The Star of BethlehemA look at a possible

explanation

Some Bible verses to set the scene

Gen 1:14 Num 24:17 Job 9:7-9 Ps 8:3 Ps 19:1-4

Ps 147:4 Isa 40:26 Jer 31:35 Mat 2:1-11

The Star of Bethlehem

What was the Star of Bethlehem? A comet? A supernova? Something else? Just a myth?

The Star of Bethlehem

What did the wise men see and how did they interpret its' meaning?

How could they be so sure? Would we have been able to

understand it too?

Problems

Popular conception is that of a hovering light in front of the wise men

Some kind of miracle Doesn't bear close scrutiny, easily

dismissed as a myth or a legend Puzzled? Perhaps there is a rational – even

awesome - explanation...

Acknowledgement

The contents of these slides are based on work presented at http://www.bethlehemstar.net

More details can be found there A lawyer's research for his house group

Did you know...?

In one of the oldest known writings, the Book of Job, the constellations Bear, Orion and Plaiedes are mentioned

Most stars visible to the naked eye have Arabic names

Some as early as 3000 BC The Babylonians were very competent

astronomers A catalogue of > 1500 stars

Was the Tower of Babel an early observatory?

A Ziggurat from 2100 BC Provides a good horizon for making exact

measurements

Why go to such effort to look at the stars?

The stars are an accurate and reliable calendar

Times and seasons Genesis 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be

lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;

But there is more...

The stars speak!

Psalms 19:1-4 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world.

A picture book in the heavens

The stars are named and groupedinto constellations (pictures)

A help to remember stories A teaching aid before the Bible

was written? Virgo holds a branch

Spica (brightest star) is Al Zimachin Arabic, Tsemech in Hebrewboth mean branch

An example

How to tell the biblical message? Let's start with the Fall?

Serpens (the serpent) Virgo (the seed of the woman will bruise the

serpents head. She carries a branch and seed)

Coma (the desire if the nations) Bootes (the coming one) Centaurus (despised) Crux (the cross) …..

God communicates!

Psalms 147:4 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.

Psalms 19:1-4 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands

What about the Star of Bethlehem?

What might it have been? There have been a number of

suggestions A comet? A meteor? A supernova?

What does Matthew say?

It somehow signified birth. It signified kingship – but how?. It had a connection with the Jewish nation. It rose in the east, just like other stars and planets. It appeared at a precise time. Herod didn't know when it appeared. The sign endured long enough to enable the Magi to

make their journey to Jerusalem. It was ahead of the Magi as they went south from

Jerusalem to Bethlehem. It stopped over Bethlehem.

What kind of ‘star’ was that?

A meteor?

They last just a second or two

Meteor 'showers' at definite times of year

Geminids – Dec 13th

Leonids – Feb 15th

Perseids – Aug 12th

A comet?

They are quite spectacular and are visible for a month or two. Giotto included Halley’s comet seen in 1301 painting of the nativity! Reappears every 76 years. There were comets visible in 4 and 5BC.

Could comets fill the bill? They are regular visitors, and remain visible to the naked eye for several weeks.

A supernova?

The one above occurred in 1054 and was visible for ten days in the day time. The one on the right occurred in 1987

Could a Supernova fill the bill? They are exploding stars. Chinese astronomers recorded such an event in 5BC that was visible for 70 days with naked eye.

Something to do with the planets?

Jupiter seems to have played an important role

Jupiter is the largest of the planets that orbit the sun.

It is 300 times more massive than the earth.

It takes 12 years to orbit the sun.

It has been known as the King’s planet since antiquity.

Jupiter is often the brightest object in our sky. What happened to it to make the Magi interested?

What did the wise men see?

Gen 49:8-12 records Jacob’s blessing of his sons.

Judah chosen to be the ancestor of Israel’s kings.

Jesus described as ’the Lion of the tribe of Judah’ (Rev 5:5).

The sceptre will not depart from between the lions feet (Gen 49:10).

Hence the special significance of a special event seen in Leo.

Leo

q

What happened to Jupiter?

At Jewish New Year in September 3BC, Jupiter came very close (conjunction) to Regulus.

Jupiter passes Regulus every 12 years but mostly nowhere near as close as in 3 BC.

Each night, Jupiter rises in the east but normally moves a little faster than the stars.

Periodically, Jupiter seems to stop dead, go into reverse before resuming its normal travel.

This kind of motion led to 3 separate conjunctions with Regulus in 3BC. That was extra-ordinary!!

The ‘King’ Planet danced around the ‘King’ star in the constellation Leo.

How can a 'star' go back?

The Earth Jupiter

What does this mean?

This hovering of Jupiter around Regulus lasted from September 3BC to the following May 2BC.

The ‘King’ Planet danced around the ‘King’ star in the constellation Leo.

This happens once every 1150 years. Was followed in the next month by the

closest ever conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. Once in human history!

17th June 2BC

An animation

Conclusion

This seems to me to provide a plausible and biblical explanation of the 'Star'

“About 99.9% of the Star of Bethlehem stuff is nutty, but this is not that. It is well-researched and reasonable."

Chief of the Planetary Astronomy Department at NASA and Technical Editor of Sky & Telescope magazine.

Further reading

Http://www.bethlehemstar.nethttp://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/heavens2.htmlFrances Rolleston , Dr E. W Bullingerhttp://www.askelm.com/star/star001.htm