(According to Luke, Joseph and Mary left Nazareth of Galilee to go to Bethlehem to be taxed:)

 

Luke 2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

  5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

  6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

 

(It says, “while they were there”, she delivered.

Also, according to Matthew, it says, “when Jesus was born in Bethlehem”, the wise men came, not a couple years later:)

 

Matthew 2:1 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,

  2 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.

 

(They didn’t ask, “Where is he that was born King of the Jews”, but rather, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews”.

Then it was only 5½ miles to Bethlehem, where they brought him the gifts.)

 

Matthew 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

  14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

 

(To get to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from Bethlehem takes about 1 or 2 days by horse, or 3 days by donkey or camel.

Apparently, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, were already in Egypt when Jesus was circumcised.)

 

Luke 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

 

Leviticus 12:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.

  3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

 

(The entire time of Mary’s purifying was a total of 40 days, seven days before the circumcision, and 33 more days.)

 

Leviticus 12:4 And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

 

(From the time of his birth until his presentation in the temple was 40 days, like from his resurrection until his ascension.

Apparently, it was during this time, that Herod died, and Joseph was told to go back to Israel:)

 

Matthew 2:19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

  20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.

  21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

 

(So that when the full 40 days of Mary’s purification was accomplished, they came to the temple.)

 

Luke 2:22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

 

(Then Joseph and Mary returned to Galilee with Jesus:)

 

Luke 2:39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

 

(Especially since Joseph was warned not to dwell in Judea, but to return to Galilee, instead:)

 

Matthew 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:

  23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

 

(The LORD made sure that the shepherds came when Jesus was born:)

 

Luke 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

  16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

 

(So, why wouldn’t the LORD have the wise men also arrive when Jesus was born?

Too many people try to convince us that the wise men came to Bethlehem two years later.

They base that upon the presumption of the baby killer, king Herod.

Herod’s presumption was that the star first appeared when Jesus was born, rather than as a sign to bring them to Israel:)

 

Matthew 2:2 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.

  3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

  7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

  16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

 

(No, the star was not an alignment of planets, or a supernova, essentially equidistant from all points on the earth.

Rather it was a onetime supernatural miracle, where the star actually moved, and stopped directly overhead where Jesus was:)

 

Matthew 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

 

(The other reason they say Jesus was 2 years old when the wise men came, because it says “young child”.

The word child is used 181 times in the scriptures, and it also includes unborn and newborn children, as well:)

 

Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

  23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

 

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 

(However, the two-word term, “young child”, is only found in Matthew 2, used 7 times, exclusively for Jesus, only.)

 

(Another reason they say 2 years old, was because they say the wise men didn’t come for two years after the birth.

First, they had to have seen it, consulted with their books and calculations, double checked, then consulted with one another.

Then they had to plan and organize the expedition to follow the star, along special caravan routes where water could be found.

Then, if they followed the star at night, they would travel slower than day time travel, and stop for cloudy nights and new moons.

So, it is certainly possible that the entire trip, from first seeing the star, would have taken them two years.

The time for the actual traveling part, but during the day, would have probably been like the four months Ezra travelled:)

 

Ezra 7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.

  9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

 

(Their 2 years included all their pre-travel time, especially if they were from different countries, or even further east than Babylon.)

 

(Another reason they say that Jesus was 2 years old, was that when the wise men came, they were living in a house:)

 

Matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

 

(They say that when the shepherds came, Jesus was lying in a manger, in a barn, but that Joseph later moved into a house for 2 years.

Joseph a carpenter from Nazareth, didn’t have much money, considering Mary’s pair of turtledoves offering was for the poor, not for a homeowner.

Also they say that the manger is where animals were, not in the house  -  but:)

 

Genesis 24:32a And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels,

 

I Samuel 28:24a And the woman had a fat calf in the house:

 

Psalm 50:9a I will take no bullock out of thy house,

 

(Those houses, apparently had a part where the animals were, and thus probably had mangers in there.)

 

(Also, it’s hard to understand how that for 2 years, Herod still hadn’t caught wind of what the shepherds made known abroad:)

 

Matthew 2:2 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.

  3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

 

Luke 2:17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

  18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

 

(Bethlehem is near Jerusalem, and Herod, as king, would have been told about what the shepherds said happened.)

 

(The song says, "kings of orient are", and the main teaching is that the wise men were simply magicians, magi, and could not be kings.

However, the Persian emperor referred to himself, not only as a king, but as a king of kings, princes and rulers of the different provinces, that were kings under the emperor, like Herod was to Rome:)

Ezra 7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.

 

(When Babylon was conquered, the kings of the Medes came, not simply the king of the Medes:)

 

Jeremiah 51:28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

 

(After that, there were presidents in the empire, like kings, under the emperor king:)

 

Daniel 6:2 And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.

  3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

 

(Also, the night that Babylon fell, the emperor king offered to any of the wise men, who could read the writing, to be the third ruler in the Babylonian empire:)

 

Daniel 5:7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

 

(Later, Ahasuerus, the Persian emperor, had certain wise men, that were seven princes of the empire, as kings under the emperor king:)

 

Esther 1:13 Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment:

  14 And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king’s face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;)

(By the time of Augustus in Rome, wise men rulers, from places that had once been part of the large Media-Persian empire, could have known of the prophecies that Daniel was given, 500 years earlier.)

 

(The following scriptures will have their complete fulfillment at the second advent.

But, if these had partial fulfilment at the first advent, then the three wise men, could have also been kings, like in the song:)

 

Numbers 24:17b  there shall come a Star out of Jacob,

 

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

  3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

  6c  they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

  10b  and their kings shall minister unto thee:

  11d  and that their kings may be brought.

 

Isaiah 49:7b Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship,

  23b  they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth,

 

Psalms 68:29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.

 

Psalms 72:11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

 

(So, it seems possible, that the LORD’s perfect timing brought the shepherds and the wise men to Jesus at the same time.

It would seem fitting that shepherds came to see the newborn Lamb of God, at the birth of the Good Shepherd.

Also, that kings came to see him, born King, the King of kings.

And that wise men came to see him of whom it is said:)

 

Luke 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

  2 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

 

I Corinthians 1:24b Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

 

(No, not a convergence of planets, but a convergence of shepherds, and a convergence of kings.)

.