Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh 1

The Wise Men travelled a great distance to greet the Savior in Bethlehem. They presented gifts to Mary, Joseph and Jesus: gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Over the next few days I will post a few thoughts about each of these gifts.

Gold

Matthew 2:11

And when they had come into the house,

they saw the young Child with Mary His mother,

and fell down and worshiped Him.

And when they had opened their treasures,

they presented gifts to Him:

gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Gold was very valuable in Biblical times – just as it is today. To find gold you have to dig underground. This was very difficult back in Bible times because they didn’t have the tools and machinery as we do today. God digs deep into our hearts to find the gold that comes from the testing of our faith:

-Job 23:10 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold;

-1Pet. 1:7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

Frankincense and Myrrh grow as a plant form; Gold is formed by God and found in the earth and streams. In the same way, the Lord forms gold in the core of our beings - gold that represents the spiritual victories and excellence of Christ that we walk in day by day.

Gold has always been a means of exchange…something that for Mary & Joseph would come in handy as they would soon travel to Egypt and would need food, clothing and shelter. The Lord asks us to exchange impurities in our hearts and lives for the gold of His Divine nature.

Symbolically Gold represents Jesus as our Divine king. It also represents the purification process we go through in our trials as a Christian.

Gold is one of the only metals that when heated with fire will not lose anything of it’s nature, weight, color, or any other property. Gold is totally resistant to corrosion. Genuine faith is the same way. When we obtain true faith, it is made stronger through trials and suffering. Gold is used in scripture when talking about the strength of someone’s faith. Job refers to gold after he has been through all his trials. (Job 23:10)

It is interesting to me that the final verse in the Bible about Gold tells us that we will spend eternity in a place where gold is so plentiful - even the streets will be made of some form of pure transparent gold (Rev. 21:21)

Part Two: HERE

Translation from Diana Rodriguez on Twitter - @dianarodriguez

Cuando el oro es pasado por el fuego, no perderá nada de su naturaleza: ni su peso, ni su color, ni ninguna otra propiedad. Con la fe pasa lo mismo.



More Christmas material (Bethlehem): Here and Here