by Rev. Benjamin Chung (鍾立恆牧師)
The Wise Men, recorded in Matthew 2, saw a star to the west. They paired their findings according to what they found in Hebrew scripture. Here are two prophetic texts: Numbers 24:17 (ESV), “… a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…” and Jeremiah 23:5, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” These are in addition to the text in Matthew 2:6, which is quoted from Micah 5:2. It is interesting how they knew the
scriptures so well and acted upon their findings when they saw this unique star. Why? Because everyone else did not respond—not even the chief priests of the Jews.
In less than 2 weeks we will be able to see, weather permitting, the conjunction of the two planets, Jupiter and Saturn. I highly suggest taking a look in the coming few days, just in case the weather doesn’t comply, as this conjunction only occurs every 20 years. Due to this conjunction, it has peaked my interest in photography again. But this time, with astrophotography. Astronomers believe that it was likely such a conjunction around 3/2 B.C. However, the conjunction was not between these two planets, but between Jupiter and Venus.
What viewing the conjunction does for me is it transports me back in time 2000 years, to the time of the Wise Men’s travels and to excitement they had to seek and find the Savior of the world. It brings me great joy as I take pictures of these planets, because I know that our LORD and Savior was born and the prophecies were fulfilled according to very similar circumstances. I pray that you are also captivated by the sight of the conjunction and overjoyed in the evidence and incarnation of our LORD’s birth! Take a look and stay warm!
Translation:
馬太福音二章記載幾位東方博士看見了一顆星正向西流動。 他們將此景像與希伯來聖經作出對比時發現了彼此吻合。 以下是兩段預言經文：民數記24:17，「……有星要出於雅各，有杖要興於以色列……」和耶利米書23:5：「耶和華說：日子將到，我要給大衛興起一個公義的苗裔；
他必掌王權，行事有智慧，在地上施行公平和公義。」 這些經文是對馬太福音2:6 中引用彌迦書5:2 的一個補充。 而有趣的是這些博士非常了解經文，並且懂得在看到這顆獨特的星星時根據他們的發現採取行動。 為什麼？ 因為所有人都沒有回應，甚至連猶太人的大祭司也沒有。
在天氣允許的情況下，我們將可以在不到兩週的時間內能夠看到木星和土星這兩個行星的會合。 我極建議大家在接下來的幾天裡觀天，以防萬一天氣不佳，因為這種會合每二十年僅僅會發生一次。 因著這次行星的會合，再次激發起我對攝影的興趣。 而這次是天文攝影。 天文學家認為，可能在公元前3 或2 年左右發生過類似的事。 然而那次不是發生在這兩個行星中，而是在木星和金星之間。
是次觀星對我的作用就是將我帶回到二千年前，返到東方博士遊歷的時代，他們訪尋救世主並找到時所感受到的興奮激動。 當我為這些行星拍照時，它帶給我極大的喜悅，因為我知道我們的救主已經降生，那一個又一個預言更是按著相關經文描述的情況應驗。 祈望您也會被這次行星會合所吸引，並為我們主耶穌道成肉身的誕生感到喜悦！記得去看星時要穿衣保暖啊！