LEARNING DAILY

Matthew 2:1, 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 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”.

The story of the birth of Jesus never gets old; in fact, it seems to bring more thoughts to explore. For example, who were the wise men? Were they kings from the East? Were there just three or were more individuals involved? So, I decided to find answers.

The “magi” were from the area of Persia, the country we know as Iran; they were astronomers, possibly from those Daniel had saved when he interpreted the dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar. Since Daniel was in captivity in Babylon for seventy years, he had the opportunity to share prophetically about the coming Messiah. It may have been through Daniel that these men had heard prophesies. They might have known a prophesy from Numbers 24:17 spoken by Balaam, “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult.” As scholars, the magi may have known this prophecy and had been watching for its fulfillment.

When they did see “the star”, they traveled the 800-plus mile journey to Jerusalem to see the “the One born King of the Jews”. Once again, consider the travel they had to take. They, no doubt, traveled over the ancient routes to get to Jerusalem and, then, to Bethlehem. The time needed to travel this distance, and the challenges involved are significant to consider when remembering the wise men and their part in this finding the Messiah.

When they got to Jerusalem, the reaction by “King Herod and all of Jerusalem” (Matthew 2:3) was “troubled”. David Jeremiah writes, “When King Herod was troubled, the entire city was troubled”. “King of the Jews”? That meant trouble for Herod, Rome, and even the Jews! He brought in the chief priests and scribes and wanted to know where “the Christ was to be born”. They showed him the prophecy from Micah 5:2; that’s when Herod called in the wise men from the East to inquire when they first had seen “the star”. The secrecy involved might have been done because Herod did not want the Jews to know he was inquiring about the age of the Child. Would the Jews had made this public in order to protect this baby?

I doubt the wise men knew what kind of person King Herod was. They knew nothing about a plan to kill all male babies born around the time frame of the first appearance of “His Star”. God obviously knew and would warn them to not return to Herod and they would return home a different way.

What I find interesting is something all Believers need to do – the wise men were paying attention to the signs. The birth of the King of the Jews, the Messiah had been long told of. The very specific prophecies about a star and about Bethlehem were known and they recognized them. God has given all people the specifics of what to look for in His Word, telling all who seek and pay attention the conditions in the world regarding the return of the “KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS”! The question is about whether Believers know what they are and are waiting attentively, walking the narrow way as best they can! The wise men came seeking. When the King of the Jews was not where they thought He would be, they continued to seek Him until they found Him. The difficulty of getting to where He was and the amount of time it took Him was certainly rewarded as finding Him brought them great joy. The result was that they “fell down and worshipped Him”!

There is much we can learn from the wise men from the East!

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