We found out in part 1 that the wise men were sorcerers, magicians, and enchanters working as advisers to a king. This is perhaps a darker backstory than we would have expected. Now, what about the fact that they were “from the east?” Are we meant to surmise that they were from an ancient Chinese dynasty, or does the Biblical notion of the “east” carry some greater meaning for us to find?
For starters, the idea of people “from the east” is a thing in the Old Testament, similar to how a career portrait of wise men surfaces in the Old Testament narratives where they appear. And as can be expected from many topics in Scripture, the motif of the “east” appears early on.
Although it first appears in regards to the Garden of Eden, which was planted “in the east” (Gen. 2:8), further discussion of the “east” in this particular passage is a little too much for this post. However, this is the start of a thematic eastward movement in Genesis 1 – 11, which, starting in chapter 3, is always connected to mankind’s rebellious acts in these early chapters of Genesis.
After Adam and Eve’s rebellion, God drives the humans out of the Garden, and “at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24 ESV emphasis mine). In the very next chapter, Cain murders his brother. After God confronts him, Cain “went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Gen. 4:16 ESV emphasis mine).
Fast forward to the Tower of Babel event. This building project showcasing mankind’s collective rebellion occurred when they settled in a plain after moving “from the east” (Gen. 11:2 LES). Three rebellion narratives, and three associations with eastward movement. At this point in the Biblical storyline, all of humanity has rebelled, offering the Biblical writers the opportunity to cement the literary association between rebellion and the “east.”
While we moderners tend to over-literalize details like the “east,” what this type of approach can cause us to miss is the literary genius of Scripture and its power to interpret itself through textual cues. Since all of humanity has rebelled at Babel, the attribution of “east” to peoples in future narratives does not have to imply a strictly eastern nation geographically. Rather, this third use of “east” allows “from the east” and similar phrases in future narratives to conjure up rebellious associations, even if rebellion isn’t explicitly mentioned.
In the story of Gideon in the book of Judges, the stock phrase “people of the east” comes to refer to several people groups who are now not only rebellious but acting in oppression against Israel, the people of God (6:3, 33; 7:12; 8:10-11). Ironically, the oppressive wartime activity of these rebellious people groups against the people of God is also associated with Israel’s rebellion. In response to Israel’s repeated rebellions, the LORD gave Israel over to their enemies. The theme of Judges is succinctly summed up in the book’s final verse:
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Judges 21:25 ESV
This verse powerfully makes several key connections that ultimately link us to Jesus. First, going backwards, it specifically refers to Israel’s consistent rebellions in the book of Judges. But, the latter phrase about everyone doing what was right in their own eyes sets it within a larger Scriptural motif that started in Eden, when Adam and Eve (and the devil) rebelled and did what was right in their own eyes rather than what was right in God’s eyes.
In the Garden of Eden, the king and queen of earth (humanity, Gen. 1:26-28) failed to rule as they should because they did what was right in their own eyes. By the end of Judges, Scripture has interwoven a theme of hope for a king to come who will rule by what is right in God’s eyes, leading the way out of rebellion, and, like Gideon, overthrowing the oppressors of God’s people. This theme reaches a climax with Jesus (Who, by the way, was in a mountain garden—Gethsemane, recalling the mountain location of the Garden of Eden, Ezek. 28: 13-14) praying before His arrest.
My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
Matthew 26:39 ESV
In His final test, which took place among fruit trees (olives) in a mountain garden (the Eden connection points are unmistakeable), Jesus faced the same test as Adam and Eve. Would He do what was right in His own eyes, or would He do what was right in the Father’s eyes? Would He do as He willed, or as the Father willed? Would He choose the wisdom of God over the wisdom of the flesh? For He even said to Peter in the same narrative, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (26:41).
Of course, we know Jesus passed the test. And in that moment, Jesus fulfilled the hope of Judges 21 of a King to come Who would rule not in His own wisdom but in the wisdom of the Father. By so doing, this “King of the Jews” became the rightful Heir and King of not only the Jews but also the people of the “east,” including all those in rebellion from the time of Adam and Eve onward (Phil. 2:5-11).
And so, with one phrase, Matthew connects the rebellion of the entire world and their servitude to demonic forces with these wise men “from the east.” This detail adds to the power of the Gospel story and is a fitting bookend to Matthew’s Gospel account. In the wise men story in the beginning of Matthew, these non-Jewish members of a royal court come to worship Jesus as King of the Jews.
At the end of Matthew, the authority of Jesus is far greater. By passing the test and becoming the King Who was the hope of Judges 21, Jesus can say:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Matthew 28:18 ESV (emphasis mine)
The wise men from the east—men from rebellious nations in service to demonic forces—provide a taste of what is to come in the Gospel of Jesus, the Christ (which means “Anointed One”): the reclaiming of the nations (Rev. 5:9-10, among others) and the overthrow of the oppressive forces of darkness (Col. 2:15).
Back to today, it’s New Year’s Eve, a time for considering new beginnings. In 2022, consider the newness that Jesus, the God-Man King of all creation, has brought to earth in the last 2,000 years.
“Wise men”—in other words, enchanters and sorcerers—once held a conventional place of rank in the royal court. If you didn’t know this, and if you don’t know any enchanters or sorcerers, and if your country’s ruling class doesn’t have a publicly acknowledged class of “wise men” advising your king, president, or prime minister, we only have one Person to thank: Jesus, the Baby of Bethlehem.
Epic Gospel 