 
The Stars of His Coming

The International Star Bible Society

Copyright © 2012 by The International Star Bible Society

Publisher: Praise River Production Corp. at Smashwords

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### Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter I - The Secrets of the Magi

Chapter II - The Star of Bethlehem

Chapter III - The Woman in the Sky

Chapter IV - Babylon

Chapter V - The Coming of the Seed of Woman

Chapter VI - The Real Age of Aquarius

Chapter VII - The Promise of the Darkness at Noon

Chapter VIII - The Day of the Lord

Chapter IX - Destiny in the Stars

Chapter X - The Seven Planets

Chapter XI - The Season of His Coming

Chapter XII - Summer is Near

Endnotes

Bibliography

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# Preface

We live on the floor of a great cathedral. Overhead each night move the pictures - stars, constellations, and planets which are more mysterious and beautiful than any ever painted by man.

For most of our history, in most of our cultures, the stars formed the mythological underpinning of our search for spiritual understanding. Yet our search led us away from the Maker and Father of all, as we worshipped the created things and lost knowledge of the Creator. Today the stars themselves are identified with false pagan religions and astrology.

But it was not always so. The story of the stars is the story of the Creator Himself, told in His own words and pictures - and painted with fire across the expanse of the universe. It is the Bible read by Adam, Noah, and Abraham. And its images and promises permeate the written Word of God handed down to us as our Bible.

Come and discover the beauty and majesty, the glory and power of the Creator God. Discover the love and tenderness, the pain and sacrifice of the Father God who came to save his lost children.

Like the wise men who followed the star to Bethlehem, you, too, can find Him and worship at His feet.

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# I

# The Secrets of the Magi

" **After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."**

-Matthew 2:1-2

Two thousand years ago a group of wise men from the east stunned the leaders of Israel with the news that the long expected Christ had been born. The herald of the event was a star which had appeared in the east. Something about that star caused those men to undertake a hazardous journey to Jerusalem in search of the Christ so that they could worship Him.

Once in Jerusalem, the wise men learned that the Christ was expected to be born in Bethlehem, a short five miles south of Jerusalem. The star they had followed from the east appeared directly overhead in Bethlehem to confirm the place where Christ was. And so it was, that of all of the scholars and wise men of Israel, the only ones to recognize the coming of the Christ were a group of star gazers from the east.

There are many intriguing elements in the story of the Star of Bethlehem, but one of the most amazing aspects of the story is the absence of condemnation of the star study practiced by the wise men.

Throughout the Bible the practice of astrology and the star worship common in the ancient world are exposed as evil, an abomination to God.

Clearly, the wise men who came to Bethlehem were not involved in such corrupt practices. For centuries, scholars have wondered who the Magi were and what message they derived from the star. It seems unlikely that they were Hebrews, because they were unfamiliar with the Scripture which states that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem. And yet, without the Scripture, how would they have known about the Christ? Is there a revelation of God displayed in the heavens?

The Scriptures

Since the Scriptures contain the fullest and most complete revelation of God, the place to seek the answer would be in the Scriptures. And the Scriptures plainly tell us that God did reveal Himself in the heavens:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

The skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

Night after night they display knowledge

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)

The Scriptures tell us in Psalm 147:4 and Isaiah 40:26 that God named the stars. God grouped the stars into their constellations according to Job 38:32. Abraham knew the message of the stars, and imagery from the stars was used by Isaiah, Daniel, John and other prophets. The Apostle Paul, at Romans 10:17-18, used Ps. 19:4 as proof that the knowledge of Christ was revealed to all Israel.

According to the Bible the heavens do, indeed, declare the Glory of God, and the Glory of God is Jesus Christ. The Magi used the knowledge of the heavenly revelation of God to learn when the Christ would appear. Acting upon that knowledge, the Magi came to Jerusalem to find the Christ and worship Him.

The Rediscovery

However, the secrets of the Magi which caused them to find the Christ were not revealed in the Scripture and remained hidden for centuries. Then, in the nineteenth century, a scholar named Francis Rolleston became curious about the Biblical declaration that God named the stars and began researching the linguistic meanings of the star names. She proved that the star names themselves contain a revelation of the Christ, and that this revelation is organized using the constellations. Her work was popularized in the 1890s by J.A. Seiss in the U.S. and E.W. Bullinger in England. The secrets of the Magi had begun to be revealed.(1)

As proven by Frances Rolleston, the stars revealed the Christ through the constellations, which are symbolic pictures, and through the star names themselves. The star pictures actually contain a sequential prophetic revelation of the work of the Christ and God's dealing with mankind. Further, the stars, along with the sun, moon, and planets convey a prophetic message and provide a time clock to measure the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Christ. Since many of the prophecies have been fulfilled, history itself unfolds an understanding of the secrets of the Magi.

The star of Bethlehem was the capstone of a celestial revelation which pointed to the advent of the Christ. There were many signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars which marked the first coming of the Christ. By our understanding of the secrets of the Magi, we can interpret the signs as they did and appreciate the beautiful revelation of the Christ.

But there is more than a beautiful story about the advent of Christ, because Jesus said that His return would be marked by signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars. Could it be that the secrets of the Magi will enable us to understand the signs of His second coming, as the Magi understood the signs of his first coming?

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# II

# The Star of Bethlehem

" **A star will come out of Jacob;**

A scepter will rise out of Israel."

-Numbers 24:17

The Bible does not tell us the year of Jesus's birth, but it can be calculated from the prophecies of Daniel, who was a wise man in Babylon and is considered by many to have been a Magi. Daniel wrote that the Christ would be anointed after 69 periods of 7 years, totaling 483 years, had elapsed from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

The decree to restore Jerusalem was sent out in 458 B.C., when King Artaxerxes sent Ezra to Jerusalem.(2) Many Bible scholars believe that the Jesus of Nazareth began his ministry in the year 26 A.D., exactly 483 years later. Scripture supports this belief because Luke tells us at 3:1 that John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way for Christ, began His ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberias, or 25 A.D.

After Jesus was anointed by John in 26 A.D., as Daniel foretold, he went to Jerusalem at the next Passover. This event was dated in the Gospel of John (2:20) as being 46 years after Herod began construction of the Temple. Josephus, the Jewish Historian, places the temple construction at 20 B.C. Adding 46 years (remembering that there is no year "0"), brings one to the year 27 A.D., confirming the date of Jesus' anointing as being in 26 A.D.

According to the Gospel of Luke (3:23), Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his ministry. Subtracting 30 from A.D. 26, and again remembering that there is no year "0," the year of birth of Jesus is found to be 5 B.C. Some people are confused by this date because our calendar assumes Jesus was born in 1 A.D. However, historians have discovered that those who constructed the calendar made an error in counting years in the reign of a Roman emperor, and many of them agree that Jesus was born in 5 B.C.

# The Theories

Some scholars point to an event occurring two years earlier, in 7 B.C. as the star of Bethlehem.(3) In May of 7 B.C., the planets Jupiter and Saturn began moving close to one another in the night sky, an event known as a "conjunction" which occurs every 19.86 years. This conjunction was unusual, however, in that it occurred while the planets were at the opposite side of the sky from the sun, and the planets appeared to come together three times. These "triple conjunctions" occur every 139.03 years, and recur in long cycles with the first covering 854 years and the second 2542 years.

In the spring of 6 B.C., the planet Mars moved closer to the planets Jupiter and Saturn, creating a situation known as "planetary massing." The planetary massing of 6 B.C. is the only historical occasion when a planetary massing has occurred at the same time as a triple conjunction. Some scholars have suggested that this massing, along with the triple conjunction, was the event described as the Star of Bethlehem in the Bible.

The difficulty with these theories lies in the modern viewpoint which assumes that our ancient counterparts were ignorant of celestial events when, in fact, the motions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars were well known in the ancient world. It seems unlikely that a planetary phenomenon would be described as a "star" by ancient writers who were familiar with the heavens. Theories that the star of Bethlehem was a comet or meteor also seem implausible in light of the knowledge of the ancients.

# The Star

Instead of looking for conjunctions or comets, we should expect to find a star which matches the Biblical record. There is such a star, and its story was written by the astronomers in Ancient China.

According to Chinese astronomical reports, a new star, or "nova," appeared in the skies at about the time of the Jewish Feast of Passover in the year 5 B.C. The star was visible for a period of 70 days at a location near the bright star Altair. The star would have risen in the east after midnight, and have been high in the eastern sky when the sun rose. The star would have stood directly over the latitude of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the early morning hours before sunrise obscured the starlight.

The Biblical data concerning the Star of Bethlehem supports the belief that the nova of 5 B.C. was in fact the Star of Bethlehem. The star appeared in the east, arising in the same position as did the 5 B.C. nova. The nova reached its zenith over Bethlehem so that the Magi were able to view it directly overhead at Bethlehem after traveling from Jerusalem. The 70 day duration of the nova allowed the wise men plenty of time to reach Jerusalem from any point in the Near East.

According to the Jewish Historian Josephus, Herod died after a lunar eclipse which occurred on the Passover. Such eclipses occurred in 5 B.C. and 4 B.C., and support the idea that the visit of the wise men occurred in 5 B.C. The Magi had shared the story of the Star with evil King Herod, who ordered the Bethlehem children born after the beginning of the triple conjunction two years earlier, in 7 B.C., to be killed. Thus the triple conjunction seems to have had some meaning to the Magi, but the nova of 5 B.C. is the most likely candidate for the Star of Bethlehem.

# The Location

Modern science has proven that new stars, or novas, are actually exploding stars which become visible or increase greatly in brightness so that they appear to be "new" stars.(4) Novas can be very bright, and one in the year 1054 was visible for three weeks in the daylight. Adding support to the belief that the star of Bethlehem may have been a nova, one of the early church fathers, Ignatius, said that the Star of Bethlehem was brighter than all the other stars.

The nova of 1054 left a cloud of gasses in the sky which astronomers call the Crab Nebula. However, astronomers believe that in some cases larger stellar explosions create objects so dense that the gravitational pull permits nothing, including light, to escape. The only evidence of the existence of these objects in the skies is the extraordinary emission of x-rays believed to be caused by the rapid movement of surrounding gasses toward the objects, which are known as "black holes."

Some 25 degrees north of the star Altair, the star reference for the nova of 5 B.C., lies an object known as "X-l Cygnus" in the constellation Cygnus. Astronomers believe that "X-1 Cygnus" is the most apparent "black hole" in the heavens. It stood directly above Bethlehem in 5 B.C. and is very likely to be the remains of the massive stellar explosion which we call the Star of Bethlehem.

# The Message

X-1 Cygnus lies in the central region of a star grouping known as the "Summer Triangle." This formation is a triangle composed of three of the brightest stars in the sky which are best viewed during the summer or early fall of the year. The Summer Triangle is the brightest feature in the sky immediately before sunrise at the time of the Feast of Passover in the Spring.

At the top of the Summer Triangle lies the star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus. The star name Deneb has as its meaning "The Lord Comes." Another name for the star, less well known, is Arided, which means "He Shall Come Down."

The brightest star in the Summer Triangle, and fifth brightest in the sky, is Vega in the constellation of Lyra. Astronomers have calculated that the solar system is moving toward Vega at the speed of 12 miles per second. The name Vega means "He Shall Be Exalted."

The third member of the Summer Triangle is the star Altair in the constellation Aquila. The name Altair means "The Wounding." Thus, the three stars in the Summer Triangle convey a message of one who will come, who will be wounded, and who will be exalted. This is the One we know as the Christ.

# The Story

The earliest message in the Bible concerning the Christ is found in Genesis 3:15, where God says to Satan:

"I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel. (KJV)

This message pictures a Christ who will come as the Seed of Woman and be wounded, but then be exalted in triumph, destroying His enemies. The revelation of the stars follows the imagery of the Seed of Woman bruising the head of the serpent, and being bruised in the heel.

Of course the "bruising in the heel" of our Lord Jesus Christ occurred when He was nailed to a cross outside of Jerusalem. There is a cross contained within the Summer Triangle in the constellation Cygnus, which is also known as the Northern Cross. The object X-l Cygnus is adjacent to the star Eta Cygnus in the lower portion of the cross. To be more specific, the object X-l Cygnus is located in the area where the heel of Jesus would have been nailed to the cross. It seems as if the Star of Bethlehem appeared in an area in the sky where the message of a Christ who comes to be "bruised in the heel" on a cross would be unmistakable.

Further confirmation of the message can be found in the names of the other stars which rose over Jerusalem just prior to the birth of Jesus. During the centuries just prior to His coming the stars Arcturus in Bootes and Pollux in Gemini reached a zenith at Jerusalem and moved away because of the precession of the equinoxes, a wobble in the rotation of the Earth which causes the North Pole to move in a circle lasting roughly 26,000 years. Arcturus means "He Comes" and Pollux means "He Who Comes to Suffer." The message given was prophetic, preparing the way for the appearance of the Christ who would suffer.

This prophetic function of the stars is recorded in Genesis 1:14, where the time measuring function of stars ("days and years") is separated from the prophetic usage of stars to "serve as signs to mark sea-

sons." The Hebrew word translated as "seasons," "moed," has the meaning of "appointed times" and is the same word used to designate the seven feasts of Israel. In the case of the seven feasts, the "appointed times" of the first three refer to the suffering and resurrection of Christ, the fourth refers to the harvest of the saved and birth of the Church at Pentecost, and the last three are generally believed to relate to the second coming of Christ.(5) Similarly, the starry revelation encompasses the first appearance of Christ, the Church age, and the second coming of Christ.

# The Signs

The stars are organized into groupings known as constellations. The constellations are somewhat arbitrary in their grouping of stars, and the pictures associated with the constellations cannot generally be formed by the stars in the group. Amazingly, however, almost all human cultures, ancient or modern, recognize the same groups with essentially the same meanings. This uniformity of the constellations proves the great antiquity of the groupings, and supports the Scriptural assertion in Job 38:32 that the groupings originated from God.

There were 48 ancient constellations which were separated into twelve groups of 4, with each group containing a sign of the zodiac. The zodiac, which means "the way," is simply the path of the sun through the sky and the signs of the zodiac are those constellations which contain the path of the sun. The use of the term zodiac does not imply involvement in the prohibited practice of astrology or the casting of horoscopes.

Because of the rotation of the earth around the sun, the signs of the zodiac appear to move behind the sun once each year. The time when the sun moves through a sign is associated with that sign. For example, the sun is in the constellation Virgo during late September and October each year, and that time period is associated with the sign of Virgo. The actual time period during which the sun is in a sign varies from seven days for Scorpio to forty-two days for Leo.

In addition to the solar association of each sign, there are astronomical and astrological periods. Astronomical periods relate to the astronomical mapping of the heavens by degrees (north and south) and hours (east and west). Astrological periods illustrate the foolishness of astrology because the modern astrological periods do not reflect either the length of time the sun is in a sign or the proper dates that the sun is in the sign. For example, astrological charts show Virgo as containing 31 days beginning on August 23rd, when in fact the sun enters Virgo on September 22 and remains there for 39 days.

One of the reasons that astrological charts are faulty is the effect of the precession of the equinoxes, which has moved the point where the sun is directly overhead at the equator, known as the equinox, backwards through the signs over the centuries. Presently the Spring Equinox is in Pisces and the Fall Equinox is in Virgo. Those who subscribe to the evil practice of Astrology use a zodiac constructed approximately 2000 years ago when the Spring Equinox was in the sign of Aries. However, the earliest zodiacs recorded show that the Spring Equinox has moved through Taurus, Aries, and Pisces. Since the equinoxes move through a sign in roughly 2100 years, the earliest of the zodiacs date from 4000 years before Christ.

Josephus, the historian of the Jews, asserts that astronomy was invented by Seth, the third son of Adam, and ancient Persian and Arabian traditions ascribe its invention to Adam, Seth, and Enoch. This testimony is in harmony with the Biblical record that God named the stars and constellations, for He would have made His work known to those early men. Additional evidence of the great antiquity of the zodiac is found in its use of symbolism drawn from Genesis 3:15 related to the seed of woman, the bruising of the heel of Christ, and the bruising of the head of the serpent.

From the earliest times, then, God's promise to send the Christ has been revealed to all men in the stars of the heavens. Thus, Paul could confidently state in Romans 1:20 that God has been fully revealed since the creation of the world and that men are without excuse.

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# III

# The Woman in the Sky

" **A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven:**

A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."

-Revelation 12:1

John the Revelator saw a vision of the birth of Jesus which began with a woman in the sky. The Seed of Woman of Genesis 3:15 is brought forth from a woman in the sky in Revelation 12:1.

This woman in the sky is known in the starry revelation as the sign of Virgo, the Virgin. It is clear that the woman of John and the woman of Virgo are the same and that the sign Virgo represents the promise of the Seed of Woman which was brought to pass through the family of King David of the nation of Israel. This message is brought home by the ancient name of the brightest star, Al Zimach, (now Spica), which means the Branch. Jesus is called the Branch which arises from David (and Israel) in Jeremiah 33:15 and is named as the Branch by Zechariah (Zech 3:8 and 6:12) and Isaiah (Is 4:2).

One hand of the woman Virgo is pictured as holding a branch, while in the other is an ear of wheat (the meaning of the star name Subilon). The ear of wheat represents the Seed of Woman. Jesus described himself as a "corn of wheat" which must die and fall to the ground in order to produce fruit (John 12:24).

The constellation of Virgo, then, shows the promise of God to send the Seed of Woman through a virgin from the nation of Israel. This promise marks the beginning point of the revelation in the stars, which moves sequentially from Virgo through the last sign of Leo, representing the ultimate destruction of the serpent.

Modern persons familiar with the zodiac will observe that the starting point of the zodiac in the newspaper horoscopes is Aries, not Virgo. Aries was selected by the astrologers because the Spring Equinox was there over 2000 years ago. However, the zodiac is a circle and it should come as no surprise that the ignorant astrologers missed the starting point.

The ancient Egyptians provide the key to the real starting point of the zodiac in the figure of the Sphinx. The figure has the head of a woman and the tail of a lion, showing that the beginning is Virgo and end is Leo, the lion. The figure of the Sphinx actually appears between Virgo and Leo in a zodiac from the Egyptian temple of Esneh. Celestial confirmation for this fact is found in the star name Sarcam in Leo, meaning "The Joining," which indicates the point where the end of the zodiac in Leo is joined to the beginning of the zodiac in Virgo.

# Coma Berenices

The three other constellations associated with Virgo all speak of the promised Redeemer from the Seed of Woman. The constellation now known as Coma Berenices was anciently known as "The Desired Son" and represented a woman with a child. Both the women in the sign of Virgo and Coma Berenices are represented as virgins who bear a child. The stellar revelation agrees with the Scriptural revelation that the "Seed of Woman" would be born of woman without a human father.

# Centaurus

The second constellation, Centaurus, is a peculiar picture of a creature that has the head and torso of a man and the body of a horse. At first one might dismiss the picture as a corruption of the original picture. However, closer investigation reveals that a special meaning is conveyed by the figure of the Centaur. The horse is symbolic of spiritual power (see Zech. 6:1-8) and when joined to a man would indicate a unique man of spiritual power. Thus it is with Centaurus, for the constellation presents a picture of the Christ. The brightest star in the constellation and the third brightest in the heavens, Toliman, clearly indicates the eternal Christ because its name means "The Heretofore and The Hereafter." The original meaning of Centaurus is "The Despised," indicating the rejection and suffering of the Christ.

# Bootes

The third constellation, Bootes, means "The Coming One" and is the home of the fourth brightest star in the heavens, Arcturus, having the same meaning. However, the figure is not a helpless child as in Coma Berenices, but is instead represented as a man with a sickle in one hand and a spear in the other. This is the one "like the son of man" who will reap the harvest of the earth (Rev. 14:14-16). The promise of Bootes is that the one who came in meekness as the Seed of Woman and was despised by men will return in great power. Yet within the constellation of Bootes lies a star whose name means "The Pierced." This star tells us that the Christ who is returning in power is the same Christ who was crucified in Jerusalem. Do not be misled by the Hindu, New Age, and other religions which claim that a "Christ" appears in each age. There is only one Christ, and He is now and always has been the only way to life.

# The Plan

Christ came to restore the life which God intended for mankind so men could live forever with Him in paradise as His children. God had given man a free will, and man chose to reject the life of God when Adam and Eve set themselves up to be "as gods" in the garden of Eden. Satan, who hates man, came into power over man by the choice of Adam, and death reigned in the world. Man became a flawed product in a perfect universe, and a force for evil in a universe where evil must be destroyed. Without the intervention of God, mankind was doomed.

But God had foreseen the failure of man and God's rescue plan for mankind was placed into motion when God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden. God Himself would restore man's dominion over the earth by defeating the right of Satan to rule and suffering the curse of death which man brought upon himself by his rebellion. Once the curse of death was broken, God would place his Spirit in man to bring man back to perfection. This miraculous rescue plan was made possible through Christ, who is really God Himself, and is available to all who will use their free will to accept God's offer of life.

# Libra

The revelation of the stars was delivered to the first men to reveal the rescue plan through the Christ. Accordingly, Libra the second sign of the zodiac, describes the unique work of the Christ and establishes a system of religious observation instituted in anticipation of the appearance of the Christ. The Magi who went to Bethlehem are thought to be followers of this ancient religion of Christ.

The second sign is Libra, meaning "The Scales," which is represented as a pair of balancing scales. Associated with Libra is the constellation Lupus, a picture of a dead animal, which represents the animal sacrifice system, instituted by God after the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The sacrifice of animals points forward to the sacrifice of Jesus. The utter inability of man to bring about his redemption by himself, even through the observance of the religious rituals, is addressed by a star on one side of the scales of Libra which has the name "The Price Which is Deficient."

# Crux

On the other side of the scales of Libra is the star named "The Price Which Covers," and the instrument of that covering is shown as the associated constellation Crux, or The Southern Cross. Other than its amazing prediction of the cross of Jesus, the most interesting fact regarding the Southern Cross is its disappearance from view in Jerusalem after the coming of Christ. The scientific explanation of the disappearance has to do with the effect of the precession of the equinoxes, as the Southern Cross is the most southerly of the 48 constellations.

From the standpoint of the revelation in the stars, the disappearance of the Southern Cross may be related to the appearance of the star of Bethlehem in the "Northern Cross" of the constellation Cygnus. The importance of the cross is illustrated by the fact that the figure of the cross, in its Northern or Southern versions, is the only celestial picture which can be seen from any point on the face of the earth. It may also be that the Southern Cross has disappeared from view at Jerusalem to indicate that the time of suffering of the Christ has passed.

# Corona Borealis

Once the victory of Christ was gained on the cross, the second phase of God's plan relating to the placement of His Spirit into men could occur. The constellation Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, is symbolic of this victory. By His suffering and victory, Christ is worthy to receive the crown of the universe and rule over all things.

The constellation Corona Borealis also has a more earthbound meaning, because it refers to the presence of the Holy Spirit of God on earth. God sent His Presence to be with the Ark of the Covenant at the time of the Exodus, and later God settled His Presence in the temple at Jerusalem. After the crucifixion, God's Presence left the Temple when its veil was torn and God sent His Holy Spirit to those waiting in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Jerusalem is called a crown in Isaiah 62:1 - 3, and the constellation of Corona Borealis is one which was at zenith over Jerusalem at the time of the coming of Christ. The brightest star of the Northern Crown, Gemma, or "The Shining," points to the Presence of God which resided in Jerusalem until spread by tongues of fire at the day of Pentecost.

The light had come, but men preferred the darkness.

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# IV

# Babylon

" **This title was written on her forehead:**

Mystery

Babylon the Great

The mother of prostitutes

And of the abominations of the earth"

-Revelation 17:5

The response of mankind to God's offer of life is succinctly stated in Gen. 6:5 - "every inclination of his heart was only evil all the time." The world became so corrupt that God had to destroy all men except Noah and his family so that a pure remnant would remain to produce the Christ.

After the flood mankind gained a new appreciation for the wrath of God, but men were not willing to abandon their evil desires so they could follow God. Instead, they invented religion to allow themselves to believe that God was appeased while they continued in their sins. The place where religion was invented was the place where all men gathered to live after the flood: the city of Babylon.(6)

The invention of religion involved the perversion of the truth of God which was revealed in the stars and was known to everyone after the flood. Ancient Assyrian tablets show that the Trinity is represented as the Father (rays of light), the Son (a seed for the Seed of Woman), and the Spirit (a dove). The perversion at first was subtle, as the priestly class usurped the mediator role of Christ in an effort to expand their power over the people. Once the population had been removed from a personal relationship with God, it was easy to convince most that the Seed of Woman had appeared in the past as the Babylonian leader Nimrod. So the inventors of religion inserted a false Messiah into the trinity.

To the human mind, it seems logical that the mother of the Seed of Woman should herself have the godlike virtues and powers of her son. Once the false Messiah had been proclaimed, the mother of the false Messiah was elevated to godhood and so replaced the Spirit in the trinity. Originally, the "mother" elevated to this status was actually the wife of Nimrod, and so the ancient pagan religious beliefs often have the mother as both wife and mother to the false Messiah.

It was but a short step from the perversion of the false Messiah and his mother to the final removal of God the Father from the Trinity. Looking up to the stars, men could see the Christ and the woman, but no representation of the Father could be found because the Father is revealed in all. However, the figure which is prominently displayed in the stars after Christ and the woman is the serpent, and so the unholy trinity was completed with the addition of the serpent, Satan himself, in the place of God the Father. From that point the development of mythology, worship of the stars, human sacrifice, and other horrible pagan religious practices unfolded quite naturally.

Not content with the mere perversion of religion, the men of Babylon determined to build a tower to the stars. The tower of Babel was to have been a monument to the practice of astrology which was invented by the priestly class to preserve their hold over the masses through the assumed power to tell the future. Occult practices flourished as Satan delivered his dark spiritual power to those who now worshipped him as God. And God saw that action was needed to keep the evil of Babylon from choking off the redemption of mankind.

In the days of Peleg, who lived from 101 to 310 years after the flood, God confounded the languages of men and scattered them across the face of the earth. Thus, all human culture traces back to Babylon, and for that reason all human societies have some version of the Biblical creation story, the flood of Noah, and the revelation of the stars. Unfortunately, the religion of Babylon was also common to all cultures, so that the false Messiah and mother are seen in Assyria (Tammuz and Ashtare), Egypt (Isis and Osiris), India and Hinduism (Ishwara and Isi), Greece (Saturn and Rhea), Rome (Jupiter and Juno) and even China (Shing-Moo as the, "Holy Mother").

# Scorpio

All of the ancient pagan religions can be traced back to the original religion of Babylon. For that reason, Babylon is known as the "mother of harlots." And the children of Babylon and their father the Devil have been at war with the children of God ever since. It is this warfare which is described in the third sign of the zodiac known as Scorpio, the Scorpion.

The sign of Scorpio is the picture of a large scorpion. Scorpions are associated in the Bible with rebellious men (see Ez. 2:6). A bright red star called Antares, or "The Wounding," signifies the role of rebellious men in the suffering of Christ, and another star named "The Perverse" provides a picture of the character of the rebellious men. However, the ultimate fate of the rebels is also shown because the scorpion in the sky is situated under a large man who is about to crush the scorpion underfoot.

# Ophiuchus

Just above Scorpio, the spiritual warfare between Christ and Satan is represented in the two constellations of Ophiuchus and Serpens which are entwined as if in combat. Ophiuchus, the mart about to crush the scorpion, means "The Serpent Held," while the star names "Treading Under Foot" located over the head of the scorpion and "Bruised" found in the heel over the stinger of the scorpion leave no doubt that the figure is the Christ. Another star name, "Contending," illustrates the promise of God to contend with the enemies of His people. Interestingly, the path of the sun runs through Ophiuchus for 24 days even though Ophiuchus is considered to be a part of Scorpio, which contains the sun for only 7 days. It may be that the primary name for the sign Scorpio should be Ophiuchus, representing the restraint of evil.

# Serpens

Serpens, the Serpent, is a picture of a serpent which is being held by Ophiuchus. The serpent is pictured as attempting to reach the neighboring constellation of Corona Borealis, illustrating the attempt by Satan to remove God's presence from the earth by destroying His people and his city of Jerusalem. For it is clear that while rebellious men may be the instruments of the war, the spirit behind the attack on God's people was Satan's.

# Hercules

The final figure in the sign of Scorpio is the constellation Hercules, the Mighty Victor, which is represented as a warrior kneeling with a club in one hand and a three-headed serpent in the other. The identity of the figure as Christ is supplied by the star name "The Branch Kneeling" and His work is identified by the star name "Punishing." The creature being punished, a three-headed serpent can be identified from Scripture by studying those punished by God before the first coming of Christ. There were three great nations which were punished for attempting to destroy Israel, and they are Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon.

The punishment of these nations is an interesting study in itself because God allowed these nations to have access to Israel because of the sins of Israel, and the result of the attacks of the nations was to refine and purify the remnant devoted to God. However, because of the wickedness of the nations and their hatred for His people, God also decreed punishment upon these nations. Egypt suffered punishment at the Exodus and later was punished by loss of national power. Assyria and Babylon were more wicked than Egypt, and their great cities, once the most powerful on earth, are now piles of rubble in the desert as foretold by God's prophets.

Unfortunately, the demise of the city of Babylon did not lead to the end of the religion of Babylon. After the Persians conquered Babylon in 539 B.C., the leaders of the Babylonian religion moved its headquarters to the more accommodating Greek city of Pergamum in Asia Minor. The city of Pergamum was literally Satan's throne on earth as stated by John in Rev. 2:12.

In 133 B.C. the last king of Pergamum died and left his kingdom and the authority of Babylon to the up-and-coming world power of the day - Rome. Rome became the center of the Babylonian religion by legal succession. And in 70 A.D., 666 years after Nebuchadnezzar carried off the first captives from Jerusalem to Babylon, Rome destroyed the city of Jerusalem as had been done by its predecessor Babylon.

But we are getting ahead of the story.

*******

# V

# The Coming of the Seed of Woman

" **And he brought him forth Abram, 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."**

-Genesis 15:5 (KJV)

Within a few centuries of the flood of Noah mankind had once again rejected God and perverted the revelation of the stars into the religion of Babylon. In response, God brought forth a new revelation of the Christ and a new nation to birth the Christ.

Some 427 years after the flood of Noah God called Abraham, the son of a moon worshipper, to go to a new land and become the father of the new nation. One night He called Abraham out to "tell" the stars and promised that Abraham's "seed" would be as the stars told. If the apostle Paul is correct that the Abrahamic promise of the seed relates to Christ (see Gal 3:16), then the passage quoted above means that Abraham recited to God the revelation of the stars, and God responded with the promise that the Seed of Woman spoken of in the stars would be Abraham's descendent.

After 430 years in the land of Egypt, the descendants of Abraham became the nation of Israel under the leadership of Moses. This new nation had its laws, customs, and religious observations designed by God for the purpose of revealing the Christ. For example, the feast of Passover is a picture of the crucifixion of Christ, matching even in such fine details as the time of sacrifice of the Passover lamb at 3:00 p.m., corresponding to the hour of Christ's death on the cross. As another example, each month the new moon was celebrated with the feast of the "born again."

In addition, God sent prophets to the nation of Israel who also revealed the Christ. The wise men who followed the star went to Bethlehem to seek Christ because the prophet Micah named Bethlehem as Christ's birthplace. The beginning of Christ's ministry was pinpointed as the year 26 A.D. because of a prophecy of Daniel that the Christ would begin His work 483 years after the decree in 458 B.C. to rebuild Jerusalem. Psalm 22 of David describes details of Christ's death on the cross down to the casting of lots for His clothing by the soldiers.

This new revelation of Christ through Israel and its prophets was preserved in written form so that there would be no mistaking the Christ when He appeared. These writings, which we call the Bible, constitute perhaps the greatest miracle of God. For the Bible was written by many men over thousands of years, and yet this testimony of God and the Christ is as integrated as if it were written by a single author. The Bible is so simple a child can understand it, but so complex that a lifetime of study just scratches the surface of its revelations.

The God of the Bible is a God of order and numbers. The letters of the Biblical languages of Greek and Hebrew served also as numbers, so that every word or phrase written has a numerical value. In their book Theomatics, Del Washburn and Jerry Lucas proved that the numerical values of the words and phrases are related to the subject spoken of in the words or phrases. For example, God's names have a common factor of 37, while Satan's names and deeds have a common factor of 23. Even in the most minute of details, the Bible shows its Divine authorship.

The nation of Israel, like mankind as a whole, failed to follow God's revelation and so suffered at the hands of God's enemies as God used the affliction to purify His remnant of faithful followers. Some 860 years after the Exodus from Egypt, the sin of Israel had become so grievous that God allowed the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and its beautiful Temple. Jerusalem, which had fallen into Babylonian control eleven years earlier, remained under Gentile domination for 430 years until the time of the Maccabean revolt. At that time the temple was restored, and even after the Romans took control of Israel the followers of God kept the observances and the law of God in anticipation of the coming of the Christ as foretold in Scripture.

# Sagittarius

The Star of Bethlehem appeared 427 years after the last book of the Old Testament was written. The fourth sign of the zodiac, the sign of Sagittarius, speaks of the coming of the Seed of Woman.

The constellation Sagittarius is a picture of a horse-man figure similar to that pictured by the constellation Centaurus. The similarity is significant because it clarifies that the Christ, the unique God-man, had come but would be despised by men as promised by the constellation Centaurus. The name Sagittarius means "The Archer" and may have been alluded to in Isaiah 49:1-7 where Christ is presented as the despised arrow of God. The arrival of the Christ is highlighted by a star name which means "Who Goes Forth," and His redemptive work is alluded to in the star name "Gracious One."

To insure that the people would not miss the coming of the Christ, God sent a messenger ahead of Christ to prepare the way for Him and to identify Him to the people when He began His ministry. John the Baptist identified Christ as one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and these works of Christ to purify and instill the Spirit of God are spoken of in the two constellations Ara and Lyra.

# Ara

Ara, meaning the Altar, is represented as an altar with a blazing fire on its top. The fire represents the work of Christ in cleaning out the imperfection in His followers, for the imperfect cannot survive when the universe is restored to perfection. This fire, which prepares the children of God for life, will also consume and destroy those who have refused to accept God's gift of life.

# Lyra

Lyra, the Harp, is represented by a harp with wings of an eagle. It represents God's Holy Spirit which will come to live in those who are His children. The star named Vega, "He Shall Be Exalted," is contained in the constellation because the primary function of the Holy Spirit is to exalt the Christ in the believer. The association of the Holy Spirit with the harp illustrates the role that the Spirit plays in the praise of God and the power of music in the praise and worship of God.

# Draco

But before Christ could begin the work of purifying and perfecting men through the Holy Spirit He had to defeat the god of the earth - Satan - and restore dominion of earth to men. Christ faced Satan first in the desert of temptation, where He rejected the same three temptations which had made Adam and Eve subject to Satan. Having established His personal dominion over Satan, Christ began the work of freeing mankind.

The constellation Draco, the Dragon, is a serpent-like dragon which is coiled around the most northerly sectors of the sky. This position indicates dominion, and in fact one of the stars of Draco known as "The Subtle" was the North Pole star around the time of Noah's flood. However, Draco has been removed from the North Pole position by the precession of the equinoxes, and the defeat of Satan is confirmed in the star names "Who Is to Be Destroyed" and "The Punished Enemy."

Christ faced Satan at the height of Satan's power, and Satan soon marshalled his forces to destroy his enemy the Christ. The religious leaders of the day had polluted the pure religion of Israel with man- made dogmas, and man-made religions cannot tolerate the Christ. The national leaders of the Jews could not stand the light of the Gospel and the Roman authorities, successors to Babylon, were happy to join in the conspiracy. The verdict was unanimous - the Christ must be killed. Satan had achieved his greatest triumph.

But God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and turned Satan's greatest triumph into the instrument of his destruction. By killing the Christ Satan fulfilled all that had been foretold concerning the suffering of Christ and fulfilled God's purpose of becoming a sacrifice Himself to save mankind. The death and resurrection of Christ broke the right of Satan to rule mankind and set all men free.

# Capricornus

This wonderful work of Christ for us is celebrated in the fifth sign of the zodiac, Capricornus, the Goat. The picture of Capricornus is one of the most peculiar in the sky, with its front half consisting of the front of a dying goat and the last half being the tail of a fish. The meaning, however, is clear because the death of the goat, a sin offering in Israel,

purchased life as represented by the animated fish tail. The star names "Sacrifice Comes" and "Sacrifice Slain" confirm the meaning.

# Sagitta and Aquila

The small constellation Sagitta, the Arrow, reminds us that Christ suffered the arrow of God's wrath (Ps. 7:12-13) on our behalf. The constellation Aquila, the Eagle, is shown as an eagle falling from the sky in death as the picture of the death of Christ. To the message of the star Altair, one of the Summer Triangle meaning "The Wounding," is added the testimony of other stars named "The Piercing," "Wounded," and "Wounded In The Heel."

# Delphinus

Without the resurrection there is no Christ, and the little constellation of Delphinus, the Dolphin, tells a big story. Jesus promised the "sign of Jonah," where he would be in the earth three days as Jonah the prophet was in the belly of the fish, and then burst forth to life. Delphinus, shown leaping out of the water full of vigor, shows the fulfillment by Jesus of the sign of Jonah.

Jesus Christ has won the victory of all the ages. He is alive.

*******

# VI

# The Real Age of Aquarius

" **In the last days, God says I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your young men will see visions Your old men will dream dreams"**

-Acts 2:17

The sixth sign of the zodiac, Aquarius, the Water Pourer, has been popularized in recent years as representing the dawn of a "New Age" of peace and brotherhood - the Age of Aquarius.

A look behind the facade of the New Age movement reveals the hand of Satan firmly at the helm. The movement is new in the sense that it is a modern replacement for the old Babylonian religions of the false Messiah. However, it is actually a revival of the old Satanic religion of men before the flood of Noah, containing the same elements of immorality, belief in personal ability to become a god, communion with demon spirits (channelling), and the expectancy of a coming New Age Messiah.

The evil practice of astrology provides the basis for the mythological history of the New Age movement(7) the world is seen to be entering the Aquarian "New Age" of brotherhood as the precession of the equinoxes carries the direction of the North Pole into the sign of Aquarius. However, instead of beginning with Virgo, the first sign, New Agers begin with Leo, the last sign, and move backwards. For example, the supposed sinking of Atlantis occurred after the golden age of Leo (The twelfth sign) during a worldwide flood in the so-called Age of Cancer (the eleventh sign). It is an indication of the depravity of the New Age movement that the so-called Age of Leo, representing the time of great evil before the flood, is viewed as the golden age of mankind.

Another false teaching of Astrologers, New Agers, and Eastern Religions is the doctrine of reincarnation which asserts that spirits of men must achieve perfection by successive births into the world. The stars and the Scriptures teach otherwise: that man lives only once, and nothing man can do will bring spiritual perfection. Only God can bring perfection, and this is the work of God in the real Age of Aquarius.

Once the Christ had purchased life for His children at Calvary, the second phase of God's rescue plan for mankind, restoration to perfection, could begin. This second phase began with the first personal baptism with fire and the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and is memorialized in the sign of Aquarius. The picture of Aquarius, a man pouring water out of a pitcher, is reminiscent of the symbolism of the Living Water which Christ used to describe the Holy Spirit. The star name "Record of the Pouring Out" reinforces the message.

# Pisces Austranus

The water symbolizing the Holy Spirit is always pictured as flowing out of the pitcher held by Aquarius into the mouth of a fish, Pisces Austranus, or Southern Fish, immediately below Aquarius. The peculiar symbol of the baptism in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and throughout the early Church days recorded in the book of Acts was the speaking with other tongues, and the celestial revelation seems to confirm this sign as the water of the Spirit flows through the mouth. Indeed, the brightest star in either Aquarius or Pisces Austranus is Fomalhaut, or "The Mouth of The Fish."

# Pegasus

The gifts of the Holy Spirit serve many purposes in moving the child of God toward the state of being like Christ according to God's plan. However, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit accomplishes a second goal which is to make the power and authority of the Christ available to the child of God. It is as if Satan, by killing the Christ, spread Christ's Spirit to millions of people who could act in His place and spread the good news. This power gift of the Holy Spirit is shown in the constellation Pegasus, the Winged Horse. The man of Centaurus and Sagittarius was gone, but the spiritual power symbolized by the horse remained, and the role of Pegasus as a carrier of the gospel is further spoken to by the star name "Who Carries."

# Cygnus

The fourth of the constellations associated with the sign Aquarius is Cygnus, the Swan, which contains the figure of the Northern Cross and the suggested location of the Star of Bethlehem. The constellation is represented as a swan containing star names "Flying Quickly," "Who Returns As In A Circle," and "Goes And Returns Quickly." The object of the going and returning is seen in the brightest star Deneb, "The Lord Comes." The constellation Cygnus, which announced the first coming of Christ, contains the promise that He will come again.

# Pisces

Just a few days after Christ returned to heaven in the clouds the Holy Spirit came to Jerusalem on Pentecost, and the Church, or "assembly" was born. At first the Church was a Hebrew institution, but it soon became apparent that the life of God through Christ was available to all men and so the non-Hebrews, or Gentiles, came into the family of God. The seventh sign of the zodiac, Pisces, or the Fish, represents the Church.

The constellation Pisces is pictured as two fish which are tied together by a cord known as the constellation of "The Band." The two fish represent the Jews and Gentiles who are united in the Church. The symbols of the fish in the sky show the development of the Church, with the first picture of a fish shown being the tail of a fish in the constellation Capricornus, as if being born out of the death of the scapegoat, Christ. The dolphin of Delphinus, symbolizing the resurrection of Christ, shows Christ as the firstborn with the new life. The fish of Pisces Austranus represents the Church at Pentecost, which was then composed only of Jewish followers of the Christ. The addition of the Gentiles, the second fish of Pisces, makes the Church complete. It is no accident that the most recognized sign of the early Church was the fish.

# Cepheus

The head of the Church is Christ and He is pictured in the constellation Cepheus, as The Crowned King. During the Church age He is in Heaven, crowned as a king and interceding with the Father for His children, as indicated by the star name "The Redeemer." However, He will not forget His promise to return, for another star of Cepheus is named "Coming Quickly."

# Andromeda

Sadly, while many Jewish people followed the Christ, most of them rejected Him as their leaders had at Calvary. The Jewish nation rebelled against Rome and, as Jesus had foretold, the city of Jerusalem and its beautiful temple were destroyed by Titus, who shut the gates of the city on Passover of 70 A.D., exactly 40 years after the crucifixion of Christ. In 135 A.D. another rebellion was started by false messiah Bar Cochebas, whose name means "Son Of The Star," and the Jews were forbidden to return to Jerusalem. The Jews were condemned to wander the earth without a homeland because they had rejected the Christ.

This rejection, and its aftermath, is represented by the constellation Andromeda, The Chained Woman. Star names "Broken Down," "The Weak," "Struck Down," and "The Afflicted" add to the picture of desolation. The passage of Israel from Virgo, the virgin bearer of the Christ, to Andromeda, chained for her rejection of the Christ, is one of the most tragic events of human history.

# The Church

However, the Church had no basis for its self-righteous condemnation of the Jews because, like the kingdom of Israel before it, most of the Church was ultimately plunged into darkness. The first attack on the Church came through the vicious Roman persecutions, which produced millions of martyrs over the first centuries of the Church. The Church emerged victorious from this attack, and in 313 A.D. Christianity was no longer outlawed. Satan, however, saw that a more subtle plan was needed.

The second attack on the Church came in 378 A.D. when Christianity was made into the official state religion of Rome. The Church became a center of worldly power and influence, attracting the ambitious and ruthless into its leadership. In order to expand their influence, the leaders permitted elements of the Babylonian religion to enter the church. Soon the pagan holidays reappeared with Christian facades, as the pagan feast of the Egyptian goddess Ishtar became Easter and the pagan feast to Saturn became Christmas. Other Babylonian practices, such as the establishment of a priesthood usurping the role of Christ and the veneration of Mary, the mother of the Seed of Woman, took hold in the Church. The Church leaders finally adopted so many elements of the Babylonian religion that they became instruments of the Babylonian religion, promoting idolatry as had been done by the evil kings of Israel.

This is not to say that the Church lost its character as the Bride of Christ. Then, as now, the Church was full of wonderful Christian people who worshipped God under the authority of their leaders, whether they were Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, or outside of these ancient traditions. Their community and testimony have continued through the ages. However, the Lord had to deal with the sins of the church leaders, just as he had done with the Kings of Israel.

As He had with Israel, God allowed the enemies of the Church to gain victories to refine and purify the Church. In 630 A.D. the Islamic religion was born, partly in opposition to the pagan practices of the Church. One third of the territory of the Church was lost, including Jerusalem which fell in 637 A.D. The Church split in two, as had the nation of Israel before it, with the Eastern Church centered in the Eastern Roman empire and the Western Church centered in Rome. The Eastern Church lost its home to the Moslems in 1453 when the Turks took Constantinople. Moving to the new nation of Russia, the Eastern Church was engulfed in the Communist revolution of 1917, losing its last vestiges of secular power.

The Western Church ruled over Europe from Rome for centuries, but it could not answer the challenge of Martin Luther to return to the Biblical faith. Instead, the Roman Church condemned Luther in 1520 and marshalled its armies against those who supported him. As the result of the wars which followed, much of Northern Europe became free and began a great renewal of Christianity. The secular power of the Roman Church was finally ended by the French Revolution and Napoleon in the early nineteenth century.

The French Revolution, and the Russian Revolution of the twentieth century, were not the result of the Protestant spiritual awakening, as was the case with the American Revolution. Instead, these revolutions were the product of an atheistic humanistic philosophy which decided that it had outgrown "Religion." Scientific theories opposed to the existence of God, such as Darwin's evolution, were enthusiastically accepted even though later scientific evidence contradicted many of these theories.(8) For example, Darwin stated that his theory of evolution could not be correct unless life forms in the process of evolution from one species to another could be found in the fossil record. Subsequent to Darwin's time not one of the millions of fossils found has exhibited the necessary intermediate form for his theory to be true. Even so, evolution remains as a central belief of the secular humanist faith.

Another problem of secular humanism is that man is a spirit being, and non-spiritual philosophies to life do not address man's spiritual needs. However, instead of turning to God, many people searching for spiritual answers in the nineteenth century turned to occult practices, including astrology. The New Age movement was born out of the nineteenth century occultists.

The New Age faith made significant inroads in European Protestant areas which had substituted Humanism for the Biblical root of the faith, and the first New Age world leader arose there. A believer in astrology and the occult, the leader believed that he was leading his people toward new evolutionary heights. Instead, Adolph Hitler led his people and the world into the devastation of World War II.(9)

And yet, somehow, God has kept His remnant, the true Church, which has withstood the persecutions of Rome, the wars of Islam, the deception of Humanism, and the allure of the New Age. As with ancient Israel, there was always a remnant who remained faithful.

Even in the darkest of times, God has His witnesses.

*******

# VII

# The Promise of the Darkness at Noon

" **It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the Temple was torn in two."**

-Luke 23:44-45

As the birth of Jesus had been announced by the light of the Star of Bethlehem, so the death of Jesus was announced by the darkness of Calvary.

It is not likely that an atmospheric phenomenon caused the unusual darkness because of the astonishment expressed by observers. Further, the cause of the darkness at noon is stated to be the cessation of the shining of the sun, a celestial event. The most logical celestial cause to look for would be a solar eclipse. Indeed, the early Christian writer Africanus quotes two first century historians, Thallus and Phlegon, who both stated that an eclipse occurred during a full moon during the reign of Tiberias.

However, the Darkness could not have been caused by an eclipse, because the sun and moon were on opposite sides of the sky during the full moon which marks the Passover and the Crucifixion. A similar effect could have been caused by a large celestial body or a stellar cloud, which could have passed between the earth and sun at that time. Alternatively the sun itself could have seemed to black out in a fashion similar to stars such as R-Corona Borealis, which suffer sudden catastrophic decreases in light emission caused by conditions in the stellar atmosphere. Thus, it is possible for the sun to have stopped shining for a time.

If the cause of the sudden solar darkness was celestial, one effect of the darkness would have been to bring the stars into visibility at noon. Off to the west would have been the stars of His first coming - the Summer Triangle and the Northern Cross - proclaiming the suffering of the Christ. South of the Triangle Delphinus promised the resurrection, while to the North Cepheus the King stood directly over Draco the Dragon. Draco lay on the horizon, illustrating the fact that the blood of Christ shed at the crucifixion ended Satan's access to heaven as man's accuser, and Satan was cast out of heaven down to earth.

# Aries

Directly overhead at noon on the day of crucifixion was the eighth sign of the zodiac, Aries, the Ram. On that same hill of Zion 2,084 years earlier God had provided the sacrifice of a ram to Abraham in place of Abraham's son Isaac. John the Baptist had proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God, and at the hour of crucifixion the stars seem to have added their testimony to John's that this was, indeed, the Lamb of God. Star names "Wounded," "Bruised," and "Bound" confirm the witness of Aries that Jesus is the Christ.

Along with the confirmation, however, comes a promise because the stars are prophetic in function. The Lamb of God slain at Calvary is the same Lamb of God who is revealed in the fifth chapter of Revelation as the Lamb who is worthy to receive honor and glory and praise. The slain Lamb is the same Lamb whose appearance will terrify the kings of the earth and all who oppose Him according to Revelation 6:15-17.

# Cetus

The enemies of Christ are represented by the constellation Cetus, the Sea Monster. The character of Cetus is revealed by the star Mira, meaning the Rebel, which is located in the neck of Cetus. However, the star Mira has another remarkable feature in that it disappears and reappears seven times in six years. Many commentators believe that the number six represents the history of man, either because of the approximate 6000 year duration of recorded history or because six is a Biblical number symbolic of man. The seven appearances of the star Mira would make seven heads for Cetus, which may be understood to be the beast of the sea having seven heads described in the book of Revelation.

The seven heads of Cetus are not visible at the same time, but occur in sequence. Similarly, the book of Revelation, at 17:10, states that the seven heads are seven kings, five of whom had fallen, one was in power, and one was yet to come. Historically, the five kingdoms trace back to the first kingdom of ancient Babylon and also include the world powers of Egypt, Assyria/Babylon, Persia, and Greece before Rome. The sixth is Rome, and the best candidate for the seventh kingdom is the secular kingdom of the Church leaders operating under the influence of the Babylonian religion. The harlot Babylon is shown as riding upon the seven-headed beast in the seventeenth chapter of Revelation to indicate the influence of the Babylonian religion over the nations from Babylon to Rome and Papal Rome.

After the seventh king has fallen, the nations formerly under dominion of Rome will resolve themselves into ten nations according to Revelation chapter 17. The prophet Daniel confirms this prophecy of the ten nations because, in his vision of the statue (Dan 2:31- 45), there are ten toes on the feet. A look at the world map in 1914 also confirms the vision showing the world divided between the ten nations (and their former colonies) of England, Russia, Portugal, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and Turkey. Since the secular power of the seventh king, Papal Rome, was destroyed two hundred years ago, it would be safe to assume that the current times correspond to the era of the ten kings.

The prophets Daniel and John wrote that a new king will arise who will receive the power and kingdoms of the ten kings. This eighth king will war against the old Babylonian religion, and will follow a new religion similar to the New Age Religion, declaring himself to be a god after being given great power by Satan. He will persecute the children of God for a time but Christ will destroy him in the battle of Armageddon when He returns to earth.

# Perseus

The subjugation of the nations by Christ is represented by the constellation Perseus, The Breaker. Perseus is pictured as a warrior with a sword in one hand and the severed head of his enemy in the other hand. The Christ is shown as one who breaks open the way in Micah 2:13 and as the breaker of the seals in Revelation chapter 5. The head of the nations, who is the eighth king empowered by evil spirits, will be severed from the nations and the king will be thrown in the lake of fire when Christ returns according to Rev. 19:20.

The severed head contains the star Algol, which means "Evil Spirit." This star is a variable star which disappears from sight every 69 hours. The number 69 is 3 x 23, and the star completes a full cycle of eight times for disappearance (one for each king, Rev 17) once every 23 days. Thus, the number 23, which is the common factor in the numerical value of the Biblical Hebrew and Greek words for Satan and his works, is confirmed in the heavens.

It can be seen that the evil spirit defeated by Perseus is Satan himself. Similarly, the fate of those who follow Algol is revealed in the star names "The Bound Enemy" and "The Overthrown" in the constellation Cetus. It seems that even as Christ was dying on the cross the stars were proclaiming victory over His enemies!

# Cassiopeia

As the stars announced the victory of Christ even as He was dying, so they announced the forgiveness of Christ toward those who had rejected Him. The constellation Cassiopeia, or Enthroned Woman, makes the promise that the Jews who rejected Jesus and suffered imprisonment, as pictured in Andromeda, will one day be set free to rule with Christ. Those Jews who are living when Christ returns will be forgiven for their rejection and given life because of the unfathomable grace of God.

The triumph of God over His enemies is a certainty, but the desire of God is to see His enemies accept His offer of amnesty and accept life.

And so He waits to fulfill the promise of Aries.

*******

# VIII

# The Day of the Lord

" **A river of fire was flowing, Coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands attended Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened."**

\- Daniel 7:10

The Hebrew feast of Trumpets, held near the Fall Equinox on the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew religious calendar, is believed by many to be a prophetic celebration of the return of the Christ (10) the Scriptures seem to support this view, containing many references to the "Trump of God" sounding on the day Christ returns.

The Feast of Trumpets is also known as Rosh Hashanah, "The Head of The Year" because it marks the first day of the Hebrew civil, as opposed to religious, year. It is also known to the Jewish Rabbis as the Day of the Lord.

Some scholars have noted that each event fulfilled by the Hebrew feasts has occurred on the exact day of its celebration. For example, the sacrifice of the lamb in the Passover celebration matches the crucifixion it illustrates almost hour by hour. Similarly, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit predicted by the feast of Pentecost occurred on the Day of Pentecost. Some have thought that the actual return of the Christ would occur on the day of the feast of Trumpets. However, Jesus said that the actual time of His return remains a mystery of God which cannot be calculated by men.

What does happen on the Feast of Trumpets in our time is that the message of the stars passes overhead in its proper sequence beginning with the first point of the Jewish day, the sunset. At sunset the constellations following Virgo are overhead, with the first half of the constellations representing the first coming of Christ in the sky. Thus, the Summer Triangle with its bright stars Deneb, "The Lord Comes," Altair "The Wounding," and Vega, "He Shall Be Exalted," are prominently displayed overhead at sunset. The Northern Cross is directly overhead at sunset, with its zenith at the point where "X-1 Cygnus," is located.

Just before sunrise on the Feast of Trumpets, the stars displayed are those in the second half of the celestial revelation depicting the return of Christ. The constellations from Pisces to Leo are displayed overhead, with Virgo being obscured in the sun. Directly overhead at sunrise is the constellation Gemini, containing the star Pollux "He Who Comes to Suffer" which was directly overhead at Jerusalem when Jesus was born. Because of the precession of the equinoxes, the companion star to Pollux, Castor "The Ruler," will soon move into position at zenith over Jerusalem.

There are many bright stars of His second coming, including Betelgeuse, meaning "The Coming Of The Branch," Rigel, meaning "The Foot That Crushes," Aldeberan, meaning "The Governor," and Regulus, meaning "Treading Underfoot." However, the brightest star overhead in the morning of the Feast of Trumpets, and the brightest star in the heavens, is Sirius, meaning "The Prince." Sirius represents the Lord Jesus Christ. He will return, not as a lowly infant or suffering servant, but as the Prince coming with overwhelming power to claim His kingdom.

# Taurus

The return of the Christ in great glory on the Day of the Lord is pictured in the ninth sign of the zodiac, Taurus, the Bull. The picture of Taurus is that of the front portion of a charging bull, an ancient symbol of power. Other names for Taurus show a deeper understanding for the meaning of the sign, for in Egyptian the name means "Who Saves" and in Hebrew the name means "Coming." The brightest star in the constellation Taurus is Aldeberan, "The Governor." The second brightest star, El Nath, has the meaning "Wounded" to remind us that the Christ who is coming in glory is the same Jesus who suffered on the cross for us.

Taurus contains two prominent star clusters which illustrate the revelation that the Christ is not returning by Himself. The largest of the star clusters is known as the Hyades, which means "The Congregated." The bright star Aldeberan appears within the Hyades, and so the Hyades may be taken to represent those who are in Heaven with the Lord and return with Him on the Day of the Lord. This group of believers, those who had died prior to the Day of the Lord, will receive new eternal bodies at the Day of the Lord, or first resurrection (Rev. 20:4-6).

The second star cluster is smaller than the first and is known as the Pleiades, which means "Congregation of The Ruler." This cluster represents the group of believers alive on earth on the Day of the Lord who will be taken up from the earth to meet the Christ in the sky as He descends upon Jerusalem. They will not die, but will receive their eternal bodies after the first resurrection, "in the twinkling of an eye" according to the Apostle Paul (I Cor. 15:51-52).

# Orion

The return of the Christ is also the subject of Orion, the brightest and most prominent constellation in the heavens, meaning "Coming Forth As Light." It pictures a warrior holding a club in one hand and the head of a dead lion in the other. The brightest star, Rigel, "The Foot That Crushes," speaks of the promise of the bruising of the head of the serpent given in Genesis 3:15. The star Betelgeuse, "The Coming Of The Branch," reminds us that this is the Branch of Virgo. The suffering of Christ is remembered in the star name "The Wounded One" in the side of the figure and the star "Bruised" in the left foot refers to the promise of Genesis 3:15 that the Seed of Woman would be bruised in the heel.

# Eridanus

Beginning with the foot of Orion is the constellation Eridanus, The River. The River is not pictured as a river of water, but rather is the river of fire Daniel saw, blazing across the southern region of the sky. The river of fire runs through the feet of Cetus, the Sea Monster, illustrating the Biblical prophecy that the beast from the sea would be thrown into the lake of fire at the return of Christ. Those who do not accept salvation and the inner baptism of fire from Christ will also find themselves immersed in the river of fire at the end of His 1000 year reign on earth.

# Auriga

In the midst of the picture of judgment presented by Eridanus, Taurus, and Orion, God has placed the constellation Auriga, the Shepherd, as a reminder that His flock will be kept safe from the day of His wrath. Auriga is shown as a shepherd holding a goat and two kids. The goat, represented by the bright star Capella, "the Goat," is representative of the Jews who will be kept alive by God's mercy through the time of trouble before Christ returns. These people will not receive eternal bodies as are given to the believers, but will populate the earth along with the survivors of the nations during the 1000 year rule of Christ which follows the Day of the Lord. The kids represent the Church, as the union of Jews and Gentiles, which will reign with Christ during the Millennium.

# Gemini

The Scriptures say that the Christ will rule from Jerusalem on earth for 1000 years after the Day of the Lord, and this reign on earth is represented in the tenth sign of the zodiac, Gemini, meaning "The Twins." The meaning of the sign of Gemini is better understood in the Hebrew meaning of "United," for the picture of Gemini is that of two men standing together who are actually one - Jesus Christ. The star of His first coming, Pollux, "He Who Comes To Suffer" is in the left figure along with a star meaning "Wounded" in the heel of the figure.

The star of His second coming, Castor, "The Ruler," is in the right figure which has the star named "Treading Underfoot" in its foot. Both figures are Christ, with each representing a separate coming. Pollux stood above Jerusalem at His first coming and Castor is about to move above Jerusalem in preparation for His second coming.

# Canis Major and Minor

Associated with Gemini are two constellations now named after dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor, which convey the same message of

the comings of the Christ. The dog names and pictures are corruptions introduced in later zodiacs and were not used in ancient times. Canis Minor originally meant "Victorious" and its brightest star Procyon means "Redeemer," a picture of the victory of Christ as the suffering redeemer of men. Canis Major originally meant "Leader" and its brightest star Sirius, "The Prince," is the symbol of the rule of the Christ on earth.

# Lepus

The enemy of Christ, Satan, is represented by a constellation now called Lepus, The Hare, which is located under the feet of Orion. The ancient meaning of Lepus and its ancient picture is that of serpent, and the star names "The Enemy of Him Who Comes" and "The Deceiver" identify Lepus as Satan. According to the book of Revelation, Satan is to be bound with a chain for 1000 years during the rule of Christ, and this is illustrated by the star named "Bound With A Chain."

One of the most puzzling things in the Scriptures is the statement that Christ will not destroy Satan upon His return, but instead will bind him for 1000 years. After the 1000 years is ended Satan will be let loose to deceive the world once more, so that many of the Millennial people will follow him to their doom. It is not until this final rebellion that Satan and his followers are judged and thrown into the lake of fire.

It may be that God delays the destruction of Satan so that He can test the hearts of those who live during the Millennium. Every person who has ever lived, it seems, will have to choose between God and Satan, and between life and death.

*******

# IX

# Destiny in the Stars

" **And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal."**

\- Revelation 21:10-11

Every lie has at its center a grain of truth. The evil practice of astrology promulgates the lie that the destiny of men and nations can be predicted based upon the positions of the stars and the movement of the planets. The truth which first gave the lie credence is that man's destiny is in fact revealed in the stars.

However, the rest of the truth is omitted by the astrologers. The future revealed in the stars must be selected from two possible futures shown in the stars. One future is life with God in His beautiful city of New Jerusalem, and the other is death with Satan in the lake of fire. Which of these two futures is selected for an individual is not the result of forces of chance or star positions, but is instead the result of the free choices made by the individual.

# Cancer

At the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth, God will send down the beautiful city of New Jerusalem where He and His children will live forever. The destiny of the children of God is the subject of the eleventh sign of the zodiac, Cancer.

Cancer means "The Crab" and is so pictured in later zodiacs. However, the ancient name of the sign in Egypt meant "Cattlefold" and in Hebrew was "To Hold." The sign is symbolic of the holding place of God's people - the New Jerusalem. Confirmation of this understanding of Cancer is obtained from the star names "Holding," "Assembled Thousands," "The Sheltering Place," and a star cluster meaning "Multitude."

# Ursa Minor

Apparently, the name Cancer was the result of a mistranslation of the Arabic words "Khan," or "inn," and "Cer," or "encircling." Similar linguistic errors produced the names of two of the constellations of Cancer, the bears of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. In the case of the bears, the Hebrew word for bear, "Dohv," was substituted by the Greeks for the real meaning of "Dohven," or "Sheepfold." Thus, the constellations of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are actually the "greater" and "lesser" holding places for the sheep.

The constellation of Ursa Minor, which should be properly called the lesser sheepfold, represents Israel and the other children of God like the Magi who believed on the Christ in faith anticipating His appearance. This understanding of the meaning is inferred from the star name "Waiting on Him Who Comes." Before the redemption of mankind the spirits of those who trusted in the Lord were held in a place Jesus called Abraham's Bosom and this place is represented by the star name "The Stronghold of The Saved." However, after His resurrection Jesus was able to bring the spirits of the faithful into the presence of God, as expressed in the star name "The Redeemed Assembly."

The North Pole star, Polaris, is also contained in Ursa Minor. The name Polaris means "Turned Upon" and the name seems quite fitting for the pole star. The unusual thing about the name is that it was given thousands of years before the star was the pole star and men knew that the stars shifted positions. Of course, this fact is not a problem for those who accept the Divine authorship of the names of the stars.

The pole star in the earliest zodiacs was Thuban, "The Subtle," in the constellation Draco, The Dragon. The dominant position of the pole star in the heavens infers rulership and Draco, symbolizing Satan, was in fact the ruler of the world after the fall of man. The present

location of the pole star in Ursa Minor and its actual movement over the pole in the year 2102 are in harmony with the expectation that the earth will be ruled from Israel when Christ returns.

# Ursa Major

Ursa Major, which is named "The Assembled Together," is symbolic of the Church, or "assembly," of God. The identification of Ursa Major as the Church is made possible by the star name "The Latter Herd." Other star names such as "Purchased," "Ransomed," "Guarded," and "Multitude Assembled" are also indicative of the Church. A star named Talitha, meaning "Little Girl" in Aramaic, memorializes the concern of the Lord for children and was the exact word used by Christ when He raised the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:41).(11)

# Argo

The constellation Argo, the Ship, represents the destination of the children of God. The star Canopus, second brightest star in the sky, means "The Possession of Him Who Comes," and is symbolic of the New Jerusalem. The residents of New Jerusalem are indicated by the star names "The Multitude" and "The Released Who Travel." The ruler of New Jerusalem is shown to be Christ in the star name "The Branch."

Argo is also symbolic of the completed work of the Christ, who is the Ark of Safety for all men. The great rescue plan of God will be fulfilled for those who have chosen the life of God, and they will live forever with God in New Jerusalem. Men will have been brought to a state of perfection in harmony with God.

# The Highway to Heaven

Argo is the destination of the other great pathway in the sky, known to the ancient writers as the pathway to the Throne in Heaven. We call it by its more prosaic name, The Milky Way.

The Milky Way derives its name from the milky appearance of its millions of stars which comprise the large spiral galaxy in which our solar system resides. We are located in one of the spiral arms, with portions of the galaxy surrounding us in a full circle. The center of the galaxy is located in a large bulge of stars near the Sagittarius-Ophiuchus border. The outermost part is at the border of Gemini and Taurus.

The Milky Way crosses our sky at a steep angle to the path of the sun. Interestingly, the two points of intersection between the sun's path and the galactic equator occur at the center of the galaxy and the outermost part. Looking back in history, we find that the sun stood at the outermost point on the two great occasions when it seemed that humanity had reached its outermost point from God.

Once, when all humanity had rejected God and become corrupt, God found Noah and his family to save from the coming flood. God shut them in the ark on the day the sun reached the outermost point and the flood began. Our rejection of God culminated, however, with the crucifixion of Christ. Here again, on the day when the sun reached the outermost point, God responded mercifully, and three thousand who had participated in the crucifixion received forgiveness and salvation on that first Day of Pentecost. Even today, His grace extends to those at the outermost point.

God's grace is the theme of The Highway to Heaven. Beginning at its most southerly point in Centaurus, we are reminded of God's promise to send the Seed of Woman, Virgo, given in the Garden of Eden. Thus Virgo, the first sign of the zodiac, also marks the beginning of the Highway to Heaven. And, like the zodiac, the highway generally moves sequentially through the zodiac from that point.

Crux, the Cross of Libra, comes next as the instrument of God's grace makes its first appearance. Following Crux come Scorpio/ Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Aquilla from Capricorn, and Cygnus, the Northern Cross, from Aquarius, marking Christ's victory over sin at his first coming. The most northern point on the highway, Cepheus in Pisces, pictures Christ enthroned in Heaven as he has been since he ascended from the Mount of Olives in 30 A.D.

The promise of his return to the Mount of Olives comes into focus as the Highway turns south, or back to earth. It moves through Perseus and Cassiopeia in Aries, Auriga in Taurus, and Taurus itself as Christ's return is pictured. Gemini and Orion in Taurus picture Christ's rule in the millennium. Finally, the highway ends at Argo in Cancer, as the new Jerusalem comes to earth and we are home at last.

Interestingly, only Leo is not represented in the Highway to Heaven, for reasons which will soon be apparent. The age of God's grace will come to a close as we enter the great ark of Argo.

# Leo

There will then remain one final task to be completed in order to put the universe back into order. The imperfect cannot survive in a perfect universe, and evil cannot exist with the good. All things must be brought under the authority of the Christ, and that great final act in the drama of the Christ is represented by the twelfth and final sign of the zodiac, Leo, The Lion.

The constellation Leo is pictured as a lion which is standing over a dead serpent. The bright star Regulus, meaning "Treading Underfoot" shows the final triumph of Christ over Satan. Other star names "Punishing of the Lion" and "Enemy Put Down" echo this triumph. The association of Leo with the Christ is made clear by the star name Denebola, "The Lord Who Comes."

# Hydra

The dead serpent is Hydra, the Serpent, and is sometimes pictured as a serpent cut into pieces. In the Scriptures the constellation may be identified with the Biblical Rahab, which was cut into pieces by God, as indicated in the star name "The Separated." It may also have been named Leviathan, which was described in Scripture as pierced by God, in harmony with the Star name "The Piercing of The Deceiver."

# Corvus and Crater

The fate of Satan and his followers is graphically illustrated by the constellations Corvus, the Raven, and Crater, the Cup. Corvus is shown tearing the flesh of Hydra and the picture of destruction is confirmed by the star name "The Raven Tearing To Pieces." Crater is a cup turned on its side, having emptied its contents onto Hydra. It is the cup of God's wrath which the book of Revelation shows to be pouring burning sulphur on God's enemies. All of God's enemies, and all men whose names are not written in the Book of Life, will be thrown into the lake of fire and will remain there forever. And order and perfection will be restored to the universe.

# Heaven or Hell

Thus, there are two futures presented in the stars. One is New Jerusalem, which is commonly called Heaven. The other is the lake of fire, which is commonly called Hell.

Men are imperfect and, because of their flaws, they cannot survive in a perfect universe. However, God has provided a plan to rescue men from the destruction which will otherwise come because of their imperfection. The plan is the Christ and His twofold work of restoring life through His sacrifice and restoring perfection through His Spirit.

All men are eligible for God's rescue plan, no matter what they have done or how imperfect they are. The only requirement for participation in the rescue plan is that men cooperate with God by accepting the Christ so that the Holy Spirit can begin His perfecting work. Failure to accept the Christ will prevent the Holy Spirit from imparting life. Rejection of Christ is the only "unpardonable sin" and will always lead to death.

But God wants to give life to as many as will accept it. He has engraved the invitation in the sky and is patiently awaiting a response.

However, God will not wait forever for men to accept His offer. The time clock is set in the stars, and the time is running out.

*******

# X

# The Seven Planets

" **And God blessed the seventh day and made it Holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done."**

\- Genesis 2:3

From the very beginning of time, even before the fall of man, men have observed a seven day period which celebrates the creation of the earth in six days and the seventh day of rest. These seven days have been named after the seven moving celestial objects which can be seen with the naked eye. These bodies, including the sun, the moon, and five visible planets, were known to the ancients as "wandering stars" or "planets."

The seven planets were a part of the celebration of creation, when the morning stars sang for joy at creation according to Job 38:7. Then, at the fall of man, the seven planets joined the stars as a part of the revelation of the Christ. Indeed, the seven brightest stars correspond in their message to the meaning of the seven planets. The seven planets define our concept of time by their movements and they measure the time of unfolding of God's plan as well. Thus, the message of the seven planets may be understood against the backdrop of the creation and the larger stellar revelation.(12)

# The Sun

On the first day of creation, God created light. The first day of the week, Sunday, is named after the sun which is the source of light to our earth. The sun symbolizes Christ as may be seen in this passage from Psalm 19:

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

Which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,

Like a champion rejoicing to run his course. \- Psalm 19:4-5

The tent in the heavens is the zodiac, and the movement of the sun through the zodiac symbolizes the unfolding work of the Christ from the beginning of history to the end. Christ is the Bridegroom and Christ is the Champion. The very brightest star, Sirius, "The Prince," contains the same message.

Like the Christ, the sun is preeminent in the sky. Like the Christ, it is the light of the world and without it all life would cease. Every sunrise reminds us that the "sun of righteousness will arise" (Mai. 4:2) when Christ returns to earth.

# The Moon

If the sun is the Bridegroom, the moon is the bride. The second day, Monday, is the day of the moon and on the second day God created the sky. The moon is the "faithful witness in the sky" (Ps. 89:37) as the bride is to be a faithful witness to the Christ. The second brightest star is Canopus, "The Possession of Him Who Comes," as the bride is the possession of the Bridegroom. The Hebrews celebrated each new moon with a Feast of the "Born Again," an indication that the Bride of Christ must be born of the Spirit.

Like the believers in Christ, the moon has no light of its own but reflects only the light of the sun, or Christ. The surface of the moon is actually quite dark but in the light of the sun appears to be white as snow, reminding us of the purification available in Christ. And, or course, the moon follows the sun on its path through the heavens.

# The Lunar Mansions

Because the path of the moon parallels the path of the sun, the zodiac can be divided into segments based on the positions of the moon as well as the sun. Since the moon takes approximately 28 days to return to the same stellar position, there are 28 segments reflecting lunar motions. From Arabia to China, those segments are called Lunar Mansions.

In some cultures, such as China, the Lunar Mansions are the primary zodiac in use. The Lunar Mansions are grouped into four groups of seven, and in China the signs in each group of seven are further identified with a planet and its corresponding day of the week (i.e., sun for Sunday, moon for Monday, etc.). The four groupings are associated with the four seasons, but the seasonal association begins with spring in Virgo and moves backwards to winter, fall, and summer. Thus, spring and fall are reversed from the solar zodiac while winter and summer are the same.

As with the solar zodiac, the lunar zodiac begins with Virgo and moves sequentially through the signs of the zodiac to Leo. Ancient sources compiled by Arabic and Tartar astronomers show an exact correlation to the message of the solar zodiac, beginning with the "Desired Son" in Virgo and moving through the "Redeeming" of Libra, "Wounding" of Scorpio, "Coming" of Sagittarius, "Sacrifice" of Capricorn, and "Outpouring" of Aquarius. The formation of the church in Pisces is the joining of "Ancient" and "Latter Progeny." The promise of the "Enemy Punished" appears in Aries, the "Governor" from Taurus, and the rule of the one who was "Wounded in the Foot" comes from Gemini. Finally, Heaven, the home of "The Saved" in Cancer, and Hell, "Burning" in Leo, are presented.

The Chinese Lunar Zodiac is not based entirely upon the path of the sun, but contains some constellations based upon the celestial equator as it existed after Noah's flood. Thus, some lunar mansions contain stars from Pegasus, Orion, Hydra, Crater and Corvus, which were near the celestial equator at that time. As further proof of the age of the Chinese Zodiac, the four "determining stars" for each season, Antares, Sadalsuud (in Aquarius), the Pleiades, and Alphard (in Hydra), were near equinox or solstice points at the time of Noah's flood.

As with the solar zodiac, these ancient star groupings had their meanings subverted by the Babylonian religion. In the Chinese culture, this perversion is reflected by the substitution of the emperor into Christ's place as mediator between God and man. Thus, Chinese astrology was primarily concerned with the emperor and the fate of the nation. Interestingly, the emperor was associated with Antares, the star telling of Christ's wounding by rebellious men, and so the true character of emperor worship was unwittingly revealed.

However, a number of the older meanings still can be seen through the pagan veneer. From the starting point in Virgo, as in the solar counterpart, we can see the "Horn" of God's "Power" accepting our "Punishment." The "Winnowing Basket" in Sagittarius reminds us of Christ with His winnowing fork (Matthew 3:12).

The Ox, "Sacrificed Victim," in Capricorn, and the "Empty Tomb" in Aquarius near Delphinus remind us of Christ's death and resurrection. We see Him returning for "Punishment" in Taurus, as the "Warrior" of Orion, restoring "Order" in Gemini, and "Collecting Prey" for judgment in the final "Grand Assembly" in Hydra under Leo, answering to the great white throne judgment of God.

Yet, He is also the "Shepherd" of Taurus, presiding over the "Reunion with the Dead," shown in the Pleiades, and leading us to Heaven, home of "The Dead," in Cancer. And we are the "Servant Maiden" who is "Witness to the Drinking in" of Aquarius. Thus, the moon and its mansions join their testimony to the solar zodiac as a faithful witness in the sky.

# Eclipses

Every six lunar months, the path of the moon crosses the path of the sun and an eclipse may occur. Because the sun and moon appear to be the same size (one half degree) from earth, the sun can be completely obscured by the moon in a solar eclipse. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth moves between the sun and moon and the moon moves into earth's shadow.

Even though eclipses occur frequently in celestial terms, they recur in long cycles which seem to parallel important historical periods. The ancients recognized a cycle which occurred each 18.03 years and called it a "Saros" cycle. On the average, each Saros cycle included 70 eclipses, running 1262 years. Biblical references to the number 1260, as at Revelation 11:12, are thought by many to refer to a Saros cycle.

Interestingly, there is a matching 1260-year historical period between the time that the Jerusalem temple site was covered by the Islamic Dome of the Rock and the independence of Israel, and this could be the period of time of Gentile domination referred to in Revelation 11:12.

Another cycle, known as the "Inex" cycle, occurs each 28.94 years. One cycle of 52 periods, covering 1505 years, follows the history of Israel from the call of Abraham in 2091 B.C. to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. A second cycle of 23 Inex, or 666 years, begins with the captivity of Jerusalem in 597 B.C. by Babylon and ends with the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, Babylon's successor, in 70 A.D. The 430-year period of slavery from the Babylon captivity in 597 B.C. to the Maccabean Revolt in 167 B.C. matches the 430 year period of slavery in Egypt, and is equal to 2/7 of the 1505 cycle.

Perhaps the most fascinating eclipse cycle begins in 4173 B.C., one year after creation's Biblical date, and recurs in 2084-year intervals of solar and lunar eclipses on Jewish Feast days of Passover, Trumpets, and Tabernacles. The cycle next recurred in 2089 B.C., two years after Abraham's call, and again in 5 B.C. when Christ was born. Thus, the cycle matches the three greatest events in redemptive history: the creation and fall of man, the beginning of redemption through Abraham and Israel, and the coming of Christ the Redeemer. We can only wonder as to the importance and meaning of the cycle when it recurs in 2080 A.D

Whatever may be the meaning of the time periods measured by eclipses, they are also very significant symbolically. The darkness of a solar eclipse is reminiscent of the darkness attributed to the Day of the Lord in Scripture (see Amos 5:20) and God's judgment. Interestingly, the only Hebrew feast day to occur on the first day of the lunar month (when solar eclipses occur) is the Feast of Trumpets, pointing to the Day of the Lord, on the first day of the seventh lunar month.

Lunar eclipses occur at full moon, on the fourteenth or fifteenth day of the lunar month. As the full white moon moves into earth's shadow, light refracted through earth's atmosphere turns the moon into a blood-red color. This blood-red lunar eclipse is symbolic of the fact that those who are the people of God are "covered by the blood" of Christ. Indeed, on the original Passover night in 1446 B.C., the moon rose blood-red in an eclipse as if to remind the Israelites of the blood of the Passover lamb. Similarly, a lunar eclipse occurred as the time for Christ's birth approached at Passover in 5 B.C.

We are also reminded by the darkening of the sun and blood red appearance of the moon of the events surrounding the return of Christ (see Rev. 6:12). And we, like the faithful witness in the sky are waiting for the day when the New Jerusalem, our home as the bride of Christ will come down from the sky and God will dwell with men (Rev. 21:2-3).

The moon _,_ "covered by blood," in a lunar eclipse

# Mars

When God makes His dwelling with man, the Tree of Life will be planted in the New Jerusalem as it was in the Garden of Eden at the creation. The third day, Tuesday, celebrates the creation of life, which first appeared on the third day of creation as plant life, including the Tree of Life. In the English language the day Tuesday is named after a Norse god who corresponds to the Roman god Mars, and hence Tuesday is named after the planet Mars.

In the Garden of Eden man rejected God's offer of life through the Tree of Life and chose instead the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which produced death. God sent the Christ to die on a tree so that through His blood man might live. The third brightest star, Toliman, "The Heretofore and the Hereafter," is contained in the constellation Centaurus which speaks of the sacrifice of Christ through which we may live. After the fall of man Mars symbolized the life available to us through Christ.

The blood sacrificed by Christ was foretold by Mars, but the pagan Babylonian religious myths perverted the message by representing Mars as the god of war, shedding other men's blood. However, some pagan sects of Mars retained the grain of truth and priests ritually cut themselves to shed their own blood rather than the blood of others. The truth is that Mars represents our claim to life through the blood of Christ, and the whole planet Mars is colored blood red to remind us of the blood of Jesus.

Mars - the blood of Christ

# Mercury

On the fourth day of the week, Wednesday, God created the sun, the moon, and the stars. Wednesday is named after the Norse god corresponding to the Roman Mercury and Greek Hermes. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and for that reason is only visible low on the horizon in the morning or evening. Isaiah at 14:12 describes the morning star which was "laid low" in a passage describing the fall of Satan. One linguist proved that the linguistic root of "Hermes," a name of Mercury is "The Burnt One" and in one Bible translation the "Morning Star" in Is. 14:12 is translated as "Lucifer." This evidence establishes that Mercury represents Lucifer.

The sun, moon, and stars were created on the fourth day to "declare the Glory of God" as stated in Psalm 19. The fourth brightest star at creation, Vega, "He Shall Be Exalted," has the same message. Lucifer, however, wanted to exalt himself, and from his prideful rebellion came the attack on humanity which continues to this day.

God responded to Lucifer's attack by revealing His Christ who would redeem men and destroy Lucifer. The message of salvation for men and destruction of Lucifer was written into the sun, the moon, and the stars which originally had been entrusted to Lucifer at the creation so that he could glorify God.

Mercury, his planet, was laid low on the horizon and, because of its orbit; its best visibility is as a morning star in the fall and as an evening star in the spring. At both times the star background to Mercury is the last six signs of the zodiac depicting the defeat and destruction of Lucifer.

The loss of visibility attributed to Mercury may also provide a clue to the message of the unseen planets: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and the Asteroids. Because of their distance from the sun and, in the case of the Asteroids, their size, these planets are hidden in the darkness of the sky. Perhaps they depict the fate of Lucifer's followers, described as "Wandering stars (i.e., planets) for whom blackest darkness has been reserved" (Jude 13).

This promised destruction of Lucifer must now be drawing nearer because there is a star which has overtaken Vega in brightness and now is the fourth brightest star. That star is Arcturus, "He Comes," which promises the coming of the Christ.

# Jupiter

The Star Vega, "He Shall Be Exalted," has now become associated with the planet of the fifth day, Thursday, which is a name derived from the Norse god equivalent to the Roman Jupiter. Jupiter as a pagan god was worshipped as the Seed of Woman and included in the pagan mythology surrounding Jupiter were stories showing Jupiter to have been born of a virgin and becoming the sin bearing son of God. Removing the pagan encrustment, it is clear that Jupiter represents Jesus the son of God who came as a man to suffer for our sins.

On the fifth day the birds of the air and the fish of the water were created. The association of fish with the Christ's first coming has been seen in the constellations Capricornus, Delphinus, Pisces Austranis, and Pisces. Indeed, the triple conjunction of 7 B.C. occurred while Jupiter was in Pisces. The constellations Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila rely upon bird imagery to depict the birth and death of the Christ. The planet Jupiter itself contains a graphic representation of the suffering of Christ because the most prominent feature of the planet is a large red spot, giving the planet the appearance of being wounded in the side.

Jupiter _-_ the suffering Savior

# Venus

The object of Christ's sacrifice, man, was created on the sixth day. The celebration of man's creation on the sixth day was short lived, however, because of the fall of man. Subsequently, the sixth day became associated with the redemption of man through the Seed of Woman. The pagan world, ever willing to worship the mother of the Christ, made the planet Venus into a female deity and our Friday is named after the Norse version of the Roman Venus.

Venus is the brightest of the planets and because it is closer to the sun than the earth it appears as a morning or evening star. Venus, representing the Seed of Woman, is in fact the "bright morning star" as Christ described Himself in Revelation 22:16. When the Christ first came the star Arcturus, "He Comes," was associated with Venus as the sixth brightest star and it reached its zenith over Jerusalem just prior to the coming of Christ. Now the sixth brightest star is Capella, the "She Goat," in Auriga which speaks of the protection given to Israel, the bearer of the Seed of Woman, at the second coming of Christ.

# Saturn

Jesus, the Seed of Woman, was crucified on a Friday, the day of Venus which was symbolic of the Seed of Woman. He rested in the grave during the next day, which was the Sabbath, and rose from the dead on the day of the sun, which is symbolic of Christ the Champion. His victory will be completed when He returns to earth as its ruler, and this is the meaning of the seventh day, Saturday, which is named after the planet Saturn.

On the seventh day of creation, God rested from His labor and established the seventh day as a day of rest. The rebellion of Satan and the fall of man brought disorder to the universe, and only the total victory of Christ over Satan will restore the universe to a peaceful state. The seventh brightest star, Rigel, "The Foot That Crushes," speaks of the day when the Seed of Woman will bruise the head of the serpent and bring about peace.

Saturn _-_ the Ruler

The pagan traditions regarding Saturn identify Saturn as the Ruler, a deliverer of mankind who is also associated with the word of God and the rest of God. Saturn was described as the first to wear a crown, which was pictured as a halo or ring around the head. Of course, the most striking physical feature of Saturn is the ring system which seems to provide a crown or halo for the planet. Indeed even the pagans could not hide the fact that Saturn symbolizes the rule of Christ in power and might.

# The Triple Conjunction of 7 B.C

The planet Saturn, when brought into conjunction with the planet Jupiter, presents a picture not unlike that presented by the constellation Gemini. One star in Gemini, Pollux, represents the Suffering Savior and heralded His appearance by its presence at zenith over Jerusalem when Christ was born. The other star in Gemini, Castor, represents the Ruler who will come in power. Similarly, Jupiter represents the Suffering Savior and Saturn represents the Ruler.

Conjunctions occur every 19.86 years when Jupiter overtakes Saturn in its orbital path and the planets appear to be next to each other in the sky. Every 139.03 years a "Triple Conjunction" occurs when a conjunction takes place on the opposite side of the sky from the sun, and Jupiter and Saturn seem to come together three times during the year.

Triple conjunctions occur in cycles of 854 and 2542 years which seem to be related to historical periods.

The long cycle of 2542 years is equal in length to two Saros eclipse cycles. One long cycle marks the advent of Christ, beginning just before Noah's flood in 2518 B.C. and ending with the triple conjunction of 7 B.C. which some commentators believe to be the "star" of Bethlehem. A similar double Saros period marks the period of Gentile domination of Jerusalem, from Babylonian captivity in 597 B.C. to the formation of the Nation of Israel in 1947, and may be the period mentioned by Christ as the "Times of the Gentiles" in Luke 21:24. The next triple conjunction occurs in the year 2100 A.D. and comes at the end of a 2542-year cycle which began the year after the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah in 444 B.C. Perhaps it is a herald of the rebuilding of Jerusalem which will occur when Jesus returns.

The short triple conjunction cycle seems to be related to transitional periods. Half of a cycle, or 427 years, elapsed between the flood of Noah and the call of Abraham, which began the Age of Israel. Similarly, 427 years elapsed between the completion of the Old Testament in 432 B.C. and the Birth of Christ in 5 B.C., marking the beginning of the Church Age. In modern times, perhaps in preparation for the return of Christ, a 427-year period elapsed between the beginning of church reformation in 1520 and the formation of the Nation of Israel in 1947.

Thus, triple conjunctions are meaningful in their symbolism of Christ as suffering Savior and Ruler, and they measure the times of His coming as Suffering Savior and Ruler. The Wise Men seemed to have known that the triple conjunction of 7 B.C. related to the advent of Christ because King Herod's order to kill babies up to two years old was based on information Herod received from them during their visit in 5 B.C. But they also knew that they were waiting on a sovereign God who was not subject to the motions of the sun, moon, and stars. They had to wait for a Sovereign Messenger before they could move.

# The Sovereign Messengers

Exactly 2000 years after the Wise Men began their journey to Jerusalem, in the first lunar month of spring 1996, a comet appeared in the eastern sky. Moving rapidly from Virgo through Bootes and Draco, passing near Polaris, the comet had reached Perseus in time for a Passover Lunar Eclipse. Then it gradually disappeared, leaving us to wonder what signal may have been sent by this celestial messenger.

People everywhere, ancient and modern; seem to believe that comets have some meaning. Many view them with fear, rooted in ancient superstition. For the children of God, however, a comet should be viewed as an opportunity to receive a fresh message from the Author of the Celestial Bible. At the same time, we should remember that we only see through a glass darkly, and not read too much into a phenomenon which occurs almost every decade.

In the case of the 1996 comet, we have some excellent clues to its meaning. The comet's appearance in Virgo, the sign of the virgin birth of the Seed of Woman, in the same lunar month as the Star of Bethlehem became visible in 5 B.C., seems to indicate that the comet was a celestial celebration of Christ's 2000th birthday. We are reminded of Christ's second coming and his victory over Satan as the comet moved through Bootes, "The Coming One," over Draco, "The Dragon," over the dominant north pole, and into Perseus, "The Breaker" who carries the severed head of the evil spirit. The blood-red lunar eclipse tells us that we, too, have overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb (see Rev. 12:1-12). In short, the comet's message was one of celebration and triumph, a dreadful sign only to God's enemies.

As unexpected as comets, and far rarer, are the super novas which suddenly burst into prominence every few hundred years. The last bright super nova appeared in 1918 near the tail of Serpens, "The Serpent," as World War I was winding down. The one prior to this came in 1604 near the wounded foot in Ophiucius, "The Serpent Holder," in the midst of the warfare between Papal Rome and the Protestants. The association of the 1604 and 1918 super novas with the Serpent Holder and the tail of the Serpent tells us that even in the darkest times, our Lord is in control. Perhaps the 1918 super nova is also telling us that we are nearing the tail end of the Serpent's time of power.

Supernovas seem to mark a time of change in kingdoms, with the 1604 super nova coming during the transition from Papal Rome, the seventh King, to the Age of the Ten Kings as mentioned in the 17th chapter of the book of Revelation. Earlier super novas also marked kingdom changes, as the 1054 nova came in the year the churches of Papal Rome and Byzantine Rome separated, and a super nova in 134 B.C. accompanied the transfer of the Babylonian religion to Rome in 133 B.C. Similarly, the 1918 super nova came during the time when God was reestablishing the Nation of Israel in preparation for the return of Christ.

The world had to wait 30 years to see Israel established after the 1918 super nova, just as the world had to wait 30 years to see God's Kingdom proclaimed by Christ after His birth was announced by the super nova of 5 B.C. which we call the Star of Bethlehem.

The Wise Men who were watching the signs, however, did not have to wait. They knew when they saw the Star of Bethlehem that the Season of His Coming had arrived.

*******

# XI

# The Season of His Coming

" **As surely as the sun rises He will appear; He will come to us like Winter rains, like the Spring rains that water the earth."**

Hosea 6:3

The prophet Hosea likened the appearance of the Christ to the Winter rains which led to the coming of Spring. Hosea's description follows the weather pattern of Israel, where Winter and Spring rains produce the first fruits of the early crops in the Spring.

This prophetic linkage of the first coming of Christ to the seasons of Winter and Spring also follows the religious calendar which God had established in the Feasts of Israel. The Winter rains begin the process of growing the Spring crop which is celebrated in the Feast of First Fruits, symbolizing the resurrection of Christ as the First Fruits of the dead. The other Spring feasts, Passover and Unleavened Bread, also speak of the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. Thus, Winter and Spring are the seasons of the first coming of Christ.

The season of Winter begins when the zenith of the sun is furthest south from the equator on the day called the Winter Solstice. The sun, which symbolizes Christ, is at its lowest point in the sky and this position represents the humbling or lowering of Christ in His incarnation. The Spring which follows symbolizes His work in bringing forth life from the death and rejection of Winter. This humbling and rejection of Christ at his first coming was represented in the stars by the sign of Sagittarius, the sign of His first coming.

Since the days of Adam the precession of the equinoxes had moved the Winter season, the season of His coming, toward the sign of Sagittarius, the sign of His coming, at the rate of 1 day each 71 years or so. Finally, in the year 7 B.C., the precession of the equinoxes carried the Winter Solstice into the sign of Sagittarius. The sign of the advent of Christ had arrived in the season of the advent of Christ. Christ's time had come, and God was already at work preparing the way.

John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way, was born to a priest named Zechariah, who was ministering with his priestly division when the angel Gabriel told him he would have a son. His division of Abijah ministered for one week beginning eight weeks after the Spring and Fall feasts. This would have been during the last week in November in 7 B.C., and he would have returned home at the beginning of December in 7 B.C., when the third phase of the triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C. was beginning. John the Baptist was probably conceived on or near the day of the Winter Solstice in 7 B.C., when the Winter entered Sagittarius, announcing the advent of Christ.

# Spring

The triple conjunction of 7 B.C., which began its third phase after Gabriel's visit to Zechariah, occurred in the sign of Pisces, which represents the new life given by Christ's coming. In 7 B.C., just before the triple conjunction began, the Spring Equinox, which was also symbolic of new life, had moved into Pisces. The Age of the Church, which took the symbol of the fish for identification, was beginning.

In the Spring of 6 B.C. the planet Mars joined the triple conjunction which had begun in 7 B.C. to form the unique planetary massing. Mars represented the sacrifice and blood of Jesus, just as Jupiter represented the Suffering Savior and Saturn represented the ultimate exaltation of Christ as the Ruler. It was time for the Sacrifice of Righteousness to appear.

The angel Gabriel came to Mary during the sixth month of the pregnancy of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Jesus was conceived about six months after the conception of John, at about the day of the Summer Solstice, in 6 B.C. The Summer Solstice had just moved into the sign of Gemini, which presents a picture of the first and second coming of Christ that is almost identical to the symbolic message of the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. The star Pollux, "He Who Comes to Suffer," was moved by the precession of the equinoxes into its position directly above Jerusalem in 7 B.C. as another sign of His coming.

The Feast of Passover in the year 5 B.C. fell on the same day as the Spring Equinox, which had just moved into the sign of Pisces. That night the moon added its testimony to the coming Christ by becoming blood red, symbolizing the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, because of a lunar eclipse. Nine months had passed since Gabriel had visited Mary, and the time of the advent was near.

# The Star

At about the time of the Feast of Passover, perhaps on the same night, the Star of Bethlehem exploded into a celebration of the birth of Christ. It appeared low on the horizon in the East, in the midst of the Summer Triangle of Deneb "The Lord Comes," Altair "The Wounding," and Vega "He Shall Be Exalted." These stars had the same meaning as the planetary massing of Jupiter, Suffering Savior (who comes!) Mars, The Blood of Jesus, and Saturn, the exaltation of Christ as the Ruler. The star burned for 70 days, remaining at Zenith over Jerusalem until the Magi arrived.

The Star of Bethlehem was located along the celestial meridian of the star Altair, which was also the meridian of the Winter Solstice as it had moved into the sign of Sagittarius, announcing the advent of the Christ. The star confirmed that the sign of His coming had arrived in His season. The Christ was born!

The Magi must have watched with increasing excitement as each sign of the coming of Christ fell into place. They had probably calculated the time when Sagittarius, the sign of His coming, would be in the Winter Solstice. They would have known that the triple conjunction in Pisces would occur as Pisces went into the Spring Equinox to signal the beginning of the church age. No doubt they told King Herod of the signs beginning in 7 B.C., because Herod ordered all children born in Bethlehem for two years prior to the visit of the Magi to be killed.

Yet even with all of the signs of the season of His coming the Magi could not calculate the day or the hour of His coming. The exploding Star of Bethlehem - the promised star over Jacob - was God's signal that Christ had arrived. The wise men had watched the signs and were ready to act when the star appeared, but only God knew when the time would come.

Like the Magi who looked for the coming of Christ, we who wait for His return do not know the day or the hour when He will appear.

But, like the Magi, we know the sign and the season of His return.

*******

# XII

# Summer is Near

" **Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: as soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that Summer is near."**

\- Matthew 24:32

Christians around the world rejoiced when the State of Israel was established in 1948. Many believed that the rebirth of Israel almost 2000 years after its destruction in 70 A.D. was the sign of the fig tree which heralded the return of Christ.

Some people were disappointed when Christ did not return within a generation of 1948, or by 1988 after a 40 year "generation." However, the real sign of the imminent appearing of Christ is the desolation of Jerusalem, (Matt. 24:15) not the reestablishment of Jewish rule. God prepared Israel for the return of Christ, but His return did not immediately follow the establishment of Israel.

In the case of the advent of Christ, God prepared Israel for the coming of Christ in 165 B.C., when the nation won its independence from Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes. Antiochus had attempted to destroy the religion of the Jews by persecution and desecrating the Temple. After an 1150 day period foretold by the prophet Daniel (Dan. 8:14), Israel became free and the Temple was rededicated. The nation was ready, but Christ did not come until 160 years later.

A similar waiting period could elapse between the rebirth of Israel and the second coming. Those who interpret the book of Revelation from a historical perspective can find a 150 year period between the formation of Israel and the events leading to the great tribulation, matching the five months of the "fifth trumpet," at Rev. 9:5. Others have felt that there was a 2300 year period to match the "2300 evenings and mornings" which were prophesied by Daniel at Dan. 8:14. The 150 year period would end in the year 2098 A.D. and the 2300 year period ends less than 40 years later in 2133 A.D. could this be the generation of the Lord's return?

# Summer

The Gospel writer Luke recorded at 21:25 Christ's statement that there would be signs of His return in the sun, moon, and stars. Luke used the Greek word "Astron," which has been translated as "Stars," but was normally used for "Constellation." Jesus was telling us to watch for the signs of His coming in the constellations, or signs of the zodiac. And the zodiac sign to watch would be Taurus, symbolizing His return in power and glory.

Later in that same discourse Jesus associated the Summer season with His return. For, as the Winter Solstice symbolized Christ's sacrifice by marking the lowest point of the sun, so the Summer Solstice is the highest point of the sun and represents the exaltation of Christ. Therefore, as Winter was the season of His first coming, so Summer is the season of His second coming.

Summer, the season of His return, is near because in the year 2121 A.D. the Summer Solstice moves into the sign of Taurus, the sign of the return of Christ. Just as the season of His coming arrived in the sign of His coming in 7 B.C., so the season of His return arrives in the sign of His return in 2121 A.D.

As the summer moves into Taurus, the sun will be positioned at the outermost point of the Galaxy as it was at Noah's flood and the day of Pentecost. As in the days of the flood, mankind's wickedness will be great, and many will perish (Matt. 24:37-38). The constellation Orion, Coming Forth as Light, symbolizes this judgment with Eridanus, the River of Fire, flowing out. Orion's Star Betelgeuse, "The Coming of the Branch," enters the meridian of summer, confirming that the time has come.

Yet in the face of this final outermost point rejection of God, as at Pentecost, He has promised to save the remnant of Israel and the nations (Zech. 14:3-16). The constellation Auriga, the Shepherd, moves into the summer meridian as a promise of God's grace in the midst of judgment.

# Fall

Following the Summer, the Fall Equinox enters into the sign of Leo, symbolic of the triumph of Christ, in that same year of 2121 A.D. The Fall Equinox is the time of the Jewish feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles which celebrate the return of Christ as the Spring feasts represent the advent of Christ. On the equinox days the sun and earth's equator are on the same plane, symbolizing Christ's presence on earth. The Spring symbolizes His first coming, while the Fall symbolizes the return of Christ to earth. Along the meridian where the Fall Equinox enters Leo stands the star Denebola, "The Lord Who Comes," which adds its testimony to the return of the Christ.

The next triple conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter occurs in the year 2100 A.D. and it will occur in the sign of Virgo, the symbol of the woman and nation bearing the Seed of Woman. The triple conjunction of 7 B.C. occurred in Pisces, picturing the church, as the sign arrived at the Spring Equinox, beginning the events leading to the advent of Christ. The Fall Equinox will still be in Virgo, moving into Leo some 21 years later, and the triple conjunction in the sign of Virgo, representing Israel, may occur as events leading to the return of Christ begin to unfold.

These events will move the world toward the battle of Armageddon, where Christ defeats His enemies and becomes ruler of the world. The star Polaris, "The Turned Upon," becomes the north pole star in 2102 A.D. as a further reminder that Christ's victory is assured, and the star Castor, "The Ruler," assumes its position directly over Jerusalem at Zenith in 2121 A.D.

# Changing Signs

The Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox also enter into new signs in the year 2121 A.D. Winter enters the sign of Ophiucus, the man hold ing the serpent, indicating the bringing low of Satan, and reminding us that Satan will be bound for 1000 years when Christ returns. The Spring enters Aquarius, the water pourer,

symbolizing the eternal life available to Christ's followers as they partake of the river of Living Water which will spring forth from the Temple after Christ returns.

The changing of the signs of the seasons has indicated a significant event in the unfolding of God's plan from the beginning. The first change of a sign after creation occurred when the Fall Equinox moved into the sign of Scorpio, the Rebellion, at the time God dealt with man's rebellion through the flood of Noah. When Abraham was called to begin the nation of Israel, three of the seasons changed signs. Significantly, the three signs of Capricorn, Aries, and Libra relate to the sacrifice of Christ who was to be brought forth from Israel.

A season change also occurred at the Exodus as Cancer, the Home of God's People, moved into summer while God's people prepared to enter the Promised Land. At the Exile, when Gentile dominion of Jerusalem began, the promised coming of the Seed of Woman was renewed as Virgo moved into fall.

To mark the advent of Christ, three of the seasons changed signs. Sagittarius, the Sign of His First Coming, moved into winter, the Season of His Advent, while Pisces, representing the Church, moved into spring. Gemini, representing the rule of Christ, moved into summer as its star Pollux, "The Suffering Savior," moved over Jerusalem.

However, only in the year 2121 A.D. when Taurus, the Sign of His Return, moves into summer, the Season of His Return, do all four seasons change signs. This unique event further confirms the significance of the return of Christ.

# Sun and Moon

There are also signs of His return in the sun and moon. The lunar eclipse which occurred at the Passover on the Spring Equinox in 5 B.C. was a part of a 2084 year solar/lunar eclipse cycle which began at creation and generated a solar eclipse when Abraham was entering the Promised Land. There will be solar eclipses at the Spring Equinox and on the Feast of Trumpets in the year 2080 A.D. and the eclipses will repeat in the years 2099, 2118, and 2137. As the lunar eclipse on Passover of 5 B.C. symbolized the blood of Christ which was to be shed as the Passover Lamb, so the solar eclipses on the Feast of Trumpets may symbolize His coming in great power at the trump of God.

# The Return of Christ

Thus, it can be seen that there are signs of His return in the sun, moon, and stars and that these signs are part of the same revelation which led the Magi to seek Him so long ago. However, as was the case with the Magi, no man knows the day or the hour of the return of the Lord. God has promised to shake the heavenly bodies (Isaiah 13:10 and Matt. 24:29) at the time the "sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky" (Matt. 24:30). With a slight adjustment to the movement of the Earth, the season of His return could arrive at the sign of His return tomorrow. Only God the Father knows when Christ will return.

Witnessing the pain and suffering in the world now, many wonder why God waits. The saints in Heaven who asked the same question in the fifth chapter of Revelation were told that God is waiting for the number of the saints to be completed. Peter tells us in the third chapter of his second letter that God is patiently waiting for everyone to come to repentance, not wanting anyone to die. God wants to keep His offer of life through belief in Christ open for as long as He can. This is the time of the Great Harvest, and we must gather while we can because Summer is near.

Knowing of God's Grace, some question why Christ will come back to end it all. Jesus gives us a clue in His discussion of the end of the age on Mount Olivet when He says that if the days had not been cut short no flesh would live. It is for the sake of the elect - those who are graciously granted a chance to believe in Jesus and enter the Millennium in the flesh that the days will be cut short.

In other words, when the nuclear missiles have been launched and all of mankind is doomed, Jesus will come so that a few more people can find life in the family of God.

In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth so that He could have a family. The human race lost its birthright but God made a way through the Christ for the lost children of God to return home to the Father.

The way in the stars is the way of Christ and the way home to our Father in Heaven. Until the stars cease shining on that great and terrible Day of the Lord, Jesus Christ will hold open the door of Heaven for those who want to become the children of God. This is the message our Father in Heaven has written in the stars:

" **Come Home.**

The Door is open,

and the Lights are burning"

# A Prayer to Join the Family of God

Lord, I acknowledge that I am a flawed product in a universe destined for perfection. Without Your help, I cannot survive.

I want to join the rescue plan You began through the Christ. I believe that Christ took upon Himself the consequences of my imperfection, even unto death. I believe You raised him from death and made him Lord of the universe. Because of the work of Christ and my acceptance of it, I believe that You will raise me from death like Christ.

I submit to the work of Your Holy Spirit to bring me to a state of perfection. I believe that You will make it possible for me to ultimately be perfect like Christ.

Most of all, Lord, I want to know You as my Father and to return love to You as Christ did. Help me to see You as You are and to move into the love which surrounds You. Let me love You as a child, but grow up to maturity and take my place in Your family.

I ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

# Now What?

If you prayed that prayer with your heart, God has heard you and sent His Spirit to bring your spirit to life. You have been "saved" and "born again."

You are a spiritual newborn and, like a natural newborn, you need a family to nurture and protect you. This is what the Church is for, and you must find a good one.

Look for a church where people have a personal relationship with God and believe the Bible. Above all, find a church where people love everybody, including you.

That's when you will discover that you can experience some of the joy of Heaven down here on earth.

It's a great life.

Enjoy it!

*******

# Endnotes

This book is based upon a synthesis of information gathered from religious, historical, and scientific sources. Rather than use extensive footnotes, the author has chosen to provide limited footnotes as sources are introduced in the text.

1. The star names and constellations used in this work have been taken from the works of J. A. Seiss _, The Gospel in the Stars_ and E.W. Bullinger _, The Witness of the Stars_. The recent work of Kenneth C. Fleming, _God's Voice in the Stars_ , also provided invaluable guidance concerning the overall story told by the stars and constellations.

2. Ancient historical dates used in this work have generally been taken from the dates used in the _New International Version Study Bible_ published by Zondervan.

3. A very valuable resource for studying the star of Bethlehem and related matters is _The Star of Bethlehem Mystery_ by David Hughes. His conclusion that the triple conjunction of 7 B.C. was the star of Bethlehem was in part based upon his belief that this was the only celestial event having a defined astrological meaning. However, he apparently did not have the benefit of the star research of Francis Rolleston and others, and, as we shall see, the celestial events surrounding the birth of Christ are full of meaning.

4. A number of astronomical works were used to complete this work. These include readily available reference works such as _Burnham's Celestial Handbook_ and the _Universe Guide to Stars and Planets_. Eclipse studies of Oppoltzer, Meeks, and Professor Von Den Bergh, available at many public libraries, were also used. In addition, works of Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Kepler provide valuable historical understanding of the movement of stars and our understanding of them.

5. One of the greatest historical errors of the Church has been its failure to appreciate its Jewish roots and to fully understand the revelation given to the Jews. We are indebted to Zola Levitt for his work in this area and for his helpful pamphlet on _The Seven Feasts of Israel_. See the chart in Chapter VIII for more information on the Seven Feasts.

6. A useful study of the source and practices of ancient paganism, as well is the tracing of these practices to the Church and modern times, is found in _The Two Babylons_ by Rev. Alexander Hilsop. We do not agree with his anti-Catholic beliefs, however, and the book should be read with a grain of salt.

7. The New Age astrological mythology is outlined in the New Age book _A Spiritual Approach to Astrology_ by Myrna Lofthus.

8. Twentieth century scientific discoveries have proven that no evolutionary model can explain the existence of the universe or life in the universe. The well established "Big Bang" theory asserts that the universe began from a single point, in conformity with the Biblical revelation. Many scientists are beginning to agree with Albert Einstein that the universe was designed by a Supreme Being. An excellent book outlining some of these discoveries is Dr. Hugh Ross's _The Creator and the Cosmos_. Another excellent source of information is _Scientific Creationism_ edited by Henry M. Morris.

9. The influence of the occult and New Age beliefs on Hitler, his followers, and the German SS have been well documented. An excellent work on this subject is _The Twisted Cross_ by Joseph J. Carr.

10. An excellent book on the Feast of Trumpets is Joseph Good's _Rosh Hashanah and The Messianic Kingdom to Come._

11. The word "Little Girl" also provides a clue to the picture to be used to represent the Church in the heavens. The Church is pictured in this work as the triumphant Bride of Christ, with one hand reaching to God in heaven and one hand reaching to men on earth.

12. Earlier writers on the celestial revelation generally confined their writings to the stars and constellations. The compilation of the material related to the planets was made using the Bible, ancient mythological perversions shown in _The Two Babylons_ , and the revelation from the stars and constellations. It should also be noted that the Hebrew "Day" used to describe the creation can also mean "age." Thus, some Christian scholars such as Hugh Ross (note 8) believe in a creation period covering billions of years while others like Henry Morris (note 8) can argue for a literal seven day creation. Interestingly, however, the order of events in the "days" of creation matches the sequence of events which scientists believe occurred in the creation of the universe.

13. It is the author's belief that the book of Revelation is the New Testament functions in a way similar to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. That is, Daniel is primarily concerned with predicting historical events which were to occur before the first coming of Christ, with some predictions of later events such as the second coming mixed in. In the same way, Revelation is concerned with predicting historical events which are to occur before the second coming of Christ, with some predictions of later events such as the millennial kingdom of Christ.

This historical understanding of the book of Revelation was, until recently, the generally accepted explanation of the prophecies in that book. See, for example, the historical explanation in _Hailey's Bible Handbook_. However, the material in the chart represents the author's beliefs concerning the meanings of the seal and trumpet visions from the book of Revelation.

*******

# Bibliography

Barker, Kenneth, Ed., _The NIV Study Bible_ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985).

Bullinger, E.W., _Number in Scripture_ (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1893, 1967).

Bullinger, E.W., _Witness of the Stars_ (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1893,1967).

Burnham, Jr., Robert, _Burnham's Celestial Handbook_ , New York, NY: Dover, 1978).

Carr, Joseph J., _The Twisted Cross_ (Shreveport, LA: 1985).

Fleming, Kenneth C., _God's Voice in the Stars_ (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux, 1981).

Good, Joseph, _Rosh Hashanah and the Messianic Kingdom to Come_ (Port Arthur, TX: Hatikva Ministries, 1989).

Hailey, Henry H., _Hailey's Bible Handbook_ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1965).

Hilsop, Alexander, _The Two Babylons_ (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux, 1916,1959).

Hughes, David, _The Star of Bethlehem Mystery_ (London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1979).

Hutchins, Robert Maynard, E.D., _Great Books of the Western World, Vol. 16_ : Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. 1952).

Josephus, Flavius, _The Complete Works of Josephus_ (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1960).

Levitt, Zola, _The Seven Feasts of Israel_ (Dallas, TX: 1979).

Lofthus, Myrna, _A Scriptural Approach to Astrology_ (Sebastopol, CA: CRS Publications, 1983). (This is not a Christian book.)

Lucas, Jerry and Washburn, Del., _Theomatics: God's Best Kept Secret Revealed_ (Brancroft Manor, NY: Stein and Day, 1977).

McDowell, Josh and Steward, Don., _Handbook of Today's Religions_ (San Bernadino, CA: 1983).

Meeks, Jean, _Elements of Solar Eclipses_ : 1951-2000 (Richmond, VA: Willmann Bell, Inc., 1989).

Morris, Henry M., PhD., E.D., _Scientific Creationism_ (El Cajon, CA: Master Books, 1974).

Ridpath, Ian and Tirion, W.K., _Universe Guide to Stars and Planets_ (New York, NY: Universe Books, 1985).

Ross, Hugh, PhD., _The Creator and the Cosmos_ (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, 1993).

Seiss, Joseph A., _The Gospel in the Stars_ (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1972).

Unger, Merrill F., _Unger's Bible Dictionary_ (Chicago, IL: 1966).

Van Den Bergh, Prof., Dr., _Periodicity and Variation of Solar and Lunar Eclipses_ (Haarlem, Netherlands: H.D. Tjeene, Willink, and Zoon, N.V., 1955).

Walters, Derek, _Chinese Astrology_ (London: The Aquarian Press, 1992). (This is not a Christian book.)

*******

# International Star Bible Society

# Discovering The Heavens

Once you have learned about the story of Christ in the stars you can now discover the Heavens for yourself.

Sadly most of us live in urban areas where the stars are obscured by the bright city lights, also called "Light Pollution." So you owe it to yourself to get out of town and experience the beauty and majesty of the night sky. You will be amazed.

Fortunately there is a much simpler way to enjoy the stars from your backyard: Binoculars. Low magnification produces a field of view you can recognize and largely offsets the effects of light pollution. As a bonus you will see the beautiful blue, red, and even green colors of some stars. If you want to see planetary details or deep space objects you will need a large telescope or (better) a good internet connection to look at professional astronomical pictures. Remember that The Star Bible was meant to be seen by the naked eye.

Your next step will be to learn to recognize the stars and constellations in the sky. It is much easier than you might think using Star Finders and constellation books which are readably available. With these and the constellation maps in this book you will be able to find and identify the important stars and constellations. You can identify the planets by finding the rising and setting times in your local newspaper or looking in astronomical magazines.

One of the best ways to test your newfound celestial knowledge is to find the black hole remnant of The Star of Bethlehem. Using your star charts find the Summer Triangle Stars: Deneb, Altair, and Lyra. Deneb is the top of the Northern Cross (part of the constellation Cygnus) which is inside the Triangle. The remnant of the Star of Bethlehem is the black hole X-1 Cygus, which of course cannot be seen. However you can find its location about half way between Albireo, at the foot of the Cross, and Sadr in the middle.

Once you have discovered the Heavens you may want to share with others. It is only natural. But the best part of it is that, while you are sharing the Heavens, you are also sharing the story of Christ. As the psalmist says:

"The Heavens declare the Glory of God" Ps 19:1

Our Mission at the International Star Bible Society is to reclaim the Heavens from pagan Astrology and soulless astronomy so that Christians may once again appreciate their inheritance in the stars.

We invite you to join with us in our mission by visiting us on our website at: starbiblesociety.com.
