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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
After the wise men had left Jerusalem, they again saw, to their
great joy, the guiding star in the heavens, which directed them to
the birthplace of our Saviour. “And when they were 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 unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” The
wise men found no loyal guard to debar their entrance to the presence
of Christ. The honorable of the world are not in attendance. In place
of the people who should have welcomed with grateful homage the
Prince of Life, he is surrounded with dumb beasts.
The glory of God attending the angelic host, had scarcely disap-
peared from the plains of Bethlehem when the malice of envious Herod
was aroused in opposition to the infant Saviour. This king understood
that Christ was to reign over a temporal kingdom, and he was utterly
averse to the idea of a Jewish king. The chief priests and scribes had
professed to understand the prophecies in reference to the appearing
of Christ. They had repeated to the people the prophecies which relate
to the second appearing of Christ in power and great glory, to down
all authority, and to rule over the whole earth. They had in a boastful,
resentful manner, asserted that Christ was to be a temporal prince,
and that every kingdom and nation was to bow in submission to his
authority.
These priests had not searched the prophecies with an eye single
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to the glory of God, or with a desire to conform their lives to the high
standard marked out by the prophets. They searched the Scriptures
to find ancient prophecies which they could in some way interpret to
sustain their lofty pride, and to show with what contempt God regarded
all the nations of the world except the Jews. They declared that the
power and authority they were then compelled to respect and obey,
would soon come to an end; for Messiah would take the throne of
David, and, by force of arms, restore the Jews to their liberty, and to
their exalted privileges. The understanding of the Jews was darkened.
They had no light in themselves. They were seeing the prophecies
through their own perverse understanding. Satan was leading them on
to their own ruin. And Herod was determined to defeat the purposes
of the Jews, and to humble these proud boasters, by destroying Christ
as soon as he should be found.