Individuals and groups of other
people have searched for the Savior of the world for thousands of years. Many
of these people search in vain because they know not where to find Him. Some
have searched for Jesus Christ in the scriptures, while others search for Him
by visiting various churches. Still others seek Him in the wilderness of the
desert or the mountains. President Thomas S. Monson speaks of this search for Christ.
For generations, enlightened mankind in
the old and new worlds anxiously sought the fulfillment of prophecies uttered
by righteous men inspired of Almighty God. Then came that night of nights when
the angel of the Lord came upon shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch
over their flock, and the pronouncement, “For unto you is born this day in the
city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11.)
Thus, personally invited to undertake a
search for the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manager, did
these shepherds concern themselves with the security of their possessions? Did
they procrastinate their search for Jesus? The record affirms that the
shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem…. And they
came with haste” (Luke 2:15-16).
The scriptures tell us that the
shepherds found the newborn Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a
manger. After they visited the place of Jesus’ birth, they left the area
praising God and witnessing to all that they had seen the Savior of the world.
The shepherds were not the only group of people that searched for the newborn
Babe. Matthew tells us that wise men saw a new star in the east and recognized
it as a sign of the Savior’s birth. They traveled from somewhere east of
Jerusalem to find the newborn King of the Jews.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east
to Jerusalem,
Saying, Where is he that is born King of
the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him….
When they saw the star, they rejoiced
with exceeding great joy.
And when … they saw the young child with
Mary his mother, they fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened
their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and
myrrh” (Matthew 2:1-2, 10-11).
The wise men lived in a country east
of Jerusalem. They apparently had to travel a long distance because they
arrived in Jerusalem to find a Child rather than a newborn Babe. They said that
they had seen a star that told them that the King of the Jews had been born.
Apparently, the star was not constantly before them because “they rejoiced with
exceeding great joy” when they saw the star over Bethlehem.
The chief priests and scribes of the
king knew that Christ would be born in “Bethlehem of Judaea” and said that a
prophet wrote, “And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least
among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall
rule my people Israel.” (See Matthew 2:4-6.) It does not say who the prophet
was, and it does not say anything about a star. So, how did the wise men
recognize the star as a sign for the birth of the King of the Jews? Wilcox asks
a similar question in the title of his article titled, “How Did the Wise Men Know to Look for a Star?” This is an interesting question, and one that this author had not previously
considered. Wilcox explains how he discovered this question.
I once attended a Christmas devotional
where Elder Craig A. Cardon of the Seventy spoke. He asked, “How did the wise
men know that the star was a sign of Christ’s birth?” I assumed it had been
prophesied somewhere in the Old Testament, but then Elder Cardon pointed out
that our current Old Testament shows no such prophecy. He said, “Every year at
Christmastime, people in nearly every Christian denomination celebrate the
birth of the Lord by depicting or reenacting the Nativity, complete with wise
men following a star. Today we read of `His star’ in the New Testament (Matthew
2:2), but how did the wise men, who didn’t have the New Testament, know of the
sacred sign?”
Elder Cardon continued, “Most Christians
believe there is no scripture or revelation beyond the Bible, yet of the 43
occurrences of the word star in the
Old Testament, only one has reference to the Savior (see Numbers 24:17), and in
that instance the word is a title, not a heavenly object. How did the wise men
know to look for a star? People may not realize it, but anyone who believes
wise men came at Christ’s birth is acknowledging that there had to be other
scriptures and revelation in addition to the Bible.”
Wilcox says, “Elder Cardon’s insight
impacted me deeply,” and the same is true of this author. Even though she knew
the story of the wise men well, she had never considered how they obtained
their knowledge. She mostly assumed that it was in the Old Testament somewhere
but did not know where. However, she did know that the star was given to
another group of people as a sign of the birth of Jesus Christ. The people were
the Nephites living in ancient America, and their record is found in the Book
of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
About 595 years after Lehi left
Jerusalem, a Lamanite prophet by the name of Samuel appeared in the land of the
Nephites to do some missionary work. In the process he prophesied that the
Savior would be born in five years.
And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I
give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the
Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.
And behold, this will I give unto you
for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights
in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no
darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.
Therefore, there shall be one day and a
night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall
be unto you for a sign….
And behold, there shall a new star
arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto
you (Helaman 14:2-5).
The record continues and tells of
various events that took place in the five-years between Samuel’s prophecy and
its fulfillment. The people looked steadfastly for the sign, and wicked people
threatened to kill the believers if the sign did not come to pass. The night
before the scheduled day of death, the sun went down but no darkness appeared.
And it came to pass that there was no
darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And
it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its
proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born,
because of the sign which had been given.
And it had come to pass, yea, all
things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.
And it came to pass also that a new star
did appear, according to the word
The Nephites knew that a new star
would be the sign of the Savior’s birth. However, the wise men did not have the
Nephite records, so how did they know that a star would be the sign? There is
nothing in the scriptures to answer this question, so we now have two great
questions concerning the wise men. The first question is how many wise men
traveled to Bethlehem? (The scriptures mention three gifts – gold, frankincense,
and myrrh – but not a number of wise men.) The second question is how did they
know to look for a star?
This author has no idea how many
wise men there were or how to find the information. However, she believes that
the obvious answer to the second question is that the wise men had other
records than what we have in the Old Testament, or they received personal
revelation to prepare them for the event. Both questions are good ones to
ponder this Christmas season.
President Ezra Taft Benson speaks of the wise men and counsels his listeners to follow
their example and to seek Jesus Christ by following His light.
And now, my beloved brothers and
sisters, what must we do this Christmas season--- and always? Why, we must do
the same as the wise men of old. They sought out the Christ and found him. And
so must we. Those who are wise still seek him today.
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