Following the Star¹
Matthew 2:1-12 (Translations are from the NASV)
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him” And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.” Then Herod secretly called the magi, and ascertained from them the time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and make careful search for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, that I too may come and worship Him” And having heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their own country by another way.”
No more detail than this is recorded. The star is not mentioned at all in the gospels of Mark, Luke and John. One must ponder a central question: Was the star a miracle, a natural object or both? Historians, astronomers, all of us have wondered. Let us look at the story, the mystery behind the star of Bethlehem and the secret midnight visit in more detail before deciding.
First we notice a precedent in the Old Testament prophecies for expecting such a visit from Gentile nobles. Numbers 24:17, “A star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel .” Psalms 72:10, “Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. And let all kings bow down before him. “ Isaiah 60:3, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
We acknowledge that these texts have a symbolic and grander application beyond the birth of our savior. We see them with an application to the inauguration and acceptance of earth’s new King by the whole world. But to the Jewish mind and those ancients who regarded the word of the prophets as sacred, they saw them pointing to the one “born King of the Jews, “ born to be King and Messiah. This application is not to be disregarded.
As for the Magi, there is a mass of contradictory traditions concerning their rank, their country, their number and names. The text does not say there were three. This is assumed based on the number of gifts offered. Matthew does not say they were kings, nor does he identify their country of origin. Their audience with Herod indicates they were persons of high esteem. Herod granted them passage in the land and asked them to report their finding. Herod regarded their presence with utmost concern, so much so that upon discovering their report was not returned, he had newborn males slain in an attempt to prevent the prophecy of a newborn king.
We are only told these Magi were “from the east.” It will be noticed that these “wise men” were not Jews, for they were seeking “He who has been born King of the Jews.” They appeared to be familiar with some of the Jewish prophecies but were also guided by astrological evidence. They came to Jerusalem, seeking him in the royal city, but were not sufficiently aware of the prophecy of Micah 5:2 cited by the chief priests, that Bethlehem would have the honor of bringing forth the Messiah.
The name “Magi” is the Greek magos, plural magoi. It corresponds to the Hebrew Mag. While the priests were known by the general name of Magi, they were also known by the name of wise men, and likewise Chaldeans (Isaiah 44:25, Jeremiah 50:35, Daniel 2: 12-27, 4:6, 18, 5:7, 11, 12, 15). To their number doubtless belonged the astrologers and star-gazers of Isaiah 47:13. Also the Chaldee soothsayers and dream interpreters either denote various orders of Magi, or they are merely different names of the same general class (Daniel 1:20, 2:2, 10, 27, 5:7, 11).
This name has come to us through the Greeks as the designation of the priests and wise men among Medes, Persians and Babylonians. We do not understand, however, that Magism was originally a Persian institution. The earliest notice extant of the Magi is in the prophecies of Jeremiah (39:3, 13), where mention is made of Rab-mag, a term which signifies chief magus or chief of the magi. In Jeremiah 50:35 the same class is referred to under the designation of the “wise men of Babylon. “ In the time of Daniel we find the institute in full force in Babylon (Daniel 2:2, 12, 18, 24, 4:3, 15, 5:7, 8). This denotes the existence among the Chaldeans of the magian institute in a regular form and recognized in the state prior to 600 BC.
Other than Biblical sources, we have records from the historians Herodotus and Xenophon on this subject. A contemporary of Herodotus, Xanthos of Lydia, was the first to mention Zoroaster. These and other sources indicate a connection of the Magi with Zoroaster. Histories place Zoroaster in the area of northeastern Iran or its environs about 1000 BC. He taught monotheism and claimed to be of the Magi. This implies the order existed even before this. Ancient traditions place Enoch as the father of astronomy, and higher sciences including numerous zodiacal ideas. If this is true, searching for the wisdom of the Creator and of prophecies may have had a very early beginning.
Yet like all truth, this knowledge was also compromised by Satanic influence, corrupted and modified to accommodate the customs of each culture. By the time Daniel was called to the courts of Babylon, the wise men were unable to discern Nebuchadnezzar’s dream or its meaning. Only when Daniel appealed to the God of heaven was he able to explain the mysteries. After this, Daniel was made the head of the order of wise men or Magi. We cannot doubt that Daniel would have taught them the source of true wisdom. He who prayed daily toward Jerusalem would not have hesitated to instruct them in the promises and prophecies of the holy Word as he knew it from Isaiah, Jeremiah and others. This combined with .their knowledge of a divine order indicated in the constellations, revived the vitality of the Magi as an order of watchers.
However corrupt true wisdom became, truth has a way of prevailing through time and history. It is usually the few earnest watchers, the few who appeal to the God of the universe, who are found watching and waiting at the right moment. Besides Enoch, God blessed others with great knowledge and wisdom. There was Noah, Melchizedek, Job and Jethro, the priest of Midian. All who are touched by the power of truth are changed in some way. It is not strange that the Magi preserved some sacred knowledge from the ancient teachers. If Genesis 1:14 and Job 38:31-33 are clues that God has also written his purposes in the stars and their constellations, it is likely that these Magi were watching the stars for a special sign of the king of the Jews. It is quite possible they appreciated a deeper meaning of Psalms 19:1-6 as rendered from Rotherham and Moffat.
“The heavens are telling the story of God, and the work of his hands the expanse is declaring. Day unto day doth pour forth speech and night unto night doth breathe out knowledge. Day after day takes up the tale, night after night makes him known. There is no speech and there are no words, unheard is their voice! Yet through all the earth hath gone forth their voice, and to the end of the world their sayings. Their speech has never a word, not a sound for the ear, yet their message spreads the wide world over, their meaning to the earth’s end. For the Sun hath he set a tent therein; and he is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. He rejoiceth as a hero to run a race. From one end of the heavens is his going forth and his circuit to the other end thereof.”
Two major phenomena in the night sky are noted by astronomers. One is an apparent conjunction of planets. This occurs when two or more planets appear closely aligned. One is actually in the foreground and the other in the background, though they are millions of miles apart. The second event is a supernova, a sort of stellar explosion. This flaming can make a star increase ten thousand to one hundred thousand times its usual brightness. This high luminosity is reached in a few days and may be maintained for a week or two. The decline in brightness is gradual and amounts to 15 or more magnitudes in a few years. There have only been six supernovas observed in the last 1000 years. These were in the years 1006, 1054, 1151, 1572, 1604 and the last in 1987.
Johannes Kepler, the great astronomer of the seventeenth century, calculated that the triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, which took place before the supernova of 1604, must have also occurred before at the time of Jesus’ birth. Kepler did not interpret the conjunction of planets as equivalent to the Bethlehem star, but rather the nova that appeared at the same time as the triple conjunction. Other theories have emerged including almost every phenomenon of the sky: comets, meteors, ball lightning, the northern lights, supernovae, variable stars and planets.
To our thinking, the supernova theory is the most plausible. Only the Creator who set the laws of physics in motion knew just how many thousands of years it would take for its light to reach the earth and from what perspective and position it could be seen. It would not be seen earlier with such magnitude. Though others may have noticed the phenomena, it would not carry the same significance as for those watching the night sky for planet conjunctions and star changes in notable constellations. Except for the appearing of the angels, neither the shepherds nor others mention extraordinary celestial light. This could relate to the flaring stage of the supernova and the Magi arriving later in the diminishing phases, having earlier been motivated by the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.2
CONSTELLATION VIRGO
The ancients recognized the constellation Virgo as the sign of the virgin mother from whom the Redeemer-King was to be born. It is an astronomical determination that a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter occurred in the deacon constellation of Virgo in these last years we call BC. This deacon constellation is named Coma, the special sign of the infant seed of the woman. If a supernova also appeared in the constellation of Coma, this would most certainly alert the star watchers. The Magi do not say “we saw a star in the east,” but “his star in the east.” This indicates the star of the child.
Matthew records that the star went before them. We cannot conceive of a better way to follow a star than by going to a place where it would be positioned directly overhead on the meridian. Because of the motion and path of the earth, the stars appear to move from east to west, and do not pause. As sunlight obscures the stars by day and clouds sometimes by night, the observation procedure would have to be carefully regulated. It seems appropriate that the Magi would observe this star position exactly at midnight of each day that the stars were visible. They could tarry by the side of various deep wells to take multiple midnight observations. For this purpose, a well with perpendicular walls would serve as a fixed observatory. It is by means of such a well, and its reflection of the sun at Syene in Egypt, that the lines of the tropic were determined. So by looking down the well and observing the reflection of their bright star in the still water at the bottom, these wise men could find with great accuracy if it were exactly vertical over them. So the tradition is that they looked into the well and saw their star, and perceived that it “stood over where the young child was”
THREE GEMS OF TRUTH
Finally these nobles brought the young child gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh which were the customary gifts of subject nations (Genesis 43:11, 1 Kings 10:2, 10, 2 Chronicles 9:24, Songs 3:6, 4:14). So perhaps here lies the first hidden beauty of this midnight visit. Here is a token fulfillment of Psalms 72:11 when all the kings will eventually bow down before him.
The second treasure of truth is the token that the “Gentiles shall come to his light” (Isaiah 60:3). This was further fulfilled when the Gospel was turned to the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name and will ultimately be realized in the kingdom when all nations shall come to his light.
The third gem of truth is found in the gifts that were offered to the child. Frankincense was the primary ingredient used in the tabernacle and sanctuary. It produced a sweet fragrance when burned. So Jesus’ life was marked at its beginning as one of praise. The gift of myrrh indicated this praise would be offered in sacrifice. Indeed, myrrh was the prime ingredient for embalming and was used for Jesus’ burial. The symbolic gift of gold was fully realized by Jesus upon his resurrection to the glories of the divine nature.
With this, the mysterious visitors passed from history, leaving only their gifts behind. “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth …” (John 1:45)
– Jerry Leslie
Resources:
C. T. Russell, R1674, R3703, R4098
F. W. Farrar, Life of Christ
J. K. Hanson, The Star of Bethlehem
McClintock and Strong, Cyclopedia
J. A. Seiss, The Gospel in the Stars
E. M. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible
² Our best information is that this conjunction began late in BC 8. Another conjunction between Jupiter and Venus occurred in June BC 2. A supernova in BC 2 would have heightened the significance for star watchers.