The star and the magi

[guyver]

After the magi leave Herod the star appears and leads them to where Jesus is , so why didn't the star appear to them and lead them to Jesus before they reached Jerusalem ?
Had it done so , this would have stopped Herod from trying to kill Jesus and murdering innocent children along the way.

 

[AV1611VET]

After the magi leave Herod the star appears and leads them to where Jesus is , so why didn't the star appear to them and lead them to Jesus before they reached Jerusalem ?
Had it done so , this would have stopped Herod from trying to kill Jesus and murdering innocent children along the way.

It's a matter of fulfilling prophecy.

 

[BobRyan]

After the magi leave Herod the star appears and leads them to where Jesus is , so why didn't the star appear to them and lead them to Jesus before they reached Jerusalem ?
Had it done so , this would have stopped Herod from trying to kill Jesus and murdering innocent children along the way.

The star guided them to Jerusalem first. Then after that - to Christ's home in Bethlehem.

When they get to Jerusalem they say it is because they saw the star from where they were in the east and followed it to Jerusalem.

​

Matt 2:​

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”​

It would have been west of where they were as wise men "in the East".

​

Matt 2:​

9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was​

The star they comes and guides the to the very building/structure where Jesus was in Bethlehem. That can't be done from 200,000 feet in the sky -- it had to lower itself to the point where they could see it was guiding them first to Bethlehem and then to the very structure where Jesus was - the very home.

Matt 2:​

11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.​

​

 

[guyver]

The star didn't lead them to Jerusalem , they just said ...“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
So if one is looking for a child to be born king of the jews , a good place to start asking around would naturally be Jerusalem.

And Herod had figured out from the info from the magi that Jesus could be anywhere up to two years of age by now , and he was right as the scripture from the above poster has stated -
Matt 2:
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.
They had come into the house ( not barn ) where they saw the young child ( not baby )

And this seems to make sense when we consider that Jesus was circumcised at 8 days old in Jerusalem ( no longer in Bethlehem ) and it says from there they went back to their home town of Nazareth.

It was the jewish shepherds on advice from the angel who were to visit him as a baby in the barn.

 

[timothyu]

On top of all that Herod would have demanded an audience, saying it was only polite to check in with him, having come so far. Elites are kinda like that.

 

[AV1611VET]

On top of all that Herod would have demanded an audience, saying it was only polite to check in with him, having come so far. Elites are kinda like that.

Why the privacy then?

Matthew 2:7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

 

[sandman]

It actually wasn't a star as we know them but to them at the time a star was planet ...and it was the planet Jupiter.
This is rather a long explication and I don't know if it totally answers your question as to "why God".... other than to state that our God does not control people and their actions >the god of this world does.
The question becomes ....when the wise guys stopped and asked Herod about the birth of the King of the Jews.... did God know what Herod was ultimately going to do when the wise dudes took another route home? That brings into question Gods omniscience ...to which many attribute to God ....although it is not clearly written in the Word.

 

[AV1611VET]

It actually wasn't a star as we know them ...

I agree.

... but to them at the time a star was planet ...and it was the planet Jupiter.

Planets don't lead people to specific street addresses.

Matthew 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

 

[timothyu]

Why the privacy then?

Common amongst the paranoid

 

[Bones49]

The question still stands, Why?
OK, yes it makes sense that they went to Jerusalem first.
We know the result of this series of events was the murder of a significant number of innocent children, so why?
We know that it was decreed in ages past, but why?
It seems that it must have been important that these children where killed because it seems that God kinda went out of his way to make sure it happened.
What would have happened if the Magi went back to Herod? God could have told Joseph to leave before Herod reached Bethlehem. If so then what would he have done, would he still have murdered all the other children, knowing that Jesus was not there? (Assuming he talked to owner of where they stayed, and he told Herod that they had already left, not knowing where?)

Sorry lot's of speculation, but I was thinking about this over Christmas, and as above, it seem like it must be an important part of the story, but it also seems terrible.

Edit: Actually, I was thinking that perhaps the Magi made a mistake in going to Jerusalem, that they never should have gone there, but they did because that was the logical place to go. But then what about the prophecy, and also God could have warned them not to go to Jerusalem.

 

[timothyu]

OK, yes it makes sense that they went to Jerusalem first.

Yes because Bethlehem was still a few miles past Jerusalem

 

[AV1611VET]

Common amongst the paranoid

Um ... okay.

 

[timothyu]

John the not yet Baptist's family would have had to flee also to save him, but nothing is written

 

[AV1611VET]

Edit: Actually, I was thinking that perhaps the Magi made a mistake in going to Jerusalem, that they never should have gone there, but they did because that was the logical place to go. But then what about the prophecy, and also God could have warned them not to go to Jerusalem.

From Matthew Henry's Commentary:

Some observe another design of Providence in the murder of the infants. By all the prophecies of the Old Testament it appears that Bethlehem was the place, and this the time, of the Messiah's nativity; now all the children of Bethlehem, born at this time, being murdered, and Jesus only escaping, none but Jesus could pretend to be the Messiah. Herod now thought he had baffled all the Old Testament prophecies, had defeated the indications of the star, and the devotions of the wise men, by ridding the country of this new King; having burnt the hive, he concludes he had killed the master bee; but God in heaven laughs at him, and has him in derision. Whatever crafty cruel devices are in men's hearts, the counsel of the Lord shall stand.

 

[guyver]

John the not yet Baptist's family would have had to flee also to save him, but nothing is written

Never thought about that , thank you for bringing that up.

 

[timothyu]

It also would have left a two year opening of boys seeking to become rabbis with their over a decade of intense memorization and study then apprenticeship

 

[AV1611VET]

John the not yet Baptist's family would have had to flee also to save him, but nothing is written

John was taken into the desert to escape Herod's wrath.

 

[AV1611VET]

It also would have left a two year opening of boys seeking to become rabbis with their over a decade of intense memorization and study then apprenticeship

God had other plans for them.

 

[guyver]

Planets don't lead people to specific street addresses.

I have a problem believing a star millions of miles out in space could either.
I'll have to look it up again but last time I looked whatever it is was hovering above his house , or so it seemed to me

 

[AV1611VET]

I have a problem believing a star millions of miles out in space could either.

As do I.

I'll have to look it up again but last time I looked whatever it is was hovering above his house , or so it seemed to me.

For the record, Chuck Missler has proposed it could be a hologram, seen only by the Wise Men.

Or more like a vision.