Mathew 2:1-2

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

But before I start, I must give credit to whom credit is rightfully due. Much of what I know I have learned from a man named Michael Rood. Most of what he teaches is true. His website is: https://aroodawakening.tv/. We disagree on creation and the 430 years Israel was in Egypt.

In about the year 518 BC, the Archangel Gabriel came to Daniel and revealed when the (adult) Messiah of Israel was going to appear. It was to be exactly 483 years after the third decree was given for the Jews to return to Jerusalem from Babylon to rebuild the Temple. The decree was given in the spring of 457 BC. The prophecy was as follows:

Daniel 9:25

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him.

And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel.

Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.

I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

Therefore, it was a two-month trip from Babylon to Jerusalem. Also, the Temple was completed in forty-nine years (seven prophetic weeks in 408 BC), and the Messiah emerged from the wilderness and crossed the Jordan River 434 years after that (sixty-two prophetic weeks on Saturday March 29, AD 27) which was the first day of Aviv, the new year.

The first of four things that are not publicized is that Daniel did not have any living relatives near the time of his death. He was told what celestial signs to look for that would signal the birth of the Messiah in Judea. But since it would be hundreds of years in the future, Daniel created a "last will and testament", to be given to the Messiah.

Having great favor under three kings of Babylon, Daniel was very rich and wanted to give his surviving wealth to the Messiah. Therefore he established a Jewish society of astronomers that remained in Babylon. Even after four decrees were given to return to Judea, a segment of Jews decided to remain in Babylon, not wanting to make the journey back to the homeland. For hundreds of years, generation after generation, the knowledge of the celestial signs was passed on.

Secondly, at this point, only the Jewish astronomers in Babylon would know when the Messiah would be born. However, for whatever reason, only the Jews in Judea knew where the Messiah would be born, when the prophet Micah wrote the following:

Micah 5:2

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Thirdly, the astronomers from Babylon did not find the Messiah in Bethlehem. The reason being that Joseph and Mary had moved back to Netzeret, which in the New Testament is called Nazareth.

The history behind it (I believe) is this. Most all the descendants of King David had established themselves in the town of Bethlehem. Joseph, the future husband of Mary, was born in Bethlehem. However, there was political strife among clans, such that the weaker clan moved seventy miles north of Bethlehem and established the village of Netzeret. Those that remained in Bethlehem considered those that moved to Netzeret to be of "a lower class of people". That is why you see the phrase "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" in the Bible.

As a side note, Joseph's father named Eli, was of the linage of Nathan, a son of King David, but not heir to the throne. Mary's father (also named) Joseph was of the linage of Solomon, and was an heir to the (would be) throne. Since Mary was the firstborn and only had sisters, her Son Yeshua became heir to the throne.

In order to abide by the decree of Caesar Augustus, Joseph had to leave Netzeret with his wife and travel to Bethlehem. The Feast of Tabernacles was approaching, and Joseph was late in arriving at Bethlehem. The men would stay outside and live in a sukkah (booth or tabernacle) that they had made for seven days, and their wives, if any, would stay in a rented room. Since there were no rooms left, pregnant Mary had to stay outside in the sukkah with Joseph.

Joseph had nearly completed the sukkah by the first evening of the feast, when Yeshua was born, after sunset on September 26, 3 BC. So all the shepherds had to do was go up and down the streets, looking for a sukkah that had a woman and newborn baby in it. After forty days, Joseph and Mary moved back to Netzeret.

Fourth and finally, the astronomers in Babylon were looking for seven conjunctions of the planet Jupiter in a certain order, with the second one occurring on the Day of Trumpets (such as in Revelation 12:1-5). For hundreds of years, each generation would observe the heavens, waiting to see if the required conjunctions would take place.

On Thursday, August 1 in 3 BC, Jupiter came in conjunction with Venus, on its way to the star Regulus. Since this had happened many times before, the astronomers had to wait to see if the second conjunction with Regulus (between the Lion's feet) would occur on the following Day of Trumpets. This particular year it did, on the evening of Thursday September 12. This may have caused some excitement. Five more expected conjunctions would have to occur.

The third and fourth conjunctions were Jupiter with Regulus on Monday February 17 2 BC, and Thursday May 8 2 BC. That left three more conjunctions to go. On June 17, Jupiter came in conjunction (the fifth) again with the planet Venus. Now, the astronomers had to wait and see if there would be a mass conjunction (the sixth) that followed, and it did. On Wednesday evening August 27 2 BC, there was a mass conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Mercury.

The seventh conjunction occurred on Monday evening October 13 2 BC. By this time, the astronomers were converting Daniel's wealth into gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense. The next day, the several astronomers, along with a probable detachment of armed guards, began their journey to Jerusalem, arriving on December 18 2 BC, when Yeshua was fifteen months old.