Christian Women Online

By the time you have been a Christian for a few years, you should have become pretty familiar with a lot of the historical accounts that the Bible relates.

How many of you know the account of Jesus’ birth? What about ‘David and Goliath’, or ‘Samson and Delilah’, or ‘Noah and the Flood’? What about Gideon, or Lot’s Escape?

As I have been reading my Bible over the last few years, I have been surprised to find that I haven’t always had my facts straight, even when I was convinced I knew the story well.

Let me ask you a very simple question.

How many wise men visited Jesus?

Now I know that some of you will already know the correct answer. The rest of you either have no clue, or are convinced that you know – but are wrong.

How do I know this? My husband and I minister in a lot of different places. I have often asked that question. I get people to write down their answers so one person won’t influence another person’s answer. Usually about 70% of the congregation either get it wrong, or won’t answer the question because they’re not sure.

Of those who get it wrong, most give the same answer – three.

OK. I’ll concede. It MIGHT be correct – but we don’t know for sure.

Why?

There’s a myth that’s been perpetuated. Christmas cards typically show three kings on camel as they go in search of Jesus. Songs reinforce the myth. “We three kings of Orient are …….” - so goes the Christmas carol.

But where does the Biblical account tell us there were three kings? Nowhere. The only thing we know about the number of Kings is that it was plural. Yes. 2+ kings. That’s it.

For a lot of you, that will come as a surprise - and you thought you knew the account of Jesus’ birth pretty well!

My point is this. If we can get something this basic wrong – and be convinced that we are right – what else are we unwittingly getting wrong? What else do we think we ‘know’ from the Bible – and don’t?

In my next post on this subject, I’ll give you another example of a commonly held misconception from the pages of scripture. Even more of you will get this one wrong!