Finishing up with the constellations

My last post regarding the Book of Genesis called attention to the images associated with the constellations in the Z*diac (I'm spelling it this way on purpose in an attempt to avoid blogspot's crawler from placing ads for astr*logy on this page. I hope you understand). Keep in mind there are a total of 48 constellations in the Z*diac. The twelve most famous ones are those that lie along the ecliptic orbit of the sun (the path in the sky that the sun appears to follow as the earth orbits). Each of the twelve have an additional three associated with them.

All 48 of the constellations image themes related to Christianity. For example, Libra depicts the image of a set of scales. The Hebrew name for this constellation is "Mozanaiam", meaning "the scales weighing" ("Libra" is Latin for "weighing").

The general idea is that when humans are weighed on God's scales, they are found wanting because of sin. Yet there is hope through "the price that covers" or that balances the scales. Libra then signifies "the Redeemer's atoning work; or the price deficient balanced by the Price which covers". Interestingly enough, the three constellations associated with Libra are a cross(crux), a victim slain (lupus), and a crown(corona).

The information I'm sharing here comes from a book entitled: "The Gospel According to the Stars" by E.W. Bullinger. In his day, Bullinger was a well-known Bible scholar and historian. Bullinger wrote about the stars so that Christians would appreciate God's creative handiwork in the heavens. He attributes the images of the constellations to God's revelation of the Gospel story in a kind of giant picture show in the sky.

Obviously, if Bullinger is correct, God's revelation has been corrupted through the years with unregenerate men changing the purpose of the stars into something used for their own idolatrous purposes. Moreover, today we have "a more sure word" of God's revelation in the Scriptures which can be studied and interpreted accurately. Nevertheless, Bullinger would argue that the original purpose of the constellations is proclaimed in Psalm 19:1ff: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."