When Did the Magi (Wise Men) Visit?
The Magi were priests and astrologers and high ranking Persian officials, and their understanding of the importance of the birth of Jesus may have been because they were descendants of the ten tribes of Israel that were taken into exile in 722BC and never re-grouped. The Bible doesn't say anywhere that there were "three wise men"! This is an assumption based on the bringing of the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but the delegation of Magi could have consisted of at least ten or twelve men, representing the various tribes of Israel, and an armed guard. Their journey from Persia to Jerusalem, to Bethlehem, and eventually to Jesus could have taken months. The story of the Magi's visit to Jesus is told in chapter two of Matthew's gospel. It says the Magi visited the "young child" Jesus at a "house", and that based on the information the Magi gave, King Herod ordered the murder of all boys in the Bethlehem area who were "two years old and under". Therefore, it is possible that actually the Magi visited Jesus up to two years after he was born, and did not see him when he was the baby in the manger (see www.ensignmessage.com/archives/moreaboutmagi.html )
richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK
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