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“We Have Seen His Star”
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gifts in the land as an offering to Him in whom all the families of
the earth would be blessed.
A Journey by Night
They had to travel by night in order to keep the star in view,
but at every pause for rest the travelers searched the prophecies.
The conviction deepened that God was guiding them. The journey,
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though long, was a happy one.
They had reached the land of Israel and had Jerusalem in sight,
when suddenly the star rested above the temple. Eagerly they hurried
onward, confidently expecting the Messiah’s birth to be the joyful
subject on every tongue. But to their amazement, they found that
their questions called forth no joy but rather surprise and fear, even
mingled with contempt.
The priests boasted of their religion and piety while they de-
nounced the Greeks and Romans as sinners. The wise men were not
idol worshipers, and in the sight of God, they stood far higher than
His professed followers, yet the Jews looked on them as heathen.
Their eager questions touched no chord of sympathy.
Herod’s Jealousy Awakened
The wise men’s strange errand created an excitement among
the people of Jerusalem that reached to the palace of King Herod.
The crafty Edomite was troubled at the suggestion of a possible
rival. Being of foreign blood, he was hated by the people. His only
security was to stay in Rome’s favor. But this new Prince had a
higher claim—He was born to the kingdom.
Herod suspected the priests of plotting with the strangers to stir
up a rebellion and unseat him. He was determined to thwart the
scheme by outsmarting them. He called in the priests and questioned
them regarding the place of the Messiah’s birth.
This inquiry from one who was not rightfully king, and made at
the request of strangers, stung the pride of the Jewish teachers. They
turned to the rolls of prophecy with indifference, and this enraged the
jealous tyrant. He thought they were trying to conceal their knowl-
edge. With an authority they dared not disregard, he commanded