peace, good will toward men." [15:3] Inanimate nature called attention
to the advent of the illustrious babe, for a wonderful star made known
to wise men from the east the incarnation of the King of Israel; and
when they came to Jerusalem "the star, which they saw in the east, went
before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was."
[15:4] The history of these eastern sages cannot now be explored, and we
know not on what grounds they regarded the star as the sign of the
Messiah; but they rightly interpreted the appearance, and the narrative
warrants us to infer that they acted under the guidance of divine
illumination. As they were "warned of God in a dream" [15:5] to return
to their own country another way, we may presume that they were
originally directed by some similar communication to undertake the
journey. It is probable that they did not belong to the stock of
Abraham; and if so, their visit to the babe at Bethlehem may be
recognised as the harbinger of the union of Jews and Gentiles under the
new economy. The presence of these Orientals in Jerusalem attracted the
notice of the watchful and jealous tyrant who then occupied the throne
of Judea. Their story filled him with alarm; and his subjects
anticipated some tremendous outbreak of his suspicions and savage
temper. "When the king had heard these things he was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him." [15:6] His rage soon vented itself in a terrible
explosion. Having ascertained from the chief priests and scribes of the
people where Christ was to be born, he "sent forth and slew all the
children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two
years old and under." [16:1]

Joseph and Mary, in accordance with a message from heaven, had meanwhile
fled towards the border of Egypt, and thus the holy infant escaped this
carnage. The wise men, on the occasion of their visit, had "opened their
treasures," and had "presented unto him gifts, _gold_, and frankincense,