We begin our account around the first century when there were many unbelievable miracles that occurred in history. But this account has never been told. We all know the story about the star of Bethlehem. The star brought the wise men to the stable where the Messiah was laid. But many people do not know that IT WAS NOT A MERE STAR!! It has been recorded as a MAJOR ASTRONOMICAL EVENT!!
It was the early evening of June 17, 2 BC, All the cities around in Mesopotamia area noticed a spectacular astronomical event being witnessed in the western sky. The planet Venus moving eastward among the stars on what appeared to be a collision course with the planet Jupiter. It was Roger W. Sinnott, writing in the astronomical journal Sky and Telescope, who was the first to draw attention to this unusual conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. He said it was a brilliant “double star” which finally gave the appearance of merging into a single “star” as the planets drew nearer the western horizon.
In 1980, a conference was held at Griffith to discuss the astronomical events that occurred in the years 3 and 2 BC It was led by the biblical historian Professor Jack Finegan of Berkeley, California. At the conference scientist discussed the astronomical events that occurred from May, 3 BC to December, 2 BC
During the first century, prophetic prophecies were spreading like wildfire. Many people in the Middle East and surrounding areas were expecting something to occur. The year 2 BC the Roman poet Virgil, in his Fourth Eclogue, gave a prophecy that a child was destined to bring a time of peace and prosperity in their era. Many people were expecting the birth of the Messiah. It is obvious that our creator was announcing the birth of his son, the Messiah.
C.A. Federer, editor-in-chief of Sky and Telescope, said that “Sinnott’s results make the Star of Bethlehem more plausible astronomically than it has seemed heretofore.”
According to the account in Matthew chapter 2, the wise man came looking for the Christ child because they saw his star in the heavens. The Messiah must have been born around that timeframe in 4 -2 BC. God sent an event in the heavens to announce the birth of the Messiah. There has never been another ASTRONOMICAL EVENT like that in history!
This information is from Dr. Ernest Martin
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