Wise Men

Seek And You Will Find

Numbers 24:17 ““I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth.”

Matthew 2:1–12 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

The account of the Magi visiting Jesus is different than the the other people mentioned in the record of Jesus’ birth. We know where Joseph and Mary came from and where the birth took place in a stable in Bethlehem. We know that the shepherds were in the fields tending their sheep. We know that angels appeared in the sky to announce his birth. We know that Simeon and Anna were in the temple. We know the approximate time frame of all of these that were involved. We do not know much about the Magi or exactly when they arrived.

First lets look at who they were. We use the term Magi which is often translated as wise men. Many theories have been developed over the years. Some suggest that they were Medes. If we look at historical records we will see that the Medes were conquered by the Persians and they overthrew the Babylonians. If we go back to the Book of Daniel we read the when King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem he took the promising young men to train in the wisdom of his country. Nebuchadnezzar would take people from a conquered nation and place them in another country and repopulate it with people from another country thus destroying the ties with their homeland. The elite being taken back to Babylon. He recognized the importance of making use of the best minds of the conquered countries. Daniel was one of those young men who received training in all of the knowledge of Babylon. We know from reading Daniel that he was able through God’s help to interpret the kings dreams and was promoted to be the chief over the other wise men in Babylon. I think it is a correct interpretation to think that Daniel not only learned the wisdom of Babylon, but he was able to teach the Word of God to the other wise men. The Prophet Balaam even though he is remembered for not being obedient to God in all things, prophesied in Numbers 24:17 ““I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. 2 Peter 2.15-16

“They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.”

I think that Daniel instructed the wise men to be looking for that star. Another theory has the three wise men each coming from a distance one from the East, one from the North, and one from the South and meeting on the road then traveling together.

I mentioned the kings dream. He was greatly troubled by his dream and called for his wise men, magicians, astrologers, Sorcerers, and Chaldeans. He asked them to tell him what he had dreamed and the interpretation of the dream. Only Daniel by the Holy Spirit was able to do it. I want to take a moment and look at the difference between Astronomers and Astrologers. Astronomers are scientists who study stars, systematically map the celestial bodies and their movements. Astrologers attempt to predict future events by interpreting the movement and perceived patterns within them. Scientists reject astrology. Daniel had knowledge of Balaam’s prophecy, he would have communicated that knowledge to the other wise men and future wise men would have been looking for that star.

We refer to this star as the Star of Bethlehem. Many astronomers have tried to identify that star. Haley’s Comet was recorded to be in the sky and visible to the naked eye in 12 BC. Uranus passing by Saturn and Venus in both 9 and 6 BC, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars also in 6 BC. A hypernova in the Andromeda Galaxy in 5 BC, 4 Supernovas in 4BC and 2 BC, A Chinese nova and comet in 5 BC.

Johannes Kepler witnessed the planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn all of which can be seen on a clear night, come into conjunction making a bright light. What is different Kepler saw a bright light in the center that was unusual.

How many wise men were there? We generally refer to three based on the number of gifts that are recorded. The appear in historical records after the 4th century as Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar. Given the late dating it begs the question if those are their real names. In one place the number of Magi is listed as 12, One of the early church fathers, John Chrysostom wrote that there were 14. One thing that would be evident there would have been many helpers who would have accompanied them. They would have needed to help with the day to day needs of the Magi and would have taken care of the animal in the procession.

The next question is the exact year. If we look at the dates given for the appearance of unusual star activity. We see a range 12 BC to 2 BC. When we look at historical records given the time of Herod’s death, Jesus could have actually been born from 4 to 2 BC. This leads some commentators to think that the star was visible up to 2 years before Jesus was born giving the Magi time to make the journey before the actual birth. Some Christian traditions celebrate January 6 as Epiphany, 12 days after the birth of Jesus. Another theory is that they did not arrive until after Mary and Joseph had been to the temple for the purification rites. Another theory is that it was 6 to 18 months later. This would coincide with Herod’s decision to kill all the boy babies under 2 years of age.

Peter makes reference to a morning star rising in our hearts, testifying to Jesus and prophecy coming from the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:16–21 “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The next question is why did they go to Jerusalem? Did the star take them there or did they go for another reason? Did they go expecting to find a new king in the palace? When they arrived in Jerusalem and went to the palace, they asked Herod “where is he that is born the king of the Jews?” Herod was disturbed and all Judea with him. Herod was not a nice man. He had killed his wife and sons because he was afraid that they might try to kill him and take over the kingdom. The people were afraid because they didn’t know if they would be killed as well. Herod asked the chief priests and teachers of the law where the Christ was to be born. They searched the scriptures and reported back that he would be born in Bethlehem. The people who should have known had to search. This is a sad situation when the people who should have been watching were not and gentiles from a great distance were searching. Herod told the wise men to go to Bethlehem and when they had found the child to come back and tell him so that he could go and worship him also.

When they set off for Bethlehem the star reappeared and led them to the child. It says that he was in a house. So it would seem that lodging was found and they had been there for a while. They worshipped him and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense ,and myrrh. Why did the star disappear and then reappear? did they confuse their direction by going to Jerusalem? Had they not gone there Herod might never have heard that Jesus was born. If they had not listened to the message in the dream. Jesus might have been killed instead of all the baby boys. Joseph and Mary and Jesus went to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath, but this took place to fulfill scripture.

This morning we have considered a familiar passage of scripture. One that many people know whether they are believers or not. There are a lot of questions about what really happened, how many wise men there were, and where they came from. Let’s follow the scripture and build our faith on what is known. There is the old saying; “wise men still seek him.” That is a good thought for today. Let’s continue to study God’s Word and learn more about Jesus, glorify God and enjoy him forever.