"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him' " (Matthew 2:1-2).The Magi stated, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him." First, question, "Who would come and worship a Jewish King and who are these Magi or wise men? The only people who would come worship a Jewish King are Jews, so these wise men had to be of Jewish decent and I believe they are.
In the second chapter of Daniel, the Jewish prophet who was carried off to Babylon, Daniel is promoted by King Nebuchadnezzar to "chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon" (Daniel 2:48). Daniel who was credited with interpreting dreams and signs in his lifetime was made chief of a group of wise men whose descendants some hundreds of years later would travel the seven hundred miles to herald the Jewish King.
Daniel knew the prophesy from to Torah which says, "A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17). But Daniel must have gotten a deeper revelation as to what this star would be, or what to look for, because almost six hundred years passed before wise men headed to Jerusalem, knowing they had seen the star of the birth of a king.
What sign in the heavens brought Magi from the east to Jerusalem? It had to be something that appeared quite normal in the heavens except to these Magi, as Herod asked "them the time the star appeared?" (Matthew 2:7). The star also appeared to transverse the heavens compared to the background stars, then appears to come to a stop, as recorded by Matthew. "And lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was" (Matthew 2:9).
The only star that can wander the heavens and then appear to stop is a planet. In fact the name planet actually means "wandering star". A planet can make such movements through the heavens where it moves through a background of stars then appears to stop and go into another direction. (The is explained by retrograde motion.)
The "king planet" Jupiter circles the circuit of the heavens once every twelve years so a conjunction occurs between the "king planet" Jupiter and the 'king star" Regulus (located in the constellation Leo). Strangely in the fall of 3 BC through the spring of 2 BC this occurred not once but three times. In fact, it appeared as if the "king planet" Jupiter crowned the "king star" Regulus. These three conjunctions must have been the sign or at least part of the sign that the wise men were looking for.
The first of the three conjunctions occurred on September 14, 3BC followed by two more, one on February 18, 2 BC and lastly on May 8, 2 BC. Next time I want to examine the other sign in the heavens between the king planet and the mother planet that also occurred three time and must have sent the wise men on their way for a rendezvous with the toddler king Jesus.
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