12 Days of Christmas - The Real Story (Day 7) - The Star Appears
Matthew 2:1-2
On the night when Jesus was born, a star appeared a star in the sky. The same star was visible to all who would look up to the sky and see it, but no one really seemed to take notice. That is, except for a handful of wise men from “the east”.1
Who were these wise men, and what could have caused them to take notice of something so visible that they could identify it as the star of the King of the Jews when no one else seemed to know it was there?2
For this, we have to do some careful thinking about what we do know instead of wildly guessing at what we don’t know. Then perhaps we can make some better educated guesses.
First, what do we know about wise men? The old testament refers to wise men in several contexts. When Moses came before Pharoah, there were wise men who advised Pharoah.3 Wise men were appointed as judges in Israel under Moses while they were in the wilderness.4 There were wise men that advised King Ahasuerus in the book of Esther.5 And then we find wise men in Babylon at the time of Daniel.6
In each case, we find that wise men were given the great responsibility of offering advice or making decisions. And in example after example, we find that wise men without God cannot replicate what God can do, cannot interpret dreams or messages from God, and cannot determine truth. It took a man of God to discern a plan for 7 years of famine, to tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream, and to bring the plagues of Egypt. Without God, wise men can only guess at the best course of action.
King Nebuchadnezzar brought the wisest children of Israel into captivity to learn their language and study under the scholars of Babylon, then ultimately to stand before the king as wise men.7 We know the story of Daniel and how he faithfully served God and continued in his faith even in the face of death. His wisdom and his faith granted him great success under Nebuchadnezzar, and he was then appointed over all the wise men of the kingdom.8
It would make sense that Daniel would have taught the other wise men of his day about the God of the Bible. Although we have no specific evidence that the generations that followed Daniel preserved any of that knowledge, I would ask, who else would have had such knowledge of the coming of a Messiah?
It is generally accepted that there was a community of Jews that remained in Babylon after the captivity, and it’s not unlikely that some of these Jews continued in the role of wise men under the following regimes. So, it’s possible that the wise men who came from the east to Jerusalem were Jewish wise men serving in Babylon. We can’t be sure, but it’s an interesting possibility, and the one we have the most compelling hints to believe.
If we were to look into the sky toward the constellation Leo, the Lion, in September of the year 3BC, we would have seen the king planet, Jupiter, rising in the east. Over a period of nights, Jupiter would make three passes of the king star, Regulus, playing out a heavenly coronation in the stars. Rising in the east just behind Leo is the constellation Virgo, the Virgin.
In June of 2BC, Jupiter had continued westward where it met with the mother planet, Venus, in an incredibly spectacular event as the brightness of both Jupiter and Venus combined and outshone everything in the night sky. This very notable event happened toward the west, pointing the wise men to Jerusalem.
Was this the star?
While I recognize that there are many miracles in the Bible that need no scientific explanation, the appearance of the star was never described as a miraculous event. No one else noticed this star until it was pointed out by the wise men. In Genesis 1:14, God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:” The first purpose of the stars was to be for signs, to tell a story to the people of earth.
It is difficult to be certain about these things, but it makes sense to me that the Creator would have set the sign of His coming into the great clock of the sky and made it something that all look diligently enough can see.
There are many more details about the appearance of Jupiter at this time and the events in the sky that surround it. You can follow the complete and fascinating journey of the star of Bethlehem on the Star of Bethlehem website: https://bethlehemstar.com/setting-the-stage/why-are-we-hearing-this-now/
There are things that God does that are miraculous, and there are miraculous things that God does that are ordered, but ordinary. We may not have many details about the wise men’s lives, their role or position, their personalities, or even for sure how many of them there were. What God wanted us to know is that these regal men saw the handiwork of the Creator, they believed, and they came to the place where God was.
Are we willing, even for a moment, to give up the pleasures of our day to day lives, the comforts of our screens and our music and our constant distractions, and come to the place where God is? This Christmas, let us come to the King.
Mat 2:1 KJV - 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,
Mat 2:2 KJV - 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.
Gen 41:8 KJV - And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but [there was] none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
Deu 1:15 KJV - So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.
Est 1:13 KJV - Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so [was] the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment:
Est 1:14 KJV - And the next unto him [was] Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, [and] Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face, [and] which sat the first in the kingdom;)
Est 1:15 KJV - What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?
Dan 2:18 KJV - That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise [men] of Babylon.
Dan 1:3 KJV - And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring [certain] of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;
Dan 1:4 KJV - Children in whom [was] no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as [had] ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
Dan 2:48 KJV - 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.