DAY 8 UNEXPECTED SIGNAL: The Star and the Foreign Wise Men

God reveals Messiah’s birth not to Israel first, but to Gentile "astrologers" from far away.

Matthew 2:1, 2 TPT

“After Jesus’ birth a group of spiritual priests from the East came to Jerusalem and inquired of the people, “Where is the child who is born king of the Jewish people? We observed his star rising in the sky and we’ve come to bow before Him in worship.”

Israel had Scripture. The Magi had a star. Guess who recognized Him? And the strangers inadvertently ended up in Jerusalem looking in the expected place (rather than the unexpected one) and tipping off a very concerned Herod about a new king of the Jewish people. And Herod had to call in priests and religious scholars to ask about the prophecies of the Messiah. The foreigners continued on to Bethlehem bearing gifts. Herod, instead, plots His death.

Sometimes outsiders see God more clearly than insiders because they aren’t blinded by familiarity or tradition. . . or personal bias or agendas.

God is still using unexpected signs to get our attention… in nature, in silence, in conversations we weren’t planning to have. …