* Vs 1 - Gen 25:23 - God gave the promise that the descendants of Jacob would rule over the descendants of Esau.

* Herod was a descendant of Esau.

* Jesus enters the picture when it seemed all hope was lost.

* Vs 2 - the star was there for everyone to see, but only those who had eyes to see truly saw it.

* They saw it because they were looking.

* God showed up to the Jewish shepherds with an angel - He showed up to the Gentile philosophers with a star.

* The wise men were faithfully searching, and the shepherds were faithfully working.

* Those two go hand-in-hand - working as unto the Lord while looking and listening for His voice.

* When you do this, God shows up!

* Like the experts in fraud detection that work for the government - they are working and searching - they can spot a fake.

* Vs 3-6 - only the wise men went on the search.

* So the religious rulers never saw the King.