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STAR OF BETHLEHEM

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The story of the star of Bethlehem has captivated many people intrigued by the circumstances of the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Many theories have been put forth by biblical scholars as to the identity of this famous star.  Most of these theories appeal to astronomy and while scholars efforts in this puzzle are commendable, they fall short in explaining the true identity of the star of Bethlehem. 

Matthew 2 begins with the Magi from the east (possibly from Babylon or Persia) asking, "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."  Matthew 2:9 sheds some more light on this star:

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.

The fact that the star went ahead of the Magi until it stopped over the place where Jesus was suggests that this star had some kind of intelligence.  This verse possibly rules out any explanation of a so-called mystery star or even a conjunction of planets.  While I realize that God could do the impossible, I don't believe this star to be astronomical.

In the Bible, the word "star" has many meanings.  In Genesis 1:16 and 15:5 the word "star" in the Hebrew is kôwkâb and the context is the stars in the heavens, namely a giant glowing ball of gas.  In other places in the Bible such as Matthew 24:29, Revelation 6:13, 8:10,11 "stars" simply mean meteorites falling down upon earth.  Look at Revelation 9:1-2:

The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.  The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.  When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.  The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.

Many Bible commentators believe that this star is Satan.  Whatever the case, this "star" is given a key and he opens the Abyss.  Clearly this star is a person of some sort (possibly an angel) because the two previous examples of stars cannot fulfill this verse.  Turn to Revelation 20:1-2:

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.  He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

This verse rules out any possibility that the star in Revelation 9:1 is Satan.  The star is identified in Revelation 20:1 as an angel.  So in retrospect, the star (or angel) that was given the key to the Abyss also bound Satan and threw him into the very Abyss that he (the star angel) opened earlier.  This means that the star of Bethlehem was probably an angel.  This accounts for the star moving ahead of the Magi and stopping over the very house that Jesus lived with Mary and Joseph. 

Finally, it is also possible that the Magi heeded the words of the prophecy in Numbers 24:17, "A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel."  When the Magi finally saw the star (or angel), they knew that they had to go to Judea to seek out the true star and prince that was prophesied, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.