There is a good deal written about the luminary angel, that is a star in the Book of Enoch (the Book of Heavenly Luminaries, chapters 72–82). Luminaries also include the sun and moon.
I remember reading about misbehaving stars, which I shared in class a few months back.
While the luminaries themselves are celestial objects, the text distinguishes them from angels; however, Uriel and other archangels like Raguel (who takes vengeance on the world of the luminaries) are explicitly identified as the angelic authorities overseeing their movements and ensuring the cosmic order remains intact until the new creation.
A luminary can be the size of 10,000 angels. It is frequency, brilliance, and light. It is sentient. It is aware. It can be directed.
What if the star of Bethlehem, this star was said to have led the three kings to Bethlehem, was not just a miraculous accidental star happening in the right direction, but rather a divine, sacred, holy being given a great mission to fulfill prophecy?
Matthew 2: 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 when it rose 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 Messiah 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 shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The kings report: we saw his star when it rose. They knew this was the guiding star that foretold the mystery of the coming King.
The star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
The star went ahead of them. This sounds very much like God leading the Israelites with a pillar of fire or a pillar of cloud. The star not only sat in the sky, it literally led the three Magi to the Lord. And then it stopped. It hung above the stable where the child was born. It signaled to the well-traveled kings that they had arrived. They understood they had arrived and rejoiced. They knew what this meant. They would be among the first to welcome God on earth in the form of an innocent child.
This special, magnificent luminary had God as GPS. Neither Uriel nor any other angel guided it. It was glorious and extremely brilliant.
The shepherds were guided to the stable by a tremendous chorus of angels singing and praising God, led by Gabriel. There is no star of Bethlehem yet, as this star was busy leading the three kings to their destination.
The luminary that was the star of Bethlehem had this great honor. It appears to live with God now in the tenth heaven in a somewhat different form.
And this ancient prophecy from Numbers 24:17, the prophet Balaam declares, “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.”
We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
O star of wonder, star of light,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
