The REAL Wise Men

Not a kids' story! 

I always found the Wise Men to be the most interesting characters in the Gospels' nativity accounts. This is possibly because of the mystery and many questions that surround them: who are these wise men? Why did God choose to reveal one of the biggest moments in Jewish history to people in the far East? Why would God use astrology (a practice forbidden to both Jews and Christians) to indicate the birth of his Son? Where did they hear about the coming King of the Jews in the first place? Why would they go through so much trouble to meet him?

Sadly, as we often do with the whole nativity narrative, we have taken such an intriguing part of the story and reduced it to a fable deprived of its intricacy and much of its meaning. As we approach Christmas, I'd like to introduce you to the real Wise Men - hopefully bursting many traditional bubbles and highlighting the prophetic depth of Jesus' birth. For this (surprise, surprise) we will need to turn to Scripture!

Not kings, but astrologers

Whereas traditionally they are often identified as three Wise Kings, these mysterious figures (of unspecified number!) from the East were not kings. The Greek word used by Matthew to describe them is Magi (plural of Magus). A direct translation of the word in English would be "Magician", but this would be misleading. For we are not dealing with entertainers pulling rabbits out of a hat, but rather pagan diviners who acted as spiritual advisers to kings - often turning to astrology to discern present and future events.

We often come across such figures in the Old Testament. Take, for example, the spiritual advisers to Pharaoh in Genesis 41. Following his disturbing dreams, "he [Pharaoh] called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt" (in Hebrew, "chartom" - a magician, enchanter, horoscopist) to provide him with an interpretation. Again, we find the same order of Magi attempting to replicate Moses' miraculous signs in Exodus 7: "Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials and it became a serpent! Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staves." 

However, the Wise Men that concern us are not from Egypt (South West) but from Persia (far East). We encounter this order of Magi in the books of Daniel and Esther, in relation to the Babylonian, Mede and Persian Empires that dominated the ancient world at the time of the fall of the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel. These are the Magi that are most likely to have travelled to Judea in search of the newborn King of the Jews - for these are the ones that were most likely instructed in messianic prophecy.

Messianic prophecy, not astrology

Joseph's relationship with Pharaoh (Egyptian King) and Daniel's relationship with Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian Emperor), though worlds apart in terms of culture and timeline, follow a similar pattern. Both rulers received dreams from God that they could not make sense of. They turned to their respective Magi for answers but to no avail. The interpretation of both dreams and visions, however, came from enslaved Jewish boys - Joseph, sold into slavery to Egypt by his brothers, and Daniel, a captive of Judah's first wave of deportation to Babylon. However, Daniel had a bigger challenge at hand for King Nebuchadnezzar, to make sure his Magi would not come up with a subjective interpretation of his dream, commanded that they would not only interpret the dream, but divine the dream itself - or else "you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. But if you tell me what I dreamt and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honours" (Daniel 2:5-6). Charming man!

This is where Daniel comes in. In short, God gave him the same dream he gave to the King as well as its interpretation. As a reward, the King not only made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon but "chief over all his wise men." (Daniel 2:48) - an appointment that continued past the fall of the Babylonian Empire and through both Mede and Persian rule.

This appointment was most significant for the events of the nativity, for it is within this context that the Persian Magi were exposed to Messianic prophecy. For Daniel, unlike Joseph, became a prominent Old Testament prophet - receiving a wide range of dreams, visions and prophecies concerning future world history and God's overarching plan of salvation.

Of these prophecies, two are most significant to the nativity story 

The first one is Daniel's vision of the four beasts (Daniel 7), a vision that described the rise and fall of four human empires (which we now understand to be the Babylonian, Mede-Persian, Greek and Roman) and the ultimate rise of a divine kingdom led by a divine king (a reference to the final reign of the Messiah): "I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honour, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal - it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed" (vv.13-14).

The second one is the prophecy of the 70 weeks (Daniel 9). After discovering in the writings of the prophet Jeremiah that the Jews' exile to Babylon would last 70 years before their return to the land of Israel, Daniel spent time fasting, praying and confessing the sins of his nation. It is during this fast that Daniel received a unique message from God concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the restoration of Israel's Kingdom, the rise and fall of an "anointed one" (lit. Messiah), and the times of the end. What made this prophecy unique was the fact that it came with a timeline - a total period of 70 "weeks" (or 70 sets of seven years, which equates to a total of 490 years) divided into 7 sets of 7 years (49 years), 62 sets of 7 years (434 years) and 1 set of 7 years (7 years). The first period would refer to the reconstruction of Jerusalem. The second period would refer to the restoration of Israel as a Kingdom. The third period would refer to the last 7 years of human history (as described in the book of Revelation). 

Without going into too much detail, this prophecy provided Daniel (and most likely the order of Magi he was chief of) with a countdown that would pinpoint with precision the life and death of the coming "anointed one" (Messiah). For this countdown, as the prophecy goes, would begin with "the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem" (v.25). This refers to 445 BC and the edict of the Persian Emperor Artaxerxes Longimanus that allowed Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild its walls (see Nehemiah 1). Aratxerxes Longimanus was, in fact, half-Jewish - his father being King Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes the Great) and his mother Queen Esther (a Jewish exile, see the book of Esther). As Daniel's prophecy pointed out, from 445 BC Jerusalem would be rebuilt over a period of 49 years (7 sets of 7 years). This would then be followed by a period of 434 years (62 sets of 7 years) during which the Kingdom of Israel would be rebuilt - a period that would conclude with the "cutting off" of an "anointed one" (lit. Messiah, see v.26). This takes us to the year 33 AD (the year of Jesus' crucifixion).

All this is to simply say that through Daniel, the Magi not only knew of the coming of a divine king, but even a date concerning his death - knowledge that Daniel's order of Magi most likely passed down through the generations awaiting its fulfilment.

Not really a star

With Daniel's prophetic countdown approaching the end of the 69th set of seven years, the Magi kept an eye open to the starry sky - in the belief that the birth of a new star would equate to the birth of a new person of importance. This takes us to their journey west to Jerusalem, and their request to the then Roman King of Judea Herod: "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him." (Matthew 2:2).

As I already mentioned, the fact that God apparently led these Magi by means of Astrology always puzzled me. Would God ever use a means forbidden by himself to instruct pagan diviners? Also, is it even possible to pinpoint with extreme precision a geographical location as small as a house by a star position?

When we take a closer look at the Gospel narrative, the behaviour of what the Magi described to be a star suggests it was not a star at all. I don't refer to the fact that this luminous body moved in a way that is very unusual (impossible?) for a celestial body thousands if not millions of light-years away from Earth to do, but because this same body seems to have disappeared at some point - hence why the Magi went to King Herod to enquire where the promised Messiah was prophesied to be born - namely Bethlehem (vv. 4-6). It's only later that the star reappeared and moved exactly above the house of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem - "After listening to the king, they went on their way. and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was" (v. 9).

It seems to me that the star that led the Magi was no star at all, but rather a miraculous luminous manifestation in the sky - maybe an angel?

Meeting toddler (not baby) Jesus

This brings us to the Magi's encounter with Jesus. In most nativity scenes, the Magi are portrayed alongside the shepherds. However, what the Gospel of Matthew seems to describe is something that happened considerably later! This for two reasons. Firstly, if the Magi set off for Jerusalem as soon as Jesus' "star" rose in the East, it would have taken them around 4 months to reach their destination from Persia (no aeroplanes or cars in the first century!) Secondly, when Herod realised that the Magi returned to their homeland without informing him of the child's location, he "sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the star's first appearance" (v.16). As such, the wise men never met baby Jesus - but two-year-old toddler Jesus, not in a stable but in his childhood home - and definitely not with the shepherds!

Conclusion

A careful assessment of the Biblical narrative surrounding these most intriguing figures and their historical connection with Jewish Messianic hopes beautifully portrays the depth and accuracy of prophetic utterance and the intricacy of God's salvation plan for mankind, giving new meaning to Paul's words "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman" (Galatians 4:4).

The only reason these Magi went through all the trouble to travel for 2 years to bring Jesus gold, frankincense and myrrh (expensive gifts prophetically symbolising royalty, divinity and suffering) is because they believed the Scripture (as revealed to Daniel) and their promise of a coming divine king who will one day rule the nations in truth and justice.

This Christmas, let's stay away from children's fables and silly traditions - the truth is far more exciting!