Matthew 2: Magi from Parthia visit the toddler Messiah

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:27 — 9.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

It was a shocking event when a sizable delegation of scholars from the empire of Parthia, a competitor with Rome, visited the land of Israel looking for a recently born “King of Yehudah.” It turns out that this was the legacy of the prophet Daniel. Another prophet foretold “Rachel” would be weeping for her children, and that prophecy was fulfilled not only with the killing of newborns and toddlers in Beit Lekhem (Bethlehem) but also the driving out her descendants into the nations with the Assyrian exile.

Thought questions from the recorded discussion

What did the magi — the “wise men” — know about the coming Messiah, and when did they know it?

What’s the significance of Daniel’s being the teacher of the wise men, the magi, of Babylon? What did Daniel teach them?

Why doesn’t Judaism consider Daniel to be a prophet?

What “star” did the magi see? Why didn’t anyone else, even in Israel see it?

What “signs” are there among the stars? What is the connection between the signs Abraham, the magi and those who witness the Day of the LORD will see in the sky?

Why did the magi bring baby Yeshua gifts? Why did they bring gold, frankincense and myrrh? Why does Messiah get gold and frankincense, but not myrrh, when He returns?

What does the long-standing conflict between the Roman and Parthian empires over the Euphrates River have to do with the statement the appearance of the magi in Jerusalem looking for “the King of the Jews”?

What does the prophecy of Rachel weeping for her children — Joseph and Benjamin — have to do with Herod’s killing of infants and toddlers in Bethlehem to kill the young Messiah?

What is the connection between that prophecy in Jeremiah 31 and the New Covenant predicted in the same chapter?

What’s the link between the Jeremiah 31 predictions of Rachel’s children’s being “no more,” the return of Ephraim and the New Covenant, and the Matthew 2 account of King Herod’s attack on children in Bethlehem?

Why is God’s son — Israel literally and in prophecy and Messiah literally — called out of Egypt? Is this prophecy misapplied?