- To come back to the three individuals who are sometimes called “Job’s friends” whereas they are parts of the arsenal of weapons used by the devil against Job, we can compare them to the three astrologers who came to celebrate Jesus!
- The human tradition turned them into kings who came to Jerusalem to celebrate Jesus!
- The human tradition even gave them names and origins!
- They even celebrate them on a special day!
- The problem is that they were also parts of the arsenal of weapons used by the devil against Jesus!
- They were astrologers with Pagan origins!
- According to the following site, we are told about what the Bible says about astrology:
What does the Bible say about astrology and the zodiac? Is astrology something a Christian should study? | GotQuestions.org
Astrology is the “interpretation” of an assumed influence the stars (and planets) exert on human destiny. According to astrology, the sign you were born under, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, or Capricorn, impacts your destiny. This is a false belief. The royal astrologers of the Babylonian court were put to shame by God’s prophet Daniel (
Daniel 1:20) and were powerless to interpret the king’s dream (
Daniel 2:27). God specifies astrologers as among those who will be burned as stubble in God’s judgment (
Isaiah 47:13-14). Astrology as a form of divination is expressly forbidden in Scripture (
Deuteronomy 18:10-14). God forbade the children of Israel to worship or serve the “host of heaven” (
Deuteronomy 4:19). Several times in their history, however, Israel fell into that very sin (
2 Kings 17:16 is one example). Their worship of the stars brought God’s judgment each time.
Who were the three kings in the Christmas story?
Many Christmas carols make mention of the three kings, who follow a star and come to pay homage to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. In the Bible, they are not called kings, and their number is not specified—instead they are “wise men from the East.” At many courts in the east, including ancient Babylon and Persia, learned astrologers often served as priestly advisers, practiced in the art of magic. In the centuries since, the three magi have been interpreted as kings.
According to the Book of Matthew,
a bright star led the magi from the east until it stopped “over the place where the child was,” and “upon entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother” (Matthew 1:24).
The magi knelt down for the baby Jesus and “offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Their gifts are possibly an allusion to Isaiah’s vision of nations rendering tribute to Jerusalem: “A multitude of camels shall cover you. they shall bring gold and frankincense, and proclaim the praise of the Lord” (Matthew 2:11, Isaiah 60:6). (Learn the difference between
Arabian Camels and
Bactrian Camels.)
King Herod had heard rumors of the birth of a new “king” and jealously sought out the baby. In the Book of Matthew, the magi stopped at Herod’s palace on their way to Bethlehem, and the king asked them to let him know where this newborn babe was, so that “I may also go and pay him homage.” But the magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and so they left for their own country by another road” and were never heard from again (Matthew 2:12).
Building a backstory
Later tellings of the story identified the magi by name and identified their lands of origin: Melchior hailed from Persia, Gaspar (also called "Caspar" or "Jaspar") from India, and Balthazar from Arabia. Their gifts had special symbolic meanings as well: gold signified Jesus' status as "King of the Jews;" frankincense represented the infant's divinity and identity as the Son of God; and myrrh touched upon Jesus' mortality. (Learn what
archaeology is telling us about the real Jesus.)
Popular depictions of Christmas seem to compress the nativity story, making it appear as though the three kings’ show up in Bethlehem on Christmas, but traditional celebrations put their visit 12 days after Christmas. Called
Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, it is the official commemoration of the arrival of the Magi and is one of Christianity’s oldest holidays. Roman Catholics celebrate Epiphany on January 6, and Orthodox Christian faiths celebrate on January 19.
