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The visit of the Magi, and the journey to and from Egypt

Matthew chapter 2

Among the four evangelists, Matthew and Luke are the only ones that provide some detail on the birth of the Lord Jesus. As Luke highlights the humanity of His person, he gives more information. Matthew checks the fulfilment of the prophecies of old Testament made about the coming of the Messiah from God, He being the rightful heir to the throne of David, therefore the Messiah King.

In this chapter, we see the fulfilment of four prophecies, three of which seemed to be conflicting, but their perfect compatibility is thus demonstrated:

1. The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judah (Micah 5:2).

2. The Messiah would be called by God from Egypt (Hosea 11:1).

3. The Messiah would be called a Nazarene, the name given to the inhabitants of the city of Nazareth in Galilee (maybe Isaiah 11:1 in Hebrew).

Let us note the interference of the Gentiles in the events, unwittingly allowing the prophecies to be fulfilled:  

1. It was a decree of a Roman emperor which made Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem to enlist, when their son was born.

2. It was the Magi (“wise men”) from the East who, when enquiring from King Herod about the "newborn King of the Jews", boosted the jealousy of this Gentile usurper driving him to seek to kill Him. This forced his parents to flee with Him to Egypt.

3. Upon the death of Herod, they returned to the land of Israel, but had to live in Nazareth to stay out of reach of the son of Herod, Archelaus, who took over the throne of Judea.

We have here two indisputable evidences of divine inspiration of the Bible:

1. The prophecies were fulfilled accurately.

2. Their compliance occurred through facts generated by people who were completely unrelated to them, rather than by intervention of people interested in their realization.

The visit of the Magi (vs. 1-12)

This is the only reference in the Bible to the visit of the Magi from the East. It is very succinct, giving rise to many assumptions:

1. When was it? We have two indications: the Boy was in a House with His parents, and in an attempt to kill him Herod killed all the children of two years down, based on the time he had obtained of the Magi. It was probably about a year after His birth.

2. How many Magi were there? The number is not important and so is omitted by Matthew. They brought three kinds of presents, but there were probably more of them, given the disruption that they caused in Jerusalem, worrying even Herod.

3. Were they Kings? If they were, this would be an important detail that would not have escaped Matthew. Kings do not visit other countries without an escort and formalities and they would have been received with honours by Herod. They were probably just scientists of that time, well informed about Judaism, God fearing and researchers of nature.

4. What star was that? The Magi saw it in the East, only once again, when they left the presence of Herod and it went ahead of them and stopped where the Boy was. No known star can do such a thing. It must have been created especially for this purpose.

5. How could the Magi interpret the star as the new King of the Jews? Maybe the wizards connected the prophecy of Balaam (numbers 24:17) with that of Daniel (Daniel 9:24) and possibly God answered their yearning to see their fulfilment by giving them the vision of the appearance of this star, whose characteristics differed from all those known. They went to Jerusalem to worship the new King, who they knew to be the Messiah of God.

Matthew tells us of the concern of Herod. The Roman power had placed him on the throne of Jerusalem, and he was afraid of losing his position, for he did not even belong to the Jewish people, being an Edomite, an Arab race traditionally enemy of the Jews. The heads of the priests of the people and the masters of the law, scribes, summoned now by Herod knew how to indicate precisely where the Messiah would be born: Bethlehem of Judea according to Micah 5:2.

Knowing now where He was to be born, Herod found out from the wizards when that would have happened: it would have been on the day when they saw the star rising in the East, a maximum of two years before then. Herod then sent them to Bethlehem to find Him, and instructed them to advise him straight away. He hid his true intention, which was to eliminate him, and encouraged them saying he wanted to worship Him with them.

With the information received, the Magi proceeded to Bethlehem and the star guided them to the house where the new King was. He was no longer a newborn baby in a manger, as many think. The magicians prostrated themselves on the ground and worshipped the Boy (not His mother). They also gave Him presents, worthy of a King (gold), suitable for a Priest (incense), and perfume used in the embalming of the dead (myrrh). It is amazing how these Magi knew it so well the mission of the Messiah of God!

Their gifts remind us the prophecy found in Isaiah 60:6, when people of Sheba will bring gold and incense to the LORD. They will not bring myrrh because this will be during the Millennium, and His death is in the past. God intervened in a dream warning them not to return to Herod, probably for their protection and to give time to Joseph to take away his family.

The flight into Egypt (vs. 13-18)

Again God intervened by sending an angel to Joseph in dream, instructing him to take the child and His mother and escape with them to Egypt until new order, because Herod would seek the boy to kill him. Joseph obeyed immediately, getting up and fleeing with them overnight to Egypt.

Herod raged when he realized that the Magi were not returning, and without knowing how to identify the house where the new Heir to the throne was, he ordered all boys two years down in Bethlehem and nearby to be killed. According to the information obtained from the Magi, His age would be in that range.

The number of dead children would not have been great, because the population in that area was still small. Even so, the event had already been prophesied in Jeremiah 31:15: Ramah was a few kilometres away from Bethlehem and was included in this slaughter.

The return to Israel (vs. 19-23)

According to secular historians, Herod, called "the Great" died in April of the year 4 BC. Supposing Jesus was a year old when taken to Egypt, and that Herod died six months later, His birth would have occurred in October of the year 6 BC.  Our calendar has therefore an error of about six years.

An angel of the Lord again appeared to Joseph in a dream, after the death of Herod, instructing him to return to the land of Israel, for those who sought to take the life of the Boy were dead. Joseph obeyed, but when he arrived in Judea, where he had left, he heard that Archelaus, Herod's son, was reigning there in place of his father. History tells us that the Kingdom of Herod was divided between three of his sons, Archelaus having Judea and Samaria, and Philip and Antipas the remainder.

Fearing Archelaus, Joseph took his family to live in Nazareth of Galilee (Archelaus was a tyrant and, because of the outcry of the Jews, two years later he was deposed by the Roman power). Herod Antipas, a skilled politician, inherited Galilee and it was he who ordered the slaying of John the Baptist, and later condemned the Lord Jesus to death.

The circumstance of the family of Joseph having moved to Nazareth caused the Lord Jesus to be known as a Nazarene, thus fulfilling another prophecy about the Messiah.

 

R David Jones

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1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 'BUT YOU, BETHLEHEM, IN THE LAND OF JUDAH, ARE NOT THE LEAST AMONG THE RULERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.' "
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,
15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
18 "A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, LAMENTATION, WEEPING, AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN, REFUSING TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY ARE NO MORE."

 

19 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."
21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

Matthew chapter 2