What was the star that led the Magi to Jesus? When did they arrive?

I remember in 2015, there was an amazing conjunction between Jupiter and Venus that occurred on the night of June 30^th. Sky & Telescope Magazine said that Jupiter and Venus were so close together that it resembled their convergence in the year 2 BC. Astronomers said that there hadn’t been a convergence like that at any other time in the 2,000 years since the night of June 17, 2BC.

Thanks to modern technology, anyone with a computer can see the stars and planets on their screens as they were in the sky on any given date, from any point of view, past or present. Because the stars and constellations are mathematically fixed points in the sky while the paths of the planets orbiting the sun move predictably in the sky, and our own planet’s tilt, rotation, and orbit changes our view of the sky with mathematical precision, modern software can easily display the positions of the stars and planets in the sky from any point of time or view.

I have a program on my computer called Starry Night Pro. It’s very precise and very easy to use.

This will be a very helpful tool for us to understand the star that the Magi followed. But first, lets remind ourselves who the Magi were.

Ancient Magi

The Magi were a class of priests in the region around ancient Babylon and were especially knowledgeable of astronomy. In fact, the names of the constellations and zodiac that we know today originated with the Babylonians during the 7th century B.C. The best of these Magi were counselors to the King who consulted the stars when he had decisions to make. Daniel became one of these leaders when he was brought into the king’s service and promoted to be an administrator. Now, while Daniel probably learned to understand the stars like the Magi, his authority did not lie in the stars. He found his authority in the Lord and his Word.

Matthew’s Magi

The Magi of Matthew chapter 2 were most likely trained in the line that followed Daniel and the Magi that were contemporary to him. So they were very knowledgeable in the mapping and understanding of the stars, the planets, and the constellations. But they also would’ve known all about Daniel’s prophecies, as well. So when they came to King Herod and said,

“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” – Matthew 2:2

they wanted to “worship” the newborn king of the Jews, because they were probably of Jewish descent or belief themselves. But how did they know what the star meant in the first place? What would compel them to use a star in the night sky to help them navigate hundreds of miles to the west, looking for a king? Let’s look at Daniel’s prophecy of the messiah in Daniel chapter 9.

Prophecy of the Messiah: 69 Sevens

The year is 539 BC and the city is Babylon, which was several hundred miles east of Jerusalem. This is where, in the book of Daniel, chapter 9, verses 20-27, we find the prophet Daniel after having been in exile there with the other Jews for almost 70 years already. Daniel is thinking that their time in exile is just about over and he decides to start praying for his people. But that’s when the angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel (Daniel 9) to help him understand how many years were left and also how long until the Messiah would arrive.

This is where we’ll pick it up in Daniel 9:20 …

20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision: 24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 “Know and understand this:

From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ - Daniel 9:25

It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

In summary, Gabriel explained that there would be 7 ‘sevens and 62 sevens, which likely meant 69 sets of seven years equaling 483 years or, as some suggest, possibly 7 sets of 14 years and 62 sets of 7 years equaling 532 years, from the king’s command to rebuild the city of Jerusalem to the arrival of the Anointed One, the Messiah. Then after the 69 sevens, seemingly in the middle of the 70^th seven, the Messiah would be put to death putting an end to sacrifice and offering.

Now, there were four decrees related to rebuilding Jerusalem:

Cyrus issued a decree around 538-536 BC to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 6:1-5) as well as the city itself (Isaiah 44:28; 45:13).
Darius issued a decree in the year 521 BC that reaffirmed Cyrus’s decree (Ezra 6:6-12).
Artaxerxes issued a decree to Ezra in the year 458 BC, giving him permission to proceed with the temple service (Ezra 7:11-26).
Artaxerxes issued a decree to Nehemiah in the year 444 BC to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-8).

This means that the Messiah would be born at least sometime after 55 BC and would be put to death sometime before 39 AD. But if it’s the multiples of seven for the first group of seven, then 532 years from King Darius’ decree would bring us to within a couple of years from Jesus’ birth.

These Magi would’ve known that the 69 ‘sevens’ were almost if not already complete, and the time of the Messiah was near or even now. My guess is that the Magi had a much more accurate understanding of the timing of Daniel’s prophecy than we do, of course.

So, when the time was right, the Magi started watching for a sign. And, being the astute astronomers that they were, they naturally watched for the story to unfold in the skies. Why? Because, like Job says of God,

“He is the Maker of the Bear, and Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations…” – Job 9:9

And like David says in his Psalm,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” – Psalm 19:1-4

And what a story the skies told!

THE STORY OF THE STAR

Before we look at the stars with them using Starry Night Pro, it’s important to know a few things.

The Magi knew there was a difference between stars and planets but they did, however, refer to planets as wandering stars.
There was symbolism to the planets and stars. The Magi knew
- Jupiter as the King Planet,
- Venus as the planet of love and fertility, and
- The star Regulus as the King Star, which is permanently positioned in
- The Constellation Leo, the lion, which is followed immediately by
- The Constellation Virgo, a young woman, was associated with fertility.
They also would’ve known that the lion is the symbol of the Jewish tribe of Judah, from which the Messiah would come.
Between the months of August in the year 3 B.C. and December of 2 B.C. was a spectacular series of convergences of the planets Jupiter and Venus, the star Regulus, and the constellations of Leo and Virgo. This series of convergences were unlike any other that had ever been observed. And, they told a story that was particularly astonishing at this time in history as the prophesies of Daniel’s 69 ‘sevens’ came to a close and the time of the Messiah had arrived.

The Story Unfolds

Now, let’s look to the skies that the Magi themselves would’ve seen in those days using the software I told you about earlier.

August 12, 3 BC – A King will be Born.

From their point of view in the eastern region of Babylon, on the morning of August 12, 3 BC, what appeared to be a single star like none other rose in the east (as do all stars). However, this star was actually the planet Venus and the planet Jupiter so close to each other that they looked like one star. Futhermore, it was entering the constellation Leo, the Lion. Knowing that Daniel’s Messianic prophecy had come to the time of fulfillment and seeing this close convergence would’ve most likely indicated to the Magi the announcement of the coming birth of a King in the tribe of Judah whose symbol was the Lion. I’m sure they were excited about this but they kept watching.