Why Did Herod Question the Wise Men?

This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we’re in the gospel of Matthew chapter 2, and we’re going to pick up with verse 4.“And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.”Of course, this is Herod.The wise men had just come from the East, and created a stir in Jerusalem, because they were looking for the King of the Jews, which they, as they read the Scriptures, said this is the time, and they came to worship Him and of course that upset Herod.He could have been out of a job, right?

Dave:

I don’t know what Scriptures they had, but they knew about the star, and that was Baalim’s prophecy, and I think maybe they kind of lost the star somewhere, and they’re thinking, King of the Jews, they know that’s where they are going, and of course they’ve gotten close enough to Jerusalem.Well, that must be it, so there they go.And Herod, you know what he has in mind, where is the—

Tom:

Job security!

Dave:

Yeah, absolutely.

Tom:

Verse 5:“And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea:for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda:for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”

Dave:

Yeah, and in the Old Testament Micah:5:2But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
See All..., it speaks of Bethlehem as being a very small place.And now we get wise—it’s not the least because the Messiah will be born there.So that’s going to give Bethlehem greater importance than it would ordinarily have.So that’s what Herod wants to hear.Okay, now he says:You guys go and find him.

Tom:

“Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.”“And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”Now Dave, last week we were going over some ideas that people mix in with what the Bible says, for example, that there were three wise men.Well, nowhere do we find three; we know there were a number of them.Also, that the wise men go to the stable and bring their gifts to the baby Jesus.

Dave:

That’s the way you see it in all the nativity scenes.

Tom:

So, that’s not what the Scripture teaches, but you said, last week, that the baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph went back to Nazareth, but Herod’s sending them to Bethlehem.

Dave:

Well, he doesn’t know.They are going by the prophecy, they don’t know how long the Messiah is going to remain in Bethlehem, but He has moved out, and you’ll get that.We’ll have to come to it a verse at a time, but just jump to verse 11 for a moment—“When they were come into the house…”—you’re not in the stable anymore.That’s not in the nativity scene, Tom.

Tom:

The Scripture straightened that misconception out!

Dave:

Furthermore, we know it must have been quite a while.It was quite a journey for these wise men, however many there were, because when Herod finally—they take off, they are warned of God to get out of there.When he sends his troops to Bethlehem he doesn’t know who this one is but it’s the same vicinity.Wow, he just has all the babies, two-years-old and younger, so he’s inquiring diligently.He’s a sharp character, this Herod the Great.When did you first see this star?Oh yes, so that’s how old He is.Okay.

Tom:

Well, picking up with verse 9:“When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the East, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.”“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”And again, verse 11:“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

Dave;

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the Bible scholars, the commentators, and so forth, they find significance in each one of these, but I would hesitate to do that.It tells us what they are, so they must mean something.I’m sure that gold would signify his purity and deity and kingly state.Myrrh, probably his death, frankincense, well, I’m not sure, but Tom, I would hesitate to try to figure this out because I don’t find it in the scripture, but it tells us what it is and we have come up, I guess, with some reason for it, although I don’t know if we even need a reason.This is what they brought, and they fell down and worshipped this one whom they recognized to be the Messiah and the Son of God.And they are in touch with God as the next verse tells us.

Tom:

Verse 12:“And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.”

Dave:

Tom, I think we had, was it last week or the week before, something about this young lady, her brother David died, and he was speaking to her through a dream.It is biblical but it must come from God, and Satan can do the same thing.

Tom:

Well, the thing that’s not biblical about it, Dave, is, as you well know, is that this is necromancy, this is communication with the dead.

Dave:

Right, we pointed that out, but this is—God does speak in dreams, we can’t deny that, but that is a very dangerous area to enter, because, you know, Richard Foster and others, I mean, there are those who teach, have a piece of paper and pencil right by your bed so you can write a dream down because you forget it.

Tom:

Yeah.

Dave:

And then they get into this whole thing of analyzing dreams, and of course Freud did that sort of thing.

Tom:

Well, actually, Freud certainly, but more than Freud, Carl Jung, Jungian analysts.They are really into dream interpretation.

Dave:

Well, I guess we should to hesitate saying about some of his dreams, Tom.

Tom:

Oh yeah.

Dave:

We won’t even talk about that.But anyway, so God, somehow He spoke to—the last chapter, He spoke to Joseph in a dream.And he made Joseph realize that Mary had not been unfaithful, untrue to him, but that the babe that was conceived in her womb was of the Holy Spirit.So now He warns them, exactly how that worked in the dream, the Bible is not obligated to tell us because it’s not trying to lead us into dream interpretation.

Tom:

Right.Verse 13:“And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt; and be thou there until I bring thee word:for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”It’s amazing, Dave, as I read through the Scriptures, how quickly information is communicated.You know, they didn’t have what we have today, but nevertheless, the Canaanites knew exactly what was going on with the Israelites; certainly when they crossed the Jordan River Joshua and entered into the land, they knew, it was like word spread.My point here is, these wise men show up in Nazareth.

Dave:

Well, Tom, let me make, as quick as I can, which is very difficult, comment about Bethlehem.The Bible is so fantastic, I love it, you love it, and this is God’s Word.We have two genealogies, one in Matthew and one in Luke.In Matthew it definitely traces the birth of Jesus back to David, but through Joseph, but he’s not his Father.But in Luke, you get it through Joseph’s father-in-law.Now why is it important that Joseph be involved in this?Because Bethlehem was his home town, and there was a taxing.In the taxing, to make sure they got all the citizens, and nobody is hiding anywhere, you go back to the registry at your home town.That was why, amazing! Amazing, that was why Jesus was born in Bethlehem because Joseph is the guardian at this point.He’s looked upon as a parent, and he goes back to Bethlehem.Amazing how the Holy Spirit works to get Jesus born in Bethlehem.