WHAT WAS THE “STAR” THE MAGI SAW WHEN CHRIST WAS BORN?

As we read the second chapter of Matthew verses 2, 7 and 9 we can see that the wise men is guided by a star that guides them to Jesus Christ. Many scholars have debated what this “star” was. I think a good argument could be made that it was a manifestation of the Shekinah glory of God. Recall this that this same glory had led the children of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years as a pillar of fire and a cloud (Read Exodus 13:21). Perhaps this “fire,” manifest high in the earth’s atmosphere, having the appearance of a large star from the vantage point of the earth’s surface, led the Magi to Christ.

The likelihood of the “star” being the Shekinah glory is supported by the fact that it would have been impossible for a single star or a confluence of stars in the stellar heavens to single out an individual dwelling in the village of Bethlehem. Only if the light of the “star” were similar to the pillar of fire that led Israel in the desert could the house be positively identified. Upon entering the house specified by the “star,” the Magi “saw the virgin birth child with his mother Mary.”(Matthew 2:11).