CONVERGENCE

Convergence: 1) the act, fact, or condition of converging; 2) the point at which things converge.

Converge:1) to come together or tend to come together at a point; 2) to move or be directed toward each other or toward the same place, purpose, or result. (Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition)

A check of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible reveals that neither "convergence" nor "converge" appear in the Bible; yet I contend that the principle has been there all the time. With the benefit of hindsight (which is not always 20/20 but is usually clearer than present or future sight) we can see that Galatians 4:4 speaks of a moment of convergence. "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law," Galatians 4:4 (NKJV)

The New Living Translation says, "But when the right time came..." From God's perspective, the right time was a time when many things converged. At the top of the list there is the matter of prophecy. Without delving too deeply into the subject, the following Scripture gives us a clue.

²⁵ "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.
²⁶ "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. Daniel 9:25-26 (NKJV)

From the time that the decree was issued to rebuild the walls and streets of Jerusalem (Artaxerxes Longimanus in 445 B.C.) until Messiah was cut off (crucified) there would be 69 weeks of prophetic (360 day) years, or 483 years. While this does not pinpoint the time of Messiah's birth, it comes close. Interestingly, the prophecy of the 70 weeks of years (the afore mentioned 69) plus the final week, which is 7 years yet to come, was given to Daniel. Daniel was a righteous Hebrew lad, taken into Babylonian captivity by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 B.C. Daniel, for about 70 years, would maintain his integrity while serving under several kings as both an administrator and as a Magi. As the time of the Savior's birth approached, who were the people who realized what was about to happen? It was the Magi.

¹ 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,
² 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." Matthew 2:1-2 (NKJV)

Not only did the prophetic calendar converge with the time of Jesus' birth, but with most of the known world under the rule of Rome, there existed a time of relative peace (Pax Romana), a well developed system of roads was in place, and many peoples were united by a common language. At just the right time Jesus was born, which meant also that at just the right time He died and rose again. The world was in a state that made the spread of the gospel.

All of that leads to my simple conclusion for today. Just as the First Advent of Jesus the Christ occurred at a time when many things in the world converged, so will it be at the Second Advent of Jesus the King. This may help to explain some of the many things which are currently happening on planet earth. Most of the politicians and the pundits would have us think that either things are spinning out of control or that man can fix things if only ____________. The truth is that nothing is out of God's control, including the fact that soon there will appear on the world stage a man who deceives many into thinking that he has the solution.

Next time we will look at some of the things that seem to be converging on that point in time. Until then, keep looking up, for your redemption draws near (Luke 21:28).