Good Afternoon Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I pray you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families and were able to enjoy the blessing of a family. There’s little more fulfilling than seeing the surprise, joy, and excitement on the faces and in the voices of the little children when they receive gifts. I thank God for the gift of Jesus which enables us to enjoy our families in peace and with firm expectation of the Blessing of the Covenant between God and Jesus. We are blessed as children and heirs of God and as a joint heir with Jesus Christ. We can’t do any better than this.
Genesis 3:15 is the first prophecy in the Bible. It prophesies of the virgin birth and of the destruction of Satan.
Genesis 3:15
And I [God] will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; It [Jesus Christ] shall bruise thy [Satan] head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Notice in Genesis 3:15, God says, “her seed.” A woman has no seed; only the womb to bear the seed. If there were no virgin birth, God would have said, “between thy seed and his seed…” But God “called those things that be not as though they were….(Romans 4:17).” God spoke the virgin birth into existence with His prophecy and the continued repeating of His prophecy by the human prophets such as Isaiah and Micah.
The Hebrew word for bruise is actually “to crush.” Jesus Christ will crush Satan’s head when He imprisons him for 1000 years, then casts him into the Lake of Fire for all eternity. Satan crushed Jesus’ heal at the crucifixion.
Before Moses, by the Holy Spirit’s guidance, wrote the book of Job and the first five books of the Old Testament, there was no written Word of God in the earth. For those of you that might balk about Moses writing the book of Job, it is not conclusive, but ancient Jewish tradition and oral history states Job was written by Moses, likely when he was in exile for 40 years in Median before being led by God to lead His people out of Egypt. Some modern day “theologians” argue against Moses, but I personally, and led by the Holy Spirit, believe it to be Moses. I trust ancient Jewish oral history over modern day theologians.
If there was no written Word of God in the earth, how then did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others, until Moses, learn of God, of the Blessing, of how to worship God, how and when to tithe, given offerings, sacrifice, etc.? Through the constellations. God used the stars, the constellation of stars to teach man and to set before man a visual remembrance of the Word God gave to them. I’m not going into details about this. You can study it as God commanded in II Timothy 2:15. In fact, read Psalm 19:1-6. The Psalmists tells us the stars are alive, they speak, and they give out knowledge. Yes, get past your human thinking and think supernaturally. God put the stars there and gave them life and an assignment, just as He did the angels. Adam to Abraham to Moses to David to Jesus knew the earth was round. It even tells us this in Isaiah 40:22. Yet the great educated fools of the past and of today would disregard God’s Word for “science.” I think Covid has taught us today that “science” is like “religion.” A tool used by Satan to counterfeit the Word of God.
The Hebrew word for constellations is “mazzaroth.” You will find it in Job 38:32.
Job 38:31-32
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
God is speaking of all the things He has created and done and challenging Job to raise his level of thinking from that of the natural to the spiritual. Notice God’s reference to the constellations by name and then by the word, “mazzaroth.”
The principal fact I want to communicate is God used the 12 constellations to tell the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Starting with the virgin birth, Virgo and ending with the Lion of Judah, Leo, the Gospel was made known to all men, beginning with Adam, until the written Word of God appeared, through the constellations. Genesis 3:15 sums up the Gospel with the virgin birth (Virgo) and the crushing of Satan’s head (Leo). The constellation Leo has as its front paw the star named “Regulus.” Regulus in the Hebrew and Aramaic means, “the feet which crush” or “treading underfoot.” God is amazing and absolutely precise. The Scriptures tells us that God fills the entire universe. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched in 1977 going in opposite directions in earth’s solar system at 36,000 miles per hour. Forty-four years later they are just recently into interstellar space or just beyond the earth’s solar system. No wonder God mocks the mind and strength of the natural man. How great is our Father!!
John 8:56
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Galatians 3:8
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
James 2:23
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
The Gospel was preached to Abraham by God using the constellations. God taught Adam and Adam taught his family and so on. Noah continued it after the flood.
The following is from Robert McLaughlin, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Somerset, MA. He gives a description of each of the twelve constellations and the part of the Gospel message the constellation presents. God set the stars and constellations in their order to tell this very story. Of course, our enemy, the deceiver, has counterfeited the Gospel in the stars with astrology and the horoscope. STAY away from this evil deception. Don’t willingly put yourself under this demonic influence.
Centaurus. The name Centaurus means two natures. The Seed of the woman was “virgin born.” He was not of the seed of man. His two natures pure humanity and pure deity. He is God in human flesh and, therefore, can rightly be called Immanuel, which means God with us. Virgo and her attending constellations represent the beginning of an epic story to rescue the human race.
The Scales (Libra). The next major constellation is Libra. Libra was depicted as a set of scales. Libra represented the condition of the human race after the fall of Adam. The sign of Libra has been associated with justice and order throughout the centuries. The Balance or Scales represents the price owed for sin and the price being paid by the suffering of Jesus Christ in his role as Redeemer (ISA 41:14; ISA 48:17).
This was the message given to Belshazzar, king of Babylon. In Daniel 5:27, Belshazzar failed to satisfy the righteous demands of God: “Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting.” We are all guilty before the great Judge.
There are two main stars in the sign of Libra, which tell the story of the prophecy. In one side of the scales, there is a star called Zuben Al Genubi. It’s a mixture of ancient Hebrew and Aramaic (a whole other study of the origins of language). This name means the “the price which is deficient.” It points to the price which man attempts to pay for redemption with works, which is always lacking. The price is deficient.
On the other side of the scales, however, there is a star called Zuben Al Chemali, meaning “the price which covers.” It is a picture of the price paid by Christ for the redemption of the sinner.
The constellation, Libra, is attended by three smaller constellations which help to tell the story of the price of redemption. One of them is named the Crux -The Southern Cross. Here are the stars Acrux and Gucrux, a group of stars in the form of the Southern Cross. It lies below the southern horizon. The south always represented hell, and the north represented heaven.
This constellation represents the role of Christ as the Redeemer, who paid for our sins with His suffering, and Who literally bought us with His blood. By the way, Libra surrounds the Southern Cross on three of its sides (the # of divinity).
The Scorpion (Scorpius). This killer is shown stinging the heel of the One who is in turn is crushing the scorpion’s head. This is the great promise given to Eve that her seed would crush the serpent’s head, even though it would bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15). Her descendant Jesus Christ would overcome death, hell, and Satan, even though He would be crucified by the forces of evil. The Scorpion is the symbol of the evil which attacks the people of God. One of the decans of the Scorpion is the Serpent, which clearly represents the same concept.
The rest of the star-story shows the mighty man (or strong man) restraining Serpens, the Serpent, from reaching Corona the Crown, and at the same time bringing His heel down on Satan. Antares is the brightest star in the constellation and means “the one who is Against the Lamb”.
The Archer (Sagittarius). The archer is a centaur who represents the dual nature of Christ, being God and man. It is shown shooting the scorpion, overcoming the adversary.
Capricornus. Is a goat with the tail of a fish. This strange monstrosity presents a magnificent message when we understand the goat represents the sacrificial animal used on the Day of Atonement and the fish represents that body of believers who have received life out of the death of the great sacrifice.
There are two stars in the head of the goat that tell the story: Daneb Algedi, which means “the sacrifice comes,” and Dabih, which means “the sacrifice is slain.” From the dying goat comes a living fish. From the spiritual death of the Son of God comes the Church age for those who believe and get off the bench and join the battle.
Next is Aquarius The Water Bearer (Aquarius). Here is a man pouring out an entire stream of water from a small jar onto the head of the Southern Fish. This represents Christ pouring out blessings and revelations onto his Church. The Lord spoke through Isaiah “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; and I will pour My Spirit upon your seed and My blessing on your offspring…”
Here the star Gospel is depicting the God-Man, Jesus Christ, pouring out His Spirit in the form of blessings and Bible doctrine so those who believe on Him (represented by the Fish) might live in the spiritual sense. The small constellation that is the fish is dominated by the star Fomalhaut, which is Arabic for the “Mouth of the Fish.”
The Fishes (Pisces). There are two fish tied by their tails. The fish represents Christians, being in bondage to death and hell. Yet their free will ultimately will decide their fate. This is a representation of the priest Jesus Christ interceding on our behalf, and yet we must make the choice through our own free will.
The Ram (Aries). Represents the sacrifice.
The Bull (Taurus). The white Bull is a mighty animal, being an extinct type of wild ox. It is used in the book of Enoch to symbolize the Kingdom of God in the Millennial reign. The Hebrew word for bull or ox is “shur” which also means “to return” or “to come back.” The brightest star is Aldebaran, which means “the one who follows”. One distinct star group in Taurus is the Pleiades. Pleiades comes from the Hebrew for “gathering the great”. The word for “bull” is also the word for “return,” and this is another important part of the story.
The Twins (Gemini). The Hebrew name for this constellation means “Joined Together.” The two brightest stars are the twins Castor and Pollux. The star in the left foot of one figure bears the name “Al Henah” which means “wounded” or “bruised.” The star in the right knee of the other figure bears the name “Mebsuta,” which means “ to trample underfoot. Another star is called “Waset,” which means “appointed”.
The twins show the human and divine nature of Christ. They also tell the story of the hero of the First Coming and the Second Coming Who are the same person.
The Crab (Cancer). The crab represents the Savior tenaciously holding onto His flock after having purchased them, so that no one can pluck them from His hand. This symbolism may be very important in the choice of the Crab. It is an animal which can descend into the sea and come back out onto the dry land with its treasure securely held in its strong claws. This represents the descent of Christ into Hell, proclaiming the gospel. It represents His grasp is such that no one can “pluck those who are His from His hold.”
The Lion (Leo). The king of beasts is chasing its prey of the Fleeing Serpent (Hydra), representing the final and the ultimate victory of good over evil at the end of the Millennium. Of course, Christ comes from the tribe of Judah. Regulus is the brightest of the stars in this constellation and represents the paw that will “crush” the serpents head in Genesis 3:15.
Happy New Year to All.
In Christ,
Larry