Why Did the Wise Men Ask?



Just musing on Matthew 2:1-12 this morning as I observed my quiet time from the Daily Guide, one question came to me after reading the passage, which is; why did the wise men stop at Jerusalem to ask of the new born King? Stopping at Jerusalem is not really the issue for I believe they must enter through Jerusalem but why did they begin to ask and even went to Herod? I believe the star they had earlier seen could have led them to the child and the star eventually led them.
Matthew 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory - this was during Herod's kingship - a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East.
:2 They asked around, "Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We're on pilgrimage to worship him."

The star they saw led them from the East to as far as Jerusalem, the star could have also led them to Bethlehem of Judea where Jesus was born and the star eventually did.

This their singular act later led to the death of so many children.
Matthew 2:9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.

This verse reveals that the same star led them to Jesus, so what was the essence of inquiring from people when they could have continued with the star to keep directing them?

One thing I learnt from this passage is that some innocent things we do could be the reason for the destruction of so many others. That means that lives are connected to our life and the decisions we make everyday. The wise men never returned to King Herod because God warned them not to go back but they never knew that because of the information they gave to Herod so many innocent children were slaughtered. Matthew 2:16 Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he'd gotten from the scholars.)


Also, I feel that there are some information God reveals to us which are meant to be for us alone until it's manifestation, God gives us the information and expects us to be discreet with it until others see the manifestation after we have obeyed and followed through.
May the Lord help us.

Who do we blame for the death of those innocent children? To  me, the wise men are responsible though not intentional.
Because if they had not divulged the information of when they saw the star to King Herod, then he wouldn't know the age range of the children in question, and if they had not asked, Herod wouldn't have heard, couldn't have been troubled and wouldn't have murdered innocent children.

We need to be careful of what we do as we walk towards fulfilling God's purpose in our life. We have to always depend on the Spirit of God to lead us and instruct us on what we should and shouldn't do at every given time.

Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God". Let's learn to be led.

Prayer: Father help my weaknesses, help me to always depend on your Spirit even in the most difficult situations, help me not to innocently endanger the life of others in Jesus name, amen.

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