Were There Three Magi?

Around Christmas time, we hear the account of the birth of Christ. Born to a virgin in the city of David, (Bethlehem) the baby is visited by three wise men. Alright, some may say, "I've heard it before." Regardless, there are a few common misconceptions about the Christmas Story - when the wise men/magi visited - and how many there were. (Photo credit to: Better Living Through Beowulf)

The account of the wise men can be found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2. The following text is what we know about the wise men, (NIV) "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 when it rose and have come to worship him.' When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him." (Matthew 2:1-3)

"When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah 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 clans of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.' 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 careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.' " (Matthew 2:4-8)

"After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose 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, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route." (Matthew 2:9-12)

Now that we have the account of the magi, traditionally wise men or kings, we may better determine the following: when did the magi visit Jesus, and how many were there? Also, does prophecy (which makes up 30% of the Bible, and ought not to be ignored but explored) say anything about these things? Verse 1 says, "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem," and verse 11 says, "On coming to the house..." Matthew seems to be indicating that Jesus, Mary and Joseph had been in Bethlehem long enough to find a house.

But there is more on this. Matthew 3:16, "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi." (Emphasis added) We have already determined that Christ was visited by the Magi a while after his birth - these passages seem to indicate that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had been living in Bethlehem for about two years. So the magi came to visit between the birth of Christ and the age of two.

Though their names and numbers are not explicitly stated in the Gospel, the wise men have become known as three wise men, named Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. First off, why the different names? Were they kings, wise men, or magi? 

The Greek word μαγοι (mάgoi) is translated as “wise men” in the NKJV, KJV, and ESV, whereas the NASB and the NIV translation use the word “magi.” Originally, the word typically referred to Persian wise men, (possibly priests) who were interpreters of special signs, especially astrology-wise. 

The belief that the magi were kings comes from a prophecy found in Isaiah 60:3, "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." Christians seem divided on whether these magi were Kings or not. Films such as The Nativity Story do portray these characters in that light - though at the same time portray the wise men visiting the night of his birth, and we know it could not have been the night of his birth.

Even if they arrived in Jerusalem the night of Christ's birth, it is a six mile journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, so it would have been the next day at the latest. But it is assumed that the wise men came from Persia. There is a prophecy found in Psalm 72:10 which says, "May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him with gifts." This verse also seems to be referring to the wise men, though it is controversial, and some scholars do not believe it is referring to the wise men.

Regardless, these magi had most likely known of the prophecy of Balaam, "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..." (Numbers 24:17a) It was most likely because of this prophecy, and perhaps the prophecies about the Messiah found in Isaiah that the magi knew a very special star would herald the birth of the Messiah, and that he would be born king of the Jews.

The view of having three wise men, magi, or kings, comes from the fact that three gifts were presented to Jesus at his house: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Frankly, scholars are not sure how many magi there were. We know there were at least two, because when they are referred to in Matthew 2 and 3, it is with, "we," "they," the like. Therefore, we have determined that there were at least 2 magi, perhaps 3 or more with them, and that they came to visit Christ sometime after his birth.

Troy Hillman

The Life of Moses

Here, we take a look at one of the "heroes" of the Bible: Moses. The common account is as follows: a man runs away from Egypt, becomes a shepherd, meets God who speaks through a burning bush, and after much strife, leads the Hebrews out of Egypt, to cross the Red Sea, after parting the sea - receiving the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, then wandering in the desert for forty years. (Photo Credit to: The Glue Society, Paramount Pictures - "The Ten Commandments;" 1956 - starring Charlton Heston)

While that is the basic overview of the Life of Moses, let us go a bit deeper: his birth, his life, death - and after life. For a full account, the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy contain the birth, life, and death of Moses. Moses was born (c.1500s-1200s BC) in Egypt to Amram, a member of the tribe of Levi, and his wife Jochebed. A few centuries before, Abraham's great grandson Joseph brought his family to live with him in Egypt. (See entry, "God Can Bring Good Out of Bad Situations," for more on Joseph and his account.)

After the death of Joseph, a new Pharaoh came to power, who enslaved the Hebrews. "Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile."

Pharaoh's Daughter Bithaih (also known as Thermuthis) found the baby, and, feeling sorry as well as realizing it was a Hebrew baby, took him out of the basket. Miriam, Moses' sister who had been watching from the reeds came over, and asked, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" She agreed, so Miriam went and got her and Moses' mother - Pharaoh's daughter paid her to watch Moses, meaning, "draw out," because she drew him out of the water - so Moses' mother nursed him, and when he grew older, he took her to Pharaoh's daughter.

When Moses became of age, he went to his people, and saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. After looking around, he took the Egyptian, killed him and hid him in the sand. Somehow, his act became known, so at the age of forty Moses fled Egypt from Pharaoh's wrath - and, after rescuing a priest of Midian's daughters from shepherds, he married the priest's (Jethro) daughter, Zipporah, and had a son, Gershom. For the next forty years, Moses lived a shepherd's life with his family in Midian.

Forty years later, Moses was tending the flock. After leading the flock to Horeb (some believe it was Mt. Sinai), something happened that would forever changed his life. "There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up." In short, the "angel of the Lord," or, "messenger of the Lord," who calls himself God while talking to Moses and proclaims himself as "I AM," was Jesus Christ, pre-incarnate. Jesus himself echoes his words in John 8:58, "'Very truly I tell you,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I AM!" Anytime we see The Angel of the Lord in the Hebrew Bible, he is usually called God in the same passage. Jesus is the only part of the Trinity that can physically appear. (See entries, "Who Is The Angel of The Lord," "The Holy Trinity (Part Two)")

After returning to Egypt, at the age of eighty, Moses, along with his brother Aaron, repeatedly tried to perform signs and miracles before Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go. God sent 10 plagues on Egypt - water changed to blood, frogs, lice, flies, murrain upon beasts, boils, hail, locusts, darkness that could be felt - concluded with the death of the firstborn. When the Lord passed over Egypt, and the firstborn died, the Israelites (Hebrews) were protected. It was after this that Pharaoh let his people go. (Exodus 4:18-12:51)

C. Heston as Moses, "The Ten Commandments"

God led his people to the Red Sea. "By the Day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." (Exodus 13:21-22) Pharaoh's men tried to chase the Israelites, but God parted the Red Sea and allowed them to pass to the other side. But when the Egyptians tried to cross over, "He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving...." God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the water, and as he did, the "water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen - the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived." )

So it was that the Israelites were free from Egypt. They traveled to Mt. Sinai - where Moses received the law - and was given the Ten Commandments, which were inscribed by the very finger of God. After disobeying the Lord, however, Moses and the Israelites that were over the age of twenty at that time - save for Caleb and Joshua - were bound to roam the desert until they died. It was during these forty years that God gave the Israelites instructions to make the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, and everything in them.

It was during these forty years that Moses recorded down the first five books of the Bible. Through Moses, the Holy Spirit began to write the Word. Genesis - which begins with the Creation of the Universe, follows the story of the fall of man, to the great flood across the Earth that wiped out all but 8 people - to the Tower of Babel and the dispersion of people across the Earth - to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The first eleven chapters are the history of our world. In Exodus, Moses recorded the account of his birth and life, leading up till the Tabernacle was made. In Leviticus, Moses conveys the Ceremonial Law given to the Israelites - which Jesus Christ fulfilled when he died, replacing it with the New Covenant. (See entry: "Covenants: The Old and the New") Numbers is the book in which Moses recorded the journey of Israel from Mt. Sinai to the Jordan River - including the number of people in each tribe.

Deuteronomy, is Moses' final address to the Israelites. Chapter 34 may have been written by Joshua, though some believe that God allowed Moses to write about his death before it occurred, as God told Moses about his death in Deuteronomy 32:48-52.  Several times he refers to the book, or the law, that he has recorded. Jesus, while on earth, also refers to the Law of Moses often - confirming that Moses penned the first five books. Moses also wrote a few of the Psalms and is believed to have written the book of Job.

Credit to: The Glue Society

After fighting long battles and wandering in the desert for forty years, and with Aaron and Miriam gone, having died before Moses, he addressed the Israelites one last time, and warned them not to fall away from God. After blessing them, "Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land - from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea..." (Deuteronomy 34:1-2)

"Then the Lord said to him, 'This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross over into it.' And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone." (Deuteronomy 34:4-7, 1406/1405 BC)

Moses left The Law, and the true account of the Creation of the Universe. To read the full account of the life of Moses, read Exodus-Deuteronomy. Moses is mentioned all throughout the Old and New Testament... but his death was not his last appearance. Over 1400 years later, the Creator entered into his creation to die for our sins. When Jesus Christ was 33, he was on a mountaintop with James, Peter, and John - The Transfiguration.

"As [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem." Peter and his companions awoke, and he offered to put up shelters for Moses and Elijah. "While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.' When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen." (Luke 9:28-36, also in Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:28, 2nd Peter 1:16-18)

Moses is an important figure in history. He led the Israelites out of Egypt, he wrote the first five books of the Bible with the Holy Spirit writing through him. (1st Corinthians 14:37) The Christian Martyr, Stephen, gave an overview of the Life of Moses in Acts 7:20-37. Before closing, let us take a look at his words - as the Holy Spirit spoke through him while he was on trial before Stephen was stoned. "At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his parents' home. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?' But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons."

"After forty years had passed, an angel [messenger - Jesus] appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.' This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel [which means messenger] who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness. This is Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' [Jesus] He was in the assembly of the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received the living words to pass on to us."

 

Troy Hillman

The Star of Bethlehem

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read about an elusive star that leads the wise men to the town where the Messiah was born - and to where He was staying after his birth. It was this very star that led the kings, who were also astronomers and astrologists, as the two once went hand in hand, that led them to believe this was the fulfillment of prophecy. (Photo credit to: Saint Benedict's Table)

We often see specials and documentaries on channels such as National Geographic or the Discovery Channel that try to provide an explanation for what this was. Indeed, there have been many attempts made to explain the Christmas Star over the past two thousand years. Some say it may have been a comet or perhaps a bright star, other say it could have been a dying supernova, which would have produced a very bright light in the skies, while yet others infer it may have been the planet Venus, a meteor shower, the aurora borealis (which is the Northern Lights), or even two planets that were in conjunction that would produce a very bright glow.

The wise men, astronomers and kings from Mesopotamia and Persia, were students of the night sky who, night after night, search the heavens for signs - they used astrology. Regardless of how they came about finding or understanding the star, their final destination was Bethlehem - where they delivered the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These men were prophesied about in Psalm 72: 10, "May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him with gifts."

It has been suggested that the wise men followed the star based on the prophecy regarding a star that would herald the birth of the Messiah found in Numbers 2:17, "I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh; there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel..." This was a prophecy of Balaam.

If the Star was a supernova, this would not fit the Biblical view. Why? King Herod inquired of the wise men where they had seen the star appear. If it had been a supernova, it would have been quite noticeable. It is the same for a comet - it would have been noticeable to all who gazed on the night sky. Also, a comet would not move and stay over where Christ had been born as the Star of Bethlehem had. (Matthew 2:9)

For the star to have been a celestial and natural object used for supernatural purposes, it would have been something that would amaze the magi (wise men) yet not attract the attention of King Herod. Some suggest a conjunction, as aforementioned. Though rare, there were several that occurred around the time of the birth of Christ. A conjunction occurs when a planet passes another planet - or a star, backs up, passes yet again, and proceeds to reverse direction and pass a third time. Again, though rare, these have occurred.

Once such conjunction occurred around 7 BC, it was a triple conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn. There was also a triple conjunction of the star Regulus (a very bright star) and Jupiter around 3 BC - closer to Christ's birth. (Estimated at 4/3 BC) If a conjunction announced the birth of Christ, there would only be one issue - the Star is described as a single star, not a conjunction - and the astronomers would have known about this.

There was, however, one, only one - conjunction around 2 BC that could be called a "star." In this year, Venus and Jupiter moved so close together that they appeared as one bright star. This would have been perceived as a sign to the wise men. This does not fully fit the biblical account, however: Matthew 2:2, 9 record that the wise men saw the star upon entering Jerusalem - as well as after the meeting with Herod, ultimately leading to Bethlehem. The issue? This merger only occurred on the night of June 17, 2 BC.

As astronomer and astrophysicist Dr. Jason Lisle of Answers in Genesis so rightly points out, "God can use natural law to accomplish His will. In fact, the laws of nature are really just descriptions of the way that God normally upholds the universe and accomplishes his will. But God is not bound by natural law; He is free to act in other ways if He so chooses. The Bible records a number of occasions where God has acted in a seemingly unusual way to accomplish and extraordinary purpose." (The New Answers Book 2, Ch. 18, pg. 181)

What was the purpose of the Christmas Star? It alerted the wise men about the Birth of the Messiah - which prompted them to follow suite with a trip to Jerusalem. Before we go further, as I mentioned in a previous entry, the wise men did not find Jesus the night of his birth, contrary to popular belief. They actually found a young Jesus living with Mary and Joseph in a house in Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:11) He was most likely over a year old.

It is believed though, that Jesus was about two years old - as King Herod tried to have all male children killed to prevent the Messiah from growing up. (Matthew 2:16) It seems as if the Star didn't guide the wise men the entire journey. How do we know this? Though it guided them at first, they had asked King Herod where the baby was born. (Matthew 2:2) But after the meeting, the star seems to re-appear, and they follow it to Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:10)

The wise men already knew that Christ was in Bethlehem - the star seems to have led them to the exact house. They had learned about Bethlehem through Herod's priests, who quoted Micah 5:2, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathath, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will rule over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." (Matthew 2:4-5, 8)

Michael R. Molnar, and astronomer and author of the book The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi, concludes that his research as well as the research of many others all come to the same conclusion regarding the qualities of the Star. They are as follows: 1) It signified birth, 2) it signified kingship, 3) it had a connection to the Jews, 4) it rose on the east, just as other stars do (rotation of the earth factored in), 5) it appeared at a specific time, 6) Herod did not know when it appeared, 7) it was there for some time, 8) it stayed ahead of the wise men as they traveled south from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and 9) the Star stopped over Bethlehem.

Regardless of how much scientific or plausible explanations are thrown out there, or how it was done, God used this Star of Bethlehem to indicate something that would glorify him - and at the same time, would save us all: the Star heralded the Birth of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Troy Hillman