The REAL Star of Bethlehem

1. The REAL Star of Bethlehem

2. Bible Story • Matthew 2: 1-12 • Luke 2: 1-21 • The Star of Bethlehem videofrom BethlehemStar.net

3. The Magi • The Magi were learned men, most likely astrologers from the area that was Babylon or Persia, and is currently Iraq. • It is possible that some of the Magi were Jewish expatriates still in Persia since the Babylonian exile at the time of Daniel (who was the chief of the magi for King Nebuchadnezzar), making them familiar with Messianic prophecies.

4. The Magi • There were different schools of magi, focusing on different types of knowledge. We know something of a particularly prestigious school of magi from the writings of Philo, a Jewish philosopher in Alexandria during the time of Jesus. • Magi from a prestigious school would certainly have been able to get an audience with King Herod I, due to the obvious wealth of the caravan.

5. Herod I and Jerusalem • King Herod I would have been disturbed by the news because he was a cunning, power-hungry ruler who even had several of his sons crucified for supposed plots against him. • Jerusalem would have been disturbed because when Magi had told the Roman Senate in 63 B.C. that the stars described celestial portents that a king had been born, the Senate responded by ordering the death of baby boys in the candidate age range.

6. When Was Jesus Born? • According to the earliest copies of Flavius Josephus' chronicles, King Herod I died in the year we call 1 B.C. • Later versions had a copy error listing the year of Herod's death as 4 B.C., and this version was widely distributed, so you still find this erroneous date showing up in books and websites today.

7. When Was Jesus Born? • October to February are the rainy season in Israel, so the flocks would be kept indoors so they didn't sicken in the cold and damp. • The Bible clearly states that the sheep flocks were in the fields, so Jesus had to be born in the spring – March or April. • Epiphany and Easter were the major festivals for the early Church. Christmas wasn't celebrated until 336 AD, and officials didn't set the date as December 25th until the end of the third century, coinciding with Roman festivals for Saturn and Persian festivals for Mithras.

8. Identifying the Astronomical Event • It must occur shortly before 1 B.C. • It must have signified birth, kingship, and Jews to the magi. • The star “rose in the East” like most other stars (not circumpolar stars though).

9. Identifying the Astronomical Event • It had to appear at a specific time, but Herod didn't know when. • It lasted long enough for the Magi to see it, note its significance, and travel the more than 800 miles from Babylon to Jerusalem.

10. Identifying the Astronomical Event • It was ahead of the Magi as they went south from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. • It stopped over Bethlehem.

11. Could the Star Have Been a Meteor? • “Shooting Stars” are small fragments of rock or dust that enter Earth's atmosphere at great speed, glowing brightly as its outer layers vaporize. • This fails most of the requirements of the Star.

12. Could the Star Have Been a Comet? • Comets are dirty snowballs that orbit the Sun on very long periods, and reflect sunlight when their crust vaporizes when the orbit is near the Sun, leaving a bright tail. • Comets were regarded as omens of doom and destruction, the very opposite of good tidings, and would have been noticed by Herod. • There also don't appear to have been any comets in 2 through 6 B.C. when looking at the records of other cultures, especially the Chinese who kept careful records of comets.

13. Could the Star Have Been a Nova or Supernova? • Novas and supernovas are exploding stars. They appear at a specific time, endures over time, rises in the east like other stars, and would be spectacular. • There don't appear to have been any novas or supernovas in 2 through 6 B.C. when looking at the records of other cultures, especially the Chinese who kept careful records of “guest stars” also. • Everyone in Jerusalem would have been aware of a “guest star”.

14. What's Left? • The key appears to be that the star had to be something which the astrologically-interested magi would see and recognize as important, while Herod would be able to see it but not realize the significance of it. • That leaves planets and stars.

15. Jupiter • Jupiter is the name of the greatest god of Roman mythology and has been known from ages old as the King planet. • It is about 11 times the size of the Earth and over 300 times more massive, circling the Sun once every 12 years.

16. Regulus • In September of 3 B.C. At the time of Rosh ha-Shanah Jupiter came into a close conjunction with the star Regulus, so close that they would have appeared to touch. • The Babylonians called Regulus Sharu which means King. The Romans called it Rex, which also means King.

17. Jupiter and Regulus • So at the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the Planet of Kings met the Star of Kings. • This is not all that rare, it happens every 12 years, though not always as close as this conjunction. • However, it gets more interesting...

18. Retrograde Motion • Normally, planets gradually move eastward against the background stars. • Every so often, the planets appear to move backward compared to their normal motion against the stars, toward the west. This is called retrograde motion, and it happens because the Earth and the planets both revolve around the Sun.

19. Jupiter and Regulus • After the close conjunction in September of 3 B.C., Jupiter entered retrograde motion and had another conjunction with Regulus in February of 2 B.C., and then changed back to normal motion and had a third conjunction with Regulus in May of 2 B.C. • Over a period of 8 months, our watching magus would have seen the Planet of Kings dance out a halo above the star of Kings... a coronation.

20. The Other Criteria – Jewish Indication • Each of the twelve ancient tribes of Israel was associated with a symbol. The tribe of Judah was to bring forth the Messiah, and the tribe of Judah was associated with the lion. • Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation Leo, the lion.

21. The Other Criteria - Birth • In Revelation 12: 1-5, John describes a woman in labor, a dragon bent on infanticide, and a ruler of nations, representing Mary, Herod, and Jesus. • John says he saw the woman clothed in the Sun, with the moon at her feet. • As Jupiter was beginning the coronation of Regulus, the constellation that rose in the east behind Leo was Virgo, and the Sun was in Virgo with the New Moon at her feet.

22. The Other Criteria - Birth • One month after crowning Regulus the third time, nine months after the first conjunction, Jupiter had a conjunction with Venus, the Mother Planet. • This conjunction was so close, that the two appeared to merge, creating the most brilliant star the magi had ever seen. • This conjunction would have been visible in the west, toward Judea, just after sunset.

23. Other Criteria – South of Jerusalem • By December of 2 B.C., giving the Magi time to travel the more than 800 mile road at caravan speed toward Jerusalem, Jupiter would be visible from Jerusalem to the south.

24. Other Criteria – Stopping the Star • Each night, Jupiter doesn't appear to move compared to the background stars, so that cannot be what was meant by stopping. • Retrograde motion can explain this terminology. • On December 25, 2 B.C., Jupiter entered retrograde motion, stopping its motion as the magi looked south from Jerusalem toward Bethlehem.

25. Viewing The Star • Use Stellarium or Celestia, both free, open source planetarium programs. • Set the location to Baghdad, Iraq, and set the date to September of 3 B.C. (Note that in Stellarium, 3 B.C. is year -2 because it thinks there's a year 0, when there isn't on the calendar.) Let time move forward and look for what we've described.

26. The Other Part of the Story • Jesus was crucified on the Jewish preparation day, a Friday since the Jewish holy day is Saturday. • It also occurred the day before the Passover festival, which always begins on the 14th day of the Jewish lunar month Nissan. • Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea between 26 A.D. and 36 A.D. • These three together puts Good Friday on either April 7, 30 A.D. or April 3, 33 A.D.

27. The Other Part of the Story • Taking Pilate's reaction to the Jewish mob demanding Jesus' death as atypical of his normal behavior toward the Jews, only the second date makes sense given what had just happened to his leader, Sejanus, at the hands of Emperor Tiberius. • That puts Good Friday on April 3, 33 A.D. • Note, this also corresponds to what Daniel was told by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 9:25-26 where seven sevens and sixty-two sevens correspond to 483 Jewish years until the Messiah's death.

28. The Other Part of the Story • In Acts 2:22, Peter argues that the wonders and signs Joel prophesied had come to pass as the audience knew: “The Sun will be turned to darkness and the Moon to blood...” • On April 3, 33 A.D. there was a lunar eclipse visible in Israel as the moon was rising, again at the foot of the Virgo, the Virgin. • Further, the eclipse would have begun below the horizon at 3 P.M. as Jesus was breathing his last on the cross.

29. Our God is an Awesome God • Bear in mind that the motions of the planets and Moon and Sun that allowed for all these signs and portents to be visible as described are not arbitrary; they obey very exact laws of science. • They have been part of God's plan since the very creation of the Solar System, if not before.