The Faith of the Wise Men

December 31, 2023 Background Scripture: Micah 5:2 - 4; Matthew 2:1 - 12 Lesson Passage: Matthew 2:1 -12 Our lesson presents men who traveled from the East to Palestine seeking a baby who was born to reign over the Jews. Who were these men referred to by Matthew? The Gospel of Matthew, written in Greek, uses the word "magi" to describe them. The English phrase "wise men" is translated from the Greek word "magi". In the first century, magi were recognized variously as astrologers, Oriental scientists, and magicians. Two men in the book of Acts are referred to using this word or a variation of it: Simon and Elymas. It seems that the use of this word was very broad in the first century considering its use in the New Testament. The magi referred to by Matthew describe their inspiration in a way that would lead one to think of them as either astrologers or astrological scientists. As astrological scientists, they would have been familiar with the "normal" appearance of the night sky. The alignment of the stars has long been used for navigation at night. Anything unusual about the night sky would have stood out to them. However, their interpretation of the "unusual" change is worth noting. They interpreted the presence of a new star in the night sky as the sign of a king being born in the location indicated by the star. We don't know how they would have come to interpret the presence of the star with the birth of a ruler of that land. Nevertheless, God used them to alert the Jewish leaders (spiritual and political) to the birth of Israel's Messiah. Since God did warn the magi later and gave them directions for leaving Israel, it is quite possible that God directed them to Israel at the start of their journey. Whatever their inspiration was for going to Israel, they went seeking the child to show humility and submission to him as a ruler. It was reasonable for them to go to the political leader of the land supposing that the newborn was a descendant of the current ruler. They went to the capital city of the Jews, Jerusalem, and asked about the child born to rule them. Being dumbfounded, and threatened, by their question, Herod sent for the spiritual leaders of the Jews. He asked them about the Jewish prophetic writings concerning the birth of a Messiah. The Jewish spiritual leaders cited Micah's prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem in Judea. Herod sent the magi to Bethlehem in their quest for the child. I-le gave them instructions to bring back the location of the child to him. Herod was not going to allow a child to grow up to replace him as ruler of the Jews. When the magi started out for Bethlehem, the star that led them to Israel reappeared and led them to the house where the child was located. When they arrived at the location indicated by the star, they saw the child, Jesus, and presented gifts to Him. They gave Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Those were gifts worthy of royalty. The Bible does not reveal how many magi traveled to Jerusalem. We know there was more than one and that's all. The assumption is made based on the different types of gifts that there were three of them. Again, we don't know how many—it could have been two or it could have been hundreds based on the reference to them. After they had acknowledged the child and presented their gifts, God warned them in a vision to not return to Herod. They returned home using a different route to avoid Herod. If they had not heard from God previously, they certainly heard from Him after visiting the child. The faith of the wise men could very well be ascribed to them obeying God's words of warning. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. The wise men followed God's warning which indicates they believed God's word when He revealed His presence to them in that vision. Robert C. Hudson December 3, 2023