Difference between revisions of "The Star - part 2"

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(Not a ball of lightning)
(Not a ball of lightning?)
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:Why didn't they point it out to Herod and say, "See! We're just following this thing."
 
:Why didn't they point it out to Herod and say, "See! We're just following this thing."
 
It is improbable that it was a special ball of light.
 
It is improbable that it was a special ball of light.
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=What does the scripture SAY?=
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Matthew is showing how the mystery, which has been hidden from the beginning, is made known in Christ Jesus.  The prophecy says:
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:[[Nu 24:17]] I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
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:[[Isa 9:2]] The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Revision as of 21:48, 6 May 2017

Matthew has highlighted the prophetic riddle of the Old Testament so much so, that we are barely into chapter 2 and had to skip over much of chapter 1 to get here. He is excited to share the prophetic riddle. This is important as the Star of Bethlehem is examined closely. In Matthew's genre of riddle, does he intend to tell us that there is a literal star? or does he use it as a figure as well?

Not a literal star?

If the star was a normal star in a constellation, then it wouldn't hover over a single point such as Bethlehem. It would move in a arc like the rest of he stars save Polaris, which hovers over the north pole. In order to use it to get to Bethlehem you would need:

To know its path precisely, through the sky
The precise time
A clean horizon
Altitude above sea level or a floating mirror
An accurate measure of angle from the horizon

However:

Since no one know s what star it was, it is unlikely they knew the precise path of it. Others have been well known for millennia.
Accurate time pieces did not exist
As strangers, even if they could see the Mediterranean sea , it is unlikely they knew their altitude
The distance from Jerusalem to Bethlehem is less than 5 miles. To navigate with this precision would require a measurement of angle from the horizon to the star with an accuracy of 5 minutes of a degree.

It is improbable that it was a normal celestial star.

Not a ball of lightning?

If the star was a special phenomenon, a ball of light, which literally led them step by step to Bethlehem, then:

Why didn't anyone else see it and follow it?
Why did they stop to see Herod, when it was leading them to Bethlehem?
Why didn't they point it out to Herod and say, "See! We're just following this thing."

It is improbable that it was a special ball of light.

What does the scripture SAY?

Matthew is showing how the mystery, which has been hidden from the beginning, is made known in Christ Jesus. The prophecy says:

Nu 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
Isa 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.