Posted on : 05 Mar, 2006
Subject : Wise Men From the East
 Wise Men From the East
One year, at Christmas time, I saw this printed on a woman’s sweatshirt: “Three Wise Men…Yeah, right!” I smiled at the humor. In our present culture, three men of wisdom harmoniously in pursuit of the same goal is, well, not as commonplace as it ought to be. For most people, it seems that Christmas is the only time they think of the ‘wise men from the east’ who visited the infant Messiah.
What Do We Know?
Firstly, we do not know for certain how many ‘wise men’ there were. They brought three different gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. From that fact, combined with ancient tradition, it has been assumed that there were three men – but the Scripture does not specify.
Secondly, the ‘wise men’ were NOT present at the nativity. The shepherds visited the newborn Messiah and His family in the stable, but the ‘wise men’ did not arrive until possibly about 2 years later. [By the way, the Messiah was not born in December, but in springtime.]
Thirdly, Scripture does not actually call them ‘wise men’. In the original Greek of the 2nd chapter of Matthew they are called ‘magos’ or ‘magi’ [Strong’s 3097], which is the word from which we get ‘magick’ and ‘magician’. In Acts, ‘magos’, ‘mageuo’ and ‘mageia’ are translated as ‘sorcerer’ or ‘sorceries’, when used in reference to Elymas, Barjesus, and Simon [sometimes called ‘the magus’]. The same word is sometimes translated as astrologer, soothsayer, or seer. So, these visitors, were associated with magick and mysticism.
Finally, in fairness, we are not absolutely certain that the ‘wise men’ were all men! ‘Magos’ is, in a way, similar to the word ‘Levite’, in the sense that it can be applied an entire priesthood caste, regardless of gender.
From the East
Marco Polo, in his book, “Travels”, mentioned a story he had heard while traveling through Iran in the 12th century about the ‘wise men’ who sought out the Messiah. It is from those old Persian traditions, first published in the West in 1298, that we get the supposed names of the magi: Balthazar, Gaspar, and Melchior. According to tradition, the magi were in agreement that the sign they had seen in the Heavens signified that a great child was born. One expected the child was a king, and brought the gift of gold. Another believed the child was a god or messiah, and brought frankincense as his offering. And the third thought the child was a great healer, and brought myrrh. After they saw the child, they concluded that each of them was correct. The Iranian legend recalled that the tiny Messiah had given the three of them a stone.
Babylon, Assyria, Persia, the Medians, Chaldeans, and the kingdoms that followed them, are all to the east of Israel. The phrase ‘from the east’ signifies that the travelers came from one of those areas.
Magi
Who were the magi? The words ‘magi’, ‘magus’, and ‘mageuo’ are Greek transliterations of ‘majusian’, a Babylonian / Persian word that designated the priests of various religions – most specifically the priesthood of the Zoroastrian religion.
Zoroaster [also known as Zarathustra] lived about six centuries before the birth of Messiah – at about the same time the prophets Lehi and Jeremiah were living in the vicinity of Jerusalem. He taught that there is one God [Ahura Mazda], and that there is also an Evil Spirit who opposes the works God.
The ancient Hebrew prophet Daniel served as the royally-appointed chief over the magicians, soothsayers, and astrologers in Babylon. [Daniel 4:9] He was “ten times better than all the magicians and psychics in his entire kingdom.” [Daniel 1:17-20] Daniel was “head of the magicians, psychics, astrologers, and fortunetellers.” [5:11] He a magus within the Babylonian kingdom, and lived in the fifth century BCE. Is it possible that he, as head of the Babylonian magi, may have taught their seers the Hebrew prophecies that expected the eventual birth of the Messiah?
We Have Seen His Star
It is quite worthwhile for us to recognize that these magi, from whichever country, and from whatever religious tradition, were what we would today classify as pagans. That is, they were from a spiritual tradition that was not Israelite. They, watching the heavens, saw an astronomical sign with astrological significance that they understood signified the birth of the Messiah.
We ought to notice that people whom the Scriptures categorize as ‘heathens’ were able to identify the Messiah. During his adult ministry, demons called out his identity before His apostles did. The congregation of Israel, in general, was slow to recognize Yahshua as Messiah.
Did Daniel perhaps tell the Babylonian magi that a star would appear as a sign of His birth? Were the magi Zoroastrian priests, who expected the birth of a new prophet, based upon a centuries-old prophecy? Were they astrologers, who discerned from the signs in the heavens that the Messiah had been born?
We may not know the precise answers, but we do know that the newborn Messiah was recognized by a group of common shepherds, by a prophet and prophetess who lived in the temple, by the magi of a ‘foreign’ religion who followed a star, and even by demons. But most of ‘mainstream’ Israel failed to realize who He was, even when He walked among them.
From this pattern we might expect that the Messiah [and His true followers] will, in the last days, be known to all sorts of people, from diverse backgrounds – including some from pagan spiritual traditions. And, ironically, that He and His people may be ‘missed’ by the mainstream Christians [who, Scripture says] will be deceived by the Antichrist.
David Bruce Clark Lion of God Ministries PO Box 33 Oak Grove MO 64075
www.lionofgod.com
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