1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2saying, “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.” [simple_tooltip content=’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.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.’](Matthew 2:1-11)[/simple_tooltip]
It is remarkable that these men from the East would interpret the appearance of any star, regardless of how unusual it might be, as a sign of the birth of the Jewish Messiah. What did they know about Jewish prophecy?
Matthew 2:1 calls these men “wise men.” The actual word used in the Greek text was magos, which was of foreign origin, denoting a Magian (hence Magi) or an Oriental scientist or magician. It is commonly believed they came from Persia. This is significant because Babylon was where Daniel was taken as a captive and elevated to the head of all the magicians. He came through the lions’ den victoriously and had gained the reputation as the greatest wise man of all (Dan. 6). Eventually he was promoted to be the head of all the wise men. [simple_tooltip content=’Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.’](Dan. 2:48)[/simple_tooltip]
Daniel was the prophet to whom God gave the interpretation of Jeremiah’s seventy-weeks prophecy, which pinpointed the coming of the Messiah [simple_tooltip content=’in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.’](Dan. 9:2[/simple_tooltip], [simple_tooltip content=’24 “Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
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.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”’]24-27[/simple_tooltip]; [simple_tooltip content=’And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.’]Jer. 25:11)[/simple_tooltip]. As head of the magicians (or scientists) in Persia, Daniel made this knowledge known to his colleagues. No doubt, through the centuries their successors continued to study his prophecy and anticipated the event. It is very understandable that the appearance of a new star moving in a different fashion would be taken as a special sign of the Jewish Messiah’s birth.
The religious Jewish scholars were taken by surprise, but the Persian magicians were not. They had been studying God’s Word through Daniel. The Word makes us wise unto salvation. [simple_tooltip content=’and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.’](2 Tim. 3:15)[/simple_tooltip]
Let the Word instruct you today, and you will be wise to make good decisions and to know the season you are in.
