Happy Epiphany!
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, January 6, 2026 (Donate)
Today is the Feast of Epiphany also known as the
final day or the twelfth day of Christmas. After this holiday, the Christmas
season officially comes to a close until the First Advent Sunday for the
next Christmas season.
From the First Advent Sunday, until Epiphany (January
6th), it covers about month and a half! Easter holidays are the
only rival in length with its Lenten season (40 days from Ash
Wednesday to Maundy Thursday/Holy Thursday) as the countdown (like
the Advent season). Though the Easter Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday
and ends with Easter and Easter Monday—which is often taken as a legal holiday because
Easter always falls on a Sunday.
Magi From The East
But Epiphany is in remembrance of the Wise Men who journeyed
from the east to bring gifts to the newborn King. These Wise Men, often
translated as Magi, would have been wise counsel for dignitaries. Though many
nations of the past had Magi or Wise Men (e.g., Egypt, Assyria), the place most
known for them was Babylon. It was here that Daniel saved them from destruction
and became the head and greatest of their order.
It wasn’t that Daniel was a magician or anything like that,
but by the power of God, Daniel did amazing things—interpreting dreams, the
lion’s den, visions, and so much more. The Magi were likely from these same areas, which
is east of Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
Some have pondered if Daniel had left some instructions
that had been passed down through the ages to the these specific Magi who wisely put two and two together when the star appeared. Daniel discussed and prophesied
about the coming Messiah. Interestingly, there were certain prophecies and
information that God had Daniel seal up that was not to be recorded in the
Scripture (e.g., Daniel 8:26, 12:4-9).
Why did the Magi know to bring the specific gifts they brought? One
was indeed kingly—Gold. But the frankincense and myrrh were priestly and
deathly/prophet-type gifts respectively. All were quite valuable of course. How
did they know that the star they saw led to the Messiah? Numbers 24:27 give prophetic
hints, but not enough information to know to go visit a newborn king!
Like Daniel, the Magi too were given a dream. They were warned about
Herod and left via another route to return home (Matthew 2:12).
Timing
The Wise Men came later. What I mean by that is that they did not
arrive on the night Jesus was born. The shepherds did, but not the Magi. They
came later—at least 40 days later. Jesus was born and then was circumcised 8
days later by a Levite priest in keeping with the Law. Then after 40 days, Jesus
is presented at the Temple and Mary and Joseph offer doves as sacrifices (which
was the sacrifice of the poor). Anna and Simeon see the Christ child.
They return to Bethlehem. Then the
Wise Men come. They present the gifts and leave, and then Mary, Joseph and Jesus flee to Egypt to escape Herod as
Joseph was warned in a dream. Now Jesus' family have the funds (i.e., gold) to fund the trip. Remember, they just offered doves as a sacrifice of the poor.
For more details and Bible references on the timeline see here.
This means that many nativity scenes are off. The Wise Men
came later and…we don’t know how many there were! There could have been 2, 8 or
even 15 and surely came with a caravan of servants and possibly soldiers! What we know is that there were 3 different types of gifts.
Nevertheless, Epiphany remains the capstone for the Twelve
Days of Christmas. Traditionally, this is time of feasting with family and to
exchange that final gift(s) of Christmas.
Bodie Hodge, Ken
Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various
churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers
in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding
news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight
Council.
Bodie
launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal
website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken
on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
