The Message of the Wise Men

The Message of the Wise Men

"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."

Matthew 2:2

Almost everyone knows the story of the star shining over the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.  While it’s a wonderful story regarding the birth of our Savior, there is more to it than that.  It brings up many questions; where did the star come from; why was it so big and is it even true?  The scriptural truth is that there was no star over Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born.  However, a great star appeared to some Wise Men in the Far East on the night Jesus was born. It signified that the King of the Jews was born. In the New Revised Version and in the New Living Testament Bibles, they read like this.  “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” When was that?  Three months to a year after the birth of Jesus. 

Tradition shows that the wise men came at time of Jesus birth, however this is not true. We know this from ancient studies and charting of the stars.  We also know that these Wise Men had to travel, many months or years by camel, to reach Bethlehem from the Far East.  It’s also interesting to note that Jesus was not in a stable at that time, but in a house with Mary and Joseph as we can read in Matthew 2, verse 11.

Some traditional views say there were three wise men, but no one really knows how many there were; only that three gifts were mentioned.  We also know they followed a Star. Bible scholars as well as scientists have studied this phenomenon for uncountable years and all have different opinions and possibilities.  However, if you believe the Bible to truly be the Word of God, there is no doubt in my mind that it happened the way the Bible says it did. 

One source, the Bible itself, may hold a clue.  In Numbers 24:17 (NLT) is a prophecy that God told Balaam speak:  “I see him, but not here and now. I perceive him, but far in the distant future. A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel.”  This scripture tells us some interesting facts; far in the future from Balaam’s time, something was going to occur and a “Star” was going to appear and it would come from the line of Jacob.

In Matthew beginning in chapter one, it tells the genealogy of Jesus Christ and part of that is Jacob, grandson of Abraham.  Fourteen generations later, Jesus is born in Bethlehem. Then, in Numbers 24, it speaks of a scepter, which the dictionary describes as a symbolic staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling king as an item of power and a sense of divinity.  This scepter will come out of Israel.  Written centuries before Jesus was born, totally covered what happened that night in Bethlehem. 

At the time of Jesus birth, there was no mention of the shepherds seeing a star; only about the angel of the Lord and then a multitude of angels all praising God. Apparently, the star did not appear until we read about the Wise Men in Matthew 2, beginning with verse one. These men came from the East which was far away from Bethlehem.  They studied the stars and discovered one star that stood out from the others. This star, which they called “His Star”, proclaimed a King was born in Bethlehem of Judea.  They left their country and the star appeared to go before them.

They stopped at King Herod’s palace and asked him if he knew of a new king that was born.  Herod was evil and told them to continue their search and come back to him so he could go and worship him.  Herod really wanted to kill the new born King, but God warned the wise men in a dream to go back to their country another way. When the Wise Men didn’t return after a length of time, King Herod sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the babies under two years old.  This is another clue that by the time Herod heard about it, Jesus may have been 1 to 2 years old.

When the Wise Men left Herod, they continued their search and the star went before them until it came to Bethlehem and stopped over the place where Jesus was. The Bible says they came to the house where Jesus was and fell down and worshiped Him.   Their search was ended; it had been a long journey, but they had searched until they found the Child.

This is the Message of the Wise Men, “Search for Him until you find Him!”  Then worship Him!  Friends, we all need a Savior; this whole world needs a Savior.  If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, search for Him.  He is not hiding, but is waiting for you at this moment.  Call to Him and he will come to you.  It is your heart that needs to search for him and not your feet.  When you find him, He will be with you forever and ever.

We don’t know what this year will bring, but we know it will be different because of a different government.  What can we expect?  Only God knows and if we believe the Word of God you will know that God is just as much in charge as he always is and will be until the end of time.  I also know that God’s hand is still on our country or we would be living like the people of third world countries. 

Won’t you join me in prayer that this coming year be one of peace, love, contentment and the joy of knowing the Lord of Eternal hope will abide with us.  Amen!