The Star of Bethlehem

“Astronomy, Astrology, and the Star of Bethlehem.” BY John Clevenger of the Lake Country Astronomical Society," which says as follows, “Did any unusual astronomical phenomenon occur between 8 and 2 BC? As it happens there were several notable celestial events during that period. The Chinese reported two comets during that time. The comet of 5 BC which was visible for 70 days, was reported to have a tail. Professor Humphreys of Cambridge University believes that this comet, which he describes as having a vertical tail, appeared at the time of the Jewish Passover. Professor Humpherys believed that this started the Magi, who were knowledgeable of the Jewish prophecy recorded in the book of Micah, concerning the birth of a Jewish king, on their journey. If right about the vertical tail, this could agree with the biblical account in Matthew that the ‘Star Stood Over’ where the young child was”. The comet of 4 BC had no tail and whether it was a comet or a nova is unknown. While historians have usually suggested that comets were always bad omens. Humphreys believes that history shows them to be either good or bad omens.

I could also use any of a number of authorities to supply evidence of the triple conjunction between Jupiter, and the planet ‘Saturn,’ in 7 BC and then in 6 BC, the conjunction of the ‘King Planet’ Jupiter, with Mars, the god of war, and “Saturn the god of time, who brings the golden age of peace to the earth, which I believe was read by the wise men as the sign that was prophesied to herald the birth of the promised King of Israel, who was to succeed to the throne of David the warrior king, as the prophesied Messianic King of Israel, who is to come and subdue the surrounding Nations and bring in the golden Age of one thousand years of peace.

It was the comet of 5 BC, which was seen by professor Humpherys as the star that started the wise men on their journey to Jerusalem. Nowhere is it said in scripture that any star guided the wise men who were believed to be Astronomer, Astrologers from Mesopotamia, from the land of Mesopotamia to Jerusalem in Judaea.

Having witnessed in 6 BC, the conjunction of the ‘King Planet’ Jupiter, with Mars, the god of war, and “Saturn the god of time, who brings in the golden age of peace to the earth,” which I believe was the star that had heralded the birth of Jesus, because it appeared two years before the death of Herod the Great in April of 4 BC, and as two years and below, was the age of the children that Herod commanded to be slaughtered just before his death, which was in accordance with what he had learned from the wise men as to the exact time that they had seen the star that had heralded the birth of Jesus.

I believe that the Bible should only be interpreted by the scriptures themselves. The Books of the Bible are like wheels of interlocking cogs, wheels within wheels, here a little and there a little etc.

Luke tells us that Mary gave birth to her firstborn son in the town of Bethlehem of Judea, as opposed to the Bethlehem, which was about two miles from Nazareth in Galilee, and that eight days after the child was born, it was circumcised and named Jesus. Then thirty three days later, and before the wise men from the east had come and lavished their gifts of Gold, Frank-incense and mire, the baby Jesus was taken OPENLY to the temple in Jerusalem by his not so financial parents, where his mother performed the purification ceremony according to the law handed down through Moses. And after they had completed everything in ACCORDANCE TO THE LAW, they returned to their home in Nazareth. Luke makes no mention of any wise men travelling to Bethlehem of Judaea, or of any slaughter of the innocents.

How do we know, even though it is not mentioned in Luke, that it was thirty three days after the circumcision that the ceremony of purification was performed? Because Luke says, “And when the days of her purification ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF MOSES were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord.

To find out when the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were accomplished, We simply turn to Leviticus 12: 3-4; and let the Bible reveal itself to us: (3) On the eighth day the child shall be circumcised. (4) Then it shall be 33 more days until she is ritually clean from her loss of blood; etc.

How do we know that the parents of Jesus were not flushed financially? Again, we must let the Bible reveal that to us, Leviticus 12: 8, “If the woman cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two doves or pigeons etc,” the fact that the birds were offered, shows that they were unable to afford a lamb, and had not yet received the gifts of Gold, etc.

How long was it before the wise men, after seeing the comet of 5 BC, which is believed to have been the inspiration for them to travel to Jerusalem, decided that they should go to pay homage to the heir of that throne, and to organize that trip? And how long did it take them to travel from Mesopotamia to Jerusalem?

The only help that we receive from the Bible is found in Ezra 7: 8-9; ‘They (Ezra and his group) left Babylonia on the first day of the first month, and with God’s help they arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month.”

Four month, it took them to travel to Jerusalem. Even if we halve that time and take into account that the comet which inspired them to travel to Jerusalem had not appeared until about 12 months after the conjunction of 6 BC, which had heralded the birth of Jesus, there is no possible way that the wise men could have seen the baby Jesus in the manger in Bethlehem of Judaea.

Travelling presumably, across the “Kings Highway” to Jerusalem to pay homage to the new King, they went to the palace of Herod the Great, the current ruler of Israel, expecting to find there, the young child whose birth had been heralded by the heavenly sign of 6 BC, the young child that they believed was the Messianic heir to the throne of David, and they asked, “where is the child that has been born to be King of the Jews.”

After receiving verification from his priests that the prophesied King was to be born in Bethlehem of Judaea, Herod then called them to a SECRET meeting and enquired of them the EXACT time that they had first seen the star which was to herald the birth of the long awaited king and savour, and it was in accordance with the information he received from the wise men, that he determined the age of the children who were to be slaughtered, “‘all the males who were two years of age and below.”

Having been told that the child was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea, the wise men left the palace and the star that they believed was the comet of 5 BC appeared once again, and Oh what joy was theirs. Revealing that the original star that they had seen while in the east had disappeared, and it was this star that guided the wise men, not to Bethlehem of Judaea in the south, but to Nazareth of Galilee to the north, which is just 2 miles from the northern city of Bethlehem, which today, is called “Beitlahm.”

Having witnessed the comet of 5 BC, which was said to have a vertical tail, fading into the distance getting smaller and smaller as it returned to the outer reaches of the solar system, and knowing that it would have long disappeared before they reached Jerusalem, we can only assume that this was another much smaller comet, low to the horizon to the North of Jerusalem. Perhaps a non-periodic, or long period comets that would not appear in our solar system again, for thousands, or millions of years, if ever.

A small insignificant comet, way off in the distance, which would have gone un-noticed by the casual observer, but seen in the northern sky, low to the horizon, by the wise men who believed it to be the same fading comet of 5 BC.

We can almost picture the scene, the wise men with their entourage travelling along the dusty roads of northern Israel, it’s late in the day and as they come to a rise, there, just above the distant horizon, in the deepening darkness of the evening sky, is the star with its fading tail streaming up into the heavens and appearing to stand over the small and insignificant hamlet of "Nazareth."

The term “Stood Over” in ancient literature refers to comets and comets only. And we are told that the star stood over the HOUSE (Not the manger in Bethlehem of Judaea in which Jesus the baby had been born) and it was in the house to which the family had returned after the ceremony of purification had been performed, in which the wise men found Mary with her child, who by then was well over 12 months old.

That night, the wise men, who would have travelled to Jerusalem across the Kings Highway, were warned in a dream not to reveal to Herod the child’s whereabouts, and they returned home by a different route from which they had come, which would have more than likely been up through the northern route of Damascus, and Joseph was also warned to get out of bed immediately and take the child and his mother and flee into Egypt.

Herod’s secret police had eyes and ears throughout the entire land, and when he realised that he had been tricked and the wise men were not going to return and reveal the child’s location as promised, he was furious and gave the order to kill all the male children in the district that Herod's spies had confirmed that the wise men with their entourage had travelled to, which was around Bethlehem of Galilee, who were two years and below according to the time that he learned from the wise men about when they had first sighted the star that had heralded the birth of the promised king and savour.

According to Josephus, Sepphoris which is only about 4 miles from Bethlehem of Galilee, now called Beitlahm, had a population of around thirty thousand and he called it, “The Ornament of Galilee.”

Around the time of Herod’s death, just after he had ordered the death of the innocents around the district of Bethlehem, there were riots among the peasants of the area in Galilee of which Sepphoris was the centre. Judas, the son of Hezekias attacked the arsenal of Herod in the city of Sepphoris in order to arm the peasants. The Romans under Quintillius Varus of Syria, attacked and burnt the city, putting down the uprising in which many families died and others were taken prisoner and transported to Rome, where they were sold as slaves. But Joseph, with his wife and her child had escaped the slaughter by fleeing into Egypt.

After a failed suicide attempt, which I believe may have been an option given to him by Caesar Augustus, in the spring of 4 BC, Herod the Great died, then in the spring of 3 B.C., after the death of Herod his father, when Antipas returned from Rome where his father’s will was ratified by Augustus, he chose and rebuilt the magnificent city of Sepphoris as his capital city for ruling over Galilee.

I'm not real familiar with these computers and don't know how to bring a photo over to the forum. I wonder if anyone can help me, and Google up the photo of McNaught comet as seen in early January 19. 2007 By Joe Rao, and transfer it to this thread? Thank you.

[Triner]

............

Originally Posted by Triner

............

Thank you very much Triner, you will be in my prayers from this day on. Of course the faint and distant comet as seen very low to the horizon by the wise men from the east, would be nothing in comparison to the McNaught comet as pictured here, which is but an example of how the star "STOOD OVER" the house in the small and insignificant village of Nazareth.

[Arcturus]

hi s, is it possible that the star is a localised event and that the magi are spiritual beings not physical?

easter---the eastern star

Originally Posted by necta3

hi s, is it possible that the star is a localised event and that the magi are spiritual beings not physical?

easter---the eastern star

None whatsoever my dear friend, the story was real, come down from those clouds that you float on and get you feet back on the earth from which you were created.

This is what happens to the minds that have been deceived by the enemy of Christ, who refuses to acknowledge that Jesus came as a human being, a descendant of the seed of Adam, and have now lost touch with reality and believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, without the introduction of human semen into her uterus.

[Arcturus]

Originally Posted by S-word

None whatsoever my dear friend, the story was real, come down from those clouds that you float on and get you feet back on the earth from which you were created.

This is what happens to the minds that have been deceived by the enemy of Christ, who refuses to acknowledge that Jesus came as a human being, a descendant of the seed of Adam, and have now lost touch with reality and believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, without the introduction of human semen into her uterus.

well i've already said that i believe that jesus' mother was spiritually virginal and not physically a virgin.

i take it you don't want to entertasin any possibilities then? i believe the event happened, just in a different manner, maybe...

you know i thought you were up for non derisory chat, more fool me..

Originally Posted by necta3

well i've already said that i believe that jesus' mother was spiritually virginal and not physically a virgin.

i take it you don't want to entertasin any possibilities then? i believe the event happened, just in a different manner, maybe...

you know i thought you were up for non derisory chat, more fool me..

[necta3 wrote].....is it possible that the star is a localised event and that the magi are spiritual beings not physical?

Derisory: "So small or inadequate as to be ridiculous.

Speculating that the wise men may have been Spiritual beings and asking me to discuss that possibility, I would have entered into a derisory chat with someone who has lost touch with reality.

If, as you suggest, the wise men were some form of spiritual angelic beings, they would have simply appeared before the baby Jesus where ever he was, they would not be star gazers: they would not have taken many weeks to cross from their country in the east and travel to Jerusalem, where they sat and spoke with the King of that country.

I don't think Herod ever spoke to no spiritual beings. Do spiritual beings sleep and have dreams in which they are warned not to return to Herod and reveal the child's whereabouts? Do spiritual beings live in a country to the east of Galilee, and had to travel back to their country by a different route to that which they had came?

I did not read your post, in which you claim that you believed that Mary was not a physical virgin, but was a spiritual virgin. Are you then saying that she did have intercourse with a man while still unmarried to Joseph the son of Jacob, who had no sexual relations with her until after she had given birth to her firstborn son, and that the child that was born of that union with Joseph the son of Heli, had inherited the sin of Adam and that his blood/death was the price for his life alone?

[Arcturus]

yes i feel it's possible they just appeared there under the eastern star who might also be a spriritual being or an event that happens when a christ being awakens. i reckon it might not even be the birth of christ but the rebirth...in some ways the same event as the crucifiction...which i see as a 3 day kundalini awakening...the crown of thorns being the opening of the crown chakra...and on last day the magi appear. to some the cross represents the crossing -- out of the I. its why he has "nails" go through his hands and not wrists like in a real crucifixion. i do not take all the bible literally (i haven't read it) and feel some of it has been chinese whispered into change, some made up and some uttered by some very clever people. my guess is that jesus was conceived via normal procreative union, not that i don't believe in maraculous events...he could of been born without a father though i doubt it personally.

i see some similarities in this account::

[Description of Krishnamurti suffering great pain for unknown reason from Thursday to Sunday. Resuming now on Sunday evening.]

Then Mr Warrington had a heaven-sent inspiration. In front of the house a few yards away stands a young pepper tree, with delicate leaves of a tender green, now heavy with scented blossoms, and all day it is the 'murmurous haunt of bees', little canaries and bright humming birds. He gently urged Krishna to go out under that tree, and at first Krishna would not, then went of his own accord.

Now we were in a starlit darkness and Krishna sat under a roof of delicate leaves black against the sky. He was still murmuring unconsciously but presently there came a sigh of relief and he called out to us, "Oh, why didn't you send me out here before?" Then came a brief silence.

And now he began to chant. Nothing had passed his lips for nearly three days and his body was utterly exhausted with the intense strain, and it was a quiet weary voice we heard chanting the mantram sung every night at Adyar in the Shrine Room. Then silence.

Long ago in Taormina, as Krishna had looked with meditative eyes upon a beautiful painting of our Lord Gautama in mendicant garb, we had felt for a blissful moment the divine presence of the Great One, who had deigned to send a thought. And again this night, as Krishna, under the young pepper tree, finished his song of adoration, I thought of the Tathagata [the Buddha] under the Bo tree, and again I felt pervading the peaceful valley a wave of that splendour, as if again He had sent a blessing upon Krishna.

We sat with eyes fixed upon the tree, wondering if all was well, for now there was perfect silence, and as we looked I saw suddenly for a moment a great Star shining above the tree, and I knew that Krishna's body was being prepared for the Great One. I learned across and told Mr Warrington of the Star.

The place seemed to be filled with a Great Presence and a great longing came upon me to go on my knees and adore, for I knew that the Great Lord of all our hearts had come Himself; and though we saw Him not, yet all felt the splendour of His presence.

Then the eyes of Rosalind were opened and she saw. Her face changed as I have seen no face change, for she was blessed enough to see with physical eyes the glories of that night. Her face was transfigured, as she said to us, 'Do you see Him, do you see Him?' for she saw the divine Bodhisattva [the Lord Maitreya], and millions wait for incarnations to catch such a glimpse of our Lord, but she had eyes of innocence and had served our Lord faithfully. And we who could not see saw the Splendours of the night mirrored in her face pale with rapture in the starlight.

Never shall I forget the look on her face, for presently I who could not see but who gloried in the presence of our Lord felt that He turned towards us and spoke some words to Rosalind; her face shone with divine ecstasy as she answered, 'I will, I will,' and she spoke the words as if they were a promise given with splendid joy. Never shall I forget her face when I looked at her; even I was almost blessed with vision. Her face showed the rapture of her heart, for the innermost part of her being was ablaze with His presence but her eyes saw. And silently I prayed that He might accept me as His servant and all our hearts were full of that prayer. In the distance we heard divine music softly played, all of us heard though hidden from us were the Gandharvas. [Cosmic angels who make the music of the spheres.]

The radiance and the glory of the many Beings present lasted nearly an half hour and Rosalind, trembling and almost sobbing with joy, saw it all; "Look, do you see?" she would often repeat, or "Do you hear the music?" Then presently we heard Krishna's footsteps and saw his white figure coming up in the darkness, and all was over. And Rosalind cried out, "Oh, he is coming; go get him, go get him" and fell back in her chair almost in a swoon. When she recovered, alas, she remembered nothing, nothing, all was gone from her memory except the sound of music still in her ears.

Yea, righto young fellow, well you just keep on believing that. It ain't got nothing to do with the holy scriptures, or Christianity, if I want to debate the Hindu religions, I'll go to that section for which those discussions are reserved, where you should be if you wish to continue espousing your views on Hindu mysticism and not on realities.