gift for jewish baby boy image
my06civics
Ezra Sydney... I really like the name Ezra, and Sydney is a family name. I want to use this for my first child, whether it be a boy or a girl, I think it sounds pretty unisex. Any opinions?
Answer
To name your child "Ezra" would be quite an honor. I am not sure how much you know about the prophet Ezra but the Jewish and Christian communities alike attribute Ezra the prophet for doing several things that helped spread the God's Word throughout the lands and he also helped in dealing with Jewish law. Here is a little history on Ezra:
Ezra was the son of Seraiah (2 Kings 25:18-21), and a lineal descendant of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron.
In the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes I Longimanus, Ezra obtained leave to go to Jerusalem and to take with him a company of Israelites (Ezra 8). Artaxerxes showed great interest in Ezra's undertaking, granting him "all his requests," and giving him gifts for the house of God. Ezra assembled a band of approximately 5,000 exiles to go to Jerusalem. They rested on the banks of the Ahava for three days and organized their four-month march across the desert.
No record exists for the 14 years between 459 BC, when Ezra is thought to have organized the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of the Israelite nation, and 445 BC, when Nehemiah first appears in the Bible's chronology. Nehemiah's first recorded act was to rebuild the ruined wall of the city. After this reconstruction, a great group of people gathered in Jerusalem to dedicate the wall. On the appointed day, Ezra and his assistants read the Torah aloud to the whole population. According to the text, a great religious awakening occurred. For successive days, beginning on Rosh Hashanah, the people rejoiced in the holy days of the month of Tishri. Ezra read the entire scroll of the Torah to the people, and he and other scholars and Levites explained and interpreted the deeper meanings and applications of the Torah to the assembled crowd. These festivities culminated in an enthusiastic and joyous seven-day celebration of the Festival of Sukkot, concluding on the eighth day with the holiday of Shemini Atzeret. On the 24th day, immediately following the holidays, they held a solemn assembly, fasting and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. Then, they renewed their national covenant to follow the Torah and to observe and fulfill all of the Lord's commandments, laws and decrees (Neh. 10:30). Abuses were rectified, and arrangements for the temple service were completed.
According to Josephus, Ezra was the contemporary of Xerxes son of Darius, rather than of Artaxerxes, and he died around the time Eliashib became High Priest
What sort of star led the wise man that went to see baby Jesus?
surferer 7
n/b Slaen,the bible do not say that there were 3 kings tnx
Answer
The Greek word for "magi" is where we get our English word magician. At the time, these men were very learned in many subjects; some Bible dictionaries refer to them as "scientists." They were not merely "astrologers" in the same sense as astrologers today, although they did study the stars scientifically, and they were interested in understanding any "signs" in the heavens (See Matt. 24:30; Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:19-20).
The number of wise men (three) has long been assumed from the number of gifts given. After all, what self-respecting wise man would travel such a long distance to pay homage to the Christ child and come empty-handed? That might be suitable for a poor little drummer boy, but not at all for a magi!
As for the star, many have speculated that it could have been anything from a comet to a conjunction of planets or even a supernova. However, these guesses don't exactly line up with the story of the nativity from the Bible. The Bible passage implies that only the wise men saw the star. (Mat. 2:8-10) If others had been able to see it, Herod could have easily found Jesus on his own. Also, the same passage states that the "star" LED the wise men from Jerusalem to Bethlehem (a distance of about six miles, going from north to south). Natural objects in the sky do not move from north to south, but rather from east to west due to the earth's rotation. For these reasons, it is very likely that the "star" they saw was a temporary, supernatural light or else a vision sent by God for their eyes only, to lead them to Christ.
Why was it God's purpose to lead them to Christ?
Matt. 2:11-15: After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way...So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to FULFILL WHAT HAD BEEN SPOKEN BY THE LORD through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My Son."
Mary and Joseph had traveled to Bethlehem for a census, not to stay there and live--and they certainly didn't anticipate having to flee to Egypt and live there until King Herod's death. They would not have come financially prepared for a long stay in a pagan land where Joseph might have had a hard time finding work. But God knew this was necessary in order to fulfill His prophecy as noted. One more Bible prophecy was fulfilled in this account, and it is found at Matt. 2:16-18: "Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged...Then WHAT HAD BEEN SPOKEN THROUGH JEREMIAH THE PROPHET WAS FULFILLED..." So, through the events we read in this account, God brought about the fulfillment of his earlier prophecies AND provided for the financial needs of His Son during the time in Egypt.
BTW, I don't buy that Jesus was two years old when the wise men arrived, either. Search the Bible text for yourself. It says NOTHING about the specific amount of time the wise men told Herod the star had appeared, only that Herod ordered babies two years and under to be killed. If Joseph had readied an addition to his father's house in which he planned for his family to live (as was the Jewish custom) and Mary and Joseph were staying in a house in Bethlehem for her comfort until it was safe to travel with the baby, I believe they would have stayed six months at the most. January and February are the coldest, rainiest months of the year in Palestine, so they would have probably waited them out. From experience as a mother of four, I know that traveling with a baby is easiest from the newborn stage up to almost six months (that's stretching it a bit). Up to this point, most babies sleep while they're moving. You also have to take into account the amount of time it took for the wise men to prepare for their journey after they saw the star in the east as well as their travel time (assuming that they likely pitched tents each night and possibly during any inclement weather) as well as any buffer of time Herod might have added in order to ensure that he got the child King.
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