Sunday, October 25, 2009

The Redeemer's Triumph - Sagittarius

Genesis 1:14-15: 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: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.




(Above chart is from Lost Constellation Testifies of Christ by John P. Pratt:

www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2004/prince.html)



 



   The final chapter in the Book of the First Coming is Sagittarius, the Archer, called:



  • Toxotes ("the archer") in Greek

  • Kesith ("the archer") in Hebrew and Syriac

  • Al Kaus ("the arrow") in Arabic

  • Pimaere ("graciousness" or "the beauty of coming forth" in Egyptian)

  • Nun-ki ("Prince of the Earth") in the Akkadian of ancient Babylonia.


      Sagittarius is pictured
as a Centaur, half man and half horse. In his arms the man is holding
a bow and drawing back an arrow upon the string. The arrow is
aimed at Antares, a bright star in the very center of Scorpio, the Scorpion.
The constellation depicts a centaur and an Egyptian hieroglyph in the
Zodiac of Denderah beneath the rear foot reads Knem ("He
conquers"). The image of Sagittarius
was in the Temple of Babylon from primeval times. In Greek mythology, Sagittarius is identified as a centaur, half human, half horse. The Babylonians, identified Sagittarius as the god Pabilsag (which had wings and a lion's head).


   The prominent stars are:



  • Al Naim (Hebrew "the gracious one")

  • Nehushta (Hebrew "going or sending forth")

  • Terebellum (Hebrew "Sent Forth Swiftly")

  • Al Shaula (Arabic "the dart")

  • Ruchba er rami (Arabic "the riding of the bowman"); others have names denoting delight, grace, and speed.

  • Al Warida (Arabic "who comes forth")

  • Ruchba or rami (Arabic "the riding of the bowman")


   We find these images in



  • Psalm 45:4-5:
    In your majesty, ride out to victory, defending truth, humility, and justice. Go forth to perform awe-inspiring deeds! Your arrows are sharp, piercing your enemies' hearts. The nations fall beneath your feet.

  • Psalm 64:7-8: But God himself will shoot them with his arrows, suddenly striking them down. Their own tongues will ruin them, and all who see them will shake.


   The message thus far is that of a Mighty One
who comes swiftly riding upon a great horse, armed with a bow with his
arrow aimed at the heart of the enemy. He is coming swiftly and with mighty
vengeful power even though he is also seen to be both gracious and blessed
of God. Sagittarius is thus a perfectly clear reflection
of the dual-natured, God-man, Jesus Christ who possesses two
natures in one body; possesses all wisdom, all goodness and all righteousness;
who is going to come swiftly, armed as a warrior to defeat his enemy,
Satan, and to undo or destroy all the works of the Devil (I John 3:8).
He will not rest until all his enemies are under his feet. This is amplified
in the accompanying decans (Lyra, Ara & Draco).

John in Revelation 6:2 sees
the same mighty Conqueror going forth. I looked up and saw a white
horse standing there. Its rider carried a bow,
and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and
gain the victory. This is precisely what is foreshadowed in the
star-pictured sign Sagittarius.


   The three decans are Lyra (The Harp), Ara (The Altar) and Draco (The Dragon).


I. LYRA (The Harp). Praise prepared for the Conqueror:



  • Psalm 21:1, 8, 10-13: How the king rejoices in your strength, O Lord! He shouts with joy because you give him victory. ... You will capture all your enemies. Your strong right hand will seize all who hate you. ... You will wipe their children from the face of the earth; they will never have descendants. Although they plot against you, their evil schemes will never succeed. For they will turn and run when they see your arrows aimed at them. Rise up, O Lord, in all your power. With music and singing we celebrate your mighty acts.

  • Psalm 65:1: What mighty praise, O God, belongs to you in Zion. We will fulfill our vows to you,

  • Revelation 5:8: And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

  • Revelation 11:17: And they said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign.

  • Revelation 14:2: And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of mighty ocean waves or the rolling of loud thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together.

  • Revelation 15:2: I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them.

  • Revelation 19:7: Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.


   The brightest star in Lyra is Vega, signifying "He shall be exalted" and "The Warrior Triumphant", because Christ the exalted and triumphant one causes great rejoicing in the Heavens and the Earth. Lyra's other stars, b and g, are also conspicuous stars, of the 2nd and 4th magnitude. b is called Shelyuk, which means an eagle (as does the Arabic Al Nesr); g is called Sulaphat, springing up, or ascending, as praise.


II. ARA (The Altar). Consuming fire prepared for His enemies:



   Here we have an altar or burning pyre, placed significantly and ominously upside down with its fires burning and pointing downwards. It is south of the Scorpion's tail, and when these constellations were first formed it was visible only on the very lowest horizon of the south, pointing to the completion of all judgment in the lake of fire.



  • Isaiah 63:4-5: For the time has come for me to avenge my people, to ransom them from their oppressors. I was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So I myself stepped in to save them with my strong arm, and my wrath sustained me.

  • Psalm 21:9: You will throw them in a flaming furnace when you appear. The Lord will consume them in his anger; fire will devour them.



   In Arabic it is called Al Mugamra, which means the completing, or finishing. The Greeks used the word Ara sometimes in the sense of praying, but more frequently in the sense of cursing.


   This is the curse pronounced against the great enemy. This is the burning fire, pointing to the completion of that curse, when he shall be cast into that everlasting fire "prepared for the devil and his angels." This is the allusion to it written in the midst of the very Scripture from which we have already quoted, Psalm 21. This brings us to the final scene, closing up this first book of the Heavens: DRACO (The Dragon).


III. DRACO (The Dragon). The Old Serpent, the Devil, cast down from heaven.


   Each of the three great books concludes with this same foreshowing of Apocalyptic truth. The same great enemy is referred to in all these pictures. He is the Serpent; he is the Dragon. The Serpent represents him as the Deceiver; the Dragon, as the Destroyer. Here, at the close of the First Book, we see not merely a dragon, but the Dragon cast down! That is the point of this great star-picture.



  1. This First Book concludes with the Dragon being cast down from heaven.

  2. The Second Book concludes with Cetus, the Sea Monster, Leviathan, bound.

  3. The Third Book concludes with Hydra, the Old Serpent, destroyed.


   Draco is coiled in such a way that the folds of his tail open up such that they could be said to hold about one third of the stars of heaven. Accordingly, this was most likely the great red dragon sign (constellation) seen in the heavens seen by John (Revelation 12:3-4). Again, this is the dragon whose head is found under the foot of Hercules.


   No one has ever seen a dragon; but among all nations (especially in China and Japan), and in all ages, we find it described and depicted in legend and in art. Both Old and New Testaments refer to it, and all unite in connecting with it one and the same great enemy of God and man.


   It is against him that the God-Man--"the Son of God goes forth to war." It is for him that the eternal fires are prepared. It is he who shall shortly be cast down from the heavens preparatory to his completed judgment. It is of him we read, "This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night." (Revelation 12:9-10).


   It is of him that David sings in Psalm 74:12-14: You, O God, are my king from ages past, bringing salvation to the earth. You split the sea by your strength and smashed the heads of the sea monsters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan and let the desert animals eat him.


   Of him also, Isaiah says in Isaiah 26:1 & 27:1: "In that day, shall this song be sung in the land of Judah"; In that day, everyone in the land of Judah will sing this song: Our city is strong! We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation In that day the Lord will take his terrible, swift sword and punish Leviathan, the swiftly moving serpent, the coiling, writhing serpent. He will kill the dragon of the sea.



   This is exactly what is foreshadowed by this constellation of Draco. Its name is from the Greek, and means trodden on, as in the Septuagint of Psalm 91:13 --"The dragon shalt thou trample under feet," (KJV) from the Hebrew Dahrach, to tread.


   In the Zodiac of Denderah, it is shown as a serpent under the fore-feet of Sagittarius, and is named Her-fent, which means the serpent accursed!


   There are 80 stars in the constellation. The brightest star a (in one of the latter coils), is named Thuban (Hebrew), the subtle. Some 4,620 years ago it was the Polar Star. It is manifest, therefore, that the Greeks could not have invented this constellation, as is confessed by all modern astronomers. The next star, b (in the head), is called by the Hebrew name Rastaban, and means the head of the subtle (serpent). In the Arabic it is still called Al Waid, which means who is to be destroyed. The next star, g (also in the head), is called Ethanin, i.e., the long serpent, or dragon.


   The Hebrew names of other stars are Grumian, the subtle; Giansar, the punished enemy. Other (Arabic) names are Al Dib, the reptile; El Athik, the fraudful; El Asieh, the bowed down.


   The final chapter tells of the mounted Archer coming in victory (Sagittarius), his praises rising high (Lyra), his enemies scourged and eternally in fire (Altar), his enemy revealed, humbled and thrown down (Draco). So ends the Book of the First Coming, the book of the virgin birth (Virgo), the price paid (Libra), the enemy defeated (Scorpio), and the victory won (Sagittarius).


   And thus the combined testimony of every star (without a single exception) of each constellation, and the constellations of each sign, accords with the testimony of the Word of God concerning the coming Seed of the woman, the bruising of His heel, the crushing of the serpent's head, "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory which should follow."



We've now covered the first book with the first four constellations with their decans.



Here is the story the Mazzaroth presents to us:


* The First Book - The Redeemer: (His First Coming) "The sufferings of Christ"


  • Chapter I - FIRST - The Prophecy of the Promised Seed of the Woman

    • 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.




      • COMA (The Desired. The woman and child). The Desired of all nations.

      • CENTAURUS (The Centaur with two natures, holding a spear piercing a victim). The despised sin offering.

      • BOOTES (a man walking bearing a branch called ARCTURUS, meaning the same). He cometh.





    • Chapter II - SECOND - The Redeemer's Atoning Work: There shall be a price paid by Him for a purchased possession.

      • LIBRA (The Scales). The price deficient balanced by the price which covers.

        • CRUX, The Cross endured.

        • LUPUS, or VICTIMA, The Victim slain.

        • CORONA, The Crown bestowed.





    • Chapter III - THIRD - The Redeemer's Conflict:
      The price shall be a conflict with the serpent-foe, and a wound in the conqueror's heel.

      • SCORPIO (The Scorpion) seeking to wound, but itself trodden under foot.

        • SERPENS (The Serpent struggling with the man).

        • O-PHI-U-CHUS (The man grasping the serpent). The struggle with the enemy.

        • 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 - FOURTH - The Redeemer's Triumph: He shall be sent forth swiftly, surely, as an arrow from a bow.


      • SAGITTARIUS (The Archer). The two-natured Conqueror going forth "Conquering and to conquer."


        • LYRA (The Harp). Praise prepared for the Conqueror.

        • ARA (The Altar). Consuming fire prepared for His enemies.

        • DRACO (The Dragon). The Old Serpent— Devil, cast down from heaven.






    * The Second Book -The Redeemed "The result of the Redeemer's sufferings"



    • Chapter I - FIFTH - Their Blessings Procured: He shall be slain as a sacrifice.

      • CAPRICORNUS (The fish-goat). The goat of Atonement slain for the Redeemed.

        • SAGITTA (The Arrow). The arrow of God sent forth.

        • AQUILA (The Eagle). The smitten One falling.

        • DELPHINUS (The Dolphin). The dead One rising again.





    • Chapter II - SIXTH -Their Blessings Ensured: He shall rise again and pour out blessings on His people.

      • AQUARIUS (The Water-Bearer). The living waters of blessing poured forth for the Redeemed.

        • PISCIS AUSTRALIS (The Southern Fish). The blessings bestowed.

        • PEGASUS (The Winged Horse). The blessings quickly coming.

        • CYGNUS (The Swan). The Blesser surely returning.





    • Chapter III - SEVENTH - Their Blessings in Abeyance: His people shall be multitudes, and held in union with each other and Himself.

      • PISCES (The Fishes). The Redeemed blessed though bound.

        • THE BAND—, but binding their great enemy Cetus, the sea monster.

        • ANDROMEDA (The Chained Woman). The Redeemed in their bondage and affliction.

        • CEPHEUS (The King). Their Redeemer coming to rule.





    • Chapter IV - EIGHTH - Their Blessings Consummated and Enjoyed: He who was slain, whose heel was bruised, shall rule, and shall tread His enemy under foot.

      • ARIES (The Ram or Lamb). The Lamb that was slain, prepared for the victory.

        • CASSIOPEIA (The Enthroned Woman). The captive delivered, and preparing for her husband, the Redeemer.

        • CETUS (The Sea Monster). The great enemy bound.

        • PERSEUS (The Breaker). Delivering His redeemed.






    * The Third Book - The Redeemer (His Second Coming) "The glory that should follow"



    • Chapter I - NINTH - Messiah, The Coming Judge of All the Earth: He shall come in power, triumphant, and have dominion.

      • TAURUS (The Bull). Messiah coming to rule.

        • ORION, Light breaking forth in the person of the Redeemer.

        • ERIDANUS (The River of the Judge). Wrath breaking forth for His enemies.

        • AURIGA (The Shepherd). Safety for the Redeemed in the day of that wrath.





    • Chapter II - TENTH - Messiah's Reign as Prince of Peace: He shall be the Son of God and the son of man, the victim and the ruler.

      • GEMINI (The Twins). The twofold nature of the King.

        • LEPUS (The Hare), or THE ENEMY trodden under foot.

        • CANIS MAJOR (The Dog), or SIRIUS, the coming glorious Prince of Princes.

        • CANIS MINOR (The Second Dog), or PROCYON, the exalted Redeemer.





    • Chapter III ELEVENTH - Messiah's Redeemed Possessions: He shall hold fast His purchased possession, the reward of His work.

      • CANCER (The Crab). The possession held fast.

        • URSA MINOR (The Lesser Bear). The lesser sheepfold.

        • URSA MAJOR (The Great Bear). The fold and the flock.

        • ARGO (The Ship). The redeemed pilgrims safe at home.





    • Chapter IV - TWELFTH - Messiah's Consummated Triumph: He shall finally put all enemies under His feet, coming with ten thousand of His saints to execute judgment upon all, separating the evil from the good.

      • LEO (The Lion). The Lion of the Tribe of Judah aroused for the rending of the Enemy.

        • HYDRA (The Serpent). That old Serpent— Devil, destroyed.

        • CRATER (The Cup). The cup of Divine wrath poured out upon him.

        • CORVUS (The Crow, or Raven). Birds of prey devouring him.










       Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation of the Bible.



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