Three Kings Day is January 6th

January 6th is the traditional day for the
celebration of "Epiphany," or as it is called in South America,
"Three Kings Day." Thus, I want to include here a
consideration of these strange visitors and their gifts, as the
three gifts have a typological or pictorial spiritual meaning for
us today. We don't really know much about the "magi" or "wise
men" themselves. They are only mentioned in Matthews gospel and
it says only that they came from the East, following a star in
search for the one who was to be born King of the Jews. We don't
know how long it took them to reach Jerusalem, although Herod inquired
of them when the star first appeared and on the basis of that knowledge
ordered all boy babies of 2 years and younger in Bethlehem to
be killed.
Matthew mentions that when they found Him, they came into the
house and worshiped Him and opened their treasures and presented
Him with gifts of gold, and frankincense and myrrh (Matt.2:11).
As I said these gifts are significant. They held meaning back
then and even more so for us. So I would like to examine the
meaning of each gift and quote from the verses of the Christmas
Carol "We Three Kings" which speak about these gifts.
The first gift mentioned is gold. We know that gold is a very
precious metal and thus very valuable and thus it was also a
sign of kingship. So by giving Him gold, they recognized His kingship,
and we must also recognize Him as King and make Him
king of our lives if we are to be truly successful.
But also in the Bible gold is used to represent Divinity or
Divine Character. The author of the song missed this aspect.
They were also recognizing the He is God incarnate, the one who
came to bring God to us (Emmanuel). And, to apply it to our
lives, we must also recognize Him as such and then seek to apply
His diving character to our lives. Gold was what characterized
the inner part of the Old Testament Tabernacle, the Holy Place
and the Holy of Holies. The Outer Court was comprised of all
brass, indicating judgement. He took upon Himself the judgement
of our sins, so that He could bring us into the presence of God
by developing in us Divine character. Gold is purified through
fire, and sometimes, we may have to go through the fires of
suffering and trials in order to purify our character and make
it more like His.

The second gift mentioned is frankincense. Frankincense is a
sweet perfume from a wounded balsam tree. It was used in the
incense which was burned in the Old Testament tabernacle and was
also placed upon the shew-bread which was displayed there. It
speaks to us of sweetness through wounding. As a part of the
incense, it also speaks to us of true worship and also
represents praise and prayer in the Bible (see Rev.8:3).
Since it was offered in the tabernacle before the Veil of the
Holy of Holies where God's presence was and sometimes brought
inside, it's presence indicated that God was near. The magi gave
it to Jesus in recognition of his priestly ministry.

We must worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and
praise Him, even though at times we may be wounded in spirit.

The third gift mentioned is myrrh. This is a very bitter
perfume, used to anoint bodies for burial. Thus it speaks
prophetically of His suffering and death, and of his ministry
as prophet in prophesying regarding the same.

The Christmas season not only celebrates His birth, but his
coming death on the cross, which would be on behalf of all of us, to bear
our sins, thus preparing the way for our eternal salvation.
I'm not talking about a religion but a relationship.
Religion is man's effort to reach God.
In Jesus God came down to reach man.

"So bring Him Incense, Gold and Myrrh,
Come peasant, king, to own Him.
The King of Kings salvation brings.
Let loving hearts enthrone Him."