An email Q&As between SS & me below:
SS: I wondered about this three wise men story long time ago as to why this mistake has been so acceptable to the believers and has not been corrected so far. In my opinion no stories in the Bible can be more obviously wrong than this story of the wise men following the star to the little town of Bethlehem as you quoted( to me ).
Please try this, look at the starry sky and ask yourself, can you follow any star and pinpoint a city on earth to tell me yes this is the city the star leads me to? When sun rises in the sky can you tell which city it shines on, which city it intends to lead you to? Or try to hold a ping-pong ball and a flash light about ten meters away, and try to identify which is the point on the pp ball that the flash light leads you to.
Me: Well, a retired scientist from Ntional Lawrence Laboratory, told me long ago that he believes that the Star of Bethlehem which stopped at the house where Jesus was, was Sh'khinah, God's glory shining like a brilliant star.
I like his insight about this Star of Bethlehem very much. I believe when Jesus was born, the star could be a Nova or Jupiter, moon...etc lined up and became a brilliant star signalling the birth of Jesus, King of kings.
Of course, the star can only shine in the night sky or early dawn. that also explained why the magi lost sight of the Star and came to inquire Herod the Great about it. Besides, as we couldn't see some Sun or Moon eclipses in our location, also as seasons change, some stars may not be seen in our night sky, right? So the Jews might not see the brilliant star those Magi saw.
And at the last leg of Magi's journey, it could be Sh'khinah that guided them to the house of Jesus. That seems to solve all the problems of the Star stopped at the top of the house. Don't you think?
How did God guide the Isarelites in the wilderness by a column of cloud in the daytime and a column of fire in the night time, have you read about that? Likewise, God might have guided the Magi in His glorious way. His way is always higher, remember.
Another interesting article for you, click the link below.
We are not told how the God of revelation caused the magi to know that the King of the Jews had been born, only that He gave them the sign of His [the One called King] star in the east. Almost as much speculation has been made about the identity of that star as about the identity of the men who saw it. Some suggest that it was Jupiter, the “king of the planets.” Others claim that it was the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, forming the sign of the fish-which was used as a symbol for Christianity in the early church during the Roman persecutions. Still others claim that it was a low-hanging meteor, an erratic comet, or simply an inner vision of the star of destiny in the hearts of mankind.
Since the Bible does not identify or explain the star, we cannot be dogmatic, but it may have been the glory of the Lord-the same glory that shone around the shepherds when Jesus’ birth was announced to them by the angel (Luke 2:9). Throughout the Old Testament we are told of God’s glory being manifested as light, God radiating His presence (Shekinah) in the form of ineffable light. The Lord guided the children of Israel through the wilderness by “a pillar of cloud by day … and in a pillar of fire by night” (Ex. 13:21). When Moses went up on Mount Sinai, “to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop” (Ex. 24:17). On a later occasion, after Moses had inscribed the Ten Commandments on stone tablets, His face still glowed with the light of God’s glory when he returned to the people (Ex. 34:30).
When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, “His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (Matt. 17:2). On the Damascus road, just before Jesus spoke to him, Saul of Tarsus was surrounded by “a light from heaven” (Acts 9:3), which he later explained was “brighter than the sun” (26:13). In John’s first vision on the Island of Patmos, he saw Christ’s face “like the sun shining in its strength” (Rev. 1:16). In his vision of the New Jerusalem, the future heavenly dwelling of all believers, he reports that “the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23).
Both the Hebrew (kôkab) and the Greek (aster) words for star were also used figuratively to represent any great brilliance or radiance. Very early in the Old Testament the Messiah is spoken of as a “star [that] shall come forth from Jacob” (Num. 24:17), and at the end of the New Testament He refers to Himself as “the bright morning star” (Rev. 22:16). It was surely the glory of God, blazing as if it were an extremely bright star-visible only to the eyes for whom it was intended to be seen-that appeared to the magi in the east and later guided them to Bethlehem. It was a brilliant manifestation of “the sign of the Son of Man” (see Matt. 24:29–30; Rev. 1:7). The Shekinah glory of God stood over Bethlehem just as, centuries before, it had stood over the Tabernacle in the wilderness. And just as the pillar of cloud gave light to Israel but darkness to Egypt (Ex. 14:20), only the eyes of the magi were opened to see God’s great light over Bethlehem.
That the magi were not following the star is clear from the fact that they had to inquire about where Jesus was born. They saw His star in the east, but there is no evidence that it continued to shine or that it led them to Jerusalem. It was not until they were told of the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah (2:5–6) that the star reappeared and then guided them not only to Bethlehem but to the exact place “where the Child was” (v. 9).
These travelers from the east had come to Palestine with but one purpose: to find the One born King of the Jews and worship Him. The word worship is full of meaning, expressing the idea of falling down, prostrating oneself, and kissing the feet or the hem of the garment of the one honored. That truth in itself shows that they were true seekers after God, because when He spoke to them, in whatever way it was, they heard and responded. Despite their paganism, quasi-science, and superstition they recognized God’s voice when He spoke. Though having had limited spiritual light, they immediately recognized God’s light when it shone on them. They had genuinely seeking hearts, hearts that the Lord promises will never fail to find Him (Jer. 29:13)...
Exodus 13:21
The Lord went in front of them during the day in a column of cloud to guide the
( the Sh'kinah is the visible representation of the localized presence of God. By God’s design, the Temple is the location where His abiding presence is intended to dwell and where He has put His name, Column of fire & cloud could be a kind of "Sh’khinah" )
It is interesting to read that Complete Jewish Bible has used
"Sh’khinah" in place of "glory" on John 1:14
John 1:14 The Word became a human being and lived with us,"Sh’khinah" in place of "glory" on John 1:14
and we saw His Sh’khinah,
the Sh’khinah of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
The concept of the "Sh’khinah"(Shekinah) is behind the wonder of the incarnation. The very glory of God “tabernacled” within human flesh and was handled and beheld. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us(ἐσκήνωσεν [eskēnōsen] ), and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” [emphasis added] (John John 1:14). To know more about Sh'khinah, click the link below.
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