Where does that put the three wise men who are in the nativity>
It puts them next to the manger where they were supposed to be.
There is nothing in scripture that says the three travelers were astrologers. In fact, it doesn't even say where they were from; exactly.
What we do have is a rather odd statement that three travelers from the east followed a star. Said star eventually came to hover over the building where Jesus spent His first days upon the earth.
And they, having heard the king, went their way; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
Mat 2:9
No astronomer living or dead has ever been able to ascribe a celestial explanation for this event. Probably because this manifestation wasn't a star. Can anyone reasonably expect to see a star parked over their house or barn? The testimony of scripture is true, but the interpretations are inconsistant.
I submit that the star was some sort of spiritual/angelic manifestation.
Did He not guide the Hebrews away from Egypt into the desert by means of a pillar of fire and smoke? Did He not do so within the proximity of the Hebrew camp for a period of decades of years? This fact testifies as to the
possibility of a spiritual manifestation for the pupose of guidance and/or navigation.
Why not use a small pin point of light to guide three men from foreign parts to the very side of Our Lord?
Consider this:
I spent some time in the Navy. During those days I met a fellow Christian who had been involved in a shipwreck at sea. During the Vietnam era a US destroyer suffered a collision with an Australian aircraft carrier. It happened in the middle of the night and the smaller ship was cut in two. Most of its crew died in the wreck. My friend survived the initial impact, but became disoriented in the dark and the topsy turvy condition of the ship as it began to sink. He could not see anything and could not orient himself to his memory of the surroundings because everything was at odd angles.
He told me that he asked God for help and immediately saw a small pin point of light.
"It was like the small flicker you see when someone clicks a cigarette lighter", he said.
He followed the flicker and found himself next to a hatch which could be opened to the outside deck. He opened the hatch and assisted several other men in evacuating the sinking hulk. He and those he helped to save lived to tell the tale, were issued new sea bags to replace their government issue clothing and an additional thirty days leave to recover from the shock.
I find the guidance here very similar to that which the three wise men followed. Is that what really happened? We may never know, but I think its much more plausible than expecting real guidance from astrological hooey.
