  A & B " C " 1. The heavens. " D " 2. Their testimony: incessant. (Pos.) " E " 3. Their words inaudible. (Neg.) " D " 4-. Their testimony: universal. (Pos.) " C " -4-6. The heavens. Here we have an introversion, in which the extremes (C and C) are occupied with the heavens; while the means (D, E and D) are occupied with their testimony. The following is the full expansion of the above, with original emendations which preserve the order of the Hebrew words and thus indicate the nature of the structure:— [pg 005]C " a " The heavens b " are telling4 c " and the work of his hands a " the firmament. D " d " Day after day7 d " And night after night e " sheweth knowledge. E " f " There is no speech (what is articulate) g " and there are no words (what is audible); g " and without being audible, f " is their voice (what is articulate). D " h " Into all the earth (as created) h " And into the ends of the world (as inhabited) i " Their sayings. C " j " For the sun He hath set a tent (an abode) in them; k " l " and he as a bridegroom (comparison) m " is going forth from his canopy, (motion: its rising) l " he rejoiceth as a mighty one (comparison) m " to run his course. (Motion: its rapid course.) k " n " from the end of the heavens (egress) o " is his going forth (egress) o " and his revolution (regress) n " unto their ends (regress): Surely there is something more referred to here than a mere wonder excited by the works of the Creator! When we read the whole passage and mark its structure, and note the words employed, we are emphatically told that the heavens contain a revelation from God; they prophesy, they show knowledge, they tell of God's glory, and set forth His purposes and counsels. It is a remarkable fact that it is in the Book of Job, which is generally allowed to be the oldest book in the [pg 007] In Isa. xl. 26 (r.v.) we read:— “Lift up your eyes on high, And see who hath created these, That bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by name; By the greatness of His might, And for that He is strong in power, Not one is lacking.” We have the same evidence in Psalm cxlvii. 4. (r.v.) “He telleth the number of the stars; He giveth them all their names.” Here is a distinct and Divine declaration that the great Creator both numbered as well as named the stars of Heaven. The question is, Has he revealed any of these names? Have any of them been handed down to us? The answer is Yes; and that in the Bible itself we have the names (so ancient that their meaning is a little obscure) of Ash (????, a name still connected with the Great Bear), Cesil (???????), and Cimah (???????). They occur in Job ix. 9: “Which maketh Arcturus (r.v. the Bear), Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.” (Marg., Heb., Ash, Cesil, and Cimah.) Job xxxviii. 31, 32: “Canst thou bind the sweet influences (r.v. cluster) of the Pleiades (marg., the [pg 008] Isa. xiii. 10: ... “The stars of heaven and the constellations thereof.” ... Amos v. 8: “Seek him that maketh the seven stars (r.v., the Pleiades) and Orion.” Then we have the term “Mazzaroth,” Job xxxviii. 32, and “Mazzaloth,” 2 Kings xxiii. 5. The former in both versions is referred to the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, while the latter is rendered “planets,” and in margin, the twelve signs or constellations. Others are referred to by name. The sign of “Gemini,” or the Twins, is given as the name of a ship: Acts xxviii. 11, ???s??????, (i.e. Castor & Pollux). Most commentators agree that the constellation of “Draco,” or the Dragon (between the Great and Little Bear), is referred to in Job xxvi. 13: “By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent (r.v. swift. Marg. fleeing or gliding. See Is. xxvii. 1; xliii. 14).” This word “garnished” is peculiar. The r.v. puts in the margin, beauty. In Ps. xvi. 6, it is rendered goodly. “I have a goodly heritage.” In Dan. iv. 2, it is rendered, “I thought [pg 009] Thus we see that the Scriptures are not silent as to the great antiquity of the signs and constellations. 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 EsnÉh, in Egypt, are doubtless copies of Zodiacs still more ancient, which, from internal evidence, must be placed nearly 4,000 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.” Cassini commences his History of Astronomy by saying “It is impossible to doubt that astronomy was invented from the beginning of the world; history, profane as well as sacred, testifies to this truth.” Nouet, a French astronomer, infers that the Egyptian Astronomy must have arisen 5,400 b.c.! [pg 010]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 two 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 (Book i. chs. 1-3). This is what is doubtless meant by Gen. xi. 4, “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven.” The words “may reach” are in italics. There is nothing in the verse which relates to the height of this tower. It merely says ????????? ???????????, and his top with the heavens, i.e. with the pictures and the stars, just as we find them in the ancient temples of Denderah and EsnÉh in Egypt. This tower, with its planisphere and pictures of the signs and constellations, was to be erected like those temples were afterwards, in order to preserve the revelation, “lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” This is corroborated by Lieut.-Gen. Chesney, well known for his learned researches and excavations among the ruins of Babylon, who, after describing his various discoveries, says,13 “About five miles S.W. of Hillah, the most remarkable of all the ruins, the Birs Nimroud of [pg 011] This Biblical evidence carries us at once right back to the Flood, or about 2,500 years b.c. This tower or temple, or both, was also called “The Seven Spheres,” according to some; and “The Seven Lights,” according to others. It is thus clear that the popular idea of its height and purpose must be abandoned, and its astronomical reference to revelation must be admitted. The tower was an attempt to preserve and hand down the antediluvian traditions; their sin was in keeping together instead of scattering themselves over the earth. Another important statement is made by Dr. Budge, of the British Museum.15 He says, “It must never be forgotten that the Babylonians were a nation of star-gazers, and that they kept a body of men to do nothing else but report eclipses, appearances of the moon, sun-spots, etc., etc.” [pg 012]“Astronomy, mixed with astrology, occupied a large number of tablets in the Babylonian libraries, and Isaiah, xlvii. 13, refers to this when he says to Babylon, ‘Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now thy astrologers (marg. viewers of the heavens), the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators stand up.’ The largest astrological work of the Babylonians contained seventy tablets, and was compiled by the command of Sargon of Agade thirty-eight hundred years before Christ! It was called the ‘Illumination of Bel.’ ” “Their observations were made in towers called ‘ziggurats’ ” (p. 106). “They built observatories in all the great cities, and reports like the above [which Dr. Budge gives in full] were regularly sent to the King” (p. 110). “They were able to calculate eclipses, and had long lists of them.” “They found out that the sun was spotted, and they knew of comets.” “They were the inventors of the Zodiac” (?). There are fragments of two (ancient Babylonian) planispheres in the British Museum with figures and calculations inscribed upon them. “The months were called after the signs of the Zodiac” (p. 109). We may form some idea of what this “representation of the heavens” was from the fifth “Creation Tablet,” now in the British Museum. It reads as follows:— “Anu [the Creator] made excellent the mansions [i.e. the celestial houses] of the great gods [twelve] in number [i.e. the twelve signs or mansions of the sun]. The stars he placed in them. The lumasi [i.e. groups of stars or figures] he fixed. [pg 013]He arranged the year according to the bounds [i.e. the twelve signs] which he defined. For each of the twelve months three rows of stars [i.e. constellations] he fixed. From the day when the year issues forth unto the close, he marked the mansions [i.e. the Zodiacal Signs] of the wandering stars [i.e. planets] to know their courses that they might not err or deflect at all.” Coming down to less ancient records: Eudoxos, an astronomer of Cnidus (403 to 350 b.c.), wrote a work on Astronomy which he called Phainomena. Antigonus Gonatas, King of Macedonia (273-239 b.c.), requested the Poet Aratus to put the work of Eudoxus into the form of a poem, which he did about the year 270 b.c. Aratus called his work Diosemeia (the Divine Signs). He was a native of Tarsus, and it is interesting for us to note that his poem was known to, and, indeed, must have been read by, the Apostle Paul, for he quotes it in his address at Athens on Mars' Hill. He says (Acts xvii. 28), “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”16 Several translations of this poem have been made, both by Cicero and others, into Latin, and in recent times into English by E. Poste, J. Lamb, and others. The following is the opening from the translation of Robert Brown, jun.:— “From Zeus we lead the strain; he whom mankind Ne'er leave unhymned: of Zeus all public ways, All haunts of men, are full; and full the sea, And harbours; and of Zeus all stand in need. [pg 014]Gives favouring signs, and rouses us to toil. Calling to mind life's wants: when clods are best For plough and mattock: when the time is ripe For planting vines and sowing seeds, he tells, Since he himself hath fixed in heaven these Signs, The stars dividing: and throughout the year Stars he provides to indicate to man The seasons' course, that all things duly grow,” etc., etc. Then Aratus proceeds to describe and explain all the Signs and Constellations as the Greeks in his day understood, or rather misunderstood, them, after their true meaning and testimony had been forgotten. Moreover, Aratus describes them, not as they were seen in his day, but as they were seen some 4,000 years before. The stars were not seen from Tarsus as he describes them, and he must therefore have written from a then ancient Zodiac. For notwithstanding that we speak of “fixed stars,” there is a constant, though slow, change taking place amongst them. There is also another change taking place owing to the slow recession of the pole of the heavens (about 50" in the year); so that while Alpha in the constellation of Draco was the Polar Star when the Zodiac was first formed, the Polar Star is now Alpha in what is called Ursa Minor. This change alone carries us back at least 5,000 years. The same movement which has changed the relative position of these two stars has also caused the constellation of the Southern Cross to become invisible in northern latitudes. When the constellations were formed the Southern Cross was visible in N. latitude 40°, and was included in their number. But, though known by tradition, it had not been seen in that latitude for some twenty centuries, [pg 015] Ptolemy (150 a.d.) transmits them from HÏpparchus (130 b.c.) “as of unquestioned authority, unknown origin, and unsearchable antiquity.” Sir William Drummond says that “the traditions of the Chaldean Astronomy seem the fragments of a mighty system fallen into ruins.” The word Zodiac itself is from the Greek ??d?a???, which is not from ???, to live, but from a primitive root through the Hebrew Sodi, which in Sanscrit means a way. Its etymology has no connection with living creatures, but denotes a way, or step, and is used of the way or path in which the sun appears to move amongst the stars in the course of the year. To an observer on the earth the whole firmament, together with the sun, appears to revolve in a circle once in twenty-four hours. But the time occupied by the stars in going round, differs from the time occupied by the sun. This difference amounts to about one-twelfth part of the whole circle in each month, so that when the circle of the heavens is divided up into twelve parts, the sun appears to move each month through one of them. This path which the sun thus makes amongst the stars is called the Ecliptic.18 [pg 016]Each of these twelve parts (consisting each of about 30 degrees) is distinguished, not by numbers or by letters, but by pictures and names, and this, as we have seen, from the very earliest times. They are preserved to the present day in our almanacs, and we are taught their order in the familiar rhymes:— “The Ram, the Bull, the heavenly Twins, And next the Crab, the Lion shines, The Virgin and the Scales; The Scorpion, Archer, and Sea-Goat, The Man that carries the Water-pot, And Fish with glittering scales.” These signs have always and everywhere been preserved in this order, and have begun with Aries. They have been known amongst all nations, and in all ages, thus proving their common origin from one source. [pg 017]The figures themselves are perfectly arbitrary. There is nothing in the groups of stars to even suggest the figures. This is the first thing which is noticed by every one who looks at the constellations. Take for example the sign of Virgo, and look at the stars. There is nothing whatever to suggest a human form; still less is there anything to show whether that form is a man or a woman. And so with all the others. The picture, therefore, is the original, and must have been drawn around or connected with certain stars, simply in order that it might be identified and associated with them; and that it might thus be remembered and handed down to posterity. There can be no doubt, as the learned Authoress of Mazzaroth conclusively proves, that these signs were afterwards identified with the twelve sons of Jacob. Joseph sees the sun and moon and eleven stars bowing down to him, he himself being the twelfth (Gen. xxxvii. 9). The blessing of Jacob (Gen. xlix.) and the blessing of Moses (Deut. xxxiii.) both bear witness to the existence of these signs in their day. And it is more than probable that each of the Twelve Tribes bore one of them on its standard. We read in Num. ii. 2, “Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own Standard, with the Ensign of their father's house” (r.v. “with the ensigns of their fathers' houses”). This “Standard” was the Degel (?????) on which the “Sign” (????, Oth) was depicted. Hence it was called the “En-sign.” Ancient Jewish authorities declare that each tribe had one of the signs as its own, [pg 018] If the Lion were appropriated to Judah, then the other three would be thus fixed, and would be the same four that equally divide the Zodiac at its four cardinal points. According to Num. ii. the camp was thus formed:— In the North, from North-West to North-East: Asher (Sagittarius). Dan, The Scorpion (Scorpio). Nephtali (Capricornus). In the East, from North-East to South-East: Issachar (Cancer). Judah, The Lion (Leo). Zebulon (Virgo). In the South, from South-East to South-West: Simeon (Pisces). Reuben, The Man (Aquarius). Gad (Aries). In the West, from South-West to North-West: Ephraim and Manasseh, The Bull (the two horns of Taurus). Benjamin (Gemini). In the Center: Levi, The Scales (Libra). If the reader compares the above with the blessings of Israel and Moses, and compares the meanings and descriptions given below with those blessings, the [pg 019] The four great signs which thus marked the four sides of the camp, and the four quarters of the Zodiac, are the same four which form the Cherubim (the Eagle, the Scorpion's enemy, being substituted for the Scorpion). The Cherubim thus form a compendious expression of the hope of Creation, which, from the very first, has been bound up with the Coming One, who alone should cause its groanings to cease. But this brings us to the Signs themselves and their interpretation. These pictures were designed to preserve, expound, and perpetuate the one first great promise and prophecy of Gen. iii. 15, that all hope for Man, all hope for Creation, was bound up in a coming Redeemer; One who should be born of a woman; who should first suffer, and afterwards gloriously triumph; One who should first be wounded by that great enemy who was the cause of all sin and sorrow and death, but who should finally crush the head of “that Old Serpent the Devil.” These ancient star-pictures reveal this Coming One. They set forth “the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.” Altogether there are forty-eight of them, made up of twelve Signs, each sign containing three Constellations. These may be divided into three great books, each [pg 020] Each book (like the four Gospels) sets forth its peculiar aspect of the Coming One; beginning with the promise of His coming, and ending with the destruction of the enemy. But where are we to begin to read this wondrous Heavenly Scroll? A circle has proverbially neither beginning nor end. In what order then are we to consider these signs? In the heavens they form a never-ending circle. Where is the beginning and where is the end of this circle through which the sun is constantly moving? Where are we to break into this circle? and say, This is the commencement. It is clear that unless we can determine this original starting point we can never read this wondrous book aright. As I have said, the popular beginning to-day is with Aries, the Ram. But comparing this Revelation with that which was afterwards written “in the Volume of the Book,” Virgo is the only point where we can intelligently begin, and Leo is the only point where we can logically conclude. Is not this what is spoken of as the unknown and insoluble mystery—“The riddle of the Sphinx”? The word “Sphinx” is from sf????, to bind closely together. It was therefore designed to show where the two ends of the Zodiac were to be joined together, and where the great circle of the heavens begins and ends. Ceiling of Portico of Temple of Esneh Signs of Leo and Virgo, from the ceiling of the Portico of the Temple of Esneh, showing the Sphinx between, uniting the beginning and end of the Zodiac. The Sphinx is a figure with the head of a woman and the body of a lion! What is this but a never-ceasing monitor, telling us to begin with Virgo and [pg 022] Beginning, then, with Virgo, let us now spread out the contents of this Heavenly Volume, so that the eye can take them in at a glance. Of course we are greatly hindered in this, in having to use the modern Latin names which the Constellations bear to-day.19 Some of these names are mistakes, others are gross perversions of the truth, as proved by the pictures themselves, which are far more ancient, and have come down to us from primitive times. After the Revelation came to be written down in the Scriptures, there was not the same need for the preservation of the Heavenly Volume. And after the nations had lost the original meaning of the pictures, they invented a meaning out of the vain imagination of the thoughts of their hearts. The Greek Mythology is an interpretation of (only some of) the signs and constellations after their true meaning had been forgotten. It is popularly believed that Bible truth is an evolution from, or development of, the ancient religions of the world. But the fact is that they themselves are a corruption and perversion of primitive truth! [pg 023]We will now give the contents of this Heavenly Volume of Divine Revelation, and afterwards proceed to develope it, explain it in detail, and compare it with the same truth which was afterwards written down in the Scriptures. The First Book. CHAPTER I. VIRGO (The Virgin. A woman bearing a branch in her right hand and an ear of corn in her left). The Promised Seed of the woman. § 1. Coma (The Desired. The woman and child). The Desired of all nations. § 2. Centaurus (The Centaur with two natures, holding a spear piercing a victim). The despised sin offering. § 3. BoÖtes (a man walking bearing a branch called Arcturus, meaning the same). He cometh. CHAPTER II. LIBRA (The Scales). The price deficient balanced by the price which covers. § 1. CRUX, The Cross endured. § 2. LUPUS, or VICTIMA, The Victim slain. § 3. CORONA, The Crown bestowed. [pg 024]CHAPTER III. SCORPIO (The Scorpion) seeking to wound, but itself trodden under foot. § 1. Serpens (The Serpent struggling with the man). § 2. O-phi-u-chus (The man grasping the serpent). The struggle with the enemy. § 3. Hercules (The mighty man. A man kneeling on one knee, humbled in the conflict, but holding aloft the tokens of victory, with his foot on the head of the Dragon). The mighty Vanquisher seeming to sink in the conflict. CHAPTER IV. SAGITTARIUS (The Archer). The Two-natured Conqueror going forth “Conquering and to conquer.” § 1. Lyra (The Harp). Praise prepared for the Conqueror. § 2. Ara (The Altar). Consuming fire prepared for His enemies. § 3. Draco (The Dragon). The Old Serpent—the Devil, cast down from heaven. The Second Book. CHAPTER I. CAPRICORNUS (The fish-goat). The goat of Atonement slain for the Redeemed. [pg 025]§ 1. Sagitta (The Arrow). The arrow of God sent forth. § 2. Aquila (The Eagle). The smitten One falling. § 3. Delphinus (The Dolphin). The dead One rising again. CHAPTER II. AQUARIUS (The Water-Bearer): The living waters of blessing poured forth for the Redeemed. § 1. Piscis Australis (The Southern Fish). The blessings bestowed. § 2. Pegasus (The Winged Horse). The blessings quickly coming. § 3. Cygnus (The Swan). The Blesser surely returning. CHAPTER III. PISCES (The Fishes). The Redeemed blessed though bound. § 1. The Band—bound, but binding their great enemy Cetus, the sea monster. § 2. Andromeda (The Chained Woman). The Redeemed in their bondage and affliction. § 3. Cepheus (The King). Their Redeemer coming to rule. CHAPTER IV. ARIES (The Ram or Lamb). The Lamb that was slain, prepared for the victory. § 1. Cassiopeia (The Enthroned Woman). The captive delivered, and preparing for her husband, the Redeemer. § 2. Cetus (The Sea Monster). The great enemy bound. § 3. Perseus (The Breaker). Delivering His redeemed. [pg 026]The Third Book. CHAPTER I. TAURUS (The Bull). Messiah coming to rule. § 1. Orion, Light breaking forth in the person of the Redeemer. § 2. Eridanus (The River of the Judge). Wrath breaking forth for His enemies. § 3. Auriga (The Shepherd). Safety for the Redeemed in the day of that wrath. CHAPTER II. GEMINI (The Twins). The twofold nature of the King. § 1. Lepus (The Hare), or THE ENEMY trodden under foot. § 2. Canis Major (The Dog), or Sirius, the coming glorious Prince of Princes. § 3. Canis Minor (The Second Dog), or Procyon, the exalted Redeemer. CHAPTER III. CANCER (The Crab). The possessions held fast. § 1. Ursa Minor (The Lesser Bear). The lesser sheepfold. § 2. Ursa Major (The Great Bear). The fold and the flock. § 3. Argo (The Ship). The redeemed pilgrims safe at home. [pg 027]CHAPTER IV. LEO (The Lion). The Lion of the Tribe of Judah aroused for the rending of the Enemy. § 1. Hydra (The Serpent). That old Serpent—the Devil, destroyed. § 2. Crater (The Cup). The cup of Divine wrath poured out upon him. § 3. Corvus (The Crow, or Raven). Birds of prey devouring him. Such are the contents of this wondrous book that is written in the heavens. Thus has God been speaking and emphasizing and developing His first great prophetic promise of Gen. iii. 15. Though for more than 2,500 years His people had not this Revelation written in a book as we now have it in the Bible, they were not left in ignorance and darkness as to God's purposes and counsels; nor were they without hope as to ultimate deliverance from all evil and from the Evil One. Adam, who first heard that wondrous promise, repeated it, and gave it to his posterity as a most precious heritage—the ground of all their faith, the substance of all their hope, the object of all their desire. Seth and Enoch took it up. Enoch, we know, prophesied of the Lord's coming, saying, “Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all” (Jude 14). How could these “holy prophets, since the world began,” have recorded their prophecies better, or more effectually, [pg 028] “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; For He hath visited and redeemed His people, And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David; As He spake by the mouth of HIS HOLY PROPHETS WHICH HAVE BEEN SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.” The same truth is revealed through Peter, in Acts iii. 20, 21:—“He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.” These words have new meaning for us, if we see the things which were spoken “since the world began,” thus written in the heavens, which utter speech (i.e. prophecy), and show forth this knowledge day after day and night after night, the heritage of all the earth, and their words reaching unto the ends of the world. This Revelation, coinciding as it does in all its facts and truths with that afterwards recorded “in the Volume of the Book,” must have had the same Divine origin, must have been made known by the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit. We now proceed to compare the two, and we shall see how they agree at every point, proving that the source and origin of this Divine Revelation is one and the same. |
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