Why Did The Nativity Story Wise Men Travel So Far – Sermon Series Part 2 of 3

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries! My name is Spencer Coffman. Today we are on part number two of a three-part sermon series about the Christmas story and how the events transpired. Today we are going to talk about the wise men at Jesus’ birth, the magi.

Now of course, the wise men, or the magi, were not there right when Jesus was born, but it was around that time period. Of course, whether Jesus was born on December 25th as the world traditionally celebrates, or whether it was earlier in September is not really what we are focusing on today.

We did talk about that last year, so if you have not seen that message, navigate to our YouTube channel and check out the sermon about Jesus’ birthday. You can watch that on our channel there. So if you have not subscribed to the channel take advantage of that opportunity by clicking the subscribe button below. I also hope you like the videos and follow us on social media of course.

Today, like I said, we are talking about the magi or the wise men. These are men who traveled for months and months and months, maybe even years to find Jesus. They were not there when Jesus was born, as we will get to eventually in today’s message, but there is no doubt that the star could have been there when Jesus was born and they chose to follow that star for many months.

Last week, we talked about the importance of not practicing reading the stars. So, wait a minute, if we are talking about how the wise men read the stars this week, could that be a little contradictory? Well, we are going to get to that point next week, so make sure to come back and watch that sermon as well.

Let’s recap last week’s sermon. If you have not seen it, check it out in a card here and navigate to our YouTube channel, and find the sermon titled Reading the Stars. Last week we talked about how you can look at the stars and interpret them with constellations, phases of the moon, and the sun and stars’ names; that is astronomy. You can do that, that is fine.

It is when you go to astrology, which means divining the heavens and making them have a divine nature, that all of a sudden they have power. You are attributing a false power to them, seeing that they account for human behavior or that the way they move shapes what is going to happen here on Earth. That somehow they control what happens on Earth. That is astrology and that is a sin.

It is a divination art which is a form of idolatry. Because you are having an idol instead of worshiping God, it is a false god and that is a gateway to other forms of evil sinful worship practices like witchcraft or sorcery or seeking omens and horoscopes, wizardry, and mediums spirits.

That kind of stuff could even lead to demon worship or satanic rituals, casting spells, all of that. So avoid any and all of that at all costs. Avoid that because it is somewhere that you do not want to go.

It is something that the more you do something like that or the more you are around it or watching it, the more sensitized you become to it. Then you start to believe that it is okay, when in reality the Bible says it is definitely not okay.

The wise men that were mentioned throughout the Bible—from way back in Babylon in the story of Daniel and all throughout the Old Testament—they were also called magi. What did the term magi mean? Magi is part of the word “magic” or “magicians.”

These men were really interpreters of what they thought was the divine, so they believed that the cosmos and the heavens were divine. They believed that they could interpret things based on earthly signs, wonders, and heavenly signs. They sought omens and they practiced some of this stuff; some of them even did spells, wizardry, or sorcery. These men were called magi.

Now, of course, if they became a sorcerer then they were a sorcerer, and if they became a magician then they were a magician. However, these were the wise men; they served the king and they practiced astrology to predict the future. They also helped the king to understand what different things meant, such as dreams he may have had, or different signs that the kings may have seen.

This was the case not only with the kings of Babylon, but also Persia, Media, and even Pharaoh in Egypt. So all these cultures had these wise men, or magi, to help the king or the ruler with guidance.

A lot of them, of course, were through a false doctrine, and we see that especially with Moses when he performed all of the miracles from the one true God, Yahweh. Pharaoh’s magis or sorcerers were able to replicate several of them, but not all of them.

The Bible says practicing astrology is a sin. In 1 Samuel 15:23, the verse we read last week, it says, “For rebellion is like the sin of divination and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected Yahweh, he has rejected you.”

Do not reject Yahweh. Do not take away His worthiness of praise and give it to something else. He is a jealous God. Do not reject Him or He will reject you. In Matthew, it says, “If you acknowledge my presence before mankind, I will acknowledge you before the Father in heaven. If you do not acknowledge me, I will not acknowledge you.”

He will reject you if you reject Him. Do not reject God, do not give praise or worship to something that is not worthy of your praise, the heavens and divination. For example, Deuteronomy 4:19 is also another verse that we are going to check out. If you have your Bibles, please turn with me. In addition, all the verses will be referenced in the description below, so please check them out another time as well.

Deuteronomy 4:19 says, “And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon, and the stars and all the heavenly array, do not be enticed to bowing down to them and worshiping the things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.”

We read that verse last week as well. When you see the awesomeness of the cosmos, do not let them draw you in so that you will be like “Wow, the moon phases really do affect the world, the sun affects humans, the stars can align and certain things happen.” Or when we have a full moon people go crazy or bacteria starts to grow better or things like that, it must have control over us. No, it does not. It is not divine. Do not cross that line.

Yes, God provided all of these things for our world to work in a certain way. Exactly like He provided photosynthesis for the plants to produce oxygen, but those plants giving us oxygen and allowing us to live, does not mean those plants are divine. Do not make things divine that are not divine.

If astrology is clearly a sin and divining the heavens is something that God definitely does not want, why then would He use astrology to lead the magi and the wise men to Jesus at the time of his birth? Why would He do that? God provided a star for the magi to follow, He put a star up there, a sign.

Potentially this could have been the alignment of three planets in front of each other. With the rotation of the planets, depending on where they are in the solar system, it is possible that they would have come in alignment with each other because some take longer to orbit the sun than others.

It is very possible that the star could have shone so brightly because it took longer for them to become out of alignment. If one of them takes so much time that they stayed in alignment for quite some time—months, maybe even years— that star could have been shining.

Now of course, at the period of time when they all lined up, which could have lasted for many months—maybe days depending on the rotation— the star or the light would have been the brightest. Then, of course, as they continued shifting away from each other they would still be bright, but then eventually it would dissipate.

Why would God do this, something that is sinful, that He does not want people to worship? But He did, He provided a star for the magi to follow. In Matthew Chapter 2 Verse 2, it says, “The magi came from the east 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.”

That is the magi speaking. They saw the star and they have come to worship Him. God provided the star because He knew the magi would follow it. How did He know that? Well for starters, He is God, so He knows everything.

He knew that the magi would follow that star. But beyond that, the magi had their own prophecy, exactly like the Bible has prophecy. Magi and that false religion or false doctrine, they had their own prophets, seers, and sorcerers.

The Old Testament is filled with accounts of false prophets preaching to certain gods, like Balaam. So the magi had prophecies in their religious teachings. God knew that they knew their prophecy, and He had that prophecy come about so that they would follow it.

What prophecy is that? Well, it is in Numbers Chapter 24 Verse 17. This one is about Balaam; we are just going to read the one verse. “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. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.”

I encourage you to definitely read about Balaam from Chapters 22-24 of Numbers. These passages are all about Balaam and it is really incredible. Balaam’s prophecy came about and the magi knew this prophecy.

So God provided this star to happen, and only a few magi knew. How many were there? We do not know for sure. Of course, tradition and nativity scenes indicate there were three.

Why do we think there were three? Well, it is because the gifts were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. There were three gifts; so it is understood that if there are three gifts, the magi must have each brought one gift. Well in reality, it could have been six magi and two had gold, two had frankincense, and two had myrrh. Or it could have been 20 of them, you get the idea. We do not know exactly how many magi were there.

But the point is that when they started traveling—however many were in their hometown, let’s say there were a hundred since not all of them traveled—made the journey to go find this king. There was some debate and it took a while for people to decide to go follow. That is why they were not there when Jesus was born, but they were there almost two years later.

Only a few magi were willing to take this leap of faith and follow the star; the rest of them most likely stayed in Babylon in the comforts of their own home. Some wanted to be the ones that took the leap of faith and traveled for months to find Jesus. As I said, they did not arrive until Jesus was about two years old.

We are going to read the story of the magi in Matthew when they visit, so bear with me. Here it is, Matthew Chapter 2 Verses 1 through 12, so if you have your Bibles let’s dive in. I am going to go quickly and then I will recap and hit some points.

I really encourage you to come back later, to watch this and pause it and read more, so you have more of an understanding of these verses and get the complete picture. I mean I could spend all day on this; we could do a couple-hour deal on Balaam’s prophecies and how they tie in with the magi. But for time’s sake, let’s get started.

“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 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 Judea, by no means are least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be a shepherd of my people Israel.”

So that was another prophecy, an Old Testament prophecy that had happened. Then Herod called the magi secretly. The people he was asking were his own rulers, his own wise men, then Herod called the magi, the ones that were coming to find Jesus. “Secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.” Which would be about two years ago.

“He sent them to Bethlehem and said ‘Go and make a careful search for this child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I 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.” So the star was still there guiding them. “Went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.”

So this is saying that that star could have been moving the entire time. “When they saw the star they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child and 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. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

Now, there are several points here. The first one I want to point out is, how do we know that the star was there for about two years? Well, continuing, Herod realizes in Verse 16 that he had been outwitted by the magi. “He was furious, so 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 that he had learned from the magi.”

So he killed all the boys two years old and younger. That means the magi told Herod hey this star has been there for about two years. So Jesus was born, boom, there was a star. The star was there. The magi are like “Hey, we gotta follow that.”

This is something big and they had some debate for who knows how long, months maybe. Finally, some of them said “I have had enough, we are going” and they journey from the east, Babylon, all the way to Bethlehem, Nazareth, to this area.

They stop king Herod, and they say “Hey, where is this boy? We are going to worship him.” He says “Whoa, what is going on here?” And then he consults his own people, gets the prophecy. “Wait a minute another king is gonna be born?” We gotta do something about this.

He asks the magi, how old is all this stuff? Oh, the star has been there for what, almost two years? Okay go find him, tell me. They go, they worship him, then they leave. Herod says, “Why did not those people come back? Let’s execute everybody two years old and younger so that we make sure we wipe out that newborn king.’

These magi traveled for months to see Jesus, but they went to Herod first. They told him that the star was there, and then Herod killed those kids because he was afraid that Jesus was going to take over his reign. He did not realize that Jesus was a heavenly king of the Jews, He was not here to be an earthly king. So many other people did not realize that as well.

When this happened, it prompted Mary and Joseph to flee to Egypt, which of course, fulfilled another Old Testament prophecy from the prophet Hosea. Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt because Joseph was warned in a dream in Verse 13.

When the magi had left, we do not know how long the magi stayed with Mary and Joseph. Maybe a day, maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe longer. But we know that it had to be at some period before Jesus was two years old or around that time. Because that is when they left, and then all the babies two years old and younger were killed.

“When they had gone, when they left, the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, get up, take the child and his mother, and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Now what prophecy was this? This was from Hosea, Chapter 11 Verse 1. “When Israel was a child I loved him.” Who is Israel? Jesus. We are not talking about Israel of Jacob or the Old Testament Israel, although this is near the end of the Old Testament.

“When Israel was a child I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son.” So God loved the nation of Israel and out of it He called His son to Egypt. That is the Old Testament prophecy in Hosea.

A lot of prophecies were fulfilled when Jesus was born and the magi knew this. The magi knew that there was a star so they followed it, they dedicated time to following it. Jesus was born and Herod even asked his own officials about the prophecy of Jesus being born. They told him an Old Testament prophecy in Micah 5, and then another one is fulfilled when Mary, Jesus, and Joseph have to flee to Egypt.

So all these magi followed a star that God gave them, even though God says “No, do not worship the heavens.” Why would God do this? Well, we are going to talk about that next week, on why God would put the star there for the magi to follow. It is more than simply to get them to worship Jesus. However there is a bottom line and a main point, and that is He wants everyone to be saved.

Let’s pray. Lord thank you so much for this time together, for the story of your birth and all the prophecies that led up to it. It is just so fascinating. There are so many. I really pray that you would put it on the hearts of the people listening and watching, to dive into it a little bit more, to start connecting the dots and drawing lines, making connections between stories, and drawing a picture of how many prophecies are in the Old Testament that related to Jesus being born and doing things in the New Testament.

It is really, really incredible. Lord, thank you so much for showing us that and for painting that clear picture so that we can realize that the Old Testament was exactly what was predicted and that Jesus is the Messiah from the Old Testament. The one who came to save the world. Thank you so much for the story of the stars and aligning, and bringing the magi there and for keeping Jesus alive for us and for having Him die for our sins.

Lord, I ask that if there are people out there who do not know that story that they would be prompted to ask. That their hearts would be softened. That their minds would be open. That they would seek, ask, knock, and receive. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thanks again for being here this week. This was part two in a three-part sermon series. Please come back next week— we will wrap it up and talk about why God would use astrology, something that He says we are not to do. Why would He put things there for people to follow, even though it is something that we are not supposed to do. We will talk about that next week so make sure to come back. God bless.