A continued look at some of the more “obscure” parts of the “Christmas” narratives:
Last week- thoughts on the two genealogies form Matt. and Luke and how they related to a “curse” in Jer. 22:30!
Tonight, let’s do a little thinking about the Magi …(wise men).
According to the Bible, how many were there that came to Judea? (trick question!)
How many gifts? What were they? What special purpose(s) did they have?
(side-note about swaddling clothes)
Did the Magi come to the stable in Bethlehem? How do we know? Matt. 2:11, 16
Conflict! (again with the conflict?!) Okay, this time it’s not in the Bible… but dueling Christmas carols:
The First Noel: “They look-ed up and saa-aw a star shining in the ________ beyond them far…
We Three Kings: “Star of wonder , star of light, star of royal beauty bright, _____-ward leading, still proceeding…..” SO… which is it? Clue : (or maybe not?) Matt. 2:2, then 2:9
Question: Where did they come from? How did they know when to look for a star and how did they know what the star meant? No prophecy in Hebrew scripture instructs about a coming star...
But a “wise” man could know from scripture when to look up! Daniel 9:25 is an amazing prophecy which predicts exactly when Jesus would be born! How does this relate to 9:24? So 483 years (7 x 69) after the decree was issued by Cyrus the Mede to re-build Jerusalem the Messiah (King of the Jews) was to come.
How did Daniel know this decree would come? Dan. 9:1-2 What was he reading? Jer. 25:12,
Isa. 44:24-45:7 (application?)
So Daniel understands the "when" from Jeremiah and the "who" from Isa.
Now what do you know about the position that Daniel held in the kingdoms of Babylon, and Medo-Persia?
In Daniel 1, Daniel and his three buddies write the first veggie-tale: Then what happened? 1:18-21
In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream…then what? 2;2, 10-13, 17, 24, 27-28, 48
So. putting this all together….How did Persian Gentile Magi “wise men” know what it meant when a “new” star, or some sort of heavenly sign appeared in the constellations?
They knew because a Hebrew prophet named Daniel who was in charge of all the “wise men” of Persia 500 years earlier had written that the Jewish Messiah would appear that year. (Which he got from and angel and from other prophecies written generations before him!) So when the star appeared the wise headed out to Jerusalem since they were looking for the “king of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2) They did not “follow” the star until after they left Jerusalem and it “led” them to (probably) north Nazareth in Galilee, not Bethlehem. (Even though Herod's scholars had told them Bethleham.) Makes sense huh! Why would they need the star to "lead" them if they were going to Bethlehem when they already had directions from Herod!
So what does this do for you?
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