The real message of Bethlehem's star

You miss a lot of interesting stuff though.
Have you considered the supernatural or miraculous quality of that star?
Consider:
A star even as distant as the moon would fry the Earth to a crisp, yet this 'star' was close enough such that it could be recognized to be over a specific house. (maybe 300 ft or so) Check out the full moon one night and guess which specific house lies underneath it.
The Magi were priests of the Zoroastrian religion ( modern day Parsi) and traveled in large groups for protection.
Joseph and Mary were told to flee to Egypt for a time, and they left the very next day. However Mary had to fulfill the purification rites at the Temple before she could leave for Egypt.
Lev 12:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 12:2 "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.
Lev 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Lev 12:4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.
and see also Luke 2:22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
So then the flight to Egypt could not have occurred in under 40 days after the birth, and the Magi came the day before that flight.
But we don't have a clue as to how long after the 40 days the Magi came.
 
You miss a lot of interesting stuff though.
Have you considered the supernatural or miraculous quality of that star?
Consider:
A star even as distant as the moon would fry the Earth to a crisp, yet this 'star' was close enough such that it could be recognized to be over a specific house. (maybe 300 ft or so) Check out the full moon one night and guess which specific house lies underneath it.
The Magi were priests of the Zoroastrian religion ( modern day Parsi) and traveled in large groups for protection.
Joseph and Mary were told to flee to Egypt for a time, and they left the very next day. However Mary had to fulfill the purification rites at the Temple before she could leave for Egypt.
Lev 12:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 12:2 "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.
Lev 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Lev 12:4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.
and see also Luke 2:22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
So then the flight to Egypt could not have occurred in under 40 days after the birth, and the Magi came the day before that flight.
But we don't have a clue as to how long after the 40 days the Magi came.

Jesus probably answered the door when they got there....... He was close to 2 years of age when the Magi arrived. The star appeared when He was born the Magi traveled from a far land. Herod also ordered the death of all the babies 2 and under........

peter
 
But none of this has touched on the real message of the Bethlehem star.
There must have been a solid, sound reason to summons the Magi (apart from funding the flight to Egypt that is)
 
From my book: I depart from the norm when it comes to the “Star of Bethlehem”. I want you to think about this for a moment with me. During this year there was a conjunction (on 15 Tishri 3755, with a full moon) of Saturn and Jupiter however, this was visible only in 7BC. Granted, it would only take a month to get from Babylon to Bethlehem by camel; there are many issues with this thought. First, Matthew 2:2 says they saw it in the east, which is fine. They took their travels from probably Babylon. They were sky watchers and were well aware of the movements of the heavens. It has been suggested that these Magis were followers of Daniel’s teaching, hence the reason for them to watch the sky for signs. Daniel knew of the prophecy written in Numbers 24:17 of a promise of a “Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel” which clearly refers to Jesus. Since the prophecy was so very long ago, there would have been hundreds of conjunctions; did they come to Jerusalem for all of them such as the one in 23 BC when Mars moved in front of Saturn? That would have been a greater conjunction than the one in 7BC. In fact, in April 26 BC, Mars overtook Jupiter, passed it, and moved to and passed Saturn. Then in June, Venus does the same thing! To me, that would have been more important than the 7 BC conjunction.

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The point I’m making is I don’t believe the “star” of Bethlehem was a physical star. Granted there could have been multiple comets, we just don’t know. I believe this “star” was the Glory of God. I know in the Greek the word is “star” but in Hebrew, star is כּוֹכַב(kokab) and glory is כְּבוֹד (kbod), though not the same word, they are related in the sense that both “shine” as in a blaze. The rabbis coined the word “shechinah” for “he caused to dwell” as in the glory that inhabited the tabernacle. The Talmud proclaims, “Then if the sun, which is but one of the countless myriads of the servants of the Holy One, blessed be He, shines on the whole world, how much more the Shechinah of the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself!”

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, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.”

I believe that the Star of Bethlehem is the Glory of God that these Magis saw and followed it to Bethlehem. If you read Luke 2:9, it says the “glory of the Lord [the Shechinah] shone round about” the shepherds. This glory is only for the chosen. This is explicitly explained in the account of Jesus’ baptism. John was the only one to see the Shechinah.

Matthew 3:16-17 “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

When you read the account in Matthew, these wise men went to see Herod to inquire where is He Who is born King of the Jews? (Matt 2:2) Why did they have to ask if they were following a physical star? As you can see from the image of the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, they would have still been able to “see” it, up to a couple of months after the conjunction. Since they couldn’t follow it, they asked Herod. Their inquiry troubled all of Jerusalem, because the Magi had a reputation of being kingmakers. So why did they bother to ask the sitting king if everyone could see these star? When, upon receiving the instructions from Herod to go to Bethlehem, they “saw” the star again. They followed it until “it came and stood over where the young child was”, (Matt 2:9). I’m not a ship navigator, so I cannot refute the means the Magi used to travel by night, but I cannot see a star millions of miles away standing over where a young child was in a city.

Finally, the issues with using programs like CyberSky to find events so far in the past, you run into the problem of repetition. Though the stars and planets can be used to pinpoint a time in history according to the constellations, to say that Venus in Leo is a sign of Jesus’ birth, or the various conjunctions that happen every few years, you’re left to ask, which one do you use? If I say an event will happen when Saturn and Jupiter are in conjunction in Pisces, with Pisces overhead, you might live to see it. Here’s a sample list of dates there’s a conjunction in this example: 113 AD, 53 AD (not too close), 7 BC, 66 BC (not too close), 126 BC, 742 BC. Though they are spread out, it’s still repeated. So if the Magi had instructions as explicit as I mentioned, which one would they choose? This is why I believe they saw a star, but it was the Glory of the Lord – for them alone, to bring gifts specific to the upcoming needs of Joseph and Mary when they needed to flee from Herod. God will always take care of His own.

One more thing on the Magi and where Jesus was when they visited:

Jesus is born in a manger:

Luke 2:7-16 "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger."

Wise men visit Jesus in His house:

Matthew 2:11 "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."

Have you ever wondered why God would send these gifts? Because Joseph and Mary would need means to leave the country and reside in another for the duration of time until “… they are dead which sought the young child's life.” With the visit of Magi, they now had the means to survive while in Egypt.
 
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