Matthew 2:8-12 Guided by the Star
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: January 9 & 10, 2019, Matthew 2:8-12
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
(Understanding the Text) The star must have disappeared for a while when they reached a certain point where they were sure that their destination was Judea. The SDA commentary seems to say that it led them to Jerusalem and disappeared. I think the star was the glory of God with the angels on the night of Jesus’ birth, so it may have only been there that one night, so the only ones who saw were those who were watching the night sky. In that case, the wise men had to have searched to figure out what the star portended and done mathematical calculations to determine the location of the star. As they got closer, they may have asked people if they had seen the star and mentioned the event the star indicated. People would have told them that they needed to go to Jerusalem to find the king of the Jews and information about the Messiah, or maybe it was simply logical to go to Jerusalem. One reason that I think that the star was not continuously above Judea during this time is that people would have been remarking about it more, and Herod would have been aware of it. On the other hand, I have recently heard a preacher saying that other people saw the star and simply ignored that it was a sign from God.
Verse 7 says that Herod sent for the wise men secretly. That must have been because if he had done it publicly, someone might have warned the wise men that there was no way Herod would want to worship a king of the Jews. Herod probably kept the wise men pretty isolated from the local Jews while they were in Jerusalem. When he saw the effect the wise men were having in Jerusalem, he would have wanted to limit that influence. He would have probably liked to get rid of them permanently, but if they were “of noble birth, educated, wealthy, and influential . . . philosophers, the counselors of the realm, learned in all the wisdom of the ancient East” like the SDA commentary describes them, Herod would have been restrained for fear of harmful repercussions to himself if he killed them. However, if he simply kept them out of sight and limited their contact with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, he knew that the furor would die down. No one would worry about it after a while.
The wise men did not think about all the politics happening behind the scenes. They were on a mission that had nothing to do with Rome. When Herod told them their destination, they were excited and eagerly left Jerusalem as fast as Herod wished them to. Herod probably planned their departure at night when fewer people would observe them. He probably had a good excuse for this. The wise men may have sensed something wrong about Herod and were eager to get away from their house arrest. The SDA commentary says that it was twilight when they left Jerusalem.
After they left Jerusalem, they traveled down the mountain road towards Bethlehem, which was still also in the mountains.
The trip would not have taken the whole night. According to Google, it is only 10 1/2 km or 6 1/2 miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. (The SDA commentary says five miles.) Nowadays in a car, that trip takes about 38 minutes. I assume the extra time is because of traffic. At high speeds on the turnpike, a car could travel 6 1/2 miles in about five minutes! At walking speeds, it would only take an hour or two at most. As they traveled, they wondered how they should look for the child once they reached the town of Bethlehem, but as they were discussing it, the star appeared once again to guide them. I believe that the star was an angel leading them.
It says that the star guided them to the house where the child was. We always picture the wise men visiting Mary and Joseph in the stable alongside the shepherds, but this passage indicates differently. When Herod questioned them about the timing of the stars first appearance, it was not soon like a week earlier. Herod did not kill only the newborns. He killed all children two or younger. Since he probably would have given a little extra time to make sure that he killed the child, it still would have made Jesus several months old. I estimate that Jesus was somewhere between six months to eighteen months old, probably closer to a year. Thus, Mary and Joseph had been living in the town of Bethlehem for about a year. They had had time to find a house to stay in. Joseph would have had to find work to support them, which may have not been an issue since they had relatives living in the area. Also, they were not too far away from Elizabeth and Zechariah and little baby John. Maybe, they visited each other and discussed the prophecies and the future together. At this point, Mary and Joseph may have had no plans to return to Nazareth. They would have known that the people there would put Mary and Jesus down, suspecting the timing of the birth. Some of those people might have been Joseph’s own children. If they waited long enough before returning, no one would notice how big the baby was compared to how long they had been married. Also, evidently Nazareth was considered to be about as low and poor as you could get. Maybe, they considered that they should raise the King of the Jews close to Jerusalem, the seat of His power. They probably thought in terms of a political Messiah at this point, just like everyone else. The SDA commentary says that “Jesus was at least 40 days old, perhaps older,” so maybe I am overestimating the time that Mary and Joseph spent in Bethlehem, but maybe not. The commentary’s logic is based on the fact that Luke says that Mary and Joseph traveled to Jerusalem for purification ceremonies, which for a boy would have been 40 days after the birth. This would have had to take place before the visit of the Magi. Thus, the commentary is not saying that it was close to 40 days, but that the wise men could not have made their visit before Jesus was 40 days old. Thus, their visit may have been much later. I think my logic may still be correct based on the age of the children that Herod ordered to be killed.
One thing that confuses me is Joseph’s other children. Were they already grown at this point? EGW takes the side that James and Jude and the other brothers were Jesus’ stepbrothers, and thus, they were older. Were they so much older that Joseph felt comfortable not only leaving them in Nazareth for a short trip to get counted in a census, but also for an extended stay in Bethlehem? And later, leaving them alone during the stay in Egypt? If so, some of Joseph’s children might have been Mary’s age. Joseph may have been old enough to be Mary’s father! I don’t know. I think this is one of those questions that we won’t know until the second coming and by then it will be irrelevant. On page 282, the SDA commentary says that Joseph was a widower when he married Mary and had at least six other children besides Jesus-four brothers and an unspecified number of sisters (Mat 12:46, 13:55-56, Mark 6:3 & DA p. 90 & 321). It says that they were probably older, i.e. from Joseph’s other marriage. On page 286, it says “Jesus had both brothers and sisters, but the brothers, at least, were older than Jesus and therefore Joseph’s children by a former marriage (see on Matt. 12:46). The fact that Jesus committed His mother to the care of John (John 19:27) may imply that Mary had no other children of her own. On the other hand, she may have had children who were not in a position to care for her or who were unsympathetic toward both her and Jesus.”
(Revelation of God) So, Mary and Joseph and Jesus had been living in Bethlehem for a while. They had found a home to stay, and Joseph was practicing his occupation of carpentry and doing other work to support his family. Mary was taking care of her baby, who in addition to being the son of God was also a human baby who pooped and peed and suckled milk and had to be cleaned and fed and played with and hugged. They may have begun to doubt that he really was the Messiah at this point, and then one evening after they had settled down for the night, someone knocked at the door.
(Understanding the Text) Joseph would have gone to the door and looked out to see if a neighbor needed something. His mouth would have dropped open in shock when he saw the exotic strangers in beautiful clothing standing outside his door. His faith would have been renewed when they told him that they had come to worship the child who had been born King of the Jews. They would have been reassured when Joseph told them to sit while he went to get the child. Mary had probably gotten up by then and dressed appropriately to receive strangers into her home. Was Jesus awake and aware of the strangers or was he still sleeping peacefully with the total relaxation of a child as Joseph carried him in to the strangers?
It says that they saw Mary and the baby, so Mary may have been the one to bring Jesus into the room for the strangers to see Him. The strangers bowed to the ground. They would have made a little speech and presented their gifts. Maybe they asked about the birth and the star. Maybe, Joseph shared the details of the announcement, shepherd’s visit, and some of the prophecies about Messiah that he knew. How long did they all stay in the little house speaking? Was it only a few hours, or all night? Eventually, they would have decided that they had kept the young King awake long enough and left to return to camp outside the town for a few hours of sleep. Suddenly, one of them, or maybe all of them at once, sat up from their sleeping mat(s). That one or all of them rushed to declare that a dream had come to them warning them not to go back to Herod, but to hurriedly pack and return to their country. They rushed around breaking camp and packing up. Then, they left traveling south? From Bethlehem rather than back north to Jerusalem.
Had Herod sent a spy to follow the wise men? I think so, but if so the spy would not have been able to follow too close. If so, the spy would have seen the star also. Maybe, the spy never returned to Herod, or maybe the spy was never close enough to see where the wise men went in Bethlehem. On the other hand, Herod did not fear God, so he thought that he was just dealing with a rumor and silly deceived men. He may not have sent a spy to follow the wise men because he didn’t think that he needed to. I don’t know. Everything I’ve heard about Herod screams paranoia. I think that he sent a spy, but that the spy could not get too close without revealing that he was following the wise men. The spy would not have known that the wise men were not coming back to Jerusalem until he saw them leave in the opposite direction. He may have followed along behind for a while until he was sure that they were leaving Judea permanently, or maybe he was sleeping when the wise men left and was only aware of their leaving after many hours. Then, he would have had to confirm their direction before reporting back to Herod.
(Application) My application to myself is that I am not the only one that God is using and speaking to. He used the wise men to give Joseph and Mary the funds that they needed to live in exile. That required long-term planning. He coordinated the departures of both Jesus’ family and the wise men so that Jesus was safe. Joseph and Mary must have left just hours, at most a day, before the soldiers arrived in Bethlehem. God’s timing is perfect. My other application for myself is that just because horrible things happen in this sinful world, it does not mean that the plan of salvation is not moving forward. The massacre of children in Bethlehem was not Herod’s only atrocity or mass execution of people. Innocent people were hurt in Bethlehem because of Satan’s war on God. The innocent mother who was on the receiving end of Herod’s evil did not deserve that horror. I may be on the receiving end of a horror that is part of this cosmic war. God has not promised me to protect me from horrors. Instead, He has promised me that He will be with me every step of the way and make the ultimate result turn out to good rather than evil. I don’t live a charmed life just because the Spirit lives in me and loves me. Jesus was protected as a baby, but ultimately He received all the horror that Satan could throw at Him without protection from above. Unlike Jesus, I have the assurance that I will not be alone to face the horrors. However, I must learn to know the Spirit’s presence so that I can listen for Him when the terrible times come.
Another application for myself is that the final goal of God’s guidance and leading will not usually be clear to me during the intermediate steps. The wise men followed a star that only led them part of the way before disappearing. They had to ask around before they finally knew where God wanted them to go. They probably assumed that they would be able to visit the baby king again and again. Maybe, they had plans for counseling and teaching Him with their wisdom and knowledge as He grew, but God had other plans for them. What happened to the wise men after they left? I do not know, but I can guess that God used their influence to prepare others for the coming of the gospel later. Maybe, one of the apostles came through their land telling of Jesus, and the people were ready to hear and commit their lives to Jesus. Whether I can see where God is leading me or why is irrelevant. I just need to follow God’s leading as best I can and pray for guidance where I am unclear.
(Prayer) All of these applications are easy to say, but terribly hard to do. Please help me to trust Your leading and not try to push ahead of Your plans. I know that Your timing is perfect, but I get impatient and worry. Help me to know how to wait and stay close to You even when I am in a holding pattern. When bad things happen strengthen my faith so that I look for You and can see You holding me during the pain