How the prophet Daniel moved in the Magi's minds

Geeking out over God

The Shepherds' Invite. In Luke 2:10, the angels announced "good news of great joy" to the local shepherds who then visited King Jesus. How did the distant Magi know to come without a similar, detailed, angelic invitation? The mysterious Magi's root word and singular meaning is "magnus" meaning great. So, despite being great, and knowing some astronomy, how did they come to the same realizations as the shepherds?

• From where in the East, did they come?
• When did they know to come? Specifically, what was the math?
• What was their quest?
• How would they have known Jesus was a king?
• Why is a foreign king so special that they bring gifts and prostrate themselves before Him?

Daniel's Prophecies. If we time-travel back about 600 years prior, we find the Babylonians conquering Israel. They plunder all the temple's gold and take it to Nebuchadnezzar. Meanwhile, Daniel is carried off to Babylon where he is appointed chief over the Magi (Daniel 9:24-27). Over time, the scholarly Daniel prophesizes about the coming Messiah. Many Magi had witnessed Daniel's surviving the lions-den. Their hunger for knowledge about Daniel's God, grew with the Magi and their neighboring tribes. All of whom, would have perseverated over the great Redeemer's birth in Bethlehem. 

Render unto God. Fast forward to Matthew chapter 2 where Magi appear from the East. Due East is ancient Babylon, Persia and modern-day Iraq. Imagine these 3 kings are the direct descendants of the Babylonian Magi, educated by Daniel. These men were the great x6 grandsons* who came to bend the knee to Jesus. Why? They saw the faith of their clansmen and believed Daniel's prophecies over generations. As time grew nearer to the arrival of the Messiah, they mapped the stars and heard rumblings about a ghetto-King's birth. Imagine them thinking, "man, my Papaw told me that someday this was going to happen." Other Magi knew of the Jewish prophecies because Daniel taught--not just the Babylonians--but also the Persians and Medes. They came bearing gifts. Did these guys return the gold plundered by the Babylonian Empire? Perhaps their quest was to purposefully see God to say, "Hi God, we're Daniel's magi. And, we came to bring You back your gold!" 

*Remember the prophecy in Daniel (9:24-27) of the "70 weeks of years, that an anointed one [Messiah] would be cut off and shall have nothing." So, these Magi would have known to start looking for a poor king as their calendar year, 480-ish approached. Can you imagine their excitement? Watching the skies for signs, plotting the Messiah's star, mapping their route to Bethlehem and finally saying, "time to load up the camels, boys, He's here!"

Sources:

*Mind-bending* Christmas deep cut hidden in the Bible - YouTube

What Are the 70 Weeks of Daniel? | Crossway