About Jesus - The Visit of the Wise Men - June 21, 2021
Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:44 pm
Matthew 2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, 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 demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw 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 exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
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The fifth book of the Hebrew Bible is called “Deuteronomy” which means “repetition”. Before he died, Moses assembled the Hebrew nation for the purpose of recounting their history and repeating much of the instruction they had been given. Much of what he said on that occasion is included in the book of Deuteronomy.
Here is a passage from the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy, verses 6 to 8: “...the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any other people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
In spite of the lowly beginnings of the nation, the Hebrews were more successful in some ways than the majority of other nations of the ancient Middle East. One of the reasons for their success may have been that the Hebrews, more than most of the neighboring nations, placed an emphasis on literacy. Not only did they have a body of their own literature (sometimes divided into its major portions - the law and the prophets), young people of every class were encouraged to memorize the first five “books” of that literature - the books of Moses also known as the Pentateuch.
For many generations, the effort to encourage all Hebrews to learn to read was facilitated by the development of a specific industry of copying Hebrew literature. People called “scribes” were specially trained in methods to ensure, so far as humanly possible, the accuracy of this work of copying the ancient scrolls.
In the first millennium B.C. and in other countries of the region, people in the upper classes had access to the Hebrew scriptures. How much they understood of the writings of the Hebrew prophets is unknown but it seems likely that at least some them observed the benefits that accrued to the Hebrews from reading those scriptures and, as a result, studied available copies of those ancient documents to learn what they could about the God of the Hebrews and the socio/economic system that had been given to the Hebrews through Moses and other Hebrew prophets.
Again, exactly which of the prophecies the “wise men from the east” may have studied is unknown but their enquiry in Jerusalem was “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” From this we can deduce that they may have been familiar with such prophecies as these:
“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;” Deuteronomy 18:15
“...there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,..” Numbers 24:17
“from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks:.... And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:... And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,...” Daniel 9:25-27
If the wise men understood “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” to be a reference to the commandment of Artaxerxes (see Ezra 7:1-26), it would have not been difficult for the wise men to calculate that the seventieth week of the prophecy was not far off.
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, 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 demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw 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 exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
********************************************************
The fifth book of the Hebrew Bible is called “Deuteronomy” which means “repetition”. Before he died, Moses assembled the Hebrew nation for the purpose of recounting their history and repeating much of the instruction they had been given. Much of what he said on that occasion is included in the book of Deuteronomy.
Here is a passage from the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy, verses 6 to 8: “...the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any other people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
In spite of the lowly beginnings of the nation, the Hebrews were more successful in some ways than the majority of other nations of the ancient Middle East. One of the reasons for their success may have been that the Hebrews, more than most of the neighboring nations, placed an emphasis on literacy. Not only did they have a body of their own literature (sometimes divided into its major portions - the law and the prophets), young people of every class were encouraged to memorize the first five “books” of that literature - the books of Moses also known as the Pentateuch.
For many generations, the effort to encourage all Hebrews to learn to read was facilitated by the development of a specific industry of copying Hebrew literature. People called “scribes” were specially trained in methods to ensure, so far as humanly possible, the accuracy of this work of copying the ancient scrolls.
In the first millennium B.C. and in other countries of the region, people in the upper classes had access to the Hebrew scriptures. How much they understood of the writings of the Hebrew prophets is unknown but it seems likely that at least some them observed the benefits that accrued to the Hebrews from reading those scriptures and, as a result, studied available copies of those ancient documents to learn what they could about the God of the Hebrews and the socio/economic system that had been given to the Hebrews through Moses and other Hebrew prophets.
Again, exactly which of the prophecies the “wise men from the east” may have studied is unknown but their enquiry in Jerusalem was “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” From this we can deduce that they may have been familiar with such prophecies as these:
“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;” Deuteronomy 18:15
“...there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,..” Numbers 24:17
“from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks:.... And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:... And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,...” Daniel 9:25-27
If the wise men understood “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” to be a reference to the commandment of Artaxerxes (see Ezra 7:1-26), it would have not been difficult for the wise men to calculate that the seventieth week of the prophecy was not far off.