“The Heavens are telling the Glory of God” – Psalm 19:1.
The SIGNS of the Zodiac
Foretell the Plan of God
What is the
Zodiac? Is it Biblical? Or of pagan origin?
What does
the Bible say about the “signs of the Zodiac”
and do they have any significance for us, today? Why
did David write, “The heavens DECLARE the glory of
God . . .
and night after night they display knowledge”?
Do the
constellations in the heavens give us an awesome
PREVIEW of
the Plan God is working out on earth below?
William
F. Dankenbring
Contrary to the sneers and rantings
of skeptics and the hooting of cynics, there are vital messages we can learn
from the stars! Amazing as it may sound,
we are talking about hidden “messages” in the stars – a message put there in
ancient times! This is not speaking of
the false claims of pagan astrologers and the artful mysticism of astrology,
which God condemns -- but rather a unique testimony and witness of the true plan
of God as revealed in the stars and constellations of the sky!
Over 2,000 years before the time of
Christ, God inspired the book of Job to be written, which mentions the signs of
the Zodiac, and gives the names of several stars and star groups, as being both
ancient and well known. This is not
speaking of astrology but in terms of divine revelation revealed through the
stars!
Job writes, under divine
inspiration, “He [God] is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the
constellations of the south” (Job 9:9)
Job also quotes God as declaring,
“Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?
Can you loose the cords of Orion?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons? Or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of heaven?” (Job
38:31-33, NIV). The King James version
has, instead of “constellations, “ the term
“Mazzaroth.” The marginal reading says,
“Or, the twelve signs.” This refers to
the signs of the Zodiac! God does not
condemn the signs or dividions of the night sky into twelve “signs,” but
mentions them as an accepted fact of reality.
Adam Clarke in his commentary, says of “Mazzaroth,” “This is generally
understood to mean the signs of the zodiac.”
Says the Critical-Experimental Commentary, “32.
Canst thou bring forth (into the sky) the signs of the Zodiac at
their respective seasons – the twelve lodgings [Mazzaloth in
the Hebrew, II Kings 23:5, being equivalent to Mazzaroth here – viz., stopping
places] in which the sun successively stays, or appears in the sky?”
Other signs of the Zodiac are referred
to by name in the Scriptures. The sign
of “Gemini,” or ‘The Twins,” is mentioned as the name of a ship in Acts
The Scriptures clearly are not
silent as to the existence of the Zodiac.
E.W. Bullinger, famed Biblical
commentator, knew this fundamental truth.
He wrote a fascinating book entitled Witness of the Stars. In this amazing book, Bullinger tells us
that the original Zodiac, mentioned in the book of Job, perhaps the oldest book
of the Bible, was the great sign given by God to preach the gospel in the
heavens.
Psalm 19 tells us more about this
mystery: “The heavens declare the glory
of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where
their voice is not hear” (vs.1-3). The first part of this Psalm clearly speaks
of the witness of the stars in the heavens and their testimony of the plan of
God (verses 1-6). This was the sole
witness to countless generations of God’s great Plan, before God prepared His
written Word to also bear testimony!
The second part of this Psalm speaks of the written Word of God --
His law (verses 7-14).
Says E. W. Bullinger,
“If we turn to
history and tradition, we are at once met with the fact that the
Twelve
Signs are the same, both as to the meaning of their names and as to
their order in all the ancient nations of the world. The Chinese, Chaldean
and Egyptian records go back to more than 2,000 years
B.C. Indeed, the
Zodiacs
in the temples of Denderah and Esneh, in
of Zodiacs still more ancient, which, from internal
evidence, must be placed
nearly 4,000 years B.C., when the summer solstice was in
Leo.
“Josephus
hands down to us what he gives as the traditions of his own nation,
corroborated by his reference to eight ancient Gentile
authorities, whose works
are lost. He says
that they all assert that ‘God gave the antediluvians such long
life that they might perfect those things which they had
invented in astronomy”
(Witness of the Stars, Bullinger, p.9).
Bullinger goes on:
“Ancient Persian
and Arabian traditions ascribe its invention to Adam, Seth,
and Enoch. Josephus
asserts that it originated in the family of Seth; and he
says that the children of Seth, and especially Adam, Seth,
and Enoch, that
their revelation might not be lost as to the coming
judgments of Water and
Fire,
made two pillars (one of brick, the other of stone), describing the whole
of the predictions of the stars upon them, and in case the
brick pillar should
be destroyed by the flood, the stone would preserve the
revelation” (p.10).
There is a wide difference between understanding the “signs
of the Zodiacc,” as they
refer to prophecy and God’s Plan, and the wicked practice of
“astrology.”
God condemns the practice of
astrology, no less than divining, sorcery, or looking into crystal balls or tea
leaves. God warns the daughter of
However, God’s Word plainly says the
stars in the sky were put there for a purpose.
Why did God create the stars in the
heavens in the first place? We read one
significant answer in Genesis, the first chapter. Moses wrote:
“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to
separate the day from the night, and let them serve as SIGNS to mark
seasons and days and years” (Genesis 1:14, NIV).
The word for “sign” here, in the
Hebrew, is owth, and means “a signal, as a flag, beacon, monument, omen,
prodigy, evidence,” etc.
Does God often send mysterious
“signs” in the heavens before He performs mighty works in the earth? What do the Scriptures say about this?
Jesus Christ Himself said, referring
to the days before His second coming:
“And there will be fearful sights and GREAT SIGNS from heaven” (Luke
Christ went on, “And there will be SIGNS
in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars . . .” (Luke 25).
Also speaking of His second coming,
to rule this world, and to deliver mankind from its greatest crisis in all
human history, Jesus foretold: “Immediately
after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon
will not give its light; the stars [meteors] will fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens will be shaken [an incredible cosmic quaking and shaking
-- see Hebrews 12:25-28; Hag.2:21-23]. Then
the SIGN of the Son of Man will APPEAR in heaven, and then all the tribes
of the earth will mourn, and they will SEE the Son of Man coming on the clouds
of heaven with power and glory” (Matt.24:29-30).
What will this great SIGN be?
"A Star Out of Jacob"
In the book of Numbers we read a
mysterious prophecy about the coming Messiah of Israel, the Redeemer and
Saviour of the world:
“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not
nigh: there shall
come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre
shall rise out of
and destroy all the children of Sheth” (Num.24:17).
All commentators see this as a
prophecy of the coming Messiah figure of
This prophecy is clearly Messianic. Isaiah speaks of this Messiah who comes as a
conquering king: “And he shall set up an
ensign [SIGN] for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of
But why is the Messiah associated
with a “star”? Why does the prophecy say
a star shall come “out of Jacob”? This
certainly means that the Messiah would be descended from Jacob. But why is He connected with a “star”? Why is He referred to in the prophecy as a
“star”?
How was this famous prophecy fulfilled? According to the writers of the New
Testament, there was a “star” that was distinctly associated with the birth of
Jesus Christ -- that acted as a herald, and a beacon, of His impending birth. Matthew tells us the story:
“Now when Jesus
was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the
king, behold, there came wise men from the east to
is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen
his star in the east, and
have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:1-2).
The expression “in the east” in the King James Version is
not precisely correct. The literal term
in the Greek language is anatole and means “a rising of light,” “dawn,”
“dayspring,” “rising,” or by implication, “east.” Literally, they saw his “star rising.” The root word means to “cause to arise,”
“rise up.” They had seen this unique
star at its “rising,” a sidereal appearance, which they regarded as betokening
the birth of the Messianic King of the Jews.
The
Fulfillment of Prophecy
The word “star” in Scripture has
been abundantly proved to mean not only a literal “star,” but is also used of
“constellations,” “comets,” “meteors,” -- in short, it has the widest possible
application to the heavenly bodies.
The “wise men” were clearly
distinguished men, “magi,” who were learned and scholarly, especially in
astronomy, mathematics, the sciences and history. They were familiar with the Hebrew
prophets. They may have been descendants
of the “wise men” of
Notice the fact that the sudden appearance in Jerusalem of these impressive visitors from the east -- possibly Babylon, or Persia, or the Parthian empire -- had a powerful effect on the residents of Jerusalem, and especially on king Herod. The king himself was greatly disturbed to learn that there was another “king” whose birth had been predicted, who was to rule over the Jews.
“When Herod the
king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem
with
him. And when he had gathered all the
chief priests and scribes of the people
together,
he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
“And
they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea:
for thus it is written by the prophet,
And
thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of
Judah:
for
out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
“Then
Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently
what
time the star appeared. And he
sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search
diligently
for the young child: and when ye have
found him, bring me word again, that
I
may come and worship him.
“When they had heard the king, they departed; and,
lo, the star, which they saw in
the
east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child
was.
When
they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy” (Matt.2:3-10).
The wise men found the boy Yeshua, in a house, and
presented gifts to Him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and then departed into
their own country, being warned in a dream not to return to Herod
(v.11-12). Joseph, the supposed father
of the child, was also warned in a dream to flee into Egypt, for Herod would
attempt to kill the infant (v.13). He
did so, and remained there until after the death of Herod, which occurred in
the spring of 4 B.C., just before Passover.
Herod, when he saw that the wise men had not returned, was exceedingly
angry:
“Then Herod,
when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth,
and
sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the
coasts
thereof,
from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently
inquired
of the wise men” (Matt.2:16).
Notice that originally Herod inquired as to the time when
the wise men first saw the “new star” in the heavens -- when it first appeared
in the night sky (Matt.2:7).
Apparently, they first saw it “two years” previously (verse 16). Was this celestial phenomenon the fulfillment
of the prophecy of Balaam in Numbers 24:17, the “star of Jacob”?
A Tri-Planetary Conjunction
Throughout the ages, rabbinical sages and scholars have
written about a certain type of “star” -- a tri-planetary conjunction -- that
they said would appear in the constellation of Pisces near the time of the
birth of the Messiah -- just before the time of His coming.
Dr. Alfred Edersheim, a famous Bible
scholar of the nineteenth century, points out that there is one illustrative
Jewish statement which, “though not astrological, is of the greatest
importance, although it seems to have been overlooked.” In his book The Life and Times of Jesus
the Messiah, Edersheim mentions the well known Jewish commentator
Abarbanel, who writes of the importance of the conjunction of Jupiter and
Saturn in the constellation of Pisces, in
his Commentary on the book of Daniel.
Says Edersheim:
“In his
Commentary on Daniel, that Rabbi laid it down, that the conjunction of
Jupiter
and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces betokened not only the most
important
events, but referred especially to Israel (for which he gives five mystic
reasons). He further argues that, as that conjunction
had taken place three years
before
the birth of Moses, which heralded the first deliverance of Israel, so it
would
also
precede the birth of the Messiah, and the final deliverance of Israel”
(p.211).
Edersheim points out that one of the smaller Midrashim, called
the “Messiah Haggadah” (Aggadoth Mashiach) begins as follows:
“A star shall
come out of Jacob. There is a
Boraita in the name of the Rabbis:
The
heptad in which the Son of David cometh -- in the first year there shall
not
be sufficient nourishment; in the second year the arrows of famine are
launched;
in the third, a great famine; in the fourth, neither famine nor
plenty;
in
the fifth, great abundance, and the Star shall rise forth from the
East, and this
is
the Star of the Messiah. And it will
shine from the East for fifteen days, and
if
it be prolonged, it will be for the good of Israel; in the sixth, sayings
(voices),
and
announcements (hearings); in the seventh wars, and at the close of the
seventh
Messiah
is to be expected” (quoted by Edersheim, p.211-212).
This “heptad,” or period of “seven,” could refer to the
seven years preceding the birth of Christ, and also to the time of the final
“WEEK” of years mentioned in Daniel 9:24-27 -- the final seven years leading up
to the second coming of the Messiah -- the final seven years of this present
age of misrule and misconduct. Notice
that at the end of this “week” of seven years, the Messiah was to be
“expected.” Many Jews and Rabbis
living during the time of Christ
expected the Messiah to come in the first part of the first century of
the present era!
Notice that the “star” of the
Messiah was predicted to rise in the East, in the fifth year -- that is, two or
three years before His coming. This
happened prior to the birth of Yeshua.
Edersheim goes on to discuss three
other ancient Jewish Midrashim, which are entitled “The Book of Elijah,”
“Chapters about the Messiah,” and “The Mysteries of R. Simon, the son of
Jochai” --
“where we read
that a Star in the East was to appear two years before the
birth
of the Messiah. The statement is
almost equally remarkable, whether it
represents
a tradition previous to the birth of Jesus, or originated after that
event. But two years before the birth of
Christ, which, as we have calculated,
took
place in . . . [year] 5 before the Christian era, brings us to the year 747
A.U.C.,
or
7 [years] before Christ [B.C.], in which such a Star should appear in the East.
“Did
such a Star, then, really appear in the East seven years before the Christian
era?
Astronomically
speaking, and without any reference to controversy, THERE CAN
BE
NO DOUBT THAT THE MOST REMARKABLE CONJUNCTION OF PLANETS
--
THAT OF JUPITER AND SATURN in the constellation of Pisces, which occurs
ONCE
IN 800 YEARS -- DID TAKE PLACE NO LESS THAN THREE TIMES in
the
year 747 A.U.C., or TWO YEARS BEFORE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST (in
May,
October, and December).
This conjunction is admitted by all astronomers.
It
was not only extraordinary, but presented the most brilliant spectacle in
the
night
sky, such as could not but attract the attention of all who watched the
sidereal
heavens.
. . . In the year following, that is, in 748 A.U.C., another planet, Mars,
joined
this conjunction. The merit of first
discovering these facts -- of which it is
unnecessary
here to present the literary history --
belongs to the great Kepler . . .”
(p.212-213).
E. W. Bullinger also writes about this amazing mysterious conjunction:
“It ought also
to be noted that in the preceding year there were three conjunctions
of
the planets Jupiter and Saturn, at the end of May and October, and at the
beginning
of
December. Kepler (1571-1631) was the
first to point this out, and his calculations
have
been confirmed by the highest authorities.
These conjunctions occurred in the
sign
of PISCES: and this sign, according to
all the ancient Jewish authorities (Josephus,
Abarbanel,
Eliezer, and others), has special reference to Israel. The conjunction of
Jupiter
and Saturn, they hold, always marked the occurrence of some event favorable
to Israel; while Kepler,
calculating backwards, found that this astronomical pheno- menon always coincided with SOME GREAT HISTORICAL CRISIS, viz.: the
Revelation to Adam, the birth of Enoch, the Revelation to Noah, the
birth of Moses, the birth of Cyrus,the birth of Christ, the
birth of Charlemagne, and the birth of Luther” (The Witness of
the Stars, p.39).
Edersheim continues discussing the
discovery of this conjunction by the great astronomer Johannes Kepler
(1571-1630 A.D.). Kepler discovered the
three laws of planetary motion, which later formed an indispensable part of Sir
Isaac Newton's discovery of the law of universal gravitation. Edersheim writes of Kepler, saying:
“Kepler, who was led to the discovery by
observing a similar conjunction in 1603-4,
also
noticed, that when the three planets came into conjunction, A NEW, EXTRA-
ORDINARY,
BRILLIANT, and peculiarly coloured EVANESCENT STAR was visible
between
Jupiter and Saturn, and
he suggested that a similar star had appeared under
the
same circumstances in the conjunction preceding the Nativity” (Life and
Times of
Jesus
the Messiah, p.213).
The fact that there was such a conjunction,which created a
fleeting, temporary, "evanescent star" at that time, is certainly
amazing!
Incredibly, such a “star” really
burst into temporary existence in the very year Christ was born, 4 B.C., and
in the VERY MONTH! Yeshua Moshiach
was born in 4 B.C., in the month of February.
(For the proof of this statement, write for our free article, “When Was
Jesus Christ Really Born?”).
This
very “star” was seen and born witness to by the astronomical tables of the
ancient Chinese. Says Alfred
Edersheim:
“In the astronomical tables of the Chinese
-- to whose general trustworthiness
so
high an authority as Humboldt bears testimony -- the appearance of an
evanescent
star was noted. Pingre and others
have designated it as a comet,
and
calculated its first appearance IN FEBRUARY 750 A.U.C.[which is the
year
4 B.C.!!!], which is just the time when the Magi would, in all probability,
LEAVE
JERUSALEM FOR BETHLEHEM, since this would have preceeded
the
death of Herod, which took place in March 750.”
Edersheim adds this very important observation. Notice!
“Moreover, it has been astronomically
ascertained, that such a sidereal apparition,
WOULD
BE VISIBLE TO THOSE WHO LEFT JERUSALEM, and that it would
POINT
-- almost seem to GO BEFORE -- in the direction of, and STAND OVER,
BETHLEHEM. Such, impartially stated, are the facts of the case -- and here
the
subject
must, in the present state of our information, be left” (Edersheim, The Life
and
Times of Jesus the Messiah, book II, page 213).
The wise men saw an evanescent star at its rising, or
appearance, in the east, two or three years before the birth of Christ, in 7
B.C. They then arranged to go to
Jerusalem, to find out from the Jewish authorities more information about the
birth of the “king of the Jews,” which they believed the heavenly sign
predicted. Then, after being informed
that an ancient Biblical prophecy foretold His birth in Bethlehem, they
left the presence of Herod and the Jewish authorities, to go to Bethlehem, in
search of the newborn king. At this time
they saw another sidereal apparition in the heavens! Matthew tells us:
“When they had heard the king, they
departed; and lo, the STAR which they had
seen
in the east, WENT BEFORE THEM, till it came and stood over where the
young
child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with
exceeding great joy”
(Matt.2:9-10).
How incredible! This very “evanescent star” -- which the
Magi saw over Bethlehem, about four miles south of Jerusalem -- was also
witnessed and verified by Chinese astronomers in China -- thousands of miles to
the east -- in the very month of February, 4 B.C. -- the very month in which
Jesus Christ was most likely born!
Also, about a year and eight months
after Yeshua’s birth -- on the night of Rosh Hashanah, September 11, 3 B.C. –
the planet Jupiter went into conjunction with the star Regulus, the brightest
star lying at the heart of and between the front and back feet of Leo the lion. Jupiter crossed in front of Regulus, till
about December 1, and then went into retrograde motion, and returned passing
over the star again, going in the opposite direction, on February 17, 2 B.C. It continued for about 40 days. Then it
reversed itself once again, and passed over the star Regulus for the third
time, going into conjunction with Regulus on May 8, 2 B.C.
The number “three” is an interesting
number, in Scripture – it signifies “finality,” “decision,” the “signature of
God,” as if to show that indeed the divine royal king had been born,
with the royal heart of the lion, and as the prophesy said, “from
between his feet” (Gen.49:10) -- from between the feet of Leo -- the very one
who would later, at the conclusion of His ministry, “bind His donkey to the
vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine” (Gen.49:11; compare
Matt.21:1-9; Luke 19:29-38).
Occurring soon after the birth of
Jesus Christ, this amazing conjunction was indeed a clear “sign” that Jesus
Christ -- Yeshua the Nazarene -- was the Messiah, the royal king prophesied to
come out of the tribe of Judah, the “lion” tribe of Israel!
On his deathbed, Jacob gave an
amazing prophecy about the coming Messiah.
He declared:
“Judah is a
lion’s whelp [Leo, the lion!]; from the
prey, my son, you are gone
up. He bows down, he lies down as a LION; and as a LION who shall arouse
him? The SCEPTER [royal symbol of kingship --
margin] shall not depart from
JUDAH,
nor a lawgiver from BETWEEN HIS FEET, until Shiloh [Christ] comes;
and to Him shall
be the obedience of the people. . . .” (Gen.49:9-10, NKJV).
Notice this remarkable passage! It refers to the tribe of JUDAH, from which
Christ sprang (Hebrews 7:14). The
sceptre, kingship, belongs to Judah. The
kingship is fulfilled in Yeshua Ha Moshiach -- Jesus the Christ, the Anointed
One of God (Luke 1:32).
Now notice, further: Christ is also the great Lawgiver, “between
his feet,” that is, the feet of Leo -- Judah.
The star Regulus (which means regal, royal, or kingship) lies between
the feet of Leo, the lion, of the constellation Leo! The Hebrew expression “between his feet” is
literally reglaiv -- very similar to the Latin
word, “Regulus.”
Regulus is known as the “king
star.” Writes J. R. Church in Prophecy
in the News:
“Oddly enough,
the sceptre represented by Regulus is a sickle! Regulus is located
at
the beginning of the handle in a sickle that resides in the head of Leo! Is this
sickle
the royal sceptre in Jacob’s prophecy?
“Jupiter
was also connected with royalty. It was
known as the royal planet or the
king
planet. Its movement may have held some
special significance to the Maji as
Jupiter,
the king planet moved into the first of its three conjunctions with Regulus,
the king star,
between the feet of Leo. Circling above
Regulus, Jupiter seemed to draw
a
crown -- as if to signify the arrival of the divine King” (“A Rare Conjunction
of
Planets
Is Set for May 2000,” Prophecy in the News, J. R. Church, Dec.1999).