Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh: 3 Great Gifts

by David Avoura King

Copyright © 2015 David A. King

All rights reserved

Cover photograph and design Copyright © 2015 David A. King

All editing and text written by David A. King, except for Scripture quotes taken from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Disclaimer

Although the author has made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author does not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

This work is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh: 3 Great Gifts

Every year the Western World celebrates what they believe to be the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. The date that most people celebrate in December is unscriptural, but for this e-book I just want to look at the gifts that were given to the baby Jesus, from the wise men, which are often mentioned in relation to His birth.

Now firstly we should look at where this is mentioned, starting in Matthew 2:1-2

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.' "

Then drop down to verses 10-11 where we read:

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 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."

So why did these wise men from the East give these particular gifts to the baby Jesus and to Joseph and Mary? As surely a baby is too young to appreciate such things, so Joseph and Mary would have accepted the gifts, keeping them for Jesus, for when He would get older.

It should be obvious to us all what gold is, but not everyone knows what frankincense or myrrh are.

Gold

But first, what sort of gold was given to them? And why give gold?

Gold has always had value, people regard it highly. Rich people often have gold in some form or another, as a means of storing their wealth. And you can be certain that it has always been popular with kings.

If you have any gold, it is worth something, and you can always sell it for money. Except that really, gold is money. Gold has for a long time been used for currency, or for backing currency in the past. In today's modern world, central banks have moved away from gold-backed currencies to debt-backed currencies, but before this happened, all currencies were generally backed by gold - i.e. banks would issue promissory notes, promising to pay the bearer on demand the sum of five pounds or whatever in actual gold.

Before banknotes though people used gold coins, and one of the most well-known gold coins in circulation today in the UK is the Sovereign, which was introduced in 1489. This was when money was real money, and other coins in gold were also in circulation even before that.