O Come Let Us Adore Him

Every Christmas pageant has three Wise Men dressed in either bathrobes and cardboard crowns, or in purple velvet as royalty. Usually the Wise Men sing "We Three Kings of Orient are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar..." as they come down the church aisle to the manger scene.

Who were these kings who came to worship Jesus? Where did they come from? What did they see in the sky and how did they know what it meant? Oh yes, and how many were there? One last question: Why did they go to Jerusalem and not Bethlehem?

The Wise Men (kings) came from the east. The trade route from Egypt ran through Israel northeast through Damascus, up to Haran, and followed the Euphrates River to Babylon and points east. The Wise Men, who were perhaps astrologers living in the east, studied the stars. When they saw an unusually large star in the sky they checked out their sources of information including prophecies concerning signs in the sky. They ran across a prophecy concerning a coming great king, made by an obscure prophet, Balaam, from Pethor in northern Mesopotamia. Balaam's story is found in Numbers 22-24. His prophecy (made around 1425 BC) is found in Numbers 24:17:
"I see him, but not now;
"I behold him, but not near.
"A star will come out of Jacob, a scepter will rise out of Israel...."

Balaam knew about the nation of Israel because the king of Moab had hired him to curse this large company of poeple coming toward his country, but God wouldn't let him do it. (My, this is getting complicated. Read the story, Numbers 22-24)

Anyway the nation of Israel was settled in Judea (or Israel) by this time and that's where the Wise Men headed. They wanted to greet this new king and honor him with gifts. They set out for Jerusalem since that was the capital city, and where they supposed the king would be. When they arrived, they went to Herod's palace and asked where the new king was. AND they told Herod WHY they had come.

Matthew 2:1-12
"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 'In Bethlehem in Judea,' they replied, 'for this is what the prophet has written:

But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. (Micah 5:2)

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.'

After they had heard the king they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."

Do you really think three Wise Men would create a stir such as what occurred, or do you think perhaps it was a large delegation that appeared at the palace? Only three kinds of gifts were named but they cover what is fit for a king: gold (of course), frankincense (the religious gift) and myrrh (for his burial), but the Bible doesn't say how many people came - perhaps three, perhaps more.

NEW KING? WORSHIP HIM?

Next time I'll tell you King Herod's reaction when the Wise Men didn't come back.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita