The Star of Bethlehem

Intro

Wait just a minute, Christmas is over, why are you talking about “The Star of Bethlehem”? I know, what a horrible thing I’m doing by talking about Christmas out of season. But I’m going to do it anyway. The reason I’m doing it is because it fits well with the themes of my other Christmas posts this year. Dates and times and prophecies, etc. Next Christmas season, I want to talk about the different characters of the holiday, and the star doesn’t really fit that. So, let’s let the Christmas season extend just a wee bit longer and answer the questions What was the Star of Bethlehem? How did it move? Why did it move? It’s quite fascinating when you get into it. So, let’s do that.

What Was the Star of Bethlehem?

For centuries, people have debated what the Star of Bethlehem was. One thing that everyone agrees on is that the star was not an actual star. Stars remain in a pretty fixed position and from Earth, they don’t appear to move (except over incredibly long periods of time). And yet, the Magi claimed that they were able to follow the star, and they witnessed it “rise” and “stop”.

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. Matthew 2:9 (NIV)

So, excluding a literal star, what else could this phenomenon been?

Angel

Something I found while researching this topic is this idea that the Star of Bethlehem was actually an angelic being, not a celestial body at all. The argument for this is that the Greek word for star is aster. This word is used 24 times in the New Testament and is mostly used to refer to a heavenly body. However, in Revelation 12:4 it’s used to describe angelic beings. So, there’s precedence to aster being used to describe angelic beings and not just celestial bodies. Furthermore, the way the star seems to move appears unnatural. Which could suggest that it was something else that can move about freely. And finally, it doesn’t appear like anybody except the Magi noticed the star. God selectively revealing an angel to specific people would explain why no one else noticed.

It’s Weak

Despite the evidence, the arguments are pretty weak. Every time the Greek word aster appears in the New Testament, it’s translated as “star”. Including the instance in Revelation. Using other clues, we extrapolate John saying “stars” in Revelation 12:4 is a poetic way of referring to angels. We don’t have enough clues to say the same about the Star of Bethlehem. Even the odd movement can’t save this theory. As you’ll see later, the way some heavenly bodies shift around and the way they look from Earth at different angles, etc. makes their movements seem quite bizarre. Ancient astronomers and astrologers certainly thought so. That’s why they were oftentimes attributed to signs from the gods.

And lastly, just because the Bible makes no specific mention of it doesn’t mean that others didn’t notice it. It just means that no one thought much of it. And besides, people will not see what they don’t want to. After all, the Pharisees had access to all the Scriptures about the Messiah and missed Him. And some people are just spiritually blinded. The gospels record a time when God spoke from Heaven and some people heard words, while others said, “It’s just thunder”. So, Herod and the priests could have seen it and just said, “What an unusually bright object in the sky.” And then go on with their lives as if nothing happened.

Celestial Phenomenon

More probable than an angel, the Star of Bethlehem likely was a phenomenon that the Magi took note of and determined the significance of. In my first Christmas post of the season, I talked about the time period in which Jesus was born being the perfect time. Since God set the heavenly bodies up in motion, He could easily orchestrate the timing of an incredible astronomical event that would cause people to notice. Now within this theory of an astronomical event, there are two primary sub-theories I’m going to mention. If you followed along with my post about when Jesus was born, you’ll be able to quickly pick out which one I hold to.

Jupiter and Saturn

In this first theory, there was a series of unusual planetary conjunctions that occurred. It started on May 29, 7 B.C. with Saturn coming together with Jupiter in the constellation Pisces. (Note that Jupiter represents royalty in almost all cultures, and some say that Saturn represents Jerusalem with Pisces representing the nation of Israel – but I couldn’t find a good source for those two). Normally this conjunction would only take place every 804 years. However, this time it happened again on October 3 and December 4 of the same year! I can see why some would see that as a significant enough event for the Magi to really take notice. Especially when it happened once more in the Spring of 6 B.C.

But then, to top it all off, in July of 5 B.C. a nova (an exploding star) lit up the sky. According to ancient Chinese astronomers, it was so bright it could be seen during the day. And if this were the Magi’s cue to start traveling, they would have arrived that fall and on October 5 of 5 B.C. the nova would have appeared as being above Bethlehem from the vantage point of Jerusalem. I understand why this theory appeals to people. Especially if they believe in the older dates of Jesus’ birth being between 7-5 B.C. However, as you might know from my earlier post, I don’t believe in those dates. So, as incredible as this series of events was, I don’t think it corresponds to the Star of Bethlehem. Although, it may have gotten the Magi’s attention to watch for something else.

Jupiter and Venus

The years 7-2 B.C. contained so many astronomical events that still amaze astronomers today. Case in point, after the nova in 5 B.C., another planetary conjunction occurred on August 12, 3 B.C. involving Jupiter (again) and Venus in the constellation Leo. Jupiter represents royalty, Venus has been known as the “morning star” for millennia (Jesus is called the bright and morning star in Revelation 22:16), and Leo is the lion, which fits with Jesus coming from the tribe of Judah since the lion was the symbol of Judah. Furthermore, another of Jesus’ names is the Lion of Judah. And it gets better from here. On September 14, 3 B.C. Jupiter came into conjunction with the star Regulus in the constellation Leo. Regulus was well known as the king star. Some scholars consider it to be the star of the Jewish Messiah.

On February 17, 2 B.C. Jupiter and Regulus came together again in Leo. Then they did it again on May 8 of that same year. And then to make things better, on June 17, 2 B.C. Jupiter and Venus again came together in Leo, though this time they were so close that they would have appeared as one brilliant star. Things got a little more interesting in August. On the 27th of August, 2 B.C. four planets (Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Mercury) came together in one brilliant display within Leo. Perhaps the Magi took their cue to start moving here. And of important note, on December 2 of 2 B.C., due to Jupiter’s retrograde movement, it would have appeared to “stop” in the sky above Bethlehem from the vantage point of Jerusalem. And not only stop but stopped inside the constellation Virgo – the Virgin – and remained there for several days.

Coming to a Close

Notice that in both theories, every single event involved Jupiter. As stated earlier, Jupiter represents royalty. The Messiah was to be of royal lineage. Furthermore, Jupiter in Hebrew means “righteousness” and Jesus is our righteousness. So, I do believe that the earlier ones (7-5 B.C.) caught the Magi’s attention, but not until 2 B.C. did they say “alright, it’s time to move”. After all, the four planets coming together in August is quite the event!

Now, I want to mention that I concluded in another post that Jesus’ birth occurred in fall of 2 B.C. And I still hold to that. However, you’ll notice that none of the events described occurred in the fall of 2 B.C. In fact, the only fall-ish event would be in September of 3 B.C. Now that doesn’t negate a birth in the fall of 2 B.C. Nothing in the Bible suggests that the star first appeared on the night of Jesus’ birth. The star only guided the Magi to the place of His birth – Bethlehem. And besides, maybe I’m slightly off and his birth was late August. Perhaps when four planets joined together inside Leo. Not sure. What I am sure of, is that the event occurring on the night of Jesus’ birth is less important than the event announcing His birth in general.

Wrapping Up

Whether the Star of Bethlehem was an angelic being or celestial bodies doing a dance through the heavens doesn’t matter, what matters is that it guided the Magi to Bethlehem where they met the King of kings and Lord of lords. Let us all remember to seek Jesus every day of the year.