7. During their stay at Bethlehem Jesus was born. The crowd was great of the many who came to this small town to be registered by the officers taking the census, and the accommodations for his parents were poor, for the record states “there was no room for them in the inn” and she “laid him in a manger.” It was here that he was visited by
THE WISE MEN.
8. These men, usually known as “the Magi,” belonged to a class of astrologers whose office it wasto study omens, or signs, as drawn from the planets. They were descendants of a class which was noted for learning and influence in the flourishing ages of Babylon and Nineveh, but neither of these cities was in existence at this time. As many of the Magi had retired eastward to Persia after the fall of Babylon, it is probable that these came from the Persian dominion to Jerusalem, expecting that there they should learn something of the new king.
9. The coming of the Messiah had long been the hope of the captive Jews, and as a large number of the people, some of influence and wealth, existed at this time in the Persian dominions, there can be but little doubt that these “wise men” were roused to make the journey they did, and to greet the advent of a king who, to them, after seeing the celestial sign, was more than simply a “King of the Jews.”
10. These men had a reputation which was highly regarded in Jerusalem, and to Herod they were not strangers of a common class. Hence to him their inquiry carried great importance.His consultation with the Sanhedrin, which was the most learned body in Jerusalem at that time, soon showed that the Messiah, according to the prophets, was to be born in Bethlehem, Micah. 5:2. To this place, guided by the supernatural sign, they came, found the child, and offered their gifts.
HEROD AND HIS SUCCESSOR.
11. The effort of Herod to destroy Jesus in anindiscriminate slaughter of the children of Bethlehem of a certain age, failed of its intention. Joseph, having been warned in a dream, took the young child and his mother and fled into Egypt before the destruction took place.
12. Egypt at this time was entirely under Roman control. Many Jews inhabited Alexandria and were in affluent circumstances; two of them had been chief officers of the armies of Cleopatra. The two refugees, with the child, in that land were safely beyond the power of Herod, and there they remained until the death of Herod, which took place about a year after their departure from Bethlehem.
13. Archelaus, who succeeded Herod, was his son, but he inherited none of the enterprise and mental ability, but only the atrocious cruelty of his father; and the complaints of the Jews occasioned his deposition and the confiscation of his property. Joseph and Mary, fearing the consequences of coming within the power of Archelaus, after the death of Herod returned to Nazareth in Galilee.