The Signs of the Zodiac
RO137-01

We have seen in Romans 10:18 that the apostle Paul, under the guidance of God the Holy Spirit, quotes Psalm 19:4 to prove that the Jews had information from God about salvation, which they deliberately rejected. We read: "But I say, have they not heard?" And, as we pointed out, the Greek language tells us that the answer to that question is: "Indeed, they have heard. Yes, verily their sound went unto all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."

When we go back to Psalm 19:4, which Paul is quoting, we find that this verse is referring specifically to a revelation through the luminaries of the heavens. It is referring to what the sun, the moon, and the stars have to say. Psalm 19 indicates that God has communicated spiritual principles to mankind in two ways. Verses 1-6 of that psalm, we saw, refer to the general revelation of nature. Then the rest of the Psalm, in verse 7-14, specifically indicate that God has communicated to us through special revelation; that is, the written communication of the Bible.

The Luminaries

Job – The Signs of the Zodiac

We will look at the authoritative commentary on the Old Testament Hebrew text by Keil and Delitzsch, which are viewed as supreme authorities in the view of the interpretation of the Hebrew words. In their biblical commentary on the book of Job, volume 2, page 324, we read, "The question in verse 32a (here in Job 38), therefore, means: 'Can you bring forth the appointed zodiacal sign for each month?'"

So, when the translators put in "Mazzaroth" here, they just left it in the Hebrew form. They just transliterated it: Hebrew letter for Hebrew letter. In the New Testament, the same thing happened when they came to the word "baptizo" for "baptism." Instead of translating the word "baptism," they just transliterated the letters. What God is referring to here is the fact that, as the earth circles the sun each year, the sun appears to move through 12 star constellations of the zodiac. They are houses, or the tent, which we found in Psalm 19, that God has made for the sun in the sky. . . .

The Ecliptic

Well, God challenged Job's understanding, of the laws of heaven by which God moves His luminaries and His planets in the sky. That's the question: "Job, can you make the sun go from house to house up there in the signs in the heaven, the way I can do it?" And of course, that made Job feel, obviously, very small.

The 12 main constellations of the zodiac have, from ancient times, been viewed as telling a story. These images have been superimposed upon the signs of the zodiac. It always begins with Virgo, the virgin. And as you look up in the sky, it does not look like a virgin. But the stars are arranged in a certain way, and that figure has been imposed. And from ancient times, you can go back as far as 4000 B.C., and you come to that constellation, and no matter what country you're in, they call it by a different name, but the translation is always "virgin." It's fantastic that they have the same basic name, which shows that they came from some common source.

Now the constellations of the zodiac go around from Virgo the virgin, and they end with Leo the lion. In all likelihood, of course, God first explained His visual aids of the zodiac to Adam. And then it was passed down from generation to generation.

So, a lost sinner, who understood what each of these constellations meant, could see the story of God's plan of redemption in the signs of the zodiac, as each sign was related to him. There was thus a message indeed from the heavenly luminaries, as Psalm 19:4 indicated, which Paul they quoted. Their message has gone to all parts of the earth, and it has gone to every civilization. You go back to Psalm 19:4, and you say, "Paul, What's the context of that? Who is 'their' referring to?" And you discover, "Aha, it's the constellations." Now how could they speak? They could only speak because a message was conveyed through them as a visual aid.

This has been totally distorted from God's original message to bring a false message from the spirit world. So, we're making clear that we're talking about something that is out there in space. It is true. It was put there by God, and it was put there to give a message (to give a sign), and He Himself explained what each of the signs meant. Along came the Devil, and he said, "Wait a minute. I can't permit that to be going on from generation to generation," because it was the message of salvation. It was "the way," which is what "zodiac" means. It means "the way" ("the pathway") to salvation. So, Satan came along, and he corrupted the meaning of the signs. Satan has done his perversion in order to hide this message.

This is indicated for us, for example, in 2 Kings 23:5. The background of this particular passage of Scripture is that there is a spiritual revival taking place in the kingdom of Judah (the southern kingdom) under King Josiah. This was in the 7th century B.C. The southern kingdom has had a series of apostate kings who actually led the people into the Baal worship of the pagan systems around them. Josiah came along, and he cleaned it all up. That's why he's referred to as "good King Josiah." The previous apostate kings of Judah, had actually appointed non-Levitical priests to conduct worship rituals to Baal in the shrines which were up on hills, and they were called "the high places." These priests of Baal burned incense to him, and they worshiped Baal in the form of the sun, the moon, and the stars. Now this verse is now referring, then, to the constellations of the zodiac, perverted to use in idolatry and, in fact, the worship of demons.

So, 2 Kings 23:5 says, "And he (Josiah) put down the idolatress priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the city of Judah, and the places around about Jerusalem; and them also who burned incense unto Baal; to the sun; to the moon." And then it says, "To the planets," but it's really: "To the constellations, and to all the hosts of heaven." It is a little different Hebrew word. The one that we had from Job looks like this: that's "Mazzaroth." This word is difference. The difference is that one has an "R," and one has an "L." So, this word is "Mazzaloth." In the Hebrew language, it is not unusual for "Rs" and "Ls" to be interchanged sometimes in words. So, my point is that both of these are the same word. They're referring to the same thing. They are both referring to the signs of the zodiac. So, what he is referring to here in 2 Kings is actually the constellations of the zodiac being used for a perverted purpose of worshiping idols.

Now, in Psalm 19:1, we have the declaration that God's handiwork in creation proclaims His glory to all mankind. It shows that He is there. It shows that He is omnipotent. It shows that He is greater than man, and all the characteristics that man has. And it shows, therefore, that man is subject to His authority. Psalm 19:1: "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament (the open space above the earth) shows His handiwork.

The Heavens

The Milky Way Galaxy

When you look at the Milky Way sideways, it looks like a flying saucer with a bulge in the middle – the concentration of the stars, which is the nucleus. And we are really about halfway from the nucleus to the outer fringes of the Milky Way galaxy. All of you have looked up in the stars on a dark night, where you were out in a place that city lights weren't interfering, especially if you're out in the western United States. And you're just staggered by that stream of light that goes across the sky, and everybody knows that the Milky Way. Well, what you're doing is you're looking up and seeing part of this arm that is floating around us, and of which we are a part.

Light Years

Now, the distance that a ray of light covers in one year's time, traveling at 186,000 miles a second is the distance that is called one light year. Astronomers have had to invent that system of measurement, because you simply could not talk in miles of the terms of what God has put out there. And I should say that one light year equals 6 million million miles. A ray of light in one year will travel six million million miles.

The Milky Way galaxy is 120,000 light years across; that is, the diameter of that disk is 120,000 light years. And we cannot even begin to comprehend those distances. How far does all this go that God made? And as I said, we're talking about billions of other galaxies like ours. How was He able to make so much room out there? The individual stars of the galaxy themselves are very far apart. It takes five hours going at the speed of light (186,000 miles a second) for light to travel between the stars of our galaxy. It takes five hours just to go between the stars. So, it shows you how far apart they are. It would take actually two million years to travel at the speed of light to get to our nearest neighbor galaxy.

The sun, of course, is a star in one of the swirling arms of our Milky Way galaxy, as we've shown you. The sun, with its planets lay halfway between the nucleus of the Milky Way and its outer fringes. The sun circles around the nucleus of the Milky Way galaxy at 150 miles a second, so that in 250 million years, our galaxy makes one complete turn. The sun lays, itself, 30,000 light years from the nucleus of the Milky Way galaxy. Our sun is 93 million miles from the earth, and because it is so large, compared to other stars, it seems larger, though there are much larger stars out there.

To try to bring this into some comprehension of the wonder of what God has done – if you had a train that was running at 60 miles an hour without stopping, it would take five-and-a-half years to go around the sun. If you were going from earth to sun at 60 miles an hour, it would take 180 years for you to get there. The sun occupies a million times the cubic space of the earth. The earth is 8,000 miles in its diameter. A circle which is drawn with a string from the earth to the moon, which is 250,000 miles away – that circle would only be one-sixth the size of the sun.

The sun has eight primary planets. Some of those are 1,000 times larger than the earth. It has 85 asteroids; it has 21 satellites, or moons; and, it has several hundred comets. But the sun is still 600 times larger than all of these put together. And yet the sun is just a speck in God's glorious heavenly creation. Do you have some little inkling then of why the psalmist says that the heavens declare the glory of God. What kind of a person must God be to be able to have the intelligence and the ability to speak all this, on such a vast scale, into existence? There are a vast number of stars larger than our sun, but they're so far away that they seem smaller.

"Let there be Light"

Now, the stars, we've indicated, as awesome as they are, have had a message imprinted upon them (imposed upon them) by God. For 2,500 years, there was no written revelation from God. But during all that time, God was not silent. He had a message which was transmitted verbally from Adam to his children, and from generation to generation. There was also a message which was illustrated in the heavens by the stars. God, we are told, has numbered, and He has named, His billions of stars. Now try to grasp that with your mental capacity. God has a full inventory of how many stars He put out there, and what He has done with them since. And He gave them names.

Notice Isaiah 40:26: "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, who has created these things? Who brings out their host by number?" That is, the stars: "He calls them by names, by the greatness of his might, for He is strong in power, and not one fails."

Biblical Names of the Constellations

The Bible recognizes the existence of special star constellations which have been made by God. And that's interesting – that the Bible indicates that God has special stars He's put together. Isaiah 13:10 says, "For the stars of heaven, and the constellation thereof, shall not give their light. The sun shall be darkened, in it's going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine." God has created luminaries in the heaven for a very special purpose that He has to convey certain messages to mankind – there, in the sense of judgment.

Amos 5:8: "Seek Him who makes the seven stars in Orion, and turns the shadow of death into mourning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth. The Lord is His Name." Here again, the luminaries up in the sky, as we have found in the trumpet judgments of the book of the Revelation. They're going to be darkened. God is going to give a message through special stars that He has put up there for that purpose.

In Job 26:13, we have a reference to the constellation known as Draco – Draco, the serpent. Job 26:13: "By His Spirit, He has vanished (or He has made beautiful) the heavens. His hand has formed the crooked serpent, referring to the constellation in Sagittarius, which is known as Draco.

The orders and the names of the signs of the zodiac are found in all ancient cultures, back to about 4000 B.C. These names are different in different languages, but they mean the same thing. The series begins with Virgo, and it always ends with Leo the lion. In the ancient monuments, the order was indicated by placing a sphinx among them – that creature that we have found out in the Egyptian desert that has the face of a human being and the body of a lion. The face is turned toward Virgo to indicate that that's where the story of the sky begins. The ancient Persian and Arabic traditions attributed the beginning of the study of the zodiac to Adam and his progeny. And we're talking now about all of these writings that have come down to us. And here, sure enough, they're telling us these same things that we're talking about today.

Ziggurat

So, the true meaning of the signs had to come from God. And these meanings are not derived just because you could look up into the sky and see the constellations. The stars in Virgo, for example, do not form the figure of a woman, nor does Leo have the shape of a lion. But God imposed a name and an image upon these constellations. And the divine purpose was to explain the promise of Genesis 3:15, concerning a Child which was to be born from the woman, Who would become a Savior to resolve the sin problem of the human race.

In the signs of the zodiac, then, we have the ancient story of the suffering and the glory of the Savior in providing salvation for mankind. So, through the signs of the zodiac, and the associated divine explanation, there was, from Adam on, a testimony about God; a testimony about Satan; a testimony about human sin; a testimony about the Savior; a testimony about atonement; and, a testimony about the final victory of God. All of this was up there. Parents would sit, and they'd look at the constellations, and they'd give the story behind it. They'd explain it. They would discuss it with their children. It was there. And this was passed on from culture to culture.

In a book written by the late Dr. Duane Spencer of San Antonio, Texas, entitled The Gospel and the Stars, on pages 8-9, he makes a fantastic observation of an incident that happened to him on one occasion when he was speaking at the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles. He says, "Several years ago, when I was a speaker for the Congress on Prophecy at the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles, I pointed out that Paul claims, in Romans 10:18, that all men have heard the gospel. Then I explained the biblical basis for the apostles' statement, much in the same way I am now explaining it to you.

"After the service was over, a dear saint of God said to me,' Dr. Spencer, I heard this from a missionary 50 years ago. She went up into the back country of Japan one day, where no missionary had ever been. She began to tell the story of redemption. When she had finished, an old lady got up all excited and said, 'That's it, that's it. I've read this story in the stars and told my people about the Savior, but I never knew his name before this.''"

I think that's fantastic that a missionary had found someone who had never had a contact with Christianity, and they, somehow, had received through transmission verbally in that culture the meaning of those constellations, relative to something that God was doing for human redemption. But it wasn't enough without the explanation of Scripture.

The 12 Constellations

1. The Redeemer

   Book 1, then, would be entitled The Redeemer. Then there are four constellations in each book, and they may be viewed as chapters.

   1. Virgo

      So, chapter 1 is Virgo the virgin, and the subject is the promised Seed of the woman.

   2. Libra

      Chapter 2 is Libra, the scales, and the subject is the Redeemer's atoning work.

   3. Scorpio

      Chapter 3 is Scorpio the Scorpion, and the subject is the Redeemer's conflict.

   4. Sagittarius

      Chapter 4 of the first book is Sagittarius the archer, and the subject is the Redeemer's triumph.

2. The Redeemed

   Then we come to book two. Book two is entitled The Redeemed.

   1. Capricornis

      Chapter 1 is Capricornis the sea goat. The subject is their blessing procured.

   2. Aquarius

      Chapter 2 is Aquarius the water bear, and the subject is their blessings insured.

   3. Pisces

      Chapter 3 is Pisces the fish. The subject is their blessings delayed.

   4. Aries

      Chapter 4 is Aries the ram, and the subject is their blessings and joy.

3. The Redemption

   Then we come to the last four, forming book 3. The subject of book 3 is The Redemption.

   1. Taurus

      Chapter 1 is Taurus the bull. The subject is the Savior as the Judge of the earth.

   2. Gemini

      Chapter 2 is Gemini the twins. The subject is the Savior as the Prince of Peace.

   3. Cancer

      Chapter 3 is Cancer the crab, and the subject is the Savior's redeemed ones.

   4. Leo

      Then chapter 4 is Leo the lion, the Savior's final triumph.

Decans

Virgo

The message of this constellation is indeed the basic message of the gospel, but it is also, interestingly enough, the basis of all the perversions of the gospel story in ancient mythologies. The word "Virgo" means "virgin." And the message is associated with a sign about a virgin woman who is to give birth to a special child who is going to be a miracle child. And the ancient people talked about this lady up in the sky who was going to come to bring forth a special child.

The archaeologists have found an altar in Gaul which is dated at 100 B.C. There is an inscription on the altar which says, "To the virgin, who is to bring forth," reflecting the constellation of Virgo. The figure imposed on the star constellation has a branch in her right hand, and she has a stem with wheat in the other hand – seeds. So, you have a branch and a seed. These two symbols refer to the primary truths about the virgin's child, Jesus Christ.

The Branch

The Seed

We find both these features of this woman's son as a branch and as a seed combined in Isaiah 9:6-7: "The seed of the woman, and the branch of God."

The woman in Virgo, interesting as she is portrayed, is not in an upright position. She is lying down, indicating that she has fallen – that she is not sinless, even though she will give birth to a sinless child, a child who has no sin nature.

The Three Decans

1. Coma

   First of all is Coma. The picture imposed upon this constellation from ancient times is that which describes a young woman who is sitting on the throne, nourishing an infant boy. The boy had a Hebrew name, in some traditions, which was very close to "Jesus." The woman in Virgo and in Coma is the same woman. The Coma is associated with the branch and the seed in Virgo. She is expanding the story a little more about the constellation of Virgo. After a parent would describe what Virgo meant, he would say, "Now look over here. See up there slightly. Do you see these stars?" The child would say, "Yes, I see them." The parent would say, "Well, that's a woman holding a little baby that she is feeding." Then they would explain further about the nature of this child that was to come. The word "Coma," in the Hebrew language, means "the desired" or "the longed for one." In Haggai 2:7, that very term is used: "'And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill His house with glory,' says the Lord of Hosts," speaking here of Jesus Christ – the one that is the longed for.

   Shakespeare speaks of shooting an arrow to the good boy in Virgo's lap, in his drama Titus Andronicus, act 4, scene 3. What's Shakespeare talking about? Shooting an arrow up to the good boy in Virgo's lap. He's talking about the constellation Coma. This may, in fact, some traditions have it, be the constellation in which the Bethlehem star appeared.

   The Persian leader Zoroaster is said to have been the pupil of Daniel, who thought this person to watch for a new star, which would signal the birth of Coma's child (of the virgin's child). Perhaps that is what Matthew 24:30 meant when it said, "We have seen His star." This was probably instruction from Daniel.

2. Centaur

   A second constellation associated with the virgin is the Centaur – the Centaur constellation. You're all acquainted with him as the creature portrayed with a human torso up front, and the rest of the body is a horse. Now immediately, what does that tell you? You can see that here is a creature that has two what? Two natures. Interestingly enough, however, the Centaurs were hated and abhorred. They were considered ugly, and considered to have no beauty, and that's how they were described. Isaiah 53:3 describes the Lord Jesus in that same way. This represents Virgo's child as possessing two natures, for the Lord Jesus Christ was both God and Man.

   The Greek name of this constellation, interestingly enough, was "Cheiron." The word "Cheiron" means "the pierced one." And when the Greeks talked about this constellation, they called it "Cheiron, the pierced one." This man, Cheiron, was attributed as having great wisdom and righteousness, and he had great skill in medicine, arts, and prophecy. The story told in the ancient cultures about Cheiron was that he was accidentally struck by a poisoned arrow from Hercules who was struggling with a boar. He didn't deserve to be hit by this poison arrow. It was accidentally done. But Cheiron was immortal, so he couldn't be killed. However, he agreed to go ahead and die so that he could give his immortality to Prometheus, another god. All of this, basically, has been corrupted. But the truth here is that Jesus Christ was immortal, but He chose to give up His life.

   So, the story is that Centaur ended up there, placed up in the sky by the gods in commemoration of his great personal sacrifice. All of this clearly reflects the original account before it was distorted about Jesus Christ, the God-Man with two natures, who voluntarily died, and was then elevated, Himself, to the highest heavens. The Lord Jesus Christ was despised by sinners. However, he fought the devil, and destroyed his works, and sacrificed Himself for mankind.

   The spear of the Centaur is pushing at the heart of a victim. The victim is Lupus, and we'll get to that later.

   There's one other thing. You will notice that Centaur is situated over the Cross constellation. The Cross constellation, referred to as the Northern Cross, in the ancient stories, represented the death of this creature of two natures.

3. Boötes

   The final constellation that's associated with the virgin is Boötes. This pictures a man who walking rapidly with a spear in his right hand, and a sickle in his left hand. The name in Hebrew means "the coming one." We have that in Psalm 96:13. The brightest star here in his knee is the star Arcturus. Arcturus has an interesting meaning. Arcturus means "the coming one." And some of the names of these stars in the constellation – the significance of the prominent stars in these constellations is amazing. So, here we have a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as the great Judge, and the Harvester, reaping unbelievers on the earth, as Revelation 14:15-16 describe.

   Some traditions describe Boötes as the shepherd harvesting souls with his sickle, and guiding his flock with the shepherd staff, which he has in the other hand. That's the picture in Hebrews 13:20.

   So, the Virgin mother's son is here described as the one who's going to be the final judge of the unregenerate who have rejected His salvation, and Revelation 19:11-16 describes that for us.

So, from one constellation to the next, this story based now on this first one, this virgin child, and the associated details about his two natures, and about the fact that he would be the coming one who would be a judge and a shepherd, and that he would be the one who himself would suffer death in order to pay the price of God's justice against us, this story now is expanded through the rest of the constellations.

This is why the apostle Paul could say that: "The heavens have proclaimed the way." And that's another word that the zodiac means. It means "the way." The way of what? The way into eternal life, to every place on earth, and every civilization on the face of the earth. It was marvelous information to have. It is a lot nicer to have the Scripture, with the details all written out, and all clearly declared to us. But at least it does make it clear that God gave the Jews, and gave all the rest of us, a testimony in one way or another. And you can be sure that He will hold us accountable for that information.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1988

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