Would you believe that the Wise Men will not leave me alone? We had a Sunday School lesson recently and the topic came up again. This is even more enchanting that what we saw before. It seems that the orign of the wise men has re-arisen. (Is that a word? I found it on Google.)
Let’s dive into ancient Persia again. As we saw last time, Cyrus was prophesied by Isaiah in 43:1and 44:28. Daniel was studying Isaiah and besides finding the 70 year prophesy, he probably also discovered this naming of the deliverer. Can you imagine the ecstacy that rolled over Daniel when he saw that? And now, ala Paul Harvey, we come to the rest of the story.
Daniel 6 records the conspiracy by 120 satraps and two commissioners to have Daniel killed. Side thought: Have you noticed that Satan does not have an extensive play book? Most of his “conspiracies” involve having someone killed, usually the ones who follow the Lord. (Abel, Joseph, David, Elijah, need I go on?) Well 122 of Darius’ “loyal subjects” concoct a plan to eliminate Daniel from his position as Dairus’ top man. You know the story, and instead of a den of lions having a snack on the prophet, they get a multi-course meal on 122 traitors, and their families. That must have been some big “den.”
I do not think that we are stretching the story to infer that the 122 replacements may have come from Daniel’s recommendations. Is it logical for Darius to trust the same crowd who tried to sabotage him for replacements? A little more speculation, but verse 1 may indicate that this was a financial board. “...three commissioners (of whom Daniel was one), that these satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer loss.” How could the king “suffer loss?” By having dishonest advisors.
Since Daniel was the only one whom he could trust, Darius could have asked Daniel if he knew anyone with financial expertise and some astrologers, and and astronomers. And did Daniel know some guys. The Jewish nation was known for financial expertise, and I think that it is not a stretch to place 122 Jewish experts in this position. Please allow me a little more speculation. Could this be the first edition of the “wise men?”
Here is a little supporting evidence. Mordecai was a highly placed person in the reign of Ahasuerus, and it is not surprising that Haman and his minions would wish to kill them and steal all of their money. (Same game plan as Daniel.) There are some questions about this slice of time, but it seems like Cyrus as king from 539-530 BC. Esther is dated at about 515 BC. Here is the logic. Haman promised the king 10,000 talents of gold for the privilege of killing all the Jews.
That is equivalent to 150,000 YEARS of wages. Here is the question: How could the enslaved Jews accumulate that much money in at most 25 years. Take the years times $40,000 in current average wages and we get, $6 billion dollars. Either these advisors were blessed by God, they were cheating the king, or they were the bankers and could accumulate that in a booming economy. I think Mordecai was one of Daniel’s “wise men”. Why else would Haman want to take their money and usurp their positions?
Now jump forward in time about 535 or so years and a remnant of Daniel’s group is still watching the skies. Remember, Daniel told them about his prophesies, and I am confident that they had been following the rise and fall of Alexander the Great, and the four successor kingdoms. They could also count the years until the Messiah would be cut off, and allowing for Him to grow and mature, they may have been as excited as Daniel was when he heard that Cyrus would be the next king.
How about a piece de resistance? Well, maybe just another supporting consideration. As we mentioned, the wise men were looking for Christ. And, after making an arduous journey accross the 500 to 1000 miles, they offered Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. There are probably several typological meanings, but one thing is crystal clear. These were expensive gifts. The givers must have been relatively wealthy to present somewhere in the range of $1 to $2 million dollars. (There are several estimates out there, depending upon whether the writer wanted to diminish the value or enhance it.)
And this caravan made the trip with no profit motive in mind. They were not selling the cargo, nor were they buying something to take back to sell in their markets. It seems that they were independently wealthy and were able to embark on such a trip. Recall that it was not a straight flight between Susa and Jerusalem. To avoid the worst of the desert, they would have swung up through the fertile cresecent. So a relatively rich group, spent a boatload (technical term) of money to go see this baby, gave Him another significant amount of money in tribute, and eschewed any profit for their trip.
The earlier posts proposed an explanation as to why they would, first even know about the King of the Jews, and second, be watching for His coming.* ** Perhaps the reason was that they had been the direct descendants of Daniel’s original 122. None of this is conclusive in itself, but there is a lot of circumstantial evidence piled up here.
And one last thing. Note, that they end of their journey took them another way out of Israel. They were “warned of God” in a dream and went another way. Some Old Testament characters had dreams, but did not understand them. Pharaoh had to turn to Joseph. Nebuchadnezzar and Belteshazzar had dreams and visions, but had no clue as to what they meant. They needed a “wise man,” Daniel in this case, to explain them.
So how could these “pagan” officials interpret God’s message? Granted, God could have given them a supernatural understand instantaneously, or perhaps they were used to hearing from God and knew exactly what He said. God’s normal mode of operations is to be as “natural” as possible. Abraham and Isaac got a “bail out” when they lied about their wives, but here it seems that only the supernatural would work. And the leaders had a clue when their families and herds were affected. (We can wonder why Abe and Ike did not learn from those lessons. But I digress.)
Doug Oldham was not there to sing, but I would imagine that “The King is Coming” coursed through the heads and iPods of the wise men on their trip.. God’s plan is intricate, specific, and timely. God is working a miracle in that world and in ours.
When we couple Daniel 9 with the New Testament, we know that He is coming soon. God’s plan is never late. He is in total control from Nebuchadnezzar taking them to Babylon, to the Medes and Persians overthrowing Babylon. Next Cyrus sent them back to Israel, and Haman made another attempt to murder them all. I think he was going after the ones over in Israel as well. Then the Baby came and died. He left and is coming back.
I’m in for the count. “Even so, Come Lord Jesus.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=esther+&qs_version=NASB
*Sunday, December 17 2017 Wise Men Seek Him http://reflectionsfromjim.blogspot.com/2017/12/wise-men-seek-him.html
**Friday, December 22, 2017 Wise Men Revisited http://reflectionsfromjim.blogspot.com/2017/12/wise-men-revisited.html
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