WISE MEN SEEK THE KING

Background

It is very likely that the wise men would have been from Parthia, which was Rome’s chief rival to the east. The Parthian Empire included Persia and Babylon. If you recall, Babylon and Persia were both at one time in control of Israel. It was Babylon that took the southern Kingdom of Judah into captivity and the Persians who allowed a large group of Jewish people to come back and rebuild Jerusalem.

The wise men (or magi) were learned court advisors in Babylon, Persia, and Parthia. The wise men were scholars that studied science (including astronomy), agriculture, mathematics, history, astrology, and the occult. They were known for their ability to interpret dreams. If you will recall, the wise men were unable to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream so they were condemned to death until Daniel was able to interpret the dream and save the wise men. After that, Daniel was put in charge of the wise men. No doubt, Daniel would have been influential to the wise men after rescuing them and being their leader. They would have been exposed to other Jewish exiles as well.

They ended up becoming the most prominent and powerful group of advisors in Babylon, Persia, and eventually Parthia. Historians tell us that no Persian was ever able to become king without mastering the scientific and religious disciplines of the magi and then being approved and crowned by them.

Herod the Great had a father named Antipater. Antipater had been appointed as governor of Judea by Julius Caesar. Antipater was able to get his son, Herod, appointed as prefect of Galilee. While he was in that role, he was able to put a stop to Jewish guerilla bands who continued to revolt against Rome.

Herod ended up fleeing to Egypt when the Parthians attacked Palestine. He went to Rome in 40 BC and was declared by Octavian to be the “king of the Jews”. He invaded Palestine the next year, and after several years of fighting, drove out the Parthians and established his kingdom.

The Wise Men

Isaiah 11:1 “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”

Isaiah 11:10 “In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.”

Isaiah 49:6 “he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.””

Luke 2:29-32 ““Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.””

The wise men would have most likely traveled around 1000 miles.

Isaiah 55:6-7 ““Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 9:6-7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

The gifts, which the three men carried, were fit for a King. Equivalent to today’s prices, a pound of frankincense was worth $500 a pound, and a pound of myrrh was $4,000. Today, each are priced at approximately $15 a pound. However, the value of a pound of gold was valued at $600, and in today’s market, a pound of gold could cost 10 times that amount. Frankincense and myrrh are both resins extracted from trees in the Burseraceae family, also known as the torchwood or incense family. Frankincense comes from the dried sap of Boswellia trees, while myrrh comes from the sap of the Commiphora.

Gold was often associated with royalty, and was often given to royalty as a gift. Frankincense was a costly, beautiful-smelling incense that was used only for the most special of occasions. It was used in the grain offerings at the Tabernacle and Temple, in certain royal processions , and sometimes at weddings if it could be afforded. Myrrh was a perfume. Mixed with wine, it was an anesthetic. It was used to anoint bodies in preparation for burial. Those were the magi’s gifts to Jesus. Gold for His royalty, frankincense for His deity, and myrrh for His humanity.

Do we seek the Lord Jesus? Have you sought Him for salvation? Do we seek Him through Bible study? Prayer? Worship privately and corporately? Do we seek to obey Him and lead others to know and worship Him?

Herod

Herod was not Jewish, but Idumean (Edomite), Herod married Mariamne, heiress to the Jewish Hasmonean house, in order to make himself more acceptable to the Jews he now ruled. He was a clever and capable warrior, orator, and diplomat. In times of severe economic hardship he gave back some tax money collected from the people. During the great famine of 25 B.C. he melted down various gold objects in the palace to buy food for the poor. He built theaters, race tracks, and other structures to provide entertainment for the people, and in 19 B.C. he began the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. He completed many other projects to appease his subjects.

But Herod was also cruel and merciless. He was incredibly jealous, suspicious, and afraid for his position and power. Fearing his potential threat, he had the high priest Aristobulus, who was his wife Mariamne’s brother, drowned—after which he provided a magnificent funeral where he pretended to weep. He then had Mariamne herself killed, and then her mother and two of his own sons. Five days before his death (about a year after Jesus was born) he had a third son executed. One of the greatest evidences of his bloodthirstiness and insane cruelty was having the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem arrested and imprisoned shortly before his death. Because he knew no one would mourn his own death, he gave orders for those prisoners to be executed the moment he died—in order to guarantee that there would be mourning in Jerusalem.

Psalm 2:1-3 “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.””

Discuss the hostility against the Lord that we see back then and today.

Psalm 2:6-9 ““As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.””

Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The Chief Priests and Scribes

Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

Matthew 15:7-9 “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”” (from Isaiah 29:13)

Titus 1:15-16 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”

James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

John 5:39-40 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”

Matthew 12:30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Psalm 2:10-12 “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”