The Wise Men of the East
A New Slant On
A Great Story from
“The Greatest Story Ever Told”
Matthew’s gospel includes the only story in the Bible of a very interesting group of mysterious, wise men known as magi travelling from faraway lands in the Middle East to the land of Israel. Their mission was to worship the coming Messiah. These mysterious magi, who have generally been written off as being a myth, or magicians and astrologers, were actually part of an elite class of highly trained academics who could trace their roots back in Babylon to six hundred years. Their skills in the craft of plotting the course of planets and stars seen in the night sky, combined with their knowledge of the ancient Hebrew texts, were renowned throughout the Middle East. Today, they would be recognised as scientists and astronomers, highly respected for their knowledge and wisdom.
They travelled for four months over harsh country, bearing gifts for a special king. They believed a star which had only recently appeared in their sky was announcing his soon coming birth. This king was prophesied in their ancient texts to be the promised Messiah.
“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,” Num.24:17
But Matthew tells us nothing of their background. Where did these mysterious men come from?
The evidence points to Persia. In those days it had become one of the foremost nations in the study of astronomy. Six hundred years before this story played an intriguing cameo role in the greatest story ever told, King Nebuchadnezzer of Babylon had invaded Israel and taken the cream of the nation’s smartest young men back to Babylon. His intent was to assimilate their knowledge into the Chaldean culture with the aim of broadening the knowledge base of his advisers and academics. The smartest of those young Hebrew men proved to be Daniel.
Daniel’s brilliance in his advisory capacity to the king eventually led to him being appointed by Nebuchadnezzer as his Chief Administrator. “Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many 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
As the chief advisor to the king, it would have been a matter of course for Daniel to introduce his beloved Hebrew manuscripts into the palace library and teach his staff of advisors from those texts. In the Book of Daniel, he earnestly prays forgiveness for his nation Israel and offers his humble supplications to God as he quotes from the writings of Moses, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. His prophecy of the coming Messiah in the Book of Daniel was surely an integral part of the motivation driving the magi to undertake such a long journey to worship the coming Holy One; the One whom they believed was destined to rule the world.
“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:…” (Dan.9:25)
Daniel’s influence on the Babylonian Royal Family was still highly respected in his later years, as shown when Nebuchadnezzer’s widow, the queen mother, told her grandson King Belshazzar of a wise old man named Daniel who had been his grandfather’s most trusted advisor. “Call for Daniel,” she advised, “he will interpret the writing on the wall.” (Daniel 5:12)
It was Daniel’s intense love of God’s word and his obedience to it that strengthened his faith, enabling it to reach down through hundreds of years and impact the hearts of the magi of Persia.
“Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations,” Deut.7:9
The magi knew the ancient prophecies of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and specifically the temple, had been fulfilled by a large number of Jewish people released from their captivity by the Babylonian king, Artaxerxes. His trusted Jewish friend, Ezra the priest was commissioned to lead the taskforce. Ezra recorded that event in 458 BC. The foundation was laid back then for the Messiah to come! Ezra 7:11-28
As they cross referenced through their countless pages of texts and studied their astronomical charts which had been accumulated over centuries, this team of brilliant minds came to a unanimous decision. They had seen His star rising in the east, lighting the path to Jerusalem. Agreement had been reached; their Messiah was about to be born in Israel. Once the revelation was unanimously agreed upon, they had no choice: they could not rest until they had bowed before Him in worship.
It is reasonable to assume that the magi in Matthew’s gospel were of Jewish descent because it is hard to accept that a team of educated, wealthy Gentiles would be willing to travel a thousand kilometres or so through difficult country, enduring extreme weather over a period of months for the purpose of worshiping a king of a foreign nation; a foreign nation under Roman occupation, to boot! Even more so, a future king who was yet only a newborn babe.
Contradictions in the Nativity Records:
“Then Herod,…sent forth and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” Matt.2:16
It is thought by many believers that by the time the wise men reached Bethlehem that Jesus was a young child of approximately two years and that’s why Herod ordered the slaughter of boys up to that age.
This understanding, however, ignores Luke’s record of the events surrounding the time of Jesus’ birth:
“Now when the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.” Luke 2:22
That law decreed that when a child was born, the parents would dedicate the newborn once the mother had completed her time of purification, which for a male child was a total of 40 days. (Lev. 12:2,3)
Luke’s record then further adds: “So when they had performed all things according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.” Luke 2:39
So, do the two gospels contradict each other in their nativity accounts?
The answer is, no they don’t. But, in order to clearly see the different aspects of each story let’s summarise their different points.
Matthew records:
- Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem
- The magi visit and worship Jesus,
- Herod’s plan to kill Jesus,
- God’s warning to the magi and later to Joseph of Herod’s plan,
- Joseph immediately flees with his wife and new-born son to Egypt
- Herod kills all the boys two years and under in Bethlehem and surrounding areas
- When Herod dies two years later the family returns to Israel and settles in Nazareth.
Luke records:
- Caesar decreed a census throughout the Empire and demanded every citizen had to return to their hometown to be registered in the count,
- Joseph and Mary comply by going from Nazareth to Bethlehem
- The inn had no vacancy and Mary placed her newborn Son in a manger
- Shepherds were told by angels of the birth of the Messiah and they worship Him
- Upon completion of Mary’s time of purification the family travel to Jerusalem to have Jesus dedicated in the temple,
- The family returns to Nazareth,
All God’s word is truth. 2Timothy.3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
Herod’s decision to kill all the boys aged up to two was based on the answer the magi gave to him when he asked them what time the star appeared. “Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.” Matt. 2:7 Considering the tasks they had to complete before setting out on their journey it’s likely they would have answered somewhere in the region of nine to twelve months ago, starting from the time the star first appeared in their sky.
When the star first appeared over Babylon the wise men would not have immediately set off for Jerusalem. As already mentioned, they would have tracked the star over a reasonable period of time before the revelation became clear that the star’s appearance was heralding the birth of their promised Messiah. The decision to follow the star and worship their new king would not have been made overnight; it was too long a journey to undertake on a whim. Once it was clear to them that the star’s appearance was heralding the birth of the Messiah they then would have needed more time to organize all the supplies required for such a long journey. The magi had no idea how old the Child would be at that time or if he had yet been born. All they knew was that the star was still leading them to Him.
We are not told the number of men who escorted the magi as they travelled to Jerusalem. Instead of just three solitary men on camels, they may have numbered as many as a dozen or so. Certainly, it must have been a spectacular convoy with a retinue of pack camels, assistants and armed soldiers. The latter being necessary to protect lives as they travelled through wild country with their numerous supplies and their rich cargo of gold, incense and spices.
Summary.
Consider the following scenario which hopefully, ties together the sequence of events that occurred at the time of Jesus birth:
The wise men arrived in Bethlehem only a short time after the shepherds had returned to their flocks, having worshiped the newborn Christ; their arrival was probably a little under the 40 days required for the purification time. That assumption is arrived at when we merge the information supplied by both gospels. The magi must have seen Jesus before He was taken to Jerusalem for the dedication. That means Jesus was only a month old, or thereabouts, when they visited Him.
The star led the wise men to Bethlehem and then hovered over the house. Before the wise men arrived in Bethlehem the family had moved out of whatever temporary accommodation they had used and moved into a house. That was possible because the census had been completed and many travellers would have needed to return home as soon as possible. Bethlehem was Joseph’s hometown so they would have now been able to move in with relatives or friends. Perhaps Joseph and Mary had previously planned to stay a short while in Bethlehem after the census to catch up with friends and family. That would have given Mary time to recuperate from the tiring journey and the exhaustion of her first birth. Considering Bethlehem was only a day’s journey from Jerusalem, it would make sense for Mary to spend her time of purification in Joseph’s hometown before going up to the temple in Jerusalem for Jesus’ dedication.
In Bethlehem, Joseph received God’s warning that Herod was planning to kill Jesus and they must flee to Egypt. Accordingly, they quickly packed everything. But first, they needed to make a short stop-over in Jerusalem to dedicate the boy in the temple. That would have been the top priority listed in their return trip before they had received God’s warning. Their last obligation before heading off to Egypt was to make a quick detour to Nazareth to say their goodbyes. After all, their message from God gave them no hint how long they would need to stay in Egypt. They could be away for years. And so it would have been important to present their new-born son to family and friends. There would have been possessions in Nazareth the family would need whilst in Egypt: Joseph’s tools of trade for instance. The original plan had been to return to Nazareth and raise their son there. Now, they had been forced into making an urgent change, but they needed to quickly tie up some loose ends before moving on to Egypt.
Whilst growing up in Bethlehem, Joseph would have been familiar with the back roads to Jerusalem, (nothing more than beaten tracks used by the locals) and he could have taken his family back that way, rather than risk meeting the soldiers on the main road.
By the time Herod realised the wise men had deliberately left Israel without returning to him he reasoned the Child could have been at least a year to eighteen months old. It is possible he stretched out the age limit of the boys to be destroyed to two years to make sure he had every possible candidate killed.
The family had been in Egypt two years when Herod the Great died. His realm was then broken down by Caesar and Judea was handed over to his youngest son, Herod Archelaus. Archelaus was still a teenager when given rulership of the province of Judea and in his immaturity he fashioned his style of rulership after the cruel ways of his father. That was when God had a message sent to Joseph to bring His Son out of Egypt. And so Joseph took his family back to Nazareth in Galilee.
Consider Daniel: Nebuchadnezzer’s plan to train some of Israel’s finest young men and assimilate them into the Babylonian academia and then select the “pick of the crop” to become part of his advisory team tends to show his dissatisfaction and distrust with his magicians, enchanters and sorcerers. His willingness to kill the old bunch as reported in Daniel chapter two was a further sign of his long-held frustration with them. It was the strategy of: ‘let’s get rid of this lot and start again.’
His hope was these well-disciplined, noble Hebrew youths would inject integrity, wisdom and sound knowledge into their culture. In fact, Daniel’s impact far outlived the life span of Nebuchadnezzer’s vision.
Consider God: He was privy to Satan’s strategy to destroy Israel’s future by taking the nation’s best young men as captives and immersing them into the pagan capital of the world. But God used Daniel’s faith to build a scholarly team of wise men; men with faith in His word and knowledge of His planets to make a Royal Visit six hundred years later celebrating the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Howard Shepherd
November 2022
2,400 words