Who Sent the Star?
Obviously, you have seen the story of the Star and the Three Kings, or wise men visiting the newborn baby Jesus as he lay in the manger. According to the story, God used the star to lead them to the stable in Bethlehem. Children have memorized the names of those three kings , Melchior, Caspar, and Balazar However, does the popular account match what the Bible actually says? It doesn't in a number of ways, the story is inaccurate.
First, who were these men? In the original Greek, the Bible calls them neither kings nor wise men. They were magi or astrologers. They were evidently practicers of the pagan art of divination based on the stars. The Bible record reveals neither the names not the number of those visitors.
Second: when did the men visit. It was not when Jesus was a newborn baby in the manger as Matthew says "When they went into the house they saw the young child with Mary, its mother." Matt: 2 :11. Not a newborn baby, but a young child. Mary and Joseph were no longer spending nights in a stable, they were living in the house.
Thirdly: who sent the star to lead the astrologers? Religious leaders commonly teach that God sent the Star. Remember, the star did not first lead the astrologers to Bethlehem, it led them to King Herod in Jerusalem. They revealed Jesus' existence to the jealous and powerful murderer and gave him strong reason to hate the child who was to become King. matt2.. Craftily, Herod told them to report back to him on the precise location of this child giving the false claim that Herod wanted to honour the child as well.
The Star then led the astrologers to Joseph and Mary. So the astrologers were on a course that would have doomed the young child had God not intervened. God did intervene. So enraged was Herod when the astrologers did not report back to him he ordered all the male children two years of age and younger in and around Bethlehem to be killed. Matt: 2 ,16.
Now, would God have used pagan magic practising (men) who practised the occult arts so forbidden by God's own law, to be his messengers? Would God use a star to lead conspirators to his only begotten son so that Herod could kill him?