Wise Men from the East-part 2

Well, good afternoon, everyone. Ah, good crowd. It's great to be back here with all of you. Before I begin, I'll kind of do like Mr. Phelps did last week. He spent a little bit of time talking about his trip. I don't want to spend too much time on that, but I do want to mention we did have a really good trip down to Mississippi to start with to see our son, Derek, and daughter-in-law, Deanna, and granddaughter Cindy. But I'll say it, and it's interesting, because we thought maybe if we go to Mississippi, it might be a little warmer. It never got above freezing. We were gone for almost two weeks, all the way down, all the way back. We're not going to Mississippi two weeks, three weeks ago, and then two weeks ago we were in Jonesboro, Arkansas. But it never got above freezing until we got home. We got a little, roughly a couple degrees, I think, and then went back again. In fact, it's interesting. I think it was about earlier this week, I think it was almost Tuesday morning or Monday morning or Tuesday morning, we got up at like 6 30, and it was five degrees above zero here. Shortly after that, Evelyn got a text from our son, Derek, in Mississippi. He said it was 10 degrees above zero down there. So this cold front's gone all the way down to deep-free. So it's really nice right now to have it up to 40 degrees. It feels really warm. So let's hope we can, let's hope we do have a spring and a summer eventually. But we had a good, good trip down there, a really good visit with Evelyn's brother Larry there in Jonesboro, and with our son Derek as well. But it's always great to be back, back here with all of you back home again. Well today, and I want to conclude my two-part sermon that I started a month ago now. It's been a month. I had the last three Sabbaths off, but so it's nice to kind of be back here again. But I want to conclude my two-part sermon on the wise men from the east who came to Jerusalem to quote, Worshipee, who has been born king of the Jews. At the time, Jesus was not just a baby, but as a young child, it says, as we covered last time. Then as we covered last time in Matthew, the first few verses there are Matthew 2. When Herod the king heard they were entering Jerusalem, these wise men from the east, Matthew then records that he, King Herod, was troubled in all Jerusalem with him. Again, I'll just record in Matthew 2 verses 1 through 3. The last time in power, we began a journey to discover there had to be many, more than just three wise men, as the traditional Christmas story has it.

And we discussed the one and only nation they could have come from, which when you understand the map of the world at that time, it had to be the nation of Parthia. The center of which was due east of Jerusalem, and which was about the same size as the Roman Empire. Parthia extended 1,000 miles north to south, and 2,000 miles east to west. You got the Roman Empire, then you have the Parthian Empire, and 2,000 miles going east to west until you come to China. So there's no other nation that the wise men from the east could have come from, except from the nation of Parthia. And the Parthian Empire and the Roman Empire shared a common border. I want to touch on that just quickly here. They shared a common border with the Euphrates River. The Euphrates River was a border. It was the eastern border of the Roman Empire. It was the western border of the Parthian Empire. The Euphrates River was a large portion of the east of the border. But I want to mention something here, and just show you again. I showed this last time. I know you can't see this real well here. This is just a little map you'd better have had up on a screen. But this whole area here in red and this wide area here, the Arabian Desert, that's always part of the Roman Empire. All the area in green over here, that's all the Parthian Empire, or a portion of it, a large portion of it. And way over here is China on the other side over there. This is right here. Here's the Euphrates River right here. It's a border right there. But the thing I want to point out is something very interesting. It comes later in the sermon. Right down here, right across on the eastern side of the Euphrates River in Parthia is the city of Babylon. Babylon's right there. It's very important. It's going to be an important part of the sermon a little bit later on. Nowhere in Babylon. And Babylon was on the eastern side of the Euphrates River in Parthia. It was a part of the Parthian Empire. So that's important then to understand.

So the wise men from the east were Parthians. And we also saw last time that the Parthians would come to Jerusalem to worship the young child. It would have been Jews and or Israelites. People didn't have anything to do with knowing about the prophecy of the Old Testament, didn't have the word of God at all. They would not have known anything about that prophecy. They wouldn't have been interested in it. It had to be Jews and or Israelites who were familiar with the Old Testament scrolls. But there are still many questions that are yet unanswered after part one. Why did this contingent from Parthia want to bestow a great deal of wealth or treasures, it says there in Matthew, on healing the born king of the Jews? Why were they interested in doing that? How did these Jews and Israelites end up in Parthia? How did they get over there? What kind of a structure of government did Parthia have? That's key as well. How did the Parthians select their king? What kind of government did they have? They had a king, but how did they select their king? This is very important. It all ties in. Who was their king? And what titles did they bestow upon their king? They had a particular title. They bestowed on their kings. What title was that? And why were they so interested in you had been born king of the Jews? What was their real ultimate goal? So those are some of the questions we'll look at today as we continue our journey and as we conclude this two-part sermon on the wise men from the east. So my title is the wise men from the east, part two. I want to begin by asking this question.

Who do you think was the greatest general of all time? If you had to write down a name, what name would you write down? Alexander the Great. Almost without exception, everyone would answer Alexander the Great. But that would be incorrect, at least according to Charles Rollins. I want to write you. Here's what Charles Rollins described. A quote I've talked about from Rollins' ancient history written back in the 1800s on 1850, 1860. This is from Rollins' ancient history on Parthia, Volume 2, page 276. This pertains to about 164 BC, or about 60 years or so before the birth of Christ. Here's what he says. It says, Mithridates, I'll spell it, M-I-T-H-R-I-D-A-T-E-S, Mithridates, he was one of the greatest kings the Parthians ever had. He carried his arms farther than Alexander the Great. So Mithridates, he was the king of Parthia from 164 BC down to 123 BC, and according to Rollins, he conquered more territory than Alexander the Great. So you'd have to say at least he was a greater general, maybe a greater general.

After that, after his conquest, Parthia was content with defending their territory for a while, didn't really seek any further expansion, even as in the case of our own history, the United States, once we conquered the United States, when we took possession of it, we didn't really try to, we don't, we're not, we don't try to expand our territory by conquering other countries. Expanding. Let's now verify further who these Parthians were and why history has largely overlooked them. We'll do that by asking this. Who specifically did Christ say he was sent to minister to? Who was he sent to minister to? He was given a commission. He said, go to. Who was he told to go to? I want to read it for ourselves, a couple of scriptures. Let's turn to Matthew 15.

Matthew chapter 15, and we'll begin in verse 21 of Matthew 15.

This will tie in in a moment. Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came to him, came from that region, and cried out to him, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely demon possessed. But he answered her not a word, and his disciples came and urged him, saying, send her away, for she cries out after us. Now, that was verse 24. Here's Christ's answer. But he answered and said, I was not sent except the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So Christ said that he was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now, to whom did Christ commission his apostles to go to, and to whom did he tell them not to go to? For the answer to that, let's go back just a few pages to Matthew 10. Matthew 10, verses 5 and 6. Matthew 10, verse 5. These 12, Jesus sent out and he commanded them, his 12 disciples and apostles. He said, do not go into the way of the Gentiles. Don't go to nations with their non-Israelite nations. Do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter a city as Americans, but go rather, verse 6, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So don't go to non-Israelite nations, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So you also said, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This raises two perplexing questions. One, how could they go to them if they were lost?

How could they go to them if nobody knew where they were?

And the second question is, if they knew where they were, how could they be lost? The truth is, they were not lost in the sense that no one knew where they were. That is not what the Greek word translated, lost, in Matthew 15, 24, and Matthew 10, 6 indicates. The Greek word translated, lost, is apolumi, spelled A-P-O-L-L-U-M-I. And Strong's Concordance says it means this, to destroy, to perish, or to lose.

So you want to put it in a more understanding sense, they were really the destroyed sheep of the house of Israel. Their nation and their homeland had been destroyed and taken over by the Assyrians when they were conquered by ancient Assyria back in about 721 BC. Their homeland had perished, in the sense it was no longer in their possession, and they had lost, so they had lost their homeland. They'd lost their homeland, that's what they'd lost. They hadn't lost their identity, they lost their homeland. And they'd been forced to either remain captives in Assyria, or to flee to the south to try to find, to establish a new homeland. When ancient Israel was conquered by Assyria, everything they previously possessed was destroyed, and they became the destroyed sheep of the house of Israel. At that time, their nation was destroyed. I should say, at the time their nation was destroyed, the Israelites numbered in the millions, as you might have found. They'd been there a number of years. Their population numbered in the millions. Where did they go? Well, they came to them. Let me ask this. Was it prophesied in advance that ancient Israel would fall, and yet at the same time, greatly multiply? Let's go to the book of Hosea.

First book was called the Minor Prophets. Hosea will begin in Hosea 1 verse 1, very beginning of the book of Hosea. Hosea 1 verse 1. The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahab's, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, Go take yourself a wife of harlotry, and take children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the eternal. So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived him to him a son. And then the Lord said to him, Call his name Jezreel. For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel in the house of Jehu, and bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. It's just going to fall. It should come to pass verse 5, in that day, that I will break the bowl of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him, Call her name L'aruma, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away.

Now, even after the house of Israel was destroyed and taken away as a nation from their homeland, would they continue to multiply and grow in numbers? Hosea 1 verse 10, And yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as a sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered, and it shall come to pass in the place where was said to them, You are not my people. There it shall be said to them, You are the sons of the living God. So they will continue to increase and multiply until the number of the children of Israel that says here shall be as a sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. Would they become scattered among various nations as wanderers? Let's go to chapter 9 of Hosea. Hosea, and there's one scripture that answers that question for us. Would they be scattered among other nations as wanderers? Hosea 9 verse 17, the very last verse in Hosea 9. My God will cast them away, speaking of Israel, my God will cast them away because he did not obey him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

So here it says that they will continue to increase and multiply, but then they would also then become wanderers among the nations. Now, would the God then heal their backsliding and help them grow into other nations, so various branches of the destroyed house of Israel could spread and be revived? Is it probably they would be revived? Let's go for a few more chapters in Hosea 14. Last chapter in Hosea 14, and let's begin in verse 4. Another prophecy of Israel is going to happen to them. Hosea 4 verse 4, I will heal their backsliding. Guys, I'm not giving up on them. I'm going to heal them. I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. They haven't loved me, but I'm going to love them anyway. I'm going to give them another opportunity. I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely, for my anger has turned away from him. Wow, what a loving, merciful God we have.

And I will be like the dew to Israel, and he shall grow like the lily and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread. His beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. And those who dwell under his shadow are going to return, and they're going to be revived. They should be revived like grain and grow like a vine, and their scent shall be like the vine, or excuse me, like the wine of Lebanon. They should be revived like grain and grow like a vine. Now, after their final fall to Syria, many fled to what became the Scythian Empire, which began to form about the same time that Syria was invading the House of Israel. The Scythians, or Sis, as they were called, as the term most historians say, refers to the Sakai, Sakai S-A-K-A, or Sakai S-A-C-A-E, or in other words, to the sons of Isaac. The Scythians were named after the sons of Isaac, in a sense. They referred to the Israelites or the House of Israel. Now, the Scythian Empire flourished from around 700 B.C. to around 400 B.C., when it was conquered by people called the Sarmatians, S-A-R-M-A-T-I-O-N-S. The western portion of the Scythian Empire then became Armenia, which is on the map here. I showed it here. This part right up there is Armenia.

With that invasion, many of the House of Israel fled again, who was invaded. Again to the south, when the Scythian Empire was invaded, the Israelites were there fled again to the south to become a part of Parthia, to become part of the Parthian Empire. But again, who specifically did Christ say He was sent to minister to? He said, I was not sent except to the destroyed sheep, lost or destroyed sheep of the House of Israel.

So, where were they? Where were the destroyed sheep of the House of Israel? Where were they at the time of Christ? We don't know whether they were there in Parthia, but I want to go deeper in that. Peter was one of the twelve apostles, as we know, Matthew 10, verse 2, who was commissioned to go to the lost sheep, or destroyed sheep of the House of Israel. Read that in Matthew 10, verse 6. Peter was commissioned to go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, or the destroyed sheep of the House of Israel. So Peter knew where they were, who was sent there. Did the Apostle Paul confirm that Peter had been commissioned to take the Gospel to the uncircumcised? Those who were non-Israelites, to those of the House of Israel, to those who were non-gentiles, to those who were Israelites, to the circumcised, to the Israelites, in other words, to the House of Israel. That would be the circumcised. He asked Peter... Paul did confirm that in Galatians 2, verse 7-8. He said the Gospel for the circumcised was committed to Peter. The Gospel was circumcised. It was commissioned to Peter. Peter was to go to Israel. Did Peter do that? Did Peter go to the House of Israel? Where did Peter write his first letter from? Let's go to 1 Peter. He tells us where he wrote it from. It's interesting. Peter said he was commissioned to go to Israel. Did Peter go to Israel? Where did he write his first letter from? Or 1 Peter? Let's go to 1 Peter. Let's go to the last chapter of 1 Peter.

Let's go to 1 Peter, chapter 5. We get in verse 12. 1 Peter 5, verse 12. Peter says, By Sylvanas, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. Then the verse says... He's now... he's greeting them from where he's writing. He's writing to them, and he's greeting them from where he is writing. He says, If she is in Babylon, elect together with you greet you, and so does Mark my son. He says, greet one another. So he was greeting... He's writing this letter and greeting him from Babylon. So Peter wrote this letter in Babylon. And he also says this year that there were others in Babylon with him who were part of the elect, such as Sylvanas, that the elect who were now in Babylon were pilgrims and sojourners of the dispersion. You can read that in 1 Peter 1 verses 1 to 2, the very first two verses of 1 Peter. He was there with the pilgrims and sojourners of the dispersion. They were there in Babylon. So Peter had been commissioned to go to the house of Israel, and he'd gone to Babylon. Where was Babylon? When Peter wrote his first letter. What empire? He already showed you. It was in Parthia. Today ancient Babylon is in Iraq, but in what nation or empire was Babylon at the time of Christ? It was in Parthia. It was in the Parthian Empire, which indicates what? Which indicates that that is where many of the destroyed chief of the house of Israel were now residing in Parthia.

On the day of Pentecost, in 31 A.D., God poured out his Holy Spirit on those who had come to Jerusalem to observe that particular Holy Day. And those who came would primarily have been Jews and Israelites, but some who were proselytes who had been converted to the truth of God through the Israelites and Jews.

But according to the book of Acts, where did these people that came to Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost, where did they come from? Let's go to the book of Acts and read it for ourselves. Acts 2. We're all familiar with Acts 2. We read this every year at the day of Pentecost. Acts 2, verse 1, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all appointed to court in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as there was a very rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Dropping down to verse 4, And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues and other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. Verse 6, And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. They said, how did they learn all these languages?

Then they were all amazed, and they marveled, saying to others, Look, I'm not like these who speak Galileans. How is it then that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? Verse 8, Who was there? Are any Parthians there? Tell us at the beginning of verse 9, who was there? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Phamphilia, Egypt and parts of Libya among Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes.

So tell us right here that Parthians were there on that day of Pentecost. So a contingency from Parthia, from the Parthian Empire, were there, which undoubtedly consisted of some Jews and proselytes. Is there a source outside of the Bible that confirms that many of the historic chief of the House of Israel were in the Parthian Empire? What about the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who lived and wrote history back at that particular time in that first century AD? Did Josephus know where the ten tribes of the House of Israel were? And did he also confirm that they had been blown into an immense multitude?

I'm going to quote from the Anticrit of the Jews. This is from Anticrit of the Jews by Flavius Josephus. This is from Book 11, Chapter 5, Section 2. Quote, Many came to Babylon. He's talking about Israel. Many came to Babylon, so very desires of going down to Jerusalem. But then the entire body of the people of Israel, that is those who continue to go south of Scythia, instead of going to Jerusalem, they remained in that country, remained in Parthia.

They wanted to go back to them, but they remained in Parthia. Wordful, there are about two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans. Well, the ten tribes, that was the remainder of the ten tribes, he says, are beyond Euphrates until now, that beyond Euphrates was Parthia. They are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude and not to be estimated by numbers.

That was written by Flavius Josephus. So the ten tribes of Israel had already become an innumerable multitude. It says, beyond Euphrates, and the only empire beyond Euphrates River, east of Jerusalem, was the Parthian Empire. So here then we have historical confirmation from Josephus that the ten tribes of Israel were an immense multitude. That could not be estimated by number, who lived in and were a part of the Parthian Empire. So at that particular time, at the time of Christ, Parthia had incorporated a large portion of the destroyed chief of the house of Israel into its population.

And they were not lost to some of the supposed. As they were not lost, it says that no one knew where they were. Christ knew where they were. Peter, now he knew where they were. He was among them when he wrote his first letter from Babylon. James and Doubly also knew where they were, as he addressed his letter of the book of James to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. James 1.1.

And Josephus knew where they were, as we already indicated. So nearly everyone knew that an immense multitude of the descendants of the house of Israel were in Parthia. Almost everybody knew that. Now let me ask this question. Who then were the wise men from the east?

We know there is a wise from Parthia, but who were they specifically? Why did they have an interest in the birth of a Messiah? Why did they want to give them a deposit of their great wealth? Why did they do that? Why did they go as much trouble as they could for great wealth over there to bestow upon him? We know they must have been representatives of the Parthian Empire, but who were they really? The Greek word translated, wise men throughout the world. Matthew 2 is Magos, M-A-G-O-S. It is number 3097-3097 in Strong's Concordance, which states that literally means a magiim, not a magician, a magiim, M-A-G-I-A-M. Webster's Underbridge Dictionary that I have at home defines a magiim as a cast of priests of ancient Persia, a cast of priests from ancient Persia. Now, by the time of Christ, Parthia had long governed all former Persian territory. Thus, a magiim, or magi, was a Parthian priest, who was also considered to be one of the high officials of Parthia. All high officials of Parthia were called magistains.

The wise men from the east were a contingency of high Parthian officials from the priestly cast, meaning what? Meaning would have probably been Levites, the tribe of Levi. That was the priestly tribe. So most of all the old testament priests were Levites, and they were from the priestly cast, so a lot of these in Parthia were probably Levites.

Now, how did high officials of the Parthian government travel? Is there any record death of that in ancient historical books? Yeah, Charles Rollins, one in ancient history. He records how they traveled.

This is now according from Charles Rollins, Rollins ancient history. This is a quote from Rollins ancient history on Parthia, Volume 2, page 284. It talks about a general, Parthian general, by the name of Serenna. S-u-r-e-n-a. Serenna was a general of extraordinary merit. At 30 years of age, he surpassed all the men of his time in valor. He was besides that of the most advantageous stature, this Parthian general. For riches, credit, and authority, he had more than any man who was undoubtedly the greatest subject the king of Parthia had. His birth gave him the privilege of putting the crown up on the king's head at his coronation, and that ride had to appertain to his family from the establishment of the Parthian Empire. When he traveled, this high official Parthia, when he traveled, he had always 1,000 camels to carry his baggage, 200 chariots for his companions to carry their baggage, and for his guard, 1,000 horses completely armed, besides a great number of light-armed troops, which in all did not amount to less than 10,000 men. When he traveled, he traveled with an army of 10,000.

Now, this example I just read to you, Serenna changed to about 52 BC, about 50 years before the birth of Christ, and as Rollins related, it pertains to a great Parthian general by the name of Serenna. He was already the last time in Part I, he was a Parthian general who defeated the Roman general Crassus when Crassus invaded Parthia around 52 BC. Serenna was not only a Parthian general, he was also a high official of the Parthian government. He was born in a very privileged and very prestigious and very wealthy family. Like I said, his family line was even given the privilege of placing the crown upon the heads of the Parthian kings, that's the coronations. So when the wise men from the east came to Jerusalem to worship you, the born king of the Jews, it may not have been 10,000 of them, but it would have been a very large number. Probably at least numbered into the thousands, probably at least a couple thousand, maybe more, I don't know. But at least an entire regiment of 400, 500 or more, probably one to two thousand or more were part of that regiment that came to Parthia, along with these wise men from the east. Now if you understand that, if you could understand the strength of the Parthian Empire and how they were feared by Rome, when all of a sudden somebody says, hey, we've got a couple thousand men army here coming from Parthia into Jerusalem, they wouldn't sneak in there unnoticed, would they? You can understand why Herod and all Jerusalem was troubled when they knew there were these high Parthian officials, what the regiment of the Parthian army were traveling with them were coming in Jerusalem. So the question they became for King Herod in Jerusalem was, why are they coming? We've got a peace treaty with them. Are they about to break that treaty?

Were they coming in peace or were they about to break or amend their peace treaty with Rome? See, why were high officials of the Parthian government coming to Jerusalem? And why were they interested in coming to worship he who had been born King of the Jews?

And why did they bring a great deal of wealth and treasure with them? Why would they want to bestow upon Christ the wealth of a king? That's what they're doing. They're bestowing upon Christ as a young child the wealth of a king. Why would they want to do that? What was their interest in that? Did they have an interest? See, why would the Parthian Empire be interested in that? And why would they want Christ to have the financial means to become a literal king of the Jews?

See, back at that time, Christ rushes back at the time of Christ. Excuse me, back at the time of Christ, what did everyone expect Christ as the king of the Jews to do when he assumed his office as the king? What did they expect him to do? Let's read it for ourselves right here in Acts. We're in the book of Acts. If you're still there. Acts 1, verse 6. Therefore, when they had come together, the disciples after the resurrection and so on, when they had come together, they asked him insane and they found out that Christ was alive before he went up to heaven, be with his father. They met him there. And they said, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? So that's what they were expecting, wasn't it? His apostles, they were expecting Christ to restore the kingdom to Israel when he assumed his office as king. Now, did Parthia have an interest in Christ becoming the promised king of the Jews, who would then restore the kingdom to Israel? Did Parthia have an interest in that?

Did they have an interest for him to come and to restore the former glory they had under the king, under King David, and King Solomon back before Israel had been destroyed by the Assyrians? Did the Prathen Israelites have a vested interest in that? Well, they had enough interest in that to restore upon Christ all the wealth necessary to assure he would have a financial means to that end. So let's now ask this. It's a little complicated, but it's going through. What relationship if any did Christ have in regards to the king of Parthia? See, what people don't understand is Christ had a direct relationship with the king of Parthia.

See, did Christ have a right to that throne to become the king of Parthia?

So we have to understand their government. Parthia had what's called a constitutional monarchy. They were ruled by elected kings who were elected by a concurrent vote of their two houses of Parliament. I'm just going to read this very carefully. You can actually probably go online and get this for yourself. You want to do a little bit of research. This has to do with the governance of Parthia, which is a constitutional monarchy of elected kings. Now Parthia had two houses of Parliament. The first was called the royal house, which contained all the male relatives of the king.

The second house of Parliament was called the Senate, and the Senate was also comprised of two groups of people. The Senate consisted of two groups. One group in the Senate were prominent secular leaders. In the second group of the Senate were the magi, or the members of the priestly castes. We said magi were members of the priestly castes. That's what it means. For the wise men, because this is of individuals from both of those groups of the Senate, that is, because this is of both secular leaders and the magi, or from the priestly castes. How many of them came to Jerusalem? We don't know. But we do know that regardless of how many of these secular leaders and magi there were, they would have been accompanied by a very large number of soldiers to protect them as they traveled. So these three groups, the male rugs of the king, the prominent secular leaders, and the magi are members of the priestly castes. Those three groups combined were called, what was called, and I'm just going to call it for you, the medjustanes, M-E-G-I-S-T-A-N-E-S. The medjustanes were the nobles of Parthia, in other words, who chose or elected the monarchy of Parthia. While Parthia was ruled by a dynasty of elected kings, there was no custom whereby the throne was inherited by the oldest son of the previous king. They had to be elected. Most monarchies and the oldest son becomes the king, but that's not the way it was. They had to be elected by the certain group. Any male relative of the king could be chosen or elected to be the new king. Any male relative, it had to be the oldest son or anything, any male relative of the king could be chosen or elected to be the new king, but he had to meet certain qualifications. This is very interesting. There was one condition all the elected kings of Parthia had to have. They had to be from what is called the house of Assasiddai, which is spelled A-R-S-A-C-I-D-A-E. They had to be of that house. And the one condition they had to meet to be a king of Parthia, that the king had to be a descendant. What that meant to be of that house meant this. They had to be a descendant of King David through the pharaoh's line of Judah, as was David.

They had to be descendant of King David through the pharaoh's line, P-H-A-R-E-Z. What did God prophesy through Jeremiah? Let's go back to Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 33 verse 17. Thus is the Lord, thus is the Eternal. David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel. No, shall the priests, the Levites, like a man to offer burnt offerings before me, or to kindle grain offerings and to sacrifice continually. In the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, verse 20, Thus says the Eternal, if you can break my covenant with a day and my covenant with a night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then my covenant may also be broken with David, my servant, so that he shall not have a sun to rain on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers. Now, at the time of Christ, this prophecy was still being fulfilled. A descendant of David was the king of Parthia, and their cast of priests were the Levites. Was Christ qualified to be a king of Parthia? Was Christ of the pharise line of Judah and a descendant of King David? Let's go to Matthew chapter 1. It gives a genealogy. It shows that Christ was qualified. He met the qualifications. Matthew chapter 1 verse 1. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. So this is giving the genealogy of Christ. It goes through David, King David. Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot, he had two sons, Paras and Zera by Tamar. And then, where's the line continue? After that, through Paras. And Paras begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. And dropping down to verse 6. And just if he got David the king, and David begot Solomon by he heard, had been the wife of Uriah. And then verse 16. And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who was called Christ. This then being the legal genealogy of Christ through Joseph, substantiating that Christ had the legal right to be the king of Parth. He was the son of David through the pharias line of Judah. And just think about it, the greatest empire in the world at that time was the Parthian Empire. Christ had a right to that throne. He met the qualifications. And if Christ had assumed the reign of that kingdom, as was his right, he could have gained rulership over all the other kings of the world at that very time. He would literally have been king of kings. Satan was well aware of that. Let's go to Matthew 4. Satan knew what was going on. He knew what Christ was qualified to become at that time. Matthew 4. Now, you can read this. You read about these temptations. You don't think about how great these temptations really were. Matthew 4, verse 8, Again the devil took him up on exceedingly high mountain, and he showed him all the kingdoms of world in their glory. That would include Parthia, especially. And he said to him, All these things I will give you, you just fall down and worship me.

I'll see to it that you become the king of Parthia, which is your right. And you can have all the kings of world in their glory, because right now Parthia and the Empire are the greatest empire in the world. It's greater than Rome. And you can have it all right here, right now. Just bow down and worship me. I'll see to it that all works out. You have that right, you get the qualifications anyway. See, this was not an idol both Satan was making here. It was a very real scenario. It was already set in place. It was Christ for the taking. But what did Christ do? Verse 10, But he said to him, away with you, Satan, for his written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. See, that was a far greater temptation than we might otherwise imagine. Verse 10, Christ turned down the very real opportunity to become the king of Parthia and to all the kings of the world at that time. Without having to go through his horrendous suffering and death that he went through. What does Revelation 19.6 say? It says in referring to Christ, that Christ has on his robe, it says. Revelation 19.16 says he has on his robe a name written, King of Kings.

You know what the kings of Parthia did? They had a robe. You know what was written on their robes?

That was written on the robes of Parthia and Kings. Only there was one huge difference between the robe of Revelation 19.16 and the robes that were worn by the kings of Parthia. What difference is that? Christ was clothed with a robe dipped in blood. Revelation 19.13 In other words, Christ chose to suffer and die before becoming king of kings and lord of lords. So he could then share his kingdom with all of us and eventually with the rest of mankind. You know, Christ could have become the king of the Parthian empire and he could have conquered Rome and restored the kingdom to Israel. But that was not God's plan and purpose. It was God's plan and purpose for Christ to suffer and die so he could then give the kingdoms of the whole world to the saints of the Most High, Daniel 7.27. To give those kingdoms to you and me and to all the two followers of Christ who were called chosen and faithful, Revelation 17.14.

Now this then concludes the two-part sermon about the wise men from the east. You know, we understand the truth of who they really were and who they represented and why they came to Jerusalem to worship. He's been called king of the Jews and why they bestowed upon him a great deal of their wealth and treasure greatly enhances our understanding and also enhances our appreciation for the great sacrifice Christ made on our behalf and also makes a traditional Christmas true, Christmas time story, I should say, of the so-called three wise men from the east seem kind of absurd by comparison. And that then is a big part of the reason why Satan does not want the world to understand the real truth and string the wise men from the east who trouble king Herod and all Jerusalem with him.