God Prophetically Named the Stars--Part 1

Since the topic of the Sickle of Leo has become relevant lately, it has opened up a need for a broader study on the other constellations. So I thought it would be helpful to give you a brief summary of them.

"He [God] counts the number of stars; He gives names to all of them." (Psalm 147:4)

"And let them be for signs." (Gen. 1:14)

The main problem is that Nimrod thought of himself as the fulfillment of the message of the stars. He was the first classic false messiah, and when the messianic message of the stars was misapplied to him, it began to pervert the truth. The problem was NOT the constellations themselves, which God created and named. The problem was the misinterpretation and misapplication of the truth.

Virgo, the Virgin

Its Hebrew name is Bethulah, "a virgin." It pictures a young woman with a sheaf of wheat in one hand and a branch in the other. Isaiah 7:14 says,

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign; Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."

One of the main stars, located in the wheat that the virgin holds, is called Al Zimach, "The Branch." Zechariah 3:8 refers to this prophetically, saying,

"Now listen, Joshua (Yeshua, Jesus) the high priest. You and your friends who are sitting in front of you--indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch."

The biblical meaning is that a virgin will bring forth a child who was to be the Messiah, the Redeemer. Wheat is the "fruit of the womb," and He is also called "The Branch," because He is a branch from the family tree of Jesse (the father of David). See Isaiah 11:1.

The decans associated with Virgo are:

1. Coma (the Infant, called "the Desired")
2. Centaurus (double natured One)
3. Bootes (the Coming One)

In Haggai 2:7 we read,

"And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts."

Coma, the infant son of the Virgin, is called "the Desired." Haggai interprets this decan to mean "the desire of all nations." He associates it with filling the house of God with glory, a reference to Solomon's temple. Solomon's temple was to be "a house of prayer for all people" (Is. 56:7), according to Solomon's dedication prayer when God filled that house with His glory (2 Chron. 7:1).

Centaurus, the Centaur, is half man and half horse to depict the double nature of the Messiah. He is both Son of God and son of man. The Hebrew word for horse is sus, a symbol of salvation. (Back in those days, the cavalry often "saved the day.") The Hebrew name Yeshua means "salvation." The Greek form of the name is Iesous, or Yah-sus, which we render as Jesus. Yah-sus means "Yahweh's Horse," a reference to Yahweh's Salvation.

It has nothing to do with Yah-Zeus, by the way. Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, has nothing to do with it. Zeus and Sus are as different as Zoo and Sue, or between Zipper and Sipper.

Bootes, the Coming One, prophesied of the Messiah's coming. Revelation 1:7 says, "Behold, He comes with clouds." This is a direct reference to Bootes. One of the bright stars in Virgo is called Al Mureddin, "who shall come down" or "who shall have dominion." The name of this star shows that He comes down from heaven. In coming twice, of course, the manner of His coming is different for each.

Libra, the Scales of Justice

The Hebrew name for Libra is Mozanaim, "the scales," or "weighing." It pictures scales, or balances with one side up and the other down, as if weighing something. It has to do with justice. When God brought judgment upon Babylon, it was prophesied in Dan. 5:27,

"TEKEL--you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient."

The divine law is the true Libra, the scale of justice that determines right from wrong, sin and righteousness, God's mind vs. man's mind.

This constellation, however, goes far beyond merely showing man's deficiency and the fact that "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23). One of the main stars in Libra is Zuben al Chemali, "the price which covers." This refers to the fact that Jesus paid the price for the sin of the world by His death on the cross. Another star is Zuben Akrabi, "the price of the conflict."

John said that Jesus was "the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). He was the true Sacrifice for sin, of which the animal sacrifices on Old Testament altars were only prophetic types. Hence also the Arabic name for Libra is Al Zubena, "purchase" or "redemption."

The prophecy of Libra shows us that all men fall short of the standard of righteousness provided by God's law. The law judges all sin, but the Messiah comes to pay the full penalty for the sin of the world. In this way the law is not put away but is satisfied and upheld. The decans of Libra are:

1. Crux, ("the cross," i.e., the Southern Cross)
2. Lupus, misnamed "the wolf," but actually "the victim" as in an animal sacrifice.
3. Corona Borealis, "Northern Crown" (Isaiah 28:5)

The first decan, Crux, prophesies of the manner of Jesus' death. It was still visible from Jerusalem when Jesus came to earth the first time, but it has since shifted below the horizon. This suggests that Jesus' death would not need to be repeated, since it was effectual. 1 Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God."

Lupus, is the modern name of the second decan, because some pictures of the decan make it look somewhat like a wolf. However, in the ancient Egyptian Zodiac of Denderah it was a thirsty lion with its tongue hanging out, and a woman holding a cup of water toward him. It is the picture prophesied by David in Psalm 22:15, "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws."

Psalm 22 is prophetic of Jesus' crucifixion. When Jesus said "I thirst" (John 19:28), He was fulfilling this picture of Lupus, i.e., the thirsty lion.

The final decan is Corona Borealis. Its Hebrew name is Atarah, "a royal crown." So we read in Isaiah 28:5,

"In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown [Atarah], and a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people."

If the Lord of hosts is the crown, who is it that wears it? Primarily, it is Jesus Christ, the Heir of the throne and King of the World, "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow" (Phil. 2:11). However, because we too are His Body, He has "seated us with Him in the heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6).

We are crowned by the Spirit of God. King Saul was crowned on Pentecost, the day of wheat harvest (1 Sam. 12:17), and this prophesied of the disciples in the upper room who were also crowned when the fire (glory) of God rested upon their heads (Acts 2:3). Whereas those disciples only received an "earnest of the Spirit" (2 Cor. 5:5) through Pentecost, we look for "all the fulness of God" (Eph. 3:19), which comes through the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

This is the crown. No man may obtain the crown (Corona) except through the cross (Crux), for this is the only true path as revealed by the constellation Libra.