This post might just rattle your traditional view of the Christmas Story. Church at the Gate’s own Steve Collins raises the possibility in this post that the star of Bethlehem was, in fact, an angel. Steve lives here in Sioux Falls with his wife and family, has written five books on Israel, and is one of our life group leaders. More on his books and his blog on his website. There is also a recent audio there of his hour-long interview last week on Israeli National News which was broadcast to tens of thousands of orthodox Jews throughout the Holy Land.
Many assume that the “star of Bethlehem,” which led the Wise Men to present their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus Christ when he was very young, was a bright star or a conjunction of heavenly bodies in the heavens. However, a careful reading of the scriptures argues that the “star” was actually an angel. The Greek word translated “star” in Matthew 2:2’s account of the Wise Men is the same root word translated “stars” in Revelation 1:20 where the text plainly states it designates angels. Let’s examine what the “star” of Bethlehem did to see if it also was an angel.
The Wise Men followed this star from an eastern kingdom to Jerusalem (Matthew 2:1-2). Only an angel could direct them to a specific city. A heavenly star or planetary conjunction could not designate a single nation, much less an individual city. When the Wise Men met King Herod, Herod “inquired diligently” about when the Magi first saw this star. If the star were a heavenly object, Herod’s own astrologers would have known exactly when the star appeared. The reason Herod was so eager to find out when the Wise Men saw their mysterious star was because his own astrologers had not seen it! The Wise Men rejoiced when the “star” reappeared to them and led them to a specific “house” in which they found the young child named Jesus. This “star” even stood over the young Jesus inside the house (Matthew 2:9). No heavenly object could stand over a single child inside a specific house! However, an angel, seen only by the Wise Men, could do this.
Furthermore, Mary was told about the imminent virgin birth of Jesus by an angel (Luke 1:26-38). Joseph was told by an angel to wed Mary and call the baby “Jesus “when he was born (Matthew 1:18-25). Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, gave birth to John the Baptist, whose Father, Zechariah, was told by an angel to name their child “John” (Luke 1:5-25). The shepherds were brought to the manger by angels (Luke 2:8-20). Given that all the other principle people involved in the birth of Jesus were instructed or drawn by angels, it is consistent that the Wise Men were also led by an angel to the young child, Jesus.
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I was wondering about this recently as I just reading this same scripture stated above. How can a star from the heavens come and dwell over a house? Interesting! I never bothered to look at the root word though. I wonder what other translations of the Bible have to say. I know it can be messy trying to translate to a different language and I am sure the translators do their very best to be true to what the original manuscripts have to say. Great insights though, thanks!
This is something I had never thought about before but the question about a star dwelling over a house is a good one. Considering that the star appeared to the shepherds who were in the area of Bethlehem and also directed the wiseman quite some time later makes it seem most probable that it may have been an angel.