T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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j Chinese records also m ake mention of th is new b rig h t sta r a t a tim e corre sponding to th e period of our Saviour’s V ijicth^/ Since th e tim e of Ptolem y we have no record of any observation of it. [ T h i s sta r was in Coma, th e sign of the I In fa n t accompanying Virgo, and it m arked th e very head of th a t Infant. It was on th e m eridian a t m idnight a t the spring equinox, ju s t nine months before Christ was born, as again th ree months th e re afte r. Its brightness would necessarily a rre st th e atten tion of observers' of th e heavens, and awaken special in terest in Coma and th e Virgin- born In fan t which th a t constellation sig- 1 nified both in figure and name. / Believ- ■era in th e sacred meaning of these signs, especially in connection w ith th e tra d i tional prophecy of th e new sta r, which seems also to have been in B alaam ’s mind, could not help b u t be convinced from these showings th a t th e coming of the Desired One was surely approach ing. It was a so rt of m idnight çry^ “ Behold, He com eth!” jl'n e “sta r itself would th u s also be ju st w hat these Magi called th e sta r by which they were led, namely, C h rist’s S tar, emphatically, “H is s ta r ;” for it was a sta r of H is par tic u la r constellation as the Desire of na tions, and th e peculiar sta r o f H is in fancy, as it m arked th e In fa n t’s head, and was a t th e tim e by far th e brightest i in th e constellation, as well as in all the { heavens around. To believers in th e im port of these signs as I have given them th e re could be no question about the meaning of these indications. \ B u t still, th e tim e would rem ain far more indefinite th an it seems to have been in th e m inds of these distinguished visitors. There need ed to be some fa rth e r and more sharply- narrowed indications to account for th e whole case in th is line of explanation. But such more definite indications were not wanting. In th e rabbinical commentaries of Abarbanel, Eliezer, and o thers g reat
ancient astronom ical signs be th e tru e one, we have h ere some rem ark ab le in dications in which th e facts and th e signs singu larly coincide. Taken by themselves, they m ight no t mean much; b u t if o ther particu lars to be named, duly fill ou t th e picture, they would help to fix the heavenly tokens th a t th e tim e h ad in very tru th come in which th e g rea t V irginborn Deliverer was to appear. They are im po rtan t factors in the case. r " I t is also a m atter of record, among | both Gentile and Jew ish peoples, th a t the p atriarch Seth, in whose day these heavenly signs were arrang ed and com pleted, gave ou t a prophecy in connec tion w ith them , th a t in th e period in which the g reat prom ised One should be born th e re would appear a very b righ t sta r in the heavens. This was perhaps th e very prophecy trad itio n al among the ancient Magi and Parsees, th a t th ere . should come a heavenly Child to com mand th e homage and obedience of mankind, th e sign of whose b irth would be th e appearance of a new and peculiar sta r in th e sign of Virgo. Likewise, the Jews also have always held and ta u g h t th a t Messiah’s advent would be h erald ed by a new and peculiar star. Now, it is a m a tte r of record th a t a new and peculiar sta r did make its ap pearance in th e first Decan of Virgo in th e period imm ediately preceding C h rist’s b irth , and th a t it was so b righ t as to be visible even in th e day-time. Ign atiu s says it “ sparkled b rillian tly I abgve all sta rs .’j The same continued in the sky during the whole period of C h rist’s lifetime, and for a tim e th e re after. H ipparchus, about one hundred and twenty-five years before Christ, observed it as a new star, and was led by it to draw up his catalogue of the stars. Ptolemy, abou t one hund red and fifty years afte r Christ, refers to it as having been observed by H ipparchus, b u t as having become so fain t as h ard ly to be any longer distinguishable. The
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