The initial shock of stellar majesty inspires a new appreciation for the word awesome.
Truly, that amazing sight is overpowering to our human emotions and intellect. But is there more to it than that?
The most ancient cultures on earth were captivated by the stars. To them the magnificent annual precession of the stars had historic and prophetic significance as well as usefulness in scheduling their agricultural seasons. Today most of us have essentially zero knowledge of what those ancient people know of the stars.
Think: though corrupted cultures form Nimrod and Babel have wrongfully worshipped the stars, associated them with mythical legends, and developed systems of pagan astrology, we must ask a basic question. What was the Creator's purpose for decorating the night sky with the stars?
Genesis 1:14-16
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
Days and years clearly reveal GOD's intent that stars would help us measure time. Indeed, the precision and regularity of stellar observations from the beginning have provided man with annual "skymarks" in time. Like the microscopic world, the starry heaven shows us GOD's special order and design. The creation is not random, chaotic, and unpredictable, but by GOD's plan and purpose for mankind. The Hebrew word for seasons is something "fixed" or "appointed". GOD says in Psalms that He ordained them.
Psalm 8:3
3 "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;"
Did you know that in GOD's creative miracle of the Heavens that He named all the stars?
Psalm 147:4-5
4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
Four thousand years ago, GOD ask Job many questions including some about specific stars and well known star groups.
Job 38:31-33
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
Before Job, men recounted the originally meaning of the constellations. In Orion, the coming Prince of Light holds a great club in his right hand and the token of his victory in his left- the head of the "roaring lion" that is Satan. The sign shows Orion's left foot is raised to crush the head of the enemy.
If there is any doubt about the identity of Orion's meaning, all we need to do is examine the ancient names of the notable stars in the constellation. The brightest (in the right shoulder of Orion) is named Betelgeuz, which means "the coming of the Branch". Next is Rigel, seen in the foot poised over the head of the enemy. It is the seventh brightest star in the sky. Rigel means "the foot that crushes." In the left shoulder of Orion is Bellatrix, which means "quickly coming" or "swiftly destroying". One of the three stars in Orion's belt is named Al Nitak, "the wounded one," and the star in his right leg is called Saiph, meaning "bruised" (the very word used in the Book of Genesis 3:15. Should it surprise us to learn that Orion is the most brilliant of all the constellations?
Psalm 19:1-6
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
If the "glory of God" was intended to be declared by the stellar heavens in Psalms, it is likely that their story line, in the 12 signs called the Mazzaroth by God himself in Job 38, signifies the eternal plan of Y'shua the Messiah, who alone is "the brightness of His glory."
Hebrews 1:3
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
The Hebrews, the Aztecs, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Chinese all have the same 12 constellations with the same essential meanings. To look at the stars, there is no reason to group them as they are in the zodiac... except if it was divinely designed to tell a story!
Originally from here
Posted on Shalom Adventure by: Brenda Miller
