In Biblical imagery, stars are symbols of angels.
In Revelation 1:20, 12:4 angels were symbolically called stars and also in several other places in the Bible;
for example Job 38:7
Stars –
The angels, who may well be called morning – stars, because of their excellent lustre and glory.
Sons of God –
The angels called the sons of God, maybe because they had their whole being from him, and because they were made partakers of his Divine and glorious image.
The stars seen in our heaven symbolically represent these created spiritual beings called angels who according to these verses are named.
They are Messengers sent by God:
The ones we are familiar with are:
(Luke 1:19, Rev 9:11)
Names mean something:
Gabriel means “Man of God”
From the Hebrew name גַבְרִיאֵל (Gavri’el) meaning “God is my strong man”, derived from גֶּבֶר ( gever) meaning “strong man, hero” and אֵל ( ‘el) meaning “God”.
Gabriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition, often appearing as a messenger of God.
In the Old Testament he is sent to interpret the visions of the prophet Daniel, while
in the New Testament he serves as the announcer of the births of John to Zechariah and Jesus/Yeshua to Mary.
Michael means “Who is Like God”
Michael is an archangel .
An archangel (from Greek) is an angel of high rank.
The meaning of Mi•cha•el in Hebrew is
commonly translated
“who is like God?”
but, more accurately,
the name denotes an inquiry after the identity of God:
Who’s God? or What’s God Like?
They are called Princes those who rule under the King. Daniel 10:13
They Stand in the Presence of God. Luke 1:19
Can make people dumb. Luke 1:20
Strong’s Hebrew: 4397. מַלְאָך (malak) — a messenger
Malak
מֲלְאָךְ
Angel/Messenger/Sent One: malak
Sounds like: mal-awk
Luke 2:8-14 And there were shepherds residing in
מֲלְאָךְ
So the question is what did the Magi/Wise Men really see and follow?
What manner of Messenger was this?
They saw His Star in the eastern Sky.
What was it, an angel, a comet or a star/planet alignment?
Its not that this knowledge is critical to our salvation or our continuing walk with Messiah. It was simply a question in connection with the fact that there is much discussion concerning the upcoming planetary alignment on 21st Dec. 2020.
The scientific community and amateur astronomers are buzzing with excitement and being of a curious nature it seemed worth a closer look.
Notwithstanding there have been numerous signs and occurrences in the heavens this year. The cycle of life is continuing as promised by our creator that while the earth remain there will be seedtime and harvest.
As we are told in scripture that
Following are some facts and some information and some things to think and ponder on as we are coming up to the winter equinox date.
This terminology is not new, just a designation, a name; saying it is a divider of the months into 4 sections which make up the 4 seasons.
Dec. 21st is the darkest day because it has the shortest number of daylight hours; and we are making the turn towards the daytime/ daylight hours increasing which is always good!
The winter solstice is in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year; and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.
Having read some of the material and watching some of the short videos on this celestial event with Jupiter and Saturn it is worth a short focus of our attention primarily because it is being called the Christmas or Bethlehem star.
This rare event will occur in the night sky… And it has not been seen in over eight centuries
For star gazers and astronomers and those who just simply like to look at the night sky it is quite an event because.
On this date, Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in our solar system will conjunct to form what’s sometimes referred to as the Christmas Star or
the Star of Bethlehem.
So on the day of the start of the winter solstice, the two planets will appear to form a double planet in an extremely rare event that was last seen 800 years ago.
It will be the closest Jupiter-Saturn pairing since July 1623, when the two planets appeared a little nearer. This conjunction was almost impossible to see, however, because of its closeness to the sun.
Considerably closer and in plain view was the March 1226 conjunction of the two planets—when Genghis Khan was surging through the nations and conquering Asia and Europe was pre Renaissance.
Monday 21st December 2020’s conjunction will be the closest pairing that is visible since then.
Many believe this same conjunction may have appeared like one huge star when in fact it is 2 planets appearing very close together from our view point here on earth.
However, the one coming up is especially close: Jupiter and Saturn will be just one-tenth of a degree apart from our perspective or about one-fifth the width of a full moon.
They should be easily visible around the world a little after sunset, weather permitting. Look to the sky shortly after sunset, looking to the southwest fairly low on the horizon. Saturn will be the smaller, fainter light at Jupiter’s upper right.
Binoculars will be needed to separate the two planets.
Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020 photo made available by NASA, Saturn, top, and Jupiter, below, are seen after sunset from Shenandoah National Park in Luray, Va.
The two planets are drawing closer to each other in the sky as they head towards a great conjunction on Monday, Dec. 21, where the two giant planets will appear a tenth of a degree apart. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP) (Picture below).
So, amazingly everyone, wherever you are on earth, will see it and it was a reminder of the scripture in Matt. 24:39.
Then will appear the Sign of the Son of Man in the sky; and then will all the nations of the earth lament, when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with great power and glory.
It makes one wonder, is the Bethlehem star, or whatever that was, alignment or comet; is the same phenomena that heralded His first coming to the wise men, returning prior to Messiahs return?
Whatever they saw, it made them take notice and seek out who this King was; and they journeyed until they found Him. This is true today that those who diligently seek Him will find Him.
Rare ‘Star of Bethlehem’ appears on Dec. 21. Here’s what astronomy says about the biblical star at Christ’s Birth.
There are many theories about the identity of the biblical star of Bethlehem that appeared at Christ’s birth.
The most accepted theory finds the planet Jupiter to be part of that star.
In the ancient world,
all heavenly bodies
were considered stars.
The Magi or the wise men were, most likely, court advisers to Babylon who used the stars to give guidance to the ruler.
Included at the end are some short 6-9 min videos with some pertinent information.
As always, whatever man’s opinions may be; we must always test them by the Word of God.
The Bible does not say how many wise men but lists 3 gifts
of gold, frankincense and myrrh.. so 3 became the number!
One ancient Jewish writer Philo speaks of them and describes a particular school of Magi, calling it the Eastern school, and says they understood the natural order of things and were able to explain that natural order to others and according to Philo, probably what we might call proto-scientists.
Here is one very feasible explanation:
As Early church historians had been giving a date of around
3 BC for Messiah/Christ’s birth,
though other scholars had been saying 7 BC
because of what appears to be a misunderstanding of King Herod’s death in between those two dates.
What the Magi likely saw were
five astronomical conjunctions
that took place over a span of time from
August of 3 BC to June of 2 BC.
When one planet passes another and, as seen from earth,
they line up –
that would have been of great significance to these astrologer-advisers.
We now know what these conjunctions meant to these Magi as they would have observed from their far-off land. The conjunctions involved the constellation Leo the Lion, the planet Venus, the planet Jupiter and the star Regulus.
To the Babylonians,
the lion/leo constellation represented Israel.
Venus was motherhood.
Jupiter stood for fatherhood or kingship.
Regulus symbolized royalty.
The Magi put these together and in their Babylonian mindset got a clear and repeated message that a grand king had been born in Israel.
Now we are able to use computerized astronomical tools to track the convergence of these heavenly signs involving Jupiter, Venus, Leo, and Regulus, back to when they would have occurred.
Following this it seems that 9 months after that first conjunction –
9 months – the gestation period of a human.
It shows Jupiter and Venus come together to form the brightest star anyone had ever seen!
Not forgetting there would have been very little if any light pollution so the skies and stars would have appeared much brighter than today with all our artificial light.
That would have been in mid-June of 2 BC – again near Regulus in Leo. Eventually it all traces to a conclusion on Dec. 25, in 2 BC. Remembering that of course they did not use our calendar so Dec 25th had no significance.
The Psalmist proclaimed
the heavens declare the glory of God….
and remembering that the Bible is extremely severe on the subject of astrology; because that is reverence for the stars, the idea that stars order your life or guide you. In the Old Testament it was an offense punishable by death.
This is not the same as astronomy where God set the constellations in His Heavens as signs for us on the earth. The Eternal One Who created the heavens and the signs of His own coming – who said that one day He would also return.
Of course, the Romans who ruled most of the known world at the time thought the star was about them; and they even put the star on one of their coins with an image of Caesar Augustus, which represents how impressive the star was. A sort of Star of Rome rather than the Star of Bethlehem.
So the Magi went looking for this infant king to the capital city of the Jews, Jerusalem,
and the Jews sent them into Bethlehem,
a place from which the Jewish scriptures prophesied a king would come.
What the Romans thought was about them, was actually announcing the King of Kings and the rest is HIStory.
Below are links to interesting short 6 & 9 minute videos on the alignment and the wise mens gifts.
This is an opportune time of the year to share the offer of eternal life to those who may not have heard, or haven’t made the decision to accept His precious gift of forgiveness and eternal life with the assurance of being forever in His presence.
Talking of this once in a lifetime star in the heavens may be a great reference to point people to its creator and His Son!!
If this is a heavenly sign of His second coming, a comet a star and alignment of planets or an angel/messenger are we ready?
Let us be like the magi and the shepherds
and always follow the star
that leads to the Messiah
and don’t delay in sharing with others
what we have experienced.
He is coming soon family and every eye will see Him.
When we Look up remember our redemption draws nigh.
More Insights at related posts – links below: http://www.minimannamoments.com/because-he-came/
https://www.minimannamoments.com/a-missing-piece/
https://www.minimannamoments.com/because-he-came/
https://www.minimannamoments.com/a-lambs-tale-and-a-mysterious-tower/
https://www.minimannamoments.com/is-el-eem-anu/
https://www.minimannamoments.com/who-lights-up-your-life/
https://www.minimannamoments.com/may-this-be-a-shannah-of-shalom-a-year-of-peace/ .
Shalom shalom mishpachah/family and cheverim/friends!
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.
It’s all about Life and Relationship,
NOT Religion.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
NOT SURE if you know the One
whom the wise men looked for and found?
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