When the star was seen in the East it was the location of the wise men that was in the East , not the star . For example , a star was over CA and somebody in Boston saw it they'd say they saw the star in the East because that's where they were when they saw it . [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. . Why does the song " We Three Kings Of Orient Are " say "Westward leading " ? [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.
Also nativity scenes and plays showing the wise men at the stable where Jesus was born are wrong . They found Jesus long after he left the stable .
Sorry to be picky but Biblical events should not be inaccurately quoted . If a critic finds you in error in one area it makes your knowledge questionable .

So....by that definition. If I saw something over yonder.

I really meant I saw it "right here" ? Because that's where I was when I seen it?

While debates run rampant about the "wise men" and who they were. It could be they were to the west of the location....looking east.

To simply state they were Orient and looking west. Is like saying all Mexicans....only look north when they think of the United States. I met one in Jersey the other day, not a whole lot of real estate north of there...know what I mean.

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Insuring polititions fear that
which goes bump in the night.
Seek out their personal homes
and family members. -- SU 83
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Uhhhhhh, ..........
you lost me at the Mexican border.

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Pontificating Dogmatist

Matthew 2:1 says the Magi came from the east... so they were in the east when they saw the star. There were a LOT more than three of these wise guys, too! There were enough of them that when they arrived in Jerusalem they made a serious stir! When they arrived in Bethlehem, they visited the child and his mother in the HOUSE where they were staying (Matt. 2:11), and Herod killed all the children two years and younger. SO there was some time between stable with shepherds and wise men with gifts. The time line of all of this is not as important as the fact that WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM!

Who were the wise men and what was the Star of Bethlehem?

It is impossible to be dogmatic about the events surrounding the Magi and the star that led them first to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem. My personal belief is based on what little evidence we have. First we have Scriptures, second we have history and third we have the testimony of the stars themselves. Consider this narrative since it is based on all three.

In the beginning on the fourth day of creation God created the stars and set them on a course through the vastness of space. In doing so he declared, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:..." So began the events that would center around a period of thirty three years and two locations known as Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Later God would call out a Chaldean known as Abram to father a chosen race of people known as the Israelites. Through them was to be the promise of a Savior of men, and a King of Kings. The Word of God would come through this chosen people and in the end they were to be God’s evangelists to the world. However, they never realized their potential because of their tendency to fall into idolatry. The time finally came that God’s hand of judgement would fall, but through their captivity would come God’s provision for his Son.

Of those taken captive by the Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar were four young men in particular. These young men refused to eat the unhealthy meats that had also been offered to idols. While everyone else continued in the compromising lives that had led to their judgement by God, these four took a stand. The day came that one of them would stand head and shoulders above all the astrologers, magicians and dream interpreters. The king had a dream that greatly troubled him, but he had one problem- he couldn’t remember the dream. One man, an Israelite was able to tell Nebuchadnezzar both his dream and the interpretation. At this point a young Israelite named Daniel became the head of all the wise men of Babylon. Towards the end of his life Daniel was given another vision by God that told of the Jews returning from captivity within his lifetime and the coming of the Messiah. This prophecy has become known as Daniel’s seventy weeks. It placed the Messiah at about A.D. 28 as we measure time today. With this knowledge the Babylonian wise men would begin looking to the stars about four hundred and sixty three years after Darius ordered the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

With this background here is what they saw in the skies. (All dates are by the Julian Calendar) The dance of stars began on August 12, 03 B.C. Jupiter, known as the king’s star and Venus, the bringer of light and symbol for the woman passed in conjunction in the constellation Leo (the Lion.) The king’s star then continues past Regulus known in arabic as the Heart of the Lion, to everyone else it is known as the prince’s star. So far it is an interesting story but now things get exciting. Jupiter goes backwards in the night sky past the Heart of the Lion again on February 11, 02 B.C. On April 22, 02 B.C. Jupiter passes Regulus for the third time finishing a complete circle around the Heart of the Lion. Then on June the 18 of 2 B.C. Venus and Jupiter pass in conjunction again in the constellation of Leo. A year passes until on May the tenth of 1 B.C. Jupiter passes through the constellation of Virgo, the virgin.

To you and me this may not be very special but to those who looked to the stars for signs and wonders the combination of these events combined with a prophecy by the only wise man who could both reveal and interpret dreams as well as survive a den of hungry lions these events would cause great rejoicing. Our story isn’t finished. After the wise men left Herod they looked to the southwest. Jupiter has been sitting motionless in the southwestern sky over Bethlehem from April twenty first until May twentieth of 01 B.C. as seen from Jerusalem.

Is this the only explanation? No. However, these events are cosmological, Biblical and historical fact, they did happen just as I have laid out here. For me, this means that even the stars point us to their Creator who took upon himself human flesh and died for the sins of his creation.