The Magi

Who were these Magi? Over the years the word Magi took on different meanings and has been interpreted to mean different things. Magi is not a translatable word but is simply the name of a certain religious tribe in Persia. When the Bible doesn't go into detailed explanation it is because it is already explained somewhere earlier in the Bible or it was an understood custom of that day. We can look in the book of Daniel to find that the ancient Magi were a hereditary priesthood of the Medes credited with profound and extraordinary religious knowledge. You may remember from the book of Daniel that one of the things that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, did was take Judah into captivity. While there the Babylonian Empire and the magi were very heavily influenced by the Jews. We see in Daniel 5:11 that one of the titles given to Daniel was Rab-mag, the Chief of the Magi. After the Jews were taken captive to Babylon, a large portion stayed in that area. These wise men who came to see Jesus probably came from the Babylonian area and were descendants of the Jews that where taken there captive. Many of these captive Jews followed their rich Jewish heritage and traditions. I believe these men studied the scriptures and knew Daniel's prophecies about the Messiah and also about a star coming out of Jacob in Numbers 24:17. Daniel 9:27 also gives the number of years until Messiah would be cut off and these descendants would have been knowledgable of this prophecy and must have been looking for him. In Matthew 2:2 they said they saw HIS star in the east. They evidently did not know the prophecy in Micah for upon arriving in Jerusalem they started asking everyone “Where is He that has been born King of the Jews?” When Herod the king heard of this he called in the priests and scribes and inquired where the Christ would be born. They led him to Micah 5:2 which said He would be born in Bethlehem. These scribes and pharisees, the religious sect of the Jews, knew the scriptures yet they were not looking for the messiah. Even with Daniel 9:24-27 giving the exact number of years from Daniel's prophecy to when Jesus, Messiah, would be cut off they still were not looking for him. How many times do we recite the word of God yet don't understand what we are saying due to religious traditions that blind us to the truth? Are we as blinded by tradition as these pharisees and scribes were because we read the Word of God through the traditions of men instead of being illuminated by the Holy Spirit?

I also find it interesting that Bethlehem is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew name Beith-Lehem, which means House of Bread. Did you ever think about the fact that God had Jesus, the bread of life, born in the town of Bethlehem, the House of bread? John 6:33 says, “ for the bread of God is that which descends from heaven and gives life to the world.” Nothing with God is mere coincidence. From the beginning God has woven His redemptive plan throughout scripture and given us glimpses of His plan through Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the prophets.

Do you think about the faith it took for the wise men to journey from Persia to Jerusalem based on a star in the sky and prophecies they had studied? The star appeared at the birth of Jesus but it did not remain there to guide them their entire journey for Matthew 2:9 states that the star they had seen in the east, indicating it had not traveled with them throughout their journey, appeared as they left Herod and led them and stood over the house that baby Jesus was staying in. Again the pictures of the wise men offering gifts to Jesus in the stable are not based on scripture but tradition. The Biblical account in Matt. 2:11 simply presents an unnumbered party of unnamed "wise men" visiting later after his birth, with Jesus described not as a baby but a child, and residing in a house, not a stable, with only "his mother" present.

The Scriptures do not tell us how many wise men came to see Jesus. Tradition teaches three due to three gifts but that in no way is an indication of how many traveled to honor Jesus. Most the time the magi comprised of 12-20 men and would travel in caravans of 50-100. They traveled on very fast and strong horses, not camels as depicted in the pictures. This is why we need to study the scriptures for what the word of God says and not just accept traditions that man has put into place. We have pictures in our mind based on man's pictures that we have seen, and we need to have the Word of God in our mind and draw accurate pictures from His Word.

Some say the star appeared in time for the wise men to make the journey and arrive soon after Christ's birth. Others say they started their journey and arrived much later due to Herod killing the babies 2 yrs and younger. Either way they knew the prophecies and believed them to be true in order to be willing to step out on a journey to find the Christ child. I love the fact that these wise men upon seeing Jesus fell to their knees and worshiped Him and paid homage to Him. The three gifts are also important as they each had meaning during that time period and they also had prophetic meaning. Gold as a precious metal was given to a King so they were acknowledging Jesus as the King of the Jews, frankincense was given as a sign of devotion to God and was acknowledging His role as priest, and myrrh was used to embalm and anoint the dead speaking of His role as savior.. These gifts were very costly gifts. Some speculate that these gifts were sold to provide for their travel and well being when they fled to and lived in Egypt. Fleeing to Egypt was also foretold in Hos. 11:1 as God says “Out of Egypt I called my son”.

I like to look at several things we can learn from these wise men. They allowed a star, light, to open the eyes of the scriptures to them. They stepped out on faith to follow the prophecies and traveled to Jerusalem, they fell down and worshiped Jesus, and they obeyed God when He spoke to them in a dream not to go back to Herod. Are you allowing the light of the Holy Spirit to open up the Word of God to you? Wise Men still seek Him!

Don't just read the Word of God, but seek to know God through His Word.