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| Photo: Karen's Whimsy |
God’s eternal gift of Jesus the Messiah as described in chapter two of Matthew’s Gospel included gifts that were prophesied centuries before
Jesus was born. One was the Star of Bethlehem. The other was the arrival of the
Magi.
Let’s unwrap the gift of the Star of Bethlehem first. Was
it a comet? A meteor? A UFO? Even today, the star confounds and ignites
debate, as seen here and here.
Why do we settle for unbelief when we can’t fully
understand the origins of His gifts right away? The fact is, God may reveal
information after the passing of time. Sometimes He doesn’t. And sometimes He
shares formidable clues such as biblical prophecy.
During the time of Moses, one of ancient Israel’s
enemies Balaam was recruited by the king of Moab to curse Israel. Balaam tried to slam Israel until God intervened. Instead of a flow of curses, Balaam delivered
incredible prophecies to Israel, including this one:
A Star shall come out of Jacob, a Scepter shall rise out of Israel (Numbers 24:17).
Balaam tried to sully the destiny of Israel for
money wound up proclaiming its future king for the glory of God!
Now fast forward to the birth of Jesus. The Magi saw
the Star of Bethlehem from where they were in the east. They deduced that the
phenomenon in the sky related to the birth of king because of the incredible juxtaposition
of the planet Jupiter, the king planet and the star Regulus, which was understood by the ancients as a king star. Frederick A. Larson also has created a phenomenal video extensively detailing this cosmic event on its site, The Star of Bethlehem.
The celestial interplay occurred within the constellation of Leo, or, to say it in Hebrew, Aryeh. Aryeh is associated with the Lion of Judah. According to Mayim Hayim Ministries, the star Regulus, the brightest in the constellation of Aryeh, means treading underfoot, signaling the Messiah's defeat of Satan, which was prophesied in Genesis 3:15:
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ”
Some scholars
identify the Magi as wise men who could have been from Babylon and Persia who knew the teachings of Daniel when
he was exiled in Babylon. The star
directed them to the Baby Jesus and hovered over the house where he lived with
Mary and Joseph. The family no longer lived with the animals when the Magi
arrived, although many traditional Christmas manger scenes show this.
Tradition also usually depicts the wise men as three
men, but Matthew didn’t detail how many Magi arrived. We don’t know how many gifts
they brought, either. Gold, frankincense and myrrh were mentioned, but perhaps
the Magi were wealthy and brought more. Whatever the case, the Magi fulfilled a
prophecy from Isaiah:
The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising...They shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord (Isaiah 60:2-6).
The Magi seem like late guests to the Christmas party
because they showed up a while after Jesus’ birth. If they were wise men who knew
Daniel’s teaching, however, their presence symbolized another gift yet to come. Daniel
wrote extensively about the end times, the future period when God will wrap up
human history and quench the power of the adversary. As the Magi worshiped Jesus at His First
Coming as a baby, their presence foreshadowed the promise of Jesus’ Second Coming in the future.
Both the Star of Bethlehem and the Magi’s visit were mysterious
gifts from God. Mystery and majesty surround them because mystery and majesty
surround God, the One who set in motion His Christmas plan long, long, long
ago in the Garden of Eden.
Next:
Jesus would be preceded by a messenger and bring light to Galilee
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