Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him”
(Matt. 2:1-2)
For over 2000 years, Christians world-wide, have been celebrating the infant birth of the Son of God…the Christ…the Messiah. Remarkably, even in those ancient times, this birth was proclaimed throughout the known world; not by newspapers, televisions, or the internet but this historic event was broadcasted through the use of the celestial bodies.
Astronomer Michael Molnar, after analyzing the above biblical passage points out that “in the east” is a literal translation of the Greek phrase en te anatole, which was a technical term used in Greek mathematical astrology 2,000 years ago. It described, very specifically, a planet that would rise above the eastern horizon just before the sun would appear. Then, just moments after the planet rises, it disappears in the bright glare of the sun in the morning sky. Except for a brief moment, no one can see this “star in the east.”
If you are like me, you might need a little bit of astronomy background here to better understand the true meaning of the phrase. In a human lifetime, virtually all the stars remain fixed in their places; the stars “rise and set” every night, but they do not move relative to each other. As an example, the stars in the Big Dipper appear year after year always in the same place in relationship to where you are. But the planets wander through the fixed stars; in fact, the word “planet” comes from the Greek word for wandering star. Though the planets move along approximately the same path through the background stars, they travel at different speeds, so they often lap each other in relationship to our earthly view. When our sun catches up with a planet, we cannot see the planet, but when the sun passes far enough beyond it, the planet reappears.
Now, with your astronomy lesson under your belt, you might benefit from a bit of astrology knowledge. When a planet reappears, again for the first time in one’s lifetime, and rises in the morning sky just moments before the sun, for the first time in many months after having been hidden in the sun’s glare, that moment is known to astrologers as a heliacal rising. A heliacal rising, that special first reappearance of a planet, is what en te anatole referred to in ancient Greek astrology. In particular, the reappearance of the planet Jupiter was thought, by Greek astrologers, to be symbolically significant for anyone born on that day.
Thus, the “star in the east” refers to an astronomical event with supposed astrological significance in the context of ancient Greek astrology.
Together, a rare combination of astrological events (the right planet rising before the sun; the sun being in the right constellation of the zodiac; plus, a few other combinations of planetary positions considered important by astrologers) would have suggested to ancient astrologers a regal horoscope and a royal birth.
These very wise and mathematically adept astrologers of the time also knew about the Old Testament prophecy that a new king would be born of the family of David. Most likely, they had been watching the heavens for years, waiting for alignments that would foretell the birth of this king. When they identified a powerful set of astrological portents, they decided the time was right to set out to find the prophesied leader.
If Matthew’s wise men undertook a journey to search for a newborn king, the bright star didn’t guide them; it only told them when to set out; the prophesy would have told them where to look. Also, they would not have found an infant swaddled in a manger. After all, the baby would have most likely been eight months old by the time they decoded the astrological message they believed predicted the birth of a future king. The portent in question likely began on April 17 of 6 BC (with the heliacal rising of Jupiter that morning, followed, at noon, by its lunar occultation in the constellation Aries) and lasted until December 19 of 6 BC (when Jupiter stopped moving to the west, stood still briefly, and began moving to the east, as compared with the fixed background stars). By the earliest time the men could have arrived in Bethlehem, the baby Jesus would likely have been at least a toddler.
As a Solutionary and someone intrigued by the Power of the Wisdom of Three (Three meaning Unified Perfection); I find it extremely fascinating that the birth of God’s son, the Savior of the world, was announced to the world through a heavenly event that lasted nine months. In biblical terms, the number nine represents finality. Then consider how a human pregnancy ends after nine months; three, three-month trimesters. The Savior, would grow and complete His earthly mission thirty-three years later in the ninth hour (3pm) of the day in the first month of the Jewish calendar, Nisan. The day, time and place which would also be broadcasted by the heavens in the form of a total eclipse of the sun. Think of the image of the earth shaded by the moon positioned between the sun and the earth. Three heavenly bodies in a straight-line hovering over the crucified Christ.
To further escalate the Power of the Wisdom of Three; the creator used the third planet from the sun to solve the problem of sustainment human life.
If this is my last post, I want all to know there was only one purpose for all that I have written; to have made a positive difference in the lives of others.
Anthony “Tony” Boquet, the author of “The Bloodline of Wisdom, The Awakening of a Modern Solutionary”
