Saturday, December 19, 2009

Gemini

Gemini (The Twins)

The twofold nature of the King


   



Gemini - Messiah's Reign as Prince of Peace


      


The tenth zodiac constellation is Gemini, the Twins, with one usually being considered immortal and the other mortal - the Immortal One who comes at the Second Coming is the same as the mortal Son of Man who came at the First Coming. So, Gemini symbolizes the dual nature of the Messiah (that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human): Suffering Servant and Conquering King.


The Scriptures teach that Jesus was fully God while also being fully human. Paul declared in Colossians 2:9, For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. The word "incarnation" does not occur in the Bible. It is derived from the Latin in and caro (flesh), meaning clothed in flesh, the act of assuming flesh. Its only use in theology is in reference to that gracious, voluntary act of the Son of God in which He assumed a human body. In Christian doctrine the Incarnation, briefly stated, is that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became a man. It is one of the greatest events to occur in the history of the universe. It is without parallel.


John 1:1-2,14: In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.


One bears in his right hand (in some pictures) a palm branch. Some pictures show a club; but both the club or bow are at rest! The other one holds a harp in one hand, and a bow and arrow in the other. They are at rest and in peace after victory won. This is what we see in this sign - Messiah's peaceful reign. All is rest and in peace. We see "His days," in which "the righteous shall flourish; and abundance of peace, so long as the moon endureth" (Psalm 72). But, for this blessed time to come, there must be no enemy!


Gemini is easy to find high overhead in mid-winter, above and to the left of Orion. The Romans called the twins Castor and Pollux, which are the names of the two brightest stars. These are the Latin equivalents of Hercules and Apollo from the Greeks.


Romans called the stars the "Twin Brethren" and associated them with the principle of brotherhood considered to lie at the foundation of their empire. In Egypt they became Horus the Elder and Horus the Younger. In Babylon they were the "Great Twins," and they were viewed as twins in Arabia as well. In China they were Yin and Yang, representing eternal dualism, the two halves of a circle, and contrasting principles of existence.


Names:



  • The Hebrew name is Thaumim, which means united. In fact, that is the same word used in Exodus 26:24 pertaining to the coupling or "twinning" of the boards together in the tabernacle, thus showing the idea of being closely united.

  • The Arabic Al Tauman means the same.

  • The name in the ancient Denderah Zodiac is Clusus, which means the place of Him who cometh. It is represented by two human figures walking, or coming. One appears to be a woman. The other appears to be a man. It is a tailed figure, the tail signifying He cometh.

  • The old Coptic name was Pi-Mahi, the united, as in brotherhood.


Main Stars:



  • The name of α (in the head of one) is called Apollo (Pollux), which means ruler, or judge. Pollux is the brighter of the twins. It's an orange-giant star that's about 35 light-years from Earth.

  • b (in the head of the other) is called Hercules (Castor), who comes to labor, or suffer. Astronomers have found that Castor is actually a complex system of six stars linked by gravity, although to the eye they appear as one.

  • Another star, g (in his left foot), is called Al Henah, which means hurt, wounded, or afflicted.

    • Can we have a doubt as to what is the meaning of this double presentation? In Ophiuchus we have the two in one person: the crushed enemy, and the wounded heel. But here the two great primeval truths are presented in two persons; for the two natures were one Person, "God and man in one Christ." As man, suffering for our redemption; as God, glorified for our complete salvation and final triumph.



  • A star, e (in the center of his body), is called Waset, which means set, and tells of Him who "set His face like a flint" to accomplish this mighty Herculean work; and, when the time was come, "steadfastly set His face to go" to complete it.

  • The star e (in the knee of the other, "Apollo") is called Mebsuta, which means treading under feet.

  • The names of other stars have come down to us with the same testimony. One is called Propus (Hebrew), the branch, spreading; another is called Al Giauza (Arabic), the palm branch; another is named Al Dira (Arabic), the seed, or branch.


Verses:



  • Acts 28:11: And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. (KJV)


Mythology: In classical Greece the stars were named Castor and Pollux, legendary twins born of immortal Zeus and the mortal Leda, wife of the king of Sparta. Thus, Pollux was immortal and Castor mortal. They were brothers of beautiful Helen of Troy, for whom the Trojan War was fought. The Twins were known as well educated, strong and daring, yet gentle lads, who became healers, physicians and protectors of humankind. They were among Jason's crew of argonauts in quest of the Golden Fleece. On that voyage, a fierce storm threatened the mission, but abated as a pair of stars appeared over the heads of Castor and Pollux. Since that time seamen have called upon the brothers for protection from peril, and the eerie lightning phenomenon, sometimes called St. Elmo's Fire, has been thought of as the spirits of the twins playing in the sails, a good omen for sailors. Castor, a horseman, and Pollux, a boxer, fell in love with beautiful sisters who were already betrothed to suitors. The Twins challenged and slew their rivals, but Castor was mortally wounded. Overcome with grief, the immortal Pollux would have committed suicide in order to be with his brother, but this was impossible. In the end, Zeus placed both their immortal souls together in the sky as symbols of brotherly love, the precept they had so gallantly demonstrated throughout their lives on earth. Greeks and Romans invoked Gemini in storms and wars, leading to the expression "O Gemini," corrupted in later generations to become "By Jiminy" perverted to "Jiminy Cricket", a euphemism for "Jesus Christ", like "jeepers creepers" and so many others. Most people are totally unaware that they are blaspheming God with their exclamations.



The three decans are Lepus, Canis Major and Canis Minor


I. LEPUS (The Hare), The enemy trodden under foot


   


The first decan of Gemini is Lepus. The names of the three decans of Gemini, as well as the pictures, are all more or less modern, as is clear from the names being in Latin, and having no relation to the ancient names of their stars. To learn their real meaning, therefore, we must have recourse to the ancient Zodiacs. In the Persian planisphere the first decan was pictured by a serpent. In the Denderah (Egyptian) Zodiac it is an unclean bird standing on the serpent, which is under the feet of Orion. Its name there is given as Bashti-beki. Bashti means confounded, and Beki means failing.


It is shown under the foot of Orion (the foot that contains the star Rigel "The Foot That Crushes"), as if being crushed even as the various other dragons, serpents, and scorpions. Thus, it is identified with evil and with the enemy. The Persians showed it as a serpent, and the Egyptians showed Orion (Osiris) standing on a serpent with a bird on the serpent's back. But to the Greeks, this was the Hare which the Hunter is pursuing.


Stars:



  • The brightest, α (in the body), has a Hebrew name, Arnebo, which means the enemy of Him that cometh. The Arabic, Arnebeth, means the same.

  • Other stars are Nibal, the mad;

  • Rakis, the bound (Arabic, with a chain);

  • Sugia, the deceiver.


There can be no mistaking the voice of this united testimony. For this enemy is under the down-coming foot of Orion, and it tells that when the true Orion, "the Sun of Righteousness, shall arise," and "the true light" shall shine over all the earth, He "shall tread down the wicked" (Malachi 4), and every enemy will be subdued under His feet. Hence we have Satan defeated.


Verses:



  • Isaiah 63:3-4: “I have been treading the winepress alone; no one was there to help me. In my anger I have trampled my enemies as if they were grapes. In my fury I have trampled my foes. Their blood has stained my clothes. For the time has come for me to avenge my people, to ransom them from their oppressors.

  • Psalm 60:12: With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.


Greek Mythology: Lepus is an ancient constellation found under the feet of Orion, the Hunter. The creature is associated with the Moon in mythology. Some say that the dark regions on the surface of the Moon are a rabbit, originally Lepus. The rabbit was the favorite prey of Orion and his hunting dogs. The Arabs saw it as the "throne of the central one" (Orion).



II. CANIS MAJOR (The Dog), or SIRIUS (The Prince) - The coming glorious Prince of Princes (Sirius)


   


The next decan is Canis Major (Sirius)



  • This second constellation carries on the teaching, and tells of the glorious Prince who will thus subdue and reign.


Names:



  • In the Denderah Zodiac he is called Apes, which means the head. He is pictured as a hawk (Naz, caused to come forth, coming swiftly down). The hawk is the natural enemy of the serpent, and there it has on its head a pestle and mortar, indicating the fact that he shall crush the head of the enemy.

  • In the Persian planisphere it is pictured as a wolf, and is called Zeeb, which in Hebrew has the same meaning.

  • Plutarch translates it Leader.

  • In Arabic it means coming quickly.


Stars:



  • α (in the head) is the brightest star in the whole heavens! It is called Sirius, the Prince as in Isaiah 9:6.

    • If we draw an imaginary line left of Orion's belt, we find in the southern skies the brightest star in the heavens (next to that of the sun), Sirius (pronounced 'serious').

    • Sirius (our English "Sir" is derived from this word) was, by the ancients, always associated with great heat. And the hottest part of the year we still call "the dog days," though, through the variation as observed in different latitudes, and the precession of the equinoxes, its rising has long ceased to have any relation to those days. The name Sirius may come from the Greek meaning "scorching." Nowadays the star is mostly thought of as a winter star, accompanying Orion, rather than as the summer home of the sun.

    • Though this "Dog-Star" came to have an ill-omened association, it was not so in more ancient times. In the ancient Akkadian it is called Kasista, which means the Leader and Prince of the heavenly host. In ancient Persia, it was called Tistar (Sirius), the chieftain of the East.



  • The next star, β (in the left fore foot), speaks the same truth. It is named Mirzam, and means the prince or ruler.

  • The star δ (in the body) is called Wesen, the bright, the shining.

  • The star ε (in the right hind leg) is called Adhara, the glorious.

  • Other stars bear their witness to the same fact. Their names are--Aschere (Hebrew), who shall come; Al Shira Al Jemeniya (Arabic), the Prince or chief of the right hand! Seir (Egyptian), the Prince; Abur (Hebrew), the mighty; Al Habor (Arabic), the mighty; Muliphen (Arabic), the leader, the chief.

  • The names of the stars have no meaning whatever as applied to an Egyptian Hawk, or a Greek Dog. But they are full of significance when we apply them to Him of whom Yahweh says: Isaiah 55:4: See how I used him to display my power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations.


Verses:



  • Isaiah 9:6: For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

  • This is "the Prince of princes" (Daniel 8:23,25) against whom, "when transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance...shall stand up," "but he shall be broken without hand," for he shall be destroyed "by the splendor of his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:8). This is He who shall come forth "King of kings and Lord of Lords" (Revelation 19:16).


Greek Mythology: Canis Major, the largest of Orion's two hunting dogs, might be chasing Lepus, the Rabbit, who is just in front of him. Or perhaps he is ready to help Orion battle the great bull.



III. CANIS MINOR (The Second Dog) - The exalted Redeemer


      


The last decan is Canis Minor


Names:



  • The Egyptian name in the Denderah Zodiac is Sebak, which means conquering, victorious. It is represented as a human figure with a hawk's head and the appendage of a tail.


Stars:



  • The brightest star, α (in the body), is named Procyon, which means Redeemer, and it tells us that this glorious Prince is none other than the one who was slain. Just as this chapter begins with two persons in one in the Sign (Gemini), one victorious, the other wounded; so it ends with a representation of two princes, one of whom is seen triumphant and the other as the Redeemer.

  • This is confirmed by the next star, β (in the neck), which is named Al Gomeisa (Arabic), the burdened, loaded, bearing for others. The names of the other stars still further confirm the great truth; viz., Al Shira or Al Shemeliya (Arabic), the prince or chief of the left hand, answering to the star in Sirius. One right, the other left, as the two united youths are placed. Al Mirzam, the prince or ruler; and Al Gomeyra, who completes or perfects.


Are not the Big and Little Dog the same as the two Twins, indicating that one twin is the Little Dog who represents the Savior at the First Coming (in meekness), whereas the Big Dog (a brilliant constellation) is the Savior at the Second Coming, when he comes in power to destroy the enemy? The two dogs correlate well to the two twins.


This does, indeed, complete and perfect the presentation of this chapter: Messiah's reign as Prince of Peace; the enemy trodden under foot by the glorious "Prince of princes," who is none other than the glorified Redeemer.



Here is the story the Mazzaroth has presented to us so far:



  1. The seed of the woman shall come.

  2. There shall be a price paid by Him for a purchased possession.

  3. The price shall be a conflict with the serpent-foe, and a wound in the conqueror's heel.

  4. He shall be sent forth swiftly, surely, as an arrow from a bow.

  5. He shall be slain as a sacrifice.

  6. He shall rise again and pour out blessings on His people.

  7. His people shall be multitudes, and held in union with each other and Himself

  8. He who was slain, whose heel was bruised, shall rule, and shall tread His enemy under foot.

  9. He shall come in power, triumphant, and have dominion.

  10. He shall be the Son of God and the son of man, the victim and the ruler.

  11. He shall hold fast His purchased possession, the reward of His work.

  12. 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



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



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