The Mysterious Magi

Sermon 2 | The Persian Connection

What we've learned

• The nation from which magi came is only one: Persia.

  • “kings" of the Persians at the time of Jesus were magi.

  • No other nation in the east (or any other direction) fits what we know about magi.

    
    

• The character from which the magi come is only one: Persian priesthood.

  • Only the Persians were monotheistic.

  • Only the Persians were looking for a Messiah figure.

    
    

• The Romans had developed a second meaning of the word magi, and that was one of the fraudulent magicians.

  • Indeed, magic is a word that comes to English from the word magi.

  • Magi were so aware of nature that they could use the laws of nature“miraculous."

    
    

    The Persian and the Hebrew

    
    

• Both the Persians and the Hebrews began their culture in Mesopotamia.

• When Abraham looked for a wife for his son Isaac (who was a type of Christ on Mt. Moriah), he sent back to the land of the Chaldees (Gen. 24:4).

• When Jacob had to flee Esau, he went to Haran, in the land of the Chaldees (Gen. 27:43).

• Jonah was sent to Nineveh, in the land of the Chaldees, to preach repentance. That nation listened and accepted this prophet from a strange land.

• Both the Hebrews and the Persians were deep in astronomy. At the time of the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great, it was noted that by some historians that the Persians had been keeping astronomical records for over 1,900 years. There seems to be an understanding of Genesis 1:14.

• The Persian King Cyrus gave a decree that the Temple should be rebuilt. This was a restoration of the religious practice of the Jews, but not the national governance. This event is recorded in the book of Ezra.

• About 50 years later, a decree was made to rebuild the city, and when the walls of the city were rebuilt, the people could operate as a nation once again.

  • The decree to rebuild Jerusalem corresponds with Daniel 9:25. This was done in troublous times, both for Jerusalem (as recorded in Nehemiah) and in the recorded secular history of Persia.

  • The decree was in the waning days of the Persian empire and done to secure a lasting friendship with the Hebrew people, mostly for security reasons.

    
    

    Daniel: Teacher of the Magi

    
    

• Daniel's qualifications:

  • Daniel 1:4, 20 -- insight into Daniel

  • Daniel 1:21 -- insight into timing.

    
    

• He must have guided their understanding of Messiah.

  • Would he have used the prophecy of Balaam, who was, like the Chaldeans, a non-Jew? Numbers 23:7-8, 24:17.

  • Would they have been interested in the star prophesied by Balaam?

    
    

• He must have guided their understanding of the timing of the Messiah.

  • But how could this point to Messiah's birth and not His death? (For they certainly associated the star with His birth and not His death).

    • Stay tuned!

      
      

  • How could Daniel's revelations have been remembered more than 500 years?

    • Both in the writings of the Persians and the preservation of the book of Daniel, there is little support for the idea that Daniel or his work and words could be forgotten.

      
      

  • “Messiah" outside of the Persian race and culture?

    • “King of kings." See, for example, Daniel 2:46-47, and Daniel 4:34-35.

    • If this can be said of Nebuchadnezzar, certainly the Magi would have similar beliefs.