The promise of Worship - by Christo Jovner

 

All nations will come to Your light!

When it was time for Jesus to be born, non-Jewish wise men, astrologers from the East, observed an unexplained phenomenon in the heavens, and it was somehow interpreted by them as a sign of the birth of the King of the Jews. They visited another non-Jew, Herod, the Roman king of the day, and asked him about the birth of this King of the Jews. Herod (and Jerusalem, i.e. the Jewish people - Matt 2:3), now troubled, gathered the chief priests and scribes of the Jews, and enquired of them if this was actually something that he needs to be aware of. It was only then that the news got to the Jews, and they indeed would expect the birth place of a Ruler to be in Bethlehem, as prophesied by Micah.  

What is fascinating about these dramatic scenes, was the fact that the wise men made the following remark: “For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Gentiles worshipping the King of another nation? Quite strange and unique… But, what we see here is the first mention that All nations will come to Your light!

When it was time for Jesus to be born, non-Jewish wise men, astrologers from the East, observed an unexplained phenomenon in the heavens, and it was somehow interpreted by them as a sign of the birth of the King of the Jews. They visited another non-Jew, Herod, the Roman king of the day, and asked him about the birth of this King of the Jews. Herod (and Jerusalem, i.e. the Jewish people - Matt 2:3), now troubled, gathered the chief priests and scribes of the Jews, and enquired of them if this was actually something that he needs to be aware of. It was only then that the news got to the Jews, and they indeed would expect the birth place of a Ruler to be in Bethlehem, as prophesied by Micah.  

What is fascinating about these dramatic scenes, was the fact that the wise men made the following remark: “For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Gentiles worshipping the King of another nation? Quite strange and unique… But, what we see here is the first mention that Jesus came to be worshiped, not only by the Jews, but the whole world. And that was the reason for Jesus’ coming to the earth - to make a way for salvation for all nations so that all nations can worship Him - a fulfilled promise from Isa 60:3 “All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance”  

A line in one of my favourite hymns is “I was made to praise you, I was made to worship at Your feet”. It links to one of David’s psalms, wherein he dedicate a whole psalm of praise to God - Ps 145:10 says “All He has made will give thanks to the Lord. Your loyal followers will praise you” This is all we can do when we realise what Jesus did for us! 

Let us come and worship at His feet in this season, because “it is good to sing praises to our God! Yes, praise is pleasant and appropriate!” Ps 147:1 

Like Paul and Silas in the book of acts, worship can bring peace in the midst of bleak circumstances! Worship for the King of Kings can set supernatural actions in motion.

For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

We see how God fights a battle in 2 Cronicles 20:22. When they began to shout and praise, the Lord suddenly attacked the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeateded.