how to find the star of bethlehem

The Star of Bethlehem: What was it and what does it hateful?

There is a whole lot of imagery surrounding the nascence of Christ in the Bible, including angels, a manger, gifts, and a very full inn. Merely the i icon that seems to grab the nearly attention is also the one that is the well-nigh mysterious: the Star of Bethlehem. Then what was this star — if it was a star at all — and how does it fit within the birth narrative of Christ?

We're first told of this star in Matthew 2:2, when magi — a mixture of astronomers and astrologists probably from Babylon — traveled to King Herod's court after they saw this phenomenon. "Where is the ane who has been built-in king of the Jews? Nosotros saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him," they said.

Herod, in verse vii, gets his ain scientists together to figure out when this star appeared.

Afterward Herod sends the magi to follow this star and find the baby, verse 9 tells us, "They went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until information technology stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him."

What we are told and can deduce about the star from these verses is this:

one. It was a noticeable, maybe spectacular visual result in the sky that wasn't like anything else these heaven watchers had ever seen.

2. The magi interpreted this star as having significance, most likely as a sign to the birth of a purple baby.

3. It was seen from far away from Israel in another country at least 500 miles away.

four. The star appears to motion ("it rose" and "went ahead of them until it stopped") to guide the magi to the place of Christ's nativity.

v. The star brings the magi great joy.

half dozen. The Greek word for "star" can be either literal or figurative and refer to any heavenly object.

What we are not told in scripture is any Old Testament prophecy about a star or heavenly phenomenon that would signal the birth of a king. The magi seem to presume a royal nascence is all merely fact when they evidence up to Herod, and so they conspicuously had a reason to connect the star to such an outcome.

We too don't take any external record from that time flow that mentions a bright light in the sky, which may point to a smaller event that but was sent by God to guide the magi. After all, if it was then noticeable, and so Herod could've sent his army to follow information technology equally well.

As for the star itself, in that location are many theories near it in the Christian community. Some have speculated that it was a supernova, others a planetary conjunction or a very bright comet that "rose" and "moved." Because how it both moved and stopped to indicate a specific place, information technology appears to be far more supernatural than natural in makeup, simply that'southward not a foregone conclusion.

So what does this star mean to us? No matter how you lot interpret information technology, the text is articulate that it guided these men — Gentiles, presumably non-God-fearing foreigners — to Judea and and so to Bethlehem then that they could find this newborn king and worship him. The mystery and excitement of this journey kept them going equally they sought the truth. They wanted to know for themselves, and so they became seekers.

For any who seek Jesus will notice him ("You lot will seek me and find me when yous seek me with all your center," says Jeremiah 29:thirteen). And God may utilise very boggling things to pique our interest and revitalize our faith, too as quite ordinary objects, books, or conversations.

Source: https://knoxepc.wordpress.com/2021/12/08/the-star-of-bethlehem-what-was-it-and-what-does-it-mean/

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