Wise Men Seek Him

Elsa is the daughter of Percy and Elsie Bromley, lifetime Bible teachers and missionaries with the China Inland Mission, later known as Overseas Missionary Fellowship. Elsa's knack for writing Bible stories was caught rather than taught. From infancy, she and her siblings learned Bible stories at the knee of their mother, a master storyteller. Rather than reading to her children, she told the stories. Their favorites were Bible stories. Elsa credits her mother for her creativity. Her father insisted on a "sanctified imagination." From him she learned the discipline of research and staying within the boundaries of known truth. Mystery: The ancient Chinese acknowledged a supreme God, ShangDi, phonetically similar to El Shaddai, for whom they had no image or idol. Some Chinese characters have an uncanny way of telling stories in Genesis. How did that come about? What did the Chinese know about Genesis and the one true God? Fact: Many Chinese Christians believe that one of the wise men who visited Jesus in Bethlehem was an astrologer named Liu Shang from China. Liu was the surname of the emperors in the Han Dynasty, during which Jesus lived. Fact: The only Old Testament reference to a star is in Numbers 24:17 -- words spoken by a sorcerer named Balaam. Fact: The Bible does not tell us the names or the number of magi or what countries they were from, only that they were from the east and brought three very expensive gifts. Fact: Magi followed a star to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem to worship the newborn king of the Jews and bring Him royal gifts. How did they know what the star signified? Can all these facts be reconciled? Can these questions be answered? Here's how it might have happened.