Most of us have heard of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ from the infamous song of the same name. Fewer people know that the twelve days is an actual period of Christian feast days beginning on Christmas Day itself and running up to today, the feast of Epiphany on January 6th. What is Epiphany, you may ask? Epiphany is from a Greek word meaning ‘to reveal’, and the Christian feast by that name celebrates the revelation of Jesus to the Gentiles, represented by the wise men who came from a distant land to visit the newborn king.
Have you ever wondered why the wise men are included in the Christmas story? We dutifully place the three kings in our nativity scenes next to the shepherds (not minding that the kings are not counted and arrived well after the shepherds left), but, like the shepherds, their inclusion seems random. Why wise men? And why the three random gifts? The answer, believe it or not, goes back to Abraham and includes the Queen of Sheba.
God’s blessing to Abraham was never solely meant for his descendants. Instead, God promises that all the nations would be blessed through him (Gen 12:1-3). Nor was God’s blessing of Israel meant just for Israel. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 makes it clear that Israel was called to live in such a way that the nations around them were drawn to their God.
In the story of the Queen of Sheba (1 Kgs 10), we catch a little glimpse of the story going as it should. Solomon’s great wisdom becomes famous around the world, and it points to the greatness of Solomon’s God. The Queen of Sheba hears of this wisdom and travels with caravans of camels, loaded with gold and spices, over the desert in order to investigate. She finds that the stories are true and worships the God of Israel.
But this glimpse does not last long. Solomon turns away from his God, and Israel turns with him. Over the centuries that would come, Israel lapses into spiritual darkness, and their power as a nation fades along with them. Through this decline, the prophets look forward to a day when Israel is restored, and the Gentiles come to worship the God of Israel. In Jeremiah 60, the prophet writes that the glory of God will bring light in the middle of darkness, and the kings of the earth would stream toward that light in caravans of camels over the desert, bringing gifts of gold and frankincense.
At this point, you may have filled in the next chunk of the story, and you’re probably right. The wise men come (Matt 2), like the ancient Queen of Sheba, in order to see the light in the darkness---the newborn king of Israel. They look for him in the ornate palace in Jerusalem, but do not find him there. Instead, they find the king---the baby---in a humble house, and they worship him.
So let us stop today, the day after the twelfth day of Christmas, to remember that God’s blessing is meant for all nations. That we, most of us being Gentiles, have been made “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph 3:6). This Epiphany we are reminded that the promise made to Abraham is indeed “good news for all people,” Jews and Gentiles alike.