"The Universe is pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space."
Carl Sagan.
Makes perfect sense to me. How big is the universe? Great question but it is Impossible to calculate. Why? Because it is constantly expanding. For you "atheists", that in and of itself is proof it had a beginning, but I digress.
We are a very small planet in a very small solar system in a very small galaxy in a very small portion of the universe. From our rooftop, we can see a gazillion stars on a clear night. While they may look like they are together, they can be a gazillion miles apart; literally. The appearance of them together to form constellations is from our perspective only.
As we have written many times in these articles, the Bible is written from earth's perspective. I believe it is because we are here, and God is talking to us. That seems simple enough. Now, with this perspective, read Luke 1:70, "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began." Wait, what? I thought the first prophet was Enoch? Or maybe someone else? How were they around when the "world began"? Acts 3:21, "Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." Okay, now you're scaring me. Not really, but it is interesting, is it not? God said that He spoke by the mouth of "all his holy prophets since the world began." Who were these prophets?
If the "beginning of time" was Day 1 (officially), then let's start there.
Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." The two things created here are "heaven and earth". If this book known as the Bible is from earth's perspective, that leaves heaven, right?
Job 38:4-7, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if though hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
In case you are trying to figure out what the "morning stars" are, read Genesis 1:14, "And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:" While this verse is packed full of great stuff, focus on "signs". In Hebrew, signs is owth which means "a signal, monument, omen, evidence".
Genesis 1:16, "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also." The word for stars in Hebrew is kowbab which means "a star, as round or shining, in the sense of blazing". No biggie, right? Check this out, this is the same word used in Job 38:7 for stars. Hello? Simply put, the stars are put there to tell us something. Again, only from the perspective of earth can we get this.
Go back to Adam. Remember him? There was no paper to write all this down back then so how did Adam tell his children about the coming Messiah? Remember that He was promised to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. The easy answer is verbally. However, look at Genesis 15:5, "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be."
God is talking to Abraham, the father of the Jews. This is VERY important here so pay attention. Seed in Hebrew is zera which means "seed, figuratively fruit". Doesn't sound like a big deal, but the word is singular. In other words it is referring to one fruit or seed. The word for tell here is caphar in Hebrew which means "celebrate, commune". God is telling him that his "seed" is referred to as one and not many. The obvious assumption for the "seed" is the Messiah. Normally when read, people refer to this as how many children will come from Abraham. We see that in Genesis 22:17, "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;" I put this here to point out that zera is used both times seed is here and makes perfect sense of the coming Messiah while the sand illustration makes sense of Abraham's coming offspring.
Let's recap here. The stars are put into the sky by God for specific purposes. One of those purposes is to be a sign or monument. A monument to what? (or whom) If God had the plan of salvation before the world began and it was implemented even back then, it would have to be the Messiah. You and I know Him as Jesus of Nazareth.
Now, let's go back to Job. Job 38:32-33, "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?" These three verses are totally laced with astronomy terms. Terms that a man like Job would not have known; especially at the time he lived. Remember that he was a contemporary with Abraham. All of these have to do with "stars".
How important are the stars? Psalm 147:4, "He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by (their) names." God knows them all by their names? We can't even number them. Wow! By the way, in case you are having a hard time with the singular seed in Genesis 15, look at Galatians 3:16, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and thy SEED, which is Christ."
Given that the message of the Gospel is in the "stars", then it should be easy to track down, right? Look at Genesis 11 and the story of the Tower of Babel. While you may be at least familiar with this story, look a little deeper at Genesis 11:4, "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top (may reach) unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." While we could spend many articles on this verse, just look at "tower". The word in Hebrew is migdal and means "elevated stage or pulpit". It was a religious planetarium. How do I know? Because they perverted the Mazzaroth. No one would believe they could actually build a tower to heaven. We lose a lot of this in translation to English. By the way, do you know what Babel means? Bab=Gateway, and El=God. It was there gateway to God. They were perverting God's message so they were dispersed.
So what of this Mazzeroth. This is where we get our Zodiac. Today's Zodiac is a perverted Hebrew Mazzeroth. Aside from their names, in all cultures, countries, and languages since about 4,000 B.C., the idioms and the sequence have been the same.
Virgo - Virgin
Libra - Balances
Scorpio - Scorpion
Sagittarius - Archer
Capricorn - Goat
Aquarius - Water Bearer
Pisces - Fish
Aries - Ram or Lamb
Taurus - Bull
Gemini - Twins
Cancer - Crab
Leo - Lion
Each sign was a picture of the life of Christ to come. What better way for Adam, all the way through to us, to know about the coming Messiah. Satan understood this and set out to desecrate the message, as he always has. At the risk of dragging out the information, it is simply put that each of the "Zodiac" or "Mazzeroth" stations has about three constellations that would make it up. Even within the station, each of the stars are put in order of their brightness. Remember, these names have been passed down for generations upon generations.
While this is a very complex and long study (one that I greatly encourage you to indulge in), I will keep it brief by simply highlighting a few things within these stations. By the way, when you look up into the sky and see "Leo", do you really see a lion? Of course not. No matter how you try and connect the dots (stars), it no more looks like a lion than that thing your kid drew in 2nd grade that gathers dust on the refrigerator. However, the station with the meanings of each star become an amazing story.
Let's take a quick look at "Virgo". Isaiah 7:14 speaks of "the virgin" not a virgin. The brightest star in this station is "speaka". This word is Latin for "seed of wheat". In Hebrew it is "dara" which means "seed". The second brightest star is "danak". This word is Latin for "branch". The Hebrew word for this star is "tsemach". There are 20 words in the Old Testament that can be used for branch. However, the only one that refers to the Messiah is tsemach. You can find this in Isaiah 4:2, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15, and Zechariah 3:8. The third star in this constellation is bazah which is Hebrew for despised one. This same word is used in Isaiah 53:3 for despised. The kicker is the adjacent constellation is "The Cross".
While going through each of the twelve would be fun and informative, it is unnecessary here. Understanding that everything God creates is for a purpose; His purpose. Even the stars are created with His purpose in mind. While no one can prove it, no one can DISprove it either. What is that? That every star in the universe has a meaning. If God called them by name, wouldn't that make sense?
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