THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM
Thecoming of the Messia, according to the sacred legends of the Jews, was to be foretold by a flaming star.
Many sacred writers have held, and many still hold, as did the distinguished American astronomer R. A. Proctor, that the “Star of Bethlehem,” whose shining trail guided the Wise Men from The East, was a Comet. Lubienitius in his “History of Comets” expressly mentions the Star of Bethlehem as the most important Comet of history.
As a matter of fact our modern astronomical computations prove that a Comet appeared in that year so as to be visible to the naked eye over Arabia, Syria, and the Holy Land.
When this Comet appeared Herod was King of Judea. On the appearance of the Comet, Herod consulted the oracle of the Sibyl in Rome. She told him that the Comet shone in token of a boy destined to be far greater than he.
Herod grew so afraid at this that he caused to be murdered his own two infant sons, Aristobolus and Alexander, and after that his eldest son, the boy Antipater. Herod further ordered the massacre of all male infants born in Judea under this Comet, as told in the Gospel of Matthew (Chap. II., Verse 1). As the Comet kept on blazing in the sky, Herod, becoming desperate, tried to kill himself. Five days after this he died of a loathsome disease.
Christian painters and writers from olden times until now, accordingly have pictured the Star of Bethlehem as a Comet.
Take for instance this description of “The Light in the Sky” as given by Lew Wallace in his “Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ”:
“About midnight some one on the roof cried out: ‘What light is that in the sky? Awake, brethren, awake and see!’The people, half asleep, sat up and looked; then they became wide awake, though wonder struck.... Soon the entire tenantry of the house and court and enclosure were out gazing at the sky.And this is what they saw: A ray of light, beginning at a height immeasurably beyond the nearest stars, and dropping obliquely to the earth; at its top, a diminishing point; at its base, many furlongs in width; its sides blending softly with the darkness of night; its core a roseate electrical splendour. The apparition seemed to rest on the nearest mountain southeast of the town, making a pale corona along the line of the summit. The khan was touched luminously so that those upon the roof saw each others’ faces all filled with wonder.Steadily the ray lingered....‘Saw you ever the like?’ asked one.‘Can it be that a star has burst and fallen?’ asked another, his tongue faltering.‘When a star falls its light goes out.’
“About midnight some one on the roof cried out: ‘What light is that in the sky? Awake, brethren, awake and see!’
The people, half asleep, sat up and looked; then they became wide awake, though wonder struck.... Soon the entire tenantry of the house and court and enclosure were out gazing at the sky.
And this is what they saw: A ray of light, beginning at a height immeasurably beyond the nearest stars, and dropping obliquely to the earth; at its top, a diminishing point; at its base, many furlongs in width; its sides blending softly with the darkness of night; its core a roseate electrical splendour. The apparition seemed to rest on the nearest mountain southeast of the town, making a pale corona along the line of the summit. The khan was touched luminously so that those upon the roof saw each others’ faces all filled with wonder.
Steadily the ray lingered....
‘Saw you ever the like?’ asked one.
‘Can it be that a star has burst and fallen?’ asked another, his tongue faltering.
‘When a star falls its light goes out.’
After that there was silence on the housetop, broken but once again while the mystery continued.‘Brethren!’ exclaimed a Jew of venerable mien, ‘what we see is the ladder our father Jacob saw in his dream. Blessed be the Lord God of Our Fathers!’”
After that there was silence on the housetop, broken but once again while the mystery continued.
‘Brethren!’ exclaimed a Jew of venerable mien, ‘what we see is the ladder our father Jacob saw in his dream. Blessed be the Lord God of Our Fathers!’”
Meanwhile the Wise Men from the East, as described in the same story, were travelling over the desert, on the alert for the apparition of the star, whose coming had been revealed to them.
“Suddenly, in the air before them, not farther up than a low hill-top,” writes Lew Wallace, “flared a lambent flame; as they looked at it, the apparition contracted into a focus of dazzling lustre. Their hearts beat fast; their souls thrilled; and they shouted as with one voice: ‘The Star! the Star! God is with us!’”