Are you familiar with the Greek mathematician Hipparchus?

Are you familiar with the Greek mathematician Hipparchus?  He is widely credited with having invented trigonometry.  So if that subject brings back painful memories for you (as it does for me), then his is the name you should be cursing!  However, he was more than just a mathematician; he was also an astronomer.

After carefully observing the stars and their movement across the night sky, Hipparchus concluded that, at the time of the vernal equinox, a certain constellation of stars will rise in the East.  Furthermore, Hipparchus concluded that this same constellation of stars will rise in the East at each vernal equinox for thousands of years.  But eventually, there will be a transition, and a new constellation of stars will begin to rise in the East—almost as if a new age is being born!

To give you an example, prior to Abraham, the constellation that consistently rises in the East is Taurus—the Bull.  However, right around the time that God is making a covenant with Abraham, and inviting him to look up at the stars, in order to get a better idea of how many descendants he will have, a new constellation is rising in the East, Aries—the Ram.   Aries continues to rise each vernal equinox throughout the history of Israel.  But with the birth of Jesus, another transition occurs, and a new constellation of stars begins to rise in the East, Pisces—the Fish.  Interesting, isn’t it, that with the birth of Jesus, we get “the fish”—the symbol of early Christianity.

Okay, so hold that thought for a moment, and consider the magi.  These wise men are making a journey of over a thousand miles (from what would be known today as northern Iran); and I doubt very much if they just looked up in the sky on Christmas Eve, and immediately said to one another, “Come on, fellows, grab the camels; let’s go!”  A trip like this would have taken weeks, maybe even months, of meticulous planning.  Moreover, it would have proven enormously expensive.  Thus, the question becomes: Why are they doing this?  Why are they traveling all this way to worship the newborn King of the Jews, when they aren’t even Jewish?

My hunch is that, perhaps, what the magi saw in the East—“the star at its rising”—is, in fact, this new constellation, which they interpret to mean the dawning of a new age.  In other words, they are not making this long, arduous journey merely to witness the latest change in Jewish royalty.  They are making this journey because they are convinced that this king will be unlike any king the world has ever known.  Indeed, this king will have the power to change the world!