Star of Bethlehem a talk to Springfield Park Baptist Church ......Star of Bethlehem Tuesday 2nd Dec 2008 by Gary Auker 30 Magi gift of Myrrh Myrrh promotes spiritual awareness and

Tuesday 2nd Dec 2008 by Gary Auker 1

Star of Bethlehem

a talk to

Springfield Park Baptist Church

by

Gary Auker

on Tuesday 2nd December 2008


Star of Bethlehem: Talk Overview

• What time of year was Jesus born ?

• Which year was Jesus born ?

• The Politics of the Time

• Herod the Great

• Prophesy of Jewish Messiah known in many parts of Middle East

• Magi came from the East

• Who were the Magi ?

• Candidates for the Star of Bethlehem

• When was Christ’s real 2000th Birthday ?


Star of BethlehemTime of Year clue from

• Luke 2:8

“And there were

shepherds living out in

the fields nearby, keeping

watch over their flocks at

night.”

• Keeping a watch on

their flocks at night is

what shepherd’s do

during the lambing

season in Spring Lambing occurs in Spring not Winter


Star of Bethlehem

• If Jesus was born in the Spring as reading Luke may imply

why do we celebrate his birthday on 25th December each year ?

• To answer this question we need to understand a little about

Roman culture in 1st century & some early church history


Star of Bethlehem

Why celebrate Christmas on 25 December ?

• Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun) Festival introduced in 274 AD

by Emperor Aurelian celebrated on 25 December

• Celebration of Jesus’ birthday pre-dates the Sol Invictus festival,

The earliest record of the celebration of Christ's birthday

on December 25 dates to 243 A.D.


Star of Bethlehem

• Why celebrate Christmas on 25 December ?

• Saturn – Roman God of Agriculture & Harvest celebrated.

• Saturnalia – Roman Festival held to Saturn 17 - 23 December

since Julian calendar was introduced in 45 BC

Slaves were exempt from punishment.

Public holiday were Masters would serve their slaves at a banquet.

Toga not worn but informal clothes, and the Freedman’s hat (Pileus)

was worn by everyone.


Star of Bethlehem• Why celebrate Christmas on 25 December ?

• Pope Julius I chose December 25.

It is commonly believed that the church chose this date

in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan

Saturnalia festival.

Julius I Papacy 337 – 352 AD


Star of Bethlehem

• Which year was Jesus born ?

• We know the current year is not 2008 after his birth

• It wasn't until 525 AD that the year of Jesus' birth was fixed.

by Dionysius Exiguus who determined Jesus was born 8 days before

Roman New Year's day in the year 1 A.D.

• The Gospels provide us with clues that Dionysius Exiguus

was wrong. Herod the Great died before 1 AD.

• Jesus most likely born between 8 BC censors & 6 AD censors


Star of Bethlehem

• Josephus (AD 37 – c. 100), also known as

Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph, son of

Matthias). His works give an important

insight into first-century Judaism.

• Josephus fought the Romans in 66-73AD

as a Jewish military leader in Galilee.

• Josephus and one of his soldiers

surrendered to the Roman forces

• In 71AD, he arrived in Rome & became a

citizen of Rome. It was while in Rome, and

under Flavian patronage, that Josephus

wrote all of his known works.

• Josephus was granted accommodation in

conquered Judaea, and a decent, if not

extravagant, pension.

Jewish History recorded by the Jew & later Roman citizen Josephus

Roman bust possibly of

Josephus (AD 37 – c. 100)


Star of Bethlehem : Empires

Persian Empire

Parthia, an Iranian

kingdom, c.60 BCE

Roman Republic c 44 BC


Star of Bethlehem• The Politics of the Time – Palestine under Roman rule from (63 BC)

Emperor Augustus

27 BC to 14 AD

was adopted nephew of

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Dictator of Rome

Empire 49 – 44 BC

Mark Anthony

Co-ruled 44-31 BC

Octavian later re-named

Emperor Augustus

Emperor

Tiberius

14 AD to 37 AD



• Disagreement between Octavian and Anthony erupted into civil

war, in 31 BC.

• A family fight : brother-in-laws Mark Anthony & Octavian fall out

• Anthony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium

near Greece, and in a brief land battle at Alexandria, Egypt.

• Mark Anthony committed suicide, and his lover, the

Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, killed herself shortly after.



Julius Caesar

Dictator of Rome

Empire 49 – 44 BC

Cleopatra & her

son Ptolemy XV

Also named

Caesarion

(Little Caesar)

• Caesarion was

proclaimed

“King of Kings” 34BC

by Cleopatra & Mark

Anthony. Caesarion was

Julius Caesar’s natural son

• Octavius invaded Egypt

30 BC.

• Octavius had 17 yrs old

Caesarion executed

in 30 BC


Star of Bethlehem

• Herod was the pro-Roman

king of the small Jewish

state in the last decades

before the common era AD.

He started his career as a

general, but the Roman

statesman Mark Anthony

recognized him as the

Jewish national leader.


Star of Bethlehem

Herod’s life

• Herod had 10 wives in his lifetime

• Mariamne I (48 BCE to 29 BCE) was the second wife

• Herod had 2 sons & 2 daughter by her

• Both sons Alexandros and Aristobulus were executed circa 7 BC


Star of BethlehemHerod Timeline 30s BC

• 39–37 BC – War against Antigonus. After the conquest of Jerusalem and

victory over Antigonus, Mark Antony executes Antigonus.

• 38 BC Herod made King (age~ 35) of Judea by Mark Anthony

• 35 BC – Aristobulus III of Judea is drowned at a party, on Herod's orders.

• 31 BC – Judea suffers a devastating earthquake. Octavian defeats Mark

Antony, so Herod switches allegiance to Octavian, later known as Augustus.

• 30 BC – Herod is shown great favour by Octavian, who at Rhodes confirms him

as King of Judaea


Star of BethlehemHerod Timeline 20s BC

•27 BC – An assassination attempt on Herod was foiled.

•25 BC – Herod imported grain from Egypt and started an aid program to combat the

widespread hunger and disease that followed a massive drought. He also waives a

third of the taxes.

•23 BC – Herod built a palace in Jerusalem and the fortress Herodion (Herodium) in

Judea. He married his third wife, Mariamne II, the daughter of high priest Simon.

•Circa 20 BC – Expansion started on the Second Temple.


Star of Bethlehem

When did Herod die ?

Josephus wrote that Herod died after a lunar eclipse ?


Star of Bethlehem

9 BC Jun 03 23:00 Total Lunar Eclipse9 BC Nov 28 18:50 Total Lunar Eclipse5 BC Mar 23 18:20 Total Lunar Eclipse5 BC Sep 15 20:10 Total Lunar Eclipse4 BC Mar 13 00:40 Partial Lunar Eclipse

3 AD May 04 19:26 Total Lunar Eclipse3 AD Oct 28 22:37 Total Lunar Eclipse4 AD Oct 16 23:02 Partial Lunar Eclipse6 AD Mar 03 20:22 Partial Lunar Eclipse7 AD Feb 20 20:08 Total Lunar Eclipse8 AD Feb 09 23:00 Partial Lunar Eclipse

Lunar Eclipses visible from Jerusalem including 8BC & 6AD Censors

and the Mass Oath to Emperor Augustus in 3-2 BC

Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC


Star of BethlehemLunar Eclipses 5 BC & 4 BC

Partial Lunar Eclipse

16 Aug 2008

Similar to 4 BC

Total Lunar Eclipse

28 Aug 2007

Similar to 5 BC


Star of BethlehemHerod’s Death

The scholarly consensus, based on Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews is that Herod

died at the end of March or early April in 4 BC.

Reasoning as follows:

• Herod died 34 years after the death of Antigonus II Mattathias circa 37 BC.

Implies Herod died 4 / 3 BC

• Herod Philip II's death took place after a 37-year reign in the 20th year of

Tiberius 33 AD. Implies Herod died 5/4 BC.

• Josephus wrote that Herod died after a lunar eclipse, and a partial eclipse took place

in 4 BC. It has been suggested that 5 BC might be a more likely date– there were two

total eclipses in that year.

• However, the 4 B.C. date is almost universally accepted


Star of BethlehemThe Census Problem

• The Census of Quirinius took place in 6–7 AD.

• The census Luke referred to could have been another event such as a mass oath

taking that took place when Augustus was given the title "father of the nation" (3–2 BC).

• Augustus is known to have taken a census of Roman citizens at least three times, in 28 BC, 8

BC, and AD 14

• Other scholars, however, argue that Luke was simply mistaken.


Star of Bethlehem

Prophesy of Messiah known in many parts of Middle East

• Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem

597 BC, deposed King Jehoiakim of Judah.

• Following a Jewish rebellion in 587 BC King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem

along with the 1st Temple to Yahweh (Almightly God)

• Daniel and leading Jewish leaders exiled to Babylon taking

Isaiah Prophesy (740 – 700 BC) of Messiah with them.


Star of Bethlehem3 Magi travelling on Camels ?

Not very likely

Its about as likely as the PM

Riding one of these on official business


Star of Bethlehem• Magi were of high status and would have used high status transport.

• In the Ancient World the only transport for people of high status

was the horse.

'Confraternity of the Star' in Florence, Italy

Star of Bethlehem


Who were the Magi ?

• Matthew 2:1 - They came from the East

• Early Christian 6th Century mosaic shows them wearing

Persian clothing

Star of Bethlehem


Who were the Magi ?

• Magi were most likely Zoroastrian Priests from Persia (Iraq / Iran )

• Zoroastrian religion founded 500 BC by Zoroaster

• Zoroastrians believe in One God (Ahura Mazda)

• Cosmic battle going on between truth and order against

chaos, falsehood and disorder.

• All will experience immortality and will share a

single purpose for a perpetual exaltation of God’s glory.

• All things will undergo a cosmic renovation and time will end

• There will then be a final purge of evil from the Earth.

Good will win in the end


Star of BethlehemMagi’s Journey – probably along the Fertile Crescent

From Babylon to Jerusalem ~ 700 miles (take 2-3 months)

Star of Bethlehem


Magi Gifts:

• Gold – Denotes Kingship

• Frankincense - this gift symbolizes sacrifice, Christ's divinity

When burned it produced a white smoke which

used for prayers and praises

Star of Bethlehem


Magi gift of Myrrh

Myrrh promotes spiritual

awareness and is uplifting.

Used in embalming, as a cure for

cancer, leprosy, and syphilis.

Myrrh, mixed with coriander and

honey, was used to treat herpes. It

was used as an anti-infectous, anti-

inflammatory, antiseptic, astringent

and as a tonic.

Because of myrrh's various

medicinal uses this gift represents

Christ's human nature


Star of Bethlehem

Bethlehem photo 1898

Bethlehem in 1880 Bethlehem today


Star of Bethlehem: 7 BC triple conjunction ?

Triple conjunction between Jupiter & Saturn 7 BC

1 degree min separation


Star of Bethlehem: 6 BC Lunar occultation ?

Moon passes in front of Jupiter in constellation of Aries (The Ram) sign of Israel

in 6 BC

Star of Bethlehem


Venus reappears from behind Moon

Wiltshire, UK

~ 5:15 PM , 1st December 2008

Venus disappears behind Moon

from Romania

~ 3:45 PM, 1st December 2008

Venus

reappears

Jupiter

Lunar Occultation's still occur: THIS HAPPENED LAST NIGHT !


Star of Bethlehem: Venus & Jupiter

conjunction June 2 BC ?

A Christmas Near Occultation - Venus and Jupiter , June 17, 2 BC


Star of Bethlehem: A Comet ?

• The Chinese say the 5 BC comet appeared in Spring between

March 9 and April 6 and lasted over 70 days

70 days corresponds to Magi journey time from the East.

• Assuming the Star of Bethlehem was a comet, there were 3

possible years, 12 (Halley’s Comet), 5, and 4 B.C.

• This period has the added virtue of including the year's Passover,

a most propitious time for the birth of a Messiah.

• Chinese recorded a major, new, slow-moving comet -- a "sui-hsing,"

or star with a sweeping tail in the Capricorn region of the sky.


Star of Bethlehem: 5BC Comet

Comet Hyakutake spring 1996 was exactly 2000 years after 5 BC Comet


Star of Bethlehem: Jesus real Birthday

Comet Hyakutake spring 1996 was

exactly 2000 years after 5 BC Comet

may have declared Jesus real 2000th

birthday in the heavens

•A good fit to gospel account

is Jesus was born between

7 – 5 BC, apart from Luke’s

mention of a census that would

have taken place in 8 BC or 6 AD.

• Triple conjunction between

Jupiter (Kingship), &

Saturn (old order) 7 BC

• Bright Springtime 5 BC

comet

• 2 year uncertainty could

explain why order to kill boys

up to 2 years of age. Matthew 2: 16

Documents

Star of Bethlehem a talk to Springfield Park Baptist Church ......Star of Bethlehem Tuesday 2nd Dec 2008 by Gary Auker 30 Magi gift of Myrrh Myrrh promotes spiritual awareness and