the Book of the Prophet Daniel Chapter Two

This profound vision of the Epochs of Nations placed Daniel, a captive prince from a conquered and scattered nation, as the leader or prince of the Chaldean Magi... Astrologers, really the Astro scientists of their day... He had their attention, had saved their lives and according to apocryphal history those magi became nominal adherents to the God of Daniel... The prophecies concerning the "coming King" the Messiah, were certainly part of what Daniel shared with them. In later chapters, there are other Messianic predictions including the literal day of the appearing of the Messiah in Jerusalem (April 6, 29 AD) the day of the Triumphal Entry or as we now call it Palm Sunday. (Chapter 9)

Daniel taught... The scribes wrote it down... and they watched the skies... and so did their descendents, through the various conquerors... the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans...and they didn't forget that it was for the sake of Daniel the Jew and his mystical vision that their lives were spared

Approximately 400 years after their ancestors were spared annihilation, the Magi of Persia saw what they were waiting for, a glorious star , a new star or nova, visible to all (not a vision that only they could see for other cultures such as the Chinese record a similar celestial occurrence) They and their entourage, for it must have been more than three riders on camels to stir up old Hered and get him to have a royal audience with the travelers...Personages like this would have had a whole cadre of servants and attendents with them. It was more like an army that decended on Jeruslem rather than a few old men on a camel. and for them to be looking for a King other than Hered, would have sent the jelous child killing old goat into a tizzy. Killing a few more children would have caused this monster no grief at all...

It would have taken 6-9 months of travel for them to reach Bethlehem. Jesus was a "Young Child" and not said to be an infant at the time of the visitation...

And the gifts... We are told for the Gold of Kingship, the Frakenscense of Deity and the Myrrh of Death, but there may have been much more... The costly gifts would have made travel to Egypt much eaiser for the impoverished couple...

We know nothing more of them after they see the Child Jesus but the Bible says that they went another way to return to their homeland...

We three Kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
field and fountain, moor and mountain,
following yonder star.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light.

Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign.

Star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light.


Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a Deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, all men raising,
Worship him God most high.

Star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light.

Myrrh is mine; it's bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

Star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light.

Glorious now behold him arise,
King and God and Sacrifice.
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Earth to heaven replies.

Star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light