God Speaks to the Heart of the Magi: Matthew 2:1-8

Isn’t it funny how we associate three with how many wise men visit King Jesus? We sing it and Lew Wallace even gave them names in his book, Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Yet, if I consider King Herod and all of Jerusalem being disturbed by the question about where the King of the Jews is, it is hard to believe that only three men came to ask after the Messiah. I think it likely that there were many, perhaps even two or three dozen magi plus their entourage. That would make an impressive entrance into the city and cause people to be ‘disturbed’.

Awaiting the signs

Nonetheless we have these magi who come from enemy lands. How have they come to be here? The most reasonable response I have heard is that they were perhaps the descendants of the exiles of time of Daniel. They would have been those who were as devout as Daniel had been, those who had studied the Word and prophesies just as Daniel did. They must have eagerly awaited the signs. Daniel was placed over the wise men of the kingdom and astronomy was part of their studies (Daniel 2:27). If this seems odd because we associate astrology with the time period, it seems it was more accurate to say that they studied the stars rather than that they practiced astrology.

Handiwork of God

From Genesis 1:14, we know that God established the stars as signs for the seasons and years and in Job 38:31-33, the Lord himself names at least four constellations. Man had been studying and apparently naming them for some time when the Wise Men arrived at find the Messiah. ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork. No sound is heard from them, yet their voice goes out to all the earth,’ (Psalm 19:1, 3-4) and these were men who knew the scripture and searched the skies for God. Those who seek God do find him, as the often heard saying goes, ‘Wise men still seek Him.’

These men saw a star that led them to the Messiah because they were familiar with the Word and God’s creation. I admit that I am not familiar with much of nature, but what little I have learned always points back to the scriptures and a greater depth of understanding. His handiwork reflects and points to the Word that we have been given as our guidebook. These men had a special insight which must have come from God, just as Daniel’s and Joseph’s understandings of dreams were from God. Living with God and in Christ offers us the opportunity to that depth of understanding in the Word. I don’t know that I have this kind of understanding, like the magi.

Unique relationship

But I think our understanding reflects the unique nature that a relationship is. Each of us is called to have a relationship, not the same exact relationship as everyone else, with God. Just as my relationship with my mother is not the same relationship my sister ahs with my mother. They are different, yet we are both daughter and she is mother. We have a different relationship with God though we are all His children. He gives us special insight into what we need to know and do as we grow in our relationship with Him. I’d like to start noting better what God is saying to me during the seasons of my life, perhaps as part of my prayer journal. Do you keep notes of what God says to you, the insights He reveals?