Wise Whistleblowers

Resistance to tyranny has always been obedience to God

A common depiction of three wise men, except in Suspendable fashion…from the author’s collection.

Most people, even those who don’t claim to be Christians, are at least somewhat familiar with the tale of three magi, or wise men, traveling to Bethlehem to visit baby Jesus. Little is known about the wise men from the biblical account which is only recorded in the gospel of Matthew. Even there, not much can be ascertained about who these wise men were. It isn’t even known how many there truly were who came from the east to visit the Christ child. The common conception is that there were three because Matthew tells us of the three gifts they brought with them; gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11). Perhaps the greatest “gift” they gave to the baby Jesus and his earthly parents was that of disobedience to a wicked government and a tyrannical king. More on that later.

“And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.” -Matthew 2:12

Who were these magi, or what, at least, can we discern about their origin and why they traveled to locate “he who has been born king of the Jews?” The Greek transliteration for magi is “magoi,” and there really isn’t a great English translation for it, hence how our language adopted “magi” in its stead. The root word is where we get “magic” and it’s various forms as well like “magical,” “magician,” etc. Most English versions of the Bible use magi or wise men when translating “magoi.”

Matthew’s account tells us, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.” The Greek word for “from the east” literally means “rising of the sun” so we can ascertain that they came from a land at least somewhat eastward of modern day Israel. Perhaps Babylon (modern day Iraq) or even much further east like the Orient as the popular hymn portrays. However they likely came from somewhere within the Parthian Empire which reigned to the east of Roman controlled Judea at the time of Christ’s birth. All that being said, at the time of his birth, any travel from the Parthian Empire, especially from the far eastern portion would have been substantial and helps us understand why it was written that they came from “the rising sun.”

Parthian Empire at its greatest extent (94 BC). I roughly marked where Bethlehem is located to the west. Credit Wikipedia

History tells us that the magi first started to appear prominently in the 7th century BC and eventually became an influential group both spiritually and politically for many generations; to include during the era of Christ’s birth. The hymn I mentioned says, “we three kings of Orient are,” however, none of the biblical references to magi would indicate that they were actually kings and the historical information of magi as a sect would rather indicate that they were more likely kingmakers than kings. The biblical account of Esther (1:13) shows us that “the wise men” played a role in politics and the king sought them ought for their knowledge on law and judgment. Furthermore, history shows us that no Persian, which would include the Medo-Persian Empire of Esther’s day, as well as the Parthian Empire when Christ was born, was allowed to be king without first coming to a masterful understanding of the disciplines of the magi; Xenophon and Herodotus being but two examples indicative of this.

The biblical account of Daniel is another area we can point to where magi played a prominent role, and this early in their history relatively speaking. Daniel was gifted by God in being able to decipher dreams. King Nebuchadnezzar was haunted by a dream (Daniel 2) that none of the “magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans” could interpret. Daniel was able to interpret the dream and “then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:48).

“In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.” -Job 33:15

Dreams played an important role for the magi, as did astrology. This was true in Esther and Daniel’s days as it was in the era of Jesus’s birth. The magi told Herod that they “saw his (Jesus’s) star when it rose” (Matthew 2:2) and they came to worship him. Matthew’s account then tells that Herod was “troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” He then gathered all the scribes and chief priests to ascertain where this king was to be born. The people of Israel had already rejected Christ. We would see it again about 33 years later when he was crucified. But they rejected him here too, and worked in concert with a tyrant king of Rome in an attempt to destroy Christ’s life in its infancy.

Matthew quotes the prophecy from Micah 5:2 which was provided to Herod from the scribes and chief priests. Herod then beckons the wise men in secret to determine when the star appeared and to manipulate them, and no doubt levy his full kingly authority to command them, to return to him once they found Jesus so that he too “may come and worship him.” Tyrants always try to play nice at first don’t they? The carrot before the stick, as it were; or the charade that they are a benevolent leader before they mandate your life away since you are not essential. Only they are, and their perceived power that they cling to.

My eldest daughter liked this version more

The wise men departed the king endeavoring back on their journey to find the one, true king. Finding the star again, or more likely it being divinely placed before them, they located “the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” and in short order they met Mary and Joseph and “fell down and worshipped him,” as well as provided the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; gifts fit for a king.

The magi were then warned in a dream, remember the importance of dreams and astrology throughout their history, not to return to Herod. So, they went back “to their own country by another way.” Once the wise men departed, Joseph also had a dream. A dream where he was visited by “an angel of the Lord” who told him to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt because Herod was seeking the child in order to destroy him.

Matthew then tells us that when Herod learned “that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” The use of the word “tricked” here really points to the wickedness of the tyrant. Herod knew that Christ was king. The wise men told him it was so, the chief priests and scribes of the people taught him the biblical prophecy of Christ’s coming. Yet Herod was so concerned with the things of this world that he murdered innocent babies and toddlers so he could cling to his “power” for just a little longer before his own death.

Such a common theme with humans, and especially with tyrants. We want the things of this world so badly that we are willing to be cowards to obtain them or retain them. We are willing to sacrifice the truth for a lie. We are willing to stay silent when we know we ought speak. We are willing to comply with tyranny, even when we know the cost is ourselves.

“Do not ly up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” -Matthew 6:19-21

The wise men were visitors in a foreign land. As was proper, they first went to the king of that land, Herod, to announce their presence and to ask for direction on their task. Perhaps in ignorance, not wisdom, they believed everyone was aware of the truth of the coming of Christ the King. That folly led to the slaughter of an untold number of infant boys in the region of Bethlehem. Tyranny at its worst. The slaughter of young humans continues even today at catastrophic levels, even in the “Christian” country of America. Tyranny at it’s worst.

Herod, the king, with all the rights and privileges afforded him, told the wise men to report back to him once they found Jesus. They refused to comply with that vile order. An order that was lawful. An order, that if they were caught violating, could undoubtedly have resulted in their own death. An order they willingly disobeyed. I would posit, an order they vigorously disobeyed.

In modern, American law what Herod asked them to do, and then what he did, would be a violation of 18 U.S. Code § 242 - Deprivation of rights under color of law, 18 U.S. Code § 1111 - Murder, and probably 18 U.S. Code § 1512 - Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant at a minimum. The wise men should be protected for refusing to comply with illegal orders. Let’s say they were fbi agents for instance, then 5 U.S. Code § 7211 - Employees’ right to petition Congress would allegedly protect them for going to another authority and 5 U.S. Code § 2303 - Prohibited personnel practices in the Federal Bureau of Investigation would allegedly protect them from any retaliation.

Yet, as in Herod’s day is the same as in ours. Tyrannical governments not only refuse to protect those who are aware of evil governmental action, they actively work against any thought of disobeying or making known the wickedness that is afoot. If the wise men would have known that their non-compliance with an illegal order would have resulted in the slaughter of innocent children, what do you think they would have done?

I think they would have stuck to their divine mandate to seek out and be the first Gentile worshippers of Christ; as difficult as that would have been from a human perspective. Nonetheless, as difficult as things get on earth, as difficult as our decisions become, we must always do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. We must refrain from allowing the vile, wicked, evil actions of tyrants to dictate how we are to live our lives in accordance with God’s word.

“By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.” -Proverbs 8:15-16

Tyrants abjectly reject their divine authority in accordance with God’s design for government. When that happens, we all have a duty to resist tyranny as the wise men did. During this Advent season and as we are mere days away from when we celebrate Christ’s birth, I pray we all have the courage and the wisdom to obey God and defy tyranny. May Christ be the center of your celebration during this season, and I hope you’ll listen to and watch the video of this rendition of “We Three Kings” as we close! Hold the line. Kristos Kurios; Christ is King.

Postscript

I apologize for the very hit or miss nature of my Substack posts lately. For the few of you who are still reading, thank you. That really is what keeps me going so please leave a comment or shoot me a message so I know at least someone is out there!

I really just scratched the surface here. I read a lot and listened to a fair amount to get this post to where it is. I hope it was entertaining. I’ll link one of the best sources I came across below and then link a few of the other things I’ve been up to lately if you are interested. As always, thanks for following along and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

“Who were the Wise Men?”

Ep. 10 | Suspendables Roundtable (also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon, etc.)

Ep. 9 | The Other Half (also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon, etc.)

Speech in North Dakota

The Suspendables merch