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The birth of a King

Home > The starry dance > The birth of a King

Jupiter’s interesting behavior may explain the Search

kingly aspect of the Star. But there are nine
quali cations of the Star of Bethlehem. Many are still
Search
missing. How did Jupiter’s movement relate to the
Jewish nation? Is its association with the Jewish New
Year enough? Where is an indication of a birth? Some
might say that the triple conjunction by itself would
indicate to a magus that a new king was on the scene.
Maybe. But there is more.

The Jewish nation is composed of twelve ancient

tribes. Jewish prophecy states that a particular tribe
will bring forth the Messiah: the tribe of Judah. The
symbol of Judah’s tribe is the lion. You can see these
connections in an ancient prediction of Messiah’s
coming found in the rst book of the Bible, the Book
of Genesis, Chapter 49:

9 You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you

return from the prey, my son. Like a lion
he crouches and lies down, like a lioness–
who dares to rouse him? 10 The sceptre
will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s
sta from between his feet, until he
comes to whom it belongs and the
obedience of the nations is his.
S H AR ES

Dots: visitors worldwide.

 — GENESIS 49:9-10 Flashing: here now!

This association of Messiah with the tribe of Judah and Next Presentation
with the lion is a productive clue. It clari es the
connection between Jupiter’s behavior and the Jewish
There are no events to show.
nation, because the starry coronation—the triple
conjunction—occurred within the constellation of Leo,
The Lion. Ancient stargazers, particularly if they were
Order the DVD
interested in things Jewish, may well have concluded
they were seeing signs of a Jewish king. But there is
more.

The last book of the New Testament is, in part, a

prophetic enigma. But a portion of the Book of
Revelation provides clear and compelling guidance for
our astronomical investigation. The apostle John wrote
the book as an old man while in exile on the island of
Patmos. Perhaps the austerity of this exile or a lack of
companionship left him time to ponder the night sky.
Purchase this remarkable,
Whatever the reason, Revelation is full of star imagery.
stunning-quality DVD to
In Revelation, Chapter 12, John describes a life and
explore this subject in more
death drama played out in the sky: the birth of a king.
detail and share it with your
friends. Several options to
1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in choose from.
heaven: a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet and a Order Now
crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She
was pregnant and cried out in pain as
Donate
she was about to give birth. 3 Then
another sign appeared in heaven: an
enormous red dragon with seven heads Please make a donation by
and ten horns and seven crowns on his clicking below.

heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars

out of the sky and ung them to the Donate
earth. The dragon stood in front of the
woman who was about to give birth, so
that he might devour her child the
moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to
a son, a male child, who will rule all the
nations with an iron sceptre…
— REVELATION 12:1-5

SA woman
H AR ES in labor, a dragon bent on infanticide and a
ruler of the nations. We have already seen this ruler in
the Book of Genesis, above. This would be the
Messiah, in his role as King of Kings. If that
interpretation is correct, then according to the gospel
story the woman would be Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The dragon which waits to kill the child at birth would
be Herod, who did that very thing. John says the
woman he saw was clothed in the Sun. She had the
moon at her feet. What can he be describing? When
we continue our study of the sky of September of 3
BC, the mystery of John’s vision is unlocked: he is
describing more of the starry dance which began with
the Jewish New Year.

As Jupiter was beginning the coronation of Regulus,

another startling symbol rose in the sky. The
constellation which rises in the east behind Leo is
Virgo, The Virgin. When Jupiter and Regulus were rst
meeting, she rose clothed in the Sun. And as John said,
the moon was at her feet. It was a new moon,
symbolically birthed at the feet of The Virgin.

The sheer concentration of symbolism in the stars at

this moment is remarkable. These things could
certainly lead our magus to conclude that a Jewish
king had been born. But even this is not the whole
story. These symbols could indicate a birth, but if they
were interpreted to indicate the time of conception,
the beginning of a human life, might there be
something interesting in the sky nine months later?
Indeed. In June of 2 BC, Jupiter continued the
pageantry.

Next: Westward leading

53 Comments

L Ulmer
Reply
October 25, 2012 at 3:50 pm

Since John had the revelation in 95 A.D. and he said

that what he saw was pertaining to the future, (Rev
S H AR ES
1:1) I don’t think it was connected to Christ’s birth
because his birth was already past. I think the woman
clothed with the sun (righteousness) represents the
nation of Israel who were called to be an example of
righteousness in the world (even though they fell
short). Joseph in his dream where the eleven stars
bowed down to his star con rms this (Gen 37:9-11).
But more precisely it symbolizes those who walk in
that righteousness because the Bible says that we are
considered Jews (the seed of Abraham) by faith and
not because we are his physical descendents (Rom
2:28-29 and Gal 3:29.) So Revelation Chapter 12 is
dealing with the resurrection (deliverance) of those
who believe in Jesus. These are they who are called to
rule all nations with Christ. (In Rev 2:26-27 promises
that those who overcome will rule all nations.) And
who are the ones who overcome? …but those that
believe in Jesus! (1 John 5:5.) This will happen during
the time of the seventh head of the beast (the world
dominating End-Time Kingdom.) In Genesis 3:15 God
told Satan that he would put enmity (hatred/strife)
between Satan (the father of lies) and the woman (the
mother of all living) and between Satan’s o spring (the
wicked) and the woman’s o spring (the righteous).
God said that the righteous would overcome Satan’s
head (End-Time Kingdom) but then Satan would
overcome the righteous’ heel (end time believers).
Fortunately, Satan will only be granted the power to
trample the end time believers for a season of 3 1/2
years – then the Messiah will intervene.

FA Larson
Reply
November 10, 2012 at 4:06
pm

Actually, John quotes Jesus in saying that

Revelation pertains to past, present and future.
Revelation 1.19: “Write therefore the things that
you have seen, those that are and those that are to
take place after this.”

Carl Unger
Reply
November 12, 2012 at
11:59 pm

Mr. Larson…..I agree with your answer.

S H AR ES
 L Ulmer’s writing is a very common
interpretation.

Can the “woman clothed in the sun” be used for

both interpretations?

CJ
Reply
November 26, 2012 at 11:29 pm

Isn’t the new moon always sighted in the west just

after sunset?

I few days before the new moon, the last crescent of

the old moon is seen in the east just before sunrise.

F. Nugent
Reply
November 27, 2012 at 4:42 am

There may be a strong basis for 25 December as the

actual, historical date of Christ’s nativity. In the
Christmas 1998 edition of “Osservatore Romano” (the
Vatican’s o cial newspaper), Professor Tommaso
Federici, Professor at the Ponti cal Urbanian
University and consultant to two Vatican
Congregations, says that recent archaological
discoveries in the Holy Land shed light on when Jesus
was born:

“As long ago as 1958, the Israeli scholar Shemaryahu

Talmon published an in-depth study on the calendar
of the Qumran sect, and he reconstructed without the
shadow of doubt the order of the sacerdotal rota
system for the temple of Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 24, 7-
18) in New Testament times. Here the family of Abijah,
of which Zechariah was a descendent, father of John
the herald and forerunner (Luke 1,5) was required to
o ciate twice a year, on the days 8-14 of the third
month, and on the days 24-30 of the eighth month.
This latter period fell at about the end of September. It
is not without reason that the Byzantine calendar
celebrated ‘John’s conception’ on September 23 and
his birth nine months later, on June 24. The ‘six
months’ after the Annunciation established as a
liturgical feast on March 25, comes three months
before the forerunner’s birth, prelude to the nine
Smonths
H AR ES in December: December 25 is a date of
history”
That argument would suggest a possible correlation
between the conjunction of Jupiter and Regulus in
September of 3 BC and the conception of John the
Baptist. The birth of the forerunner would then
correlate with the conclusion of the triple conjunction
of Jupiter and Regulus in June of 2 BC. Obviously this
would require some adjustment of how you have
interpreted the astronomical events, but it may
strengthen rather than weaken your overall argument.
It would leave the annunciation/ conception of Jesus
taking place on March 25 of 2 BC. It would be
interesting to know what the stars were up to around
that date.

FA Larson
Reply
November 30, 2012 at 11:44
am

Just a quick note to mention that this is not a

denominational issue. The December 25 date is a
simple fact of star movement. The proposition that
Christmas was imposed upon a pagan festival (the
Saturnalia) to “Christianize” it has little support in
the facts. The dates don’t even overlap. A good
place to start fresh research on this topic might be
this article in Touchstone:
http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?
id=16-10-012-v

Bernard Morris
Reply
December 27, 2012 at
11:20 am

Actually, Christmas was not imposed upon the

pagan festivel, historically, the early Christians
celebrated Christmas before the Romans
started to celebrate Saturnalia. Actually, the
Romans started this festival in order to snu
out the Christian feast.

EWTN Live - Revelation

S H AR ES
 FA Larson
Reply
December 27, 2012 at
11:25 am

There is also a good article in Touchstone

Magazine, entitled “Calculating Christmas”. It
is fairly easy to nd on the web.

Bernard Morris
Reply
December 27, 2012 at
11:22 am

Sorry, that was just 2 mins, this is the full

version.

EWTN Live - The Book of Revelat…

Dan King
Reply
December 7, 2012 at 3:54 pm

Is it possible that Sept. 11, 3 BC was Jesus’ conception

and that He was born on June 17th, 2BC? John would
have been born in the last half of Jan. 2BC with his
conception possibly in early May of 3 BC. Could
Zechariah have been serving in late April or early May,
3BC? Jesus would’ve been about 6 months old when
the Magi visited in Dec., 2BC.

FA Larson
Reply
December 8, 2012 at 12:56 am

I think your timeline is on target, Dan.

Jeremy Brown
Reply
December 16, 2012 at 3:08
S H AR ES
pm
 On Sept. 11, 3BC, when Venus was in the
constellation of the Virgin as she rose “clothed
with the Sun”, Mercury was also in Virgo. Since
Mercury was known as the winged messenger
of the gods, this makes me think of the angelic
messenger Gabriel who announced to Mary
that she would be the mother of the Messiah.

CABaker
Reply
December 20, 2012 at
2:51 am

I wondered if anywhere else in the gospels

there was mention of Christ and the stars
together. Luke 1:35 speci cally intrigued me.
“The angel replied, ‘The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Most High
will overshadow you. So the baby born to
you will be holy, and he will be called the Son
of God.'”

This seems signi cant for a couple reasons.

One, because the speaker in Luke 1:35 is
Gabriel. in light of what is stated above, it
seems as thought the Lord was once again
putting up big ashing signs saying “Here it
is! The coming of the Messiah, my son, is
here! Don’t miss it!”

The second way this verse is signi cant is

because it calls us back to Revelation 12:1
“Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great
signi cance. I saw a woman clothed with the
sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a
crown of twelve stars on her head.” Could
Luke have unknowingly been referencing the
sun’s “overshadowing” of Venus at the time
of Christ’s possible conception?

God has an uncanny ability to take hold of

our hearts and not let go until he has helped
us discover a part about Him He wants us to
know. He is an amazing teacher. May we, His
children, always be eager to learn.

Laddie Mapani
S H AR ES Reply
January 2, 2013 at 2:55 am
 How then would the fact that the Holy family had
no place to live in Bethlehem be satis ed, since
they had only visited Bethlehem for the census. Did
they move their home completely to Bethlehem for
the Magi to have visited the place six months later?

FA Larson
Reply
January 2, 2013 at 8:46 am

I doubt that it was a “census”, as we understand

it. But, it does appear that the family headed to
Bethlehem because it was their family home.
Presumably, they had relatives there. We don’t
have speci c facts that explain the lack of room
for travelers arriving in Bethlehem, only that
people were on the move.

Joe Ellsworth
Reply
December 7, 2012 at 6:39 pm

Mr. Larson,
I am curious why no mention is made of Hydra, the 7
headed sepent constellation, which rises next to Virgo
in the sky. Although many consider Hydra to be a
water serpent, It would appear that there is some
conjecture on this point, and many confuse Hydra with
Hydrus. The constellation’s Babylonian roots are
interesting as well. Also of interest is the size of the
constellation, covering nearly 1/3rd of the sky.

One would not have too much of a stretch to see

similarities with the Revelation 12:3 serpent.
Any thoughts?

FA Larson
Reply
December 8, 2012 at 12:55 am

Hydra is one of the constellations which might

explain John’s writings. Another is Serpens Caput
(serpent’s head), which is the constellation that
rises immediately below Virgo, in position to
devour the newly birthed moon.

Also, you have no idea how much material I left out

trying to match our budget and duration
S H AR ES
considerations.
 Joe Ellsworth
Reply
December 8, 2012 at 7:34
am

Thank you for the reply sir.

Our faith stands alone on the gift freely given in
which we play no part beyond acceptance, and
as we proceed through life after salvation, God
uses interesting sources to strengthen that
faith, Your e orts included.

I believe you have nailed the primary players in

the dance above, and although you elude to
additional data, the presentation is already
amazing. There comes a time when more is not
better, it is simply more, the magnitude and
duration of your o erings had the desired
e ect. I have been a secure believer for decades
and found myself shaken to the core by your
video.

If indeed you come to a place where the

additional information augments and supports,
many of us are interested to see what else
comes to fruit from your e orts, if this never
happens, we are grateful for the portion served.

Most respectfully,
JE

CABaker
Reply
December 20, 2012 at 2:31
am

I believe it must have been excruciatingly

di cult to compact the extensive amount of
evidence found in the research done into a
movie that was a little over an hour long. That
being said, I realize that what I came across may
be one of those pieces of evidence that was
already known, yet, did not make the cut.
However, this was particularly impactful to me,
and so I will share.

Recall the prophesy spoken over Eve when she

was tempted in the garden:
S H AR ES
(Speaking to the serpent) “From now on, you
 and the woman will be enemies, and your
o spring and her o spring will be enemies. He
will crush your head, and you will strike his
heel.” Genesis 3:15

I have heard that the He in the last sentence is a

reference to Christ. Reading the verse again
with that context, it seems that once again the
stars con rm the scriptures.
It is amazing to me to see how God has
incorporated many aspects of the prophesies
throughout the Bible into his wonderful “poem”
he has written about Christ our Savior.

Karen K Decker
Reply
December 12, 2012 at 9:24 am

I agree with Mr Ellsworth — Would love to see more of

the research that you did that was ‘left out’ of your
presentation!!!! The Star DVD has become a standard
viewing at Christmas at our house– multiple times. I
am moved to tears and tremors of awe and wonder
and worship !!!! As an avid star gazer, I have often
pondered why God would create such a beautiful view
for us and make it simply random. I certainly believe
there is purpose for each and every
star/planet/celestial body— as the Psalmist exclaimed:
“The Heavens declare the glory of God; And the
rmament shows His handiwork” I often think, too,
what it would be like to have a conversation with the
Magi and to learn rst hand just what it must have
been like for them as they studied the heavens and, in
a God-driven meshing of science and faith, searched
for the King. perhaps in Heaven, we will have this
opportunity!!! God Bless you, Mr. Larson!!

FA Larson
Reply
December 12, 2012 at 10:29
am

It’s true that I have had multiple requests for the

“War and Peace” version!

Andy S.
Reply
December 17, 2012 at 3:12 am
S H AR ES
Does the “king star” Regulus normally/regularly (how
often?) appear in the constellation Leo, or was that an
uncommon event? And to take that a bit further, how
often does the triple loop type of coronation that is
mentioned in the video as being so rare occur, and
more speci cally, a triple coronation of Regulus when
Regulus appears in the constellation Leo?

I do remember you mentioned in the video that when

you were investigating these astronomical events that
you didn’t want to be giving signi cance to an event
that occurs often or rather regularly (I believe you said
something like “every Thursday” when referring to the
commonality of an event you were not interested in).
So I’m wondering how often these signi cant events
occur/repeat in astronomical history.

FA Larson
Reply
December 17, 2012 at 7:37 am

Yes, you do recall correctly from my presentation.

It is relevant how often these things happen.
Please take a look at the FAQ for an answer to this
issue. Regulus is always part of the constellation
Leo.

Jupiter passes thru Leo about every 12 years.

Perhaps 4 times in an astronomer’s career. (Ages
20-70). A pass through Leo always produces a
vertical alignment with Regulus, but the orbit of
Jupiter “wobbles” referenced to Regulus, so that
each pass does not produce a close conjunction.
The location of the retro loop migrates East
throughs the years. For example, in 100 B.C. retro
was in Taurus. Thru that century, moved into
Gemini, Cancer and then into Leo. There was a
triple conjunction and 85 BC and another in 15 BC.
Triples around Regulus may be aperiodic (during
any meaningful span of time.)

Andy S.
Reply
December 17, 2012 at 3:59 am

Another question for you, this one about the

constellation Virgo:
S H AR ES
I understand the connection between the description
in John’s vision and astronomical events in relation to
“clothed in the sun” and “moon at her feet”. But what
does your research indicate for the part that says the
woman had a crown of twelve stars – is (was) there
something in the sky that gave Virgo a sort of crown of
12 stars?

From what I have gathered on the internet, the “stick

gure” of Virgo usually gets depicted with between 9
and 15 stars, but has about 98 stars visible to the
naked eye (depending on star visibility of where you
are located). I have heard the interpretation that the
woman is Mary and the twelve stars are either (or
both) the twelve apostles and/or the twelve tribes of
Israel. But I wonder if you have seen an astronomical
connection to this description of the 12 star crown on
the woman.

FA Larson
Reply
December 17, 2012 at 7:38 am

Some believe this is a reference to the Virgo

cluster. Please have look at the FAQ for more on
this.

Jim Dodge
Reply
December 17, 2012 at 12:20 pm

Rick: I’m wondering if you were able to determine for

how long or for how many nights the conjuction of
Jupiter and Venus (which formed the Bethlehem star)
lasted during the period around 17 June 2 BC? Would
the conjuction have lasted for a week?

I am convinced that in the signs of the stars on 11/12

September 3BC, God proclaimed Jesus’ conception. If
the wise men truly were from the school of Daniel in
Babylon/Persia (Susa is where Daniel died and is
buried) then the maji would have known the
prophecies of Isaiah which prophecied the virgin birth
and, if true, they would have started for Jerusalem
after seeing the signs in the heavens in September 3
BC so would have been in Jerusalem/Israel when Jesus
was born. A straightforward reading of Matthew 2:8-
10 makes it clear that when the wise men were told in
S H AR ES
Jerusalem that Jesus was born in Bethlehem,..they saw
the star and rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. THey
were there.

FA Larson
Reply
December 17, 2012 at 6:50 pm

Hey Jim.

The brightest star anyone alive had ever seen (the

extraordinarily close conjunction of Jupiter and
Venus) lasted only for a few hours. It was visible
during twilight as the brightest star set in the west.
When the two stars rose in the east the following
day they had already separated appreciably. They
no longer appeared to be a single star. At their
closest conjuction the previous evening, the two
planets were fewer than 40 arc-seconds apart. By
the next day at 6 AM they were more than 16 arc-
minutes apart.

I realize that these terms mean little to most

people. But they tell us that the brightest star was
something most unusual.

R A LOVE
Reply
December 18, 2012 at 9:31 am

Wow, Im way behind on my intel gathering I see. As I

stated on a previous page, Id like all of you
knowledgeable servants of our Commander In Chief to
contact me & if you can, share with me the info you
have, Ill have to say I havent been on my mission in
awhile & after reading the things I have so far, I have a
renewed ame for this “reconnaissance”. I thank all of
you & probably will more times as I continue to read
on. Im still at ministry@onelove-vault.tk, should
anyone want to bombard me with knowledge (I can
take it, blast away)

MT Re alt
Reply
December 20, 2012 at 1:49 am

To Mr Larson .. thank you for providing the awesome

written expository summarizing your DVD noted on
this site. I am so very anxious to see your DVD! To all
S H AR ES
who contributed to this discussion thread… thank you
one and all for the considerable e ort you each made
to generate such an illuminating and thought
provoking discussion on the issues raised and again to
Mr Lawson for your thoughtful replies. It was a GREAT
read.

DB Anderson
Reply
December 23, 2012 at 7:30 am

You mention and show “a woman clothed in the sun”,

but I can’t nd an astronomical description of what
exactly is happening. I am assuming that at a
particular time, the sun rise coincided with the rise of
Virgo. Is that correct? If so, how unusual is that and in
the weeks that preceeded this event, would Virgo have
been rising before or after the sun? In other words,
assuming an intelligent observer had been watching
the sun rise for weeks, would they have noticed Virgo
rising just before the sun only to observe over time
that the sun was overtaking Virgo and ultimately
describe it as “a woman clothed in the sun”?

FA Larson
Reply
December 23, 2012 at 11:17
am

It sounds like you have a fairly good grasp of the

facts. The Sun can be said to “clothe” Virgo for a
limited number of days as it passes through that
constellation. More important is that so many
things were happening at the same time, and that
on this day the events in the sky precisely matched
John’s description in Revelation 12.

Matt Messina
Reply
December 24, 2012 at 8:46 am

I believe that you have ful lled the prophesy in Daniel

12:4 Where at the time of the end, knowledge will
increase. I believe that you have honored our Savoir
with your time and knowledge, and I have been
encouraged by what you have shared. I’ve seen the
DVD about 7 times this year. I even dared to show it to
Middle School aged teenagers. I told them that this
“external evidence” tells us that Jesus is the King
S H AR ES
worthy of our worship and not just someone watching
us from heaven so obey your parents and study hard
in school. I am looking forward to the “War and Peace”
version if it ever gets released.
Also, have you ever considered doing the presentation
as a musical?

andrewjohn
Reply
January 7, 2013 at 6:30 am

Slow it down a little Matt. A musical?? Reminds me

of Jesus Christ Superstar. And you saw what the
Jews did to that? Entertainment you need to know
is an Agent of Satan!

James Rogers
Reply
January 3, 2013 at 2:47 am

As I understand things, the shepherds were in the eld

guarding their sheep by night. It could not have been
December. December 25th is a good argument for the
conception of Jesus Christ because by ancient Jewish
tradition a child’s age starts at conception and He
would have been considered 9 months old at birth.

FA Larson
Reply
January 3, 2013 at 7:55 pm

James, when you have the chance to more closely

we read the site you’ll see that I never suggest
Jesus was born on December 25 or that the
shepherds were in the eld in December. There’s
more on this and FAQ.

Dan Van
Reply
January 6, 2013 at 7:54 pm

The miraculously image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in

Mexico City in 1531 shows a woman clothed with the
Sun. She has a crown of 12 stars overhead and she is
standing on a crescent moon. She has a blue robe
around her that has stars on it. These stars are said to
match the constellations of the sky at that time. It
might be interesting to look at those constellations on
December the 12th 1531.
S H AR ES
 Halvor Ronning
Reply
January 12, 2013 at 4:16 pm

Try checking out the work of Eugene Faulstich who

sold out his multimillion dollar electronics business in
order to devote the last 30 years of his life to Bible
chronology. He hired a Ph.D. in ANE history and he
hired a computer programmer to help him. His work is
also fascinating and with so many years of dedicated
full time research, he appears to have gone into
deeper details. http://www.chronologyhistory.org (or
similar) is his old website. A Google search on
“Faulstich and Star of Bethlehem” will give a number of
websites that relate to his work.
Because he was a pious believer and threw in pious
comments in the middle of his intensive scienti c
mathematical calculations, the “scholarly” world has
not given him the attention he deserves.

Elizabeth
Reply
January 17, 2013 at 8:02 pm

My mother rented this video through her local library

and watched it and had encouraged me to watch the
video myself. It was today in the quietness of my room
with my headphones on that i watched this video and i
have to say i was very intrigued after watching it not to
mention every hair on my arm was standing and the
tears i had to wipe from my eyes. I have a question to
ask and i apologize if this does not make sense.. but in
your video we were able to see the birth and death of
Christ through the stars and it got me wondering that
when the Bible states that we should use the stars as
signs do you think it is possible that also we may be
able to use the stars as signs to the 2nd coming? The
whole Bible speaks in a more mature language and i
know that it is the reason why so many people have
trouble understanding it when they read it..
Revelations speaks alot about the end times and
through visions.. do you think it is possible that the
stars could tell us more about the tribulation times
and when they will happen? I mean even though you
can see by the way the world is today that we are very
near the end times do you think the stars hold signs to
that??

S H AR ES
FA Larson
 January 18, 2013 at 1:48 pm
Reply

Beth, I am quite sure that the stars will provide

signs of end time events. I’m not called to do that
work, at this time. But others are doing interesting
work. You might nd Mark Biltz’s work on the
tetrads interesting. Also, please have a look at the
FAQ at bethlehemstar.net

Drew
Reply
January 21, 2013 at 11:37 am

First o I highly enjoyed and was impressed with your

presentation Star of Bethlehem, which I just recently
purchased. And I do believe the stars and planets
alignment was meant to be how it was at that time by
God. However, I’d like to touch on Revelation and the
sign in Chapter 12 brie y. Please give me your
thoughts.

Revelation – Vision – One Vision. It is not called

Revelations.

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which

God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things
which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and
signi ed it by his angel unto his servant John. Verse 2
Goes on to describe who John is and what he HAS
done.

Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and behold, a door

was opened in heaven: and the rst voice which I
heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me;
which said, Come up hither, and I will
shew thee things which must be hereafter.

This Revelation (Vision), not Revelations (Visions), is

what is to take place hereafter (future).

The verses in Revelation begin with – And

immediately; And he; And round; And out; And before;
And the; And the; And when; The four; Thou art; And I;
And no; And I; And one. You get the point. The book of
Revelation is a clear ongoing vision of the future
events unfolding in chronological order. The two
Switnesses
H AR ES appear in Chapter 11 at the rst 1260 days
( rst half of the 7 year tribulation). The 6th trumpet
had sounded before the two witnesses were
overtaken by the beast out of the bottomless pit. After
the death of the two witnesses we see that the 7th
trumpet is sounded in Revelation 11:15. We later see
the plagues start in Chapter 15 and then the vials
begin in Chapter 16. It is very clear Revelation is a
vision unfolding in chronological order.

Let’s look at Chapter 12 brie y now. We’re there ever

12 stars crowning the Virgo in what you found Mr.
Larson? I do believe that the Virgo being clothed in the
sun and the moon at her feet were purposely done by
God at the speci c time indeed. However, I believe
Revelation Chapter 12 is referring to a future even in
the heavens. Did you know that if you look from
Jerusalem, on September 23, 2017, the Virgo is clothed
in the sun, the moon at her feet, giving birth, and a
crown of twelve stars on her head. Leo is made of nine
stars, and on this day between the Virgo’s head and
Leo are the planets Mercury, Mars, and Venus. Here
we have 12 major stars crowning the Virgo. Giving
birth; well we have the planet Jupiter between the two
stars that make up the Virgo’s knees. This all happens
when viewed from Jerusalem on September 23, 2017.

I do believe there is correlation with the star alignment

at the time of Jesus’s birth and Revelation 12.
However, I believe Revelation 12 is a bit di erent, as it
does have the crowning of the 12 stars.

Were there ever twelve stars crowning the Virgo

around Jesus’s birth? And was Jupiter between the
stars of the Virgo’s knees?

What are your thoughts on this?

FA Larson
Reply
January 22, 2013 at 10:38 am

Hey, Drew. The book of Revelation is about past,

present and future events. Revelation 1:19

BB
Reply
April 7, 2013 at 3:12 am

SJupiter
retrogrades every 398.9 days, so it has
H AR ES

appeared to stop over 1843 times since the

conjunction of Regulus between October 2nd BC and
now. Not terribly special.

A triple conjunction is more rare but it took place over

a period of between 6-9 months depending on your
de nition of “close” to Regulus. Which, while cool in
fast forward, was not a big deal, that’s why no one,
including Herod knew about it.

On one hand, if Christians had an exact date of Christ

birth, then they would nd a celestial event and make
it t the date. In this case, we have a celestial event,
and you make it t the date.

Either way, I don’t see how attempting to nd greater

meaning in this is any di erent than astrologers.

At least you don’t take the whole Bible literally it

appears, based on your interpretation of parts of
Revelation. Or do you take the parts literally that t
your beliefs (Young Earth ie. Genesis 6 24hour day
creation period) and then take other parts
metaphorically such as Revelations, again in order to
t your beliefs, and stretch it to t science?

It looks like you want to believe that the coincidence of

a conjunction had greater meaning, such as Christ’s
birth.

But you choose to ignore, other “coincidences” which

have more evidence, study, and validity such as
cosmic background radiation is just a coincidence to
big bang, or that chimps share greater than 95% genes
with humans, or that the continents appear to have t
together at one point. Or light has a xed speed and
we see billions of light years away, but God must have
coincidentally made an aged universe. What about the
craters on the moon? If the universe is 6,000 years old,
where did they all come from? God just made it that
way?

If every Christian spent as much time learning real

science as you did on this study, I wonder if there
would be a lot less Christians, or at least not as many
fundamentalist, literal Bible Christians.

S H AR ES FA Larson
Reply
April 13, 2013 at 11:23 am
 Thankfully, God does not force anyone to connect
the dots. I doubt it would be satisfactory to anyone,
most especially God, were belief coerced. It’s not
that any one of the many events is so rare. It’s that
the series of events are stacked together to
correlate with Matthew’s account, and that stack is
surpassing rare. I’m not saying that anyone who
views my research will be forced to believe in God
or Jesus. It’s perfectly possible to look at what I
present and refuse to connect the dots. My project
is a bit di erent, however. My intent is to show that
there is no reason to dismiss Matthew’s account as
false, as there are real reproducible astronomical
events which correlate with his account quite
remarkably. There is more for you in the FAQ on
this site. You might also nd some of the academic
resources helpful. I’ve linked them in fulltext
wherever possible.

Kara
Reply
April 11, 2013 at 5:14 pm

Is it clear that the star stopped over Bethlehem

speci cally? I’m curious because it seems to me that
Jesus might have been back in Nazareth by the time
the magi arrived based on Luke’s account. Matthew
records that the magi were sent the Bethlehem based
on the prophecy of Micah, but only says that the star
stopped over the place where the child was. Since
Luke mentions the family returning to Nazareth after
they done everything required by the law, is it possible
the star led them to Nazareth?

Steven Bauer
Reply
April 21, 2013 at 11:27 pm

Please look at the formation above Jerusalem on

September 23, 2017. Virgo (The Virgin) is giving birth to
Jupiter (King Planet) and she has 12 ‘stars’ aligning
above her head (Leo + Mercury, Mars, and Venus). She
also has the moon at her feet. It is stunning. This
formation is seen shortly after the 4 blood moons in
2014-2015, which strongly suggests it is the sign given
during the tribulation. There is also a rare H3 solar
eclipse on November 3, 2013 (which could be the sun
S H AR ES
turning black right before the moon to blood in 2014-
2015).

Also, on August 10, 2015 (maybe + or – a day), we see

a repeat occurrence of the Star of Bethlehem (perhaps
this is the sign of the son of man described in Matthew
24:30) and could signal the coming 7 year tribulation.
The timing is very interesting to say the least…as it
comes after the blood moons and before the
formation in 2017.

Other interesting date: April 3, 30 AD (which I believe is

Passover for that year and in my opinion, the
cruci xion) has Uranus (Sky King Star) intersect
Regulus (King Star) and at 9am that day, the moon
comes up just over the horizon right at eye level.
Volcanic activity as suggested in the FAQ’s could have
then made this a blood moon? (as opposed to the
usual suspect being a lunar eclipse). As Uranus is the
only planet on its side, this may be in reference to
when the soldier put the spear in Jesus side. The date
of April 3, 30 AD would allow for the messiah to be cut
o in the midst of the week like Daniel suggests (as
this is a wednesday). This date (according to
WolframAlpha.com) is also the 14th of Nisan…

John Bruso
Reply
June 11, 2013 at 11:27 pm

Hi Mr Larson,

I was doing some research and found this

interesting/odd. You put Jesus’ birth @ September 11,
3BC, and the Magi visit Jesus during the Jupiter’s
retrograde within Virgo, Dec 25th, 2BC. Mary and
Joseph ride for Egypt. Magi return home. Herod was
betrayed by the Magi and ordered the killing of the
children. Herod died on January 27th, 1BC (The total
eclipse on January 10th). Are my dates correct?

If so, Josephus put Herod bathing in the hot springs of

Callirrhoe (“Accordingly, he went over Jordan, and
made use of those hot baths at Callirrhoe,”
http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/war-1.htm
Chapter 33 5-8) at the very end of his life… coming
back through Jericho. Josephus also says that he
Sordered
H AR ES his son killed for treason, which occurred 5
days prior to his own death, so January 22nd.
Could all of these events happened within the last
month of Herod’s life? If so, it’s interesting the Joseph
and Mary may not have been in Egypt for very long at
all.. a few months perhaps?

TK
Reply
June 17, 2013 at 5:23 pm

I really enjoyed the Bethlehem Star video. It helped

frame my thinking when someone told me to look at
the the possible ful llment of Revelation 12:1-2 on
September 23, 2017. I’ve worked up a possible
timeline based on that at:

http://prezi.com/omaygz7l7f8z/signs-in-the-heavens/

Just Passing By
Reply
July 10, 2013 at 1:31 am

Independent research not trying to prove any

denominational theories indicated that the birth of the
man we normally call Jesus occurred about 2 Tishri in
7B.C.
It’s interesting to note that the coming sky sign of the
lady with the crowns and the moon, which is
appearing in Sept 2017 … happens to also be about
the time [depending where one lives in the world] of
his “birthday”. so neat
n.b. that the days start at sunset.

J
Reply
October 9, 2013 at 8:32 am

Just wanted to say this research is awesome. To see a

real astronomical connection with the account in
Matthew is incredible. Obviously some may choose to
write it o . For me this is a faith booster. Thanks!

Maxwell M.
Reply
October 19, 2013 at 2:36 pm

Well, First, I haven’t looked through all of what

EVERYONE wrote… there’s a lot of talk going on here. I
came here to look up something getting ready to
S H AR ES
happen. My search was, “Jupiter, Virgo, planet, 2017”.
I’m looking for information corroborating what I just
heard a pastor say. That in 2017, which is the 500th
anniversary of the protestant Reformation, and 50th
and 70th anniversaries of Jerusalem’s and Israel’s “re-
birth-to-Judaism”, there’s going to be an amazing sign
in the heavens.

The information I’m trying to check out is that, in 2017,

Jupiter will spend 41 weeks during a retrograde (or
turning around from our perspective on earth) inside
the constellation Virgo, to be birthed from her after
the normal human gestation time (41 weeks). Also he
said in 2017, Virgo will be clothed with our son and
have the moon at “her” feet.

I believe Yeshua is the Messiah and He came 2000

years ago, but if this is right, I believe God is trying to
communicate something to us about 2017. If this
information about Virgo and Jupiter is true
astrologically, this sign in heaven alone is very
signi cant but there are many others leading up to
2017 – correlating with Jewish festivals in a way that
makes them only the 8th time they’ve happened this
way since Jesus’s time on earth, 8 being a signi cant
number to God of renewal or starting over or re-birth.

This is really stirring me up. Check it out! If Revelation

12 is talking about this Virgo and Jupiter alignment,
2017-2020 are going to be amazing, glorious and
troublesome times! Regardless, I say GET READY, GET
READY, GET READY!!!

HumblePie
Reply
July 31, 2014 at 8:10 pm

See Joel 38:31 . . ., Google Mazzaroth. Use a date

calculator (Google) that adds a number of days to a
date. The rst Blood Moon (Tetrad) was 4/15/2014
(History). Add 1260 days to this date. If you include the
end date you should get 9/25/2017. Use this date with
Stellarium (Free) and center on Virgo. You will see Rev
12:1-2 ful lled. This date (9/25/17) is during the ‘Ten
Days of Awe’ which are the Feast Days starting with
Trumpets (Tishri 1) and end on Yom Kippur (Tishri 10).
These 10 days are known as the ‘High Holy Days’. This
1260 span of days (3 1/2 Prophetic years of 360 days
Seach)
H AR ESstarts exactly on Passover 2014 and conclude on
day 5 (Tishri 5) of the High Holy Days of 2017.
 Abu-Assad
Reply
August 20, 2014 at 1:21 am

The lecture is very interesting indeed. However there

is a problem in the hypothesis concerning the 9
months pregnancy. Old sources state that Jesus was
born after 7 months of pregnancy and not 9 as usual.
On the other hand we know that when the wise man
had arrived to see Jesus, he was already born and they
were in a house and not in the crip. So the second
constellation in the sky should have nothing to do with
the time of birth, but could maybe be considered as a
kind of divine navigation to the place where Jesus was
born.

Dirk Byker
Reply
August 8, 2016 at 8:48 am

The bible accurately describes the rst visibility

(heliacal rising) and a standstill of the King-star
(Jupiter) in Mat 2:2 and Mat 2:9. The heliacal rising of
28 Oct 1AD and the rst station of 3 April 3 AD
coincide with the 7th day of the feast of tabernacles
and 3 days before Passover respectively. Why the
feasts? these would ensure that Joseph and Mary
would be in or near Jerusalem (Bethlehem) according
to Luke 2:41. Use a good planetarium program
(Stellarium will do) and see a close grouping of 4
planets develop by 2 Nov 1 AD. Also observe virgo,
with the moon at her feet that day. the sun rising
clothes her with the sun. (e ect of atmosphere) as
described in Rev 12. If this clashes with 4 BC
indoctrination, then what would it represent?

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