Christmas Star

I’ve always wondered about the word “star” included four times in this Bible passage:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “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.” ... Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ... After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed (Matthew 2:2,7,9,10).
It never made any sense to me that a star (or other cosmic body, such as a comet or a meteor) would have been the object that the Magi (“wise men”) followed, or that it could have stopped over the stable where Jesus was.  How could a star, trillions of miles out in space, be observed by someone on earth to be hovering directly over a specific building?  Or how could a comet, meteor, or other swiftly-moving bright object in the sky suddenly stop in mid-air?  Yes, I do believe in miracles; but in this case, I think there was a more plausible explanation.

In the Bible, there are many passages in which “star” clearly is another name for angel:

  • Acts 7:43
  • Amos 5:26
  • Daniel 8:10
  • Isaiah 14:12,13
  • Job 38:7
  • Judges 5:20
  • Numbers 24:17
  • Revelation 1:20, 9:1, 12:4, 22:16

I believe there is a high likelihood that the “star” of Bethlehem actually was a bright and shining angel, leading the Magi to the location of the Messiah (Christ).  It is written, “We saw his star in the east...” (Matthew 2:2).  Jesus was the Lord, so I am inclined that His “star” was a bright and shining angel of the Lord, whose purpose was to lead the wise men to Jesus so that they could worship Him.

Having said all of that, I would like to point the reader to video, The Star of Bethlehem.  Admittedly, it does provide another explanation for the star, which I feel is plausible.  The video can be found here: http://www.bethlehemstar.net.