Unleashing the Beast

M ORE S IGNS IN THE H EAVENS / 271

knowledge in the natural and spiritual realms. They were also familiar with the astronomical phenomena. There was also a religious belief among the Persians that three deliverers would come. Two would be prophets who would reform the world and raise up a kingdom, and a third would rule the kingdom and raise the dead. These men may have been influenced by the Jewish Scriptures and history left in their nation after the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity. The Magi's reference to "his star" may be this verse: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth (Numbers 24:17). Because the Hebrew prophet Daniel held a high position in the Persian Empire, I am certain the wise men of the Medes and Persians were familiar with Daniel's prophecies concerning the future of Israel. These prophecies, along with the predictions in the Torah, gave these men an understanding that a king Messiah would one day be born in Israel. Daniel was set in command over the wise men in his time (Daniel 6:3). So, it was a cosmic occurrence in the heavens that precipitated the interest of the Magi in journeying to Israel to visit the infant child destined to be the King of the Jews. It appears this mysterious star was actually formed by some type of planetary conjunction that developed within