Great caravans of camels will come, from Midian and Ephah. They will come from Sheba, bringing gold and incense. People will tell the good news of what the Lord has done!” Isaiah 60.6
Today, my sister turns 20 years old, and so happy birthday Lauren. Here’s one of the weirdest Advent verses I could’ve come up with. 🙂
Last year I spoke about the Wise Men and my lovely theory about why they were so interested in this prophesied Messiah King and what would inspire them to leave everything they knew to follow a star, only to end up in Bethlehem at the feet of a young child.
The beautiful thing is God’s powerful hand seen in all aspects of the Nativity. A young virgin gets pregnant. Her fiancé sticks with her and claims his unusual family, with all its responsibilities. An empire-wide edict moves a paycheck-to-paycheck couple from their hometown to Jesus’ prophesied birthplace. And men from hundreds (perhaps thousands) of miles away drop everything to bring gifts finer than Mary or Joseph would’ve ever seen to offer in worship before their young Savior.
Gold for a king. Incense, burned in the Holy of Holies to symbolize God smelling the sweet prayers of his people, for the Great High Priest. Some of the very first worshippers to bow before Jesus were Gentiles, not Jews. Even his birth was a missional, Gospel opportunity.
On This Journey with Him 