So first question in this article is, How many Wise Men or Kings came to visit the birth of Jesus? Did you say 3, dont feel bad, so did everybody else. There is actually no mention in the Bible about how many, we all assume that it is 3 Kings because of the number of gifts, Gold Frankincense and Myrrh.

King James Bible : Matthew 2
1: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2: Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3: When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4: And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5: And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6: And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7: Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8: And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9: When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10: When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11: And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Hold on a moment, how did these wise men know, they have come from a different country in the East, who told them the prophecy of the coming Messiah and how did they know about the star and where it would appear? All valid questions, mine and a few other people have the idea that someone must have told them, someone maybe even gave them the scrolls with the prophecy in, but you don't just give scrolls away they are far too expensive. So we think when Daniel was taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar along with the majority of the Jews, they had the scrolls with them and some Levites. So read on with the thinking that Daniel told them and things start to make a bit more sense.

We only get the account of the Wise Men in Matthew, read it as many times as you wish but there is no mention of the number of Wise Men. Whilst we are still here the Wise Men did not show up in the stable just a few hours after the birth. Notice in verse 11 above "they saw the young child", Jesus was a toddler of about 18 months to 2 years old at this time. This is why Herod ordered all the male children of 2 years and under to be killed in Bethlehem. Notice also that the Chief Priests and scribes who knew about the prophesy did not check out if it had been fulfilled or even warn Herod about the prophesy. The prophesy being that of Micah's saying that the messiah would be born in Bethlehem. The Priests and Herod had not been watching for the event, sign in the stars or did not know what sign to look for. O yes we know all about the Star of Bethlehem, and thanks to NASA we can actually look at the night sky over the middle east 2000 years ago and see the conjunction that created the Bethlehem Star. Beginning in mid to late 3 BC and ending near the end of 2 BC, remember they didnt have our current calendar system back then so dates cannot be accurate. So what the Wise men saw was Jupiter the King planet became visible above the eastern horizon as a morning star (in the rising) coming into conjunction with Regulus the King Star, in the constellation of Leo, the sign of Judah, So the King planet came into alignment with the King Star in the constellation of Leo which also has a conjuction to Virgo the virgin, ther Wise men knew from this that the Messiah had been born, and they are now making preparations to leave to fulfill Daniel's last will and testament.

The Wise Men were not Kings, they were Magi, King James Bible : Isaiah 60:6: The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

But how did they know, obviously they saw the star, but how did they know the meaning of the star?

First mention of the Star that proclaims the Messiah's birth is by Balaam in King James Bible : Numbers 24: 17: "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, ..." Then in Daniel we are provided with the time line, so the wise men knew when and where to look.
24: Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25: Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26: And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27: And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

So we know of the star and the time but who are these wise men? When Daniel interpreted the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:
47: The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
48: Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

So the wise men are the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers of Babylon in Persia. Now that Daniel is in charge of all of them, it is obvious that the teachings, stories and prophecies of the Lord GOD Jehovah, the one true God of Israel would have been taught to them, they would have questioned Daniel about all he knew of His One God because Daniel interpreted the dream that all the wise men could not. They would have been told about Balaam, because that is in the Torah, they would have known the time line because Daniel is writing it down, they would not have had the Book of Micah, as that had not been written yet, so this tells us why they did not know the location and went to Jerusalem to find out. Also notice that in verse 25 above they are given the time when the star will appear, you are required to do some maths to get the answer here, but they are intelligent astronomers. The gifts they brought to Jesus would have been the wealth and treasure of Daniel, look at verse 48 above, Nebuchadnezzar gave Daniel many great gifts and made him ruler over all of Babylon. Daniel was also made a eunuch and so had no offspring to bequeath the treasures to and so gave orders to the wise men to take it to the Messiah when they see His star. Daniel has just saved all their lives, Daniel has introduced them to God, Daniel has ruled over them for some time and has without doubt earned their respect as well as their gratitude. They would have been curious to say the least to want to see this Messiah, but did you notice in the Isaiah verse, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come, so you can safely say more than three then, in fact I would say all the wise men who knew, along with all their families, servants and guards, they all came. If you had an open invitation to go and see the new born King and take as many people as you wanted, would you go alone?

The Gifts of the Wise Men Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh were all of great value and hold great symbolic meaning.
Gold: Obviously the symbol of Kingship but did you know that the tabernacle was lined with gold, all the furniture in the Tabernacle and Temple was made from gold
Gold is associated with royalty and was a gift given to kings around the time of Christ's birth. The wise men's first gift of gold symbolized Jesus' role as the King of Kings. Jesus' family may have used the gift of gold in their flight to Egypt and after leaving that region to return home.
Gold is the metal of Heaven. It is mentioned 22 times in the Book of Revelation. The streets of New Jerusalem are made of gold so thin it is transparent. (Rev. 21:21) .

Frankincense: Was used in the Temple as an incense, burnt on the altar, it represents the prays of the nation. Did you know it was also mixed with olive oil to be used as the Holy Anointing oil to anoint Kings and Priests.
Frankincense was a type of incense burned as a sacrifice and used by priests during services of worship around the time of Christ's birth. The wise men's gift of frankincense symbolized Jesus' priesthood. Jesus' family may have used the gift of frankincense for practical purposes, such as during prayer, or given some to the temple priests as a sacrifice.
Note that the Wise Men fell at the feet of Jesus to worship Him. Can you imagine what that must have looked like to others who may have been passing by? Here are men dressed differently than everyone else. It’s obvious they have come from a long distance in search of something and they seem to have found it in the little village of Bethlehem. Now, to the amazement of others, they fall on their face before a baby and speak words of adoration. No doubt they were familiar with Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given, And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Can’t you just hear the Wise Men still on their knees gently speaking those words? “Wonderful! Counselor! Mighty God! Everlasting Father! Prince of Peace!!!!”

Myrrh: Used mostly in the anointing of the body when being placed in the grave
During the time of Christ's birth, the Jews used myrrh as an embalming ointment when preparing bodies for burial. The wise men's gift of myrrh prophetically signified that Jesus was born to suffer and die, while also symbolizing his burial. The gift of myrrh also had a practical use, as Mary, Jesus' mother, may have used the myrrh for both Joseph's and Jesus' burials.
Myrrh was given for the sacrifice Jesus would make for us.

The word, “myrrh” has its roots in the word, mara which means, bitter. Myrrh was also used as a narcotic to dull pain.

“And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.” (Mark 15:22-23)

There on that cross, instead of taking myrrh to numb the pain of the nails in his hands and feet, Jesus tasted death for you and me.

The final gift given to Jesus was myrrh and other spices which Nicodemus brought to prepare Him for burial. (John 19:39)

Do you remember the story of Queen Esther? (the Book of Esther) In that story, a wicked man named Haman plotted to kill all the Jews but Queen Esther, a Jewess, intervened. At the risk of her own death, Esther went before the king and was able to convince him that Haman was an evil man and by doing that she saved the Jews.

But that’s just part of the story. Before she could see the King, Esther had to complete 12 months of beauty treatments which were required of every woman who went before the King. (Esther 2:12) There were six months of treatments with the oil of myrrh and six with other perfumes and cosmetics.

Every day for six months Esther had to spend time in a room with burning myrrh and having oil of myrrh rubbed on her body. You see, myrrh prepared her to see the King.

It’s the same for us. But for us, Myrrh represents a bitter experience. We needed the bitter experience of realizing we were sinners and lost without a Savior. Like Esther, we needed myrrh before we could meet the King of kings. Have you met the King yet?