Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem Matthew 2:2
People’s lives were once governed by the sun, not clocks or electricity. They lived by the sun’s daily patterns, farmed by its seasons, and relied on its light and heat. Many ancient people worshiped it as a god, which is not surprising. Therefore, compass directions took on symbolic meaning in the Bible. The ancient Hebrews oriented themselves toward the east. East was in front of them, west behind, south right, and north left. As we will see later in this post, the future was behind, not ahead, and therefore unseen.
Word Origin
East: Qedem (קֶ֥דֶם) is the Hebrew word for east. The East’s directional importance in the ancient Near East may have stemmed from the sun’s rising, which marked the beginning of a new day. The Hebrew word qedem also means “to meet” and the rising sun is “met” each morning in the “east”. God first placed man eastward in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:8), man’s beginning. Qedem also conveys a sense of time related to the past, antiquity, or former estate.
However, going eastward could also represent moving away from God. After sinning, God drove Adam and Eve eastward, from the garden (Gen. 3:24). This eastward movement away from God continued with Cain (Gen. 4:16) further from God.
The east wind carried negative connotations. The Lord brought an east wind with locusts (Exodus 10:13), the east wind destroyed the ships of Tarshish (Psalm 48:7; Ezekiel 27:26), as well as crops (Ezekiel 17:10), with drought (Hosea 13:15), scattering the Jews (Jeremiah 18:17), blasting the crops (Genesis 41:6, 23, 27; Jonah 4:8), turning the sea to dry land (Exodus 14:21), carrying away the sinner away from God (Job 27:21), and expelling Israel (Isaiah 27:8).
West: There are several words for west in Hebrew. One of the most common is yam (יָם). Yam can symbolize both negative and positive elements. To the west of the land was the sea, representing evil and death (Dan. 7:2, 3). In fact, the term “sea” often referred to the west (Num. 3:23). It is also the place of darkness because that’s where the sun sets (Ps. 104:19, 20).
However, its relationship to the tabernacle and temple gave it a positive meaning. Both structures faced east and illustrated increased holiness as they moved westward. The holy of holies was westward, and the menorah, or the tree of life, was west of the entrance. This westward journey represented an “at-one-ment” or reconciliation with God.
Joseph McConkie in Gospel Symbolism observed this east to west movement: “The orientation of the East Gate of the Temple at Jerusalem was such that on the days of the spring and fall equinoxes the first rays of the rising sun, heralding the advent of the glory of God, could penetrate into the Holy of Holies. Joseph Smith said that the coming of the Son of Man will be as the light of the morning coming out of the east”.
The Israelites, while worshipping in the Temple, faced west with the sunrise at their backs. Abram’s westward migration began when he obeyed God’s call to leave the east for Canaan (Gen. 11:31). It was a symbol of divine blessing. The Israelites “came from the way of the east” and traveled westward, to the land of Israel. In that journey, the Lord Himself went with them (Eze. 43:2-5).
The Compass and Time
Jeff Benner makes an interesting point, “the word qedem is also the word used for the past or ancient time. In order to understand why ‘east’ and ‘past’ are related, we need to understand how the Ancient Hebrews perceived the past and the future.
“The hand gesture, usually referred to as the ‘thumbs up,’ conveys the idea of ‘good’ while the ‘thumbs down’ means ‘bad.’ You are probably aware that these gestures have their origin in the gladiatorial games where Caesar would give one of these gestures to the conquering gladiator to convey his desire for the fate of the defeated, but you may not be aware of the original meanings behind these gestures.
“If Caesar gave the ‘thumbs up,’ which was actually pointing to the throat, and not up as we mistakenly think, it signaled the gladiator standing above the defeated to put his sword through the throat, to kill him. On the other hand, if he gave the ‘thumbs down’ he is signaling the gladiator to throw his sword to the ground, to spare the defeated.
“As you can see, over the last two thousand years, the meanings of thumbs up and thumbs down have reversed. We have already seen a few examples of how different Hebrew thought is from our own Modern Greek way of thinking, but is it possible at times our modern way of thinking is opposite of Hebrew thought? Let’s look at an example that shows that it can be.
“In our way of recollecting time, we view time as a line or road. On this road the past—where we have already walked—is behind us, and the future—where we have not yet walked—is in front of us.
“If we examine some Hebrew words related to time, we can get a clue on how the Ancient Hebrews perceived the past and the future.
“The Hebrew word for tomorrow is mahhar from the root ahhar meaning ‘to be behind.’ The Hebrew word for yesterday is temol from the word mul meaning ‘in front.’ As you can see, in Hebraic thought, they perceived the past (yesterday) as in the front while the future (tomorrow) as behind. It is not that they saw themselves walking the road of time backwards—in fact, they did not see time as linear, but as cyclical. They perceived their history, the past, as is behind and out of view.
“As directions are oriented to the east and the east is ‘in front,’ the word qedem can mean east (in space) as well as the past (in time)” (Living Words, 1:34–36).
It’s also interesting that this orientation of the past being in front of us shows up in Alma 13:1. Alma says, “I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children”. The word remember occurs 371 times in the standard works, could it be that Israel’s eastward orientation was a reminder to “remember”?
East to West Continuum
This comes from an unknown source:
It was dawn. We were watching the sun rise over the desert landscape.
“Kedem,” said the teacher, “It’s Hebrew for east, a most critical direction.”
“Why?” I asked.
The teacher continued, “The temple of Jerusalem was built according to the kedem. It had to face the east. The altar of the sacrifice was at its easternmost end. The holy of holies was at its westernmost end. Everything else was in between. So, everything in the Temple existed on an east-west continuum. Everything that took place in the Temple took place on an east-west continuum. Most importantly, on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, the sins of Israel were atoned for, removed from the people, on an east-west continuum. The high priest would offer up the sacrifice in the east and then sprinkle the blood on the ark of the covenant in the west. He would journey back and forth on an east-west continuum. And the closing act of the day would see the sins of the people symbolically removed from the west to the east.”
“But why is that more significant than if it was a north-south continuum?” I asked.
“Because,” said the teacher, “the earth is a sphere . . . and it turns on its axis on an east-west continuum. Therefore, the earth has a north pole and a south pole, but no east or west pole.”
“I still don’t understand,” I queried.
“How far is the north from the south?” he asked. “Since there are two poles, the distance is limited. All north comes to an end at the North Pole. And all south ends at the South Pole. If the Temple had been built on a north-south continuum, then sin would have been removed a few thousand miles from the sinner. But how far is the east from the west? East and west have no poles. Therefore, they never end. East and west are infinite. They go on forever. In fact, the Hebrew word for the east, kedem, also means everything.”
“But back then no one knew the earth was a sphere,” I added.
“God did,” said the teacher. And all this is a shadow of the atonement of Messiah, our salvation. So, in Messiah, how far does God remove your sins from you? An infinity away . . . an eternity away. And if you had all eternity, you could never find them again. As it is written, ‘So far has He removed our sins away from us . . . as far as the east is from the west.”
The Christmas Story
The tale of the “wise men” in Matthew is a well-known and classic Christmas story. You might picture three wealthy men in fancy clothes, crossing the desert on camels, then offering gifts to baby Jesus and his parents, in a stable with animals. This image represents the classic “nativity scene.”
The facts aren’t the same. It’s probable that there were many more than three wise men. Regardless, their arrival was enough to disturb King Herod and “all of Jerusalem” (Matt 2:3).
The story most likely happens after Jesus was born. He was probably around two years old at that time (explaining Herod’s choice to kill children two and under). However, that’s just the essence of it. The story has a significant question, why is the story of the magi in the nativity narrative?
A key point is often missed in the story of the magi. They are coming “from the east” (Matt 2:1). Though this appears to be just a regular location description, there’s more. It connects to mankind’s beginning, the Garden of Eden.
When Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, God declared that, because of their transgression, they were no longer worthy to dwell in His Presence. The text says, “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed Cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24).
Eden’s entrance is on the east, and returning to God involves going from east to west.
Moving towards the west is a symbolic gesture of moving closer to God; the opposite is true for the east.
We’ve observed that God clearly directed the Israelites’ Tabernacle (and temple) orientation. Every time they moved, the tabernacle’s entrance faced east. The outer court was on the east and the Holy of Holies on the west.
The tabernacle’s details reveal a connection to Eden’s orientation. The Holy of Holies was protected by a thick veil with woven guardian cherubim, like the cherubim guarding Eden.
The purpose of the tabernacle and temple, then, was to allow entering the Garden, preparatory to dwelling in our Heavenly Father’s presence. Therefore, to enter here required coming from the east, and going west. That’s why the Israelites cross the Jordan River from the east when they enter the promised land after 40 years.
God’s redemption is Matthew’s message from the outset of his Gospel. He sees the birth of Jesus as if God Himself has come down to dwell with His people (Matt. 1:21-23). After that, he shares the account of the wise men, who traveled from east to west to worship Jesus and revel in His presence (2:10-11). For Matthew, this nativity story is a remarkable depiction of God fulfilling His promises to overturn the effects of the Fall and allow us to worship the Savior and savor His presence.
