Chapter 23: The Wise Men who saw Christ’s Star in the East were the First to see the Great Light that Isaiah Prophesied would Shine on those Living in Spiritual Darkness in the Regions of the Galilee

The Wise Men who Saw Christ’s Star in the East were the First to see the Shechinah Glory of Christ, the Great Light that Isaiah prophesied would Shine on those Living in Spiritual Darkness in the Regions of the North. The Wise Men were the first to see the Rising of the Great Light that first Began to Shine when Christ was Born – the Great Light that Isaiah spoke of seven hundred years before the Birth of Christ and echoed by Matthew at the Beginning of Christ’s Ministry. Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:12-16

In this chapter I want to examine the connection between Balaam, who prophesied over one thousand years before the birth of Christ about the Star that would rise out of Jacob, the Wise Men who saw Christ’s Star in the East, which was the fulfillment of Balaam’s prophecy, and the Great Light that Isaiah prophesied would Shine on those living in Spiritual Darkness in the geographical regions of the North, which included the Galilee and “Beyond the Jordan,” which was “East” of the Jordan.

The wise men saw “His Star,” the star of Christ, in the East – the East being a reference to the geographical area located “Beyond the Jordan,” one of the geographical areas in Isaiah’s prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-2.

Isaiah 9:1-2 ¹But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish [for with judgment comes the promise of salvation]. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make them honored [by the presence of the Messiah], by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

² The people who walk in [spiritual] darkness

Will see a great Light;

Those who live in the dark land,

The Light will shine on them. Amplified Bible

Matthew 4:12-16 ¹² Now when Jesus heard that John [the Baptist] had been arrested and put in prison, He left for Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth, He went and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the country of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee [in the district] of the Gentiles— ¹⁶“The people who were sitting (living) in [spiritual] darkness have seen a great Light,

And for those who were sitting (living) in the land and shadow of [spiritual and moral] death,

Upon them a Light has dawned.” Amplified Bible

Matthew 2:1-2 ¹Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men [astrologers] from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, ² Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east at its rising and have come to worship Him. Amplified Bible

At the time Matthew wrote the Book of Matthew the audience Matthew was writing to would have understood that the Wise men Matthew referred to in Matthew 2:1-12 were Sorcerers – Magicians from the east. They were not wise men in the sense that we would think of a wise man, say teaching at a university.

The Star the Wise Men Saw in the East was Balaam’s Prophecy Coming to Pass:

And the wise men were not the first wise men (sorcerers) to see Christ’s Star in the east (Beyond the Jordan). The first sorcerer to see the Messiah’s Star in the East was seen by Balaam approximately over a thousand years before Christ was born. In fact, the star the Wise Men saw was a fulfillment of a Prophecy spoken by the Sorcerer Balaam coming to pass.

Numbers 24 reveals that Balaam was hired by Balak, a Moabite King (Numbers 22:2, 4), who hired Balaam to utter a curse that would destroy the Israelites as they travelled through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. However, the Lord forbade Balaam from speaking a curse over Israel. Instead, the Lord commanded Balaam to speak a Blessing over Israel and part of that blessing uttered by Balaam is of the Star he saw that would rise from Jacob, not then, but in the distant future.

Numbers 24:16-17 ¹⁶ the message of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open: ¹⁷ I see him, but not here and now. I perceive him, but far in the distant future. A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel. It will crush the foreheads of Moab’s people, cracking the skulls of the people of Sheth. NLT

Like the Wise men, Balaam was a Sorcerer who also heard clearly from the Lord. We need to keep in mind that the devil is God’s devil, and at times the Lord uses those like Balaam and the Wise Men who are under the influence of the devil for His Kingdom Purposes.

God allowed Satan to put Job’s Integrity to the Test: For example, we know from Job 2:6 that Satan’s authority and ability to attack one of God’s servants is under God’s control and is allowed only so far as God permits. And, God would not allow Satan the power to take Job’s life.

Job 2:1-10 ¹ One day the members of the heavenly court came again to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. ² “Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan. Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” ³ Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless — a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.” ⁴ Satan replied to the LORD, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. ⁵ But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!” ⁶ “All right, do with him as you please,” the LORD said to Satan. “But spare his life.” ⁷ So Satan left the LORD’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot. ⁸ Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. ⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” ¹⁰ But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong. NLT

Satan maintained that Job would only worship the Lord as long as he was being blessed and that once God took Job’s health away, Job would surely curse the Lord. So, to prove His point the Lord allowed Satan to afflict Job. Just as the Lord told Satan, Job maintained his integrity and said nothing wrong, even when his wife encouraged Job to curse God and die (verse 9-10)!

Jesus identified the one who would betray Him as a devil (John 70-71) and we find in Acts 1:15-17 that the betrayal of Jesus was in fulfillment of Psalm 69:9, 21 and Psalm 109:3.

Acts 1:15-22 ¹⁵ During this time, when about 120 believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and addressed them. ¹⁶ “Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David. ¹⁷ Judas was one of us and shared in the ministry with us.” ¹⁸ (Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery. Falling headfirst there, his body split open, spilling out all his intestines. ¹⁹ The news of his death spread to all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means “Field of Blood.”) ²⁰ Peter continued, “This was written in the book of Psalms, where it says, ‘Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.’ It also says, ‘Let someone else take his position.’ ²¹ “So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus— ²² from the time He was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.” NLT

The point I want to make is that there are times when the Lord will use evil, including Satan who entered Judas, to bring about a Kingdom purpose and to fulfill prophecy.

John 13:21-30 ²¹ Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray Me!” ²² The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom He could mean. ²³ The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. ²⁴ Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s He talking about?” ²⁵ So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶ Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when He had dipped it, He gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.” ²⁸ None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. ²⁹ Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. ³⁰ So Judas left at once, going out into the night. NLT

So it was with Balaam.

Balaam, a Sorcerer, against his own will, prophesied that he saw a Star come out of Jacob and a Scepter that rose out of Israel. And, we know that Jacob’s name was changed from Jacob to Israel while Jacob was East of the Jordan River. And, it was in the East that the Wise Men saw “His” star – “His” being a reference to Christ.

When they saw “His Star” in the East that meant the Wise Men saw Christ’s Star “Beyond the Jordan.” And, it was “Beyond the Jordan” that Moses and Elijah saw the Shechinah Glory of Christ when Christ was transfigured.

Numbers 24:17 ¹⁷ I see him, but not here and now. I perceive him, but far in the distant future. A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel. It will crush the foreheads of Moab’s people, cracking the skulls of the people of Sheth. NLT

Numbers 24:17 ¹⁷ I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. KJV

Every Knee Shall Bow and Every Tongue Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord – Philippians 2:10-11

Balaam wanted to curse Israel, yet he had to submit to the God of Israel and prophesy that in the far off future a star would rise from Jacob and a scepter would emerge from Israel that would destroy all the children of Sheth and crush the foreheads of the Moabites, the very enemies of Israel who paid Balaam to curse Israel. And, over a thousand years later the Wise Men saw that star rise in the East. And, the day is coming when Satan and all his demonic forces will be forced to submit, and much to their chagrin, they will bow their knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, just as the Wise Men (Magicians) who saw His star in the East came to worship Christ when He was born.

Like Balaam who was constrained by God to utter a prophecy that would bless Israel at the end of time, there will be many others who, against their will, will bow their knee and confess that Jesus is Lord!

In God’s own timing He fulfilled Balaam’s prophecy.

Matthew 2:1-2 ¹Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men [astrologers] from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, ² Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east at its rising and have come to worship Him. Amplified Bible

The New Testament was written in the Greek language, and in the original text of the New Testament, Matthew would have used the Greek word Magi instead of the words Wise Men that we now see in many translations.

Those living at the time Matthew wrote the Book of Matthew would have known that Magi was a reference to the astrologers and sorcerers that belonged to a class of scholars that were called Magi from which our present-day word magic is derived. As Magi they would have been well aware of Balaam’s prophecy as recorded in Numbers 24:17 that spoke of the future event of a star that would rise out of Jacob/Israel and would have been actively watching for the manifestation of this particular star via the means of enchantments and divination. There can be little doubt that the Magi, who like Balaam were Sorcerers, would have made the connection between the star they saw rise in the East with that of the star in Balaam’s prophecy that would signal the rising of a great King in Israel.

Numbers 24:1 ¹ Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness. NKJV

Note the NKJV uses the word “Sorcery” while the KJ uses the word “Enchantments.”

Numbers 24:1 ¹ And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. KJV

The account of both Balaam and the Wise Men is a reminder that God has a place for the Gentile nations among His people. While Christ proclaimed that He came for the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:21-28), we know from the account of the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:26) from Tyre and Sidon who bowed and worshipped Christ that He also claimed the Gentiles as His own as well.

The Magi were the first of many Gentiles that on their own would bow down and worship Christ as their Savior and not just the Savior of Israel.

Isaiah spoke of the great light that would be seen by the Gentiles as well as the Israelites that were living in the Galilee. And, it was here “Beyond the Jordan” where Elijah came from that Elijah saw the Great Light at the Transfiguration of Christ – the light from heaven that shone around Paul on the way to Damascus – again in the geographical region as identified in Isaiah’s prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-2. And, it is this Great Light that will illuminate the New Jerusalem.

Light was the first thing God created in the creation of the world we live in.

God created light on the first day

“before”

He created the sun and moon on the fourth day of creation.

Light was the first thing God created in the creation of the world we live in. God created light on the first day “before” He created the sun and moon on the fourth day of creation. It was not until the 4th day that God created the sun and moon. The Light that was manifest on the first day of creation was a physical manifestation of Christ’s glory, just as it will be in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:5).

There is so much more to be said about Light as it pertains to both God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This chapter only touches the surface of all that has been written in God’s Word about Christ who said, “I AM the Light.”

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