the witness of the stars - forgotten books€¦ · iv pref ace astro nome r abo ut 1450 a d. who...

P R EFA C E.

SOME years ago it was my privilege to enj oy the ac

quaintance of Miss France s Rolleston ,of Keswick, and

to carry on a correspondence with her with respect toher work, Maz z aroth : or

,the Constellations . She was

the first to create an interest in this important subj ect .S ince then Dr. Seiss, of Ph iladelphia , has endeavouredto populariz e her work on the other side of the At

lantic ; and brief references have been made to the

subj ect in such books as Moses and Geology ,by Dr.

Kinns , and in PrimevalMan ; but it was fe lt , for manyreasons , that it was desirable to make another effortto set forth , in a more complete form , the witness of the

stars toprophetic truth , so necessary in these last days .

To the late Miss Rolleston , however, be longs the

honour of collecting a mass of information bearing on

this subj ect ; but, publ ished as it was , chiefly in the

form of notes, unarranged and unindexed , it was suitedon ly for , but was most valuable to , the student . She

it was who performed the drudgery of collecting the

facts pre sented by Albumaz er, the Arab astronomerto the Cal iphs of Grenada,

8 50 A .D . ; and the Tablesdrawn up by U lugh Beigh , the Tartar prince and

a 2

iv PREFACE .

astronome r,abou t 14 50 A .D .

,who gives the Arabian

Astronomy as it had come down from the earl iesttimes .

Modern astronomers have pre se rved , and stil l havein common use

,the ancient name s of ove r a hundred

of the principal stars which have been handed down ;but now these name s are u sed mere ly as a convenience ,and without any reference to their s ignificance

This work is an attempt to popu lariz e this ancientinformation

, and to use it in the interests of tru th .

For the anc ient astronomical facts and the names ,with their signification ,

I am,from the ve ry nature of

the case , indebted , of course , to all who have prese rved ,collected , and handed them down ; but for their inte r

pretation I am alone responsible .

I t is for the readers to judge how far my conclusions are borne out by the evidence ; and how far

the foundation of our hopes of coming glory are

strengthened by the prophecies which have beenwritten in the stars of heaven

,as we l l as in the

Scriptu res of truth .

For the il lustrations I am greatly indebted to

jamieson’ s CelestialA tlas

, 18 20 ; Flammarlon’

sL’Etoiles ;

S ir john W . Lubbock ’s S tars in Six Maps,18 8 3 ; and

to the late Mr. Edward Cooper ’ s Egyptian Scenery ,

18 20 . For the general presentation and arrangementof the Conste l lation s I am responsible , while for the

PREFACE .

drawings my thanks are due to my friend Miss AmyManson .

I t is the possession of “ that blessed hope ofChrist ’ s speedy return from Heaven which wil l givetrue intere st in the great subj ect of this book .

No one can dispute the antiqu ity of the Signs ofthe Zodiac , or of the Constel lation s . No one can

question the accu racy of the anc ient star - name s whichhave come down to us , for they are stil l pre se rvedin every good ce le stial atlas . And w e hope that no

one wil l be able to resist the cumu lative evidence that ,apart from God ’ s grace in Christ there is no hope forsinners now : and apart from God ’ s glory , as it wil l bemanife sted in the return of Christ from Heaven ,

thereis no hope for the Church ,

no hope for I srae l,no

hope for the world , no hope for a groaning creation .

In spite of all the vaunted prom ises of a re l igiou sW orld

, and of a worldly Church , to remove the e ffectsof the curse by a Social Gospe l of San itat ion

, we

are more and more shut up to the prophecy of G en . iii .

15 , which w e wait and long to see fulfi l led in Christas our on ly hope . Th is is beautifu l ly expressed bythe late Dr. Wil liam Leask

And is there none be fore ? No perfect peaceUnbroken by the s torms and care s of l ife,

Un ti l the t ime of waiting for H im cease,

By H is appearing to destroy the s trife ?No

,none be fore .

v i PREFACE .

Do we not hear that through the flag of grace

By fai thful me sseng ers of God unfurled,

A l l men w ill be converted, and the placeOf man

’

s rebel l ion be a holy worl d ?! es, so w e hear.

Is it not true that to th e Church is g ivenThe holy honour of d ispe l l ing nig ht,

And bring ing back the human race to heaven,

By kindl ing everywhere the Gospe l l ight ?I t is not true .

Is this the h0 p e— that Chris t the Lord w i l l come,In all the g lory of H is royal right,

Rede emer and Aveng er, taking home

His saints,and crush ing the usurper’s might ?

This is the h0 p e .

May the God of all grace accept and bless thiseffort to show forth H is glory, and use it to strengthenHis people in waiting for H is Son from Heaven , evenJesus which de livered us from the wrath to come .

ETHELBERT W BULL INGER.

Aug ust 31st, 1893.

LIST OF ILLUSTRAT ION S .

fl,“ All are drawn to the same relative scale , e xcept P lates V I .,VI I I ., X IV., and XXV.,

which are enlarg ed ; wh ile PlatesI I I X I .

,XVI I I ., XIX .

,XX., XXL,

XXVI ., XXX .,and XL.,

are slightly reduced .

PLATE1. VIRGO

,The Virg in

I I . Coma, The Desired

I I I . Centaurus, The Centaur (reduced)IV. Bootes, The Coming One

V. LIBRA,The Scales

VI . Crux, The Cross (enlarged)VI I . Lupus orVictima, The Wolf or Victim

VI I I . Corona, The Crown (enlarg ed)IX . SCORP IO, The Scorp ion

X Serpens, The Serp entOphiuchus, The Serp ent Holder

X I . Hercules, TheM ig hty One (reduced)X I I . SAG ITTAR IUS, The ArcherXI I I . Lyra

, The Harp

XIV . Ara, The Altar, or burn ing pyre ( enlarg ed)XV. Draco, The Drag on cast downXVI . CAPR ICORNUS

, The Goat

Sag i t ta, The ArrowXVI I . Aquila, The Eag le

Delph inus,The Dolph in

AQ UAR IUS, TheWater- bearerXVHL{ Pisces Austral is, The Southern Fish (reduced)X IX . Pegasus, The Wing ed H orse (reduced)

Cygnus, The Swan (reduced)PISCES,

The F ishreduced)

The Band

LI ST OF ILLU STRATIONS .

PLATE FACING

XXI I . Androme da, The Chained WomanXXI I I . Cepheus

, The Crowned [fing

XXIV. AR IES,The Ram

XXV . Cassiope ia, The Enthronea’ Woman (enlarg ed)

XXV I . Ce tus, The S ea Monster (reduced)XXV I I . Perseus, The Breaker

XXVI I I . TAURUS,The B ull

XXIX. Orion, Th e Glorious One

XXX. Eridanus, The R iver (reduced)XXXI . Aurig a, The ShepherdXXXI I . GEM INI , The Tw insXXXI I I . Lepus, The Hare or The Enemy

Canis major, The Dog (Sirius)XXXIV ' { Canis minor, The Seeona’ Dog (Procyon)XXXV. CANCER , The Crab

XXXVI . Ursa minor, The Little B ear

XXXV I I . Ursa major, The Great B ear

XXXVI I I . Argo, The ShipXXXIX . LEO, The Lion

Hydra, The S erp ent

Crater,The Cup (reduced)

Corvus, TheRaven

XLI. A Planisphere of the Heavens

EN GRAVINGS .

Part of the Zod iac in the Temple of EsnehThe circu lar ALTAR in the sign now cal led L IBRAThe Scorpion and the Lamp ; from an Euphratean Boundary

S toneDit to, from an Euphratean SealThe P tolemaic Conste llation of the Claws

TH E

W ITNESS OF THE STARS ;

OR more than two thousand five hundred years theworld was without a written reve lation from God .

The que stion is, D id God leave H imse lf without a w itness The question is answered very positive ly by thewritten W ord that He did not. In Rom . i . 19 it is"declared that

,

“ that which may be known of God ismanife st in them ; for God hath showed it unto them .

For the invisible things of H im from the creation of theworld are clearly seen ,

be ing unde rstood by the thingsthat are made , even His eternal ’ powe r and Godhead ;so that they are without excuse: But how was Godknown ? How we re His “ invisible th ings ,

” i .e., H is

plans,His purpose s , and H is counse l s , known since the

creation of the world W e are told by Athe u Holy Spiritin Rom. x . 18 . Having stated in I 7 that “ Faithcometh by hearing and hearing by the

'

W ord (him. the

thing spoken,sayings) of God ,

” He asks , “ But I say,

Have they not heard ! es, veri ly .

”And We may ask,

How have they heard The an swe r follow s The irsound went into all the earth (75) and their words

(pnp ara, their teaching ,message, instruction) unto the

ends of the world (am id-5m)” W hat words ? W hat

instruction ? W hose message ? W hose teaching ?There is on ly one answe r, and that is, .THE

S . 100 5 . A

2 THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS .

HEAVENS ! This is settled by the fact that thepassage is quoted from P 8 . x ix .

,the fi rst part of wh ich

is occup i ed with the Reve lation of God written in the

Heavens, and the latter partwith the Reve lation of God

written '

in the Word:

Th is is the simple explanation of this beautifu l P salm .

This is why its two subj ects are brought togethe r . I thas often perplexed many why there shou ld be thatabrupt departure in verse 7 The

p

law of the LORD isperfect , converting the sou l . The fact is , there is

nothing abrupt in it, and it is no departu re . I t is

simply the transition to the second of the two greatReve lations which are thus placed in juxtaposition .

The first is the Reve lation of the C reator,El, BS ,

in

His works,while the second is the Revelation of the

Covenant Jehovah , flirt”, in H is Word. And it is noteworthy that while in the fi rst hal f of the P salm

,El is

named only once , in the latter hal f 7ehovah is namedseven time s , the last being threefold (Jehovah , Rock,and Redeemer) , concluding the Psalm .

Let us then turn to Ps . x ix ., and note first

The Structure of the Psalm as a whole.

A 1—4 The Heavens .B -

4—6 .

“ In them (Dag) the Sun.

A 7—10 . The Scriptures .

B 11- 14 .

“ In them (nag) Thy Servant .

Forwhat is meant by “ Structure, see A Key to the Psalms, by the late Rev.

Thos. Boys, ed i ted by the present author, 7, St. Paul ’s Churchyard. Price Five

THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS . 3

In the Key to the Psalms, p . 17 , it is pointed out thatthe terms employed in A and B are astronomical

,

*

while in A and B they are literary . Thus the twoparts are significantly connected and united .

Ewald and others imagine that this P salm is madeup of two fragments of separate P salms composed at

diffe rent periods and brought together by a latereditor !

But this is disproved not on ly by what has been saidconcerning the structure of the P salm as a whole , andthe interlacing of the astronomical and the literaryterms in the two parts , but it is al so shown by moreminu te detail s .Each half consists of two portions which correspond

the one to the other, A answ e ring to A

,and B to

B . Moreove r,each hal f

, as we l l as each corre spondingmember, consists of the same number of l ine s those in

Vi'

z . , in A (verses 7,Converting,” from 3 3W, to return , as the sun in the heavens.

“ Testimony,” from "my, to rep eat, hence, a w itn ess, spoken of the sun in

PS. lxxxix. 37.u Sure

, mire , fa ithful, as th e sun. (Ps. lxxxix.Enl ighten ing,” from “ fix, to g ive light, as the sun . (Gen. i . 15, 17, 18 ;

Isa. 1x .

'

19 ; Ez ek. xxxii.In B (verses 11, 12,

Warned,” frommy , to mahe light, hence, to teach , admon ish.

Keeping,” from fip rw

'

, to heep , observe, as the heavens. (Ps. cxxx. 6Isa. xx i. Or as the heavenly bodies observe God’s ordinances.

Errors,” frommy}, to w i nder, as the p lanets.

Keep back ,” nig h , to hold hach, restrain.

Have dominion over,” fromstri p , to rule. Spoken of the sun and moon

in Gen . i. 18. Th e sun to rule the day,” &c. (Ps. cxxxvi. 8 ,A 2


the first half be ing, by the ccesura, short , while those inthe last hal f are long (or double) .

A 1—4 Eight l inesB —

4—6 . Six line s

A 74 10 . Eight lines

B 11—14 . S ix lines

14 line s .

14 lines .

If we confine ourselves to the first half of the P salm*

(A and B ,ve rses 1 with which we are now alone

concerned,we see a stil l more minute proof of Divine

order and perfection .

The Structure of‘

A and B .

A B C I . The heavens .

D 2 . Their te stimony : incessant . (Pos .)E 3 . Their words inaudible . (Neg )

D 4 Their testimony : unive rsal . (Pos .)C —

4— 6 . Theheavens .

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 ful l expansion of the above,

with original emendations which preserve the order ofthe Hebrew words and thus indicate the nature ofthe structu re

The other half of the Psalm is just as p e1fectly arranged. For examp le, thereare six words used (verses 7—9) to describe the fulness of th e Word of God, and theyare thus p laced, alternately

F Two feminine singulars. (Law and Testimony. )G One masculi ne p lural . (Statutes )F Two feminine singulars. (Commandmen t and Fear. )

0 One masculine plural. (Judgmen ts


a IThe heavensb lare tell ing ‘3’

c the g lory ]Lof God

c and the work of h is handsb is se t ting forth jl

'

,

a the firmament.

D d Day after dayi

§e ut tere th speech

,

d IAnd nig ht after nig h te shewe th knowledg e .

E f There is no speech (what is art iculate )g and there are no words ;g Iand w i thout being aud ible

f lis the irvoice (what is articulate) .D h Into all the earth (as created)

i is the ir line Hg one forth ;h And in to the ends of the world (as inhab ited)

i The ir saying s .

}what is aud ible

j For the sun He hath set a tent (an abode ) in them ;h l and he as a bridegroom (comparison)

m is going forth from h is canopy, (motion : its

rising )l lhe rejoice th as a migh ty one (comparison)m to run h is course . (Mot ion its rapid course .)

h n From the end of the heavenso is h is going forth,o and h is revolution

n unto the ir ends

j and there is noth ing hid from his heat from him

regress

From ) D, to cut into, or grave, hence, to write. It has the two senses of

our English eib tell, which means to count, and also to narrate. The first occurrence is G e n. xv. 5, “ Tell (1b?) the stars, if thou be able to number

them.

”Gen. xxiv. 66, “ The servan t told Isaac all things that he had done.

”

Ps. lxxi. r5, “ My month shal l show forth (1mm, tell o/i R.V. ) thy righteousnessand thy salvation all the day ; for I know not the numbers

(mi-

fag, the

accounts) of them,

” i .e. , all the particulars.


Surely there is something more referred to he re thana me re wonde r excited by the works of the C reator !W hen we read the whole passage and mark its struc

ture , and note the words employed ,we are emphatical lytold that the heavens contain a reve lation from God ;they prophesy, they Show knowledge , they tel l of God

’sglory , and set forth H is purposes and counse l s .I t is a remarkable fact that it is in the Book of job ,

which is gene ral ly allowed to be the oldest book in the

f From 132, to be heavy , weight, the context determining whether the weightSpoken of is advantageous or not. The first occurrence is Gen. xn. 10 , The faminewas grievous (133 ) in the land. ” The next, xiii. 2,

“ Abram was very rich

It is often app l ied to persons who are of weight and imp ortance, hence,glorious and honourab le. It is used of the glory of the Lord, and of God Himsel f,as we use Maj esty of a person. See Isa. iii. 8 ; iv. 2 ; xi. 10 ; xl iii. 20 ; Hag. ii. 8 ;

Ex. xvi . 7 xxiv. 17 ; 1 Sam. iv. 21 Pss. xxvi. 8 (honour) ; lxii i. 3.

I From 133, to set before, to set forth , to shew . First occurrence , Gen. iii. 11,

W ho told thee that thou wast naked.” Ps. xcvn. 6,“ The heavens declare H is

righteousness cxi. 6, He hath shewed his peop le the power of his works.

”

This is the English idiom for the Hebrew “ Day to day.

”The I) is used in

its sense of addi ng or superadding to, as in Isa. xxvii i. 10 , 135 13 ,“ precep t to

precept i . e. , precept after precept, l ine after l ine. Gen. xlvi. 26, All the soulsthat came with Jacob (app to Jacob t. e. , in addi tion to Jacob. So here, Day

to day i . e. , Day in addition to day, or, as we say, Day after day).

1] From p 32, to tell forth, akin to say , to p rop hesy , from root to pour forth .

Lit ,here, poureth forth discourse. Ps. cx lv. 9, “

abundantly utter.”‘ll

' Their l ine,

i . e. , their measuring line. By the figure of metonymy theline which measures is put for the portion or heritage which is measured, as in manyother p laces. See Ps. xvi. 6, The l ines are fal len unto me in p leasan t p laces yea,

I have a goodly heritage. (See also Ps. lxxviii. 55, &c. ) Here, it means thatTheir measuring l ine has gone forth unto all the earth (p33 ) i. e. , All the

earth inherits this their testimony (i.e. , has this testimony for its heritage), and to theends of the world (5313 , the inhabited world) their instruction has gone forth.With this agrees, in sense, the LXX. here, and Rom. x. 16, which each has cpebwos

,

a sound, or voice ; t . e. , a sound in relation to the bearer, rather than to that whichcauses it. The mean ing of the passage is, “ All the earth has their sound or testimony as its heritage, and the ends of the world hear the irwords. Symmachus has5x03, a sound, or rep ort.

an m?”means that wh ich is hot. and is a poetical name of the sun itse lf.

THE' W ITNESS OF THE STARS . 7

Bible ,* if not in the world ,'

that we have refe rences tothis Ste l lar Revelation . Th is wou ld be at leastyears before Christ . In that book the signs of the

Zodiac and the name s of seve ral stars and constel lations are mentioned , as be ing ancient and we l l - known .

In I sa . x1. 26 (RN ) w e readLift up your eyes on h igh ,And see who hath created these,That bringeth out their host by numberHe calleth them all by name ;

By the greatness of H is might,And for that He is strong in p ower,Not one is lacking.

W e have the same evidence in P salm cxlvn . 4 . (RN )“ He telleth the number of the stars ;

He g iveth them all their names .

”

Here is a distinct and D ivine declaration that thegreat Creator both numbered as we l l as named the starsof Heaven .

The question is , Has he revealed any of the se name s ?Have any of them been handed down to us ?

The answer is ! es ; and that in the Bible itse lf wehave the names (so ancient that their meaning is a l ittleobscure) of Ash (WI) , a name stil l connected with the

Great Bear) , Cesil and Cimah (mm) .They occu r in Job ix . 9 : Wh ich make th Arcturus

(R .v . the Bear) , Orion , and P leiade s , and the chambersof the south .

”

(Marg ., Heb .

,Ash , Cesil, and C imah .)Job XXXVIII . 31, 32 : Canst thou bind the sweet

influence s (R .v . cluster) of the P le iades (marg .,the

Job is thought by some to be the Jobab mentioned in Gen. x. 29, the third indescent from Eber.

8 THE W ITNESS on THE STARS .

seven stars,Heb . Cimah) ; or loose the bands of Orion

(marg . Heb . Cosil) ? Canst thou bring forth Maz

z aroth (marg .,the twelve signs . R .V .

,

“the twe lve

signs and marg .,the signs of the Zodiac) in

~h is season ?or canst thou gu ide Arcturu s with h is Son s the

Bear with her train ; and marg .,Heb .

,

Isa . xiii . 10 : “ The stars of heaven and the con

stellations thereof.Amos v . 8 Seek h im that maketh the seven starsthe P le iade s) and Orion .

”

Then we have the term Maz z aroth , job xxxviii .32 , and Maz z aloth ,

”2 Kings xxiii . 5 . The former in

both v ersions is re ferred to the - Twe lve S igns 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 ofGemini

,or the Twins , is given as the name of

'

a

Ship : ACtS XXVIII. I I,Asia-Kovpot (lug . Castor POHUX) .

Most commentators agree that the constel lation ofDraco

,

” or the Dragon (between the Great and LittleBear) , is referred to in job xxvi . 13 : By H is Spirit He

hath garnished the heavens H is hand hath formed thecrooked serpent sw ift. Marg . fleeing or gliding .

See I s . xxvii . 1 xl iii . This word garnished”is

pecu l iar . The R .v . puts in the margin ,beauty . In

P S . xv i 6 , it is rendered goodly .

“ I have a goodlyheritage . In Dan . iv . 2 , it is rendered, “ I thought

Note the structure of this verseA The seven stars,B Orion ,

A The twelve signs,

B Arcturus.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

I O THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS .

Ancient Pe rsian and Arabian traditions ascribe itsinvention to Adam , Seth , and Enoch . j osephus assertsthat it originated in the family of Seth ; and he saysthat the children of Seth , and especial ly Adam , Seth ,and Enoch , that their revelation might not be lost as

to the two coming judgments of Wate r and Fire , madetwo pil lars (one of brick, the other of stone) , describingthe whole of the predictions of the stars upon them ,

and

in case the brick pil lar should be destroyed by the flood,the stone wou ld prese rve the reve lation (Book i . chs . 1

This is what is doubtless meant by G en . x i . And

they said , Go to , let us bu ild us a city and a towe rwhose top may reach unto heaven . The words,

“ may

reach ”are in italics . There is nothing in the verse

which re lates to the height of this tow er . I t mere lysays 03mg) ; WSW) , and his top with the heavens

,i .e. with

the pictures and the stars , ju st as w e find them in

the ancient temple s of Denderah and Esneh in Egypt .This towe r, with its planisphere and pictu re s of thesigns and conste l lations , was to be erected like thosetemples were afte rwards , in orde r to pre se rve the revelation ,

“ lest we be scattered abroad upon the faceof the whole earth .

”

This is corroborated by Lieut . - G en . Chesney, wel lknown for h is learned researche s and excavations amongthe ru ins of Babylon , who , after describing his variousdiscoveries , says ,* “ About five miles S W . of H il lah

,

the most remarkable of all the ruins,the B irs N imroud of

General Chesney al lowed the late Dean Goode to copy the passage, amongother matters, from h is

_

private MS. The Dean quotes it in his W arburton ian

Lectures Note I . to Sermon IV. ,p. 170

THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS . I I

the Arabs , rise s to a he ight of 153 fee t above the plainfrom a base covering a square of 40 0 feet , or

‘

almost

four acres . I t was constructed of kiln - dried bricks inseven stage s to correspond w ith the planets to wh ichthey were dedicated : the lowermost black, the colou rof Satu rn ; the next orange , for Jupite r ; the third red ,

for Mars and so onfi'

t These stages were surmountedby a lofty towe r

, on the summit of which , we are told ,were the signs of the Zodiac and other astronomicalfigures ; thu s having (as it should have been translated)a representation of the heavens, instead of a top whichreached unto heaven .

’

This Biblical evidence carrie s us at once right backto the F lood , or about years B .C .

This towe r or temple , or both , was also cal ledThe Seven Spheres,” according to some ; and “ The

Seven L ights ,” according to others . I t is thu s clear

that the popu lar idea of its he ight and purpose must beabandoned , and its astronomical reference to reve lationmust be admitted . The tower was an attempt topre se rve and hand down the antediluvian traditions ;their sin was in keeping togethe r Instead of scatteringthemse lve s ove r the earth .

Another important statement is made by Dr. Budge ,of the British Museumsl

' He says,

I t must neve r beforgotten that the Babylon ian s were a nation of star

g az e rs , and that they kept a body of men to do nothinge lse but report eclipses , appearance s of the moon , sun

spots,etc .

, etc .

”

Fragments of these coloured glaz ed bricks are to be seen in the British Museum.

1‘ Babylon ian Life and H istory , 36.


Astronomy, mixed with astrology, occupied a largenumber of tablets in the Babylonian l ibraries , and

I saiah , xlvii . 13 , refers to this when he says to Babylon ,

‘ Thou art wearied in the mu ltitude of thy counse l s .

Let now thy astrologers (marg . viewers of the heavens)the star-

gaz ers , the monthly prognosticators stand up .

The largest astrological work of the Babylonians con

tained seventy tablets , and was compiled by the com

mand of Sargon of Agade thirty - eight hundred yearsbefore Christ I t was cal led the I l lumination of Bel.

’

“ Their observations were made in towers cal ledz iggu rat s

”

(p .

They built obse rvatorie s in all the great cities , andreports l ike the above [which Dr. Budge gives in ful l]were regu larly sent to the King

”

(p .

They were able to calcu late eclipses , and had longlists 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 oftwo (ancient Babylonian) planispheres in the B ritishMuseum with figures and calcu lations inscribed uponthem . The months were called after the signs of theZodiac (p .

W e may form some idea of what this “ represemtation of the heavens ” was from the fifth “ CreationTablet ,” now in the B ritish Museum . I t reads asfollows

Anu [the Creator] made exce l lent the mansions [i .e . the

celestial houses] of the great gods [tw e l ve] in number[i .e . the twd ve sig ns or mansions of the sun] .

The s tars he placed in them. The lumasi [i .e . g roups ofstars orfig ures] he fi xed.

THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS .

He arrang ed the year accord ing to the bounds [i .e . the

twelve sig ns] wh ich be defined .For each of the twelve mon ths three rows of stars [i .e .

constellations] he fixed .From the day when the year issues forth un to the close

,

he marked the mansions [i.e . the Zodiacal S igns] of

the wandering stars [i .e .p lanets] to know the ircoursesthat they migh t not err or deflect at all.”

Coming down to less ancien t records : EUDoxos,an

astronomer of Cnidus (40 3 to 350 wrote a workon Astronomy which he cal led Phainomena. ANTIGONU SGONATAS , King of Macedonia (273—239 reque stedthe Poet ARATUS to put the work of EUDOXU S into theform of a poem

,which he d id about the year 270

ARATU S cal led h is work D iosemeia (the D ivine S igns) .He was a native of Tarsus , and it is inte resting forus to note that h is poem was known to

,and , indeed ,

must have been read by,the Apostle Pau l

,for he

quote s it in his address at Athens on Mars ’ H il l . He

says (Acts xvii . For in H im we live , and move ,and have our being ; as certain al so of you r own

poets have said,For we are also h is

Several translations of this poem have been made,

both by C ICERo and others , into Lat in , and in recenttimes into Engl ish by E. Poste , J . Lamb , and others .The follow ing is the opening from the translat ion ofRobert B rown

, jun .

From Zeus we lead the strain he whom mankindNe

’

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 .

We are his ofi spring and he,ever good and mi l d to man

,

7 08 yap teal ye'y os éoruev.


G ives favouring sig ns, and rouses us to toi l .Ca l l ing to m ind l ife

’

s wan ts : when clods are bestFor p lough and mat tock : when the time is ripeFor p lant ing v ines and sow ing seeds, he te l ls,S ince he h imse l f hath fixed in heaven these Signs,The stars d ividing and throughou t the yearStars h e provides to ind icate to man

The seasons’

course, that all th ing s duly grow,etc.,

etc.

Then ARATU S proceeds to describe and explain all

the S igns and Conste l lations as the Greeks in h is dayunde rstood , or rather misunderstood , them ,

after the irtrue meaning and testimony had been forgotten .

Moreove r, ARATU S describes them ,not as they were

seen in h is day, but as they were seen some

years before . The stars were not seen'

from Tarsusas he describes them, and he mu st therefore havewritten from a then ancient Zodiac . For notw ith

standing that we speak of fixed stars , there is a con

stant,though slow,

change taking place amongst them .

There is also another change taking place owing tothe slow recession of the pole of the heavens (about50

"in the year) ; so that while Alpha in the con

ste llation of Draco was the Polar S tar when the Zodiacwas first formed

,the Polar Star is now Alpha in what

is cal led Ursa Minor. This change alone carries us

back at least years . The same movement whichhas changed the re lative position of these two starshas also caused the conste l lation of the Southern Crossto become invisible in northern latitudes . When the

conste llations were formed the Southern Cross was

visible in N . latitude and was included in theirnumber. But

, though known by tradition , it had not

been seen in that latitude for some tw enty centurie s ,


until the Cape of Good Hope had been d iscovered .

Then was seen again The Southern Cross depicted bythe Patriarchs . Here is anothe r indispu table proof asto the antiquity of the formation of the Zodiac .

PTOLEMY (150 A .D .) transmits them from HIPPARCHU S(130

“ as'

of unquestioned au thority, unknown

origin ,and unsearchable antiquity .

”

Sir W il liam Drummond says that “the traditions

of the Chaldean Astronomy seem the fragments of amighty system fal len into ru ins .

”

The word Zodiac itsel f is from the Greek Zuhtouco'

g,

wh ich is not from z a'

w,to live

,but from a primitive

root through the Hebrew Sodi,which in San scrit means

a way . I ts e tymology has no connection with livingcreatures

,but denotes a way ,

or step,and is used of the

way or path in which the sun appears to move amongstthe stars in the course of the year.

To an observe r on the earth the whole firmament ,

together with the sun,appears to revolve in a circle

once in twenty- four hours . But the time occupiedby the stars in going round , differs from the time

occupied by the sun . Th is difference amounts toabou t one - twe l fth part of the whole circle in eachmonth , so that when the circle of the heavens isdivided up into twe lve parts , the sun appears to moveeach month through one of them . This path whichthe sun thus makes amongst the stars is cal led the

Ecliptic.

”s

Besides this monthly difference, there is an annual di fference for at the end of

twe lve months the sun does not come back to exactly the same point in the Sign

which commenced the year, but is a l ittle behind it. But this difference, though it


Each of these twe lve parts (consisting each ofabout 30 degrees) is distingu ished, not by num

bers or by’ letters , b ut by pictures and names , and

this, as we have seen, from the ve ry earl iest

times . They are prese rved to the present day in our

almanacs , and we are taught their orde r in the

familiar rhymes .

The RAM,the BULL

,the heaven ly TW INS,

And ne xt the CRAB, the L ION sh ine s,

The V IRGIN and the Su n s ;

The SCORP ION, AR CHER, and SEA- GOAT,The MAN that carries the W ater-

p ot

And FISH w i th g l i t tering sca les .

These signs have always and eve rywhere been preserved in this order

, and have begun with A RIES .

They have been known amongst all nations , and in

all ages , thus proving their common origin from one

source .

occurs every year, is so smal l that it w il l take 25,579 years for the sun to comp letethis vast cycle, which is cal led The p recession of the Equ inox es i . e.

, about onedegree in every 71 years. If the sun came back to the precise point at which i tbegan the year, each sign would correspond, always and regularly, exactly with a

particular month ; but, owing to this constan t regression, the sun (whi le i t goesthrough the whole twelve signs every year) commences the year in one Sign for onlyabout years: In poin t of fact, since the Creation the commencemen t of theyear has changed to the extent of nearly three of the signs. When Virgi l sings

The Wh ite Bull w ith golden horns op ens theyear,

he does not record what took p lace in his own day. This is another proof of theantiquity of these signs.

The Eclip tic, or path of th e sun, if it could be viewed from immediately beneaththe Polar Star, would form a comp lete and perfect circle, would be concentric wi ththe Equator, and

-all the stars and th e sun woul d appear to move in this circle, never

rising or setting. To a person north or south of the Equator the stars therefore rise

and set ob liquely whi le to a p erson on the Equatorthey rise and set perpendicularly,

each star being twelve hours above and twelve below the horizon.

The points where the two circles (the Eclip tic and the Equator) intersect eachother are cal led the Egu inoctialp oints. It is the movement of these points (whichare now moving from An es to Pisces) which gives rise to the term, thep recession ofthe Equinoxes.


and it is highly probable , even from Scriptu re , that fourof the tribes carried its

“

S ign and that these fou rwere placed at the fou r side s of the camp .

I f the Lion were appropriated to Judah,then the

other three wou ld be thu s fixed , and wou ld be the same

fou r that equal ly divide the Zodiac at its fou r cardinalpoints . According to Num . ii . the camp was thusformed

ZEBULON

EPHRA IM and MANASSEII

The Bul l(the two horns of Taurus).WEST.

I f the reader compare s the above with the blessingsof I srae l and Moses

,and compares the meanings and

descriptions given below with those blessings , the


connection wil l be clearly seen . Levi,for example

,

had no standard,and he needed none

,for he kept

“ the balance of the Sanctuary,” and had the chargeof that braz en altar on wh ich the aton ing blood out

we ighed the nation ’ s sins .

The fou r great signs wh ich thu s marked the fou rSide s of the camp , and the fou r quarte rs of the Zodiac ,are the same fou r which form the Cherub im (the

Eagle , the Scorpion’ s enemy

,be ing substituted for the

Scorpion) . The Che rubim thu s form a compendiou sexpre ssion of the hope of C reation ,

which,from the

very first,has been bound up with the Coming One ,

who alone shou ld cause its groan ings to cease .

But this brings us to the Signs themse lve s and

their interpre tation .

These pictu re s were designed to pre se rve, ex

pound,and pe rpetuate the one first great prom ise and

prophecy of G en . iii . 15 , that all hope for Man,all

hope for C reation ,was bound up in a coming Redeemer ;

One who shou ld be born of a woman who shou ld firstsuffe r, and afterwards gloriously triumph ; One whoshou ld fi rst be wounded by that great enemy whowas the cause of all sin and sorrow and death

,but

who shou ld final ly crush the head of “ that Old

Serpen t the Devil .”

These ancien t star - pictu res reveal this ComingOne . They set forth “

the suffe rings of Christ and

the glory that shou ld follow .

”A ltoge the r the re are

forty - e ight of them ,made up of tw e lve S IGNS , each

sign contain ing three CONSTELLATIONS .

The se may be divided into three great books , eachB 2


book containing fou r chapters (or Signs) ; and eachchapter containing three sections (or Conste l lation s) .Each book (like the four Gospe l s) sets forth its

pecu liar aspect of the Coming One ; beginning with thepromise of His coming, and ending with the de structionof the enemy.

But where are we to beg in to read this wondrou sHeaven ly Scroll ? A circle has prove rbial ly ne itherbeginning nor end . In what orde r then are we to con

sider these signs ? In the heavens they form a neve rending circle . Where is the beginning and where is theend of th is circle through which the sun is constantlymoving ? Where are we to break into this circle ?and say, This is the commencement. I t is clear thatun less we can determine this original starting pointwe can neve r read this wondrou s book aright .

As I have said,the popular beginn ing to - day is with

AR IES,the Ram . But comparing this Reve lation with

that which was afte rwards written in the Volume ofthe Book ,” VIRGO is the only point where we can in

telligently begin ,and LEO is the on ly point where we

can logical ly conclude . I s not this what is spoken ofas the unknown and insoluble myste ry— “ The riddleof the SPH INX ”

? The word “ Sphinx ”is from opi

f

yf

yw,

to bind closely together. I t was the refore de signed to

show where the two ends of the Zodiac were to bej oined together, and where the great circle of the

heavens begins and ends .

The SPH INX is a figure with the head of a woman

and the body of a lion ! W hat is this but a neve rceasing monitor, tel ling us to begin with Virgo and

22 THE WITNESS OF THE STARS .

to end with Leo ! In the Zodiac in the Temple ofEsnéh , in Egypt , a Sphinx is actual ly placed be tweenthe S igns of Virgo and Leo

,as shown in the il lustration

on the preceding page . I t is a tracing from the drawing of S ignor Bossi , executed on the spot

,unde r the

direction of the late Mr. Edward J . Cooper,in 18 20 .

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 cou rse w e are greatlyh indered in this

,in having to use the modern Latin

name s which the Conste llations bear to - day.

* Some

of these name s are mistakes , others are gross p erve rsions of the tru th , as proved by the picture s themse lves

,which are far more ancient , and have come

down to us from primitive times .

After the Reve lation came to be written down in

the Scriptures , the re was not the same need for thepreservation of the Heaven ly Volume . And after thenations had lost the original meaning of the pictu re s ,they invented a mean ing out of the vain imaginationof the thoughts of their hearts . The Greek Mythology is an interpretation of (only some of) the

signs and constel lations after the ir true meaning had

been forgotten . I t is popu larly be l ieved that B ibletruth is an evolu tion from

,or deve lopment of

, the

ancient re l igion s of the world . But the fact is thatthey themse lves are a corruption and perversion ofprimitive truth !

It is exactly the same wi th the books of the B ib le. Their order and theirnames, as we have them in the Eng l ish B ible, are those which man has given them,

copied from the Septuagint and Vulgate, and in many cases are not the Divine names

according to th e Hebrew Canon.


W e wil l now give the contents of this Heaven lyVolume of Divine Reve lation , and afte rwards proceedto deve lope it, explain it in detail , and compare it withthe same truth which was afte rwards written down in

the Scripture s .

( the f irst mock.

H E R E D EEME R .

(H IS F IRST COM ING.)The Sufferings of Christ.”

CHAPTER I .

THE PRO PHECY OF THE PROM ISED SEED on THE W OMAN.

VIRGO ( The Virg in . A woman bearing a branch in her right handand an ear of corn in her left) . The Promised Seed of thewoman.

1. COMA (The Desired. The woman and child) . The Desiredof all nat ions .

2 . CEN’

I‘

AURUS (The Centaur w ith two natures, holding a sp ear

p iercing a victim) . The desp ised s in offering .

3. BOOTES (a man walking bearing a branch called ARCTURUS,meaning the same) . He come th .

CHAPTER II .

THE R EDEEMER’S ATON ING W ORE.

LIBRA (The Scales) . The price deficient balanced by thewh ich covers

I . CRUX, The Cross endured .

2. LU PU S, or V ICTIMA, The Victim slain.

3 . CORONA,The Crown bes towed .


CHAPTER I II .

THE REDEEMER ’S CONFL ICT.

SCORPIO (The Scorp ion) seeking to wound, but i tself troddenunder foot .

I . SERPENS (The Serp ent strugg l ing w i th the man) .

§ 2 . O - PH I - U- CHUS ( The man g rasping the serpent) . The

strugg le w ith th e enemy.

3. HERCULES (The mighty man . A man kneeling on one knee,

humbled in the confl ict, but holding aloft the tohens of victory,

w ith his foot on the head of the Dragon) . The mightyVanquisher seeming to sink in the confl ict.

CHAPTER IV .

THE R EDEEMER ’S TR IUM PH.

SAGITTAR IUS (The Archer) . The Two- natured Conquerorgoing forth Conquering and to conquer.

”

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

2 . A RA (The Altar) . Consuming fire prepared for His ene

m ies.

3. Drum ( The Drag on) . The Old Serpent— the Devil, castdown from heaven.

( the fi econb mock.T H E R ED EEM ED .

THE RESULT OF THE REDEEMER’S SUFFER INGS.

CHAPTER I .

THE IR BLESS INGS PROCURED .

CAPR ICORNUS (The fi sh -

goat) . The g oat of Atonemen t slainfor the Redeemed .


( the Cbit’

b 38 0012.

T H E R E D E EM E R .

(H IS SECOND COM IN G .)

“ The g lory that should fol low .

”

CHAPTER I .

MESSIAH, THE COM ING JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH.

TAURUS (The B ull) . Me ssiah coming to ru le .

1. OR ION, Light breahzng forth in the person of the Redeemer.

2 . ER IDANUS (The R iver of thej udg e) . W rath breaking forthforH is enemies .

3. AU R IGA (The Shepherd ) . Safe ty for the Redeemed in the

day of tha t wra th .

CHAPTER II.

MESS IAH ’

S R E IGN As PR INCE OF PEACE .

GEM INI (The Tw ins) . The twofold nature of the King .

1. LEPUS ( The Hare) , or THE ENEMY trodden under foot.2 . CAN IS MAJOR (The Dog ) , or S IR IUS, the coming g lorious

Prince of Prince s .

3 . CAN IS M INOR (The Second Dog ) , or PRO CYON, the e xaltedRedeemer.

CHAPTER I II .

MESSIAH’S REDEEME D POSSE SS IONS.

CANCER (The Crab) . The posse ssions held fast .

g 1. URSA M INOR ( The Lesser B ear) . The lesser shee pfol d .

g 2 . URSA MAJOR (The Great B ear) . The fol d and the flock.

3 . ARGO ( The Ship ) . The redeemed pi lgrims safe at home .


CHA PTER IV .

MESS IAH ’

S CONSUMMATED TR IUM PH .

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

the rending of th e Enemy.I . HYDRA (The Serp ent) . That old Serp en t— the Devi l , de

s troyed .

2 . CRATER (The Cup ) . The cup of Divine wrath poured outupon h im.

3 . CORVUS (The Crow ,orRaven) . B irds of p reydevouring h im .

Such are the contents of this wondrou s book thatis written in the heavens . Thus has God beenspeaking and emphasiz ing and deve loping H is first

great prophe tic prom ise of G en . iii . 15 .

Though for more than years H is people hadnot this Reve lation written in a book as we now

have it in the B ible,they we re not left in ignorance

and darkness as to God ’ s purposes and counsel s ; norwe re they withou t hope as to ul timate de liverance fromall evil and from the Evil One .

Adam ,who first heard that wondrou s promise ,

repeated it, and gave it to h is posterity as a mostprecious heritage— the ground of all the ir faith

, the

substance of all their hope , the obj ect of all the ir desire .

Seth and Enoch took it up . Enoch,w e know

,pro

phesied of the Lord ’s com ing, saying, “ Behold the

Lord cometh with ten thou sands of H is saints toexecu te judgment upon all

”

(Jude How cou ldthese “ holy prophets , since the world began ,

” haverecorded the ir prophecies better, or more effectually,


or more truthfu l ly and powerfu l ly,than in these star

pictures and their interpretation ? This becomes a

certainty when we remember the words of the HolySpirit by Zacharias (Luke i . 67—70 )

B lessed b e the Lord God of Israe l ;For He hath visited and redeemed His people,A nd hath raised up a horn of salvation for us

In the house of His servan t David ;A S He spake by the mouth of H IS HOLY PROPHETSW HICH HAVE BEEN S INCE THE W ORLD BEGAN .

”

The same truth is revealed through Pete r, inActs iii . 20 , 21 : “ He shal l send Je su s Christ , wh ichbefore was preached unto you ; whom the heavenmust rece ive until the times of restitu tion of all

things , which God hath spoken by the mouth of all

H IS HOLY PROPHETS S INCE THE W ORLDBEGAN .

These words have new meaning for us, if w e see

the things which were spoken “ since the world began ,

”

thu s written in the heaven s , which utter speech (i .e.

prophecy) , and show forth this knowledge day afterday and n ight afte r night , the heritage of all the earth

,

and the ir w ords reaching unto the ends of the world .

Th is Reve lation ,coinciding as it does in all its

facts and tru ths with that afte rwards recorded “ in

the Volume of the Book,

” mu st have had the same

D ivine origin , mu st have been made known by the

inspiration of the same Holy Spirit .W e now proceed to compare the two

, and we

shal l see how they agree at eve ry point,proving that

the sou rce and origin of this D ivine Reve lation is one

and the same .

VIRGO . 29

( the f irst ZlBOOI‘

t.

T H E R ED EEMER.

(HIS FIRST COMING .)“ The Sufferings of Christ.”

THE First Book is occupied with the PERSON ofthe Coming One . I t covers the whole ground , and

include s the conflict and the victory of the P romisedSeed , but with special emphasis on H is Coming.

The book opens with the promise of H is coming, andit closes with the D ragon cast down from heaven .

CHAPTER I.

THE S IGN V IRGO.

The Promised Seed of the Woman .

HERE is the commencement of all prophecy in

G en . iii . 15 , spoken to the serpent : “ I wi l l p utenmity between thee and the woman

, _

and betweenthy seed and her seed : it shal l bruise thy head

, and

thou shal t bru ise H is hee l ” Th is is the propheticannouncement wh ich the Reve lation in the heavensand in the Book is designed to unfold and deve lope .

I t l ies at the root of all the ancient traditions and

mythologies , wh ich are Simply the perversion and

corruption of primitive truth .

VIRGO is represented as a woman with a branch inher right hand , and some ears of corn in her le ft hand .

Thu s giving a two - fold testimony of the Coming One .


The name of this Sign in the H ebrew is Bethulah,

wh ich means a virg in ,and in the Arabic a branch .

The two words are connected , as in Latin— Virgo,

wh ich means a virg in ; and virga, which means a

branch (Vu lg . Isa . x i . Anothe r name is Sunbul,

Arabic,an ear of corn .

In G en . iii . 15 she is presented only as a woman ;

but in late r prophecie s her national ity is defined as

be ing of the stock of I srae l , the seed of Abraham,the

l ine of David ; and , further, she is to be a virgin .

There are two prominent prophecies of her and her

seed : one is connected with the first coming in in

carnation,Isa . V ii . 14 (quoted in Matt . i .

“ Behold, a v irg in shal l conce ive and bear a son,

A nd shall ca l l his name Immanue l .

The other is connected with H is second coming,leaping over the sufferings and this present interval ofHis rej ection ,

and looking forward to H is coming inglory and judgment

,Isa. ix . 6

, 7 (quoted in Luke ii . 11and i . 32 , 33)

“ For unto us a chi l d is born,Unto us a son is g iven ; *And the government shal l b e upon H is shoul der ;A nd H is name shal l b e cal led W onderful

, Counse l lor,The M ighty God, The Everlast ing Father

, The Prince

of Pe ace .

Of the increase of His governmen t there shal l be no

end .

Here, the fact Of H is humiliation, togetherw ith this long period of H is rej ection ,is leaped over, and th e prophecy passes on at once—over at least a period of 1893years— to this “

g lory which should fol low .

”


cal led in Arabic Al Zimach,which means the branch .

This star is in the ear of corn which she holds in herleft hand . Hence the star has a modern Latin name ,

which has almost superseded the ancien t one , Spica,which means

,an ear of corn . But this hides the great

tru th revealed by its name Al Zimach . I t fore told the

coming of H im who shou ld bear this name . The same

D ivine inspiration has, in the written W ord,four times

connected it with H im . There are twenty Hebrewwords translated “ B ranch , but on ly one of them(Tsemech) is u sed exclusive ly of the Me ssiah

,and this

word only four times .

’is Each of these fu rthe r connectsH im with one special account of H im, given in the

Gospel s .

Jer. xxiii . 5 , 6“ Behold, the days come

,sai th the LORD,

That I w i l l raise un to David a righteous BRANCHa Son) ,

And a KING Shall re ign and prosper.

The account of H is coming as King is written in the

Gospe l according to Matthew, Where Jehovah says toI srae l

,

“ Behold thy KING ”

(Zech . ix . 9 ; Matt .xx i .

Zech . iii . 8 . Behold I wil l bring forth mySERVANT the BRANCH .

”In the Gospe l accord

ing to Mark w e find the record of Jehovah ’ s se rvan tand His service , and w e hear Jehovah ’s voice saying ,Behold my SERVANT . (Isa . xlii . I .)

Zech . Vi . 12 . Thu s speake th the LORD ofhosts

,saying, Behold the MAN whose name is the

Jer. xxxiii. 15 being only a repetition of Jer. xxiii. 5.

V IRGO . 33

BRANCH .

”In the Gospe l according to Luke w e

behold H im ,presented in “ the MAN Christ Je sus .”

4 . Isa . iv . 2 . In that day shal l the BRANCH ofJEHOVAH be beautifu l and glorious .

”So that this

B ranch,this Son ,

is Jehovah H imse l f ; and as we readthe record of John we hear the voice from heavensaying, “ Behold you r GOD .

”

(Isa . x1.

This is the B ranch foretold by the star Al Zimachin the ear of corn .

The star 6 is cal led Zavijaveh , which means the

gloriously beautiful, as in I sa . iv . 2 . The star 6,in

the arm bearing the branch,is called Al Mureddin

,

which means who shall come down (as in PS . lxxii .or who shall have dominion . I t is al so known as Vin

demiatrix,a Chaldee word wh ich means the son

,or

branch,who cometh .

Other names of stars in the Sign ,not identified , are

Subilah , who carries . (Isa . xlvi .Al A z al, the Branch . (As in Isa . xviii .Subilon ,

a spike of corn . (AS in Isa . xvii .

The Greeks , ignorant of the D ivine origin and

teaching of the sign , represented Virgo as Ceres, withears of corn in her hand .

In the Zodiac in the Temple of Denderah , in Egypt ,about 20 0 0 B .C . (now in Paris) , she is l ikewise repre

sented with a branch in her hand , bu t ignorantly ex

plained by a fal se re ligion to represent Isis ! Her

name is called Aspolia,which means ears of corn, or

the seed,which Shows that though the w oman is seen ,

it is her Seed who is the great subj ect of the prophecy .

S. 100 5 . C


Passing to the three conste l lation s anciently as

s igned to the sign Virgo , w e come to what may be

compared to three'

sections of the chapter, each givingsome furthe r detail as to the interpretation of itsteaching .

I . COMA (The Woman and Child) .

The Desired of all Nations.

The first conste l lation In Virgo explain s that thiscoming “ Branch ” wil l be a child , and that He shou ldbe the Desire of all nations .

”

The ancient name of this conste l lation is Comah ,ale thedesired

,or the longed for. W e have the word u sed by

the Holy Spirit in this very connection,in Hag . ii . 7

“ The DES IRE of all nation s shal l come .

”

The ancient Zodiacs pictured this constel lationas a woman with a child in her arms . ALBUMAZAR ‘l'

(or ABU MASHER) , an Arabian astronome r of the

e ighth century,says , “ There arises in the first

Decan,fp as the Persians

,Chaldean s

,and Egyptians ,

and the two HERMES and ASCALIUS teach , a young

woman, whose Persian name denotes a pu re virgin ,

sitting on a throne , nourishing an infant boy (the boy,I say) , having a Hebrew name , by some nations called

From mp g, which occurs on ly in PS. lxii i. 1, “ my flesh longeth for thee. It

is akin to "1790, to desire. PS. x ix . 10 ; Is. liii. 2 ; Hag. ii. 7 ; e tc.

‘

l‘ A Latin translation of h is work is in the British Museum Library. H e says the

Persians understood these signs, but that the Indians perverted them with inventions.

I The conste l lations are cal led D ecans. The word means a p art, and is usedof the three parts into which each Sign is divided, each of which is occupied bya con stel lation.

VIRGO (COMA) . 35

IHESU,

'

w ith the signification IEZA, wh ich in Greekis cal led CHR ISTOS .

”

But th is picture is not found in any of the modernmaps of the stars . The re w e find to - day a woman

’swig ! I t appears that BEREN I CE , the wife of EUERGETES

(PTOLEMY king of Egypt in the third centu ry B .C .,

when her husband once went on a dangerou s expedition

,vowed to consecrate her fine head of hair to Venu s

if he returned in safety . Her hair,which was hung up

in the Temple of Venus , was subsequently stolen , and

to comfort BEREN ICE,CONON

,an astronomer of Alex

andria (B .C . 28 3 gave it out that Jupiter hadtaken it and made it a conste l lation !

This is a good example of how the mean ing ofother conste l lation s have been perverted (ignorantly orinten tional ly) . In th is case

,as in others , the transition

from ancien t to more mode rn languages helped tohide the meaning . The Hebrew name was COMA

(desired) . But the Greeks had a word for hair, Cb-me.

Th is again is transferred to the Latin coma,and

thus “ Coma Berenicw”

(the hair of Berenice) Comesdown to us to - day as the name of this conste l lat ion

,

and gives us a woman’ s w ig instead of that B lessed

One , the Desire of all Nat ions .

”

In this case , however, w e are able to give absoluteproof that th is is a perversion .

The ancient Egyptian name for th is conste l lationwas Shes- nu

,the desired son

The Zodiac in the Temple of Denderah, in Egypt ,

going back at least years B .C .,has no trace of

any hair , but it has the figure of a woman and child .

C 2


In our il lustration we have given a copy of this veryancient picture , and not the w ig of hair !W e have been permitted to trace it from a work

on Egyptian Scenery by the late eminent astronomer,Edward J . Cooper , of Markree Castle , co . S l igo ,who visited that Temple in the year 18 20 with an

I talian artist , Signor Bossi . The original drawing fromwhich our tracing is made (and enlarged) was drawnby S ignor Bossi on the spot

,before it was taken to

Paris in 18 213“ W e thu s have before us the exactrepresentations of one of these star- pictures at least

years old .

Even Shakespeare unde rstood the truth about thisconstel lation pictu re , which has been so long coveredby modern inventions . In h is Titus Andronicus ’r he

speaks of an arrow being shot up to heaven to the

Good boy in Virgo’

s lap .

”

The conste l lation itse lf is ve ry remarkable . Otherscontain one or two stars of the first or secondmagnitude ,and then a greater or le ss variety of lesse r stars ; butthis is pecu liar from having no one ve ry bright star, butcontains so many stars of the 4 th and sth magnitudes .

I t contains 4 3 stars altogethe r, ten being of the 4 thmagnitude , and the remainder of the 5th , 6th , etc.

I t was in all probability the constel lation of Comain which “

the Star of Bethlehem appeared . Therewas a traditional prophecy, we l l - known in the East

,

It appears that MM. Saulnier, fi ls, and Lelorrain arrived while Signor Bossi wasengaged in copying it, but concealed their design to remove it. The King of Francepaid sterling for it. It has since been copied, and l ithographs have beenpublished.f Act IV. ,

Scene 3.

38 THE W ITNESS or THE STARS .

in I dumea ; and the Gospe l according to MatthewShows that the Pe rsian Magi, as we l l as others

,were

looking for the De s ire of all nations .

”

New stars have appeared again and again . I t wasin 125 B .C . that a star, so bright as to be seen in

the day- time , sudden ly appeared . I t was this that

cau sed HIPPARCHUS to draw up h is catalogue of stars ,which has been handed down to us by PTOLEMY(150

This new star wou ld Show the latitude,passing at

that time immediate ly ove rhead at midnight , eve rytwenty - four hours ; while the prophecy wou ld givethe long itude as the land of Jacob . Having thesetwo factors , it wou ld be only a matter of obse rvation ,

and easy for the Magi to find the place where it

would be vertical , and thu s to locate the very Spotof the birth of H im of whom it was the Sign ,

forthey emphatical ly cal led it “ H is Star. There is

a beautifu l tradition which relates how, in the ird ifficu lty

,on the ir way from Jeru salem to find the

actual spot under the Zenith of this star,these Magi

sat down beside David ’ s “ We l l of Bethlehem tore fresh themse lves . There they saw the star reflectedin the clear wate r of the we l l ; Hence it is writtenthat “

when they saw the‘ Star they rej oiced with

exceeding j oy , for they knew they were at the veryspot and place of H is appearing whence He was

to come forth .

”

There can be l ittle doubt that it was a new star. In

the first place a new star is no unu sual phenomenon .

In the second place the tradition is w e l l supported by

VIRGO (COMA) . 39

ancient Christian write rs . One speaks of its “sur

passing brightness .

”Another (IGNATIUS , Bp . of An

tioch,A .D . 69) says , “ At the appearance of the Lord

a star shone forth brighte r than all the other stars .

IGNATIUS , doubtless , had this from those who had

actual ly seen it ! PRUDENTIU S (4 th cent . A .D .)'says that

not even the morn ing star was so fair . ArchbishopTrench , who quote s these authoritie s

,says “ This

star, I conce ive , as so many ancients and modernshave done , to have been a new star in the heavens

One step more place s this new star in the conste l lation of COMA

,and with new force makes it indeed

“ H is star - the “ S ign” of H is com ing forth from

Be thlehem W il l it be “ the Sign of the Son of Man

in heaven (Matt . xxiv . 30 ) when He Shal l “ come

unto ” this world again to complete the wondrou sprophecies written of H im in the heaven ly and earthlyRevelations

Thus doe s the conste l lation of COMA reveal thatthe com ing “ Seed of the woman was to be a childborn

,a son given .

But He was to be more : He was to be God and

It ought also to be noted that in the preceding yearthere were three conjunctionsof the p lanets Jupiter and Saturn, at the end of May and October, and at the beginning of December. Kep ler ( I 571 was the first to point this out, and his calculations have been confirmed by the highest authori ties. These conjunctions occurredin the Sign of P ISCES and this Sign ,

according to all the ancient Jewi sh authorities(Josephus, Abarbanel, Eliez er, and others), has special reference to Israel. The con

junction of Jupiter and Saturn,they hold, always marked the occurrence of some

event favourable to Israel ; while Kep ler, calculating backwards, found that thisastronomical phenomenon always coincided with some great historical crisis, vi z .

the Revelation to Adam, th e birth of Enoch , the Reve lation to Noah, the birth of

Moses, the birth of Cyrus, the birth of Christ, th e birth of Charlemagne, and the

birth of Luther.

4 0 THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS .

man— two natu res in one pe rson ! Th is is the lessonof the next picture .

2. CENTAURUS (The Centaur) .The D espised S in - oflering .

I t is the figure of a being with two natures .Jamieson , in h is Celestial A tlas, 18 22 , says , “ On the

authority of the most accompl ished Orientalist of ourown time s

,the Arabic and Chaldaic name of this

conste l lation is run.

" Now this Hebrew word Bez ek

(and the Arabic Al Bez e) means the despised. I t isthe very word used of this D ivine sufferer in Isa . l iii . 3 ,He is DESP I SED and rej ected of men .

The conste llation contains thirty- five stars . Twoof the I st magnitude , one of the 2nd , Six of the 3rd ,

n ine of the 4 th , etc.,which , togethe r with the fou r

bright stars in the Cross make a bril liant Show in

southe rn latitudes .

The brighte st star , at (in the horse ’ s fore - foot) , hascome down to us with the ancient name of Tolirnan,

wh ich means the heretofore and hereafter, marking H imas the one which is

,and which was, and which is to

come— the Almighty”

(Rev . i . Sir John He rschel]obse rved this star to be growing rapidly brighter . I tmay be , therefore , one of the Changeable stars , and

its name may be taken as an indication of the factthat it was known to the ancients .

Another name for the conste l lation was in

Hebrew,Asmeath

, which means a sin - offering (as in

Isa . l iii . I o) .

VIRGO (CENTAURU S) 4 1

The Greek name was Cheiron,wh ich means the

pierced, or who pierces. In the Greek fable s Cheironwas renowned for his skil l in hunting, medicine

,

music , athletics , and prophecy. All the most distingu ished heroes of Greece are described as h is pupil s .

He was supposed to be immortal , but he volun

tarily agreed to die ; and , wounded by a poisonedarrow (not intended for him) while in conflict witha wild boar

,he tran sferred h is immortality to Pro

metheus ; whe reupon he was placed amongst the

stars .

W e can easily see how this fable is the ignorantperversion of the primitive Reve lation . The truetradition can be seen dim ly through it

, and we can

discern H im of whom it spoke ,— the al l -wise, all

powerful Teache r and P rophet,who “ went about

doing good ,”

yet “ despised and rejected of men,

”

laying down H is l ife that others m ight l ive .

I t ‘

is one of the lowe st of the conste l lations,i .e.

the farthest south from the northe rn centre . I t isSituated immediate ly ove r the Cross

,wh ich bespeaks

H is own death ; He is seen in the act of de stroyingthe enemy.

Thus these star- pictu res tel l us that it wou ld be asa child that the Promised S eed shou ld come forth and

grow and wax strong in spirit and be fi l led withwisdom (Luke ii . and that as a man havingtwo nature s He Shou ld suffe r and die . Then the

third and last section in this first chapter of thisFirst Book goes on to te l l of H is second coming in


3 . BOOTES (The Coming One) .He cometh .

This conste l lation stil l further deve lops this wondrous personage .

He is pictu red as a man walking rapidly, with a

spear in h is right hand and a sickle in his left hand .

The Greeks cal led h im Bo-o- tes,wh ich is from

the Hebrew root Bo (N13 , to come) , mean ing the coming .

I t is referred to in P S . xcvi . I 3

“ For He come th,For He come th to judg e the earth ;He shal l judg e the worl d in righteousness,And the peopl e w ith His truth .”

I t it probable that his anc ient name was Arcturus

(as referred to in Job ix . for this is the name ofthe brighte st star , or (in the left knee) . Arcturus meansHe comethxl

'

The ancient Egyptians cal led h im Smat, whichmeans one who rules, subdues

, and governs. Theyalso cal led h im Bau (a reminiscence of the moreancient Bo) , which means al so the coming one.

The ancient name could not have been Bootes ! though it is derived from, and

may be a reminiscence of the Hebrew.

1' ARATUS cal ls him A rctophylax , i. e. the guardian of Arctos, the flock of th e

greater fold, cal led to- day the Great BearBehind, and seeming to urge on the Bear,Arctophylax, on earth Bootes named,Sheds o’er th e Arctic car h is silver light.”

By some moderns heis mistakenly cal led The Waggoner. Hence the al lusion of

ThompsonWide o’er the spacious regions ’

of the North,Bootes urges on his tardy wain.

”

This p erversion scarcely does justice even to human common sense,as waggoners

do not use a sick le for a whip

e co (BooTES) . 4 3

The star p. (in the spear - head) is named Al

Katurops, wh ich means the branch , treading underfoot.The star 6 (ju st be low the waist on his right

Side) is cal led IWirac,or Miz ar

,or Iz ar. Mirac

means the coming forth as an arrow ; Miz ar, or Iz ar,means the preserver

, guarding .

The star 7; is cal led Map/W ide, i .e. who separates .

The star 3 (in the head) is named'

Nekkar,

i .e. the p ierced (Zech . x ii . which te l l s us thatthis coming judge is the One who was piercedAnother H ebrew name is Merga, who bruises .

*

This brings us back again to G en . iii . 15 , and

closes up this first chapte r of the First Book (VIRGO) .I t Shows us the P erson of the P romised Seed from the

beginn ing to the end,from the first promise of the

birth of the Child in Bethlehem , to the final coming

The conste l lation is a very bri l liant one, having 54 stars, v iz . , one of the I st

magnitude, six of th e grd, e leven of the 4 th , etc.

Th e constel lation of the Canes Venatzcz’

(the Greyhounds), i . e. , the two dogs(Asterion and Chara) , which Bootes holds by a leash, is quite a modern invention,being added by Heve lius (1611 The bright star of the grd magnitude inthe neck of Chara, was named Cor Caroli

”(the heart of Charles) by Sir Charles

Scarborough, physician to Charles II. in honour of Charles I. , in 1649. This is a

good examp le of th e almost infin ite distance between the ancient and modern names.

The former are fu l l of mysterious sign ificance and grandeur, whi le the latter are

pueri le in the extreme, almost approaching to the comic ! e.g . , the Air Pump , thePain ter’s Ease l, th e Te lescope, the Triang le, the Fly, the Microscope, the Indian,

the Fox and Goose, the Bal loon, the Toucan (or American Goose), the Compasses,Charles’s Oak , the Cat, the Clock, the Unicorn, &c. The vast difference can be at

once seen between those designed by the ancients and those added by astronomers inmore recen t times.

These new conste l lations were added, 22 by Heve lius (1611 and 15 byHal ley (1656 They were formed for th e purp ose of embracing those starswhich were not included in the ancient conste l lations. This shows that the old

constel lationswere not designed, like th e modem ones, merely for the sake of enab lingastronomers to identify the positions of particular stars. In this case all the starswould have been included. The obj ect was ex actly the opp osi te ! Instead of th e

pictures being design ed to serv e to iden tify the,

stars, on ly certain stars were usedfor the purpose of he lping to identify thep icturesThis is another important proof of the truth of our whole argument.


of the great Judge and Harvester to reap the harvestof the earth . This was the vision wh ich was afterwards shown to John (Rev . x iv . I 5 , when he says ,“ I looked ; and behold a white cloud

,and upon the

cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man,having on

H is head a golden crown ,and in H is hand a sharp

sickle . And another ange l came out of the temple,

crying with a loud voice to H im that sat on the

cloud , Thrust in thy sickle and reap ; for'

the time

is come for Thee to reap ; for the harvest of the

earth is ripe . And He that sat on the cloud thrustin His sickle on the earth ; and the earth was reaped .

”

This is the conclusion of the first chapter of thisFirst Book . Here w e see the woman whose Seed isto bruise the se rpent ’s head , the Virgin - Born , the

Branch of Jehovah , perfect man and perfect God,

Immanue l,

“ God with us,

”

yet despised and rej ectedof men

,and yie lding up H is life that others may

have life for evermore . But we see H im coming afterwards in triumphant power to judge the earth .

This is only one chapter of this First Book,but it

contains the outline of the whole volume , complete initse lf, so far as it regards the Pe rson of the ComingOne . Like the Book of Genesis

,it is the seed - plot

which con tains the whole , all the re st being mere lythe deve lopment of the many grand detail s whichare included and Shut up within it . I t is only one

chapter out of twe lve,but it distinctly foreshadows

the end— even “ the sufferings of Christ and the glorywhich shou ld follow.

”

LIBRA . 4 5

CHAPTER II .

T H E S I G N L I B RA .

The Redeeni er’s A toning Work ; or The Price deficient

balanced by the Price '

which covers.

IN the first chapte r of this book we saw that thisComing Seed of the woman was , among other things ,to give up His life for others .

The second chapter is going to define and deve lopethe manner and obj ect of this death .

The name of the Sign , togethe r with its threeconstel lations and the name s of the stars composingthem, give the complete picture of this Redemption .

The S ign contains 51 stars , two of which are of thez ud magn itude , one of the 3rd , e ight of the 4 th , etc .

The Hebrew name is Moz anainz , the Scales, weighing .

I ts name in Arabic is Al Zubena, purchase, or redemption . In Coptic , it is Lambadia

,station of propitiation

(from Lani, graciousness, and badia

,branch) . The

name by which it has come down to us is the Latin ,

Libra,which means weighing ,

as used in the Vu lgate

(Isa. x1.

Libra contains three bright stars whose namessupply us with the whole matter . The brighte st , a. (in

the lower scale) , is named Zuben al Genabi , whichmeans the purchase, or price which is deficient. This


points to the fact that man has been u tterly ruined .

He is “w e ighed in the balances and found wanting .

”

None of them can by any means redeem h is brother,Nor g ive to God a ransom for h im ;

For the redempt ion of the ir sou l is costly,And must b e let alone for ever.”

(I’s . x l ix . 7, RN .)

“ Sure ly men of low degree are vani ty (Heb . a breath),And men of h igh deg re e are a lie ;

In the balances they go up ;

They are a l tog e ther lig hter than vanity (Heb . a breath) .

(PS . lx11. 9, R V .)

Th is is the ve rdict pronounced and recorded by thisstar Zuben al Genabi .

Is there then no hope ? I s there no one who can

p ay the price! es ; there is the Seed of the woman . He is not

mere ly coming as a child,but He is coming as an

atoning sacrifice .

He is coming for the purpose of Redemption ! H e

can p ay the price which covers ! Hence in the upperscale we have another bright star with this veryname Zuben al Chemali— THE PRI CE WH I CHCOVERS P raised be God “ They sang a new song,saying ,

Thou art worthy for Thou wast slain , and

hast redeemed us to God by thy blood .

”

(Rev . v .

This is the testimony of B,the second brightest

star ! I t has another name,at Gubi , heated up , or high ,

te l l ing of the infinite value of this redemption price .

But the re is a third star, 7 ,

be low, towards Centaurusand the Victim slain , te l ling , by that and by its name ,

of the conflict by wh ich that redemption wou ld be

4 8 THE W ITNESS on THE STARS .

1. CRUX (The C ross) .The Cross Endured.

The Hebrew name was Adom,which means cutting

ofi‘

, as in Dan . ix . 26 —“ After threescore and twoweeks shal l Messiah be cut off.” The last lette r ofthe Hebrew alphabet was cal led Tau

, which was

anciently made in the form of a cross . The ancientPhoenician was 79 ; the ancient H ebrew

, as found on

coins, was x and the Aramaic

,as found on

Egyptian monuments , was a transition p or P, whichpassed into the present square Hebrew character I) .This lette r is cal led Tau , and means a mark ; e specially a boundary

-mark, a limit or finish . And it is the

last letter, which finishes the Hebrew alphabet tothis day.

The Southe rn C ross was ju st visible in the latitude of Jeru salem at the t ime of the first coming ofour Lord to die . S ince then ,

through the gradualrecession of the Polar Star, it has not been seenin northern latitude s . I t gradual ly disappeared and

became invisible at Jerusalem when the Real Sacrificewas offered there ; and tradition , which prese rved itsmemory

,assu red travel lers that if they cou ld go far

enough south it wou ld be again seen . Dante sangof “

the four stars neve r behe ld but by the earlyrace of men .

” I t was not until the sixteenth centuryhad dawned that missionaries and voyagers , doubl ingthe Cape for the first time , and visiting the tropicsand southern seas , brought back the news of “

a

LI BRA (THE CROSS) . 49

wonderfu l cross more glorious than allthe conste l lationsof the heavens .

”

I t is a smal l aste rism'

,contain ing only about five

stars , via ,one of the Ist magnitude , two of the 2nd ,

one of the 3rd ,and one

‘ of the 4 th . Four of these are

in the form of a cross .

Long be fore the Christian Era this Sign of theC ross had lost its t rue meaning, and had been p er

verted in Babylon and Egypt as it has since beendesecrated by Rome .

'

The Pe rs ians and Egyptiansworshipped it. The cakes made and eaten in honourof the Q ueen of Heaven were marked with it . Th isheathen custom Rome has adopted and adapted in

herGood Friday cakes , which are thus stamped . But

all are al ike ignorant of What it means , via,

“ IT

IS F IN ISHED .

”

In Egypt , and in the earliest times,it was the

Sign and symbol of life. To - day,Romanists use it as

the symbol of death ! But it means life ! Naturallife given up , and ete rnal life procu red . Atonement ,finished

,perfect , and complete ; n eve r to be repeated ,

or added to . All who partake of its benefits in

Christ now ,in grace , by faith .

“ ARE made nigh by theblood of Christ ” (Eph .

,ii . and of them Jesu s

says , “ He that heare th my voice , and be lieveth on

Him that sent me HATH eve rlasting life,and shal l

not come into judgment ; but IS PASSED fromdeath unto l ife (John v . So perfect and com

plete is the work which Je sus finished on the Crossthat we cannot seek to add even our repentance ,faith , tears , or prayers , without practical ly asserting

S. 100 5. D


that the work of Christ is not fin ished , and is not

sufficient !The Hebrew names of this conste l lation— Adom and

Tau— rebuke our Pharisaic spirit , wh ich is the re licand essence of all fal se re l igions , and points to the

blessed fact that the Sacrifice was offered “ oncefor all,

”and the atoning work of Redemption com

p letely finished on Calvary.

“ ’

Tis finished ! the Messiah d ie s !Cut off for sins, but not His own

Accomplished is the sacrifice ,The great redeeming work is done .

In the ancient Egytian Zodiac of Denderah thisfirst Decan of L IBRA is repre sented as a lion withhis tongue hanging out of his mouth , as if in th irst

,

and a female figure holding a cup out to h im . Underh is fore feet is the hieroglyphic symbol of runningwater. What is al l this but “

the Lion of the tribeof Judah brought down “ into the du st of death

,

”

and saying “ I am pou red out like wate r mystrength is dried up (PS . xxii . 13

“ I thirst(John x ix .

“and in my thirst they gave me

vinegar to drink (Ps . lxix .

The Egyptian name of this Lion,howeve r, points to

h is ul timate triumph , for it is cal led Sera, that is, victoryThis brings us to

2 . LUPUS 0 R VICTIMA (The Victim) .

The Victim Slain .

I ts modern name is Lupus (a wolf) , because it lookslike one . I t may be any animal . The great point

52 THE W ITNESS OF THE zsrARs .

Seed of the woman shou ld cOme as a child , that He

Should suffer, and die upon the C ross , for“ He was brough t as a lamb to the slaughter ;And as a sheep be fore her shearers is dumb ;SO HE opened not h is mouth .”

( Isa. liii.Hence , the conste l lation p refigures a silent ,wil l ing - sacrifice— Christ Jesus , who , “ being found in fashion as aman

,humbled H imsel f, and became obedient unto

death , even the death of the C ross ” (Phil . ii . 5

3 . CORONA. (The Crown) .

The Crown Bestowed .

W herefore God also hath'

highly exalted Him,

and given H im a name which is above every name ,

that at the name - of Jesus every knee shou ld bow .

”

This is what is foreshown by this concluding sectionof the second chapter. Each ' chapter ends with glo ry.

As in the written Word of God, we frequently have the

glory of the Second Coming mentioned without any

al lusions to the sufferings of the First Coming, but wenever have the !First Coming in humiliation mentionedWithout an immediate reference ‘ to the glory of theSecond Coming .

So here , the CROSS is close ly followed by the

CROWN ! True , “we see not yet all things put unde r

H im, but we see Jesus for the suffering of

death crowned with glory and honour (Heb . ii .

! es,

“the crowning day is coming, and al l heaven

shal l soon resound with the triumphant song, “ Thou

I B RA (CORONA) . 53

art worthy, for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood (Rev . v .

The shamefu l C ross wil l be fol lowed by a gloriouscrown , and “

every tongue shall confess that J e susChrist is Lord , to the glory of God the F athe r.

”

“ M ig hty Victor, re ign for ever,

W ear the crown so dearly won ;Never shall Thy people , neverCease to sing what Thou hast done .

Thou hast fough t Thy people’

s foesThou W il t heal Thy people ’

s woes !

The Hebrew name for the conste l lation is A tarah ,a royal crown, and its stars are known to - day in the Eastby the plural , Ataroth

I ts Arabic name is Al Ielil, an ornament,or jewel.

I t has 21 stars : one of the 2nd magnitude and

six of the 4 th . I t is easily known by the stars 6, B ,a, 7 ,

3,and e

,which form a crescent .

I t s brightest star, a,has the Arabic name of Al

Phecca,the shining .

Thus ends this solemn chapter of LIBRA,which

describes the great work of Redemption,beginning

with the C ross and ending with the C rown . The

Redeemer ’ s work of Atonement is most ble ssedly set

forth, and He alone is seen as the substitute for lost

Sinners .W hat wondrous love , what mysteriesIn th is appointmen t sh ine !

My breaches of the law are His,

And His obed ience mine .

”


CHAPTER III.

TH E S I G N S CORP I O.

The Redeemer’s Conflict.

W E come now right into the heart of the confl ict .

The star - picture brings before us a gigantic scorpionendeavouring to sting in the hee l a mighty man who

is struggling with a serpent , but is crushed by the

man ,who has his foot placed right on the scorpion ’ s

heart .

The Hebrew name is Ahrab, which is the name

of a scorpion,but al so means the conflict, or war. I t

is this that is referred to in PS . xci . 13

Thou shal t tread upon the l ion and adder.

The young l ion and the dragon shal t thou tramp leunder fee t .”

David u ses the very word in Ps. cxliv. 1, where heblesses God for teaching his hands to war.

The Coptic name is Isidis,which means the attack of

the enemy , or oppression referring to the wicked thatoppress me

,my deadly enemies who compass me

about (PS . xvii .

The Arabic name is Al Ahrab,Which means

wounding him that cometh .

There are 44 stars altogether in this Sign . One

is of the 1st magnitude , One of the 2nd, eleven of the3rd , eight of the 4 th , etc.

56 THE W ITNESS 0114‘

THE STARS .

In thew ilderness of Judaea, and in the Garden ofGethsemane the great conflict is renew ed .

“ This isyour hour and the power of darkness ,” k He said to H isenem ies .

The real wounding in the hee l was received at the

Cross . I t was there the scorpion struck the woman’ s

seed . He died , but was raised again from the deadto destroy the works of the devil .”

To show us this ; to preven t a ny mistake ; to set

forth the fact that this Conflict only apparently e nded indefeat , and that it did not really so end ,

“we have the

first two conste l lations be longing to this Sign pre sentedin one picture ! Indeed , the picture . is threefold , for itincludes the Sign itse l f (as shown on the cover)

I f these pictures had been separated , then the

conflict would'

have been separated from the victory ;the deadly wound of the serpent ’ s head from the

temporary wound in the Victor ’s hee l . Hence , threepictu re s a re required , in which the scorpion ,

the serpent,

and the man,are all involved

,in order to present at

the same time the triumphant issue of the conflict .Hence , w e mu st present , and conside r together, the

first ~two sections of this mysterious chapter .

1 AND 2 . SE-RRENS AND OPHIUCHUS .

The’

Struggle with the Enemy .

Here , Serpens, the serpent , is seen struggling vainlyin the powerful grasp of the man who is namedO-phi - u - chus . In Latin he is cal led Serpentarius .

Luke xx ir. 53 : comp. Col. i . 13 and Eph . vi. 12.

SCORPIo : . (SERPEN S '

AND OPH IUCHU S) . 57

He is'

at One and the'

’ same to be

seiz ing the serpent with h is '

two hands , and treading‘

on zthe very heartof the scorpion ,marked by the’ deep

red star Antares (woundi'

ng)

Ju st'

as We read the 5 first conste l lation of the

woman and Jch ild the first SignVIRGO , so We

' have to’

read th is first'

conste l lationas expou‘

nding the second“

Sign LIBRA . Hence , wehave

'

here a further picture , showing the obj ect ofthis conflict on the part of the ‘

Scorp ion .

In Scorpio We See mere ly the effort to woundOphiuchus in the hee l ; but here we see the effort ofthe serpent to se iz e THE CROWN , which is situatedimmediate ly ove r the serpent

’ s head , and to wh ichhe is looking up and reach ing forth .

The contest is for Domrnron’

!'

It was the Devil ,in the

‘

forrr'

i of a serpent,that robbed the first man

of h is crown ; but in vain he'

struggled to Wrest itfrom the sure possession of the Second Man . Not

only does he fail" in t he' attemp t , but is h imsel f

utte rly defeated and trodden under foot .

oThere are no . less than 134 stars in these twoconstel lations . Two are of the 2nd magnitude , fourteen of the 3rd , thirteen of the 4 th , etc.

The brightest star in the Serpent,a (in the neck) ,

is named Unuk, which means encompassing . Anothe rHebrew name is Alyah , the accursed. From this isAl Hay (Arabic) , the reptile. The next brightest staris B (in the jaw) , named , in Arabic , Cheleb, orChelbalrai

, the serpent enfolding . The Greek name ,


Ophiuchus, is itse l f from the Hebrew and Arabic name

Afeichus, which means the serpent held. The brighteststar in Ophiuchus, a (in the head) , is cal led Ras al

Hagas (Arabic) , the head of him who holds .

Othe r Hebrew names of stars , not identified , are

Triophas, treading under foot ; Saiph (in the foot ofOphiuchus) , bruised ; Carnebus, the wounding ; Megeros,

contending .

’r In the Zodiac of Denderah we have a

throned human figure , cal led Api - bau ,the chief who

cometh . He has a hawk ’ s head to Show that he isthe enemy of the serpent, which is called Khu, and

means ruled or enemy .

All these combine to set before us in de tai l thenature of the conflict and its final issue . That finalissue is, however, exhibited by the last of the threeconste llations of this chapter . The Victor H imse l frequires a whole picture to ful ly set forth the gloriousvictory . This brings us to

g 3 . HERCULES (The Mighty Man) .

The Mighty Vanquisher.

Here the mighty one , who occupie s a large portionof the heavens , is seen bending on one knee

,with

his right heel l ifted up ,

as if it had been wounded,

In 1604 a new star appeared in the eastern foot of Ophiuchus, but disappearedagain in 1605.

1’ There is an ancient Greek fab le which calls Ophiuchus Ai sculap ius, the son of

Apol lo. Having restored H ippolytus to life, h e was everywhere worshipped as the

god of heal th, and hence the serpent entwined around him is, to this day, the symbolof the medical art Thi s, however, is, doubtless, another perversion of the primitivetruth that the Coming One in overcoming the serpent, should become the great heal erof all the sorrows of the world, and cause all its groanings to cease.


Thus does everything in the picture combine toset forth the mighty works Of th is stronger than the

strong man armed !W e can easily see how the perversion of the truth

by the Greeks Came about , and how, when the trueforeshadowings of this Mighty One had been lost

,the

many fables were invented to supply their place .

The wiser sort of Greeks knew this perfectly we l l .AR ISTOTLE (in h is Metaphysics, x . 8 ) admits , withregard to Greek mythology, that re ligion and philosophy had been lost , and that much had been“added after the mythical style

,

‘

While much hadcome down ,

and “ may have been prese rved to o urtimes as the remains of ancient ' wisdom .

”Rel igion,

Such as it was (POLYB IU S confesses) , was recognisedas a “

necessary mean s to political ends .

”NEANDER

says that it was “the fragments of a tradition ,

whichtransmitted the knowledge of divine things possessedin the earliest times .”

ARATU S shews the same uncertainty as to the

meaning of th is Conste l lation of Hercules. He says“ Near th is, and like a toi l ing man,

revolvesA form. Of it can no one clearly speak,Nor what he labours at. They cal l h im simply‘ The man upon h is knees ’

: In desperate s trugg leLike one who sinks, he seems. From both h is

shouldersHis arms are h igh - upl ifted and out- stre tchedA s far as he can reach ; and h is right footIs planted on the coiléd Dragon

’

s head .

”

Ancient authorities differ as to the personality ofHercu les , and they disagree as to the number, natu re ,and order of what are somet imes cal led “

the twe lve

SCORP IO (HERCULES) . OI

labours of Hercu le s . But the re is no doubt as tothe mighty foretold .Wol'ks ‘ which the woman

’s Seedshou ld perform.

From first to last He rcu les rs seen engaged in

de stroying some malignant foe : now it is the Nemeanl ion ; then it is the slaying of the boar of Erymanthu sagain ,

it is the conquest of the bu l l of C rete ; then thekil ling of the three - headed hydra, by whose venomHercu les afterwards died . In the be l ly of the sea

monste r he is said to have remained “ three daysand three nights .

” This was, doubtle ss , a pe rve rsionof the type of Jonah , introduced by LYCOPHRON ,

who

(living at the cou rt of PTOLEMY PH ILADELPHUS , underwhose au spices the Hebrew Scriptures we re translated into Greek) wou ld have known of that D ivinemiracle , and of its application to the Coming One .

B ishop Horsley be lieved that the fables of the Greekmythology cou ld be traced back to the propheciesof the Messiah , of wh ich they were a perve rsionfrom ignorance or design . This is special ly true ofHe rcu les . In his apparently impossible tasks of overthrowing gigantic enemie s and de l ive ring captives ,we can see through the shadow

, and disce rn the purel ight of the truth . W e can understand how the

original star - picture must have been a prophetic repre

sentation of Him who shal l destroy the Old Serpentand open the way again , not to fabled “

apples ofgold ,

”but to the tree of l ife itse lf. He it is who

though suffering in the mighty conflict , and broughtto H is knee , going down even to “

the dust of d eath ,”

shal l yet, in resurrection and advent glory, wie ld His


victorious Club , subdue all H is enemies , and plantHis foot on the D ragon

’ s head . For of H im it is

written“ Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder ;The young l ion and the dragon shalt Thou trample

under foot .” (PS . xci.

“ Come,Lord, and burs t the captives ’ chains,

And set the prisoners free ;Come, cleanse this earth from all its stains,And make it mee t for Thee !

Oh,come and end Creation ’

s groans

Its sighs, its tears, its blood,And make this b l igh ted worl d again

The dwelling - p lace of God .

CHAPTER IV .

THE S IGN SAG ITTAR IUS .

The Redeemer’s Triumph .

TH I S is the concluding chapter of the first greatbook of this Heaven ly Reve lation ; and it is occupiedwholly with the triumph of the Coming One , who is represented as

‘going forth conquering and to conquer .”

The subj ect is beautifu l ly set forth in the writtenW ord (PS . xlv. 3

—5)

“ Gird Thy sword upon Thy th igh, 0 most mig h ty,[G z

’

ra’

Thy self ] w ith Thy g lory and Thy majesty,

And in Thy maj esty ride prosperously,

Because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness ;And Thy righ t hand Shal l teach Thee terribl e th ings.

Th ine arrows are sharp in the heart of the King ’

s

enemies ;W hereby the people fall under Thee .

SAGITTAR IU S . 63

John , in his apocalyptic vision,see s the same

mighty Conqueror going forth .

“ I saw (he says) awhite horse , and He that sat on him had a bow

,

and He went forth conquering and to conque r

(Rev ; v i .

This is precisely what is fore shadowed in the

star- pictured Sign now cal led by the mode rn Latinname Sag ittarius, which mean s the Archer.

The Hebrew and Syriac name of the Sign is

Kesith , wh ich means the Archer (as in G en . xx i .

The Arabic name is Al Kaus, the arrow . In Copticit is P imaere, the graciousness, or beauty of the comingforth. In Greek it is Toxotes, the archer

, and in LatinSagittarius

There are 69 stars in the sign ,v iz .

, five of the3rd magnitude (all in the bow) , n ine of the 4 th ,

etc .

The name s of the brighte st stars are s ign ificant

Hebrew,Naim, which means the gracious one. This

is exactly what is said of this Victor in the same

Psalm in the words immediately preceding the

quotation above (verse 2)“ GRACE is poured into Thy lips ;There fore God hath blessed Thee for ever.

Hebrew, Nehushta,the going or sending forth .

W e see the same in the Arabic name s which havecome down to us : Al Naim

,the gracious one ; A l

Shaula,the dart ; Al Warida

, who comes forth ; Ruchbaer rami

, the riding of the bowman .

An ancien t Akkadian name in the Sign is Nun - lei ,

wh ich means Prince of the Earth .


Again we have the picture of a Centaur as to h isoutward form ,

t .e. a b eing with two naturesgNot

now far down in the south,or connected with - H is

sufferings and sacrifice as man ; but high up , as a

Sign of the Zodiac itse l f, on the ecliptic

,i .e. in the

ve ry path in which the sun rej oiceth in ” h is g oingforth as a strong man .

”

According to Grecian fable, this Sagittarius is

Cheiron,the chief Centau r ; noble in character,

righteous in his dealings , divine in h is power.

Such wil l be the coming'

Seed of the woman in

H is power and glory

The sceptre of Thy kingdom is a rig ht sceptre .

Thou love st righteousne ss, and hatest w ickedness ;There fore Gad, Thy God, hath anointed Thee w ith the

oil of g ladness above thy fe l lows.

”

(PS . xlv . 6,

In the ancient Zodiac of Denderah he is called(as in Coptic) P i -maere, i .e. graciousness, beauty of the

appearing or coming. forth . The characters unde r thehind foot read Kuem

,which means He conquers.

This is He who shal l come forth like as an arrowfrom the bow ,

“ ful l of grace ,”but “ conquering and

to conquer .”

In al l~

the pictures he is similarly represented,

and the arrow in h is bow is aimed di rectly at the

heart of the Scorpion .

Thus ARATU S sang oi CheironM ids t gol den stars he stands re fulg ent now,

And thrusts the, scorpion w ith . h is bended bow .


hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and didst re ign

(Rev . x i . I 7 ,“ Let us be glad and rej oice and

give honou r unto H im ”

(Rev . x ix . The Twentyfirst P salm shou ld be read here , as it te l l s of thebursting forth of praise on the going forth of thisall- gracious Conque ror .

The K ing shal l rejoice in Thy streng th , 0 LORD ;And in Thy sal va t ion how g reat ly Shal l He rejoice !Th ine hand shal l find out all Th ine enemie s ;

Thy righ t hand shal l find out all that hate thee .

The ir fru i t sha l t Thou de stroy from the earth ;And the ir seed from among th e ch i l dren of men .

For they inte nded evi l ag ains t Thee ;hey imag ined a m isch ievous device wh ich they are not

able to p erform,

There fore sha l t thou make them turn the ir back (Heb .

zlf arg z'

n,

“set them as a

‘Nhen Thou shal t make ready Th ine arrows upon Thys tring s

[And shoot them] ag ainst the face of them.

Be thou e xal ted,LO RD

,in th ine own s treng th ;

SO W ILL W E S ING AND PRAISE TH ! POW ER .

(Ps. xx i . I , 8 , 10

Beaut ifu l ly,then

,does the harp come in here ,

follow ing upon the going forth of this victorious\Horseman This Song of the Lamb follows as

natural ly as doe s the Song of Moses in Ex . xv. 1

“ I wil l s ing unto the LORD,for He hath triumphed

gloriou sly .

”

Its brighte st star, at,is one of the most glorious

in the heaven s , and by it th is conste l lation may

be easily known . I t Shines with a splendid whitelustre . I t is cal led Vega , which mean s He shall be

exalted . I ts root occurs in the opening of the Song .


God ; for TRUE AND R IGHTEOUS ARE H IS

JUDGMENTS . And again they said Alle luia

(Rev . x ix . 1—3)W i th “ that blessed hope before us

,

Let no HARP remain unstrung ;Let the coming advent chorusOnward rol l from tongue to tong ue ,

Hal lelujah,“ Come

,Lord Je sus, quickly come .

This brings us to

2 . ARA (The Altar) .

Consuming Fire Prepared for H is Enemies.

Here we have an altar or burning pyre , placedsign ificantly and ominously upside down ! with its

fires bu rn ing and pointing downwards towards the

lowe r regions , cal led Tartarus, or the abyss, or oute rdarkness .

”

It is an asterism with nine stars , Of which threeare of the 3rd magn itude , fou r of the 4 th , etc.

I t is south of the Scorpion ’ s tail , and when theseconste l lations were first formed it was visible only on

the ve ry lowest horiz on of the south , pointing to thecompletion of all judgment in the lake of fire .

In the Zodiac of Denderah w e have a differentpicture , giving us anothe r aspect of the same judgment . I t is a man enthroned , with a flail in his

hand . H is name is Bau , the same name as

Hercules has, and means He cometh . I t is from

the Hebrew N13 (Bbh) , to come,as in Isa . lxiii . 1

“ W ho is th is that come th from Edom,

W ith dyed g arments from Boz rah .

”


3 . DRACO (The Dragon) .

The Old Serpent, or the Devil, cast down fromHeaven .

Each of the three great books concludes w ithth is same foreshowing of Apocalyptic truth . The

same great enemy is refe rred to in all these pictu res .

He is the Serpent ; he is the D ragon ; “the great

dragon ,that old serpent , cal led the Devil and Satan ”

(Rev . x ii . The Serpent represents him as the

Deceiver ; the Dragon,as the Destroyer.

This First Book concludes with the D ragon be ingcast down from heaven .

The Second Book concludes with Cetus, the Sea

Monste r, Leviathan , bound .

The Third Book concludes with Hydra , the Old

Serpent , destroyed .

Here , at the close of the First Book, we see not

mere ly a dragon , but the Dragon cast down Thatis the point of this great star - picture .

No one has eve r seen a dragon ; but among all

nations (especial ly in China and Japan) , and in all

ages , w e find it described and depicted in legendand in art . Both Old and New Te staments referto it

,and all unite in connecting with it one and

the same great enemy of God and man .

I t is against him that the God -Man—“the Son

of God— goe s forth to war. I t is for him that the

SAGITTAR IU S (DRACO) . 71

te rnal fi res are prepared . I t is he who shal lshortly be cast down from the heavens preparatoryto his completed judgment . I t is of h im w e read

,

“ The great dragon was cast out, that old serpent

,

cal led the Devil , and Satan , wh ich dece iveth'

the

whole world : he was cast out and h is ange l s withhim . And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven

,

Now is come salvation,

and strength ,and the

kingdom of our God , and the powe r of H is Christ ;for the accu se r of our brethren is cast down (Rev .

x ii . 9 ,

I t is of h im that David sings

“ God is my king of old,

W orking sal va tion in the midst of the earthThou brake s t the heads of the drag ons in the waters.

Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in p iece s .

(PS . l xx iv. 12

Of h im al so the Spirit cau ses I saiah to say,

“ In

that day, shal l this song be sung in the land ofJudah ”

;

“ In that day the LORD , w ith h is sore , and gre at, and

s trong sword,Shal l pun ish lev iathan the p iercing ( R.V . sw ift) serpent

,

Even l eviathan that crooked se rpe nt ;And he shal l s lay the dragon that is in the sea.

( Isa. xxvi . 1; xx vu .

This is exactly what is foreshadowed by thiscon ste l lat ion of Draco. I ts name is from the

Greek, and means trodden on, as in the Septuagint of

PS . xci . 13 :“ The dragon shalt thou trample unde r

feet ,” from the Hebrew "

133 , Dahrach,to tread .


In the Zodiac of Dende rah it is Shown as a

serpent under the fore - feet of Sagittariu s , and is

named Her-fent, wh ich means the serpent accursed !

There are 8 0 stars in the conste l lation ; fou rof the 2nd magn itude , seven of the 3rd mag

nitude , ten of the 4 th ,etc .

The brightest star, a (in one of the latter coil s) ,is named Thuban the subtle; Some

years ago it was the Polar Star . It is manifest ,the refore , that the Greeks cou ld not have inventedthis conste l lation ,

as is confessed by all modernastronomers . I t is stil l a very important star in

nautical reckon ings , gu iding the commerce of theseas

,and thu s “

the god of this world ”is repre

sented as W inding in h is contortions round the poleof the world , as if to indicate h is subtle influencein all w orldly affairs .

The next star, B (in the head) , is cal led by the

Hebrew name Rastaban,

and means the head of the

subtle (serpent) . In the Arabic it is stil l cal led Al

Waid,wh ich means who is to be destroyed.

The next star, 7 (also in the head) , is cal led

Ethanin,i .e .

,the long serpent

,or dragon .

The H ebrew name s of othe r stars , not identified ,

are Grumian,the subtle ; Giansar, the punished enemy .

Othe r (Arab ic) names are A l D ib,the reptile ; El

A thik,the fraudful ; El Asich

,the bowed down .

And thu s th e combined te stimony of eve ry star(w ithou t a single exception) of each conste l lation ,

SAGITTAR IU S (DRACO) 73

and the conste l lations of each Sign ,accords w ith

the test imony of the Word of God concerning the

coming Seed of the woman,the bru ising of H is

hee l , the crush ing Of the serpent’s head ,

“the suffe r

ings of Christ , and the glory which shou ld fol low.

”

“ From far I see the g lorious day,W hen He who bore our s ins away

,

W il l all His maje sty d isplay.

A Man of Sorrow s once He was,

No friend was found to p lead H is cause,

A s all pre ferre d the worl d ’ s app lause .

He groaned beneath sin’

s aw ful load,For in the sinner

’

s p lace He stood,And d ied to bring h im back to God .

But now He waits,Wi th g lory crowned .

W h ile ang el hosts His throne surround,And s t i l l H is lofty praise s sound .

To few on e arth H is name is dear,And they who in H is cause appear

,

The worl d ’s reproach and scorn mus t bear.

Je sus,Thy name is all my boast,

And though by waves of trouble tossed,Thou w i l t not let my soul b e lost .

Come then come quickly from above,My sou l impat ien t long s to prove

,

The dep ths of everlast ing love .

"


( the fi econb JBooR.

T H E R E D EEMED .

The Result of the Redeemer’

s Sufferings.

N the First Book w e have had before us the

work of the Redeemer set forth as it conce rnedH is own gloriou s pe rson . In this Second Book it

is presented to us as it affects others . Here we

see the results of H is humil iation,and conflict , and

Victory The suffe rings of Christ”

and the blessings they procu red for H is redeemed people .

In Chapte r I . w e have the B lessings procu red .

In Chapte r I I . their Blessrngs en sured .

In Chapter I I I . the ir B lessings in abeyance .

In Chapter IV. their B lessings enj oyed .

CHA PTER I.

T H E S I G N CAP R I CO RN US (The Sea Goat) .

The Goat of A tonement Slain for the Redeemed .

IT is most noteworthy that this Second Bookopens w ith the Goat , and close s with the Ram '

two animal s of sacrifice ; wh ile the two middle


The re are 51 stars in the s ign , three of wh ichare of the 3rd magn itude , three of the 4th , etc.

Five are remarkable stars , a and B in the horn and

head,

and the remain ing three , 7 , 3,

and c,in

the fishy tail . The star 0: is named A l Gedi , the hidor goat, wh ile the star 8 is cal led Deneb Al Gedi ,

the sacrifice cometh .

Other star- names in the Sign ,not identified , are

Dabih (Syriac) , the sacrifice slain ; Al Dabih and Al

Dehabeh (Arab ic) have the same meaning ; Ma’

asad,

the slaying ; Sa’

ad al Naschira, the record of the

cutting ofi‘.

IS not th is exactly in accord with the Scriptu res of truth ? There w ere two goats ! Of “

the

goat of the sin - offe ring it is written ,

“ God hath

given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congre

gation to make atonement for them before the

LORD (Lev . x . 16,

of the othe r goat , wh ichw as not slain

,

“ he Shal l let it go into the wi lde r(Lev . xv i . Here is death and resu r

rection . Chris t was“w ounded for our tran sgressions ,

and bru ised for our in iqu ities .

” “ For the transgres

sion of M! PEOPLE was He stricken ”

(Isa .

He laid down H is l ife for the Sheep .

ness

In the fi rst chapte r of the First Book w e hadthe same B le ssed One presented as

“a corn of

wheat .

” He re w e see H im come to “ die ,”

and

hence not abiding alone,but bringing forth “ much

fru it ” (John x ii . The livrng fish proceeds fromthe dying goat , and yet they form on ly one body.


The Second Book.

CAPR ICORNUS . The P rophecy of the P romisedDe l ive rance .

D AQUARIUS . Re su lts of the w ork be

stow ed (in grace) .D P ISCES . Resu lts of the work enj oyed

(in confl ict) .AR IES . The Fu lfi lment of the P romised De

l ive rance .

The Third Book.

E TAURUS . The P rophecy of the coming Judgeof all the earth .

F GEMIN I . The Redeemer ’ s re ign (Graceand Glory) .

F CANCER . The Redeemer ’ s possession(safe from all conflict) .

E LEO . The fulfi lment of the promised Triumph .

Hence in CAPR ICORNUS w e must look for the prophecy of th is Coming Sacrifice . AS a matte r of factit d id actual ly point out the t ime when the Sun

of Righteousness Shou ld arise , and “the L ight of

the World ”appear . For when th is P rom ised Seed

was born the Sun was actually in this sign of Capricornus ! “ The fu lness of time was come

,

”and

“ God sent forth H is Son TO REDEEM themthat were unde r the Law

”

(Gal. iv . The Sun

was real ly amongst those ve ry stars— Al Gedi,the

kid, and D eneb Al Gedi

,the sacrifice cometh— when this

w ill ing Sacrifice said,

Lo I come to do Thy wil l ,O God .

”The n ights w ere at their darkest and

CAPR ICORNU S (SAGITTA) . 79

the ir longe st when Je sus was born . The days beganimmediate ly to lengthen when He

,

“the true l ight ,

”

had come into the world .

*

Astronomers confess that the pe rve rted legendsof the Greeks give but “

a lame account ” of thissign ,

and it offers no il lu st ration of its ancient

Its ancient origin reveal s a prophetic knowledge ,wh ich on ly He possessed who knew that in “

the

fulne ss of t ime” He wou ld send forth H is Son .

W e now come to the three conste l lat ions wh ich

give us three pictu res setting forth the death of thisSacrifice and of H is l iving again .

1. S A G I T T A (The Arrow) .

The Arrow of God sent forth .

I t is not the Arrow of Sagittarius , for that hasnot left h is bow . That arrow is for the enemiesof God . This is for the Son of God . I t was ofthis that He spoke when He said

,in PS . xxxviii . 2

Th ine arrows s tick fast in me,

And Thy hand pre sse th me sore .

He was stricken , smitten of God, and afflicted

,

He was wounded for our t ransgre ssion s ” (Isa . l iii .4 , He was

“ pierced ,

” when He cou ld say

with Job,

“ The arrow s of the A lm ighty are withinme (v i .

*When w e come to the last chapter of this book w e shal l see that theSun was in the Sign of th e other sacrificial an imal , AR I ES, at the very hour of the

Crucifixion. And AR I ES sets before us the victory of “ the Lamb that was slain.

”


Here the arrow is pictu red to us in mid - heaven ,

alone , as having been shot forth by an invisiblehand . I t is seen in its flight through the heavens .

I t is the arrow of God , showing that Redemptionis all of God . I t was

“the wil l of God ”

whichJesus came to do . Not a me re work of mercy formise rable Sinners , but a work ordained - in ete rn itypast

,for the glory of God in eternity futu re .

This is the record of the W ord, and this is

what is pictu red for us he re . The w ork which the

arrow accompl ishe s is seen in the dying Goat, and

in the fal ling Eagle .

There are many othe r stars in the heavens ina straighter l ine , which woul d bette r serve for an

arrow . Why are these stars chosen ? Why is the

arrow placed he re ? What explanation can be given ,

except that the Revelation in the stars and in

the Book are both from the inspiration of the

same Spirit

There are about 18 stars,of which fou r are of

the 4th magn itude . On ly 7 and 3 are in the same

line,while the shaft passes between at and B .

The Hebrew name is Sham,destroying , or desolate.

2 . A Q U I LA (The Eagle) .

The Smitten One Falling .

Here we have an additional picture of the effectof this arrow,

in the pierced , wounded , and fal l ingEagle , gasping in its dying struggle . And that

CAPR ICORNUS (DELPH INU S) . 8 1

pierced , wounded , and dying Saviou r whom it repre

sents , after saying, in PS . xxxviii . 2,“ Th ine arrows

stick fast in Me,

”added , in verse 10

My heart pante th , My streng th faile th Me,

As for the l ig ht of Mine eyes it is gone from Me .

(See also Zech . x i ii .

The names of the stars , all of them , bear out

this representation . The conste l lation contains 74stars . The brightest of them

,a. (in the Eagle

’ sneck) , is a notable star of the 1st magnitude , cal ledAl Tair (Arabic) , the wounding . The star B (in the

throat) is cal led Al Shain (Arabic) , the bright, froma Hebrew root mean ing scarlet coloured

,as in Josh .

ii . 18 . The star 7 (in the back) is cal led Tarared,

wounded,or torn . 3 (in the lowe r wing) is named

Alcair,which means the piercing ,

and e (in the tail) ,Al Okat

,has the sign ificant meaning wounded in

the heel.

How can the united testimony of the se name sbe explained except by acknowledging a D ivineorigin ? even that of H im who afte rwards foretoldof the bruising of the Virgin

’ s Son in the writtenWord ; yea, of H im “ who te l leth the numbe r ofthe stars and giveth them al l the ir name s .

”

3 . DELPH INUS (The Dolph in) .

The Dead One Rising again .

This is a bright cluste r of 18 stars , five ofwhich are of the 3rd magnitude . I t is easily distinguished by the fou r brightest , wh ich are in the

head .

S. 10 0 5 .


I t is always figu red as a fish fu l l of l ife, and

always with the head upwards , j ust as the eagleis always with the head downwards . The greatpecu liar characteristic of the dolphin is its risingup , leaping, and springing out of the sea .

When w e compare this with the dying goat and

fal l ing eagle , what conclusion can w e come to but

that we have here the fi l ling in of the picture,and

the completion of the whole truth set forth in Ca

pricornus

Je sus “ died and rose again . Apart from H is re surrection H is death is without resu lt . In H is conflictw ith the enemy it is only H is com ing again in glorywhich is shown forth . But here , in connection withH is people , with the mu ltitudes of H is redeemed ,Resurrection is the great and important truth . He

is “the first- fru it s of them that slept ” ; then He ,

too , is here represented as a fish . He who wentdown into the waters of death for H is people ; He

who cou ld say“ All thy waves and thy bil lows are

gone over me (PS . xlii . He it is who rises up

again from the dead,having died on account of the

sins of H is redeemed, and risen again on account of

the ir justification (Rom . iv .

This is the picture here . In the Pers ian plan isphere there seems to be a fish and a stream ofwater . The Egyptian has a vesse l pouring out

wate r .

The ancient names connected with this constel lat ion are Dalaph (Hebrew) , pouring out of water ;


Turn,then,

my soul, unto Thy res t ;The merits of Thy grea t H ig h Pries tHave bought thy l iberty ;

Trust in His efficacious blood,Nor fear thy banishmen t from God

,

S ince Je sus d ied for thee .

”

CHAPTER II .

THE S IGN AQ UAR IUS (The W ater Bearer) .

Their Blessings Ensured,or the Living Waters of

Blessing Poured Forth for the Redeemed .

THE Atonement being made , the blessings have beenprocured

, and now they can be bestowed and pou redforth upon the Redeemed . This is the truth , whetherwe think of Abe l ’ s lamb

,of patriarchal sacrifices

,

the offerings unde r the Law ,or of that great Sacrifice

of which they all testified . They all w ith one voicetel l us that atonement made is the only foundat ionof blessing .

This was pictu red and foreshown in the heavensfrom the beginning, by a man pouring forth waterfrom an urn which seems to have an inexhaustiblesupply, and which flows forth downwards into the

mouth of a fish,which receives it and drinks it

all up .

In the ancient Zodiac of Dende rah it is the same

idea,though the man holds two u rns , and the fish

be low seems to have come out of the urn . The


symbols of the e leventh *‘ Sign with Grecian mythology .

” No ! w e must go furthe r back than that ,and not cramp our vision ,

and distort the Scriptures ,by confin ing our thoughts to “

the Church .

”The

Chu rch is nowhere seen in the se Signs , as She is

nowhere revealed ' in the Old Testament . This w e

shal l enlarge on when w e come to the Sign P isces .

Meanwhile w e must read the witness of the starsas if the re had been no Chu rch !

Christ is first . ! ea ,He is all in all. The

Scriptu res testify of H im ; and the ve ry stars in th isSign te l l of H is going away and H is coming again .

These prophetic signs have to do with H im,with

the Atonement He w rought , with the conflict He

endured , w ith the blessings He secu red,with the

victory He Shal l w in,

and the triumph He shal lhave . For it is w ritten

He sha l l pour the water out of His bucke ts,

And His seed shal l be in many waters,

And.

H is king shall b e h ig her than Agag ,

A nd His king dom shall be e xal ted .

(Num. xxiv.

te l ls of that glorious day when“ A King Shal l re ign in rig h teousne ss ;And princes sha l l rule in judgment ;A nd a MAN shal l b e as an h id ing p lacefrom th e w ind

,

And a covert from the tempe st ;As R IVERS of W ATER in a dry p lace .

( Isa . xxx ii .

* The e leven th, because everyone begins to reckon from ARIES, and not as

we have done from VIRGO, as shown by th e ridd le of the Sphinx. See page 20 .

AQUAR IUS . 8 7

I t speaks of that glorious t ime when I srae l shal lbe restored , and the ir “

eye s shall see the King in

H is beauty ”

; when the peace of Z ion Shal l be no

more disturbed , “ but the re the glorious LORD wil lbe unto us a place of broad rive rs and streams(Isa . xxxiii . 17 , 20 ,

ThenThe w i l derness and the sol i tary p lace shall be g lad

for them ;And the de sert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose

,

For in the w i l derness shal l waters break out,

And streams in the desert . ( Isa . x xxv. 1,

“ I w il l open rivers in h ig h p laces,And fountains in the midst of the va l leys ;I w i ll make the w i l derness a pool of water

,

And the dry land spring s of water.

”

( Isa. xli.

“ Fear not, 0 Jacob, My servan t ;And thou,

Je surun,whom I have chosen,

For I w i l l POUR WATER upon h im that is th irsty,And floods upon the dry ground ;I w i ll pour My Sp iri t upon thy seed,And My b lessing upon thy offspring .

Thus sai th the LORD the King of I sraelAnd h is Redeemer the LORD of hosts.

( Isa. xliv. 2, 3,

Th is is the meaning of the Sign . The MAN

Christ Jesus,who was humbled in death wil l yet

be seen to be the pou re r forth of eve ry ble ssing .

Physically pouring forth literal wate rs,removing the

curse,and turn ing this world into a paradise :Making her w i l derness like Eden

,

And h er desert like the garden of the LORD. ( Isa . Ii .

And morally pou ring forth H is Spirit in such abnudance as to fi l l the whole earth w ith peace , and

blessing , and glo ry , as the w ate rs cove r the sea .

”


Upon I srae l restored He wil l pou r out H is blessing . They w il l be sprinkled with clean wate r, and

possess a new heart and a new spirit (Ez ek . xxxvi.24

—28 ; Joe l ii . 28

Such are some of the Scriptures wh ich te l l ofthis gloriou s Water- pou re r . W e need not rob Christof H is glory , or I srae l of her blessing , in orde r tosee in all this Pentecost or the Chu rch . The seare quite independent of the great l ine of prophetictruth . They are parenthetical , and distinct , and

true , qu ite apart from the glorious prophecies ofI srae l ’s scattering and gathering. The physicalmarve l s referred to in the texts above can neve rbe satisfied or exhausted by any spiritual fu lfi lment .W e may make an application of them as far as isconsistent with the teaching of the epistles ; but theinterpretation of them belongs to the Person of Christ ,and the nation of I srael . That interpretation is

pictured for us in the Sign , and in its three con

stellations .

1. P ISC IS AUSTRAL IS (The Southern Fish) .

The Blessings Bestowed.

This first conste llation is one of high antiquity,‘and its brilliant star of the fi rst magnitude was

a subject of great study by the Egyptians and

Ethiopians . I t is named in Arabic Fom al Haut,

the mouth of the fish . The re are 22 other stars .

And in great contrast w ith several modern ones near it, e.g . , the Bal loon,the Sculptor’s Apparatus, the Microscope, Euclid’s Square, the Telescope, etc. , etc.

AQUAR IU S (PEGASU S) . 8 9

The conste l lation is inseparable from Aquarius ,in connection with wh ich we have shown it in

P late XVI I I . In the Denderah Zodiac it is calledAar

,a stream.

I t sets forth the s imple t ru th that the blessingsprocu red by the MAN— the coming Seed of the

w oman,wil l be sure ly bestowed and received by

those for whom they are intended . There wil l beno failure in their communication , or in the ir recept ion . W hat has been purchased shal l be securedand possessed .

2 . PEGASUS (The W inged Horse) .

The Blessings Q uickly Coming .

Not only Shal l they be received , but they shal lbe brought near . They wil l not have to be fetched ,but they wil l be caused to come to those for whomthey are procu red , and wil l yet be brought by H imwho has procured them .

In the Dende rah Zodiac the re are two charactersimmediate ly be low the horse , Fe and ka . Peka orPega, is in H ebrew the chief

, and Sus is horse. So

that the ve ry word (Pegasus) has come down to us

and has been preserved through al l the languages .

The names of the stars in this conste l lation de

clare to us its meaning. The re are 89 altogether ;one of the I st magnitude , two of the 2nd ,

three ofthe 3rd , nine of the 4 th , etc. And

,as astronome rs

testrfv “ they rende r Pegasus pecu l iarly remarkable .

”


The brightest , a (on the neck of the horse at

the junction of the wing) , comes down to us withthe ancient Hebrew name of Markab, which meansreturning from afar. The star B (in the near shou lde r)is cal led Scheat, i .e .

,who goeth and returneth . The

star 7 (at the tip of the Wing) bears an Arabicname— Al Genib, who carries . The star 6 (in the

nostril) is cal led Enif (Arab ic) , the water. The star7) (in the near leg) is cal led Matar (Arabic) , who

causes to overflow .

These names show us that we have to do withno mere horse . A winged horse is unknown tonature . I t must the refore be used as a figu re ; andit can be a figu re only of a person

,even of H im

who is “ the Branch ,” as the star Enif show s

,who

said,

“ I f I go away I wil l come again ,

”as the star

Scheat testifies .

He who procured these bless ings for the re

deemed by H is Atonement , is qu ickly coming to bringthem ; and is soon return ing to pou r them forth upona groaning creation . This is the lesson of Pegasus .

“ Come, b lessed Lord, b id every shore

A nd answering island sing

The praises of Thy roya l Name ,And own Thee as the ir King .

Lord, Lord ! Thy fair crea tion g roans

The earth, the air,th e sea

Ia unison w i th all our hearts,

And cal ls aloud for Thee .

Th ine was the Cross w i th all its fruitsOf grace and peace d ivine

Be Th ine the Crown of g lory now,

The palm of v ictory Th ine .

”

AQUAR IU S : (CYGNU S) . 91

3 . C YGN U S (The Swan) .The Blesser surely Returning .

This conste l lation repeats,emphasise s , and afli rms

this glorious t ruth . I t has to do with the GreatB lesse r and H is speedy return , as is testified byall the ancient name s connected with it .

In the Dende rah Zodiac it is named Tes- ark,

wh ich mean s this from afar.

I t is a most bril l iant and gorgeous aste rism of8 1 stars ; one of the rst or 2nd ,

six of the 3rd ,

twe lve of the 4 th magnitude , etc. I t contains variablestars

,fiv e double stars

,and one quadruple . The

star marked “ 61 Cygni”is known as one of the

most wonderfu l in the whole heavens . I t consistsof two stars which revolve about each othe r

,and

yet have a progressive motion common to each !This m ighty bird is not fal l ing dead

,l ike Aqu ila ,

but it is flying sw iftly in mid - heaven . I t is comingto the earth

,for it is not so much a bird of the

air,but a bird peculiarly belonging to both the

earth and the wate rs .

I ts brightest star, or (between the body and the

tail) , is cal led Deneb (l ike anothe r in Capricornus) ,and means the judge. I t is also cal led Adige, flyingswiftly ,

and thu s at once it is connected with H im

who cometh to judge the earth in righteousness .

The star B (in the beak) is named Al Birco

(Arabic) , flying quickly .

The star 7 (in the body) is cal led Sadr (Hebrew) ,who returns as in a circle.


The two stars in the tail , now marked in the

maps as 7: 1 and 71"

2 , are named Az el,who goes

and returns quickly ; and Fafage, gloriously shining

forthThe teaching, then , of the whole Sign of AQUARIU S

is clear and complete . The names of the stars explainthe conste l lations , and the names of the constel lations explain the Sign , so that we are left in no

doubtBy H is atoning death (as set forth in CAPR I

CORNUS) He has purchased and procured unspeakableblessings for H is redeemed . This Sign (AQUAR IUS)tel l s of those blessings being poured forth

,and of

the speedy retu rn of H im who is to bring “ riversof blessing,

”and to fi l l this earth with blessing

and glory “as the waters cover the sea .

”

Then take , LORD, thy kingdom,and come in Thy g lory

Make the scene of Thy sorrow s the place of Thy

throne ,

Comp le te all the blessing which ag es in storyHave tol d of the triumphs so jus t ly Thine own .

CHAPTER III .

THE S IGN P ISCES (The Fishes) .

The Blessings of the Redeemed in abeyance.

this third chapte r of the Second Book we come

the resu lts of the Redeemer ’ s work enj oyed, but

connection with conflict,as is seen in the last

P ISCES . 93

of the three sections (the conste l lation of Andromeda,

the chained woman) , which leads up to the last chapterof the book

, and ends it in triumph ove r eve ryenemy .

The Sign is pictured as two large fishes boundtogethe r by a Band

,the ends of which are fastened

separate ly to the ir tails . One fi sh is repre sentedwith its head pointing upwards towards the NorthPolar S tar , the othe r is shown at right angles ,swimming along the line of the ecliptic , or path ofthe sun .

The ancient Egyptian name,as shown on the

Dende rah Zodiac , is P i - cot Orion, of P isces Hori ,

which means the fishes of Him that cometh .

The Hebrew name is Dag im,the Fishes

,which is

closely connected with multitudes, as in G en . xlviii . 26 ,where Jacob blesses Joseph ’s son s

,and says

,

“ Let

them grow into a mu ltitude in the midst of theearth . The margin says

,

“ Let them grow as fishesdo increase.

” I t refe rs to the fu lfi lment of Gen . i . 28 ,“ Be fruitful and mu ltiply.

”The multitude of Abra

ham ’ s seed is prominent in the pronouncement ofthe ble ssings , whe re God compared h is future posterity to the stars of the sky

,and the sand upon

the sea Shore .

“ A ve ry great mu l titude of fish ,”

as in Ez ek . xlvii . 9 .

The Syriac name is Nuno, the fish, lengthened out

( as in posterity) .

The Sign ,then

,speaks of the multitude s who

shou ld enj oy the blessings of the Redeeme r ’s work.


And here w e must maintain that “the Chu rch

,

which is “the Body of Christ ,” was a subj ect

that was neve r revealed to man until it was madeknown to the Apostle Pau l by a special reve lat ion .

The Holy Spirit declares (Rom . xv i . 25) that it

was kept secre t since the world began . In

Eph . iii . 9 he declares that it “ from the beginn ing ofthe world hath been h id in God ”

; and in Col . i . 26,

that it “ hath been h id from ages and from generations

,but now is made manifest to H is saints .

”In

each scripture which speaks of it as“now made

manifest ,” or “now made known

,it is distinctly

stated that it was a myste ry,” i .e., a secret

, and

had, up to that moment

,been hidden from man

kind,h idden “ in God .

” How,then

,w e ask, can

“the Chu rch

,wh ich was a subsequent reve lat ion ,

be

read into the previou s prophecies , whether writtenin the Old Te stament Scripture s , or made known in

the Heavens ? I f the Church was revealed in prophecy, then it cou ld not have been said to be hiddenor kept secret . If the first reve lation of it was

made known to Pau l, as he distinctly affirms it was,

then it cou ld not have been revealed be fore . Un lesswe see this very clearly

,w e cannot rightly divide

the w ord of truth ”

(2 Tim . ii . And if we donot rightly divide the word of tru th , in its subj ects

,

and times , and dispensat ions,w e must inevitably be

landed in confusion and darkness , interpreting of theChurch , scriptures wh ich be long only to I srae l .

The Church , or B ody of Christ,is total ly dis

t inct from every class of persons who are made the


The prophecy of this Sign was afte rwards writtenin the words of Isa . xxvi . 15

— the song which shal l

yet be sung in the land of JudahThou has t increased the nat ion,

O LORD,

Thou hast increased the nat ion .

”

And in Isa. ix . 3 speaking of the glorious time

when the gove rnment shal l be upon the shou lde r ofthe coming King :

Thou hast mul tipl ied the nation,Thou hast increased the ir joy.

”

Of that longed - for day Jeremiah Sings (xxx . 19)“ I w i l l mu l tip ly themAnd they shal l not be few ;I w i ll also g lorify them,

And they shal l not be smal l .

Ez ekie l al so is inspired to say“ I w ill mu l tip ly men upon you,

A l l the house of Israe l , even all of it

And the ci ties shal l be inhab i ted,And the wastes shall b e builded ;And I w i ll mul tip ly upon you man and beast ;And they shal l increase and bring fruit .

”

(E z ek . xxxvi . 10 ,

Moreover I w ill make a covenan t of p eace w i th them ;It shal l b e an everlasting covenan t w i th them !And I w i l l p lace them, and multip ly them,

And w i l l set My sanctuary in the midst of them for

evermore . (Ez ek . xxxvii .

Indeed , this Sign of P ISCES has always been interpreted of I srae l . Both Jews and Gentiles haveagreed in this . ABARBANEL

,a Jewish commentator

,

w riting on Danie l , affirms that the S ign P ISCES alwaysrefers to the people of I srae l . He gives fiv e reasons

P I SCES . 97

for this be l ie f, and a lso affirms that a conj unctionof the planet s Jupite r and Saturn always be tokerrsa crisis in the affairs of I srae l . Because such a

conjunct ion took place in h is day (about 14 8 0 A .D .)he looked for the coming of Me ssiah .

*

Ce rtain it is , that when the sun is in P IS CES all

the conste l lations which are conside red nox ious, are

seen above the horiz on . W hat is true in astronomicalobse rvation is t rue al so in h istorical fact . W henGod ’s favour is Shown to I srae l

,

“the Jew ’s enemy ”

puts forth his mal ignant powers . W hen they increasedand mu ltiplied in Egypt , he endeavou red to compassthe destruction of the nation by destroying the malechildren ; but their great De liverer remembered H iscovenant , defeated the designs of the enemy, and

brought the counse l of the heathen to nought . So

it was in Pe rsia ; and so it wil l yet be again whenthe hou r of I srae l ’s final de liverance has '

come .

The re can be no doubt that w e have in thisSign the fore showing of the mu l tipl ication and ble ssing of the children of promise , and a token of theircoming de live rance from all the power of the enemy .

But why two fi shes ? and why is one horiz ontaland the othe r perpendicu lar ? The answer is , thatnot only in I srae l , but in the seed of Seth and Shemthe re were always those who looked for a heavenlyportion

, and were “ partakers of a heavenly cal ling .

In Heb . x i . w e are distinctly told that Abraham

How inconsistent when there were three such conjunctions in one year, all

in the same Sign of PISCES, immediate ly preceding the birth of the woman’s Seed ;

and in addition to this the new star which had been foretold. See under Coma ,

Pages 36. 37. 38 .

S. 100 5 .


looked for a City which hath foundations , whosebu ilder and make r is God ”

(v . They w e restrange rs and pilgrims on the earth (v .

S trangers are those without a home, and p ilgrims

are those who are j ou rneying home :“ they seek a

coun try ”

(v . They des ired “a better country

,

that is , an HEAVENLY : whe refore God is not

ashamed * to be cal led their God ; for He hathprepared for them a city ”

(v . I t is clear,the refore , that what are cal led the “ Old TestamentSaints ” w ere partake rs of THE HEAVENLY CALLING ”

(Heb . iii . wh ich included a heaven ly portion and

a heaven ly home ; and all through the age s therehave been partakers of the heavenly cal l ing .

”This

is qu ite distinct from the cal ling of the Church,

which is from both Jews and Gentile s to form “one

body,

”a

“new man

”in Christ (Eph . ii . I t

must be distinct,for it is expressly stated at the

end of that chapte r (Heb . x i . 4 0 ) that God has

“ PROVIDED (marg . foreseen) SOME BETTER TH ING FOR

US .

” How can this be a“ bette r thing,

”if it is the

same thing ? There mu st be two separate things ifone is “ better ” than the othe r ! Our cal l ing in

Christ is the “ bette r thing .

”The Old Te stament

saints had , and wil l have , a good thing . They w il lhave a heaven ly blessing, and a heaven ly portion

,

for God has prepared for them a city,” and

w e see that prepared city,even “

the holy c ity,new

J e rusalem , com ing down from God out of HEAVEN,

The figure of Tap einosz'

s, wh ich calls our attention to that fact that H e was

del ighted thus to be cal led.

10 0 THE W ITNESS OF THE' STARS .

I . THE BAND .

The Redeemed Bound, but binding their Enemy .

The band that unites these two fishes has alwaysformed a separate conste l lation . I t is shown in

P late XXI. The Arabian poems of ANTARAH fre

quen tly mention it as distinct from the Sign withwhich it is so close ly connected . ANTARAH was an

Arabian poet of the sixth century .

I ts ancient Egyptian name was U- or, which meansHe cometh . I ts Arabic name is Al Risha, the band, or

I t speaks of the Coming One , not in H is re lationto H imsel f, or to H is enemies

,

'

but in H is re lation tothe Redeemed . I t speaks of H im who says

I drew them w i th cords of a man,

W ith bands of love ;And I was to them as they that take off the yoke

on the ir jaws .

”

(Hosea x i . 4 , RN .)

But it speaks al so of H is un loosing the bands withwhich they have been so long bound .

In the picture these fi she s are bound . One end

of the band is fastened secure ly round the tail of onefish ,

and it is the same with the other . Moreover ,this band is fastened to the neck of Cetus, the sea

monste r, wh ile immediate ly above is seen a woman

chained as a captive . These both te l l the same

story, and , indeed , all are requ ired to set forth the

Whole truth . The fishe s are bound to Cetus ; the

w oman (Andromeda) is chained ; but the Del iverer of


The names of othe r stars , not identified , are

Adhil, the ajflicted ; Miz ar, the weak AlMara (Arab ic) ,the ajflicted . ARATU S speaks of Desma

, which means

the bound, and says

Her fee t point to her bridegroomP erseus, on whose shou l der they res t .

Thu s,w ith one voice , the stars of Andromeda

speak to us of the captive daughte r of Zion . And

her coming De l ivere r thus addre sses her

0 thou afflicted, tosse d w ith temp e st, and not comforted,Behol d, in righteousness shal t thou b e e stab l ishedThou sha l t be far from oppression ; for thou sha l t not fearAnd from terror ; for it shal l not come nigh thee .

”

( Isa. liv . 11

Hear now th is,thou affl icted .

Awake,awake ; p ut on thy streng th , O Z ion ;

Put on thy beautiful g arments, O Jerusal em.

Shake thyse l f from the dust ;Arise, and S it down

, 0 JerusalemLoose thyse l f from the bands of thy neck

,O cap t ive

daug hter of Z ion.

For thus saith the LORD,! e have sol d yourse l ves

for nough t ;And ye shal l be redeemed w i thou t money .

( Isa. li . 2 1— 111.

The virgin daughter of My people is broken w ith a

great breach , with a very grievous blow”

(Jer. x iv .

The pictu re which sets forth her de l iverance is

re se rved for the next chapte r (or S ign) , whe re it

comes in its proper place and orde r . W e are firstShown her glorious De live re r ; for w e never, in the

heavens or in the Word,have a reference to the

suffe rings w ithou t an immediate refe rence to the glory.

10 4. THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS .

In Jer. xxxi .,afte r speaking of I srae l

’s restoration,

J ehovah says (v . 1)“ At the same t ime

,saith th e LORD,

w i ll I b e th e God

of all th e fam il ie s of I srae l ,A nd they shal l b e My people .

For I am a father to Israe l ,A nd Ephraim is My firstborn (v.

AS He said to Moses : “ Thu s saith the LORD , I sraelis my son

, even my firstborn (Exod . iv .

He re is the foundation of I srae l ’s blessing . True ,it is now in abeyance , but “

the LORD re igneth , and

wil l in due time make good H is Word , forThe counsel of the LORD s tande th for ever.

The thoughts of His heart to all g enerat ions .

(PS . xxx iii .

This leads us up to the last chapter of the SecondBook, which show s us the fu lfi lment of all the prophecies conce rning the Redeemed and the su re foundation on which their great hope of glory is based .

CHAPTER IV .

THE S IGN AR IES (The Ram or Lamb) .

The B lessings of the Redeemed Consummated and

Enjoyed .

TH I S Second Book began with the Goat dying in

sacrifice , and it ends with the Lamb l iving again ,

“as it had been Slain .

”The goat had the tail of a

fish , indicat ing that h is death was for a multitude of


the bruised,the wounded . The next , 7 (near to B) ,

cal led Mesartim (Hebrew ) , the bound.

How is it the re is no confl icting voice ? How is it

that all the stars unite in one harmon iou s voice in

testifying of the Lamb of God , slain , and bru ised ,but yet l iving for evermore , singing togethe r , “ Worthyis the Lamb that w as slain to rece ive power and

riches, and w isdom

, and strength , and honour, and

glory, and blessing”

(Rev . v .

This rej oicing connected w ith the Lamb ' Shinesfaintly through the heathen pe rve rsions and mythsfor HERODOTU S te l l s us how the ancient Egyptians ,once a year, when it opened by the entrance of thesun into slew a Ram , at the festiva l of JupiterAmmon ; branches we re placed ove r the doors

,the

Ram was garlanded with wreaths of flow ers and carriedin procession . Now the sun entered AR IES on the

14 th of the Jew ish month N isan,

and another lamb

w as then ordered to be slain,even “

the LORD ’ S passove r — the type of that Lamb that Shou ld in the

fu lness of t ime be offered without blemish and w ithout spot . Owing to the precession of the equ inoxes ,the sun

, at the time of the Exodus,had receded into

this s ign of AR IES, which then marked the Spring

Equ inox . But by the time that the antitype— the

Lamb of God , was slain, the sun had stil l further

receded , and on the 14 th of N isan,in the year of

the Cruc ifixion , stood at the very spot marked bythe stars a

,El Nath

,the p ierced

,the wounded or slain

,

TAURt’

s then marked the Spring Equinox.

AR IES (CASS IOPE IA) . 10 7

and B , Al Sheratan ,the bruised or wounded ! God so

ordained “the times and seasons ” that du ring that

noon - day darkness the sun was seen near those starswh ich had spoken for so many cen tu rie s of th isbruising of the woman

’s Seed— the Lamb of God .

W as th is design ? or was it chance ? I t is fareasier to be l ieve the forme r . I t make s a smal le rdemand upon our faith ; yes, we are compe l led tobel ieve that He W ho created the sun and the stars“ for s igns and for cycle s ,” ordained al so the timesand the seasons , and it is He who te l l s us that“ WHEN THE FULNESS OF T IME W AS COME

,God sent

forth H is Son ”

(Gal. iv . and that “ in due time

Christ died for the ungodly”

(Rom . v .

1. CASS IOPEIA (The Enthroned hVoman) .

The Captive Delivered,and Preparing for her

Husband, the Redeemer.

In the last chapte r we saw the woman bound ; herew e see the same woman freed , de l ive red , and en

throned .

ULUGH BE ! says its Arabic name is El Seder,

wh ich means the freed .

In the Dende rah Zodiac her name is S et, wh ichmeans set

,set up as Q ueen . ALBUMAZER says th is

conste l lat ion was anciently cal led “the daughter of

splendour.

”Th is appears to be the mean ing of the

word Cassiopeia,the enthroned

,the beautiful The

Arabic name is Ruchba,the enthroned . Th is is also

the mean ing of its Chaldee name , Dat al cursa .


There are 55 stars in this constel lation , of whichfiv e are of the 3rd magnitude , five of the 4 th , etc .

Th is beau tifu l conste l lation passes vertical ly overGreat B ritain every day,

and is easily distinguishedby its five brightest stars , forming an irregular W ,

Th is brill iant conste l lation contains one binarystar, a triple star, a double star, a quadruple star,and a large number of nebu lae .

In the year 1572 Tycho B rahe discovered in thisconste l lation , and very near the star K (unde r the arm

of the chair) , a new star, wh ich shone more brightlythan Venu s . I t was observed for nearly two years ,and disappeared entire ly in 1574 .

The brightest star, at (in the left breast) , is namedSchedir (Hebrew) , which mean s the freed . The next ,A(in the top of the chair) , l ikew ise bears a Hebrewname— Caph

,wh ich means the branch ; it is evidently

given on account of the branch of victory which She

bears in her hand .

She is Indeed h ighly exalted,and making herself

ready . Her hands , no longer bound , are engagedin this happy w ork . With her right hand she is

arranging her robes , while with her left she is adorning her hair . She is seated upon the Arctic circle ,and close by the Side of Cepheus

,the King .

This is “the B ride , the Lamb ’s wife , the heaven ly

city, the new J erusalem,

”the “ partake rs of the hea

venly cal l ing .

”

AR IES (CASS IOPE IA) . 10 9

He who has redeemed her is “the Lamb that w as

slain ,

”and He addresses her thus

Thy Maker is th ine husband ;The LORD of Hosts is H is name ;

A nd the Holy One of Israe l is thy Rede emer;

The God of the whole earth Shal l He be ca l led .

For the LORD hath cal led thee as a woman forsakenand grieve d in sp iri t

,

Even a w ife of you th when she is cast off,saith thy

God.

For a smal l momen t have I forsaken thee ;But w ith great mercie s w i l l I gather the e .

In'

overflow ing wrath I h id my face from thee for a

momen t ;But w ith everlasting kindness w i ll I have mercy on

thee,sai th the LORD thy Rede emer.

( Isa. liv. 5 - 8 , R .v .)

Thou shal t b e a crown of beauty in the hand of the

LORD,And a roya l d iadem in the hand of thy God,Thou shal t no more b e termed Forsaken ;Ne ither shal l thy land any more b e termed Desolate ;But thou shal t b e cal led Hep h z i

- bah my delig ht is

in her) ,A nd thy land Beulah marri ed ) ;For the LORD de l ighte th in thee,And thy land shal l be married .

For as a young man marrie th a virg in,

So shal l thy sons (H eb. thy Re storer) marry theeA nd as the brideg room rejoice th over the bride

,

So shal l thy God rejoice over thee .

”

( Isa . 1x11. 3—5 , R .v .)

The LORD hath appeared of old (or from afar) un tome

, saying ,

! ea, I have loved thee w i th an everlas t ing love ;

There fore w i th lov ingkindness have I drawn the e .

Ag ain w i l l I bui l d thee,and thou shalt be bui l t, 0

V irg in of Israe l .


He that scat tered Israe l w i l l g ather h im,

A nd kee p h im as a shepherd doth h is flock,

For the LORD hath ransomed Jacob,And redeemed h im from the hand of h im that was

s tronger than he . (Jer. xxxi. 3—12, R .v .)

Can w e close our eyes to the testimony of thesescriptures— that I srae l is the B ride of the Lamb ?When we have all these

,and more , why shou ld w e

read “the Chu rch into these ancient p rophecies ,

which was th e subj ect of a long - subsequent reve lation

, me re ly because (in Eph . v . 25) Christ’s love to

His Chu rch is compared to a husband ’s love for h iswife ? “ Husbands , love you r wives , even AS Christalso loved the Chu rch .

”There is not a word he re

about the Church be ing H is wife . On the contrary,

it reveal s the secret that th e Chu rch of Christ is tobe the mystical “ Body of Christ

,

” part of the Husband

in fact,

“ One new man (Eph . ii . whereasrestored I srae l is to be the B ride of this New Man ,

”

the B ride of Christ, the Lamb ’ s wife ! B lessed

indeed it is to be united to Christ as a wife to a

husband , but glorious beyond all description to beH

one with Christ H imse l f, part of H is mysticalBody .

I f men had on ly real ised the w ondrous gloryof this mystery

,they wou ld neve r have so wrongly

divided the Word of Truth by interpreting P salm xlv .

of this Mystical Christ . I f w e “ rightly divide ” it,

we see at once that this P salm is in harmony withall the Old Testament scripture s

,which mu st be

inte rpreted al ike, and can be interpreted on ly of

I srae l how eve r they may be applied.


This,then

,is the truth set forth by this enthroned

woman . The blessing founded on Atonement , and

the Redemption w rought by the Lamb that was slain ,

re su lt in a glorious answe r to I srae l ’s prayer, “ Tu rnour captivity, O LORD ”

(PS . cxxvi . when theythat have sown in tears shal l reap in j oy ,” and

the LORD shal l loosen her bonds , and place her

enthroned by H is side .

Th is , howeve r , involve s the destruction of herenemy, and this is what we see in th e next section .

2 . CETUS (The Sea Monster) .

The Great Enemy Bound .

When John see s the New Je rusalem,the Bride

,

the Lamb ’ s wife (Rev . xx i . I O, Satan has been

bound al ready : for we read , a few ve rses before(xx . 1

“ I saw an ange l come down from heaven,

having the key of the bottomless p it and a greatchain in his hand . And he laid hold of the dragon ,

that Old Serpent , wh ich is the Devil , and Satan ,

and bound him [and kept him bound] a thousandyears

,and cast him into th e bottom less p it, and

shut h im up , and set a seal upon h im, that he

shou ld deceive the nation s no more ,til l the thou

sand years shou ld be fulfi l led .

”

This is what we see in the second section of thischapte r— the second conste l lation in AR IES .

The picture is that of a great Sea -monster, the

largest of all the conste l lations. I t is the natural

114. THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS .

of magnitude , both increasing and diminishing . In

deed its variableness is so great as to make it appearunsteady !

Here , then ,is the picture of the Great Rebel as

shown in the heavens . W hat is it, as written in the

W ord

The Almighty asks man

“ Cans t thou draw out Leviathan w ith a fish hook ?Or press down h is tongue w i th a cord ?Cans t thou p ut a rope into h is nose ?

Or p ierce his jaw throug h w ith a hook ?Shal l not one b e cast down even at the sigh t of him ?None is so fierce that he dare s tir h im up .

(Job xli. I—Io, R .v .)

But he whom man cannot bind can be bound bythe Lamb

, and He is seen with “the Band that has

bound the fishes , now in H is hands,which he has

fastened with a bright star to h is neck , saying ,“ Behold, I have taken out of th ine hand the cup Of

trembl ing ,

Even the dreg s of the cup of My fury ;Thou shal t no more drink it again,

But I w i l l p ut it into the hand Of them that affl ictthee .

”

( Isa. li . 22,

Behol d, the LORD come th forth out of H is p laceTO punish the inhab itants of the earth for the ir in

iquity

In that day the LORD, w i th H is sore, and g reat, and

s trong sword,

Shal l punish Leviathan, the piercing serpent,

And Leviathan,the crooked serpen t ;

And He shal l s lay the dragon that is in the sea.

( Isa. xxvi. 2 1 —xxvn . I .)

AR IES (PERSEU S) I 15

“ For God is my king of old,

W orking salvation in the midst of the earth .

Thou d ids t d ivide (marg . Heb., break) the sea by Thystreng th,

Thou brake st the heads of the dragons (R .V. marg .,

sea monsters) in the waters .

Thou brakest the heads of Leviathan in p ieces.

(PS . lxx iv . 12

And this Second Book close s by reveal ing tothis glorious “ Breaker .”

3 . PERSEUS . (“ The

The Breaker”delivering H is Redeemed .

He re w e have set before us a mighty man , calledin the Hebrew Peretz , from which we have the Greekform Perses

,or Perseus (Rom . xv i . I I t is the same

word wh ich is u sed of Christ in Micah ii . I 3 . WhenHe shal l sure ly gather the remnant of I srael (v.

it IS written“ THE BREAKER is gone up before themThe ir King is passed on before them,

And the LORD at the head Of them.

”

This is what is pictured to us here . W e see a

gloriou s “ B reake r ” taking H is place before H is

redeemed,breaking forth at the ir head , breaking down

all barriers , and breaking the heads of Leviathan and

all h is hosts . In H is right hand He has H is “ sore ,and great , and strong sword

” l ifted up to sm ite and

break down the enemy . He has wings on H is feet ,which te l l us that He is coming very sw iftly . In H is

left hand He carries the head of the enemy , whom he

has slain .


In th e Denderah Zodiac H is name is Kar Kuem

he whofights and subdues.

I t is a beautiful constel lation of 59 stars , two ofwhich are of the z ud magnitude , fou r of the 3rd , twe lveof the 4 th , etc.

Their names supply us with the key to the interpretation of the pictu re .

The star a (in the waist) i s cal led Mirfah, who helps.

The next , 7 (in the right shou lder) , is named Al Genib,

which means who carries away . The bright star in the

left foot is cal led Athih,who breaks

In his le ft hand he carries a head,which

,by p er

version , the Greeks cal led the head of Medusa, be ingignoran t that its Hebrew root meant the trodden under

foot.* I t is also called Rosh Satan (Hebrew) , the headof the adversary , and Al Gueh (Arabic) , the subdued, orAl Ghoul, the evil spirit.

The bright star, 6 (in this head) , has come downto us with the name Al Gol

,which mean s rolling round .

I t is a most remarkable phenomenon that so manyof these enemies shou ld be characterised by variablestars ! But this head of Medusa,

like the neck ofCetus, has one . Al Gol is continually changing. In

about 69 hours it change s from the 4 th magnitude tothe z ud . During four hours of this period it gradual lydiminishes in brightness , which it recovers in the suc

ceeding four hours ; and in the remaining part of thetime invariably preserves its greatest lustre . After

See Job xxxix. I4 , 15 , where it is said, the ostrich “ leaveth her eggs in the

dust, forgetting that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.

”

AR IES (PERSEU S) . 117

the expiration of this time its brightness begins to

decrease again . Fit emblem of our great enemy, who ,like a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may

devour ” (1 Pet . v . then changing into a subtle

serpent (Gen . iii . then changing again into “an

ange l of l ight”

(2 Cor. x i . “ Transforming himse lf ” continual ly, to devour, deceive , and destroy .

This brings us to the conclusion of the SecondBook, in which we have seen the Redeemed blessedwith al l blessings , de live red out Of al l conflict , savedfrom all enemies . W e have seen the ir Redeeme r,“the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world ,

”

the Conqueror,” “

the King of Kings and Lord ofLords .

This is the Reve lation recorded in the heavens .This is the prophetic te stimony inspired in the Book .

And this is the heart - cry prompted by both“ Come, Lord, and tarry not,

Bring the long - looked - for day ;

Oh , why these years of wai t ing here ,These ag es Of delay ?Come , for Thy sain ts s till wai t ;Daily ascends the ir cry‘ Th e Sp irit and the Bride say, Come

’

;

Dost Thou not hear the ir cry ?

Come , for creat ion g roans,Impatient of Thy s tay ;W orn out w ith these long years of ill

,

These ag es of de lay.

Come , for Th ine Israe l p ines,An e x i le from Thy fold ;Oh

, ca ll to mind Thy faithful word .

And ble ss them as of Old .

118 THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS.

Come,for Thy foes are strong ;

W i th taun ting lips they say,‘ W here is the promised advent now,

And where the dreaded day ?’

Come , for the good are few ;

They lift the voice in vain ;Faith waxes fainter on the earth,And love is on the wane .

Come, in Thy g lorious might ;Come

,with Th ine iron rod ;

Disperse Thy foes be fore Thy face,Mos t mig hty Son of God .

Come,and make all thing s new,

Bui l d up this ruined earth ;Re store our faded paradise ,Creation’s second b irth .

Come,and beg in Thy reign

Of everlasting peace ;Come, take the king dom to Thyself,Great King of R ighteousne ss .

”

Dr. Horatz’

us Bonar.


CHAPTER I .

THE S IGN TAURUS (The Bu ll) .

Messiah,the coming 7udge of all the Earth .

THE picture is that of a Bu l l rushing forward withmighty energy and fierce wrath , h is horns set so as

to push h is enemies , and pierce them through and

destroy them .

I t is a prophecy of Christ , the coming Judge , andRuler, and Lord of al l the earth .

”

The Egyptian Zodiac Of Denderah already,years ago, had forgotten the truth to which the prophecy had referred , and called h im Isis, i .e . ,

who

saves or delivers,and Apis

,i .e . ,

the head or chief. The

Bul l is clearly represented , and in al l the z odiacswhich have come down to us Is always in the act ofpushing ,

or rushing .

The name of the Sign in Chaldee is 11m, Tor.

Hence , Arabic , Al Thaur ; Greek, Tauros ; Latin ,

Taurus, etc. The more common Hebrew name

was aw, Shur, which is from a root which means bothcoming and ruling . There are several Hebrew wordsfor bul l s and oxen , etc . But

'

the common poeticalte rm for al l is um,

Reem,conveying the idea of

loftiness , exaltation,power, and pre

- eminence . W e

find the root in othe r kindred languages (Etruscan ,

Sanscrit , and it can be traced in the name ofAbram , which means pre- eminent or highfather ; Ramah,high place, etc.


Other stars , not identified , are named Palilicium

(Hebrew) , belonging to the judge ; Wasat (Arabic) , centreor foundation ; Al Thuraiya (Arabic) , the abundance ;

Verg ilia (Latin) , the centre (Arabic , vertex) turned on,

rolled round .

Eve ry thing points to the important truth , and

all turns on the fact that the Lord is COMING ToRULE ! This is the central truth of all prophecy“ The te stimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy .

All hope for Creation ,al l hope for the world

,all hope

for I srae l,all hope for the Church

,tu rns on this , that

“ Je sus is coming again ,

”and that when He comes

His saints , “the daughters of the King (like the

P leiade s and Hyades) , wil l be with H im.

There is nothing of “ the Chu rch ” revealed he re .

The Chu rch w il l be caught up to mee t the Lord inthe air

,to be for eve r with the Lord (1Thess . iv . 17)

before He thus comes unto the world in judgment .

He wil l come forth to receive the members of H isBody unto H imse lf

,before He thus come s with them

to de stroy all H is enemies and “ judge (or ru le) theworld in righteousness .

” W hen w e read this S ignof Taurus , the re fore

, we are to understand thatH is Chu rch wil l be with H im

,safe from all judg

ment .

There is ve ry much In the Scripture of the Book,

(as there is in the prophecies in the heavens) aboutthe coming of the Lord in judgment ; and about thist ime of H is indignation . For Enoch

, who doubtlesswas used in arranging the se prophetic signs, u tte red

TAURU S . 123

the prophetic words, “ Behold the Lord cometh withten thousands of H is saints to execu te judgmen tupon all and to convict al l that are ungodly

”

(Jude 14 ,

W e have said (pages 17 , etc .) that at a very earlyperiod these signs were appropriated to the Twe lveTribes of I srael , and borne up on the ir “ standards .

” This may be t raced in the B lessing ofJacob (G en . and in the B lessing of Mose s(Dent . Taurus was assigned to Joseph , orrathe r to his two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh

,

l ike the two powe rfu l hOI'HS ‘

Th e firstling of h is bul lock (marg . his firstling bullock)majesty is h is,

And h is horns are the horns Of the w ild - ox (R eem) .W i th them h e Shall PUSH (marg . g ore) the peoples, all

of them, even the ends of the earth .

And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,

And they are the thousands Of Manasseh .

”

(Dent. xxx iii . I7, R .v .)

I t is not, howeve r, me re ly by men alone that th iswil l be done

,for David sings

Thou art my King , 0 GOD .

Throug h The e w i l l w e PUSH down our e nemies ;

Throug h Thy Name w i l l we tread them under thatrise up against us. (PS . x l iv.

“ I w i l l pun ish the worl d for the ir evi l ,And the w icked for their iniqui ty ;I w i ll cause th e arrog ancy Of the proud to cease,

And wi l l lay low the haug htiness of the terribl e .

Every one that is found shall be THRUST THROUGH .

( Isa. x iii . 11


Speaking of that day, the Holy Spirit says byI saiah

For the LORD hath indignation ag ainst all the nations,

And fury ag ainst all the ir hostHe hath ut terly des troyed them,

He hath delivered them to th e s laug hter.

The LORD hath a sacrifice in Boz rah,And a g reat s laug hter in the land of Edom,

And the w i l d oxen [R eem] shal l come down w ith them,

A nd the bul locks w i th the bu lls ;And the ir land shal l be drunken w ith blood,And the ir dust made fat w ith fatness.

For it is the day of the LORD’

s vengeance ,The year of re compense in the con troversy of Z ion.

( Isa. xxx iv . 2—8 , R .v .)“ Behol d, the LORD come th forth out of His p laceTo punish the inhab i tan ts of the earth for the ir

iniqui tyThe e arth a lso shal l disclose her blood,And shall no more cover her slain .

”

( Isa. x xvi.

This is the united testimony of the two Revelations . I t is pictured in the heavens , and it is writtenin the Book . I t is the prophecy of a coming Judge ,and of a coming judgment .

I t is , however , no mere Bull that is coming . I tis a man

, a glorious man,even “

the Son of Man .

This is the first deve lopment , shown in the first ofthe three constel lations be longing to the sign .

1. O R I O N (The coming Prince) .

Light Breaking Forth in the Redeemer.

This picture is to show that the coming one is

no mere animal , but a man : a mighty, triumphant ,glorious prince .


A little way be low I (in the sword) is a ve ryremarkable nebu lous star . A common te lescope willshow that it is a beau tifu l nebu la . A powerfulte lescope reveal s it as consisting of collections ofnebu lous stars , these again be ing su rrounded by fain tluminous points , which stil l more powerful te lescopeswou ld resolve into separate stars .

Thu s beau tiful ly is set forth the bri l l iancy and

glory of that Light wh ich Shal l break forth whenthe moment comes for it to be said

,

“ Arise,shine

,

for thy l ight is come .

”

The pictu re pre sents us with “ the Light of theworld .

” H is left foot is Sign ificantly placed uponthe head of the enemy . He is girded with a glorious

girdle , studded w ith three bril liant stars ; and uponthis girdle is hung a sharp sword . I ts handle provesthat this mighty P rince is come forth in a new

character . He is again proved to be “the Lamb

that was slain ,

” for the hilt of this sword is in the

form of the head and body of a lamb . In h is righthand he l ifts on high his mighty club ; while in h is

left he holds forth the token of his victory— the headand skin of the “ roaring l ion . W e ask in wonder

,

“ W ho is this ?” and the names of the stars giveus the answer .

The brightest , a (in the right shou lder) , is namedBetelgeuz , which means the coming (Mal. iii . 2) of the

branch .

The next , [3 (in the left foot) , is named Rigel, orRigol, which mean s the foot that crusheth . The foot

See Jer. xxx. 21 ; and Matt. xxi. 10 .


wards written in the Book . The Prince of G lory,

who was once wounded for the sins of H is redeemed ,

is about to rise up and shine forth for their de liverance . The ir redemption draweth nigh ; for

The LORD shal l go forth as a mig hty man,He shall stir up jealousy l ike a man Of war ;

He shal l cry, yea, roar ;

He shal l prevail against His enemies .

I have [He says] long time holden my peace ;I have been st i l l

, and refrained myselfNow w i ll I cry like a travailing woman ;

I w i ll des troy and devour at once .

”

( Isa. X111. 13,

Then it wil l be said to H is people (and the

setting of the prophecy in its beautiful introve rtedstructure Shows us the beauty and glory of the truthit reveal s)

a Arise,b 1Shine ; for thy light is come

,

c And the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee .

d For,behol d, the darkness shal l cover th e earth

,

a’

]And gross darkness the people ;c But the LORD shall arise upon the e , and His glory

shal l be seen upon thee .

b IAnd the Gen t iles Shal l come to thy light,a IAnd king s to the brightness of thy rising . ( Isa. 1x . 1

This is “the glory of God which the heavens

constantly declare (Ps . x ix . They te l l of thatblessed time when the whole earth shal l be fi l ledwith H is glory (Num . x iv . 21 ; Isa. x i . when“the glory of the LORD . Shal l be revealed , and all

Note, thatIn a and a , we have the rising of IsraelIn b and b, the light that is come upon herIn c and e, the glory of the LORD and

In (1and a’

, the darkness of the world.

TAURU S (ER IDANUS) . 129

flesh shal l see it together (Isa . x1. as all see

now the beau ty of Orion ’ s glory .

But side by side with the glory which the comingL ight of the world shal l bring for H is people , thereis “ that wicked , whom the Lord shal l de stroywith the brightness of H is coming . Hence , as in

the concluding chapte r (Iv .) of the First Book (ofwh ich th is Third Book is the expansion) we had inLYRA (the hurt) , as 1, P raise prepared for the

Conque ror ; and in ARA (the burning pyre) , as 2 ,

Consuming fire prepared ‘ for H is enemie s : so in

the first chapte r of this book , we have in ORION ,

as 1, Glory prepared for the Conque ror ; and in

ER IDANUS ,as 2 , the River of wrath prepared

for H is enemie s . This brings us to

2. ERIDANUS (The River of the Judge) .

The River of Wrath Breaking Forth for H is Enemies.

I t issues forth , in all the picture s,from the

down - coming foot of Orion . W hile othe rs see in it,

from the ignorance of fabled story,only “ the River

P0 ,

” or the “ Rive r Euphrates ,” w e see in it , fromthe meaning of its name

, and from the significanceOf its posit ion , the river of the 7udge.

In the Dende rah Zodiac it is a rive r under thefeet of Orion . I t is named Peh - ta- t

,which means

the mouth of the river.

I t is an immense conste l lation, and our diagram

is on a smal le r scale than the othe rs (which are all

in re lative proportion , except whe re othe rwise noted ) .S. 100 5.


According to the B ritannic catalogue , it consistsof 84 stars ; one of the I st magnitude , one of thez ud , e ight of the 3rd , etc.

The brightest star, at (at the mouth of the river) ,bears the ancient name of Achernar

, which is in ,as

its name mean s,the after part of the river.

The next star, 6 (at the sou rce of the river) , isnamed Cursa, which means bent down . The next ,7 (at the second bend in the rive r) , is cal led Zourac(Arabic) , flowing . Othe r stars , not identified , are

Pheat,mouth (of the river) ; and Oz ha,

the going forth .

He re , then , we have a rive r flowing forth frombefore the gloriou s Orion . I t runs in a serpentinecourse towards the lowe r regions , down , down , out ofsight . In vain the sea monste r, Cetus, strive s to stopits flow. I t is “

the rive r of the Judge ,”

and speaksOf that final j udgment in which the wicked wil l becast into the lake of fire . I t was evidently original lyassoc i ated w ith fire ; for the Greek myths , thoughgross perversions , stil l so connect it. According tothe ir fables

,something went wrong with the chariot of

the sun,and a universal conflagration was threatened .

In the trouble , Phaeton (probably a reference to the

star Pheal) was kil led and hurled into this river, in

which he was consumed with its fire . The whole earthsuffered from such a bu rning heat that great disastersensued . W e see from this myth two great facts prese rved in the perverted tradition

,viz .

, judgment andfire.

ARATU S al so pre se rve s the connection ,

“ For yonder, trod by heaven ly fee t,W ind the scorche d waters of Eridanus ’ tear- swol len flood,W e l l ing beneath Orion ’

s uplifted foot.

TAURU S ; (ER IDANUS) . 131

IS not th is the testimony afte rwards written in

the Book P Dan ie l sees this ve ry rive r in h is visionof that coming day , when the true Orion shal l come

forth in H is glory . He says , “ I beheld til l the

thrones were placed , and one that was ancient ofdays d id sit : H is throne was fie ry flame s

, and the

whee l s thereof burn ing fire . A FIERY STREAM ISSUEDAND CAME FORTH FROM BEFORE H IM.

” Th is is the

River of the 7udge ; for he goes on to say,

“the judg

ment was set, and the books were opened (Dan . v ii .

9—11, R .v

W e have the same in PS . xcvii . 3—5 whichdescribes the scene when the -Lord shal l re ign

“ A F IRE GOETH BEFORE HIM ,And burne th up His adversarie s round about .His l ightning s ligh tened the world :The earth saw and trembled ,The h ills me l ted l ike wax at the pre sence of the LORD,A t the presence of the Lord of the whole earth .

So again in PS . 1. 3 , we read“ Our God shal l come

,and shal l not keep si lence ,

A FIRE SHALL DEVOUR BEFORE HIM ,And it shal l be v ery tempe stuous round about H im.

By Habakkuk the coming of the Lord is de

scribed ; and it is written“ His brightness was as the l ight,Be fore H im w ent the pest i lence ,And burning coals w en t forth at His fe e t .

(Hab . iii.

W hat is this but Orion and Eridanus !

Again , it is written in I saiah xxx . 27—33

“ Behold, the name of the LORD come th from far,

Burning w ith His ang er, and in th ick rising smokeI 2


His l ips are full of ind ignation,

And His tongue is as a DEVOUR ING F IREAnd H is breath is as AN OVERFLO W ING STREAM [of fire] .For a Tophe th is prepared of Old

! ea, for the king [Moloeh] it i s made ready ;He hath made it deep and larg e ;The p i le thereof is F IRE and much wood ;The breath of the LORD, L IKE A STREAM OF BR IMSTONE

,

doth kindle it.”

So, again , we read in Nahum i . 5 , 6

The mountains quake at Him,

And the h i l ls me l t ;And the earth is burned up at H is presence,! ea

,the worl d and all that dwe l l there in .

W ho can s tand be fore H is ind ignat ion ?And who can ab ide in th e fierceness Of H is ang er?

His fury is POURED OUT LIKE F IRE .

”

In Isa . lxvi . 15 , 16 , w e read °

“ For, behold, the LORD w i ll come w i th fire,

And w ith H is chariots l ike a wh irlw ind,To render H is ang er w i th fury,A nd His rebuke w i th FLAMES OF FIRE,For B ! F IRE, and by H is sword, w i ll the LORD plead wi th

all flesh .

”

With this agree the New Testament scriptures ,which speak of “ the Day of the Lord ,” “ when the

Lord Je su s shal l be revealed from heaven w ith H is

mighty ange l s , IN FLAMING FIRE taking vengeance on

them that know not God,

and that Obey not the

Gospe l of our Lord Jesu s Christ ” (2 The ss . i . 7 ,

This is the true Eridanus . I t is no mere “

p ic

ture .

” I t is a dread real ity ! I t is written in starsof fire , and words of truth

,that men may heed the

solemn warning and flee from the wrath to come” !


little kids , apparently just born, and bleating ,

t rembl ing with fear.

ARATUS says,

She is both larg e and bright, but they— the kidsSh ine somewhat feeb ly on Aurzga

’

s wris t .

I s not this the Great Shepherd gatheringlambs in H is arm ? and carrying them in

bosom ? IS He not saying :I w i l l save My flock,And they shal l no more be a prey.

(Ez ek. x xx iv .

“ And David my servant shall be king over themAnd they shal l have one shepherd .” ( ih. xxxvn .

“ And they shall fear no more,Nor b e d ismayed

,

Ne ither shal l they be lacking ,saith the LORD .

(Jer. xxiii .

AUR IGA is from a Hebrew root which means a

shepherd . I t is a beau tifu l conste l lation of 66 stars ;one of the I st magnitude , two of the z ud , nine ofthe 4 th ,

etc.

The brightest star , a (in the body of the goat) ,points her out as the prominent feature Of the con

stel lation,for its name Alioth (Hebrew) mean s a she

goat. I t is known by the modern Latin name Capella,

which has the same meaning .

The next star, B (in the shepherd ’ s right arm) ,

is cal led Menkilinon,and means the band

, or chain

of the goats, and points out the truth that they are

neve r more to be lost again ,but to be bound , with

the bands of love , to the Shepherd for evermore .


the hand thati

holds it, it ends in a cross ! W iththe Egyptian s the cross was a Sign of life. Theyknew nothing of “

the death of the cross .

” Here,

then , we see life and salvation for the Sheep ofHis flock when He comes to reign and ru le in

judgment . The truth is precise ly the same , thoughthe presentation of it is somewhat varied .

The connected teaching of the two conste l lations ,Eridanus and Auriga, is solemnly set forth in Mal. iv .

1—3

“ Behol d, the day come th,I t burne th as a furnace ;And all the proud, and all that work w ickedness, shal l

b e stubble :

And the day that come th shal l burn them up , saith theLORD of hosts,

That it shal l leave them ne i ther root nor branch .

BUT UNTO ! OU that fear My name shal l the Sun of

Righ teousness arise w i th heal ing in His w ing s ;

And ye sha ll go forth and gambol as cal ves of the s tall .And ye shal l tread down the w icked ;For th ey shal l b e ashes under th e soles Of your fee tIn the day that I do make (marg . do this) , sai th the

LORD of hosts .

In P salm xxxvii . this day is repeatedly referredto

,the day when “ the wicked shal l be cut off ” ;

and it conclude s by summariz ing the same greattruth (vv . 38

—40 , R .v .)

A s for transgressors, they shall be destroyed tog e ther ;The latter end of the w icked shall b e cut Off,

But the sa lvation Of the rig hteous is Of the LO RDHe is the ir strong hol d in the time Of troub le .

And the LORD he l pe th them,and rescue th them ;

He re scue th them from the w icked and save th them,

Because the y have taken refug e in H im.

”

GEMIN I . 137

Oh , that all who read these pages may heed the

solemn warn ing, and flee for refuge to H im whonow

,in this day of grace , is crying, “ Look unto me ,

and be ye saved, O al l ye ends of the earth ”

(Isa . xlv .

CHAPTER II .

TH E S I G N GEM I N I (The Twins) .

Messiah’

s Reign as Prince of Peace.

ALL the pictu res of this Sign are confu sed . The

Greeks c laimed to have invented them , and theycal led them Apollo and Hercules . They are sogiven in our il lu stration . The Latins cal led themCastor and Pollux ; and the name of a vesse l inwhich Pau l sailed is so called in Acts xxviii . 11,

Atoa k obpoz .

The name in the ancient Dende rah Zodiac is

Clusus,or Claustrum Hori , which means the place of

Him who cometh. I t is represented by two human

figures walking , or coming . The second appears tobe a woman . The othe r appears to be a man . I tis a tailed figure , the tail sign ifying He cometh.

The old Coptic name was P i -Mahi, the united

,as

in brotherhood . Not necessarily united by be ing bornat the same time , but united in one fe l lowship orbrotherhood . The Hebrew name is Thaumim

,wh ich

means united. The root is used in Exod . xxvi . 24


the hand thati

holds it, it ends in a cross ! W iththe Egyptians the cross was a Sign of life. Theyknew noth ing of “

the death of the cross .

” He re ,then , we see life and salvation for the Sheep ofH is flock when He come s to re ign and ru le in

judgment . The truth is precise ly the same , thoughthe pre sentation of it is somewhat varied .

The connected teaching of the two conste l lations ,Eridanus and Auriga ,

is solemnly set forth in Mal. iv .

1—3

“ Behold, the day come th ,It burne th as a furnace ;And all the proud, and all that work w ickedness, shall

b e stubble :And the day that come th shal l burn them up , saith the

LORD Of hos ts,That it shal l leave them ne ither root nor branch .

BUT UNTO ! OU that fear My name shall the Sun Of

R igh teousness arise w i th heal ing in His w ing s ;

And ye sha ll go forth and gambol as cal ves of the s tall.And ye shal l tread down the w icked ;For they shal l b e ashe s under th e sol es Of your fee tIn the day that I do make (marg . do this) , saith the

LO RD of hosts .

In P salm xxxvii . th is day is repeatedly referredto

,the day when “

the wicked shal l be cut off ” ;and it concludes by summariz ing the same greattruth (vv . 38

—40 ,

R .v .)A s for transgressors, they shall b e destroyed tog e ther ;The lat ter end of the w icked shal l b e cut Off,

But the sal vat ion Of the rig hteous is of the LORDHe is the ir s tronghol d in the time of troub le .

And the LORD he l pe th them,and re scue th them ;

He re scue th them from the w icked and save th them,

Because the y have taken re fug e in H im.

”


They (the two boards) Shal l be coupled togetherbeneath .

”In the margin we read , “ Heb . twinned

”

(R .V . double) . The Arabic Al Tauman means th e

same .

W e need not trouble ourselve s with the Grecianmyths , even though w e can see through them the

original and ancient truth . The two w ere bothheroes of pecu l iar and extraordinary birth— sons ofJupiter . They were supposed to appear at the headof armies ; and as they had cleared the seas Of

pirates,they we re looked upon as the patron saints

of navigation . (Hence the name Of the ship in

Acts xxviii . They were he ld in high e steemboth by Greeks and Romans ; and the commonpractice Of taking oaths and of swearing by theirnames has descended even to our own day in the

stil l su rviving vu lgar habit of swearing By Gemin i

The more ancient star - names he lp us to see

through all these and many other myths , and todiscern H im of whom they te stify ; even H im in

H is twofold nature— God and Man— and H is twofold work of suffering and glory, and H is twofoldcoming in humi liation and in triumph .

There are 8 5 stars in the Sign : two of the z ud

magnitude , four Of the 3rd , six of the 4 th , etc.

The name of a (in the head of the one at our

right hand) is cal led Apollo,wh ich means ruler

,or

judge ; wh ile B (in the head of the other) is cal ledHercules

, who cometh to labour,or su/fer. Another

star, 7 (in h is left foot) , is cal led Al Henah,wh ich


“ In that day shall the Branch Of Jehovah be b eaut ifuland g lorious ;

And the frui t Of the earth shal l b e e xce llen t and come lyFor them that are e scaped of Israel .” (Isa. iv.

“ Behol d, a king shall re ign in righ teousness,A nd princes shall rule in judgmen t ;And a man Shall be as an h iding p lace from the w ind.

( Isa. xxxii . I,

“ Behol d,the days come

,sai th the LORD,

That I w ill raise un to David a rig hteous Branch ,And He shall re ign as King and deal w ise ly,A nd shal l execute judgmen t and justice in the land .In His days Judah shal l b e saved,And Israe l shal l dwe l l safe lyAnd th is is His name whereby He shal l b e called,The LORD is our R ig hteousness . (Jer. xx iii. 5, 6, RN .)

“ B ehold , the days come , sai th the LORD,

Tha t I w i ll perform that good word wh ich I havespoken

Concerning the house Of Israel and concerning the

house Of Judah .

In those days, and at that t ime ,

W ill I cause a Branch of Rig hteousness to grow up

un to David ;And He shall e xecute judgment and righteousness in

th e land. (Jer. xxxiii . 14 , 15, RN .)

This is what we see in this sign— Messiah ’ speacefu l reign . All is re st and repose . W e see

H is days ,” in wh ich “the righteous shal l flou rish ;

and abundance of peace , so long as the moon en

dureth (PS .

“

But,for this blessed time to come , there mu st

be no enemy ! All enemies mu st be subdued .

This brings us to the first section of th is book .


Righteousness , shal l arise , and “ the true l ightShal l shine over all the earth , He

“ shal l tread downthe wicked ”

(Mal. and every enemy wil l besubdued under H is feet . “ I t is He that shal l treaddown our enemies ” (PS . 1x . as He has said

“ I w i l l tread them in M ine ang er,

And trample them in My furyFor the day of veng eance is in M ine heart,And the year of My redeemed is come .

”

(Isa. lxii i. 3,

2 . CAN I S MA JOR (The Dog) , or S I R I U S

(The P rince) .

The coming Glorious Prince of Princes ( S irius) .

This second con stel lation carrie s on th e teaching ,and te l l s of the glorious P rince who wil l thus subdueand re ign .

In the Denderah Zodiac he is cal led Apes, whichmeans the head. He is pictured as a hawk (Naz

,

VJ , caused to come forth , coming swiftly down) . The

hawk is the natural enemy of the serpent , and hereit has on its head a pestle and mortar, indicatingthe fact that h e Shal l crush the head of the enemy .

In the Persian planisphere it is pictured as a

wolf, and is cal led Zeeb,which in Hebrew (EN?) has

the same mean ing . P lutarch translates itLeader. In Arabic it means coming quickly .

I ts ancient name and meaning must be obtainedfrom the names of its stars which have come down

14 4 THE ,w1TNESS OF THE STARS .

The next star , 6 (in the left fore foot) , speaks thesame truth . I t is named Mirz am, and means the

prince or ruler. The star 3 (in the body) is cal ledWesen

,the bright, the shining . The star 6 (in the right

hind leg) is called Adhara, the glorious.

Other stars , not identified , bear their witnes s tothe same fact . Their names are— Aschere (Hebrew) ,who shall come Al Shira Al 7emeniya (Arabic) , thePrince or chief of the right hand ! Seir (Egyptian) ,the Prince ; Abur (Hebrew) , the mighty ; Al Habor

(Arabic) , the mighty ; Muliphen (Arabic) , the leader, thechief.

Here there is no conflicting voice ; no discord in

the harmonious testimony to H im whose name is

called W onderful , Counse l lor, the Mighty Godthe P rince Of Peace (Isa . ix .

The names Of the stars have no meaning whatever as applied to an Egyptian Hawk, or a GreekDog . But they are ful l Of significance when we applythem to Him of whom Jehovah says

“ Behold, I have g iven Him for a w i tne ss to the people ,A LEADER and commander to the peop le .

”

( Isa. lv.

This is “the P rince of princes (Dan . viii . 23 , 25)

against whom ,

“ when transgressors are come to theful l , a king of fierce countenance Shal l stand up ,

”

“ but he shal l be broken without hand ,” for he shal lbe destroyed “ with the brightness of, His coming(2 Thess . ii . This is He who shal l come forth“ King Of kings and Lord of Lords ” (Rev . x ix . I 6) .

GEMIN I : (CAN I S MINOR) . 14 5

But S irius.

has a companion, and th is brings

us to

3 . CAN IS MINOR (The Second Dog) .

The Exalted Redeemer (Procyon) .

The same facts are to be remembered concerningthe Greek picture , and Latin name of this con

ste l lation .

The Egyptian name in the Denderah Zodiac isSebak, which mean s conquering ,

victorious . I t is repre

sented as a human figure with a hawk ’s head and

the appendage Of a tail .

This smal l conste l lation has on ly 14 stars according to the Britannic catalogue . One of the I st

magn itude , one of the 2nd , one of the 4 th ,e tc .

The brighte st star,

04 (in the body) , is namedProcyon,

which means REDEEMER , and it te l l s us

that this glorious P rince is none othe r than the one

who was slain . Just as this chapte r begins w ith twopersons in one in the S ign (Gemini) , one victorious

,

the other wounded ; so it ends with a repre sentationof two princes

,one Of whom is seen triumphan t and

the .other as the Redeeme r . This is confirmed bythe next star

, 6 (in the neck) , wh ich is named AlGomeisa (Arabic) , the burthened , loaded , bearing for

others . The name s of the othe r stars , not identified ,

stil l further confirm the great truth ; v iz .,Al Shira ,

or Al Shemeliya (Arabic) , the prince or chief of the lefthand

, answering to the star in S irius . One right, the

othe r left,as the two un ited youths are placed . Al

S. 100 5.K

146 THE W ITNES S OF THE STARS .

Mirz am, the prince or ruler ; and Al Gomeyra, who

completes or perfects.

This does , indeed , complete and perfect the pre

sentation of th is chapte r : Messiah ’s re ign as P rinceof Peace ; the enemy trodden under foot by the

gloriou s “ P rince of princes , who is none other thanthe glorified Redeeme r .

This is al so what is w ritten in the Book :

Shal l the prey be taken from the mig hty,Or the law fu l capt ive s * be de l ivered ?But thus saith the LORD,

Even the capt ives of the mighty shal l b e taken away,And the prey Of the terrib le sha l l b e de l iveredFor I w i l l con tend w i th h im that con tende th w ith the e ,And I w i l l save thy ch i l dren .

And I w i l l feed them that Oppress thee w i th the ir own

fle sh ;And they shal l b e drunken w ith the ir own b lood as

w ith sw ee t w ine ;And all fle sh shal l know that I th e LORD am thy

Saviour,

And thy REDEEMER— the M ighty One Of Jacob .

( Isa . x l ix . 24- 26, R V.)

W hen the enemy shal l come in like a flood,

The Sp iri t of the LORD shal l l ift up a s tandard againsth im

,

A nd the REDEEMER shal l come to Z ion.

( Isa. lix . 19,

And He shal l d ivide the spoi l w i th the strong ,

Because He hath poured out H is soul unto death .

( Isa. l iii .

Marg . ,

“ the cap tives of the j ust, or, as read by the Vulg. and Syn ,“ the

cap tives of the terrzble.”

14 8 THE W ITNESS OF THE S TARS .

The Arabic name is Al Sartan ,wh ich means who

holds or binds , and may be from the Hebrew WDTS,to

bind together (G en . xlix . I I ) . There is no ancientHebrew word known for the crab . It was classedwith many othe r unclean creatu res , and wou ld be

included in the general term “ vermin .

”

The Syriac , Sartano, mean s the same . The Gree kname is

’

Karkinos, which means holding or encircling ,

as does the Latin , Cancer, and hence is applied tothe crab . In the word Khan , we have the trave l le r’ srest or inn ; while Ker or Cer is the Arabic for en

circling . The ancient Akkadian name of the monthis Su - kul- na

,the seiz er or possessor of seed .

The Sign contai n s 8 3 stars,one of which is Of

the 3rd magn itude , and seven are of the 4 th magni

tude ; and the remainde r of inferior magnitudes .

In the centre of the S ign there is a remarkablybright cluster of stars , so bright that they can be

some times seen with the naked eye . I t looks likea comet

, and is made up of a great mu ltitude ofstars . Modern astronomers have cal led it the Bee

hive. But its ancien t name has come down to us as

Praeselbe, which mean s a multitude, ofi

‘spring .

The brighte st star , ~ Q’

(in the head) , is cal ledTegmine, holding . The star at (or a

‘and in the

low e r large claw , is cal led Acubene, which ,in Hebrew

and Arabic, means the sheltering or hiding

-place.

Anothe r is named Ma’

alaph (Arab ic) , assembled thou

sands ; A l H imarein (Arabic) , the kids or lambs .

North and south Of the nebu la Prarsepc are two

stars , which Oriental ists ‘

speak'

of by a name evidently


sou l is bowed down (PS . lvii . HE became a

servant , and humbled H imsel f to death . HE undertook the mighty task of saving H is people from the irsins .

“ The ir Redeemer is strong (Jer. l . forhe lp was laid on

“ One that w as mighty”

(PS . lxxxix .

And H is redeemed shal l come to a restingplace that is good , and to a land that is pleasant . NO

earthly Khan on earth affords them a home . Theylook for a heaven ly home , and in the many mansionsOf the Father ’ s house they shal l find e ternal rest .Here we see that shelte ring home to which the

names of these stars point ; where the assembledthou sands (Ma

’

alaph) shal l be rece ived into the trueKlaria, even the “

everlasting habitations .

”

The se are now to be shown to us .

I . URSA MINOR (The L ittle Bear) .

The Lesser Sheepfold .

Here w e come to another grievous mistake , orignorant perve rsion of primitive truth , as shown in

the ancient names of these two conste l lations .

I t is sufficient to point to the fact that no Bearis found in any Chaldean ,

Egyptian ,Persian , or Indian

Zodiacs , and that no bear was ever seen w ith such atail ! No one who had ever seen a bear would havecal led attention to a tail , such as no bear ever had ,by placing in its v ery _

tip the most important , wondrous

,and mysteriou s Polar S tar , the central star

of the heavens , round wh ich all others revolve . The

patriarchal astronomers ; we may be su re , committedno such fol ly as this .

CANCER : (URSA MINOR) . 15 1

The primitive truth that the re we re two,or a

pair of constel lations is prese rved ; and that of thesetwo

,one is large r, and the othe r smal ler . But

W hat w ere they ? W e have the clue to the answe rin the name of the brightest star of the large r con

stel lation , wh ich is cal led Dubheh . Now Dubheh

means a herd of animals. In Arabic,Dubah mean s

cattle. In H ebrew ,WTI , Dohver, is a fold ; and hence

in Chaldee it meant wealth . The Hebrew N17,DOhveh

,

means rest or security ; and certainly therc is not

much of e ither to be found or enj oyed with bears !The word occu rs in Deut . xxxiii . 25 :

“ AS thy daysSO Shal l thy strength be .

”The Revised Ve rsion gives

in the margin ,

“ So Shal l thy rest or security be .

”

This accords with what we have al ready seen unde rCANCER ” “ Couch ing down betw een the sheep

folds,

* he saw a re st ing - place that it was good .

Here are the two Sheepfolds , then ; the Greate rfold

,and Le sser ; and he re is the rest and security

which the flocks w il l find the re in .

But in Hebrew the re is a word ve ry Similar insound ,

though not in spe l ling— 3'

s; or 317 ,dOhv , wh ich

means a bear ! SO w e find in A rabic dub ; Pers ian ,

deeb and dob. W e can see , there fore ,how the Hebrew

Dohver, a fold ,and Déhv , a bear

,were confused ; and

how the Arabic Dubah,cattle

,might eas ily have been

m istaken by the Greeks , and unde rstood as a bear .The con ste l lation ,

wh ich we must the re fore cal l THELESSER SHEEPFOLD , contains 24 stars , viz .

,one of the

z ud magnitude ,two Of the 3rd ,

four of the 4 th , etc .

The w ord is so rendered in Judges v. 16, in A . v .


The brightest star , at (at the point of the tail) ,is the most important in the whole heavens . I t isnamed Al Ruccaba, which means the turned or riddenon

,and is to - day the Polar or central star

,which

does not revolve i n a circle as does every othe rstar

,but remains , apparently , fixed in its position .

But though the star does not revolve l ike the others,

the central point in the heaven s is very slow ly but

steadily moving . When these conste l lations w ereformed the Dragon possessed this important point

,

and the star at,in Draco

,marked this central point .

But,by its gradual recession ,

that point is sufficientlynear this star Ruccaba

,in the Lesser Sheep/

”

old,for it to

be what is cal led “the Polar S tar . But

,how cou ld

th is have been known fiv e or S ix thou sand years ago ?How cou ld it have been known when it received itsname

,which means the turned or ridden on P That it

was known is clear : so l ikewise was it made known inthe written Word that the original blessing includednot mere ly the mu lt ipl ication Of the seed of faithfulAbraham ,

but it was then added ,

“ And thy seedshal l possess the gate of h is enem ie s (G en . xxii .

Th is star was cal led by the Greeks Kurda oupa , the

Cynosure”

ARATUS seem s to apply th is te rm tothe w hole of the seven stars of th e Lesser Bear.

Mr. Robert B rown,Junr .

,shows * that Kuro

'

aoupot, oncesupposed to be He l len ic

,is non - He l len ic

,and possibly

Euphratean in origin ,from a w ord wh ich he trans

l ite rates An - nas - sur- ra, a nd renders it, “

as it literal lymeans , high in ris ing , i .e .

, in heaven ly position .

” I s

Eup hratean Stellar Researches,pp. 8 , 9.

CANCER : (URSA MINOR) . 153

not th is the primitive truth of the Reve lation ? Wil lnot this Lesse r Fold be h igh , yea ,

the h ighest inheaven ly posit ion ?

The Polar Star has been removed from the

Dragon ,and is now in the Lesser Fold ; and when the

Dragon shal l be cast down from the heavens,the

heaven ly seed w il l be safe ly folded there . But th is isthe Lesser Sheepfold . The se are they who all throughthe age s have been partakers of the heaven ly cal ling ,

” who desired a better country , that is , a heavenly ;

where fore God “ hath prepared for them a c ity,

”the

city for which Abraham himse l f “ looked .

”Th is was

no earthly‘

city,but a city “ whose bu ilde r and

make r is God ”

(Heb . x i . 10 The se have alwaysbeen a smal le r company

,a

“ little flock,

”but the

kingdom Shal l be the irs, even the kingdom of God ,

for which they now look and wait . They have not

yet“ rece ived the promises ; but, having seen them

afar off ”.

by faith ,they “ We re persuaded Of them ,

and embraced them , and confe ssed that they werestrange rs and pilgrims on the earth (Heb . xi .

The ir Messiah has accompl ished “the redemp tion of

the purchased posse ssion,

”and in due t ime the

redeemed wil l inherit it, unto the praise of H isglory

”

(Eph . i .

The bright star 6 is named Kochab,wh ich means

waiting H im who cometh . Othe r stars , not identified ,are named Al Pherkadain (Arabic) , wh ich means the

calves,

“or the young (as in Deut . xx ii . the redeemed

assembly . Another , A l Gedi , mean s the kid . Anotheris

’

A l Kaid , the assembled ; wh ile Areas,

or Arctos


(from which w e derive the term Arctic regions) ,means , according to one interprete r, a travelling

company ; or, according to anothe r, the stronghold ofthe saved .

But there is not on ly the heaven ly seed,wh ich

is compared “ to the stars of heaven,but the re is

the seed that is compared to “ the sand of the sea”

—the larger flock or company, who wil l enj oy the

earthly blessing .

This brings us to

2 . URSA MAJOR (The Great B ear) .

The Fold and the Flock.

Of these it is w ritten :

“ But in Mount Z ion there sha l l be those that escape,

And it sha l l be holyAnd the house of Jacob shal l possess the ir possessions.

(Obad . 17—19, R .v .)

I t is a large and important conste l lation ,con

taining 8 7 stars,of wh ich “

one is of the 1st magni

tude , fou r Of the 2nd ,three of the 3rd , ten of the

4 th , e tc. I t always pre sents a splendid appearance,

and is perhaps,therefore

,the best known of all the

conste l lations .

In the Book of Job (ix . 9 , and xxxviii . 31, 32)i t is mentioned unde r the name of Ash .

“ Canstthou guide Ash and her offspring ?

”which is ren

de red in the A .v .,

“ Arcturus and his sons , and in

the R .V .,

“ The Bear with her train (marg . ,

“sons

CANCER : (URSA MAJOR) . 155

The Arabs stil l cal l it Al Naish,or Annaish

,

'

the

assembled together, as Sheep in a fold . The anc ientJewish commentators interpreted Ash as the sevenstars of this con ste l lat ion . They are cal led by othe rsSeptentriones, wh ich thus became the Lat in w ord forNorth .

The brightest star, 0: (in the back) , is namedDubhe

,wh ich , as we have seen , means a herd of

animals, or a flock, and give s its name to the Wholeconste l lat ion .

The star B (be low it) is named Merach (Hebrew) ,the flock (Arabic , purchased) .The star 7 (on the left of B) is cal led Phaeda, or

Phaeda, mean ing visited

, guarded, or numbered, as a

flock ; for H is Sheep,l ike the stars

,are both num

bered and named . (See P salm cxlvii .

The star 6 is cal led A lioth,a name we have had

in Auriga ,mean ing a she goat.

The star C (in the middle of the tail) is cal ledMiz ar

,separate or small, and close to it Al Cor, the

Lamb (known as

The star 7) (at the end of the socal led tail) isnamed Benet Naish (Arab ic) , the daughters of the as

sembly . I t is al so cal led Al Kaid,the assembled .

The star l (in its right foot) is cal led Talithau

The name s Of othe r stars , not ident ified ,all give

the same te stimony : El Alcola (Arabic) , the sheepfold (as in PS . xcv . 7 ; and c . Gab

’

d al A'

sad,

multitude, many assembled ; Annaish,the assembled ;

Megrez , separated , as the flock in the fold ; ‘

El Kaphrah ,


protected, covered (Heb . redeemed and ransomed) ; Dub

heh Lachar (Arab ic) , the latter herd or flock ; H elike (socal led by HOMER in the Iliad) , company of travellers

Amaz a (Greek) , coming and going ; Calisto,the sheep

fold set or appointed .

The re is not one discordant voice in the richabundance of th is test imony . W e have noth ing to dohere w ith the Grec ian myths abou t bears or w ildboars . W e see only the innume rable seed gatheredby H im who scattered (Jer. xxxi .

Many are the Scriptu res w e might quote whichspeak of this gathering and assembl ing of the longscattered flock . I t is w ritten as plainly in the Book

,

as it is in the heavens .

/The prophecies Of this

gathering are as consp icuohs in the Word of Godas the “ S even S tars

”are in the Sky. I t is d ifficul t

even to make a selection from th e wealth of su chpromises ; but few are more beau tifu l than that inEz ek . xxx iv . 12—16

A s a shepherd se eke th out h is flockIn the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered ;SO w il l I seek out my she ep

,

And w il l deliver them out Of all places where they havebeen scat tered in th e cloudy and dark day.

A nd I w i l l bring them out from the peop l e ,And g ather them from the countries,And w i l l bring them to the ir own land ,And feed them upon the mountains Of Israe l by the

ri versA nd in all the inhab i ted p laces of the coun try.I \Vlll feed them in a good pasture ,And up on the h ig h mOuntains Of I srae l shal l the ir fol d

b e :

There shal l ‘ they lie in a good fol d ,


over, came back victoriou s to their own shores . The“

golden fleece,for which . the Argonauts went in

search , te l l s of a treasure that had been lost.“ Jason ,

the great captain ,tel l s of H im who re

covered it from the S erpent, wh ich guarded it withever -watchful eye , when none el se w as able toapproach it . And thus , through the fables and

myths of the Greeks , we can see the l ight primevalshine ; and th is l ight , once seen ,

lights up this S ignand its con ste l lat ions , so that the ir teach ing cannotbe m isunde rstood .

ARATUS Sings of ArgoS tern - foremost haule d ; no mark of onward - speeding sh ip.

S ternward she comes,as ve sse l s do

W hen sai lors turn th e he lmOn e n tering harbour : all th e oars back -w ater

,

And g l iding backward,to an anchor comes .

’

I t te l l s of that blessed home - coming , whenTh e ransomed of the LORD shal l re turnAnd come to Z ion w ith song s,

And everlast ing joy upon the ir heads ;They shal l Ob tain joy and g ladne ss,And sorrow and s igh ing shal l flee away. ( Isa. xxxv.

I t te l l s of the gloriou s Jasonfi of whom it is

asked“ Art thou not it wh ich hath cut Rahab

,

A nd wounded the dragon ?Art thou not it wh ich hath dried the sea, the waters

of the g reat deep ;That hath made the depths of the sea a way for the

ransomed to pass over ?Therefore the redeemed Of the LORD shal l re turn

,

A nd come w ith sing ing un to Z ion,

”e tc. ( Isa. li . 9

The Graeco- Judean equivalent Of Joshua or Jesus.

CANCER . (ARGO . . 159

“ For the LORD hath rede emed Jacob,

And ransomed him from the hand Of h im that wass trong er than he .

There fore they shal l come and s ing in the he ight of Z ion,

And shal l flow tog e ther to the goodness Of the LORD .

(Jer. xxx i. 11,

Th is is the return of the great em igrant - sh ip(Argo) and all its company of travellers (for this isthe mean ing of the word Argo) .

In Kirche r ’ s Egyptian P lan isphe re Argo is repre

sented by two gal leys (as w e have two sheepfolds) ,whose prows are surmounted by rams ’ heads ; and

the ste rn of one of them ends in a fish ’s tail . One

Of the two occupies four segments of the Sphere (fromTaurus to Virgo) , wh ile the other occup ie s the fou rfrom Leo to Capricorn . One half of the sou thernmeridians is occupied with these gal leys and theirconstruction and decorations . Astronomers te l l us

that they carry us back,the one to the period when

the Bul l opened the year (to wh ich t ime VIRGILrefe rs) ; and the othe r to the same epoch , when the

summe r solstice was in Leo an era greatly antece

dent to the Argonautic expedit ion . How e l se , theyask

,do we account for the one Sh ip having her prow

in the first Decan ' of Taurus, and her poop in the

last Decan of Leo P or for one gal ley be ing fre ightedwith the instal led Bull, and the othe r with the solstitial Lion P

”

The se are the words of an astronome r who know snoth ing whatever of our interpretat ion of the heavenswh ich is set forth in th is w ork .

Jamieson’s Scien tifi c D isp lay , &c. ,p. 58 .


I t wil l indeed be “ a large v essel,

'

the' true Argo,

with its company of travellers,i “ a great multitude

wh ich no man . can number.” ‘

All' this is indicated

by the immense siz e of the Conste l lat ion, as we l l as

by the large number of its stars . The re are 64 starsin Argo (reckon ing by the B ritann i c catalo

'

gue) ; fone

of the . 1st magnitude , six of the z ud,n ine of the 3rd ,

n ine of the 4 th ,etc . . On ly. a smal l part of the sh ip ’ s

poop is,

'visible in B ritain

I ts brighte st star , at (near the k ee l) , is calledCanopus or Canobus, wh ich means the possession ofHim who cometh . Other Star - names , not identified ,

are— S ephina, the multitude or

'

abundance ; Tureis, the

possession ; Asmidiska,the released who travel ; Soheil

(Arabic) , the'

desired ; and Subilon,. the Branch

IS not all this exactly in harmony with the restof this Sign ? And ‘

is not this what is '

written in the

Book ?

Therefore, fear thou not, 0 My servant Jacob, sai th theLORD ;

Ne ither be d ismayed, O Israe lFor

,10

,.

I Will save thee from afar”A nd thy se ed from the land of the ir capt ivity ;A nd Jacob Shal l re turn and be in rest,A nd be quie t

,and none Shal l make h im afraid

,

For I am w ith thee, saith the LORD,to save thee .

(Jer. xxx . 10, I I .)

Lift up th ine eyes round about, and see ;A l l they gather themse lve s tog e ther, they come to the ;e

Thy sons shal l come from far,A nd thy daughters shal l b e nursed at thy side,Then thou shal t see

,and flow tog e ther,

CANCER (ARGO) . 161

And th ine heart shal l fear and b e enlarg ed ;Because the abundance Of the sea shall be converted

unto the e .

W ho are these that fly as a cloud ?And as dove s to the ir w indows ?Surely the isle s shall wait for me

,

And the SH IPS Of Tarshish firs t, to bring thy sons

from far. ( Isa. 1x . 4 , 5, 8 ,

The whole chapter (Isa . lx .) Shou ld be read if wewish to understand the great teach ing of this Sign ,

whichte l l s ofMe ssiah ’ s secu red possession s , the safe folding ofH is blood - bought flock , the ble ssed re turn of H is p ilgrims , and their abundan t entrance into everlasting rest .

There is a ble ssed homeBeyond this land of woe

,

W here trials never come,

Nor tears Of sorrow flow ;

W here faith is lost in s ight ,And patien t love is crowned,

And everlasting l igh tIts g lory throws around .

0 joy, all joys beyond,

To see the Lamb who d ied,

And count each sacre d woundIn hands, and fee t, and side ;

To g ive to Him the praiseOf e very triumph won,

And sing throug h endless daysThe great th ing s He hath done

Look up , ye saints of God,

Nor fear to tread be lowThe path your Saviour trodOf daily toi l and woe ;

W ait but a l it t le wh i leIn uncomp lain ing love,

His own mos t g racious smi leSha l l w e lcome you above .

”


CHAPTER IV .

THE S IGN LEO (The Lion) .

Messiah’s Consummated Triumph .

HERE we come to the end of the circle . W e beganwith Virgo , and w e end with Leo . NO one whohas followed our interpretation can doubt that wehave he re the solving Of the Riddle of the Sphinx.

For its Head is Virgo and its Tail is Leo !

In Leo we reach the end of the Reve lation as

Inspired in the Word of God ; and it is the end as

written in the heavens .

BAILLY (Astronomy) says , “the Zodiac must have

been first divided when the sun at the summer solsticewas in 1

° Virgo , where the woman’s head j oins the

Lion ’ s tail .

As to its antiquity there can be no doubt . JAMIESONsays , “

the L ion doe s not seem to have been placedamong the Zodiacal symbols , because Hercules wasfabled to have Slain the Nemean Lion . I t wou ld seem

,

on the contrary , that Hercules , who represented the

Sun ,w as said to have slain the Nemean Lion , because

Leowas already a Zodiacal Sign . Hercules flourishedyears ago, and consequently posterior to the

period when the summer solstice accorded with Leo ”

(Celestial A tlas, p .

There is no confusion about this Sign . In the

ancient Zodiacs of Egypt (Denderah ,Esneh) and

India we find the Lion . The same occurs on the


The hieroglyphics read Knem,

and are p lacedunderneath. Kuem means who conquers, or is con

quered, referring to the victoi‘y over the serpent . The

woman’ s name

“

is Her- ua, great enemy ,

referring tothe great enemy for which her two cups are preparedand intended .

The Hebrew name of the Sign is Arieh,wh ich

means the Lion. There are'

Six Hebrew words . for

Lion ,

*and this one is u sed of the Lion hunting down

his prey ;

The Syriac name is Aryo, the rending Lion, and

the Arabic is Al Asad ;' both mean a lion comi ng

vehemently ,leaping forth as a flame !

'

It is a beautiful conste l lation of 95 stars , two

Of which arei

of the I st magnitude , two of the z ud ,

six of the 3rd , thirteen Of the 4 th .

The brightest star, a (on the Ecliptic) , marks theheart of the Lion (hence sometimes cal led by the

moder’ns,CorLeonis, the heart of the Lion) . I ts ancient

name is Regulus, which means treading under foot.The next star, B , al so of the 1st magnitude (in the

tip of : the tail) , is named Denebola,the 7udge or Lord

who cometh . The star 7 (in the mane) is cal led. A l

Giebha (Arabic) , the exaltation. The star 8 (on the

hinder part of the . back) i s cal led Zosma, shining

forth .

( I ) Gor, a lioii ’s Whelp. Cith ir, a young lion when first hunting for himself. Sachal, a mature lion in ful l strength. (4 ) Lai

‘

sh, a fierce l ion ; (5)Labia, a l ioness ; and (6) A rieh , an adul t l ion, having paired, in search Of his

p rey (Nah . ii. 12 2 Sam. xvii . ‘

10 ; Num. xxiii.


The same te stimony is borne by the ProphetAmos :

“ W i ll a l ion roar in the forest when he hath no prey ?W i ll a young l ion cry out of h is den,

if h e hath takennoth ing ?

The lion hath roared, who w i ll not fear?(Amos ill. 4 ,

W hen “the Lion of the tribe of Judah is roused

up for the rending, the Spirit describe s the scene inIsa . xlii . 13

“ The LORD Shall go forth as a mighty man,

He sha ll s tir up j ealousy l ike a man of war;

He shall cry, yea, roar ;

He sha ll prevail agains t His enemies .

And this is what is meant and included when the

Elder says for John ’ s comfort , “the L ion of the

Tribe Of Judah hath prevailed,” and hence , is “ worthyto rece ive powe r, and riches , and wisdom , and

strength , a nd honour, and glory, and blessing(Rev .

W hether we look , therefore , at the primeval Revelation in the heavens , or at the later Revelation inthe Word

, the story is one and the same .

And what we see of Leo and his work in both ,we find deve loped and described in the three con

stellations of the S ign .

1. H YDRA (The Serpent) .

The Old Serpent Destroyed.

The time has at length come for the fu lfilmentOf the many prophecies pictu red in the heaven s : and


And the w ine is red ; it is ful l Of mixture,And He poure th out Of th e same

But th e dregs thereof, all the w icked Of the earth shallwring them out and drink them.

”

(Ps. lxxv.

Upon the w icked he shall rain snares,

Fire and brimstone , and a horrible tempes tTH IS SHALL BE THE PORTION OF THE IR CU P .” (Ps. x i .

This is no fabled wine - cup Of Bacchu s ; but it isThe cup of H is indignation (Rev . x iv .

“ The

cup of the wine Of the fierceness of h is wrath (Rev .

xv i . This is what w e see set forth in this con

ste llation . The Cup is wide and deep, and fastenedon by the stars to the ve ry body of the writh ingserpent . The same stars wh ich are in the foot ofthe Cup form part of the body of Hydra

,and are

reckoned as be longing to both con ste l lations .

This Cup has the significant number of thirteenstars (the number of Apostacy) . The two— Al Ches

(a ) , which mean s the Cup , and (B)— determine the

bottom of the Cup .

3 . CORVUS (The Raven) .

The B irds of Prey devouring the Serpent.

Here is the final scene of judgment . W e havehad Zeeb, the Wolf ; now we have Oreb, the Raven .

Her- na is its name in the Denderah Zodiac . Her,

means the enemy ; and Na,means breaking up orfailing .

That is to say,this scene represents the breaking up

of the enemy .

LEO (CORVU S) . I 69

There are n ine stars (the number of judgment) in 6 6th is conste l lation . The bright star at (in the eye)is cal led Al Chibar (Arab ic) , joining together, from the

Hebrew Chiba (Num . xxiii . wh ich means accursed.

Th is star, then , te l l s of the curse inflicted . The starB (in the right wing) is called Al Goreb (Arab ic) , fromHebrew Oreb, the Raven . A third star is namedMinchar al Gorab (Arabic) , and means the Raven tearing to pieces.

This brings us to the end . There is nothingbeyond th is . Nothing remains to be told . W e

know from the W ord Of God thatThe eye that mocke th at h is father,And desp ise th to Obey h is mother

,

The ravens of the val ley shal l p ick it out.(Prov. xxx . 1

W e remember how David said to the G iantGoliah— a type Of this enemy of God ’ s people— “ I

wil l smite thee , and take thy head from thee ; and I

wil l give the carcases of the host of the Phil istinesthis day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wildbeasts of the earth ”

(1 Sam . xvii .

W hen the great day of this judgment comes , an

ange l standing in the sun wil l cry “ to al l the fowlsthat fly in the midst Of heaven , Come , and gathe ryourse lve s together unto the supper Of the great God ;that ye may eat the flesh of kings , and the fle sh ofcaptain s , and the fle sh of mighty men , and the fle shof horses , and of them that sit on them, and the

fle sh of al l men ,both free and bond , both small and

great”

(Rev . x ix . 17 ,


And afte r these awfu l words Shal l be fulfi l led, in

the closing words of the prophecy of I saiah , Jehovahforete l l s us how

They shal l go forth, and look upon - the carcases of the

men that have transgressed agains t Me ;

For the ir worm shal l not die ,Ne ither shal l the ir fire be quenched ;And they shall be an abhorring un to all fle sh .

This is the teaching of the whole Sign of LEO !I t is all summed up in Jer. xxv . 30

—33

There fore prophesy against them all these words, and

say unto them,

The LORD shal l roar from on h ig h ,And u t ter His voice from His holy hab i tation ;He shal l mig ht i ly roar upon H is hab i tation ;He shall g ive a shou t, as they that tread the grapes,Against all the inhab i tan ts of the earth .

A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth ;For the LORD hath a con troversy w ith the nations

,

He w ill plead w i th all flesh ;He w i l l g ive them that are w icked to the sword, saith

th e LORD.

Thus sai th the LORD of hosts,Behol d, evi l Shal l go forth from nat ion to nat ion

,

And a great whirlw ind shal l b e raised up from the

coasts Of the earth .

And the s lain Of the LORD Shall be at that day from one

end of the earthEven to the other end of the earth ;They sha l l not be lamented, ne i ther g athered, nor buried ;They shal l b e dung upon the ground .

He re is the conclusion of the whole matter !He re is the final t riumph of the Son of Man in

the consummated victory of the Seed of the woman :

“ Worthy is the Lamb that was Slain to rece ive


I t was the same priests and scribes who wereused to p ut H im to death , and give the long- pro

phesied wound in the hee l .

Re l igion without Christ is enmity against God !Knowledge of the Scriptures whe re the heart is not

subj ect to Christ,and where Christ is not seen in

them , is powerle ss and lifeless . It is true of theScriptures , as it wil l be of the heavenly J erusalemTHE LAM B I S THE LIGHT THEREOF ”

(Rev . xx i .

The Chu rch of Rome has been used of the greatenemy to rob the Lamb of God of H is promised

glory . JEROME,in h is Latin translation of the B ible

(40 5 wrote “ i,bse, HE

,in G en . iii . 15 , as the

“ bruiser of the serpent ’ s head .

” And,in spite of

the fact that JEROME him se lf SO quotes it in h is com

mentary, and that it is masculine in al l the otherancient tran slation s of the Bible , Rome has firstcorrupted JEROME ’ S Vu lgate by changing the e intoa,

”and putting ipsa (she) instead of ipse (He)

then she has so translated this corruption and p er

p etuated this perve rsion in variou s language s ! So

that in al l her versions , in her pictu re s and statues ,in the decree Of Pope P ius IX .

,wh ich promu lgated

the dogma Of the “ immaculate conception of the Virgin

Mary ,

” th is he of the Old Serpent has been foistedon unnumbered thousands of deluded sou ls , who havethereby been deceived into putting Mary in the placeof Jesus ; the “

co- Redemptress ” in the place of theRedeemer ; the creature in the place of the Creator ;the woman in the place of the woman ’ s Seed — untilthe outcome is reached by emblaz oning, in huge gil t

LEO (CORVUS) . 173

le tters , on the outside of a large church in Rathmine s ,Dublin , MARLZE PECCATORUM REFUGIUM

,

”

to Mary the Refuge of S inne rs !

SO complete has been the succe ss of the subtletyof the Serpent , that he has begu iled thousands ofP rotestants to un ite in circu lating the se corruptedversions as the Word of God

, thu s giving currency to

the Devil ’ s lie . This is done on the plea of ex

p ediency, in orde r that these versions might come tomany as P rote stant truth instead of Popish error ;but thus misleading those who we re seeking forl ight , while confi rming Papists in the ir darkness .

But through all the “ wisdom of the Serpent we

can detect his lie . I t is ve ry th inly ve iled, and the

Old Serpent has not succeeded in blinding th e eyeswhich the Spirit of God has opened . True , w e see

in all Rome’ s picture s and statue s the foot of Mary

on the Se rpent ’ s head , but the foot is not comingdown

, nor is the head crushed ! Rathe r is the woman’s

foot resting on its head ; and the woman he rse l f sup

ported by the Serpent .

The whole system of Mary - anity is thus seen tobe the ou tcome of the Serpent ’s wisdom in oppositionto the true Christ - ian ity .

How diffe rent are the primeval star - pictu res of theheaven s . There , the club is lifted up , the foot iscoming down , yea, the foot is actual ly planted uponthe enemy

,treading the Scorpion unde r foot .

Rome may corrupt the words of the Book , butshe cannot touch the stars of heaven ! The Devi l


himself cannot move them from their places . He

may choose and use h is se rvants and agents for corrup ting the Scripture s written in the Book, but he

cannot change the Reve lation of the stars .

There , —no woman’ s foot is seen upon the Serpent ’ s

head The re , —no woman u surps the place of the all

g lorious Redeemer

In Ophiuchus we see H IM in dread conflict withthe Serpent , and w e see H IS foot upon the Scorpion ’ sheart (SCORP IO) . W e see H IM

,the Risen Lamb (AR IES) ,

binding Cetus, the great Monster of the Deep ; we

see H IM in the glorious Orion, foot is comingdown on the enemy ’ s he w e see H IM in

the Lion of the Tribe of about to treaddown that Old Serpent dra) the Devil ; we see

HIM in the mighty Hercules, who has h is foot on the

head of the Dragon (Draco) , and h is up- l ifted club

about to inflict the long - threatened blow ; we see

H IM crowned in Cepheus, with all H is enemies sub

dued , and H is right foot planted upon the PolarS tar !

True , w e do see a WOMAN in this heaven ly and

D ivine revelation ; for the re are four women . Twoare connected w ith the REDEEMER , and tREDEEMED . The Redeemer is seen in theas the “ promised Seed ”

; in the othe r He

is seen as the child born,the Son given . Re

deemed are represented in one as a captive chitined

(Andromeda) , with no powe r to wage conflict w ith an

enemy, but a prey to every foe ; in the othe r (Cas


W HEREFORE

God also hath h ig hly e xal ted Him,

A nd g iven Him a name wh ich is above every name

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

Of th ing s in heaven,

And th ing s on earth,And thing s under the earth ,

And that every tongue shall confe ss that Jesus Christis Lord, to the glory Of God the Father.

Amen.

“ Come,then, and, added to Thy many crowns,

Rece ive yet one, the crown of all the earth,

Thou who alone art worthy ! I t was th ineBy ancient covenant, ere Nature ’

s b irth ;And Thou hast made it Th ine by purchase since,

And overpaid its value w ith Thy blood .

Thy saints proclaim Thee king ; and in the ir heartsThy t itle is engraven w i th a p en

Dip p’

d in the fountain of e terna l love .

Thy saints proclaim Thee king ; and Thy delayG ives courage to the ir foes, who, could they see

The dawn Of Thy las t adven t, long desired,W ou l d creep in to th e bowels Of the hi l lsAnd flee for safe ty to the fal l ing rocks .

e e a e e

“ Come, then,

and,added to Thy many crowns,

Rece ive yet one, as radiant as the rest,Due to Thy las t and most efl

'

ectual work,Thy W ord fulfi lled

,the conques t Of a world .

( Cowp er.)

FOR S IGNS AND FOR SEA SON S .

B have seen the great truths wh ich are taughtfrom the pos it ion , and forms , and name s of the

heavenly bodies . There are al so truths to be learntfrom their motions.

W hen God created them and set them in the firma

ment of heaven ,He said , in G en . i . 14

“ Let them be for signs and for seasons.

Here the word “ signs is ot/i otli (h im,plu ral of nix,

0th , from the root ”this, to come) . Hence , ct sign ofsomething or some One to come. In Jer. x . 2 Jehovahsays

,

“ And be not dismayed at the signs (fl intém) ofthe heavens , for the heathen are dismayed at them .

”

The word “ seasons ” does not denote mere ly whatwe cal l the four seasons of the year, but cycles oftime . I t is 717V) , appointed time (from the ve rb "I?” to

point out,appoint) . I t occurs three more time s in

Genesis,each time in connection with the promised

SeedG en . xv n . 21,

“ A t this set time in the next year

G en . xviii . 14 , “ At the time appointed I wil l returnand

G en . xx i . 2 ,“ At the set time of wh ich God had

spokenfi’

S. 100 5 .


G en . i . I 4. is the re fore , “ They (the sun,moon ,

and stars) shal l be for signs (things to come) and forcycle s (appointedHe re , then , w e have a distinct declaration from

God,that the heavens contain not on ly a Reve lation

concern ing things to come in the “ S igns , but al soconcerning appointed times in the w ondrou s movementsof the sun ,

and moon,and stars .

The motions of the sun and moon are so arrangedthat at the end of a given interval of time they re turninto almost precise ly the same position

,w ith regard

to each othe r and to the earth,as they he ld at the

beginn ing of that interval . “ Almost precisely,” but

not qu ite precise ly . There wil l be a sl ight outstanding difference

,which wil l gradual ly increase in suc

cessive inte rval s, and finally destroy the possibil ity

of the combination recu rring , or e l se lead to com

binations of a different characte r.Thus the daily difference between the movement

of the sun and of the stars leads the sun back ve rynearly to conjunction with the same star as it was

twe lve months earl ier,and gives us the cycle of the

year . Th e sl ight diffe rence in the sun ’ s position re

lative to the stars at the end of the year , final lyleads the sun back to the same star at the same

time of the year,viz .

, at the spring equ inox , and

give s us the great precessional cycle of years .

So, too , with eclipses . S ince the circumstancesof any given ecl ipse are reproduced almost exactly18 years and I I days late r, th is period is cal led an

Eclipse Cycle, to wh ich th e ancient astronomers gave

18 0 THE W ITNESS on THE STARS .

and has moved steadily in that direction, until on

March 18 (Greg ) , 1950 , its last appearance as an

annu lar ecl ipse wil l take place . On May 22 (Greg ) ,20 58 , it wil l fal l so far from the node that a new

ecl ipse wil l follow it on June 21. I t wil l make threemore appearances as an eve r - dimin ishing partialeclipse , and be last seen on June 24 (Greg) , 2112 .

I ts total l ife - history,there fore , wil l have been

years and 36 days , and wil l have occupied 70 Sari .In the above l ife - history of an eclipse there is not

the sl ightest difficulty as to its identification . The

SCH/OS Shows no break , and no interruption ; nor doesthe characte r of the ecl ipse suffer any abrupt change .

The district ove r which it is visible moves in a slowand orderly fashion from occurrence to occurrenceove r the earth ’s surface .

Now the important point is this,that if we take

the prophetic reckoning of 360 days to the year, wehave the following Significant B iblical numbers

In the first place , we al ready have the 7oi Sari

divided into two portions of 33 37 .

A perfect cycle is accomplished in 33 Sari , or595 years , when the eclipse , by a series of unbroken

These facts are kindly supp lied by Mr. E. W . Maunder, of the Royal Observatory, Greenw ich, who gives another examp le, as fol lows

In A. D . 586 there were two solar eclipses on June 22 (Julian) the old and dyingecl ipse, and on July 22 (Julian) another (the new one) . A Saros (v iz . 18 years and

11 days) earlier there w as only one, viz. on June 11 (Julian) , A . D. 568, there beingno ecl ipse on July 11 of that year.

The las t appearance of this new eclipse, which first appeared on July 22, 586,was on August 28 (Greg ), 184 8 , so that it had a life history of 70 San , amountingto years 36 days (after the Jul ian dates have been corrected to correspond to theGregorian ). Thus the ecl ipse that died, so to Speak, on August 28 (Greg ), 184 8 ,first appeared on July 22 (Julian) in A. D. 586. See an important article on Ecl ipsesby Mr. E. W . Maunder in K nowledge, for October 1893, where other lij '

e-h zston es of

eclipses are given, and the W hole subject of eclipses clearly exp lained.

FOR S IGNS AND FOR SEASONS . 18 1

Sari , has accomplished a passage through the yearof 360 days ; or, if w e reckon on ly the whole numbers ,i .e .

, the 18 completed years , w e have for the 33 Sarithe period of 594 years , wh ile the remain ing portionof 37 Sari make s 666 years (37 x 18 ) ; and the whole7oi Sari makes years (594W e have then the follow ing figu res

18 x 33 594 years .

18 x 37 666 years .

18 x 70 1260 years .

Independently of th is,w e al so know that

years is a sol i- lunar cycle , so exact that its epact , ordiffe rence

,is only 6 hours !

There must , therefore , be someth ing Significantin these numbe rs

,e .g .

, 70 ; in the . numberwith its divisions , not into two equal parts , but into594 and 666 ; as al so in its double

,

There mu st be someth ing to be learned in the

occurrence and repetition of the se heaven ly cycle s,

wh ich for nearly years have been constantlyrepeated in the heaven s , e sp ecial ly when we find

these same numbers ve ry prominently presented in

the Word of God in connection with the fulfi lmentof prophecy .

W e have the great “ seven t ime s con

nected with the durat ion of I srae l ’s pun ishment , and

of the Gentiles ’ pow e r . W e have in Danie l and the

The relations be tween 595 years and years 36 days, are the same as the

relations between 594 years and years. The difference of the 2 years 36 daysis due to the excess of 10 9 6 days over the 18 comp leted years in each Sof as.


Apocalypse the hal f of th is great pe riod presented asdays as

“ months ” and as“ times

,

”

or yearsFuturists be lieve that these “ days and “ months

,

etc .,interpret for us the purposes and counse l s of God

as connected with “the t ime of the end ,

”and as

meaning l iteral “ days and “ months,

etc.

H istoricists take these terms,and themse lve s inter

pret the numbers,in the sense of a

“ day” be ing p ut

for a year, and they be lieve that these days ”

wil l be fu lfi l led as years .

One party boldly and ungraciously charges the

other with teaching “ The Fallacies of FuturismWhile the other might we l l retort with a reference tothe Heresies of H istoricism.

But is there’

any necessity for the existence of twohostile camps ? IS it not possible that the re may be

what we may cal l a long fulfi lment in years ? And is

it not more than probable that in the t ime of the end ,

the crisis,the re wil l be al so a short and l iteral ful

filment in days ?W e firm ly bel ieve that there wil l be this literal

and short fu lfi lmen t . W e bel ieve that when God says“ days

,

” He mean s days ; and that when He says4 2 months , He means months

,and not years .

In all the passages re fe rred to by historicists in sup

port of what is cal led “ the year - day theory,

”the

Holy Spirit uses these words “ days ” and “ years ”

in the sense of days and years . In the two particularinstance s of I srae l ’ s wande rings (Num . .x iv . and

Ez ekie l ’s prophesying (Ez ek . iv . He chooses to

184 THE W ITNESS OF THE STAR S .

when He says , J e rusalem Shal l be trodden down of theGentiles , until the t ime s of the Gentile s be fulfi l led .

”

(Luke xx i . That there are“ seven t imes ” of

Gentile domin ion is more than intimated by the sym

bolic episode in the l ife of Nebuchadne z z ar as recorded111 Dan . iv . ; and that there are

“ seven time s ” ofI srae l ’ s punishment is clearly stated in Lev . xxvi . 18 .

“ Seven times,

”according to the H istoricist school of

inte rpreters , are equal to years .

Instead of asking where they begin ,let us first

note the fact that it is duration which is emphasisedin the Scripture s rather than chronology ; and look at

the duration of these years independently of, and

before we attempt to fix their beginning and ending.

In Danie l ii . and VII . it is Shown first to Nebuchadnez z ar in a

“ dream,

”and afte r wards to God ’s

servant the prophet in a vision , that I srae l was

to be p ut on one side and become Lo-Ammi (not

My people) , wh ile government was to be put into the

hands of the Gentiles . Jerusalem was the central point .

of both these great and solemn facts . That is to say,

du ring years , wh ile Jerusalem Shou ld remain in

the power of the Gentiles , I srae l cou ld be “no more

a nation ”in possession of their land and city.

W e know , as a matter of fact , that to - day Jerusalcm is in the hands of the Turks , and that it isstil l “ trodden down of the Gentiles .

”

I f we ask how long it Shal l cont inue to be t roddendown ” ? how long it Wil l be before I srae l Shal l againpossess the ir c ity and the ir land — the answer bringsus at once to the heart of our subj ect .

FOR SIGNS AND FOR SEASONS . 18 5

In seeking to determ ine both duration and chronology, it is nece ssary to plant our feet on su re ground .

To do th is , let us take a point on w h ich all are agreed .

The re is one date wh ich is unive rsal ly accepted ;and concerning wh ich the evidence is unque stioned .

ABU OBEIDA , the Mahommedan General,laid Siege

to Jerusalem towards the close of 636 A .D . The c itywas then occupied by the Romans

,who he ld out

for four months . When they capitu lated , the Patriarch SOPHRON IUS obtained a clause in the treaty givingsecurity to the inhabitants , and requiring the ratifica

t ion of OMAR h imse lf. OMAR , who had therefore tobe sent for

,arrived some S ix months afte rwards , and

the de lay caused the actual de l ivering up of the cityto take place early in the autumn of A .D .

The year A .D . 636—7 is the refore the accepted date

of the passing ove r of J erusalem from the Romansto the Turks .

OMAR seems to have stayed in the c ity on ly aboutten days , during wh ich he must have given his ih

structions for the e rection of the Mosque on the Siteof the Temple This Mosque , therefore , stands as

the Sign and the symbol of the treading down ofJe rusalem , and wh ile it remains , those t ime s of treading down cannot be conside red as fulfi l led .

How steady w as I srae l ’s decadence from Nebuchadnez z ar to OMAR ! Nothing would exceed thatdarkest moment in I srael ’ s h istory ,

when I srae l was

This is the date which concerns only .the of yen /salem. The Romanswere not comp letely driven out from ( he [and until Caesarea had fal len in 638, whenthe conquest was finally comp leted. See G ibbon’

s Dee/me and Fall.


we l l n igh obl iterated in the m ighty struggles of herenemies who fought ove r her inhe ritance . ThusOMAR become s the great cent ral point of theyears , whethe r reckoned as Lunar, Zodiacal, or Solar,d ividing them equal ly into two portions ofHaving thu s fixed the central date , wh ich already

points forward to the end,let us go back and find

the starting point , that w e may the bette r understandthe end .

When Dan ie l was explaining to Nebuchadne z z arhis mysterious dream ,

he said , “ Thou art this head

This date 636—7 is a great and important central date, whether we reckonbackwards or forwards ; whether we reckon them as Lunar, Zod i acal (360 days),or Solar (365 days) years.

If we take Lunar years Solar)reckoning baehward, w e get to 58 7 D. C. , the very date of th e destrrrction

of th e Templ e by Nebuchadnez z ar.reckon ing forward, w e get to .

1860 A . D . , the very date of the Europeanintervention in the Lebanon, which has brough t the Eastern Questioninto its present prominent position .

If we take Zod i acal y ears Solar)reckon ing haehwan l w e get to 60 8 D. C. , the date of the battle of Car

clremish (2 Chron . xxxv. when Babylon completed the conquestof Assyria, and became supreme ; utterly shattering all th e hope whichIsrae l had in Egypt.

reckon ing forward brings us to 18 79 A. D . ,when , by the Treaty of Berl in,

Ottoman power recei ved a blow from wh ich i t has never recovered,and which has prepared the way for its extinction .

If w e take Solar years, thenreckoning barhw ard, w e get to D. C . 624 (A .M. the beginning of the

Baby lonian k ingdom, the“ head of gold.

reckon ing forw ard we get to 1896—7 A . D . , which is yet future.

These reckonings in their beg i nn ings and ending s form an in troversion ,or

Ep anodos, thus

B. C . dates increasing.

A. D. dates increasing.

1896—7

The Solar reckonings are the more important dates ; the Lun ar are next insignificance ; while Zod i acal reckonings furnish us “ itlr dates which, to say the

least, fi t neatly into their places.


the rebel lion with SO much Skil l that Assurbanipalmade h im governor of Babylon . He shortly afterwards , in A .M . 3376, himse l f rebel led

, and madehimse lf King of Babylon . Associating w ith him h is

son Nebuchadnez z ar, they commenced a campaignagainst Assurban ipal , which ended in the fal l of

N ineveh and the complete subjugation of Assyria.

The kingdom of Babylon,thus commencing in

B .C . became the first great Gent ile kingdom as

fore told in Danie l .

There is practical ly no question ,now , as to this

date .

The actual duration of the three kingdoms thatfollowed— Babylon ,

MedO - Persia, and Greece , may

not perhaps be SO accurate ly dete rmined . Theirtotal duration is known , because it is fixed by aknown date at the othe r end , but it m ight introducecontroversial matter ifwe attempted to assign to themtheir exact re lative duration . P robably they were ,roughly z— Babylon about 90 years ; Medo - Persiaabout 20 0 years ; Greece about 30 4 years .

W e be lieve these to be fairly p roportionatenL but

whether they are or not,their total amount must

have been 594 years , because the undisputed dateof the battle of ACTIUM , by which Augustu s became

the head of the Roman Empire , was Septembe r B .C . 31.

In adjusting the A .M. and B. C. dates, the latter are always apparen tly one yearin advance of the former, because B . C. 4 0 00 was A.M. r, and B. c. 3999 was A .M. 2.

Hence A. M. 3376 is not B. C. 624 , but it is B. C . 625.

1Cyrus took Babylon, according to the Monuments,in the 17th year ofNabonidus,

B. C. 539. 1Maccabees i. begins the first Of Alexander from the death of DariusCodomannus in A .M 3672. This would sl ightly vary the above distribution of the

‘

years of separate duration.

FOR S IGNS AND FOR SEASON S . 189

From th is date Je rusalem passed permanently unde rthe powe r of Rome until the Mahommedan conquestin A .D . 636

—7 .

W e have , there fore , three fixed dates, and thesedecide for us the duration of the inte rven ing periods ;dividing them into the two great Eclipse Cycles of594 years and 666 years !

f erusalem under the Gentiles.

Babylon ( the I stKingdom) commenced B.C.

Bat t le ofActium,end ing the possession

of the 3rd King dom B .C.

D uration of the three King doms,

Babylon, Medo - Persia, and

Greece, tog e ther ( Ist Ecl ipseCycle )

Rome (the 4 th King dom) became the

possessor of JerusalemMahommedan conquest of Jerusalemending the possession of Rome

B.C .

A D .

.Dzzratz’

on of Rome’

s p ossession of

Jerusalem ( z ud Ecl ipse Cycle )FIRST HALF on

“ THE TIMES OF THEGENT ILES ”

Date ofMahommedan conquest of Je

rusalem A.D . 6

SECOND HALF or THE T IMES or THEGENTILES and D uration of Mabom 1260

medan possess ion of Jerusalem

31

31

636

6—7

Fixed DurationDates.

625

of Years.

1260

End and “ fulness ”Of

.

“ the t imes2520

the Gen t iles

In passing from B. C. dates to A. D . dates, one yearmust always be deducted,

e.g . ,from B. C. 2 to A.D . 2 is only t/zree years, not four Thus

From Jan. 1 B. C. 2 to Jan . 1 B. C. I is one yearD. C. I to A. D. 1 is one yearA. D . 1 to A. D . 2 is orze year

Hence, B.c. 31 to A. D . 636 is 666 years, not 667.


From th is it appears that 18 96—7 A .D . wou ld mark

the fu lfi lment , and complete . the durat ion,of “ times

of the Gentiles .

”

The above reckoning has the following advantagesove r all previou s h istoricist inte rpre tation s

I . Controverted dates are excluded .

2 . The whole period of 2520 years is deal t w ith ,instead of only the latter half as is usual lythe case .

3 . I t confines these t ime s to the one place wherethe Lord H imsel f p ut them ,

viz .,

“ JERUSALEM.

”

He said , “ Je rusalem shal l be trodden down of theGentiles

,t il l the times of the Gentiles be fu lfi l led .

These time s,therefore , are confined to Jerusalem .

This “ treading down”is confined to J e rusalem . I t

is not the city of Rome that is to be trodden downfor 1260 years . Why, then , shou ld the se “ time sbe separated from what is characteristic of the irduration

,and appl ied to Rome

,papal or imperial ?

Why shou ld historicists search for some act of emp erors or popes in the early part of the seventhcentury in order to add it to 1260 , so as to find

some terminal date in or near our own t ime s ! ale

W e claim that the Lord H imse l f has j oined theset imes of the Gen tiles with the city of “ Jerusalem ,

”

and we say,“ What , the refore , God hath j oined

together, let not man p ut asunder (Matt . x ix .

While the premiu m of the I-Iistoricist school are thus strengthened, their con

clusion : are shown to be erroneous.


it not ; for it is given unto the Gentiles ; and the

holy city shal l they tread under foot forty and two

months .

This refers to a future treading down,wh ich wil l

be limited to the brief period of “ forty two ” l ite ralmonths

,during the time of the coming P rince ; and

in the midst ” of the last week,when he shal l

break H is covenant with the Jews,

*set up the

abomination of desolation (Dan ix . 27 ; whichis stil l future in Matt . xxiv. and “ tread down the

holy city .

”

W e now desire to specially emphasiz e the factthat all these dates , and their te rmination in a rapidlyapproaching fulfi lment , refer ONLY To JERUSALEM , ANDTHE GENTILES , AND THE J EWS ! They re fer on ly tothe end of the Gentile possession of Jerusalem, and

to the settlement of the Jews in the ir own c ity and

land .

These t ime s and seasons have nothing whateve r to do with “

the Church of God ”

(1 Thess . v .

The mystical Body of Christ , whenever its membersare complete , “ wil l be taken up to meet the Lordthe Head of the Body— in the air

,so to be ever

with the Lord ”

(1 Thess . iv . 15 Th is gloriou sevent has nothing to do with any earthly sign orcircumstance , SO far as the members of this mysticalBody are concerned .

And cause sacrifice and ob lation to cease (Dan. ix. W e know that is referred, by historicists, to the Messiah. But they are not enti tled to so interpret thispassage un less they take with it viii. 11, xi. 31, and x ii. 11, where the same eventis distinctly referred to, and is Spoken, not of Christ, but ofAntichrist.

FOR S IGNS AND FOR SEASON S . 193

There fore we are not deal ing here with the comingof the Lord ; e ither for H is saints

,or with them .

W e are not re ferring to what is commonly and

erroneou sly called “the end Of the world .

” W e are

mere ly pointing out that the end of Gent ile dominionover 7erusale7n is drawing near ! And w e cannot closeour eye s to the marve l lous manne r in which the ve ilis being removed from J ewish hearts : to the changewhich has come over the Jewish nation in its

attitude towards Christ and Christianity,ch iefly

,

under God,through the unparal le led c ircu lation

of more than a quarter of a mil lion copie s of a

new translation of the New Testament into He

brew,by the late I saac Salkinson , publ ished by

the Trinitarian B ible Society, and free ly distributedby the Mildmay Mission to the Jews : to the Palest ine literature ~ which has sprung up amongst the

Jews in recent years : to the persecutions in variouscountrie s which are stirring the ir nest , and settingthe nation in motion : to the organiz ed emigrationto Argentina ,

wh ich its promoters avowedly speak ofas a nu rsery ground for Palestine

”

(Daily Graphic,March 10 th ,

to the railways completed and

in course of construction in the Holy Land : to the

numerous Societies and their branches which havepermeated the whole nation

,which , wh ile having

various names , have only one Obj ect the colonisat ion of Palestine .

”

W hen we put the se events side by side withthe teaching of the heavens as to the “ cyclesor appo inted times ,

'

we are mere ly showing how

S. 100 5 .


wonde rful ly they agree with what is written in the

Book, and witnessed to by great and uncontested

h istoric dates .

Nor are we absolute ly naming a definite year orday even for these Palestine events Afte r all, theycan be on ly approximate , for man has so misusedevery gift that God has ever given h im

,that even

w ith such wondrous heavenly time - keepers he cannotreal ly te l l you what year it is ! And

,besides this

loss of reckoning, there is confusion as to the com

mencement Of the A .D . era, which makes absoluteaccu racy between the A .M . , B .C .

, and A .D . datesimpossible .

Added to this , there is another point to be bornein mind , viz .

,that when the “ time s of the Gentiles ”

shal l end, Jew ish independence need not be either

immediate or complete !

For when Nebuchadne z z ar began his kingdom ofBabylon in A .M . 3376 (B .C . the Jews , though intheir land and city

,w ere not independent . Nebu

chadnez z ar w ent to and fro to Je rusalem,and p ut

down and set up whom h e would ; and it was not til lsome th irty years afterwards that he destroyed the

C ity and Temple and made the people captives .

SO , l ikewise , in the time of the end, the re may

be an epanodos. There may be a similar period ofpossession without independence , a quasi - independenceguaranteed by the Great Powers ; . and , for oughtwe know ,

it may be that , in Order to gain complete


hath spoken by the mouth Of ALL H IS HOLYPROPHETS S INCE THE W ORLD BEGAN(Acts iii . 19

—2 I ) .

The world is sick,and yet not un to death ;

There is for it a day of health in store ;From l ips of love there comes the heal ing breath,The breath of H im who all its S ickness bore

,

And bids it rise to streng th and beauty evermore .

Evi l still re igns ; and deep w i th in we fee lThe fever, and the pal sy

,and the pain

Of life ’s perpe tual heartaches, that revealThe rooted poison,

which,from heart and brain

,

W e labour to e xtract, but labour all in ‘ vain .

Our ski ll avails not ; ages come and go,

! et bring w ith them no resp ite and no cure ;

The h idden wound,the sigh of pent - up woe ,

The s ting we smother, but must still endure ,The worth less remed ie s wh ich no relie f procure ,

All the se cry out for some th ing more d ivine ,W hich the wors t woe s of earth may not w i thstand ;

Medicine that cannot fail— the Oil and w ine ,

The balm and myrrh, g row th of no earth ly land,And the all- ski l ful touch of the great Healer’s hand .

Man needs a p rOp het : Heaven ly Prophe t, speak,And teach h im what he is too proud to hear.

Man needs a priest : True Pries t, Thy silence break,And speak the words of pardon in h is ear.

Man needs a king : 0 King ,at leng th in peace appear.


I ts most ancient form was a circu lar altar .

ik In

Figure I we have reproduced this”Land it wil l be at

once seen that w e have the original of the disc nowprese rved in the two circular scales which form the

Sign of L I BRA .

The next stage of the corruption is shown in the

Akkadian name of Scorpio (the Scorpion) -the S ign

immediate ly to the left of the Al tar . I t was calledGir- tab, which means the Seiz er and Stinger, and the

next Figure taken from an Euphratean boundarystone , j: shows the two Signs combined , for the Scorpionis stretching out its claws in order to seiz e the Lamb

or Altar.

FIG. 2 .— The Scorp i on and the Lamp . (From an Euphratean

Boundary Stone. )

See ARATOS, l ine 44 0 .

f As proved by MI . Robt. Brown, junr. , _ih his Remarks on the Euphratean

Astronomi cal N ames of the S igns of t/ze Zoa’

zae (p.

IBy th e k ind permission of Mr. Robt. Brown , junr. , The Celesti al Equator ofAratos, p . 466.

APPENDIX. 20 1

Thu s the mean ing of its name is exempl ified . It'

is cal led the Seiz er and S tinger. And just as in the

conste l lation above ‘

it,

' the Se rpent is struggling withthe man

,while at the same time it is stre tching out

its neck to se iz e the crown,

* SO here the Scorpion,while trying to sting the same man in the hee l , isstre tching out its claws to seiz e the altar .

A seal on a contract , nearly 70 0 B .C .,shows

th is C ircular Altar actually in the grasp of the

Scorpion .

FIG. 3.— Scorp ion and Lamp . (From an Euphratean Seal . )

Figure 3 is a p icture Of this Euphratean Seal ,pre se rved on a contract made on the 8 th day

‘

of

the month Tisri , i .e. ,th is same seventh month l f

This then is the next stage . But Mr. Robe rtBrown

,junr. , Obse rves , “ The Circle or other repre

sentation of an Altar not unnatural ly disappeared as

See thi s shown on the cover of this book.

f Menant, Emp rein tes de Car/eels A ssyro 9.

“ Sur nu contrat datéda 8 Tisri, de l’année de Bin - takk il- ani, 690 on 64 5 avant J.C.

20 2 THE WITNESS OF THE STARS .

the use of the S ign advanced westward ; whether bysea, or across Asia Minor

,or both

, and the Chelaialone remained when the shores of the E gean were

This is quite true , for the Greek name for the S ignwas Chelai

,which means simply the Claws . And thus

the Scorpion monopolised two Signs ; its body one ,

and its claws the other . This led to the mistake ofSERVIU S , the inte l ligent commentator on thatthe Chaldean Zodiac consisted Of but e leven con

stellations . W e now know that there were twe lveS igns , and the mistake is thus explained .

FIG. 4 .— The Conste llation of “

th e Claws.

” Formerly the Circular Altar,now Libra.

Researches on th e Eup hratean A stronomical N ames of the S igns of the Zodiac,

p . 17.

f In Georg ica , i . 33,

20 4‘ THE W ITNESS OF THE STARS .

of the Scorpion ; and th is is how the c ircu lar scalesof L IBRA came to be substituted for the ancientCircular ALTAR .

This corruption of the primitive teach ing of theALTAR, shows how the enemy attempted to seiz e on

the Atonement , bring in “ the way of Cain ,

”and

substitute human merit for the aton ing sacrifice ofChrist ; thu s perverting the truth at its fountain head .

Just as in G en . . iii . w e have the woman’s promised

Seed in confl ict with the Enemy , so in G en . iv . we

see the Scorpion ’ s claws— “the way of Cain ”

in

conflict with “ the way of God .

”

There can be but l ittle doubt,the refore , that the

first S ign of the Zodiac was VIRGO , the second was

the ALTAR,and the third was the SCORP ION . The

lesson which they teach is clear : The Seed o f the

woman (VIRGO) , who was to come as a child , shou ldbe a sacrifice (th e ALTAR) for the sin s of H is people ;endure a great conflict with the enemy (SCORP IO) , inwhich He shou ld be wounded in th e hee l ; but shouldin the end crush and tread the enemy under foot .

D'

a‘UOPUO

’

I‘m qomqo Samar

“

is‘L ‘

J oqmv 9111&q paqsrrqna

was} isod‘aouadoml aorsg n onrp

'

g p IIqL

s uossa’

I Iraqi qirm‘sonsosov mog u ; soonasmooo SlI

H EIHI SH 5 0

noon EHL NI HVAOHaf ao aNVN aHI

‘

aarj Isod‘aouadxrg 93114 p asIAaH

‘uoritpg pnqL

731q n so ap stdg aqi j o iqfiq aqru ;‘

9 air— LI 11! FM I ; O uogtsodxg 11V

NOSIHd NI Sl IHIcIS EIHL

‘Enxa

‘

py? i sod Aq‘sfiq rqg mm

‘

qorzayo uonep s [cumin aq'

rq'

uo;Sumas q

‘Ap i emdas surresd sq; 30 am iouns atp Bngmoqs Ajao i on a 1 20023‘sduorg pu

s

suoisrarp‘sqooq J laql In) pafiueu e are su qesaA139 put: parpuuq auo aqi 1raq no UBId aq;

‘EI

’

IOHM v sv SN'

IVSd 410 Moog HHJ. d o nunl anums HHL

sunrqrqxa xrauaaav as

pure 58mi n .“ parses sq; 30 ajoqmsq) sapesrz d ajdp nnd auras oqi moq Bum oqs 510113 0 0 0 21iIn: qi yn

‘uaDNI

’

I'

Ing arq mag sq: Aq pairpg‘V 'IAI ‘

saoa SVWOHL ASH 018 ! mp Aguuo Jqfinorq Ap eop pun pai aAoosgp a i S}

‘

q oeai s i tJO i oal’

qo sq) pm:‘wresd qana jO Ja oq

‘

i [8 111190 18 913 aql'

nonrsodrnoo 1113 q 019111line Inpmro; i on pun‘saAIaS

q uery oraeqnoad uorsroard pun nonaaj i ad‘

poqraur‘Iapso Ire qiun ruq

‘sBua Ai sp earoi sutem d

qorqu UOQ OOJJ Q CIUI} 9111mm 119 31111“ sou am“ qiaqoeai i soqg AIOH aq

'

i qarqn ” spsomaqi seq)2muoqs

‘

paionn snoo Anemoe st arnesa sq; qoiqmno pairqrqxa S I nerd aql‘Surqoeai sir; o i urod

sq) pun‘am ionns sirJO &naw uslis sq;

‘unld S1110 norioajrad sq) i rqrqxa or 5 6 OS

"0 23

‘9

sq; JO s mauxafiuusm .( q‘9 5 9 sq; oi poAEIdsrp SIu qesd qoea qorqmu; auburn pne th an V

°

S N’

I VS d HH l O J . AHH V

11513 arm. s o cumm i ng m i l191- 11 am “

7 23 3] 122 ‘I S

°

ax x 7 7 2711! 10 : °a u og z ) “

(w ag Em . cmv Homo s o Ennwoanf and;°

x°

( ta - cc var u og x) “.LSfl fNfl am . s o cmv s sa f EHL ” d o Nors oauunsna HHL 1g

-

(srW n ; m ug ) EHL , ,NOILV

'

IEQ I N I .LNTHAQ V (moons EHL‘

IIIA°

(6z - Se 37x “Ai a f EHL " NOLLV

’

IZIH N I .LNZHACIV ( moans ZRI'

IIA‘z i i i/0,5 I ) nor/mas narrow $313 3 a EHL

‘

IA( 6

‘

g gi zoz nyglg ) no 14 3 3 0 143 HHL ” 5 0 cm v ON I'

I'

IVQ arr];‘

Az

°

a zx x t l ) .LSIEHQ .LaoHI rm rmmnaa’

rrw ON’

AI‘

(tEmgr : W WW : 6 7 : 115-

1) avmna'

r'

rrw-azrd .LNEAOV (moons EHL 111~

(rz‘oz z ) xoauaoug so nors v s auauas n l El l-IL

‘

11°

(oi 3: c) AG Q LS orra aaoud s o nonvruoawl an ] ,°

1

Tonadxrs pu'

e sfiumrqg OAAL 90114‘

uonrpg puooas°

p10j xo re paqoeasd'

.LNEIA ( IV ( INOOEIS EIHL NO SNONHHS NEIL

o'

g‘

pw ri qornqgsdnnd as

‘l in .roqinv aqrAq p aqsqqnd are sum)“ gut/AOHO} aql

‘mou J axsom ewa‘6 "

0 3 s aourusuva &q paqa na‘

°

(aouad.rnog i sod) aouadaasql OI paonpagsadder

,“ p asnolog"OAS Amap "dd 99 110111n qixrs

"

HEIflc IHOS A’

IOH rIO ACIHLS

HHL NI AOVHHOOV HO HONVLHOd l/‘

II EIHL

°

c1'

c1‘

uaoNrn na'

M E“

A3 8 ElHJ . AS SW OM

0'

s‘nop tw

’

I‘

pmfiqomqo sanea as‘4 ‘

n amv amKq paqsrtqna

s atirinenb 10} Stn19 i jD199dg'

p 919n9 [ 1113‘

qiop‘9 9n9dxrg 9 91m

”WIS JO 13 9APV WW UQ IHW' M J

aqi jo 399 l'

qng 9qrno“9 79

‘SODUQ I QJUOQ 11; am 10} saw“; 8 11 JO 110113 91103 V

LNHACIV CINOO’

EIS HHJ . NO SNWAH

‘

00 119d 9 9n9dxrg p ne n9A9s .( nn9c19110 9 9114

‘

pOSIAOH‘uollrp

’

ji pmTHVHSI NI HSOdHfl d

0 0 1red aonadxrs pn'

e n9A9 5 Ann9d 9110 9 99 g 11011??v PIIIIL'

HHfl l d IHOS A’

IOH

HO ALIHOHLHV ( INV NOIl VHId SNI HHJ .

mou seri es ( INooas rm I sura f aunas9110

‘

pnnoq‘S9u mjoA AII BQ A 119139 Ann9d 9uo

‘

(suOSS9'

1 918 1113) Amiuow1101113911a jo 9 smog uI sm9 ]( 91113 10} V

°

S NO S SEI'

I”

IOOH OS AVG N fl S

n onrpgj pnqL'

00 1 19d 9ou9dxrg pun 1191193 Ann9d 9n0 99114‘

LI ‘

A uog z 50 1118119111n; srsan9 5) no Apmg 91mg V1101113913 11; pog JO sqIOM 9q1.(q parensnnt

‘9 91319 n; p og 10 SAEM 9111,

‘10

f ( I’

IO HHL CINV AAEIN HHI .

°

nontp3 pn0 99s°

00 1 .19d 9 9u9dxrg p un u9A9S &nn9d 9110 99115

TH"M9qnew JO SQ Iq'

BI BJ u9A93 9141,‘10

HOHHHO HHL n ( INV WOCIONIH EIHJ .

“ W IPE131q‘

00 1red 9anadxrg pne n9Aog Anuad 9no 9 911a 9 215"9dop an3

‘

q L onaqdora jo 9moi id3 nV

HN OD O I , S O N IHL

n onrp g pu0 99s’

OO I 19d 9on9dxrg pm; n9A9S Ann9d 9110

Apri ls arqia v(10 0 110 NVW EIHJ .

'Ann9d 9 110‘

HODEPH Pl lfll°c1 v

.12

‘

l ’ J e‘

crog s o xvq Q HL-

9112; 7 . s “213121113 4 0 av g an] ,

°or 1 we), “112101 3 111. 410 avg an] ,

'

8‘Q ’

‘4 03 I

a

'

AVCI SrNVW

“s sea or 91110 9 £11.1q isnur qarqm $8 11q ” 9qi or [b y V

‘

SCIOIHHcI OILHHdOHd 210 0 5

‘

Cl'

Cl‘

uaoNl a”

M -1was AS se OM

the witness of the stars - forgotten books€¦ · iv pref ace astro nome r abo ut 1450 a d. who...

Documents