THE STAR
By Elvin C. Myers
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:7-10
The wise men saw the star and a message in its appearance. There are many questions about this mysterious star. Where was it when the wise men saw it? Was it really a star? Why did the people in Judea seem to be unaware of it? How could a star high up in the heavens pinpoint one particular house in a particular town? How did the wise men know the star meant a king in Israel had been born? .
What the wise men saw was an "astera." This Greek word is almost always translated star; but "almost" implies there are exceptions, and a star might not always be a heavenly body. Numbers 24:17 says, "There shall come a star out of Jacob," and this cannot be a heavenly body. It is a reference to Christ. Revelation 1:16 and 20 calls angels stars. Jude 13 says evil teachers are wandering stars.
The wise men identify the light as exclusively "His star." An undogmatic suggestion says that the expression "we have seen His star in the east" means the light they saw was in the east where they lived, not over Judea. This would explain why the people in Judea knew nothing about it. A second suggestion is that the star was not a heavenly body at all but was the Shikinah glory of the Lord. Israel was very familiar with this light, even though it had long since disappeared from the Holy of Holies. The Jews living in Persia knew the royal family would come from Jacob and through the tribe of Judah. Since Daniel gives a time when the Messiah would appear, it is highly possible that the Jews living in Persia were watching for a sign of His appearance. When they saw the light, the Shikinah glory of the Lord, they knew Christ the King had been born.
King James Bible
The Preserved and Living Word of God
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