The Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah

How Big Is Man?

Threefold Theme of the Starry Heavens

Section One: Our Redeeming Savior
Deliverance from the PENALTY of Sin.
1. Virgo: Christ the Incarnate Son
2. Libra: Christ the Redeemer
3. Scorpio: Christ the Sufferer
4. Sagittarius: Christ the Conqueror

Section Two: Our Risen Savior
Deliverance from the POWER of Sin.
5. Capricornus: Christ the Sacrifice
6. Aquarius: Christ the Living Water
7. Pisces: Christ the Liberator
8. Aries: Christ the Crowned Lamb

Section Three: Our Returning Savior
Deliverance from the PRESENCE of Sin.
9. Taurus: Christ the Judge
10. Gemini: Christ the King
11. Cancer: Christ the Protector
12. Leo: Christ the Victor

Psalm 19: Stars and Statutes of God

1. THE GOSPEL OF GOD IN HIS STARS (vs. 1-6)

a. Their Wonderful Message (v. 1)
(1) The message of the glory of God in His heavens
(a) Fame of Christ: Victor against the Serpent (Gen. 3:15)
(b) Face of Christ: Visiting as our Savior (2 Cor. 4:4-6)
(c) Fullness of Christ: Valued above the Skies (Psa. 8:1,3)
(2) Then merely offering a glimpse of God in His handiwork
(a) His Eternal Power and Goodness (Ro. 1:20a, Ps. 104:24)
(b) His Essential Person as God (Ro. 1:20b, Job 26:13,14)

b. Their Worldwide Ministry (vs. 2-4a)
(1) Speaking without being halted (v. 2)
(a) Uttering speech trumpeted in the day
(b) Unveiling spiritual truth in the darkness
(2) Speaking without being heard (v. 3)
(a) They are visible in their nightly silence
(b) Their audible voice is thus not sounded
(3) Speaking without being hindered (v. 4a) see Romans 10:18
(a) Their line continues throughout the world
(b) Their light communicates through their words

c. The Way Manifested (vs. 4b-6)
(1) The sun’s tabernacle in Mazzaroth (vs. 4b,5) see Job 38:32
(a) Its apparent path through sighted constellations (v. 4b)
(b) Its appointed pace that seasonally communicates (v. 5)
-As a bridegroom revealed from his chamber (Jn. 3:29)
-As a brawny runner finishes his course (Heb. 6:20, 12:3)
(2) The Son’s truth is manifested (v. 6)
(a) His love running from heaven to earth (Psalm 89:14)
(b) His light radiating forth heat to everyone (Acts 1:8)

2. THE GOSPEL OF GOD IN HIS STATUTES (vs. 7-14)

a. Restoring our Hearts (v. 7)
(1) Converting our soul by His Law: His shelter
(2) Convincing our soul by His Testimony: His sureness

b. Rejoicing our Hearts (v. 8)
(1) Gladness in His Statutes: His right principles
(2) Glory of His Commandment: His ready power
(a) Enlightening our weary eyes
(b) Exposing our world’s errors

c. Refreshing our Hearts (v. 9)
(1) Cleansing our defilement by His Fear
(2) Clearing our discernment by His Judgments

d. Rewarding our Hearts (vs. 10,11)
(1) Treasure better than the gold that hearts desire (v. 10)
(2) Tasting better than the goodness of honey’s delight (v. 11)
(a) Giving us warning that safeguards us
(b) Granting us wealth that satisfies us

e. Reproving our Hearts (vs. 12, 13)
(1) Washing us from our private sins (v. 12)
(2) Withholding us from our presumptuous sins (v. 13)

f. Reviving our Hearts (v. 14)
(1) To be acceptable to the Lord in our love for Him
(a) In the words of my mouth in my statements
(b) In the wealth of my meditation on His statutes
(2) To be aided by the Lord in our life for Him
(a) By the strength in His majestic resources
(b) By the sureness of His merciful redemption


Psalm 19
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Spectacular Speech

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun" (Psalm 19:1-4).

"He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names" (Psalm 147:4).


The heavens are telling the glory of God;
Day after day they are uttering speech.
Their message is spread on the night sky abroad;
Night after night they continue to teach.

Spectacular speech! How majestic the glory
Unveiled by God on that star-engraved scroll!
The stars by their names have been telling the story
Of Jesus who rescues and ransoms the soul!

Twinkle, Twinkle, Blazing Star

"He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names" (Psalm 147:4). "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?" (Job 38:31,32).

Twinkle, twinkle, blazing star, now I know just what you are.
You're a witness up above of God's majesty and love.

God assigned to you a name to spread abroad your Maker's fame.
So let Orion magnify the Prince of Light who came to die.

Mazzaroth, bring forth His praise! Shine, Arcturus, set ablaze
The sky with words that tell the story of redemption and God's glory.

And as we turn our wondering eyes away from God's majestic skies,
His statutes, true from age to age, are told on Scripture's every page.

Let us therefore blaze abroad the Gospel of our glorious God!
Like the stars shine in the night, let us shed abroad His light.

How the Heavens Declare the Glory of God

"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said.... Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth MAZZAROTH (i.e., the twelve constellations of the zodiac) in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?” (Job 38:1,32).

1. WHO named the stars?

Answer: Scripture is clear: God Himself named the stars.

“He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names” (Psalm 147:4).

“Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth” (Isaiah 40:26). See Job 38:32, where God recites star names.

2. WHY did God name the stars?

Answer: To provide prophetic signs ordered according to their appointed times (i.e., “seasons”) of fulfillment.

“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 (othoth, signifying something to come), and for seasons (moed, a fixed or an appointed time), and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14). See Romans 10:18.

3. WHAT is the message declared by the stars?

Answer: The glory of God that is “above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1), as seen in the Person and work of God the Son, Jesus Christ, the promised Seed of a woman, as foretold in the first Messianic prophecy (Genesis 3:15), declaring that our Savior would eventually defeat Satan (i.e., bruise the serpent’s head), though He would suffer (bruising His own heal) to redeem His people from their sins and take them safely home to heaven.

“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens... The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 8:1, 19:1).

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). See also Hebrews 1:3.

“And I will put enmity between thee [Satan, embodied in the serpent] and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). This is the central theme.

Example: God called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees where astrology, abhorrent to God (Deut. 18:10-12, Isaiah 47:13,14), had flourished. God commanded Abram: “Look toward heaven, and tell (narrate) the stars, if thou be able to number (name them one by one) them. And He said, So shall thy Seed be (singular, referring to Christ; see Galatians 3:16). And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:5).

Abram knew the star names and where to begin naming them. Beginning at Virgo he would have recited words such as: “VIRGO, SUBILAH, ZAVIJAVA, SPICA/TSEMECH¹, VINDEMIATRIX, COMA, IHESU², BOOTES, ARCTURUS, NEKKAR, AGENA, TOLIMAN,” which translates: “The virgin who carries the gloriously beautiful Seed, the Branch (Messiah), the Son who comes down to rule, the desired Son, the Christ, the coming Shepherd, the Pierced, the despised Sin Offering, the Beginning and the End.”

4. WHERE do we find specific star names in Scripture?

Answer: Primarily in the Book of Job, acknowledged by God Himself in the series of questions that He posed to Job, showing also the common knowledge of the star names among the ancient patriarchs of that dispensation.

“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth (the constellations) in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?” (Job 38:32).

“[God] alone spreadeth out the heavens...which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers (constellations) of the south” (Job 9:9).

“By His spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent” (Job 26:13).
-Note: SERPENS and HYDRA are two examples of this.

The prophet Amos also advised, “Seek him that maketh the seven stars (literally, Pleiades) and Orion” (Amos 5:8).

5. WHEN were the star names first given in human history?

Answer: Most likely incident to the fall of man, providing and preserving an exposition on the first Messianic promise given to humanity in Genesis 3:15.

The obvious familiarity of the star names in the book of Job (accepted as the oldest book in the Bible) testifies to the antiquity handed down by Adam to his descendants. Ancient planispheres and star charts in virtually every civilization bear witness to a single, Divine origin by their phenomenal unity, as observed in China, India, Babylonia, Persia, Egypt, Israel, Greece, Rome, Scandinavia, and in Central America.

Bibliography:

Bullinger, E.W. The Witness of the Stars, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel, 1893, 1967.

Fleming, K. C. God's Voice in the Stars, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey, 1981.

Seiss, Joseph A. The Gospel in the Stars, Castle Press, 1884; Grand rapids, Michigan: Kregel, 1979.

The Statement of the Stars

"He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names" (Psalm 147:4).

Refrain:
Lord, You tell the vast number of each and every star.
You call every one of them by its appointed name.
Their brilliance is exceeded, Oh Lord, by who You are;
Their glory is transcended by the Christ whom they proclaim.

1. Virgo is the virgin who bears the promised Seed:
The coming and desired Son is Jesus Christ indeed.
Libra shows the scales that weigh redemption’s cost:
The only price sufficient is His cross.
Scorpio the enemy, in deadly conflict strives
Against the Lover of our souls contending for our lives.
Sa-gittari-us is Christ triumphant, lifted high:
Removing sin, He reigns, no more to die.

2. Ca-pricornus is the Sacrifice who once was slain,
But rose victorious over death for our eternal gain.
Aquarius is Jesus Christ from whom all blessings flow,
His living water freely He bestows.
Pisces are the saved in Christ united in His love;
Redeemed, yet bound, they wait for Christ’s returning from above.
Aries is the Lamb enthroned once slain to save our souls,
Delivering those once bound by Satan’s hold.

3. Taurus is the Lord who shall return to judge the earth,
The Prince of Light in brightness so unlike His humble birth.
Gemini is dual witness of the Christ who came:
This Ruler and Redeemer are the same!
Cancer is our shelter and our resting place secure.
Protected by our Savior’s love, which ever shall endure.
Leo is the King of kings whose victory is complete:
The serpent’s head is crushed beneath His feet.