Christmas Star - Part 2

Post 144

Continuing our reading in Matthew Chapter 2:1b
“...There came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 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.”

It is extremely rare for scripture to have an isolated incident referenced in only one place.
Scripture nearly always validates scripture by including type-and-shadows, or parallels, or images of the event.
But in this case we seem to have no similar event to show a trend.
Yet neither does Matthew give ANY explanation, in keeping with his “only the facts, ma’am” narration.
This is a curious mystery that is a very fun study, to which I will only here use three words initiating that study; Daniel’s Babylonian Captivity. (more later)

It is my belief that the Jews were also unfamiliar with anything Scriptural regarding these wise men, as we read in verse 3; “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”
It is as if the child messiah, clearly not yet ready to save the people, had some strange and powerful men publicly championing his claim to the throne prematurely in the face of the present king who was contrary to the Jews and their independence. And these men were strangers from the east!
“What would happen next?” was everyone’s concern!

Now after Herod learned from the Jewish chief priests and scribes where this child king was supposed to be born, he started scheming.
So he called the wise men back in to get more information;

“Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.” Matthew 2:7
This was done on the sly, not in the hearing of others, and he was not casual about it, he used diligence in his inquiry. He pressed them.
But don’t ignore the simple fact; that he didn’t already know.
When the comet Hale Bop flew by, did anyone need to inquire when it appeared?
This bit of information tells us this star was not a dramatic cosmic event that made everyone look up pointing and go, OOOOhhhh.
To most, it was just an unusually bright star.
To these wise men, it was significant enough to cause them to pack an overnight bag and hit the road.
Curious.
Did you notice any unusually bright stars the month before Christmas this year? How about last year?
There was, you know! (more later)
Now after he heard from the wise men the time the star appeared;*1
“And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.” Matthew 2:8
I don’t imagine there is anyone who actually thinks Herod, the Roman established king, really wanted to go worship this Jewish child who was supposed to save the Jews from Rome.
No, what Herod wanted was the location of this child so he could give him “his own kind of gift”… a sharp ax!
“When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.” Matthew 2:9

Now hang on just a minute,
Am I really supposed to believe this “star” appeared to these men in the east, and somehow they “followed” this star for some time on their journey to Jerusalem, where they then needed to get directions from the king, to a tiny village only 5 miles down the road?
Then when they got back on their camels, They see the star NOW in the south, so they can follow it to Bethlehem?
Apparently yes, because verse 10 tells us; “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy” (“Exceeding great”, is quite a lot.)

Now as long as this is all re-enacted in a Christmas play by 4th graders, we have no problem with such a story, just as long as we don’t take it too seriously.
But I, like many before me, stake my life on the Truth of scripture, not on a “general idea” of scripture!
So, was there actually a star that did all this, yet the average person didn’t even give it more than a passing thought?

This is a question that we should not be afraid to ask!
God is not afraid that his scriptures might be found out to be fabrication!

Now if we can simply have faith in what the book says and believe God without knowing the details, this is truly enough for salvation. (I John 3:23)
But if we want to know more, God has allowed us to learn it!
I find it curious that in this the last days, when the faith will be seriously challenged, NOW God allows technology combined with understanding to learn scientific proofs that we did not have before.
Why? Because soon the evil perspective will prosper, and the insight of the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth, so temporal reality will be all that is left to validate scripture. (II Thessalonians 2:7)
This star is just such temporal sure proof, even without any faith or confirmation of the Holy Ghost.
I believe that this is at least part of the reason why these wise men came from outside the Jewish writing, and traditions, and culture, and why the scriptures do not clearly validate them by type-and-shadow elsewhere.
It is God using yet another of his many ways to show the truth of scripture, and the prophecy, that Jesus was and is the Messiah promised!

So lets continue boldly questioning the reality of this star;

* * *

Johannes Kepler 1571-1630 discovered the long lost knowledge that unlocked the secrets of the mathematical movement of the stars.
It was he who gave us the understanding of “celestial mechanics”, by explaining three laws of planetary motion, on which all of our current knowledge of star movement is based. *2
The precise location of the stars in our heavens can be determined by mathematical calculation for any point in time, past or future.
We now have computer software, available to everyone, which can chart these calculations. What a day we live in!
There is no legitimate scientist who debates this fact; not Christian, secular, or atheist.

The stars are a giant clock with more precision than any tangible clock man can make.
God claims He was the one who made and placed them one by one, and it is He who created them in constellations as seen from our vantage point.

Therefore, because of this mathematical consistency, if we can find the date in time that the wise men observed their star, we can find it by mathematical calculation, and observe its movement.

Just such a venture has been done.
Rick Larson, a lawyer by profession, has used this technology in a serious investigation to understand this star. His DVD “The Star of Bethlehem” is an absolute must have. *3

In his presentation he provides 9 biblical points that scripture gives to identify specifically this star:

1- Appeared in the days of Herod - Matthew 2:1
2- indicated a birth - Matthew 2:2
3- indicated a king - Matthew 2:2
4- indicated the Jewish nation - Matthew 2:3
5- rose in the east - Matthew 2:3
6- although appearing at a specific point in time,
it was not significantly notice by the uniformed - Matthew 2:7
7- endured over time - Matthew 2:16
8- moved against the sky - Matthew 2:9
9- stopped over Bethlehem - Matthew 2:9

This is a lot of data, thereby eliminating everything that does not conform to all of these nine points.

I am not going to repeat his study here, I urge you to go check it out for yourself. *3

Using the software “Starry Night”, Mr. Larson found THE star that fulfilled all these 9 points in an incredible way! (any legitimate star charting software programs should work)

The planets in their orbit are seen to track through the sky then loop back in their path before continuing on. This is called Retrograde Motion and is a result of viewing their travel from the platform of our own moving plant; first as we go this way and they go that way, then the observed retrograde as we both go the same way on the same side of the sun.

Discovering through research, the typo error in current volumes of Josephus, we are now able to infer the Death of Herod to be 1 BC not 4 BC as wrongly copied. *4 We know Jesus had to have been born shortly BEFORE Herod died, so with this knowledge, it allowed Mr. Larson to check the charts in the proper time of 2-3 B.C. to find the star… (and other great stuff!), Whereas Mr. Kepler with his wrong dates, and long calculations with a pencil and paper, was never able to discover it, though he tried diligently.
In this case we see an example that the scriptures are more trustworthy than recorded history!

The star that fulfills all 9 criteria was found to be Jupiter.
But Jupiter often travels through our sky, just as it did both this and last Christmas, so this is only just a clue so far. But as unusually bright as it was, everyone I asked just shrugged and said, “ya, I saw that.” But few even knew it was a planet, and fewer actually paid enough attention to notice the crazy dance it did all over the sky. One day it was here, then a few days later it was way over there, then later it was back over here again…
Having come across Mr. Larson’s information last Christmas, I had exciting new understanding when I saw Jupiter looping through the sky a few weeks before last Christmas and again this Christmas.
Knowledge is an amazing thing, to add understanding to observation!

Looking at the stars in September 3 BC, as viewed from Babylon (strongly supporting the Babylonian origin of the kings from the east), in the Year of the Bethlehem Star, Jupiter (the biggest planet known from ancient times as the King planet), created a conjunction in its retrograde loop around Regulas, (meaning regal star). The Babylonians called Regulas Sharu, meaning King star, the Romans called it Rex, meaning King.
This can easily be accepted as identifying a King.

This retrograde conjunction took place in the constellation of Leo the Lion.
The Tribe of Judah is known in scripture as a lion. Genesis 49:9-10 (which then continues to announce the arrival of the messiah.)
This can easily be accepted as identifying Judah.

What follows this conjunction in Leo, declaring the King of the Jews, is the rising of the constellation of Virgo the virgin.
This rising came up with the sun positioned at Virgo’s chest, and the crescent moon also came up at the feet of Virgo.
Now because this was daytime, who could have seen this connection until we had technology to reveal this through software?
But the Apostle John was shown by Jesus, this historical event in the sky, and wrote it down in Revelation 12:1-
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:…”
The revelation goes on to describe the virgin birth, but the stars without the revelation show the virgin, clothed in the sun, rising after the sign of the king of kings, in the time of Herod. *5
An amazing sign for those with knowledge, but also amazing that God would give such a sign in daylight, knowing that we would not be able to understand it until now, with our technology, in the time of the end!

Why was the moon just a crescent?
It was Jewish New Year, Rash Hashanah.

new moon:
noun
1 The phase of the moon occurring when it passes between the earth and the sun and is invisible or visible only as a narrow crescent.
2 The crescent moon.

But Mr. Larson, thinking perhaps this was not the birth of Jesus but the conception of Jesus, looked forward 9 months to see if the stars would show anything at the time of a theoretical birth…

Nine month later, Jupiter finished its retrograde and was again tracking through the stars.
Viewed from Babylon, Jupiter was now seen in the western sky, which from their perspective was hanging over Judah. Remember, this is not a star that tracks faithfully every day from sunrise across the sky and sets in the sunset each night always positioned with the other stars. Planets appear in significantly different places in the sky as the stars move in familiar unison.
This “star” Jupiter rose in the east, then through a progression of days, its appearance tracked westward, then performing its retrograde, before continuing it's westward track, until now it was over Jerusalem.

And now Jupiter, the biggest star, was seen as the brightest star ever viewed from earth because it came into a very close conjunction with Venus, the brightest star.
We have the King planet, and the Mother planet positioned perfectly to not block each others light but to combine their light into one multiplied illumination.

It is reasonably deduced that this (June 3 BC) is when Jesus was born and the wise men began their trip to Jerusalem following this super bright star in the west, after observing all these amazing events in the cosmos.

Now when they arrived in Jerusalem about five months later, after talking with king Herod, they set out for Bethlehem.
And the star was now seen in the southern sky directly over Bethlehem as viewed from Jerusalem. The star-charting program verifies this claim!

And as a grand finale to the whole event in the sky; as the wise men were making their way on the last 5 miles of their journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the star peaked in its retrograde, causing it to stop over Bethlehem before going the other direction.
According to our current calendar as it relates to the position of the stars, this retrograde stop occurred at 7am on December 25th of 2 BC!

This was the last sign, which caused the “rejoicing with exceeding great joy” (Matthew 2:10) that the wise men experienced as they rode into Bethlehem. Not because the star “guided” them to Bethlehem at this point, but because it was confirmation that what they were told about the birthplace prophesied was actually verified by the stars in the heavens!
They were already impressed that the sky said so much, and led them to Jerusalem, but I don’t think they thought about where the star would appear once they got to Jerusalem. This is why they stopped to ask directions.
So as they made their way to Bethlehem, and saw the star in the southern sky over Bethlehem, in its mathematical peak of retrograde stop, they were overwhelmed at the detail God put into the works, to “guide” them on the last 5 miles of the journey!
How amazing to know that before time began, God placed the clock of the stars in such a pattern to one day guide THEM so personally?
No wonder they rejoiced with exceeding great joy!

It is on this day that the wise men presented their gifts to the child Jesus, the Messiah of the world.
It is for this reason that we celebrate Christmas on December 25th by giving gifts as a memorial to the actions of strangers from a distant land, who saw the signs in the stars of heaven that the messiah had come as promised by prophecy of the scriptures!

Sure the pagans worship the sun on the solstice, which happens to be very close to December 25, but what does that have to do with such confirmed proofs as the very actions of the cosmos with the related prophecies?!
So just who hijacked who’s holiday?
I’m thinking God’s Holy-day (root for Holiday) wins the contest for pre-planning!

* * * * * * *

*1 When did Jesus Come? - Matthew 2:16 is significant because we know Herod's reaction to kill children up to two years old, was a result of learning when the star first appeared. But now because of the message we learned in the stars, we can be confident that Jesus was actually born closer to June 3 BC. Because we can turn the clock back 9 months and find a more significant sign, confirmed in Revelation 12:1 that this represented Mary the mother of Jesus who would give birth as shown in Revelation 12:2
This means that God considered the messiah had come at the point of his conception, not at his birth.
Herod misinterpreted the message of the star, then added his own additional cushion just to be sure, and so killed children far beyond the age of the messiah, which was only about 5 months old at the time.

*2 Kepler’s new knowledge - Now before you try to use Kepler to prove mankind is becoming wiser and wiser in time, you have to ask yourself, Where did the wise men get their knowledge of reading the stars? This star of Bethlehem could not have been significant to them if they were not aware of the laws controlling the heavens. The ancient Babylonians under Nimrod were the ones who first corrupted the signs of the constellations of Astronomy into the mysticism of Astrology. But this corruption could not have occurred if there was not first the knowledge of the predictability by math, of where and when they would occur.

*3 “The Star of Bethlehem” by Rick Larson, also check out his website - Bethlehemstar.net
“Starry Night” software - http://store.starrynight.com/

*4 All manuscripts, which date before 1544, show Herod’s death in 1 B.C.
Of course the ancient calendars did not use our dating system and so we must infer, then calculate to arrive at a date. Validation or Not, comes from what we find on those dates.
I think Mr. Larson has found a reasonably reliable source, the stars themselves whose message is explained in scripture!

*5 Timing is everything - It is important to note the separation between events in Revelation 12:1 and those of 12:2
Virgo Rising in this way does not show the birth of Jesus, but only clothed in the sun, with the Jewish new moon, representing the glory of Jesus in a new era!
The birth comes later.
According to the signs God placed in the stars, LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION!