3rd week of Advent
What do you know about the magi? Who were they? Where did they come from? How many of them were there? How long was their journey? Why did they care that a Hebrew king was born?
What do we know about these Magi? Not much. Where did they come from? “The east.” But specifically, where in the east? How far east? Pittsburgh? New York City? London? We know they came from the east and from a long way away, but we don’t really know exactly where. Most scholars agree they came from Persia.
How many of them were there? Again, we don’t know. Early Church traditions suggested that twelve to fourteen magi visited Jesus. Then, a second-century church leader proposed that these men were kings because of the Old Testament prediction that kings would worship him (Isaiah 49:7). He also concluded that there were three kings based on the number of gifts Luke mentioned.
“Magi” comes from the ancient Persian word “magus,” which described astronomer-priests who could interpret dreams and were fascinated by astrology, spells, and incantations. The basic form of magi is the root for words like “magician.” The word “Magi” in Jesus’ day referred to those who were experts in the “workings of the heavens,” and the “study of the stars.” Today, they would be called “astronomers.”
But these men were not only experts in studying the heavens; they also knew biblical prophecy. They must have had knowledge of scripture to even recognize that a “Messiah” was coming. But how could that be? How can astrologers from Babylonia/Persia know biblical prophecy? Why would they even care that a “King of the Jews” was born?
The wise men of Babylon studied the stars and constellations for a long time. We have an Old Testament story about them building a tower to the heavens (Genesis 11:1-9) – not just to heaven, as we probably learned in Sunday School. It was a tower aimed at the heavens so they could observe the movement of stars and planets more closely. Their tower was not destroyed because they were astronomers, but because they started to become astrologers, relying on the predictable movement of the stars and planets to forecast their own futures.
We know that during the Jewish exile in Babylon, Daniel, a faithful Jew and prophet of God, rose to such prominence that he became the “chief of the wise men of Babylon” and the third most important ruler in the kingdom. “Then the king (Nebuchadnezzar) placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men” (Daniel 2:48). When the Persians conquered Babylon, King Darius the Mede promoted Daniel to a high position in the kingdom.
These wise men of the East studied the Old Testament scriptures and prophecies. Nine months before Christmas, God sends an angel to tell Joseph and Mary about the birth of His Son. However, hundreds of years before Christmas, God sends a holy man—Daniel—to the Eastern peoples to prepare their highest caste, their wise men, to respond to the birth of His Son.
For more details about the magi, why they came, and the star they followed, read my book Christmas Worship and the Birth of Our Savior, available on Amazon or at www.burshilling.com.