I hope that everyone is enjoying a wonderful holiday and may the Lord Bless you and your families during this time of celebration of our Savior.

Matt 2:1 (NIV) After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6 "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

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The show started on the morning of June 12 in 3 B.C., when Venus could be sighted very close to Saturn in the eastern sky. Then there was a spectacular pairing of Venus and Jupiter on Aug. 12 in the constellation Leo, which ancient astrologers associated with the destiny of the Jews.

Between September of 3 B.C. and June of 2 B.C., Jupiter passed by the star Regulus in Leo, reversed itself and passed it again, then turned back and passed the star a third time. This was another remarkable event, since astrologers considered Jupiter the kingly planet and regarded Regulus as the “king star.”

The crowning touch came on June 17, when Jupiter seemed to approach so close to Venus that, without binoculars, they would have looked like a single star.

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The constellation Leo (Arieh, the lion) represents not only Messiah crushing the enemy, but also the Tribe of Judah and the House of Judah.

The star Regulus in the constellation Leo (Arieh) is the brightest star in that constellation and the chief or king star (the king star of Yehudah). All ancient civilizations recognized Regulus as the king star, the one and only king star in the zodiac. Regulus means kingly in Latin. The Arabic word regel means foot and is identical in meaning to the Aramaic word regla and the Hebrew word regel. Thus the brightest star in the constellation of Arieh, has the Biblical connotation of the foot, tying in with the "from between his feet," of Genesis 49:10 ("the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be") represented by the king star, Regulus.

The planet Jupiter or Tzedeq in Hebrew is the chief or king planet of all the planets. Jupiter has long been recognized as a messianic star and associated with the Messiah. Tzedeq means righteousness. The Messiah who would come from David's genetic line was to be the righteous Branch, according to Jeremiah 23:5, who would reign as a king and execute righteousness. His name would be called the Lord our Righteousness (Jer. 23 5, 6 and Jer 33:15, 16). Thus Jupiter has characteristics that would associate it with the Messiah.

http://sciastro.net/portia/articles/thestar.htm Just 33 days after the Jupiter/Venus “morning star” conjunction, on August 12, 3 BC, Jupiter came to within 19.8’ of Regulus. Regulus, the chief star in Leo, lay practically in the path of the Sun, and was therefore afforded the additional epithet of “Royal Star”. Here was the “King planet” now coming into contact with the “King Star”. AND in the Royal Constellation. If viewed in isolation to other astronomical occurrences this single event might not have been significant to astrologers, but combined with the other celestial displays of 3 to 2 BC, it soon took on increased symbolic meaning. This is because the first conjunction began a series of three meetings of Jupiter and Regulus that occurred in a precise sequential pattern. Jupiter first united with Regulus and then continued on its normal journey through the heavens. On December 1, 3 BC, Jupiter stopped its motion through the fixed stars and began its annual “retrograde” motion. In doing so, it once again headed toward Regulus. Then on February 17, 2 BC, the two were reunited, 51’ apart. Jupiter continued its retrograde motion another 40 days and then it reverted to its normal motion through the stars. Remarkably, this movement once again placed Jupiter into a third conjunction with Regulus on May 8, 2 BC. They were then 43.2’ apart.

To astrologers, it appeared as though the King Planet was circling over and around Regulus, the King Star, “homing in” on it and pointing out the significance of the King Star as it related to the King Planet.

This circular movement of Jupiter over Regulus would, in all probability, have signaled that a great king was then destined to appear. This circling motion also provided another significant astrological observation. The zero line for beginning and ending the 360 degrees of the Zodiac was determined by some astrologers as existing between Cancer and Leo. This means that this motion effect of Jupiter circling around Regulus was happening in the heavens just east of the zero degree line for astrological measurements. It occurred at the beginning section of the astrological Zodiac in the view of some Gentile astrologers. This interpretation is similar to that designed by Moses; the Biblical Zodiac designed by Moses also began with the royal sign of Leo, but its zero degree line was located in the middle of the constellation, not at its beginning.