[148]Jehovah has given to Satan four separate and distinct names, all of which have a deep significance.  Besides the name Satan he is designated as the dragon, that old serpent and the devil.  Dragon means devourer or destroyer; and Satan has at all times been seeking to destroy or devour Jesus and his true followers, who constitute the seed of promise.  His name Satan indicates adversary; and he has opposed in every way the development of the new creation, consisting of Jesus and his bride.  His name serpent means deceiver; and he has applied all of his wily methods to deceive, and as Jesus has declared, he would deceive, if possible, the very elect, but God will not permit him thus to do.  His title devil means slanderer; and he has constantly carried on a campaign of slanderous propaganda against the people of God even unto this day, and has never lost an opportunity to try in his various ways to destroy them.

[149]When it was announced to Mary by the angel that she should bring forth a child whose name should be called Jesus and that he would be the Savior of his people, Satan recognized this promised and unborn babe as the one who would ultimately bruise his head.  The apostle Paul plainly states to us that God sent Jesus into the world, one of his missions being ultimately to destroy the devil. (Hebrews 2:14) The enmity of Satan toward the seed of promise has never abated.  Learning of the promised birth of the child, Satan at once began to lay his plans for its destruction.  He attempted to induce Mary’s espoused husband Joseph to put her away and cause her to be put to death under the terms of the Mosaic law; but God prevented this by advising Joseph through his messenger in a dream to fear not, but to take Mary for his wife.  —­Matthew 1:18-24.

[150]Stars do not move above the canopy of heaven in such a manner as to lead men.  It seems unreasonable that Jehovah would have made a star move from the East and stand over Bethlehem.  Satan and his emissaries, the demons associated with him, have power to produce lights; and many instances are cited in history of these lights appearing near the earth.  The “star” or light that guided the wise men was without doubt such a light and not a star moved by the power of Jehovah.

[151]The wise men residing in the East were sorcerers and magicians.  They were star-gazers.  They were followers of the false religion.  They sacrificed to and worshiped the devil. (1 Corinthians 10:20) Pharaoh the king of Egypt was a type of Satan the devil; and Pharaoh used wise men like unto these sorcerers and magicians to oppose the Lord and his messengers in the day that they were in Egyptian bondage. (Exodus 7:11) These were devotees of astrology and demon worship.  Doubtless many of them were sincere, but they were the dupes of a false religion inaugurated by Satan.  The Biblical record definitely fixes the fact that Herod, then ruler in Jerusalem, was a wicked man, under the influence of Satan.