The dictionary defines Epiphany as — a divine manifestation - or the twelve days after Christmas; it celebrates the visit of the wise men to the infant Jesus. Looking at the first definition I see it as: A moment of clarity, a realization of a new truth an aha moment if you please. I read this verse over and over looking for a wonderfully appropriate moment to share with you about how God has given me an aha moment….but something kept bothering me about this verse…... After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him"
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him
I know why King Herod was disturbed but why was all Jerusalem disturbed too….I can understand that the King is at the apex of the Jewish world and doesn't want anyone to knock him off the heap, but the people? You know the ones who haven’t heard from God in 400 years? The ones at Passover who say maybe the messiah will come next year...every year. Why are they not jumping for joy and looking for their messiah? Could it be that they don’t recognize the signs that this is HIM? Let’s read on—When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:"
'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel"
They are quoting a verse from Micah 5:2 it seems pretty clear but maybe they needed more, after all a new Messiah means a whole new way of life, doesn’t it? That is a big change and I am sure big change didn’t come any easier to them than is does to us…..you know...kicking and screaming??? Did they have any other indicators that This was the Christ? Yes they did, a lot of scriptural evidence points to Jesus being the Christ over 300 different prophecies. But what about ones that show the evidence they had that Christ could be identified? From the beginning? As a baby? They had some of those too.
The prophecies said that the Messiah would:
Be born of a woman (Gen 3:15) - ok we all qualify for that one
Be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) - a lot tougher this was definitely before invetro
Be descended from Abraham, Isaac , and Jacob, from tribe of Judah, and the family of Jesse, and the house of David - This really narrows it down; but it could still be more than one man.
Be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) - little town, right family, we are getting close
Be Presented with gifts (Psalm 72:10) hmmmm not a lot of wise men running up to most of us with gold….a pretty good indicator.
Be the son of God (Psalm 2:7) - Angels are hard to argue with on this one.
Be threatened by Herod (Jer. 31:15) We will get to this one later.
The fulfillment of all these prophecies should have been a really clear indicator that THIS was the long awaited baby. So the people of Jerusalem shouldn’t have been surprised. So why were they disturbed? Maybe it is a problem with translation? Surely they weren’t disturbed maybe joyful, or excited?? In the Greek text the word used is tarasso it also translates as distressed, terrified, shaken, disturbing, alarmed, frightened, confused, or troubled. HMMMM there is no joy in this word, so therefore we don't have the joyful coming of the messiah that we would expect. Of course there is that little verse from Jeremiah that says he will be threatened by Herod, understandable; you know power hungry leader and all. But that gives us a clue that all is not well…...I think this highlights the real problem and reason they were disturbed. A new government was coming - a new King! The old one might not like this huh. Somehow the Roman government was not all that keen on sharing their power. The Messiah coming is a great idea to think about ….but the reality is scary. There are still Roman soldiers outside in the streets, and nobody better get out of line, Herod is taxing everything we make and the value of the denarius keeps dropping. Soon we will only be able to buy 10 donkeys for one denarius instead of the current 16. Hmmmm ok maybe I can’t come up with the donkey values but people tend to like the problems they currently have instead of taking the mental plunge into the unknown. And a living breathing Messiah is a BIG change, he is much safer in the pages of the torah and in the imagination that you can control…..talk about CHANGE! It’s much easier to deny. It is hard to look a whole new world in the face. To look at all the evidence and have an EPIPHANY that is why it takes God. But when we deny and don’t look for what we know is true than we miss our blessing and what a blessing it is.
As I write this on the first day of a new year, a time on contemplation, I wonder if we are so different from those ancient people of Jerusalem. We have the same motivations and feelings, and the same God who loves us. We are still people who would rather deal with the evil we know than the unknown we don’t. Even if it is a world changing blessing. We study our bibles and look forward to the return of Jesus, or we say we do….will we be surprised though, when he does come back? What are the signs and scriptures we should be looking at so that we are not caught unaware? Firstly, Jesus himself states that no one will know the day or the hour of his return. He says we will know the season of his return. Jesus and later Paul gives us some indicators of things to watch for showing us that the time is near. He tells us to look for :

THE BIRTH OF ISRAEL - the miracle of the dry bones occurred (May 14, 1948) and a country was recreated in one hour of one day! This is the generation that shall not pass away before His return.
RETURN OF THE ONE PURE LANGUAGE, HEBREW, TO ISRAEL - Prior to the restoration of Israel in 1948, Hebrew was a dead language.  Now Hebrew is spoken throughout Israel.
RETURN OF THE ETHIOPIAN JEWS TO ISRAEL -Zephaniah 3:10-11 "From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, will bring My offerings.  In 1984, Operation Moses saw the airlift of 15,000 Jews who had already fled to refugee camps in Sudan to escape starvation.  In 1991, Operation Solomon flew 20,000 Jews to Israel from Ethiopia itself.  A further airlift began in June of 1999, aimed at transporting the last 3,000 members of the Quara Jewish community from northeastern Ethiopia to Israel.
RETURN OF RUSSIAN JEWS TO ISRAEL -In the 1970's and 1980's there was a mass exodus of Russian Jews out of Communist Russia.  In 1999 the Associated Press reported a dramatic increase in the number of Jewish immigrants from Russia, bringing the largest number of Russian Jews to Israel since the early 1990's
INCREASE IN KNOWLEDGE AND TRAVEL - Billy Graham was quoted as saying, "ninety percent of all the engineers and scientists who have ever lived are alive today."  Air travel, space travel, DNA research and human cloning are all examples of the rapid increase in knowledge in our generation. 
REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE, RESTORATION OF TEMPLE WORSHIP AND ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN JERUSALEM -There are many groups already working on preparations for the new temple.  The blueprints are already done, the temple garments have been made, and there have already been attempts to lay the cornerstone of the temple.  The only thing standing in the way of the construction of the new temple is Islam's third holiest site, the Dome of the Rock and government support for such an undertaking. Some archeologists believe that the temple mount is actually 340 feet south of the Dome of the Rock site, putting the Dome of the Rock within the Court of the Gentiles.  This may be the court outside the temple that is left out in Revelation 11:2 which says "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it,
THE GOSPEL WILL BE PREACHED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD - Billy Graham did this on Sept. 14 after 9 -11.
FALSE PROPHETS AND CHRISTS - David Korech and Jim Jones both claimed to be Christ.
WARS - Um continually but two major world wars for a start
Famine, Earthquakes, pestilence, and disease - they are all with us and increasing.
Hostility to believers - have you tried posting the ten Commandments anywhere lately?
EXISTENCE OF A 200,000,000 MAN ARMY IN THE EAST -China's army reached that number in the 1960's
TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MARK OF THE BEAST -The technology now exists for a biochip that could be implanted under the skin. Is it the mark of the beast to be used by the antichrist?  We can't really know.  What is significant is that people are being softened to the idea of a mark or an implant as a means of maintaining security, providing medical information, and regulating a more interdependent world.  As attitudes change, fears subside, and people are convinced of the need for such a mark, the true mark of the beast will be easily introduced to the world by the antichrist.
PLANS FOR THE ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT
The United Nations, World Trade Organization, International Criminal Court, UN peacekeeping/police force, and world bank, are preliminary steps to the formation of a one world government.  We now have the communications technology, transportation, and the pro-globalization media necessary to usher in the one world government.  The increasing terrorist threat, the world economy, and the middle east conflict will only speed up the formation of this governing body as fear and promises of better security make more people willing to give up their national sovereignty for global governance.
INSTANT COMMUNICATION AROUND THE WORLD - Internet? Satellites? It’s a small world these days.
We see all these things coming to pass and we are disturbed. Just like the people of Jerusalem, but we too need to look not at our fear of the unknown or we too might miss our blessing. Epiphany is also when we as Gentiles got our first clue that Jesus was not just for the Jews he was for whole world. The word Epiphany also means the twelve days after Christmas; it celebrates the visit of the wise men to the infant Jesus. Yes we all know the story but do we realize the meaning? This is when Jesus was given to the gentiles too! That is when we get the gift of Jesus for ourselves so we should listen when Jesus tells us, do not let your heart be troubled for all these things must come to pass….So why should we not be disturbed? Because we have Hope, Our big brother Jesus traded places with us and took our punishment, He is building us a place as his bride. It took God six days to create this galaxy, the earth, the animals, the plants and everything we can see and lots we can’t. What a magnificent creation must Jesus be building for us in the last 2000 years!!! In this creation is a HOME for us with capital letters! We know this feeling the place where we are safe and secure from all harm and fear and doubt. Where true love, the kind we get only a small glimpse of here in this life awaits us. Imagine the feeling you had when you first met the one you truly love that feeling that life is sooo amazing that nothing could ever be bad again….or the feeling you got when you first saw your child, so small and helpless looking to you, when you look into those wise eyes and truly know LOVE. That indescribable welling up of joy from your soul. This is just a small watered down drop of the ocean of love that awaits us. We are not to be disturbed!! We are to be joyfully telling everyone the GOOD NEWS! The Good News that Jesus Christ was born for Us, all of us. You don’t tell good news with fear and trepidation, and you don't tell good news with guilt and manipulation. You tell GOOD NEWS with joy and thanksgiving looking forward with breathless anticipation. As Christians we get the advanced copy, the inside scoop…..and it is GOOD NEWS. I read the book all the way to the end and guess what!! God Wins!! And so do we, we have joy without sorrow, no pain, no tears, and deeper stronger, love than we can imagine. And I have a good imagination! Our new world will be all light and no darkness, remember when you were a small child, the anticipation as you go to bed on Christmas eve. Waiting for Christmas morning and sleep was impossible because tomorrow was going to be so great? There is no sleep in God’s new world, it is lit from within from his presence and no one sleeps because it is so great! We get all this and an audience with the creator of the universe who loves us! We need to share this good news! And live in his victory!