Wise astrologersDecember 19. 2011Dear Sir,Although astrology is popular among many people today, the practice is strongly disapproved of in the Bible. The ones people believe were led by a star to Jesus were actually astrologers. Would God have led to the newborn Jesus people whose practices He condemned?Matthew 2:1-16 shows that the star that led the astrologers first to King Herod and then to Jesus and that Herod then sought to have Jesus killed. No mention is made that anyone other than the astrologers saw the “star”. After they left, God’s angel warned the family to flee to Egypt to safeguard the child. Was that “star” a sign from God or was it actually sent by Satan to have God’s Son destroyed?The Bible account doesn’t say the astrologers found Jesus in a manger, as depicted in Christmas art. When the astrologers arrived, Jesus and his parents were living in a house. As to Jesus’ age at that time, based on what Herod had learned from the astrologers, he decreed that all boys in the district of Bethlehem two years of age and under were to be destroyed.The practice of Christmas gift giving is not based on what was done by the astrologers. They did not arrive at the time of Jesus’ birth. Furthermore, they gave gifts, not to one another, but to the child Jesus, in accordance with what was then customary when visiting notable people.THE TRUTH ABOUT WISE MENDevonshire