“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words ;no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”—(Psalm 19:1-4, NIV).
The Star of Bethlehem is perhaps the most significant celestial event in history.
The Bible tells us “the skies proclaim the work of His hands,” and that celestial events signal messages about earthly events.
The first arrival of God to the earth in human form was an event to be heralded!
Some scientists consider the Star of Bethlehem a myth. Some scholars call it a literary symbol. Astronomers searching for evidence of a supernova (exploding star), comet, or meteors—anything to explain the biblical account—found nothing. Even theologians question whether the Star was a supernatural event, a miracle, or a spiritual metaphor.
But all that has changed in recent decades. With new historical knowledge and computers, we can create models of the universe as it existed 2000 years ago. The Star and the famous wise men who followed it are proving to be real and scientifically demonstrated!
When the ancient magi, or wise men of the Bible, saw an unusual celestial event they began inquiring.
Magi were often court astronomers. These “wise men” may have descended from the Babylonian magi of the prophet Daniel’s day. Matthew reports that the wise men were from the east, and Babylon is east of Judea.
This would account for their interest in a Jewish king and for Herod giving them an audience. “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him,” they asked upon arriving in Jerusalem (Matthew 2:2).
What the wise men saw as they followed the star was most likely a “conjunction.” The magi watched the planet Jupiter (known as the King planet) and Venus (known as the Mother planet) appear to merge in the eastern sky, creating the effect of a super conjunction of planets.
Soon, a conjunction of the same planets occurred again. This time it was so close (one of the closest conjunctions ever to occur in the history of the world) that it would have astounded the ancient world. What the Magi saw from their home in Babylon was a super star shining in the west, directly toward Jerusalem.1
The magi were convinced that a great event had occurred—like the birth of a king! As they traveled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, they would have seen the Jupiter-Venus pair moving from the east toward the south (the direction of Bethlehem) due to the rotation of the earth.
Looking directly over Bethlehem, they would have seen Jupiter, appearing to have stopped, stationary in the heavens, mid-bodied to the constellation Virgo the Virgin, shining directly down on Bethlehem. There they found Jesus and gave Him their gifts.
God communicates through His Word, His Spirit, and the signs and wonders He places in His creation. As we watch for His second coming, we are again told to look up because “there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars” (Luke 21:25-28).
Like poetry written in the skies, the stars and heavenly bodies proclaim His glory, declare His work, capture our attention, and inspire us to look up and watch for His coming.
1. The Star That Astonished the World, by Dr. Ernest Martin (1991), and The Star of Bethlehem website are excellent resources for more details.
