Timeline of ruling kingdom in book of daniel

broken image

200, Tertullian was laying out arguments that the Magi, while astrologers by trade, were considered kings.

broken image

And who were they? Technically speaking, Matthew calls them magi-but what are magi? Are they kings? Wise men? Sorcerers? Astrologers?Ĭhristians have been trying to nail down their identity for millennia.

broken image

Where did they come from? With a wink Matthew writes, “the East.” Indeed, his description is so utterly “specific” that church traditions in dozens of countries claim to be their country of origin. Intrigue swirls around these festooned foreigners. But Matthew’s account is vague, shrouded in mystery: “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…” (Matt. Perhaps if Luke the historian had written about them in his Christmas account, we might have had precise details. Bearing gifts, they traversed afar, following yonder star through the back of the sanctuary in the grand crescendo of our beloved annual Christmas pageant. They’re the three men in glittering velvet robes and fake beards in the living nativity at church.

broken image