{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_49018/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_49018","id":"gutenberg_49018","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49018","summary":null,"tags":["Astronomy","Astronomy in the Bible","Bible and science","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Constellations"],"text":"The Witness of the Stars\n\n                                  By The\n\n                  Rev. Ethelbert William Bullinger, D.D.\n\n                 \u201c_HE telleth the number of the stars;_\n         _He giveth them all their names._\u201d (Ps. cxlvii. 4. R.V.)\n\n                         Published by the Author\n\n                                  London\n\n                                   1893\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nPreface.\nIntroduction.\nThe First Book. The Redeemer.\n   Chapter I. The Sign VIRGO.\n      1. COMA (The Woman and Child).\n      2. CENTAURUS (The Centaur).\n      3. BO\u00d6TES (The Coming One).\n   Chapter II. The Sign LIBRA.\n      1. CRUX (The Cross).\n      2. LUPUS or VICTIMA (The Victim).\n      3. CORONA (The Crown).\n   Chapter III. The Sign SCORPIO.\n      1 and 2. SERPENS and OPHIUCHUS.\n      3. HERCULES (The Mighty Man).\n   Chapter IV. The Sign SAGITTARIUS.\n      1. LYRA (The Harp).\n      2. ARA (The Altar).\n      3. DRACO (The Dragon).\nThe Second Book. The Redeemed.\n   Chapter I. The Sign CAPRICORNUS (The Sea Goat).\n      1. SAGITTA (The Arrow).\n      2. AQUILA (The Eagle).\n      3. DELPHINUS (The Dolphin).\n   Chapter II. The Sign AQUARIUS (The Water Bearer).\n      1. PISCIS AUSTRALIS (The Southern Fish).\n      2. PEGASUS (The Winged Horse).\n      3. CYGNUS (The Swan).\n   Chapter III. The Sign PISCES (The Fishes).\n      1. THE BAND.\n      2. ANDROMEDA (The Chained Woman).\n      3. CEPHEUS (The King).\n   Chapter IV. The Sign ARIES (The Ram or Lamb).\n      1. CASSIOPEIA (The Enthroned Woman).\n      2. CETUS (The Sea Monster).\n      3. PERSEUS (\u201cThe Breaker.\u201d)\nThe Third Book. The Redeemer.\n   Chapter I. The Sign TAURUS (The Bull).\n      1. ORION (The Coming Prince).\n      2. ERIDANUS (The River of the Judge).\n      3. AURIGA (The Shepherd).\n   Chapter II. The Sign GEMINI (The Twins).\n      1. LEPUS (the Hare), THE ENEMY.\n      2. CANIS MAJOR (The Dog), or SIRIUS (The Prince).\n      3. CANIS MINOR (The Second Dog).\n   Chapter III. The Sign CANCER (The Crab).\n      1. URSA MINOR (The Little Bear).\n      2. URSA MAJOR (The Great Bear).\n      3. ARGO (The Ship).\n   Chapter IV. The Sign LEO (The Lion).\n      1. HYDRA (The Serpent).\n      2. CRATER (The Cup).\n      3. CORVUS (The Raven).\nSummary.\n\u201cFor Signs And For Seasons.\u201d\nAppendix. Note on the Sign LIBRA.\nFootnotes\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                               [Cover Art]\n\n\n\n\n\n[Transcribers Note: This e\u2010book contains countless special symbols, and\ncharacters from uncommon character sets. If you see unrenderable\ncharacters, you may need to change to a font that has the needed Unicode\nblocks. It uses these uncommon character sets: Greek (Unicode U+0370\nthrough U+03FF), Greek Extended (U+1F00 through U+1FFF), Hebrew (U+0590\nthrough U+05FF), and Miscellaneous Symbols (U+2600 through U+26FF). Hebrew\npointings and Greek markings are as provided in the original book, and\nsome differ from the usual pointings and markings for those words.]\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nSome years ago it was my privilege to enjoy the acquaintance of Miss\nFrances Rolleston, of Keswick, and to carry on a correspondence with her\nwith respect to her work, _Mazzaroth: or, the Constellations_. She was the\nfirst to create an interest in this important subject. Since then Dr.\nSeiss, of Philadelphia, has endeavoured to popularize her work on the\nother side of the Atlantic; and brief references have been made to the\nsubject in such books as _Moses and Geology_, by Dr. Kinns, and in\n_Primeval Man_; but it was felt, for many reasons, that it was desirable\nto make another effort to set forth, in a more complete form, the _witness\nof the stars to prophetic truth_, so necessary in these last days.\n\nTo the late Miss Rolleston, however, belongs the honour of collecting a\nmass of information bearing on this subject; but, published as it was,\nchiefly in the form of _notes_, unarranged and unindexed, it was suited\nonly for, but was most valuable to, the student. She it was who performed\nthe drudgery of collecting the facts presented by Albumazer, the Arab\nastronomer to the Caliphs of Grenada, 850 A.D.; and the Tables drawn up by\nUlugh Beigh, the Tartar prince and astronomer, about 1450 A.D., who gives\nthe Arabian Astronomy as it had come down from the earliest times.\n\nModern astronomers have preserved, and still have in common use, the\nancient names of over a hundred of the principal stars which have been\nhanded down; but now these names are used merely as a convenience, and\nwithout any reference to their significance.\n\nThis work is an attempt to popularize this ancient information, and to use\nit in the interests of truth.\n\nFor the ancient astronomical facts and the names, with their\nsignification, I am, from the very nature of the case, indebted, of\ncourse, to all who have preserved, collected, and handed them down; but\nfor their interpretation I am alone responsible.\n\nIt is for the readers to judge how far my conclusions are borne out by the\nevidence; and how far the foundation of our hopes of coming glory are\nstrengthened by the prophecies which have been written in the stars of\nheaven, as well as in the Scriptures of truth.\n\nFor the illustrations I am greatly indebted to Jamieson\u2019s _Celestial\nAtlas_, 1820; Flammarion\u2019s _L\u2019\u00c9toiles_; Sir John W. Lubbock\u2019s _Stars in\nSix Maps_, 1883; and to the late Mr. Edward J. Cooper\u2019s _Egyptian\nScenery_, 1820. For the general presentation and arrangement of the\nConstellations I am responsible, while for the drawings my thanks are due\nto my friend Miss Amy Manson.\n\nIt is the possession of \u201cthat blessed hope\u201d of Christ\u2019s speedy return from\nHeaven which will give true interest in the great subject of this book.\n\nNo one can dispute the antiquity of the Signs of the Zodiac, or of the\nConstellations. No one can question the accuracy of the ancient star\u2010names\nwhich have come down to us, for they are still preserved in every good\ncelestial atlas. And we hope that no one will be able to resist the\ncumulative evidence that, apart from God\u2019s grace in Christ there is no\nhope for sinners now: and apart from God\u2019s glory, as it will be manifested\nin the return of Christ from Heaven, there is no hope for the Church, no\nhope for Israel, no hope for the world, no hope for a groaning creation.\nIn spite of all the vaunted promises of a religious World, and of a\nworldly Church, to remove the effects of the curse by a Social Gospel of\nSanitation, we are more and more shut up to the prophecy of Gen. iii. 15,\nwhich we wait and long to see fulfilled in Christ as our only hope. This\nis beautifully expressed by the late Dr. William Leask:\u2014\n\n\n    And is there none before? No perfect peace\n      Unbroken by the storms and cares of life,\n    Until the time of waiting for Him cease,\n      By His appearing to destroy the strife?\n                            No, none before.\n\n    Do we not hear that through the flag of grace\n      By faithful messengers of God unfurled,\n    All men will be converted, and the place\n      Of man\u2019s rebellion be a holy world?\n                            Yes, so we hear.\n\n    Is it not true that to the Church is given\n      The holy honour of dispelling night,\n    And bringing back the human race to heaven,\n      By kindling everywhere the Gospel light?\n                            It is not true.\n\n    Is this the hope\u2014that Christ the Lord will come,\n      In all the glory of His royal right,\n    Redeemer and Avenger, taking home\n      His saints, and crushing the usurper\u2019s might?\n                            This is the hope.\n\n\nMay the God of all grace accept and bless this effort to show forth His\nglory, and use it to strengthen His people in waiting for His Son from\nHeaven, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come.\n\nEthelbert W. Bullinger.\n\n_August 31st, 1893._\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nFor more than two thousand five hundred years the world was without a\nwritten revelation from God. The question is, Did God leave Himself\nwithout a witness? The question is answered very positively by the written\nWord that He did not. In Rom. i. 19 it is declared that, \u201cthat which may\nbe known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For\nthe invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly\nseen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power\nand Godhead; so that they are without excuse.\u201d But how was God known? How\nwere His \u201cinvisible things,\u201d _i.e._, His plans, His purposes, and His\ncounsels, known since the creation of the world? We are told by the Holy\nSpirit in Rom. x. 18. Having stated in _v._ 17 that \u201cFaith cometh by\nhearing and hearing by the Word (\u1fe5\u03ae\u03bc\u03b1, _the thing spoken_, _sayings_) of\nGod,\u201d He asks, \u201cBut I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily.\u201d And we may\nask, How have they heard? The answer follows\u2014\u201cTheir sound went into all\nthe earth (\u03b3\u03ae) and their words (\u1fe5\u03ae\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1, _their teaching_, _message_,\n_instruction_) unto the ends of the world (\u03bf\u1f30\u03ba\u03bf\u03c5\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03b7).\u201d What words? What\ninstruction? Whose message? Whose teaching? There is only one answer, and\nthat is, THE HEAVENS! This is settled by the fact that the passage is\nquoted from Ps. xix., the first part of which is occupied with the\nRevelation of God written in _the Heavens_, and the latter part with the\nRevelation of God written in the _Word_.\n\nThis is the simple explanation of this beautiful Psalm. This is why its\ntwo subjects are brought together. It has often perplexed many why there\nshould be that abrupt departure in verse 7\u2014\u201cThe law of the Lord is\nperfect, converting the soul.\u201d The fact is, there is nothing abrupt in it,\nand it is no departure. It is simply the transition to the second of the\ntwo great Revelations which are thus placed in juxtaposition. The first is\nthe Revelation of the Creator, _El_, \u05d0\u05b5\u05dc, in His _works_, while the second\nis the Revelation of the Covenant Jehovah, \u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b8\u05d4, in His _Word_. And it\nis noteworthy that while in the first half of the Psalm, _El_ is named\nonly once, in the latter half _Jehovah_ is named _seven_ times, the last\nbeing threefold (Jehovah, Rock, and Redeemer), concluding the Psalm.\n\nLet us then turn to Ps. xix., and note first\u2014\n\n\n\n\nThe Structure(1) of the Psalm as a whole.\n\n\n    A | 1\u20104\u2010. The Heavens.\n      B | \u20104\u20106. \u201cIn them\u201d (\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4\u05b6\u05dd) the Sun.\n    A | 7\u201010. The Scriptures.\n      B | 11\u201014. \u201cIn them\u201d (\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4\u05b6\u05dd) Thy Servant.\n\n\nIn the _Key to the Psalms_, p. 17, it is pointed out that the terms\nemployed in _A_ and _B_ are _astronomical_,(2) while in A and B they are\n_literary_. Thus the two parts are significantly connected and united.\n\nEwald and others imagine that this Psalm is made up of two fragments of\nseparate Psalms composed at different periods and brought together by a\nlater editor!\n\nBut this is disproved not only by what has been said concerning the\nstructure of the Psalm as a whole, and the interlacing of the astronomical\nand the literary terms in the two parts, but it is also shown by more\nminute details.\n\nEach half consists of two portions which correspond the one to the other,\nA answering to _A_, and B to _B_. Moreover, each half, as well as each\ncorresponding member, consists of the same number of lines; those in the\nfirst half being, by the _c\u00e6sura_, short, while those in the last half are\nlong (or double).\n\n\n    A | 1\u20104\u2010. Eight lines\n      B | \u20104\u20106. Six lines\n    _A_ | 7\u201010. Eight lines\n      _B_ | 11\u201014. Six lines\n\n\nIf we confine ourselves to the first half of the Psalm(3) (A and B, verses\n1\u20106), with which we are now alone concerned, we see a still more minute\nproof of Divine order and perfection.\n\n\n\n\nThe Structure of A and B.\n\n\n    A & B | C | 1. The heavens.\n          | D | 2. Their testimony: incessant. (Pos.)\n              | E | 3. Their words inaudible. (Neg.)\n          | _D_ | 4\u2010. Their testimony: universal. (Pos.)\n        | _C_ | \u20104\u20106. The heavens.\n\n\nHere we have an _introversion_, in which the extremes (C and _C_) are\noccupied with the _heavens_; while the means (D, E and _D_) are occupied\nwith their testimony.\n\nThe following is the full expansion of the above, with original\nemendations which preserve the _order_ of the Hebrew words and thus\nindicate the nature of the structure:\u2014\n\n\n    C | a | The heavens\n          b | are telling(4)\n              c | the glory(5) of God:\n              _c_ | and the work of his hands\n          _b_ | is setting forth(6)\n        _a_ | the firmament.\n          D | d | Day after day(7)\n              e | uttereth(8) speech,\n          _d_ | And night after night\n              _e_ | sheweth knowledge.\n              E | f | There is no speech (what is articulate)\n                  g | and there are no words (what is audible);\n                  _g_ | and without being audible,\n                _f_ | is their voice (what is articulate).\n          _D_ | h | Into all the earth (as created)\n                i | is their line(9) gone forth;\n            _h_ | And into the ends of the world (as inhabited)\n              _i_ | Their sayings.\n    C | j | For the sun He hath set a tent (an abode) in them;\n        _k_ | l | and he as a bridegroom (comparison)\n            m | is going forth from his canopy, (motion: its rising)\n          _l_ | he rejoiceth as a mighty one (comparison)\n            _m_ | to run his course. (Motion: its rapid course.)\n        _k_ | n | from the end of the heavens (egress)\n                o | is his going forth (egress)\n                _o_ | and his revolution (regress)\n              _n_ | unto their ends (regress):\n        _j_ | and there is nothing hid from his heat (_i.e._, from\n                    him)(10)\n\n\nSurely there is something more referred to here than a mere wonder excited\nby the works of the Creator! When we read the whole passage and mark its\nstructure, and note the words employed, we are emphatically told that the\nheavens contain a revelation from God; they prophesy, they show knowledge,\nthey tell of God\u2019s glory, and set forth His purposes and counsels.\n\nIt is a remarkable fact that it is in the Book of Job, which is generally\nallowed to be the oldest book in the Bible,(11) if not in the world, that\nwe have references to this Stellar Revelation. This would be at least\n2,000 years before Christ. In that book the signs of the Zodiac and the\nnames of several stars and constellations are mentioned, as being ancient\nand well\u2010known.\n\nIn Isa. xl. 26 (R.V.) we read:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cLift up your eyes on high,\n    And see who hath created these,\n    That bringeth out their host by number:\n    He calleth them all by name;\n    By the greatness of His might,\n    And for that He is strong in power,\n    Not one is lacking.\u201d\n\n\nWe have the same evidence in Psalm cxlvii. 4. (R.V.)\n\n\n    \u201cHe telleth the number of the stars;\n    He giveth them all their names.\u201d\n\n\nHere is a distinct and Divine declaration that the great Creator both\n_numbered_ as well as _named_ the stars of Heaven.\n\nThe question is, Has he revealed any of these names? Have any of them been\nhanded down to us?\n\nThe answer is Yes; and that in the Bible itself we have the names (so\nancient that their meaning is a little obscure) of _Ash_ (\u05e2\u05b8\u05e9\u05c1, a name\nstill connected with the Great Bear), _Cesil_ (\u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05e1\u05b4\u05d9\u05dc), and _Cimah_\n(\u05db\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05de\u05b8\u05d4).\n\nThey occur in Job ix. 9: \u201cWhich maketh Arcturus (R.V. _the Bear_), Orion,\nand Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.\u201d (Marg., Heb., _Ash_,\n_Cesil_, and _Cimah_.)\n\nJob xxxviii. 31, 32: \u201cCanst thou bind the sweet influences (R.V. cluster)\nof the Pleiades (marg., _the __ seven stars_, Heb. _Cimah_), or loose the\nbands of Orion (marg. Heb. _Cesil_)? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth\n(marg., _the twelve signs_. R.V., \u2018the twelve signs\u2019: and marg., _the\nsigns of the Zodiac_) in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his\nsons (R.V., the Bear with her train; and marg., Heb., _sons_).\u201d(12)\n\nIsa. xiii. 10: ... \u201cThe stars of heaven and the constellations thereof.\u201d\n...\n\nAmos v. 8: \u201cSeek him that maketh the seven stars (R.V., the Pleiades) and\nOrion.\u201d\n\nThen we have the term \u201cMazzaroth,\u201d Job xxxviii. 32, and \u201cMazzaloth,\u201d 2\nKings xxiii. 5. The former in both versions is referred to the Twelve\nSigns of the Zodiac, while the latter is rendered \u201cplanets,\u201d and in\nmargin, _the twelve signs or constellations_.\n\nOthers are referred to by name. The sign of \u201cGemini,\u201d or the Twins, is\ngiven as the name of a ship: Acts xxviii. 11, \u0394\u03b9\u03cc\u03c3\u03ba\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03bf\u03b9, (_i.e._ Castor &\nPollux).\n\nMost commentators agree that the constellation of \u201cDraco,\u201d or the Dragon\n(between the Great and Little Bear), is referred to in Job xxvi. 13: \u201cBy\nHis Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked\nserpent (R.V. swift. Marg. _fleeing_ or _gliding_. See Is. xxvii. 1;\nxliii. 14).\u201d This word \u201cgarnished\u201d is peculiar. The R.V. puts in the\nmargin, _beauty_. In Ps. xvi. 6, it is rendered _goodly_. \u201cI have a goodly\nheritage.\u201d In Dan. iv. 2, it is rendered, \u201cI thought it good to show,\u201d\nreferring to \u201cthe signs and wonders\u201d with which God had visited\nNebuchadnezzar. It appears from this that God \u201c_thought it good to show_\u201d\nby these signs written in the heavens the wonders of His purposes and\ncounsels, and it was by His Spirit that He made it known; it was His hand\nthat _coiled_ (\u05d7\u05d5\u05bc\u05dc) the crooked serpent among the stars of heaven.\n\nThus we see that the Scriptures are not silent as to the great antiquity\nof the signs and constellations.\n\nIf we turn to history and tradition, we are at once met with the fact that\nthe Twelve Signs are the same, both as to the meaning of their names and\nas to their order _in all the ancient nations of the world_. The Chinese,\nChaldean, and Egyptian records go back to more than 2,000 years B.C.\nIndeed, the Zodiacs in the Temples of Denderah and Esn\u00e9h, in Egypt, are\ndoubtless copies of Zodiacs still more ancient, which, from internal\nevidence, must be placed nearly 4,000 B.C., when the summer solstice was\nin Leo.\n\nJosephus hands down to us what he gives as the traditions of his own\nnation, corroborated by his reference to eight ancient Gentile\nauthorities, whose works are lost. He says that they all assert that \u201cGod\ngave the antediluvians such long life that they might perfect those things\nwhich they had invented in astronomy.\u201d Cassini commences his _History of\nAstronomy_ by saying \u201cIt is impossible to doubt that astronomy was\ninvented from the beginning of the world; history, profane as well as\nsacred, testifies to this truth.\u201d Nouet, a French astronomer, infers that\nthe Egyptian Astronomy must have arisen 5,400 B.C.!\n\nAncient Persian and Arabian traditions ascribe its invention to Adam,\nSeth, and Enoch. Josephus asserts that it originated in the family of\nSeth; and he says that the children of Seth, and especially Adam, Seth,\nand Enoch, that their revelation might not be lost as to the two coming\njudgments of Water and Fire, made two pillars (one of brick, the other of\nstone), describing the whole of the predictions of the stars upon them,\nand in case the brick pillar should be destroyed by the flood, the stone\nwould preserve the revelation (Book i. chs. 1\u20103).\n\nThis is what is doubtless meant by Gen. xi. 4, \u201cAnd they said, Go to, let\nus build us a city and a tower whose top _may reach_ unto heaven.\u201d The\nwords \u201c_may reach_\u201d are in italics. There is nothing in the verse which\nrelates to the height of this tower. It merely says \u05d5\u05b0\u05e8\u05b9\u05d0\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05b9 \u05d1\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c1\u05de\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd,\n_and his top with the heavens_, _i.e._ with the pictures and the stars,\njust as we find them in the ancient temples of Denderah and Esn\u00e9h in\nEgypt. This tower, with its planisphere and pictures of the signs and\nconstellations, was to be erected like those temples were afterwards, in\norder to preserve the revelation, \u201clest we be scattered abroad upon the\nface of the whole earth.\u201d\n\nThis is corroborated by Lieut.\u2010Gen. Chesney, well known for his learned\nresearches and excavations among the ruins of Babylon, who, after\ndescribing his various discoveries, says,(13) \u201cAbout five miles S.W. of\nHillah, the most remarkable of all the ruins, the _Birs Nimroud_ of the\nArabs, rises to a height of 153 feet above the plain from a base covering\na square of 400 feet, or almost four acres. It was constructed of kiln\u2010\ndried bricks in seven stages to correspond with the planets to which they\nwere dedicated: the lowermost black, the colour of Saturn; the next\norange, for Jupiter; the third red, for Mars; and so on.(14) These stages\nwere surmounted by a lofty tower on the summit of which, we are told, were\nthe signs of the Zodiac and other astronomical figures; thus having (as it\nshould have been translated) _a representation of the heavens_, instead of\n\u2018a top which reached unto heaven.\u2019 \u201d\n\nThis Biblical evidence carries us at once right back to the Flood, or\nabout 2,500 years B.C.\n\nThis tower or temple, or both, was also called \u201c_The Seven Spheres_,\u201d\naccording to some; and \u201cThe Seven Lights,\u201d according to others. It is thus\nclear that the popular idea of its height and purpose must be abandoned,\nand its astronomical reference to revelation must be admitted. The tower\nwas an attempt to preserve and hand down the antediluvian traditions;\ntheir sin was in keeping together instead of scattering themselves over\nthe earth.\n\nAnother important statement is made by Dr. Budge, of the British\nMuseum.(15) He says, \u201cIt must never be forgotten that the Babylonians were\na nation of star\u2010gazers, and that they kept a body of men to do nothing\nelse but report eclipses, appearances of the moon, sun\u2010spots, etc., etc.\u201d\n\n\u201cAstronomy, mixed with astrology, occupied a large number of tablets in\nthe Babylonian libraries, and Isaiah, xlvii. 13, refers to this when he\nsays to Babylon, \u2018Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let\nnow thy astrologers (marg. _viewers of the heavens_), the star\u2010gazers, the\nmonthly prognosticators stand up.\u2019 The largest astrological work of the\nBabylonians contained seventy tablets, and was compiled by the command of\nSargon of Agade thirty\u2010eight hundred years before Christ! It was called\nthe \u2018Illumination of Bel.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\u201cTheir observations were made in towers called \u2018ziggurats\u2019 \u201d (p. 106).\n\n\u201cThey built observatories in all the great cities, and reports like the\nabove [which Dr. Budge gives in full] were regularly sent to the King\u201d (p.\n110).\n\n\u201cThey were able to calculate eclipses, and had long lists of them.\u201d \u201cThey\nfound out that the sun was spotted, and they knew of comets.\u201d \u201cThey were\nthe inventors of the Zodiac\u201d (?). There are fragments of two (ancient\nBabylonian) planispheres in the British Museum with figures and\ncalculations inscribed upon them. \u201cThe months were called after the signs\nof the Zodiac\u201d (p. 109).\n\nWe may form some idea of what this \u201crepresentation of the heavens\u201d was\nfrom the fifth \u201cCreation Tablet,\u201d now in the British Museum. It reads as\nfollows:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cAnu [_the Creator_] made excellent the mansions [_i.e._ _the\n    celestial houses_] of the great gods [twelve] in number [_i.e._\n    _the twelve signs or mansions of the sun_].\n\n    The stars he placed in them. The lumasi [_i.e._ _groups of stars\n    or figures_] he fixed.\n\n    He arranged the year according to the bounds [_i.e._ _the twelve\n    signs_] which he defined.\n\n    For each of the twelve months three rows of stars [_i.e._\n    _constellations_] he fixed.\n\n    From the day when the year issues forth unto the close, he marked\n    the mansions [_i.e._ _the Zodiacal Signs_] of the wandering stars\n    [_i.e._ _planets_] to know their courses that they might not err\n    or deflect at all.\u201d\n\n\nComing down to less ancient records: EUDOXOS, an astronomer of Cnidus (403\nto 350 B.C.), wrote a work on Astronomy which he called _Phainomena_.\nANTIGONUS GONATAS, King of Macedonia (273\u2010239 B.C.), requested the Poet\nARATUS to put the work of EUDOXUS into the form of a poem, which he did\nabout the year 270 B.C. ARATUS called his work _Diosemeia (the Divine\nSigns)_. He was a native of Tarsus, and it is interesting for us to note\nthat his poem was known to, and, indeed, must have been read by, the\nApostle Paul, for he quotes it in his address at Athens on Mars\u2019 Hill. He\nsays (Acts xvii. 28), \u201cFor in Him we live, and move, and have our being;\nas certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his\noffspring.\u201d(16) Several translations of this poem have been made, both by\nCICERO and others, into Latin, and in recent times into English by E.\nPoste, J. Lamb, and others. The following is the opening from the\ntranslation of Robert Brown, jun.:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cFrom Zeus we lead the strain; he whom mankind\n    Ne\u2019er leave unhymned: of Zeus all public ways,\n    All haunts of men, are full; and full the sea,\n    And harbours; and of Zeus all stand in need.\n    _We are his offspring_:(17) and he, ever good and mild to man,\n    Gives favouring signs, and rouses us to toil.\n    Calling to mind life\u2019s wants: when clods are best\n    For plough and mattock: when the time is ripe\n    For planting vines and sowing seeds, he tells,\n    Since he himself hath fixed in heaven these Signs,\n    The stars dividing: and throughout the year\n    Stars he provides to indicate to man\n    The seasons\u2019 course, that all things duly grow,\u201d etc., etc.\n\n\nThen ARATUS proceeds to describe and explain all the Signs and\nConstellations as the Greeks in his day understood, or rather\nmisunderstood, them, after their true meaning and testimony had been\nforgotten.\n\nMoreover, ARATUS describes them, not as they were seen in his day, but as\nthey were seen some 4,000 years before. The stars were not seen from\nTarsus as he describes them, and he must therefore have written from a\nthen ancient Zodiac. For notwithstanding that we speak of \u201cfixed stars,\u201d\nthere is a constant, though slow, change taking place amongst them. There\nis also another change taking place owing to the slow recession of the\npole of the heavens (about 50\" in the year); so that while _Alpha_ in the\nconstellation of _Draco_ was the Polar Star when the Zodiac was first\nformed, the Polar Star is now _Alpha_ in what is called _Ursa Minor_. This\nchange alone carries us back at least 5,000 years. The same movement which\nhas changed the relative position of these two stars has also caused the\nconstellation of the _Southern Cross_ to become invisible in northern\nlatitudes. When the constellations were formed the _Southern Cross_ was\nvisible in N. latitude 40\u00b0, and was included in their number. But, though\nknown by tradition, it had not been seen in that latitude for some twenty\ncenturies, until the Cape of Good Hope had been discovered. Then was seen\nagain _The Southern Cross_ depicted by the Patriarchs. Here is another\nindisputable proof as to the antiquity of the formation of the Zodiac.\n\nPTOLEMY (150 A.D.) transmits them from H\u00cfPPARCHUS (130 B.C.) \u201cas of\nunquestioned authority, unknown origin, and unsearchable antiquity.\u201d\n\nSir William Drummond says that \u201cthe traditions of the Chaldean Astronomy\nseem the fragments of a mighty system fallen into ruins.\u201d\n\nThe word _Zodiac_ itself is from the Greek \u0396\u03c9\u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03ba\u03cc\u03c2, which is not from\n\u0396\u03ac\u03c9, _to live_, but from a primitive root through the Hebrew _Sodi_, which\nin Sanscrit means _a way_. Its etymology has no connection with _living\ncreatures_, but denotes _a way_, or _step_, and is used of the _way_ or\n_path_ in which the sun appears to move amongst the stars in the course of\nthe year.\n\nTo an observer on the earth the whole firmament, together with the sun,\nappears to revolve in a circle once in twenty\u2010four hours. But the time\noccupied by the stars in going round, differs from the time occupied by\nthe sun. This difference amounts to about one\u2010twelfth part of the whole\ncircle in each month, so that when the circle of the heavens is divided up\ninto twelve parts, the sun appears to move each month through one of them.\nThis path which the sun thus makes amongst the stars is called the\n_Ecliptic_.(18)\n\nEach of these twelve parts (consisting each of about 30 degrees) is\ndistinguished, not by numbers or by letters, but by pictures and names,\nand this, as we have seen, from the very earliest times. They are\npreserved to the present day in our almanacs, and we are taught their\norder in the familiar rhymes:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThe RAM, the BULL, the heavenly TWINS,\n    And next the CRAB, the LION shines,\n        The VIRGIN and the SCALES;\n    The SCORPION, ARCHER, and SEA\u2010GOAT,\n    The MAN that carries the Water\u2010pot,\n        And FISH with glittering scales.\u201d\n\n\nThese signs have always and everywhere been preserved in this order, and\nhave begun with ARIES. They have been known amongst all nations, and in\nall ages, thus proving their common origin from one source.\n\nThe figures themselves are perfectly arbitrary. There is nothing in the\ngroups of stars to even suggest the figures. This is the first thing which\nis noticed by every one who looks at the constellations. Take for example\nthe sign of VIRGO, and look at the stars. There is nothing whatever to\nsuggest a human form; still less is there anything to show whether that\nform is a man or a woman. And so with all the others.\n\nThe _picture_, therefore, is the original, and must have been drawn around\nor connected with certain stars, simply in order that it might be\nidentified and associated with them; and that it might thus be remembered\nand handed down to posterity.\n\nThere can be no doubt, as the learned Authoress of _Mazzaroth_\nconclusively proves, that these signs were afterwards identified with the\ntwelve sons of Jacob. Joseph sees the sun and moon and eleven stars bowing\ndown to him, he himself being the twelfth (Gen. xxxvii. 9). The blessing\nof Jacob (Gen. xlix.) and the blessing of Moses (Deut. xxxiii.) both bear\nwitness to the existence of these signs in their day. And it is more than\nprobable that each of the Twelve Tribes bore one of them on its standard.\nWe read in Num. ii. 2, \u201cEvery man of the children of Israel shall pitch by\nhis own STANDARD, with the ENSIGN of their father\u2019s house\u201d (R.V. \u201cwith the\nensigns of their fathers\u2019 houses\u201d). This \u201cStandard\u201d was the _Degel_\n(\u05d3\u05b6\u05d2\u05b6\u05dc) on which the \u201cSign\u201d (\u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea, _Oth_) was depicted. Hence it was\ncalled the \u201c_En\u2010sign_.\u201d Ancient Jewish authorities declare that each tribe\nhad one of the signs as its own, and it is highly probable, even from\nScripture, that four of the tribes carried its \u201cSign\u201d; and that these four\nwere placed at the four sides of the camp.\n\nIf the Lion were appropriated to Judah, then the other three would be thus\nfixed, and would be the same four that equally divide the Zodiac at its\nfour cardinal points. According to Num. ii. the camp was thus formed:\u2014\n\n\n    In the North, from North\u2010West to North\u2010East:\n    ASHER (_Sagittarius_).\n    DAN, The Scorpion (_Scorpio_).\n    NEPHTALI (_Capricornus_).\n    In the East, from North\u2010East to South\u2010East:\n    ISSACHAR (_Cancer_).\n    JUDAH, The Lion (_Leo_).\n    ZEBULON (_Virgo_).\n    In the South, from South\u2010East to South\u2010West:\n    SIMEON (_Pisces_).\n    REUBEN, The Man (_Aquarius_).\n    GAD (_Aries_).\n    In the West, from South\u2010West to North\u2010West:\n    EPHRAIM and MANASSEH, The Bull (the two horns of _Taurus_).\n    BENJAMIN (_Gemini_).\n    In the Center:\n    LEVI, The Scales (_Libra_).\n\n\nIf the reader compares the above with the blessings of Israel and Moses,\nand compares the meanings and descriptions given below with those\nblessings, the connection will be clearly seen. Levi, for example, had no\nstandard, and he needed none, for he kept \u201cthe balance of the Sanctuary,\u201d\nand had the charge of that brazen altar on which the atoning blood\noutweighed the nation\u2019s sins.\n\nThe four great signs which thus marked the four sides of the camp, and the\nfour quarters of the Zodiac, are the same four which form the Cherubim\n(the Eagle, the Scorpion\u2019s enemy, being substituted for the Scorpion). The\nCherubim thus form a compendious expression of the hope of Creation,\nwhich, from the very first, has been bound up with the Coming One, who\nalone should cause its groanings to cease.\n\nBut this brings us to the Signs themselves and their interpretation.\n\nThese pictures were designed to preserve, expound, and perpetuate the one\nfirst great promise and prophecy of Gen. iii. 15, that all hope for Man,\nall hope for Creation, was bound up in _a coming Redeemer_; One who should\nbe born of a woman; who should first suffer, and afterwards gloriously\ntriumph; One who should first be wounded by that great enemy who was the\ncause of all sin and sorrow and death, but who should finally crush the\nhead of \u201cthat Old Serpent the Devil.\u201d\n\nThese ancient star\u2010pictures reveal this Coming One. They set forth \u201cthe\nsufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.\u201d Altogether there\nare forty\u2010eight of them, made up of twelve SIGNS, each sign containing\nthree CONSTELLATIONS.\n\nThese may be divided into _three_ great books, each book containing four\nchapters (or Signs); and each chapter containing three sections (or\nConstellations).\n\nEach book (like the four Gospels) sets forth its peculiar aspect of the\nComing One; beginning with the promise of His coming, and ending with the\ndestruction of the enemy.\n\nBut where are we to _begin_ to read this wondrous Heavenly Scroll? A\ncircle has proverbially neither beginning nor end. In what order then are\nwe to consider these signs? In the heavens they form a never\u2010ending\ncircle. Where is the beginning and where is the end of this circle through\nwhich the sun is constantly moving? Where are we to break into this\ncircle? and say, _This is the commencement_. It is clear that unless we\ncan determine this original starting point we can never read this wondrous\nbook aright.\n\nAs I have said, the popular beginning to\u2010day is with ARIES, _the_ Ram. But\ncomparing this Revelation with that which was afterwards written \u201cin the\nVolume of the Book,\u201d VIRGO is the only point where we can intelligently\nbegin, and LEO is the only point where we can logically conclude. Is not\nthis what is spoken of as the unknown and insoluble mystery\u2014\u201cThe riddle of\nthe SPHINX\u201d? The word \u201cSphinx\u201d is from \u03c3\u03c6\u03af\u03b3\u03b3\u03c9, _to bind closely together_.\nIt was therefore designed to show where the two ends of the Zodiac were to\nbe joined together, and where the great circle of the heavens begins and\nends.\n\n                 [Ceiling of Portico of Temple of Esneh]\n\n Signs of Leo and Virgo, from the ceiling of the Portico of the Temple of\n Esneh, showing the Sphinx between, uniting the beginning and end of the\n                                 Zodiac.\n\n\nThe SPHINX is a figure with the _head of a woman_ and the _body of a\nlion_! What is this but a never\u2010ceasing monitor, telling us to begin with\n_Virgo_ and to end with _Leo_! In the Zodiac in the Temple of Esn\u00e9h, in\nEgypt, a Sphinx is actually placed between the Signs of Virgo and Leo, as\nshown in the illustration on the preceding page. It is a tracing from the\ndrawing of Signor Bossi, executed on the spot, under the direction of the\nlate Mr. Edward J. Cooper, in 1820.\n\nBeginning, then, with VIRGO, let us now spread out the contents of this\nHeavenly Volume, so that the eye can take them in at a glance. Of course\nwe are greatly hindered in this, in having to use the modern Latin names\nwhich the Constellations bear to\u2010day.(19) Some of these names are\nmistakes, others are gross perversions of the truth, as proved by the\npictures themselves, which are far more ancient, and have come down to us\nfrom primitive times.\n\nAfter the Revelation came to be written down in the Scriptures, there was\nnot the same need for the preservation of the Heavenly Volume. And after\nthe nations had lost the original meaning of the pictures, they invented a\nmeaning out of the vain imagination of the thoughts of their hearts. The\nGreek Mythology is an interpretation of (only some of) the signs and\nconstellations after their true meaning had been forgotten. It is\npopularly believed that Bible truth is an evolution from, or development\nof, the ancient religions of the world. But the fact is that they\nthemselves are a _corruption_ and _perversion of primitive truth_!\n\nWe will now give _the contents_ of this Heavenly Volume of Divine\nRevelation, and afterwards proceed to develope it, explain it in detail,\nand compare it with the same truth which was afterwards written down in\nthe Scriptures.\n\n\n                             The First Book.\n                              THE REDEEMER.\n                           (HIS FIRST COMING.)\n                       \u201cThe Sufferings of Christ.\u201d\n\n                               CHAPTER I.\n             THE PROPHECY OF THE PROMISED SEED OF THE WOMAN.\n\n    VIRGO (_The Virgin. A woman bearing a branch in her right hand and\n    an ear of corn in her left_). The Promised Seed of the woman.\n\n    \u00a7 1. COMA (_The Desired. The woman and child_). The Desired of all\n    nations.\n\n    \u00a7 2. CENTAURUS (_The Centaur with two natures, holding a spear\n    piercing a victim_). The despised sin offering.\n\n    \u00a7 3. BO\u00d6TES (_a man walking bearing a branch called_ ARCTURUS,\n    _meaning the same_). He cometh.\n\n                               CHAPTER II.\n                       THE REDEEMER\u2019S ATONING WORK.\n\n    LIBRA (_The Scales_). The price deficient balanced by the price\n    which covers.\n\n    \u00a7 1. CRUX, The Cross endured.\n\n    \u00a7 2. LUPUS, or VICTIMA, _The Victim_ slain.\n\n    \u00a7 3. CORONA, _The Crown_ bestowed.\n\n                              CHAPTER III.\n                         THE REDEEMER\u2019S CONFLICT.\n\n    SCORPIO (_The Scorpion_) seeking to wound, but itself trodden\n    under foot.\n\n    \u00a7 1. SERPENS (_The Serpent_ struggling with the man).\n\n    \u00a7 2. O\u2010PHI\u2010U\u2010CHUS (_The man_ grasping the serpent). The struggle\n    with the enemy.\n\n    \u00a7 3. HERCULES (_The mighty man. A man kneeling on one knee,\n    humbled in the conflict, but holding aloft the tokens of victory,\n    with his foot on the head of the Dragon_). The mighty Vanquisher\n    seeming to sink in the conflict.\n\n                               CHAPTER IV.\n                         THE REDEEMER\u2019S TRIUMPH.\n\n    SAGITTARIUS (_The Archer_). The Two\u2010natured Conqueror going forth\n    \u201cConquering and to conquer.\u201d\n\n    \u00a7 1. LYRA (_The Harp_). Praise prepared for the Conqueror.\n\n    \u00a7 2. ARA (_The Altar_). Consuming fire prepared for His enemies.\n\n    \u00a7 3. DRACO (_The Dragon_). The Old Serpent\u2014the Devil, cast down\n    from heaven.\n\n                            The Second Book.\n                              THE REDEEMED.\n                 THE RESULT OF THE REDEEMER\u2019S SUFFERINGS.\n\n                               CHAPTER I.\n                        THEIR BLESSINGS PROCURED.\n\n    CAPRICORNUS (_The fish\u2010goat_). The goat of Atonement slain for the\n    Redeemed.\n\n    \u00a7 1. SAGITTA (_The Arrow_). The arrow of God sent forth.\n\n    \u00a7 2. AQUILA (_The Eagle_). The smitten One falling.\n\n    \u00a7 3. DELPHINUS (_The Dolphin_). The dead One rising again.\n\n                               CHAPTER II.\n                         THEIR BLESSINGS ENSURED.\n\n    AQUARIUS (_The Water\u2010Bearer_): The living waters of blessing\n    poured forth for the Redeemed.\n\n    \u00a7 1. PISCIS AUSTRALIS (_The Southern Fish_). The blessings\n    bestowed.\n\n    \u00a7 2. PEGASUS (_The Winged Horse_). The blessings quickly coming.\n\n    \u00a7 3. CYGNUS (_The Swan_). The Blesser surely returning.\n\n                              CHAPTER III.\n                       THEIR BLESSINGS IN ABEYANCE.\n\n    PISCES (_The Fishes_). The Redeemed blessed though bound.\n\n    \u00a7 1. THE BAND\u2014bound, but binding their great enemy Cetus, the sea\n    monster.\n\n    \u00a7 2. ANDROMEDA (_The Chained Woman_). The Redeemed in their\n    bondage and affliction.\n\n    \u00a7 3. CEPHEUS (_The King_). Their Redeemer coming to rule.\n\n                               CHAPTER IV.\n                 THEIR BLESSINGS CONSUMMATED AND ENJOYED.\n\n    ARIES (_The Ram or Lamb_). The Lamb that was slain, prepared for\n    the victory.\n\n    \u00a7 1. CASSIOPEIA (_The Enthroned Woman_). The captive delivered,\n    and preparing for her husband, the Redeemer.\n\n    \u00a7 2. CETUS (_The Sea Monster_). The great enemy bound.\n\n    \u00a7 3. PERSEUS (_The Breaker_). Delivering His redeemed.\n\n                             The Third Book.\n                              THE REDEEMER.\n                          (HIS SECOND COMING.)\n                     \u201cThe glory that should follow.\u201d\n\n                               CHAPTER I.\n               MESSIAH, THE COMING JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH.\n\n    TAURUS (_The Bull_). Messiah coming to rule.\n\n    \u00a7 1. ORION, _Light breaking forth_ in the person of the Redeemer.\n\n    \u00a7 2. ERIDANUS (_The River of the Judge_). Wrath breaking forth for\n    His enemies.\n\n    \u00a7 3. AURIGA (_The Shepherd_). Safety for the Redeemed in the day\n    of that wrath.\n\n                               CHAPTER II.\n                   MESSIAH\u2019S REIGN AS PRINCE OF PEACE.\n\n    GEMINI (The Twins). The twofold nature of the King.\n\n    \u00a7 1. LEPUS (_The Hare_), or THE ENEMY trodden under foot.\n\n    \u00a7 2. CANIS MAJOR (_The Dog_), or SIRIUS, the coming glorious\n    Prince of Princes.\n\n    \u00a7 3. CANIS MINOR (_The Second Dog_), or PROCYON, the exalted\n    Redeemer.\n\n                              CHAPTER III.\n                     MESSIAH\u2019S REDEEMED POSSESSIONS.\n\n    CANCER (The Crab). The possessions held fast.\n\n    \u00a7 1. URSA MINOR (_The Lesser Bear_). The lesser sheepfold.\n\n    \u00a7 2. URSA MAJOR (_The Great Bear_). The fold and the flock.\n\n    \u00a7 3. ARGO (_The Ship_). The redeemed pilgrims safe at home.\n\n                               CHAPTER IV.\n                      MESSIAH\u2019S CONSUMMATED TRIUMPH.\n\n    LEO (_The Lion_). The Lion of the Tribe of Judah aroused for the\n    rending of the Enemy.\n\n    \u00a7 1. HYDRA (_The Serpent_). That old Serpent\u2014the Devil, destroyed.\n\n    \u00a7 2. CRATER (_The Cup_). The cup of Divine wrath poured out upon\n    him.\n\n    \u00a7 3. CORVUS (_The Crow, or Raven_). Birds of prey devouring him.\n\n\nSuch are the contents of this wondrous book that is written in the\nheavens. Thus has God been speaking and emphasizing and developing His\nfirst great prophetic promise of Gen. iii. 15.\n\nThough for more than 2,500 years His people had not this Revelation\nwritten in a book as we now have it in the Bible, they were not left in\nignorance and darkness as to God\u2019s purposes and counsels; nor were they\nwithout hope as to ultimate deliverance from all evil and from the Evil\nOne.\n\nAdam, who first heard that wondrous promise, repeated it, and gave it to\nhis posterity as a most precious heritage\u2014the ground of all their faith,\nthe substance of all their hope, the object of all their desire. Seth and\nEnoch took it up. Enoch, we know, prophesied of the Lord\u2019s coming, saying,\n\u201cBehold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute\njudgment upon all\u201d (Jude 14). How could these \u201choly prophets, since the\nworld began,\u201d have recorded their prophecies better, or more effectually,\nor more truthfully and powerfully, than in these star\u2010pictures and their\ninterpretation? This becomes a certainty when we remember the words of the\nHoly Spirit by Zacharias (Luke i. 67\u201070):\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cBlessed be the Lord God of Israel;\n    For He hath visited and redeemed His people,\n    And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us\n    In the house of His servant David;\n    As He spake by the mouth of HIS HOLY PROPHETS\n    WHICH HAVE BEEN SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.\u201d\n\n\nThe same truth is revealed through Peter, in Acts iii. 20, 21:\u2014\u201cHe shall\nsend Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven\nmust receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath\nspoken by the mouth of all HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.\u201d\n\nThese words have new meaning for us, if we see the things which were\nspoken \u201csince the world began,\u201d thus written in the heavens, which utter\nspeech (_i.e._ prophecy), and show forth this knowledge day after day and\nnight after night, the heritage of all the earth, and their words reaching\nunto the ends of the world.\n\nThis Revelation, coinciding as it does in all its facts and truths with\nthat afterwards recorded \u201cin the Volume of the Book,\u201d must have had the\nsame Divine origin, must have been made known by the inspiration of the\nsame Holy Spirit.\n\nWe now proceed to compare the two, and we shall see how they agree at\nevery point, proving that the source and origin of this Divine Revelation\nis one and the same.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIRST BOOK. THE REDEEMER.\n\n\n                          (_His First Coming_.)\n\n                       \u201cThe Sufferings of Christ.\u201d\n\nThe First Book is occupied with the PERSON of the Coming One. It covers\nthe whole ground, and includes the conflict and the victory of the\nPromised Seed, but with special emphasis on His Coming. The book opens\nwith the promise of His coming, and it closes with the Dragon cast down\nfrom heaven.\n\n\n\n\nChapter I. The Sign VIRGO.\n\n\n                    _The Promised Seed of the Woman_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                       Plate 1: Virgo (the Virgin)\n\n\nHere is the commencement of all prophecy in Gen. iii. 15, spoken to the\nserpent:\u2014\u201cI will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy\nseed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His\nheel.\u201d This is the prophetic announcement which the Revelation in the\nheavens and in the Book is designed to unfold and develope. It lies at the\nroot of all the ancient traditions and mythologies, which are simply the\nperversion and corruption of primitive truth.\n\nVIRGO is represented as a woman with a _branch_ in her right hand, and\nsome ears of corn in her left hand. Thus giving a two\u2010fold testimony of\nthe Coming One.\n\nThe name of this sign in the Hebrew is _Bethulah_, which means _a virgin_,\nand in the Arabic _a branch_. The two words are connected, as in\nLatin\u2014_Virgo_, which means _a virgin_; and _virga_, which means _a branch_\n(Vulg. Isa. xi. 1). Another name is _Sunbul_, Arabic, _an ear of corn_.\n\nIn Gen. iii. 15 she is presented only as a woman; but in later prophecies\nher nationality is defined as being of the stock of Israel, the seed of\nAbraham, the line of David; and, further, she is to be a virgin. There are\ntwo prominent prophecies of her and her seed: one is connected with the\nfirst coming in incarnation, Isa. vii. 14 (quoted in Matt. i. 23.)\n\n\n    \u201cBehold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,\n    And shall call his name Immanuel.\u201d\n\n\nThe other is connected with His second coming, leaping over the sufferings\nand this present interval of His rejection, and looking forward to His\ncoming in glory and judgment, Isa. ix. 6, 7 (quoted in Luke ii. 11 and i.\n32, 33)\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cFor unto us a child is born,\n    Unto us a son is given;(20)\n    And the government shall be upon His shoulder;\n    And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,\n    The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.\n    Of the increase of His government there shall be no end.\n    Upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom,\n    To order it, and to establish it\n    With judgment and with justice\n    From henceforth even for ever.\n    The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.\u201d\n\n\nIt is difficult to separate the Virgin and her Seed in the prophecy, and\nso, here, we have first the sign VIRGO, where the name points to her as\nthe prominent subject; while in the first of the three constellations of\nthis sign, where the woman appears again, the name COMA points to the\nchild as the great subject.\n\n_Virgo_ contains 110 stars, _viz._, one of the 1st magnitude, six of the\n3rd, ten of the 4th, etc.\n\nARATUS thus sings of them:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cBeneath Bo\u00f6tes feet the Virgin seek,\n    Who carries in her hand a glittering spike....\n    Over her shoulder there revolves a star\n    In the right wing, superlatively bright;(21)\n    It rolls beneath the tail, and may compare\n    With the bright stars that deck the Greater Bear.\n    Upon her shoulder one bright star is borne,(22)\n    One clasps the circling girdle of her loins,(23)\n    One at her bending knee;(24) and in her hand\n    Glitters that bright and golden Ear of Corn.(25)\n\n\nThus the brightest star in Virgo (\u03b1)(26) has an ancient name, handed down\nto us in all the star\u2010maps, in which the Hebrew word (\u05e6\u05b6\u05de\u05b6\u05d7) _Tsemech_ is\npreserved. It is called in Arabic _Al Zimach_, which means _the branch_.\nThis star is in the ear of corn which she holds in her left hand. Hence\nthe star has a modern Latin name, which has almost superseded the ancient\none, _Spica_, which means, _an ear of corn_. But this hides the great\ntruth revealed by its name _Al Zimach_. It foretold the coming of Him who\nshould bear this name. The same Divine inspiration has, in the written\nWord, four times connected it with Him. There are twenty Hebrew words\ntranslated \u201cBranch,\u201d but only one of them (_Tsemech_) is used exclusively\nof the Messiah, and this word only four times.(27)Each of these further\nconnects Him with one special account of Him, given in the Gospels.\n\n(1.) Jer. xxiii. 5, 6\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cBehold, the days come, saith the LORD,\n    That I will raise unto David a righteous BRANCH\n    (_i.e._, a Son),\n    And a KING shall reign and prosper.\u201d\n\n\nThe account of His coming as King is written in the Gospel according to\nMatthew, where Jehovah says to Israel, \u201cBehold thy KING.\u201d (Zech. ix. 9;\nMatt. xxi. 9.)\n\n(2.) Zech. iii. 8.\u2014\u201cBehold I will bring forth my SERVANT the BRANCH.\u201d In\nthe Gospel according to Mark we find the record of Jehovah\u2019s servant and\nHis service, and we hear Jehovah\u2019s voice saying, \u201cBehold my SERVANT.\u201d\n(Isa. xlii. 1.)\n\n(3.) Zech. vi. 12.\u2014\u201cThus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the\nMAN whose name is the BRANCH.\u201d In the Gospel according to Luke we behold\nHim, presented in \u201cthe MAN Christ Jesus.\u201d\n\n(4.) Isa. iv. 2.\u2014\u201cIn that day shall the BRANCH of JEHOVAH be beautiful and\nglorious.\u201d So that this Branch, this Son, is Jehovah Himself; and as we\nread the record of John we hear the voice from heaven saying, \u201cBehold your\nGOD.\u201d (Isa. xl. 9.)\n\nThis is the Branch foretold by the star _Al Zimach_ in the ear of corn.\n\nThe star \u03b2 is called _Zavijaveh_, which means _the gloriously beautiful_,\nas in Isa. iv. 2. The star \u03b5, in the arm bearing the branch, is called _Al\nMureddin_, which means _who shall come down_ (as in Ps. lxxii. 8), or _who\nshall have dominion_. It is also known as _Vindemiatrix_, a Chaldee word\nwhich means _the son_, or _branch_, _who cometh_.\n\nOther names of stars in the sign, not identified, are\u2014\n\n_Subilah, who carries_. (Isa. xlvi. 4.)\n\n_Al Azal, the Branch_. (As in Isa. xviii. 5.)\n\n_Subilon, a spike of corn_. (As in Isa. xvii. 5.)\n\nThe Greeks, ignorant of the Divine origin and teaching of the sign,\nrepresented Virgo as _Ceres_, with ears of corn in her hand.\n\nIn the Zodiac in the Temple of Denderah, in Egypt, about 2000 B.C. (now in\nParis), she is likewise represented with a branch in her hand, but\nignorantly explained by a false religion to represent _Isis_! Her name is\ncalled _Aspolia_, which means _ears of corn_, or _the seed_, which shows\nthat though the woman is seen, it is her Seed who is the great subject of\nthe prophecy.\n\nPassing to the three constellations anciently assigned to the sign Virgo,\nwe come to what may be compared to _three sections_ of the chapter, each\ngiving some further detail as to the interpretation of its teaching.\n\n\n\n1. COMA (The Woman and Child).\n\n\n                      _The Desired of all Nations._\n\nThe first constellation in Virgo explains that this coming \u201cBranch\u201d will\nbe a child, and that He should be the \u201cDesire of all nations.\u201d\n\nThe ancient name of this constellation is _Comah_,(28) _the desired_, or\n_the longed for_. We have the word used by the Holy Spirit in this very\nconnection, in Hag. ii. 7: \u201cThe DESIRE of all nations shall come.\u201d\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                       Plate 2: Coma (the Desired)\n\n\nThe ancient Zodiacs pictured this constellation as a woman with a child in\nher arms. ALBUMAZAR(29) (or ABU MASHER), an Arabian astronomer of the\neighth century, says, \u201cThere arises in the first Decan,(30) as the\nPersians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians, and the two HERMES and ASCALIUS teach,\n_a young woman_, whose Persian name denotes a pure virgin, sitting on a\nthrone, _nourishing an infant boy_ (the boy, I say), having a Hebrew name,\nby some nations called IHESU, with the signification IEZA, which in Greek\nis called CHRISTOS.\u201d\n\nBut this picture is not found in any of the _modern_ maps of the stars.\nThere we find to\u2010day a woman\u2019s wig! It appears that BERENICE, the wife of\nEUERGETES (PTOLEMY III.), king of Egypt in the third century B.C., when\nher husband once went on a dangerous expedition, vowed to consecrate her\nfine head of hair to Venus if he returned in safety. Her hair, which was\nhung up in the Temple of Venus, was subsequently stolen, and to comfort\nBERENICE, CONON, an astronomer of Alexandria (B.C. 283\u2010222), gave it out\nthat Jupiter had taken it and made it a constellation!\n\nThis is a good example of how the meaning of other constellations have\nbeen perverted (ignorantly or intentionally). In this case, as in others,\nthe transition from ancient to more modern languages helped to hide the\nmeaning. The Hebrew name was COMA (_desired_). But the Greeks had a word\nfor hair, _C\u00f3\u2010me_. This again is transferred to the Latin _coma_, and thus\n\u201c_Coma Berenic\u00e6_\u201d (_the hair of Berenice_) comes down to us to\u2010day as the\nname of this constellation, and gives us a woman\u2019s wig instead of that\nBlessed One, \u201cthe Desire of all Nations.\u201d\n\nIn this case, however, we are able to give absolute proof that this is a\nperversion.\n\nThe ancient Egyptian name for this constellation was _Shes\u2010nu, the desired\nson_!\n\nThe Zodiac in the Temple of Denderah, in Egypt, going back at least 2,000\nyears B.C., has no trace of any hair, but it has the figure of a woman and\nchild. In our illustration we have given a copy of this very ancient\npicture, and not the wig of hair!\n\nWe have been permitted to trace it from a work on _Egyptian Scenery_ by\nthe late eminent astronomer, Edward J. Cooper, of Markree Castle, co.\nSligo, who visited that Temple in the year 1820 with an Italian artist,\nSignor Bossi. The original drawing from which our tracing is made (and\nenlarged) was drawn by Signor Bossi on the spot, before it was taken to\nParis in 1821.(31) We thus have before us the exact representations of one\nof these star\u2010pictures at least 4,000 years old.\n\nEven Shakespeare understood the truth about this constellation picture,\nwhich has been so long covered by modern inventions. In his _Titus\nAndronicus_(32) he speaks of an arrow being shot up to heaven to the\n\u201c_Good boy in Virgo\u2019s lap._\u201d\n\nThe constellation itself is very remarkable. Others contain one or two\nstars of the first or second magnitude, and then a greater or less variety\nof lesser stars; but this is peculiar from having no one very bright star,\nbut contains so many stars of the 4th and 5th magnitudes. It contains 43\nstars altogether, ten being of the 4th magnitude, and the remainder of the\n5th, 6th, etc.\n\nIt was in all probability the constellation of _Coma_ in which \u201cthe Star\nof Bethlehem\u201d appeared. There was a traditional prophecy, well\u2010known in\nthe East, carefully preserved and handed down, that a new star would\nappear in this sign when He whom it foretold should be born.\n\nThis was, doubtless, referred to in the prophecy of Balaam, which would\nthus receive a double fulfilment, first of the literal \u201cStar,\u201d and also of\nthe person to whom it referred. The Lord said by Balaam (Num. xxiv. 17),\n\n\n    \u201cThere shall come(33) a star out of Jacob,\n    And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.\u201d\n\n\nThomas Hyde, an eminent Orientalist (1636\u20101703), writing on the ancient\nreligion of the Persians, quotes from ABULFARAGIUS (an Arab Christian\nHistorian, 1226\u20101286), who says that ZOROASTER, or ZERDUSHT, the Persian,\nwas a pupil of Daniel the Prophet, and that he predicted to the Magians\n(who were the astronomers of Persia), that when they should see _a new\nstar_ appear it would notify the birth of a mysterious child, whom they\nwere to adore. It is further stated in the _Zend Avesta_ that this new\nstar was to appear in the sign of the Virgin. Some have supposed that this\npassage is not genuine. But whether it was interpolated before or after\nthe event, it is equally good evidence for our purpose here. For if it was\nwritten _before_ the event, it is evidence of the _prophetic\nannouncement_; and if it was interpolated _after_ the event it is evidence\nof the _historic fact_.\n\nThe Book of Job shows us how Astronomy flourished in Idumea; and the\nGospel according to Matthew shows that the Persian Magi, as well as\nothers, were looking for \u201cthe Desire of all nations.\u201d\n\nNew stars have appeared again and again. It was in 125 B.C. that a star,\nso bright as to be seen in the day\u2010time, suddenly appeared. It was this\nthat caused HIPPARCHUS to draw up his catalogue of stars, which has been\nhanded down to us by PTOLEMY (150 A.D.).\n\nThis new star would show the _latitude_, passing at that time immediately\noverhead at midnight, every twenty\u2010four hours; while the prophecy would\ngive the _longitude_ as the land of Jacob. Having these two factors, it\nwould be only a matter of observation, and easy for the Magi to find the\nplace where it would be vertical, and thus to locate the very spot of the\nbirth of Him of whom it was the sign, for they emphatically called it \u201cHis\nStar.\u201d There is a beautiful tradition which relates how, in their\ndifficulty, on their way from Jerusalem to find the actual spot under the\n_Zenith_ of this star, these Magi sat down beside David\u2019s \u201cWell of\nBethlehem\u201d to refresh themselves. There they saw the star reflected in the\nclear water of the well. Hence it is written that \u201cwhen they saw the star\nthey rejoiced with exceeding joy,\u201d for they knew they were at the very\nspot and place of His appearing whence He was to \u201ccome forth.\u201d\n\nThere can be little doubt that it was _a new star_. In the first place a\nnew star is no unusual phenomenon. In the second place the tradition is\nwell supported by ancient Christian writers. One speaks of its \u201csurpassing\nbrightness.\u201d Another (IGNATIUS, Bp. of Antioch, A.D. 69) says, \u201cAt the\nappearance of the Lord a star shone forth brighter than all the other\nstars.\u201d IGNATIUS, doubtless, had this from those who had actually seen it!\nPRUDENTIUS (4th cent. A.D.) says that not even the morning star was so\nfair. Archbishop Trench, who quotes these authorities, says \u201cThis star, I\nconceive, as so many ancients and moderns have done, to have been a new\nstar in the heavens.\u201d\n\nOne step more places this new star in the constellation of COMA, and with\nnew force makes it indeed \u201cHis star\u201d\u2014the \u201cSign\u201d of His \u201ccoming forth from\nBethlehem.\u201d Will it be \u201cthe sign of the Son of Man in heaven\u201d (Matt. xxiv.\n30) when He shall \u201ccome unto\u201d this world again to complete the wondrous\nprophecies written of Him in the heavenly and earthly Revelations?(34)\n\nThus does the constellation of COMA reveal that the coming \u201cSeed of the\nwoman\u201d was to be a child born, a son given.\n\nBut He was to be more: He was to be God and man\u2014two natures in one person!\nThis is the lesson of the next picture.\n\n\n\n2. CENTAURUS (The Centaur).\n\n\n                       _The Despised Sin\u2010offering_.\n\nIt is the figure of a being with two natures. Jamieson, in his _Celestial\nAtlas_, 1822, says, \u201cOn the authority of the most accomplished Orientalist\nof our own times, the Arabic and Chaldaic name of this constellation is\n\u05d1\u05d6\u05d4.\u201d Now this Hebrew word _Bezeh_ (and the Arabic _Al Beze_) means _the\ndespised_. It is the very word used of this Divine sufferer in Isa. liii.\n3, \u201cHe is DESPISED (\u05e0\u05b4\u05d1\u05b0\u05d6\u05b6\u05d4) and rejected of men.\u201d\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                     Plate 3: Centaurus (the Centaur)\n\n\nThe constellation contains thirty\u2010five stars. Two of the 1st magnitude,\none of the 2nd, six of the 3rd, nine of the 4th, etc., which, together\nwith the four bright stars in the Cross make a brilliant show in southern\nlatitudes.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the horse\u2019s fore\u2010foot), has come down to us with\nthe ancient name of _Toliman_, which means _the heretofore and hereafter_,\nmarking Him as the one \u201cwhich is, and which was, and which is to come\u2014the\nAlmighty\u201d (Rev. i. 8). Sir John Herschell observed this star to be growing\nrapidly brighter. It may be, therefore, one of the changeable stars, and\nits name may be taken as an indication of the fact that it was known to\nthe ancients.\n\nAnother name for the constellation was in Hebrew, _Asmeath_, which means a\n_sin\u2010offering_ (as in Isa. liii. 10).\n\nThe Greek name was _Cheiron_, which means _the pierced_, or _who pierces_.\nIn the Greek fables _Cheiron_ was renowned for his skill in hunting,\nmedicine, music, athletics, and prophecy. All the most distinguished\nheroes of Greece are described as his pupils. He was supposed to be\nimmortal, but he voluntarily agreed to die; and, wounded by a poisoned\narrow (not intended for him) while in conflict with a wild boar, he\ntransferred his immortality to Prometheus; whereupon he was placed amongst\nthe stars.\n\nWe can easily see how this fable is the ignorant perversion of the\nprimitive Revelation. The true tradition can be seen dimly through it, and\nwe can discern Him of whom it spoke,\u2014the all\u2010wise, all\u2010powerful Teacher\nand Prophet, who \u201cwent about doing good,\u201d yet \u201cdespised and rejected of\nmen,\u201d laying down His life that others might live.\n\nIt is one of the lowest of the constellations, _i.e._ the farthest south\nfrom the northern centre. It is situated immediately over the Cross, which\nbespeaks His own death; He is seen in the act of destroying the enemy.\n\nThus these star\u2010pictures tell us that it would be as a _child_ that the\n_Promised Seed_ should come forth and grow and wax strong in spirit and be\nfilled with wisdom (Luke ii. 40); and that as a man having two natures He\nshould suffer and die. Then the third and last section in this first\nchapter of this First Book goes on to tell of His second coming in glory.\n\n\n\n3. BO\u00d6TES (The Coming One).\n\n\n                               _He cometh_.\n\nThis constellation still further develops this wondrous personage.\n\nHe is pictured as a man walking rapidly, with a spear in his right hand\nand a sickle in his left hand.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                     Plate 4: Bo\u00f6tes (the Coming One)\n\n\nThe Greeks called him _Bo\u2010\u00f6\u2010tes_, which is from the Hebrew root _Bo_\n(\u05d1\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05d0, _to come_), meaning _the coming_. It is referred to in Ps. xcvi.\n13:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cFor He cometh,\n    For He cometh to judge the earth;\n    He shall judge the world in righteousness,\n    And the people with His truth.\u201d\n\n\nIt it probable that his ancient name was _Arcturus_(35) (as referred to in\nJob ix. 9), for this is the name of the brightest star, \u03b1 (in the left\nknee). _Arcturus_ means _He cometh_.(36)\n\nThe ancient Egyptians called him _Smat_, which means _one who rules_,\n_subdues_, and _governs_. They also called him _Bau_ (a reminiscence of\nthe more ancient _Bo_), which means also _the coming one_.\n\nThe star \u03bc (in the spear\u2010head) is named _Al Katurops_, which means _the\nbranch_, _treading under foot_.\n\nThe star \u03b5 (just below the waist on his right side) is called _Mirac_, or\n_Mizar_, or _Izar_. _Mirac_ means _the coming forth as an arrow_; _Mizar_,\nor _Izar_, means _the preserver_, _guarding_.\n\nThe star \u03b7 is called _Muphride_, _i.e._ _who separates_.\n\nThe star \u03b2 (in the head) is named _Nekkar_, _i.e._ _the pierced_ (Zech.\nxii. 10), which tells us that this coming judge is the One who was\npierced. Another Hebrew name is _Merga_, _who bruises_.(37)\n\nThis brings us back again to Gen. iii. 15, and closes up this first\nchapter of the First Book (VIRGO). It shows us the _Person_ of the\nPromised Seed from the beginning to the end, from the first promise of the\nbirth of the Child in Bethlehem, to the final coming of the great Judge\nand Harvester to reap the harvest of the earth. This was the vision which\nwas afterwards shown to John (Rev. xiv. 15, 16), when he says, \u201cI looked;\nand behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of\nMan, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.\nAnd another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him\nthat sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap; for the time is come\nfor Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And He that sat on\nthe cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.\u201d\n\nThis is the conclusion of the _first chapter_ of this First Book. Here we\nsee the woman whose Seed is to bruise the serpent\u2019s head, the Virgin\u2010Born,\nthe Branch of Jehovah, perfect man and perfect God, Immanuel, \u201cGod with\nus,\u201d yet despised and rejected of men, and yielding up His life that\nothers may have life for evermore. But we see Him coming afterwards in\ntriumphant power to judge the earth.\n\nThis is only one chapter of this First Book, but it contains the _outline_\nof the whole volume, complete in itself, so far as it regards the Person\nof the Coming One. Like the Book of Genesis, it is the seed\u2010plot which\ncontains the whole, all the rest being merely the development of the many\ngrand details which are included and shut up within it. It is only one\nchapter out of twelve, but it distinctly foreshadows the end\u2014even \u201cthe\nsufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter II. The Sign LIBRA.\n\n\n_The Redeemer\u2019s Atoning Work; or The Price deficient balanced by the Price\n                              which covers_.\n\nIn the first chapter of this book we saw that this Coming Seed of the\nwoman was, among other things, to give up His life for others.\n\nThe _second_ chapter is going to define and develope the manner and object\nof this death.\n\nThe name of the Sign, together with its three constellations and the names\nof the stars composing them, give the complete picture of this Redemption.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                       Plate 5: Libra (the Scales)\n\n\nThe Sign contains 51 stars, two of which are of the 2nd magnitude, one of\nthe 3rd, eight of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe Hebrew name is _Mozanaim_, _the Scales_, _weighing_. Its name in\nArabic is _Al Zubena_, _purchase_, or _redemption_. In Coptic, it is\n_Lambadia_, _station of propitiation_ (from _Lam_, _graciousness_, and\n_badia_, _branch_). The name by which it has come down to us is the Latin,\n_Libra_, which means _weighing_, as used in the Vulgate (Isa. xl. 12).\n\nLibra contains three bright stars whose names supply us with the whole\nmatter. The brightest, \u03b1 (in the lower scale), is named _Zuben al Genubi_,\nwhich means _the purchase_, or _price which is deficient_. This points to\nthe fact that man has been utterly ruined. He is \u201cweighed in the balances\nand found wanting.\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cNone of them can by any means redeem his brother,\n    Nor give to God a ransom for him;\n    For the redemption of their soul is costly,\n    And must be let alone for ever.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. xlix. 7, R.V.)\n\n    \u201cSurely men of low degree are vanity (Heb. _a breath_),\n    And men of high degree are a lie;\n    In the balances they go up;\n    They are altogether lighter than vanity\u201d (Heb. _a breath_).\n\n    (Ps. lxii. 9, R.V.)\n\n\nThis is the verdict pronounced and recorded by this star _Zuben al\nGenubi_.\n\nIs there then no hope? Is there no one who can pay the price?\n\nYes; there is \u201cthe Seed of the woman.\u201d He is not merely coming as a child,\nbut He is coming as an atoning sacrifice.\n\nHe is coming for the purpose of Redemption! He can pay _the price which\ncovers_! Hence in the upper scale we have another bright star with this\nvery name _Zuben al Chemali_\u2014THE PRICE WHICH COVERS! Praised be God! \u201cThey\nsang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy ... for Thou wast slain, and hast\nredeemed us to God by thy blood.\u201d (Rev. v. 9.) This is the testimony of \u03b2,\nthe second brightest star! It has another name, _al Gubi_, _heaped up_, or\n_high_, telling of the infinite value of this redemption price. But there\nis a third star, \u03b3, below, towards _Centaurus_ and the _Victim_ slain,\ntelling, by that and by its name, of the _conflict_ by which that\nredemption would be accomplished. It is called _Zuben Akrabi_ or _Zuben al\nAkrab_, which means _the price of the conflict_!\n\nThere is, however, some reason to suppose that Libra is a very ancient\nEgyptian corruption, bringing in human merit instead of Divine\nrighteousness; \u201cthe way of Cain\u201d instead of the way of God. In the more\nancient Akkadian the months were called after the names of the signs,(38)\nand the sign of the seventh month is the sign that we now call Libra. The\nAkkadian name for it was _Tulku_. _Tul_ means _mound_ (like _dhul_ and\n_dul_), and _ku_ means _sacred;_ hence, _Tulku_ means _the sacred mound_,\nor _the holy altar_.(39)\n\nNot only is the name and its meaning different, but the teaching is\ninfinitely greater and more important, if we may believe that the original\npicture of this sign was not a pair of scales, but the representation of\n_a holy altar_. This would agree still better with the three\nconstellations which follow.\n\nThe names of the stars would also be more appropriate, for it is the\nSacrifice of Christ which they foreshadowed, and here it was that the\nprice which covered was paid, and outweighed the price which was\ndeficient. What that price was to be, and how it was to be paid, and what\nwas to be the result in the Person of the Redeemer, is set forth in detail\nin the three sections of this chapter by the constellations of _The Cross_\nendured, _The Victim_ slain, and _The Crown_ bestowed.\n\n\n\n1. CRUX (The Cross).\n\n\n                           _The Cross Endured_.\n\nThe Hebrew name was _Adom_, which means _cutting off_, as in Dan. ix.\n26:\u2014\u201cAfter threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off.\u201d The last\nletter of the Hebrew alphabet was called _Tau_, which was anciently made\nin the form of a cross. The ancient _Ph\u0153nician_ was [Symbol: right\u2010tilted\ncross]; the ancient _Hebrew_, as found on coins, was [Symbol: right\u2010tilted\ncross] and [Symbol: vertical cross]; the _Aramaic_, as found on Egyptian\nmonuments, was a transition [Symbol: tilted cross] or [Symbol: stretched\ncross], which passed into the present square Hebrew character \u05ea. This\nletter is called _Tau_, and means _a mark_; especially _a boundary\u2010mark, a\nlimit or finish_. And it is the last letter, which finishes the Hebrew\nalphabet to this day.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                        Plate 6: Crux (the Cross)\n\n\nThe Southern Cross was just visible in the latitude of Jerusalem at the\ntime of the first coming of our Lord to die. Since then, through the\ngradual recession of the Polar Star, it has not been seen in northern\nlatitudes. It gradually disappeared and became invisible at Jerusalem when\nthe Real Sacrifice was offered there; and tradition, which preserved its\nmemory, assured travellers that if they could go far enough south it would\nbe again seen. Dante sang of \u201cthe four stars never beheld but by the early\nrace of men.\u201d It was not until the sixteenth century had dawned that\nmissionaries and voyagers, doubling the Cape for the first time, and\nvisiting the tropics and southern seas, brought back the news of \u201ca\nwonderful cross more glorious than all the constellations of the heavens.\u201d\n\nIt is a small asterism, containing only about five stars, _viz._, one of\nthe 1st magnitude, two of the 2nd, one of the 3rd, and one of the 4th.\nFour of these are in the form of a cross.\n\nLong before the Christian Era this sign of the Cross had lost its true\nmeaning, and had been perverted in Babylon and Egypt as it has since been\ndesecrated by Rome. The Persians and Egyptians worshipped it. The cakes\nmade and eaten in honour of the Queen of Heaven were marked with it. This\nheathen custom Rome has adopted and adapted in her Good Friday cakes,\nwhich are thus stamped. But all are alike ignorant of what it means,\n_viz._, \u201cIT IS FINISHED.\u201d\n\nIn Egypt, and in the earliest times, it was the sign and symbol of _life_.\nTo\u2010day, Romanists use it as the symbol of _death_! But it means _life_!\nNatural life given up, and eternal life procured. Atonement, finished,\nperfect, and complete; never to be repeated, or added to. All who partake\nof its benefits in Christ now, in grace, by faith \u201cARE made nigh by the\nblood of Christ\u201d (Eph. ii. 13), and of them Jesus says, \u201cHe that heareth\nmy voice, and believeth on Him that sent me HATH everlasting life, and\nshall not come into judgment; but IS PASSED from death unto life\u201d (John v.\n24). So perfect and complete is the work which Jesus finished on the Cross\nthat we cannot seek to add even our repentance, faith, tears, or prayers,\nwithout practically asserting that the work of Christ is not finished, and\nis not sufficient!\n\nThe Hebrew names of this constellation\u2014_Adom_ and _Tau_\u2014rebuke our\nPharisaic spirit, which is the relic and essence of all false religions,\nand points to the blessed fact that the Sacrifice was offered \u201conce for\nall,\u201d and the atoning work of Redemption completely finished on Calvary.\n\n\n    \u201c\u2019Tis finished! the Messiah dies!\n      Cut off for sins, but not His own;\n    Accomplished is the sacrifice,\n      The great redeeming work is done.\u201d\n\n\nIn the ancient Egyptian Zodiac of Denderah this first Decan of LIBRA is\nrepresented as a lion with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, as if in\nthirst, and a female figure holding a cup out to him. Under his fore feet\nis the hieroglyphic symbol of running water. What is all this but \u201cthe\nLion of the tribe of Judah\u201d brought down \u201cinto the dust of death,\u201d and\nsaying \u201cI am poured out like water ... my strength is dried up\u201d (Ps. xxii.\n13\u201018): \u201cI thirst\u201d (John xix. 28): \u201cand in my thirst they gave me vinegar\nto drink\u201d (Ps. lxix. 21)?\n\nThe Egyptian name of this Lion, however, points to his ultimate triumph,\nfor it is called _Sera_, that is, _victory_!\n\nThis brings us to\u2014\n\n\n\n2. LUPUS or VICTIMA (The Victim).\n\n\n                           _The Victim Slain._\n\nIts modern name is _Lupus_ (a wolf), because it looks like one. It may be\nany animal. The great point of this ancient constellation is that the\nanimal has been _slain_, and is in the act of falling down dead.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                Plate 7: Lupus or Victima the VICTIM Slain\n\n\nIts Greek name is _Thera_, _a beast_, and _Lycos_, _a wolf_. Its Latin\nname is _Victima_, or _Bestia_ (Vulg. Gen. viii. 17), which sufficiently\nindicates the great lesson. This is confirmed by its ancient Hebrew name,\n_Asedah_, and Arabic _Asedaton_, which both mean _to be slain_.\n\nMore than 22 of its stars have been catalogued. None of them are higher\nthan the 4th magnitude; most of them are of the 5th or 6th.\n\nTrue, He was \u201cby wicked hands crucified and slain,\u201d but He is slain here\nby the Centaur, _i.e._ by Himself! To make it perfectly clear that it was\nHis own act (without which His death would lose all merit), He uttered\nthose solemn words: \u201cI lay down my life for the sheep.... No man taketh it\nfrom me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I\nhave power to take it again\u201d (John x. 15\u201018). He \u201coffered Himself without\nspot to God.\u201d \u201cHe put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself\u201d (Heb. ix. 11,\n26).\n\nIn the ancient Zodiac of Denderah He is pictured as a little child with\nits finger on its lips, and He is called _Sura_, _a lamb_! In other\npictures He has, besides, the horn of a goat on one side of His head. All\nthis pointed to one and the same great fact, _viz._, the development and\nexplanation of what was meant by _the bruising of His heel_! It meant that\nthis Promised Seed of the woman should come as a child, that He should\nsuffer, and die upon the Cross, for\n\n\n    \u201cHe was brought as a lamb to the slaughter;\n    And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb;\n    SO HE opened not his mouth.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. liii. 7.)\n\n\nHence, the constellation prefigures a silent, willing sacrifice\u2014Christ\nJesus, who, \u201cbeing found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, and became\nobedient unto death, even the death of the Cross\u201d (Phil. ii. 5\u20108).\n\n\n\n3. CORONA (The Crown).\n\n\n                          _The Crown Bestowed._\n\n\u201cWherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is\nabove every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.\u201d\n\nThis is what is foreshown by this concluding section of the second\nchapter. Each chapter ends with glory. As in the written Word of God, we\nfrequently have the glory of the Second Coming mentioned without any\nallusions to the sufferings of the First Coming, but we never have the\nFirst Coming in humiliation mentioned without an immediate reference to\nthe glory of the Second Coming.\n\nSo here, the CROSS is closely followed by the CROWN! True, \u201cwe see not yet\nall things put under Him, but we see Jesus ... for the suffering of death\ncrowned with glory and honour\u201d (Heb. ii. 9).\n\nYes, \u201cthe crowning day is coming,\u201d and all heaven shall soon resound with\nthe triumphant song, \u201cThou art worthy, ... for Thou wast slain and hast\nredeemed us to God by Thy blood\u201d (Rev. v. 9).\n\nThe shameful Cross will be followed by a glorious crown, and \u201cevery tongue\nshall confess that Jesus. Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cMighty Victor, reign for ever,\n      Wear the crown so dearly won;\n    Never shall Thy people, never\n      Cease to sing what Thou hast done.\n    Thou hast fought Thy people\u2019s foes;\n    Thou wilt heal Thy people\u2019s woes!\u201d\n\n\nThe Hebrew name for the constellation is _Atarah_, _a royal crown_, and\nits stars are known to\u2010day in the East by the plural, _Ataroth!_\n\nIts Arabic name is _Al Iclil_, _an ornament_, or _jewel_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                       Plate 8: CORONA (the Crown)\n\n\nIt has 21 stars: one of the 2nd magnitude and six of the 4th. It is easily\nknown by the stars \u03b8, \u03b2, \u03b1, \u03b3, \u03b4, and \u03b5, which form a crescent.\n\nIts brightest star, \u03b1, has the Arabic name of _Al Phecca_, _the shining_.\n\nThus ends this solemn chapter of LIBRA, which describes the great work of\nRedemption, beginning with the Cross and ending with the Crown. The\nRedeemer\u2019s work of Atonement is most blessedly set forth, and He alone is\nseen as the substitute for lost sinners.\n\n\n    \u201cWhat wondrous love, what mysteries\n      In this appointment shine!\n    My breaches of the law are His,\n      And His obedience mine.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter III. The Sign SCORPIO.\n\n\n                        _The Redeemer\u2019s Conflict_.\n\nWe come now right into the heart of the conflict. The star\u2010picture brings\nbefore us a gigantic scorpion endeavouring to sting in the heel a mighty\nman who is struggling with a serpent, but is crushed by the man, who has\nhis foot placed right on the scorpion\u2019s heart.\n\nThe Hebrew name is _Akrab_, which is the name of a scorpion, but also\nmeans _the conflict_, or _war_. It is this that is referred to in Ps. xci.\n13:\n\n\n    \u201cThou shalt tread upon the lion and adder.\n    The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.\u201d\n\n\nDavid uses the very word in Ps. cxliv. 1, where he blesses God for\nteaching his hands _to war_.\n\nThe Coptic name is _Isidis_, which means _the attack of the enemy_, or\n_oppression_; referring to \u201cthe wicked that oppress me, my deadly enemies\nwho compass me about\u201d (Ps. xvii. 9).\n\nThe Arabic name is _Al Akrab_, which means _wounding him that cometh_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                     Plate 9: SCORPIO (the Scorpion)\n\n\nThere are 44 stars altogether in this sign. One is of the 1st magnitude,\none of the 2nd, eleven of the 3rd, eight of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the heart), bears the ancient Arabic name of\n_Antares_, which means _the wounding_. It is called by the Latins _Cor\nScorpii_, because it marks the scorpion\u2019s heart. It shines ominously with\na deep red light. The sting is called in Hebrew _Lesath_ (Chaldee,\n_Lesha_), which means _the perverse_. The stars in the tail are also known\nas _Leshaa_, or _Leshat_.(40)\n\nThe scorpion is a deadly enemy (as we learn from Rev. ix), with poison in\nits sting, and all the names associated with the sign combine to set forth\nthe malignant enmity which is \u201cset\u201d between the serpent and the woman\u2019s\nSeed.\n\nThat enmity is shown more fully in the written Word, where we see the\nattempt of the enemy (in Exod. i.) to destroy every male of the seed of\nAbraham, and how it was defeated.\n\nWe see his effort repeated when he used Athaliah to destroy \u201call the seed\nroyal\u201d (2 Kings xi.), and how \u201cthe king\u2019s son\u201d was rescued \u201cfrom among\u201d\nthe slain.\n\nWe see his hand again instigating Haman, \u201cthe Jews\u2019 enemy,\u201d to compass the\ndestruction of the whole nation, but defeated in his designs.\n\nWhen the woman\u2019s Seed, the virgin\u2019s Son, was born, we are shown the same\ngreat enemy inciting Herod to slay all the babes in Bethlehem (Matt. ii.),\nbut again he is defeated.\n\nIn the wilderness of Jud\u00e6a, and in the Garden of Gethsemane the great\nconflict is renewed. \u201cThis is your hour and the power of darkness,\u201d(41) He\nsaid to His enemies.\n\nThe real wounding in the heel was received at the Cross. It was there the\nscorpion struck the woman\u2019s seed. He died, but was raised again from the\ndead \u201cto destroy the works of the devil.\u201d\n\nTo show us this; to prevent any mistake; to set forth the fact that this\nconflict only _apparently_ ended in defeat, and that it did not really so\nend, we have the first two constellations belonging to this sign presented\n_in one picture_! Indeed, the picture is threefold, for it includes the\nsign itself (as shown on the cover)!\n\nIf these pictures had been separated, then the conflict would have been\nseparated from the victory; the deadly wound of the serpent\u2019s head from\nthe temporary wound in the Victor\u2019s heel. Hence, _three_ pictures are\nrequired, in which the _scorpion_, the _serpent_, and the _man_, are all\ninvolved, in order to present at the same time the triumphant issue of the\nconflict.\n\nHence, we must present, and consider together, the first two sections of\nthis mysterious chapter.\n\n\n\n1 and 2. SERPENS and OPHIUCHUS.\n\n\n                      _The Struggle with the Enemy._\n\nHere, _Serpens_, the serpent, is seen struggling vainly in the powerful\ngrasp of the man who is named _O\u2010phi\u2010u\u2010chus_. In Latin he is called\nSerpentarius. He is at one and the same moment shown to be seizing the\nserpent with his two hands, and treading on the very heart of the\nscorpion, marked by the deep red star _Antares_ (wounding).\n\nJust as we read the first constellation of the woman and child _Coma_, as\nexpounding the first sign VIRGO, so we have to read this first\nconstellation as expounding the second sign LIBRA. Hence, we have here a\nfurther picture, showing the object of this conflict on the part of the\nscorpion.\n\nIn Scorpio we see merely the effort to wound _Ophiuchus_ in the heel; but\nhere we see the effort of the serpent to seize THE CROWN, which is\nsituated immediately over the serpent\u2019s head, and to which he is looking\nup and reaching forth.\n\nThe contest is for Dominion! It was the Devil, in the form of a serpent,\nthat robbed the first man of his crown; but in vain he struggled to wrest\nit from the sure possession of the Second Man. Not only does he fail in\nthe attempt, but is himself utterly defeated and trodden under foot.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n    Plate 10: SERPENS (the Serpent) and OPHIUCHUS (the Serpent Holder)\n\n\nThere are no less than 134 stars in these two constellations. Two are of\nthe 2nd magnitude, fourteen of the 3rd, thirteen of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest star in the Serpent, \u03b1 (in the neck), is named _Unuk_, which\nmeans _encompassing_. Another Hebrew name is _Alyah_, _the accursed_. From\nthis is _Al Hay_ (Arabic), _the reptile_. The next brightest star is \u03b2 (in\nthe jaw), named, in Arabic, _Cheleb_, or _Chelbalrai, the serpent\nenfolding_. The Greek name, _Ophiuchus_, is itself from the Hebrew and\nArabic name _Afeichus_, which means _the serpent held_. The brightest star\nin _Ophiuchus_, \u03b1 (in the head), is called _Ras al Hagus_ (Arabic), _the\nhead of him who holds_.\n\nOther Hebrew names of stars, not identified, are _Triophas_, _treading\nunder foot_; _Saiph_ (in the foot(42) of Ophiuchus), _bruised_;\n_Carnebus_, _the wounding_; _Megeros_, _contending_.(43) In the Zodiac of\nDenderah we have a throned human figure, called _Api\u2010bau_, _the chief who\ncometh_. He has a hawk\u2019s head to show that he is the enemy of the serpent,\nwhich is called _Khu_, and means _ruled_ or _enemy_.\n\nAll these combine to set before us in detail the nature of the conflict\nand its final issue. That final issue is, however, exhibited by the last\nof the three constellations of this chapter. The Victor Himself requires a\nwhole picture to fully set forth the glorious victory. This brings us to\u2014\n\n\n\n3. HERCULES (The Mighty Man).\n\n\n                         _The Mighty Vanquisher._\n\nHere the mighty one, who occupies a large portion of the heavens, is seen\nbending on one knee, with his right heel lifted up as if it had been\nwounded, while his left foot is set directly over the head of the great\ndragon. In his right hand he wields a great club, and in his left hand he\ngrasps a triple\u2010headed monster (_Cerberus_). And he has the skin of a\nlion, which he has slain, thrown around him.(44)\n\nIn the Zodiac of Denderah we have a human figure, likewise with a club.\nHis name is _Bau_, which means _who cometh_, and is evidently intended for\nHim who cometh to crush the serpent\u2019s head, and \u201cdestroy the works of the\ndevil.\u201d\n\nIn Arabic he is called _Al Giscale, the strong one_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                   Plate 11: HERCULES (the Mighty One)\n\n\nThere are 113 stars in this constellation. Seven are of the 3rd magnitude,\nseventeen of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in his head), is named _Ras al Gethi_, and means\n_the head of him who bruises_.\n\nThe next, \u03b2 (in the right arm\u2010pit), is named _Kornephorus_, and means _the\nbranch, kneeling_.\n\nThe star \u03ba (in the right elbow) is called _Marsic_, _the wounding_.\n\nThe star \u03bb (in the upper part of the left arm) is named _Ma\u2019asyn_, _the\nsin\u2010offering_.\n\nWhile \u03c9 (in the lower part of the right arm) is _Caiam_, or _Guiam_,\n_punishing_; and in Arabic, _treading under foot_.\n\nThus does everything in the picture combine to set forth the mighty works\nof this stronger than the strong man armed!\n\nWe can easily see how the perversion of the truth by the Greeks came\nabout, and how, when the true foreshadowings of this Mighty One had been\nlost, the many fables were invented to supply their place. The wiser sort\nof Greeks knew this perfectly well. ARISTOTLE (in his _Metaphysics_, x. 8)\nadmits, with regard to Greek mythology, that religion and philosophy had\nbeen lost, and that much had been \u201cadded after the mythical style,\u201d while\nmuch had come down, and \u201cmay have been preserved to our times as the\nremains of ancient wisdom.\u201d Religion, such as it was (POLYBIUS confesses),\nwas recognised as a \u201cnecessary means to political ends.\u201d NEANDER says that\nit was \u201cthe fragments of a tradition, which transmitted the knowledge of\ndivine things possessed in the earliest times.\u201d\n\nARATUS shews the same uncertainty as to the meaning of this Constellation\nof _Hercules_. He says:\n\n\n    \u201cNear this, and like a toiling man, revolves\n    A form. Of it can no one clearly speak,\n    Nor what he labours at. They call him simply\n    \u2018The man upon his knees\u2019: In desperate struggle\n    Like one who sinks, he seems. From both his shoulders\n    His arms are high\u2010uplifted and out\u2010stretched\n    As far as he can reach; and his right foot\n    Is planted on the coil\u00e9d Dragon\u2019s head.\u201d\n\n\nAncient authorities differ as to the personality of Hercules, and they\ndisagree as to the number, nature, and order of what are sometimes called\n\u201cthe twelve labours of Hercules.\u201d But there is no doubt as to the mighty\nforetold works which the woman\u2019s Seed should perform.\n\nFrom first to last Hercules is seen engaged in destroying some malignant\nfoe: now it is the Nemean lion; then it is the slaying of the boar of\nErymanthus; again, it is the conquest of the bull of Crete; then the\nkilling of the three\u2010headed hydra, by whose venom Hercules afterwards\ndied. In the belly of the sea monster he is said to have remained \u201cthree\ndays and three nights.\u201d This was, doubtless, a perversion of the type of\nJonah, introduced by LYCOPHRON, who (living at the court of PTOLEMY\nPHILADELPHUS, under whose auspices the Hebrew Scriptures were translated\ninto Greek) would have known of that Divine miracle, and of its\napplication to the Coming One. Bishop Horsley believed that the fables of\nthe Greek mythology could be traced back to the prophecies of the Messiah,\nof which they were a perversion from ignorance or design. This is\nspecially true of Hercules. In his apparently impossible tasks of\noverthrowing gigantic enemies and delivering captives, we can see through\nthe shadow, and discern the pure light of the truth. We can understand how\nthe original star\u2010picture must have been a prophetic representation of Him\nwho shall destroy the Old Serpent and open the way again, not to fabled\n\u201capples of gold,\u201d but to the \u201ctree of life\u201d itself. He it is who though\nsuffering in the mighty conflict, and brought to His knee, going down even\nto \u201cthe dust of death,\u201d shall yet, in resurrection and advent glory, wield\nHis victorious club, subdue all His enemies, and plant His foot on the\nDragon\u2019s head. For of Him it is written:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThou shalt tread upon the lion and adder;\n    The young lion and the dragon shalt Thou trample under foot.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. xci. 13.)\n\n    \u201cCome, Lord, and burst the captives\u2019 chains,\n      And set the prisoners free;\n    Come, cleanse this earth from all its stains,\n      And make it meet for Thee!\n\n    Oh, come and end Creation\u2019s groans\u2014\n      Its sighs, its tears, its blood,\n    And make this blighted world again\n      The dwelling\u2010place of God.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter IV. The Sign SAGITTARIUS.\n\n\n                        _The Redeemer\u2019s Triumph._\n\nThis is the concluding chapter of the first great book of this Heavenly\nRevelation; and it is occupied wholly with the triumph of the Coming One,\nwho is represented as going forth \u201cconquering and to conquer.\u201d\n\nThe subject is beautifully set forth in the written Word (Ps. xlv. 3\u20105):\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cGird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O most mighty,\n    [_Gird Thyself_] with Thy glory and Thy majesty,\n    And in Thy majesty ride prosperously,\n    Because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness;\n    And Thy right hand shall teach Thee terrible things.\n    Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the King\u2019s enemies;\n    Whereby the people fall under Thee.\u201d\n\n\nJohn, in his apocalyptic vision, sees the same mighty Conqueror going\nforth. \u201cI saw (he says) a white horse, and He that sat on him had a bow,\n... and He went forth conquering and to conquer\u201d (Rev. vi. 2).\n\nThis is precisely what is foreshadowed in the star\u2010pictured sign now\ncalled by the modern Latin name _Sagittarius_, which means _the Archer_.\n\nThe Hebrew and Syriac name of the sign is _Kesith_, which means _the\nArcher_ (as in Gen. xxi. 20). The Arabic name is _Al Kaus_, _the arrow_.\nIn Coptic it is _Pimacre_, _the graciousness_, or _beauty of the coming\nforth_. In Greek it is _Toxotes_, _the archer_, and in Latin\n_Sagittarius_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                    Plate 12: SAGITTARIUS (the Archer)\n\n\nThere are 69 stars in the sign, _viz._, five of the 3rd magnitude (all in\nthe bow), nine of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe names of the brightest stars are significant:\u2014\n\nHebrew, _Naim_, which means _the gracious one_. This is exactly what is\nsaid of this Victor in the same Psalm (xlv.), in the words immediately\npreceding the quotation above (verse 2):\n\n\n    \u201cGRACE is poured into Thy lips;\n    Therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever.\u201d\n\n\nHebrew, _Nehushta_, _the going_ or _sending forth_.\n\nWe see the same in the Arabic names which have come down to us: _Al Naim_,\n_the gracious one_; _Al Shaula_, _the dart_; _Al Warida_, _who comes\nforth_; _Ruchba er rami_, _the riding of the bowman_.\n\nAn ancient Akkadian name in the sign is _Nun\u2010ki_, which means _Prince of\nthe Earth_.\n\nAgain we have the picture of _a Centaur_ as to his outward form, _i.e._ a\nbeing with two natures. Not now far down in the south, or connected with\nHis sufferings and sacrifice as man; but high up, as a sign of the Zodiac\nitself, on the ecliptic, _i.e._ in the very path in which the sun\n\u201crejoiceth in his going forth as a strong man.\u201d\n\nAccording to Grecian fable, this Sagittarius is _Cheiron_, the chief\nCentaur; noble in character, righteous in his dealings, divine in his\npower.\n\nSuch will be the coming Seed of the woman in His power and glory:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThe sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre.\n    Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness;\n    Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of\n                gladness above thy fellows.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. xlv. 6, 7.)\n\n\nIn the ancient Zodiac of Denderah he is called (as in Coptic) _Pi\u2010macre_,\n_i.e._ _graciousness, beauty of the appearing_ or _coming forth_. The\ncharacters under the hind foot read _Knem_, which means _He conquers_.\n\nThis is He who shall come forth like as an arrow from the bow, \u201cfull of\ngrace,\u201d but \u201cconquering and to conquer.\u201d\n\nIn all the pictures he is similarly represented, and the arrow in his bow\nis aimed directly at the heart of the Scorpion.\n\nThus ARATUS sang of _Cheiron_:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201c\u2019Midst golden stars he stands refulgent now,\n    And thrusts the scorpion with his bended bow.\u201d\n\n\nIn this Archer we see a faint reflection of Him who shall presently come\nforth, all gracious, all wise, all powerful; whose arrows shall be \u201csharp\nin the heart of the King\u2019s enemies.\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cGod shall shoot at them with an arrow;\n    Suddenly shall they be wounded.\n    So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves;\n    All that see them shall flee away.\n    And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God;\n    For they shall wisely consider of His doing.\n    The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in Him;\n    And all the upright in heart shall glory.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. lxiv. 7\u201010.)\n\n    \u201cChrist is coming! let Creation\n      From her groans and travail cease;\n    Let the glorious proclamation\n      Hope restore, and faith increase.\n    Christ is coming,\n      Come, thou blessed Prince of peace.\u201d\n\n\nThis brings us to the first of the three constellations or sections of\nthis chapter, which takes up this subject of praise to the Conqueror.\n\n\n\n1. LYRA (The Harp).\n\n\n                   _Praise prepared for the Conqueror._\n\n\u201cPraise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion\u201d (Ps. lxv. 1). And when the\nwaiting time is over, and the Redeemer comes forth, then the praise shall\nbe given. \u201cWe give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, which art, and\nwhich wast, because thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and didst\nreign\u201d (Rev. xi. 17, R.V.). \u201cLet us be glad and rejoice and give honour\nunto Him\u201d (Rev. xix. 7). The Twenty\u2010first Psalm should be read here, as it\ntells of the bursting forth of praise on the going forth of this all\u2010\ngracious Conqueror.\n\n\n    \u201cThe King shall rejoice in Thy strength, O LORD;\n    And in Thy salvation how greatly shall He rejoice!...\n    Thine hand shall find out all Thine enemies;\n    Thy right hand shall find out all that hate thee....\n    Their fruit shalt Thou destroy from the earth;\n    And their seed from among the children of men.\n    For they intended evil against Thee;\n    They imagined a mischievous device which they are not able to\n                perform,\n    Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back (Heb. _Margin,\n                __\u201c__set them as a butt__\u201d_),\n    When Thou shalt make ready Thine arrows upon Thy strings\n    [_And shoot them_] against the face of them.\n    Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength;\n    SO WILL WE SING AND PRAISE THY POWER.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. xxi. 1, 8, 10\u201013.)\n\n\nBeautifully, then, does _the harp_ come in here, following upon the going\nforth of this victorious Horseman. This Song of the Lamb follows as\nnaturally as does the Song of Moses in Ex. xv. 1: \u201cI will sing unto the\nLORD, for He hath triumphed gloriously.\u201d\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                        Plate 13: LYRA (the Harp)\n\n\nIts brightest star, \u03b1, is one of the most glorious in the heavens, and by\nit this constellation may be easily known. It shines with a splendid white\nlustre. It is called _Vega_, which means _He shall be exalted_. Its root\noccurs in the opening of the Song of Moses, quoted above. Is not this\nwonderfully expressive?\n\nIts other stars, \u03b2 and \u03b3, are also conspicuous stars, of the 2nd and 4th\nmagnitude. \u03b2 is called _Shelyuk_, which means _an eagle_ (as does the\nArabic, _Al Nesr_); \u03b3 is called _Sulaphat_, _springing up_, or\n_ascending_, as praise.\n\nIn the Zodiac of Denderah, this constellation is figured as a hawk or an\neagle (the enemy of the serpent) in triumph. Its name is _Fent\u2010kar_, which\nmeans _the serpent ruled_.\n\nThere may be some confusion between the Hebrew \u05e0\u05b6\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05e8, _Nesher_, _an\neagle_, and \u05e2\u05b8\u05e9\u05c2\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8, _Gnasor_, _a harp_;(45) but there can be no doubt\nabout the grand central truth, that praise shall ascend up \u201cas an eagle\ntoward heaven,\u201d when \u201cevery creature which is in heaven, and on the earth,\nand such as are in the sea, and all that is in them,\u201d shall send up their\nuniversal song of praise: \u201cBlessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be\nunto Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.\nAmen\u201d (Rev. v. 13, 14).\n\nAnd for what is all this wondrous anthem of Praise? Listen once again.\n\u201cAlleluia:(46) Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord\nour God; for TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS ARE HIS JUDGMENTS.... And again they said\nAlleluia\u201d (Rev. xix. 1\u20103).\n\n\n    With \u201cthat blessed hope\u201d before us,\n      Let no HARP remain unstrung,\n    Let the coming advent chorus\n      Onward roll from tongue to tongue, Hallelujah,\n      \u201cCome, Lord Jesus,\u201d quickly come.\n\n\nThis brings us to\u2014\n\n\n\n2. ARA (The Altar).\n\n\n                _Consuming Fire Prepared for His Enemies._\n\nHere we have an altar or burning pyre, placed significantly and ominously\nupside down! with its fires burning and pointing downwards towards the\nlower regions, called _Tartarus_, or _the abyss_, or \u201couter\u2010darkness.\u201d\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                        Plate 14: ARA (the Altar)\n\n\nIt is an asterism with nine stars, of which three are of the 3rd\nmagnitude, four of the 4th, etc. It is south of the Scorpion\u2019s tail, and\nwhen these constellations were first formed it was visible only on the\nvery lowest horizon of the south, pointing to the completion of all\njudgment in the lake of fire.\n\nIn the Zodiac of Denderah we have a different picture, giving us another\naspect of the same judgment. It is a man enthroned, with a flail in his\nhand. His name is _Bau_, the same name as _Hercules_ has, and means _He\ncometh_. It is from the Hebrew \u05d1\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05d0 (_B\u014dh_), _to come_, as in Isa. lxiii.\n1:\n\n\n    \u201cWho is this that cometh from Edom,\n    With dyed garments from Bozrah.\u201d\n\n\nThis is a coming in judgment, as is clear from reason given in verse 4:\n\n\n    \u201cFor the day of vengeance is in Mine heart,\n    And the year of My redeemed is come.\n    And I looked, and there was none to help;\n    And I wondered that there was none to uphold;\n    Therefore Mine own arm brought salvation,\n    And My fury, it upheld Me.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. lxiii. 4, 5.)\n\n\nThe completion of judgment, therefore, is what is pictured both by the\nburning pyre and the Coming One enthroned, with his threshing instrument.\n\nIn Arabic it is called _Al Mugamra_, which means _the completing_, or\n_finishing_. The Greeks used the word _Ara_ sometimes in the sense of\n_praying_, but more frequently in the sense of _imprecation_ or _cursing_.\n\nThis is the curse pronounced against the great enemy. This is the burning\nfire, pointing to the _completion_ of that curse, when he shall be cast\ninto that everlasting fire \u201cprepared for the devil and his angels.\u201d This\nis the allusion to it written in the midst of the very Scripture from\nwhich we have already quoted (p. 66), Ps. xxi., where we read in verse 9\n(which we then omitted):\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of Thine anger:\n    The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath;\n    And the fire shall devour them.\u201d\n\n\nThis brings us to the final scene, closing up this first great book of the\nHeavens.\n\n\n\n3. DRACO (The Dragon).\n\n\n         _The Old Serpent, or the Devil, cast down from Heaven._\n\nEach of the three great books concludes with this same foreshowing of\nApocalyptic truth. The same great enemy is referred to in all these\npictures. He is the Serpent; he is the Dragon; \u201cthe great dragon, that old\nserpent, called the Devil and Satan\u201d (Rev. xii. 9). The Serpent represents\nhim as the _Deceiver_; the Dragon, as the _Destroyer_.\n\nThis _First_ Book concludes with the Dragon being cast down from heaven.\n\nThe _Second_ Book concludes with _Cetus_, the Sea Monster, Leviathan,\nbound.\n\nThe _Third_ Book concludes with Hydra, the Old Serpent, destroyed.\n\nHere, at the close of the _First_ Book, we see not merely a dragon, but\nthe Dragon _cast down_! That is the point of this great star\u2010picture.\n\nNo one has ever seen a dragon; but among all nations (especially in China\nand Japan), and in all ages, we find it described and depicted in legend\nand in art. Both Old and New Testaments refer to it, and all unite in\nconnecting with it one and the same great enemy of God and man.\n\nIt is against him that the God\u2010Man\u2014\u201cthe Son of God\u2014goes forth to war.\u201d It\nis for him that the eternal fires are prepared. It is he who shall shortly\nbe cast down from the heavens preparatory to his completed judgment. It is\nof him we read, \u201cThe great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called\nthe Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out and\nhis angels with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is\ncome salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of\nHis Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down\u201d (Rev. xii. 9,\n10).\n\nIt is of him that David sings:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cGod is my king of old,\n    Working salvation in the midst of the earth ...\n    Thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.\n    Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. lxxiv. 12\u201014.)\n\n\nOf him also the Spirit causes Isaiah to say, \u201cIn that day, shall this song\nbe sung in the land of Judah\u201d;\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cIn that day the Lord, with his sore, and great, and strong sword,\n    Shall punish leviathan the piercing (R.V. swift) serpent,\n    Even leviathan that crooked serpent;\n    And he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xxvi. 1; xxvii. 1.)\n\n\nThis is exactly what is foreshadowed by this constellation of _Draco_. Its\nname is from the Greek, and means _trodden on_, as in the Septuagint of\nPs. xci. 13: \u201cThe dragon shalt thou trample under feet,\u201d from the Hebrew\n\u05d3\u05b8\u05bc\u05e8\u05b7\u05da\u05b0, _Dahrach_, _to tread_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                  Plate 15: DRACO (the Dragon Cast down)\n\n\nIn the Zodiac of Denderah it is shown as a serpent under the fore\u2010feet of\nSagittarius, and is named _Her\u2010fent_, which means _the serpent accursed_!\n\nThere are 80 stars in the constellation; four of the 2nd magnitude, seven\nof the 3rd magnitude, ten of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in one of the latter coils), is named _Thuban_\n(Heb.), _the subtle_. Some 4,620 years ago it was the Polar Star. It is\nmanifest, therefore, that the Greeks could not have invented this\nconstellation, as is confessed by all modern astronomers. It is still a\nvery important star in nautical reckonings, guiding the commerce of the\nseas, and thus \u201cthe god of this world\u201d is represented as winding in his\ncontortions round the pole of the world, as if to indicate his subtle\ninfluence in all worldly affairs.\n\nThe next star, \u03b2 (in the head), is called by the Hebrew name _Rastaban_,\nand means _the head of the subtle_ (_serpent_). In the Arabic it is still\ncalled _Al Waid_, which means _who is to be destroyed_.\n\nThe next star, \u03b3 (also in the head), is called _Ethanin_, _i.e._, _the\nlong serpent_, or _dragon_.\n\nThe Hebrew names of other stars, not identified, are _Grumian_, _the\nsubtle_; _Giansar_, _the punished enemy_. Other (Arabic) names are _Al\nDib_, _the reptile_; _El Athik_, _the fraudful_; _El Asieh_, _the bowed\ndown_.\n\nAnd thus the combined testimony of every star (without a single exception)\nof each constellation, and the constellations of each sign, accords with\nthe testimony of the Word of God concerning the coming Seed of the woman,\nthe bruising of His heel, the crushing of the serpent\u2019s head, \u201cthe\nsufferings of Christ, and the glory which should follow.\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cFrom far I see the glorious day,\n    When He who bore our sins away,\n    Will all His majesty display.\n\n    A Man of Sorrows once He was,\n    No friend was found to plead His cause,\n    As all preferred the world\u2019s applause.\n\n    He groaned beneath sin\u2019s awful load,\n    For in the sinner\u2019s place He stood,\n    And died to bring him back to God.\n\n    But now He waits, with glory crowned.\n    While angel hosts His throne surround,\n    And still His lofty praises sound.\n\n    To few on earth His name is dear,\n    And they who in His cause appear,\n    The world\u2019s reproach and scorn must bear\n\n    Jesus, Thy name is all my boast,\n    And though by waves of trouble tossed,\n    Thou wilt not let my soul be lost.\n\n    Come then, come quickly from above,\n    My soul impatient longs to prove,\n    The depths of everlasting love.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE SECOND BOOK. THE REDEEMED.\n\n\n                _The Result of the Redeemer\u2019s Sufferings._\n\nIn the _First_ Book we have had before us the work of the Redeemer set\nforth as it concerned His own glorious person. In this _Second_ Book it is\npresented to us as it affects others. Here we see the _results_ of His\nhumiliation, and conflict, and victory\u2014\u201cThe sufferings of Christ\u201d and the\nblessings they procured for His redeemed people.\n\nIn Chapter I. we have the Blessings procured.\n\nIn Chapter II. their Blessings ensured.\n\nIn Chapter III. their Blessings in abeyance.\n\nIn Chapter IV. their Blessings enjoyed.\n\n\n\n\nChapter I. The Sign CAPRICORNUS (The Sea Goat).\n\n\n             _The Goat of Atonement Slain for the Redeemed._\n\nIt is most noteworthy that this Second Book opens with the Goat, and\ncloses with the Ram: two animals of sacrifice; while the two middle\nchapters are both connected with fishes.(47) The reason for this we shall\nsee as we proceed.\n\nBoth are combined in the first chapter, or \u201cSign\u201d of Capricornus.\n\nIn all the ancient Zodiacs, or Planispheres, we find a goat with a fish\u2019s\ntail. In the Zodiacs of Denderah and Esneh, in Egypt, it is half\u2010goat and\nhalf\u2010fish, and it is there called _Hu\u2010penius_, which means _the place of\nthe sacrifice_.\n\nIn the Indian Zodiac it is a goat _passant_ traversed by a fish.\n\nThere can be no doubt as to the significance of this sign.\n\nIn the Goat we have the Atoning Sacrifice, in the Fish we have the people\nfor whom the atonement is made. When we come to the sign \u201cPISCES\u201d we shall\nsee more clearly that it points to the _multitudes_ of the redeemed host.\n\nThe Goat is bowing its head as though falling down in death. The right leg\nis folded underneath the body, and he seems unable to rise with the left.\nThe tail of the fish, on the other hand, seems to be full of vigour and\nlife.\n\nThe Hebrew name of the sign is _Gedi_, _the kid_ or _cut off_, the same as\nthe Arabic _Al Gedi_. CAPRICORNUS is merely the modern (Latin) name of the\nsign, and means _goat_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                     Plate 16: CAPRICORNUS (the Goat)\n\n\nThere are 51 stars in the sign, three of which are of the 3rd magnitude,\nthree of the 4th, etc. Five are remarkable stars, \u03b1 and \u03b2 in the horn and\nhead, and the remaining three, \u03b3, \u03b4, and \u03b5, in the fishy tail. The star \u03b1\nis named _Al Gedi_, _the kid_ or _goat_, while the star \u03b4 is called _Deneb\nAl Gedi_, _the sacrifice cometh_.\n\nOther star\u2010names in the sign, not identified, are _Dabih_ (Syriac), _the\nsacrifice slain_; _Al Dabik_ and _Al Dehabeh_ (Arabic) have the same\nmeaning; _Ma\u2019asad_, _the slaying_; _Sa\u2019ad al Naschira_, _the record of the\ncutting off_.\n\nIs not this exactly in accord with the Scriptures of truth? There were two\ngoats! Of \u201cthe _goat_ of the sin\u2010offering\u201d it is written, \u201cGod hath given\nit to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for\nthem before the LORD\u201d (Lev. x. 16, 17): of the other goat, which was not\nslain, \u201che shall let it go into the wilderness\u201d (Lev. xvi. 22). Here is\ndeath and resurrection. Christ was \u201cwounded for our transgressions, and\nbruised for our iniquities.\u201d \u201cFor the transgression of MY PEOPLE was He\nstricken\u201d (Isa. liii.). He laid down His life for the sheep.\n\nIn the first chapter of the _First_ Book we had the same Blessed One\npresented as \u201ca corn of wheat.\u201d Here we see Him come to \u201cdie,\u201d and hence\nnot abiding alone, but bringing forth \u201cmuch fruit\u201d (John xii. 24). The\nliving fish proceeds from the dying goat, and yet they form only one body.\nThat picture, which has no parallel in nature, has a perfectly true\ncounterpart in grace; and \u201ca great multitude, which no man can number,\u201d\nhave been redeemed and shall obtain eternal life through the death of\ntheir Redeemer.\n\nIt is, however, not merely the actual death which is set before us here.\nThe _first_ chapter _in each book_ has for its great subject _the Person_\nof the Redeemer in _prophecy_ and promise. The _last_ chapter in each book\nhas for its subject the fulfilment of that prophecy in victory and\ntriumph, in the Person of the Redeemer: while the two _central_ chapters\n_in each_ book are occupied with _the work_ which is the accomplishment of\nthe promise, presented in two aspects\u2014the former connected with _grace_,\nthe latter with _conflict_.\n\nThus the _structure_ of each of the three books is an _epanodos_, having\nfor its first and last members the Person of the Redeemer (in \u201cA\u201d in\n_Prophecy_; in \u201c_A_\u201d in _Fulfilment_), while in the two central members we\nhave the work and its accomplishment (in \u201cB\u201d _in grace_; and in \u201c_B_\u201d _in\nconflict_).\n\nIt may be thus presented to the eye:\u2014\n\n                            _The First Book._\n\nA | VIRGO. The Prophecy of the Bruised Seed.\n    B | LIBRA. The work accomplished (in _grace_).\n    _B_ | SCORPIO. The work accomplished (in _conflict_.)\n_A_ | SAGITTARIUS. The fulfillment of the promised victory.\n\n                            _The Second Book._\n\nC | CAPRICORNUS. The Prophecy of the Promised Deliverance.\n    D | AQUARIUS. Results of the work bestowed (in grace).\n    _D_ | PISCES. Results of the work enjoyed (in conflict).\n_C_ | ARIES. The Fulfilment of the Promised Deliverance.\n\n                            _The Third Book._\n\nE | TAURUS. The Prophecy of the coming Judge of all the earth.\n    F | GEMINI. The Redeemer\u2019s reign. (Grace and Glory).\n    _F_ | CANCER. The Redeemer\u2019s possession (safe from all conflict).\n_E_ | LEO. The fulfilment of the promised Triumph.\n\nHence in CAPRICORNUS we must look for the _prophecy_ of this Coming\nSacrifice. As a matter of fact it did actually point out the time when the\nSun of Righteousness should arise, and \u201cthe Light of the World\u201d appear.\nFor when this Promised Seed was born the Sun _was actually in this sign of\nCapricornus_! \u201cThe fulness of time was come,\u201d and \u201cGod sent forth His Son\nTO REDEEM them that were under the Law\u201d (Gal. iv. 4). The Sun was really\namongst those very stars\u2014_Al Gedi_, _the kid_, and _Deneb Al Gedi_, _the\nsacrifice cometh_\u2014when this willing Sacrifice said, \u201cLo I come to do Thy\nwill, O God.\u201d The nights were at their darkest and their longest when\nJesus was born. The days began immediately to lengthen when He, \u201cthe true\nlight,\u201d had come into the world.(48)\n\nAstronomers confess that the perverted legends of the Greeks give but \u201ca\nlame account\u201d of this sign, \u201cand it offers no illustration of _its ancient\norigin_.\u201d\n\nIts ancient origin reveals a prophetic knowledge, which only He possessed\nwho knew that in \u201cthe fulness of time\u201d He would send forth His Son.\n\nWe now come to the three constellations which give us three pictures\nsetting forth the death of this Sacrifice and of His living again.\n\n\n\n1. SAGITTA (The Arrow).\n\n\n                      _The Arrow of God sent forth_.\n\nIt is not the Arrow of Sagittarius, for that has not left his bow. That\narrow is for the enemies of God. This is for the Son of God. It was of\nthis that He spoke when He said, in Ps. xxxviii. 2:\n\n\n    \u201cThine arrows stick fast in me,\n    And Thy hand presseth me sore.\u201d\n\n\nHe was \u201cstricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, He was wounded for our\ntransgressions\u201d (Isa. liii. 4, 5). He was \u201cpierced,\u201d when He could say\nwith Job, \u201cThe arrows of the Almighty are within me\u201d (vi. 4).\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\nPlate 17: SAGITTA (the Arrow), AQUILA (the Eagle), DELPHINUS (the Dolphin)\n\n\nHere the arrow is pictured to us in mid\u2010heaven, alone, as having been shot\nforth by an invisible hand. It is seen in its flight through the heavens.\nIt is the arrow of God, showing that Redemption is all of God. It was \u201cthe\nwill of God\u201d which Jesus came to do. Not a mere work of mercy for\nmiserable sinners, but a work ordained in eternity past, for the glory of\nGod in eternity future.\n\nThis is the record of the Word, and this is what is pictured for us here.\nThe work which the arrow accomplishes is seen in the dying Goat, and in\nthe falling Eagle.\n\nThere are many other stars in the heavens in a straighter line, which\nwould better serve for an arrow. Why are these stars chosen? Why is the\narrow placed here? What explanation can be given, except that the\nRevelation in the stars and in the Book are both from the inspiration of\nthe same Spirit?\n\nThere are about 18 stars, of which four are of the 4th magnitude. Only \u03b3\nand \u03b4 are in the same line, while the shaft passes between \u03b1 and \u03b2.\n\nThe Hebrew name is _Sham_, _destroying_, or _desolate_.\n\n\n\n2. AQUILA (The Eagle).\n\n\n                        _The Smitten One Falling._\n\nHere we have an additional picture of the effect of this arrow, in the\npierced, wounded, and falling Eagle, gasping in its dying struggle. And\nthat pierced, wounded, and dying Saviour whom it represents, after saying,\nin Ps. xxxviii. 2, \u201cThine arrows stick fast in Me,\u201d added, in verse 10:\n\n\n    \u201cMy heart panteth, My strength faileth Me,\n    As for the light of Mine eyes it is gone from Me.\u201d\n\n    (See also Zech. xiii. 6.)\n\n\nThe names of the stars, all of them, bear out this representation. The\nconstellation contains 74 stars. The brightest of them, \u03b1 (in the Eagle\u2019s\nneck), is a notable star of the 1st magnitude, called _Al Tair_ (Arabic),\n_the wounding_. The star \u03b2 (in the throat) is called _Al Shain_ (Arabic),\n_the bright_, from a Hebrew root meaning _scarlet coloured_, as in Josh.\nii. 18. The star \u03b3 (in the back) is called _Tarared_, _wounded_, or\n_torn_. \u03b4 (in the lower wing) is named _Alcair_, which means _the\npiercing_, and \u03b5 (in the tail), _Al Okal_, has the significant meaning\n_wounded in the heel_.\n\nHow can the united testimony of these names be explained except by\nacknowledging a Divine origin? even that of Him who afterwards foretold of\nthe bruising of the Virgin\u2019s Son in the written Word; yea, of Him \u201cwho\ntelleth the number of the stars and giveth them all their names.\u201d\n\n\n\n3. DELPHINUS (The Dolphin).\n\n\n                       _The Dead One Rising again._\n\nThis is a bright cluster of 18 stars, five of which are of the 3rd\nmagnitude. It is easily distinguished by the four brightest, which are in\nthe head.\n\nIt is always figured as a fish full of life, and always with the head\nupwards, just as the eagle is always with the head downwards. The great\npeculiar characteristic of the dolphin is its rising up, leaping, and\nspringing out of the sea.\n\nWhen we compare this with the dying goat and falling eagle, what\nconclusion can we come to but that we have here the filling in of the\npicture, and the completion of the whole truth set forth in Capricornus?\n\nJesus \u201cdied and rose again.\u201d Apart from His resurrection His death is\nwithout result. In His conflict with the enemy it is only His coming again\nin glory which is shown forth. But here, in connection with His people,\nwith the multitudes of His redeemed, Resurrection is the great and\nimportant truth. He is \u201cthe first\u2010fruits of them that slept\u201d; then He,\ntoo, is here represented as a fish. He who went down into the waters of\ndeath for His people; He who could say \u201cAll thy waves and thy billows are\ngone over me\u201d (Ps. xlii. 7), He it is who rises up again from the dead,\nhaving died on account of the sins of His redeemed, and risen again on\naccount of their justification (Rom. iv. 25).\n\nThis is the picture here. In the Persian planisphere there seems to be a\nfish and a stream of water. The Egyptian has a vessel pouring out water.\n\nThe ancient names connected with this constellation are _Dalaph_ (Hebrew),\n_pouring out of water_; _Dalaph_ (Arabic), _coming quickly;_ _Scalooin_\n(Arabic), _swift (as the flow of water); Rotaneb_ or _Rotaneu_ (Syriac and\nChaldee), _swiftly running_.\n\nThus, in this first chapter of the Second Book we see the great truth of\nRevelation set forth; and we learn how the great Blessings of Redemption\nwere procured. This truth cannot be more eloquently or powerfully\npresented than in the language of Dr. Seiss:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThis strange goat\u2010fish, dying in its head, but living in its\n    afterpart\u2014falling as an eagle pierced and wounded by the arrow of\n    death, but springing up from the dark waves with the matchless\n    vigour and beauty of the dolphin\u2014sinking under sin\u2019s condemnation,\n    but rising again as sin\u2019s conqueror\u2014developing new life out of\n    death, and heralding a new springtime out of December\u2019s long drear\n    nights\u2014was framed by no blind chance of man. The story which it\n    tells is the old, old story on which hangs the only availing hope\n    that ever came, or ever can come, to Adam\u2019s race. To what it\n    signifies we are for ever shut up as the only saving faith. In\n    that dying Seed of the woman we must see our sin\u2010bearer and the\n    atonement for our guilt, or die ourselves unpardoned and\n    unsanctified. Through His death and bloodshedding we must find our\n    life, or the true life, which alone is life, we never can have.\u201d\n\n    \u201cComplete atonement Thou hast made,\n    And to the utmost farthing paid\n      Whate\u2019er Thy people owed:\n    Nor can His wrath on me take place,\n    If sheltered in His righteousness,\n      And sprinkled with the blood.\n\n    If my discharge Thou hast procured,\n    And freely in my room endured\n      The whole of wrath divine,\n    Payment God cannot twice demand,\n    First at my bleeding Surety\u2019s hand,\n      And then again at mine.\n\n    Turn, then, my soul, unto Thy rest;\n    The merits of Thy great High Priest\n      Have bought thy liberty;\n    Trust in His efficacious blood,\n    Nor fear thy banishment from God,\n      Since Jesus died for thee.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter II. The Sign AQUARIUS (The Water Bearer).\n\n\n _Their Blessings Ensured, or the Living Waters of Blessing Poured Forth\n                            for the Redeemed._\n\nThe Atonement being made, the blessings have been procured, and now they\ncan be bestowed and poured forth upon the Redeemed. This is the truth,\nwhether we think of Abel\u2019s lamb, of patriarchal sacrifices, the offerings\nunder the Law, or of that great Sacrifice of which they all testified.\nThey all with one voice tell us that atonement made is the only foundation\nof blessing.\n\nThis was pictured and foreshown in the heavens from the beginning, by a\nman pouring forth water from an urn which seems to have an inexhaustible\nsupply, and which flows forth downwards into the mouth of a fish, which\nreceives it and drinks it all up.\n\nIn the ancient Zodiac of Denderah it is the same idea, though the man\nholds two urns, and the fish below seems to have come out of the urn. The\nman is called _Hupei Tirion_, which means _the place of him coming down_\nor _poured forth_.\n\nIn some eastern Zodiacs the Urn alone appears.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n  Plate 18: AQUARIUS (the Water Bearer) & PISCIS AUSTRALIS (the Southern\n                                  Fish)\n\n\nThis agrees with its other names\u2014Hebrew, _Deli_, _the water\u2010urn_, or\n_bucket_ (as in Num. xxiv. 7); the Arabic _Delu_ is the same.\n\nThere are 108 stars in this Sign, four of which are of the 3rd magnitude.\nTheir names, as far as they have come down to us, are significant.\n\nThe star \u03b1 (in the right shoulder) is called _Sa\u2019ad al Melik_, which means\n_the record of the pouring forth_.\n\nThe star \u03b2 (in the other shoulder) is called _Saad al Sund_, _who goeth\nand returneth_, or _the pourer out_.\n\nThe bright star \u03b4 (in the lower part of the right leg) is well\u2010known to\u2010\nday by its Hebrew name _Scheat_, which means _who goeth and returneth_.\n\nThe bright star in the urn has an Egyptian name\u2014_Mon_ or _Meon_, which\nmeans simply _an urn_.\n\nAquarius is the modern Latin name by which the sign is known. It has the\nsame meaning, _the pourer forth of water_.\n\nCan we doubt what is the interpretation of this sign? The Greeks, not\nknowing Him of whom it testified, were, like the woman of Samaria,\ndestitute of that living water which He alone can give. They therefore\ninvented some story about _Deucalion_, the son of Prometheus; and another,\nsaying he is _Ganymede_, Jove\u2019s cup\u2010bearer! But, as an astronomer says,\n\u201cWe must account otherwise for the origin of this name; for it is not\npossible to reconcile the symbols of the eleventh(49) sign with Grecian\nmythology.\u201d No! we must go further back than that, and not cramp our\nvision, and distort the Scriptures, by confining our thoughts to \u201cthe\nChurch.\u201d The Church is nowhere seen in these Signs, as she is nowhere\nrevealed in the Old Testament. This we shall enlarge on when we come to\nthe sign Pisces. Meanwhile we must read the witness of the stars as if\nthere had been no Church!\n\nChrist is first. Yea, He is all in all. The Scriptures testify of Him; and\nthe very stars in this Sign tell of His going away and His coming again.\nThese prophetic signs have to do with Him, with the Atonement He wrought,\nwith the conflict He endured, with the blessings He secured, with the\nvictory He shall win, and the triumph He shall have. For it is written:\n\n\n    \u201cHe shall pour the water out of His buckets,\n    And His seed shall be in many waters,\n    And His king shall be higher than Agag,\n    And His kingdom shall be exalted.\u201d\n\n    (Num. xxiv. 7.)\n\n\nIt tells of that glorious day when\n\n\n    \u201cA King shall reign in righteousness;\n    And princes shall rule in judgment;\n    And a MAN shall be as an hiding place\n      from the wind,\n    And a covert from the tempest;\n    As RIVERS of WATER in a dry place.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xxxii. 1, 2).\n\n\nIt speaks of that glorious time when Israel shall be restored, and their\n\u201ceyes shall see the King in His beauty\u201d; when the peace of Zion shall be\nno more disturbed, \u201cbut there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of\nbroad rivers and streams\u201d (Isa. xxxiii. 17, 20, 21). Then\n\n\n    \u201cThe wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;\n    And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose,\n    For in the wilderness shall waters break out,\n    And streams in the desert.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xxxv. 1, 6.)\n\n    \u201cI will open rivers in high places,\n    And fountains in the midst of the valleys;\n    I will make the wilderness a pool of water,\n    And the dry land springs of water.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xli. 18.)\n\n    \u201cFear not, O Jacob, My servant;\n    And thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen,\n    For I will POUR WATER upon him that is thirsty,\n    And floods upon the dry ground;\n    I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed,\n    And My blessing upon thy offspring.\n    Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel,\n    And his Redeemer the LORD of hosts.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xliv. 2, 3, 6.)\n\n\nThis is the meaning of the Sign. The MAN Christ Jesus, who was humbled in\ndeath will yet be seen to be the pourer forth of every blessing.\n_Physically_ pouring forth literal waters, removing the curse, and turning\nthis world into a paradise:\n\n\n    \u201cMaking her wilderness like Eden,\n    And her desert like the garden of the LORD.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. li. 3.)\n\n\nAnd _morally_ pouring forth His Spirit in such abundance as to fill the\nwhole earth with peace, and blessing, and glory, \u201cas the waters cover the\nsea.\u201d\n\nUpon Israel restored He will pour out His blessing. They will be sprinkled\nwith clean water, and possess a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. xxxvi.\n24\u201028; Joel ii. 28\u201032).\n\nSuch are some of the Scriptures which tell of this glorious Water\u2010pourer.\nWe need not rob Christ of His glory, or Israel of her blessing, in order\nto see in all this Pentecost or the Church. These are quite independent of\nthe great line of prophetic truth. They are parenthetical, and distinct,\nand true, quite apart from the glorious prophecies of Israel\u2019s scattering\nand gathering. The physical marvels referred to in the texts above can\nnever be satisfied or exhausted by any spiritual fulfilment. We may make\nan _application_ of them as far as is consistent with the teaching of the\nepistles; but the _interpretation_ of them belongs to the Person of\nChrist, and the nation of Israel. That interpretation is pictured for us\nin the Sign, and in its three constellations.\n\n\n\n1. PISCIS AUSTRALIS (The Southern Fish).\n\n\n                        _The Blessings Bestowed._\n\nThis first constellation is one of high antiquity,(50) and its brilliant\nstar of the first magnitude was a subject of great study by the Egyptians\nand Ethiopians. It is named in Arabic _Fom al Haut_, _the mouth of the\nfish_. There are 22 other stars.\n\nThe constellation is inseparable from Aquarius, in connection with which\nwe have shown it in Plate XVIII. In the Denderah Zodiac it is called\n_Aar_, _a stream_.\n\nIt sets forth the simple truth that the blessings procured by the MAN\u2014the\ncoming Seed of the woman, will be surely bestowed and received by those\nfor whom they are intended. There will be no failure in their\ncommunication, or in their reception. What has been purchased shall be\nsecured and possessed.\n\n\n\n2. PEGASUS (The Winged Horse).\n\n\n                     _The Blessings Quickly Coming._\n\nNot only shall they be received, but they shall be brought near. They will\nnot have to be fetched, but they will be caused to come to those for whom\nthey are procured, and will yet be _brought_ by Him who has procured them.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                   Plate 19: PEGASUS (the Winged Horse)\n\n\nIn the Denderah Zodiac there are two characters immediately below the\nhorse, _Pe_ and _ka_. _Peka_ or _Pega_, is in Hebrew _the chief_, and\n_Sus_ is _horse_. So that the very word (_Pegasus_) has come down to us\nand has been preserved through all the languages.\n\nThe names of the stars in this constellation declare to us its meaning.\nThere are 89 altogether; one of the 1st magnitude, two of the 2nd, three\nof the 3rd, nine of the 4th, etc. And, as astronomers testify, \u201cthey\nrender Pegasus peculiarly remarkable.\u201d\n\nThe brightest, \u03b1 (on the neck of the horse at the junction of the wing),\ncomes down to us with the ancient Hebrew name of _Markab_, which means\n_returning from afar_. The star \u03b2 (in the near shoulder) is called\n_Scheat_, _i.e._, _who goeth and returneth_. The star \u03b3 (at the tip of the\nwing) bears an Arabic name\u2014_Al Genib_, _who carries_. The star \u03b5 (in the\nnostril) is called _Enif_ (Arabic), _the water_. The star \u03b7 (in the near\nleg) is called _Matar_ (Arabic), _who causes to overflow_.\n\nThese names show us that we have to do with no mere horse. A winged horse\nis unknown to nature. It must therefore be used as a figure; and it can be\na figure only of a person, even of Him who is \u201c_the Branch_,\u201d as the star\n_Enif_ shows, who said, \u201cIf I go away I will come again,\u201d as the star\n_Scheat_ testifies.\n\nHe who procured these blessings for the redeemed by His Atonement, is\nquickly coming to bring them; and is soon returning to pour them forth\nupon a groaning creation. This is the lesson of Pegasus.\n\n\n    \u201cCome, blessed Lord, bid every shore\n      And answering island sing\n    The praises of Thy royal Name,\n      And own Thee as their King.\n\n    Lord, Lord! Thy fair creation groans\u2014\n      The earth, the air, the sea\u2014\n    In unison with all our hearts,\n      And calls aloud for Thee.\n\n    Thine was the Cross with all its fruits\n      Of grace and peace divine:\n    Be Thine the Crown of glory now,\n      The palm of victory Thine.\u201d\n\n\n\n3. CYGNUS (The Swan).\n\n\n                     _The Blesser surely Returning._\n\nThis constellation repeats, emphasises, and affirms this glorious truth.\nIt has to do with the Great Blesser and His speedy return, as is testified\nby all the ancient names connected with it.\n\nIn the Denderah Zodiac it is named _Tes\u2010ark_, which means _this from\nafar_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                       Plate 20: CYGNUS (the Swan)\n\n\nIt is a most brilliant and gorgeous asterism of 81 stars; one of the 1st\nor 2nd, six of the 3rd, twelve of the 4th magnitude, etc. It contains\nvariable stars, five double stars, and one quadruple. The star marked \u201c61\nCygni\u201d is known as one of the most wonderful in the whole heavens. It\nconsists of two stars which revolve about each other, and yet have a\nprogressive motion common to each!\n\nThis mighty bird is not falling dead, like Aquila, but it is flying\nswiftly in mid\u2010heaven. It is coming to the earth, for it is not so much a\nbird of the air, but a bird peculiarly belonging to both the earth and the\nwaters.\n\nIts brightest star, \u03b1 (between the body and the tail), is called _Deneb_\n(like another in Capricornus), and means _the judge_. It is also called\n_Adige_, _flying swiftly_, and thus at once it is connected with Him who\ncometh to judge the earth in righteousness.\n\nThe star \u03b2 (in the beak) is named _Al Bireo_ (Arabic), _flying quickly_.\n\nThe star \u03b3 (in the body) is called _Sadr_ (Hebrew), _who returns as in a\ncircle_.\n\nThe two stars in the tail, now marked in the maps as \u03c0 1 and \u03c0 2, are\nnamed _Azel_, _who goes and returns quickly_; and _Fafage_, _gloriously\nshining forth_.\n\nThe teaching, then, of the whole sign of AQUARIUS is clear and complete.\nThe names of the stars explain the constellations, and the names of the\nconstellations explain the sign, so that we are left in no doubt.\n\nBy His atoning death (as set forth in CAPRICORNUS) He has purchased and\nprocured unspeakable blessings for His redeemed. This sign (AQUARIUS)\ntells of those blessings being poured forth, and of the speedy return of\nHim who is to bring \u201crivers of blessing,\u201d and to fill this earth with\nblessing and glory \u201cas the waters cover the sea.\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cThen take, LORD, thy kingdom, and come in Thy glory;\n      Make the scene of Thy sorrows the place of Thy throne,\n    Complete all the blessing which ages in story\n      Have told of the triumphs so justly Thine own.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter III. The Sign PISCES (The Fishes).\n\n\n               _The Blessings of the Redeemed in abeyance._\n\nIn this third chapter of the Second Book we come to the results of the\nRedeemer\u2019s work enjoyed, but in connection with conflict, as is seen in\nthe last of the three sections (the constellation of _Andromeda_, _the\nchained woman_), which leads up to the last chapter of the book, and ends\nit in triumph over every enemy.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                 Plate 21: PISCES (the Fish) and the Band\n\n\nThe Sign is pictured as two large fishes bound together by a _Band_, the\nends of which are fastened separately to their tails. One fish is\nrepresented with its head pointing upwards towards the North Polar Star,\nthe other is shown at right angles, swimming along the line of the\necliptic, or path of the sun.\n\nThe ancient Egyptian name, as shown on the Denderah Zodiac, is _Pi\u2010cot\nOrion_, or _Pisces Hori_, which means _the fishes of Him that cometh_.\n\nThe Hebrew name is _Dagim_, _the Fishes_, which is closely connected with\n_multitudes_, as in Gen. xlviii. 26, where Jacob blesses Joseph\u2019s sons,\nand says, \u201cLet them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.\u201d The\nmargin says, \u201cLet them grow _as fishes do increase_.\u201d It refers to the\nfulfilment of Gen. i. 28, \u201cBe fruitful and multiply.\u201d The _multitude_ of\nAbraham\u2019s seed is prominent in the pronouncement of the blessings, where\nGod compared his future posterity to the stars of the sky, and the sand\nupon the sea shore. \u201cA very great multitude of fish,\u201d as in Ezek. xlvii.\n9.\n\nThe Syriac name is _Nuno_, _the fish_, _lengthened out (as in posterity)_.\n\nThe sign, then, speaks of the multitudes who should enjoy the blessings of\nthe Redeemer\u2019s work.\n\nAnd here we must maintain that \u201cthe Church,\u201d which is \u201cthe Body of\nChrist,\u201d was a subject that was never revealed to man until it was made\nknown to the Apostle Paul by a special revelation. The Holy Spirit\ndeclares (Rom. xvi. 25) that it \u201cwas kept secret since the world began.\u201d\nIn Eph. iii. 9 he declares that it \u201cfrom the beginning of the world hath\nbeen hid in God\u201d; and in Col. i. 26, that it \u201chath been hid from ages and\nfrom generations, but now is made manifest to His saints.\u201d In each\nscripture which speaks of it as \u201cnow made manifest,\u201d or \u201cnow made known,\u201d\nit is distinctly stated that it was \u201ca mystery,\u201d _i.e._, a _secret_, and\nhad, up to that moment, been hidden from mankind, hidden \u201cin God.\u201d How,\nthen, we ask, can \u201cthe Church,\u201d which was _a subsequent_ revelation, be\nread into the previous prophecies, whether written in the Old Testament\nScriptures, or made known in the Heavens? If the Church was revealed in\nprophecy, then it could not have been said to be hidden or kept secret. If\nthe _first_ revelation of it was made known to Paul, as he distinctly\naffirms it was, then it could not have been revealed before. Unless we see\nthis very clearly, we cannot \u201crightly divide the word of truth\u201d (2 Tim.\nii. 15). And if we do not rightly divide the word of truth, in its\nsubjects, and times, and dispensations, we must inevitably be landed in\nconfusion and darkness, interpreting of the Church, scriptures which\nbelong only to Israel.\n\nThe Church, or Body of Christ, is totally distinct from every class of\npersons who are made the subject of prophecy. Not that the Church of God\nwas an after\u2010thought. No, it was a Divine secret, kept as only God Himself\ncould keep it. The Bible therefore would have been complete (so far as the\nOld Testament prophecies are concerned) if the Epistles (which belong only\nto the Church) were taken out. The Old Testament would then give us the\nkingdom prophesied; the Gospels and Acts, the King and the kingdom offered\nand rejected; then the Apocalypse would follow, showing how that promised\nkingdom will yet be set up with Divine judgment, power, and glory.\n\nIf these Signs and these star\u2010pictures be the results of inspired\npatriarchs, then this Sign of PISCES can refer to \u201cHis seed,\u201d prophesied\nof in Isa. liii.: \u201cHe shall see His seed.\u201d It must refer to\n\n\n    \u201cThe nation whose God is the LORD,\n    And the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. xxxiii. 12.)\n\n    \u201cSuch as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. xxxvii. 22.)\n\n    \u201cThe LORD shall increase you more and more,\n    You and your children,\n    Ye are blessed of the LORD.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. cxv. 14, 15.)\n\n    \u201cTheir seed shall be known among the Gentiles.\n    And their offspring among the people;\n    All that see them shall acknowledge them,\n    That they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. lxi. 9.)\n\n    \u201cThey are the seed of the blessed of the LORD,\n    And their offspring with them.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. lxv. 23.)\n\n\nThe prophecy of this Sign was afterwards written in the words of Isa.\nxxvi. 15\u2014the song which shall yet be sung in the land of Judah:\n\n\n    \u201cThou hast increased the nation, O LORD,\n    Thou hast increased the nation.\u201d\n\n\nAnd in Isa. ix. 3 (R.V.), speaking of the glorious time when the\ngovernment shall be upon the shoulder of the coming King:\n\n\n    \u201cThou hast multiplied the nation,\n    Thou hast increased their joy.\u201d\n\n\nOf that longed\u2010for day Jeremiah sings (xxx. 19):\n\n\n    \u201cI will multiply them\n    And they shall not be few;\n    I will also glorify them,\n    And they shall not be small.\u201d\n\n\nEzekiel also is inspired to say:\n\n\n    \u201cI will multiply men upon you,\n    All the house of Israel, even all of it:\n    And the cities shall be inhabited,\n    And the wastes shall be builded;\n    And I will multiply upon you man and beast,\n    And they shall increase and bring fruit.\u201d\n\n    (Ezek. xxxvi. 10, 11.)\n\n    \u201cMoreover I will make a covenant of peace with them;\n    It shall be an everlasting covenant with them!\n    And I will place them, and multiply them,\n    And will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.\u201d\n\n    (Ezek. xxxvii. 26.)\n\n\nIndeed, this Sign of PISCES has always been interpreted of Israel. Both\nJews and Gentiles have agreed in this. ABARBANEL, a Jewish commentator,\nwriting on Daniel, affirms that the Sign PISCES always refers to the\npeople of Israel. He gives five reasons for this belief, and also affirms\nthat a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn always betokens a\ncrisis in the affairs of Israel. Because such a conjunction took place in\nhis day (about 1480 A.D.) he looked for the coming of Messiah.(51)\n\nCertain it is, that when the sun is in PISCES all the constellations which\nare considered _noxious_, are seen above the horizon. What is true in\nastronomical observation is true also in historical fact. When God\u2019s\nfavour is shown to Israel, \u201cthe Jew\u2019s enemy\u201d puts forth his malignant\npowers. When they increased and multiplied in Egypt, he endeavoured to\ncompass the destruction of the nation by destroying the male children; but\ntheir great Deliverer remembered His covenant, defeated the designs of the\nenemy, and brought the counsel of the heathen to nought. So it was in\nPersia; and so it will yet be again when the hour of Israel\u2019s final\ndeliverance has come.\n\nThere can be no doubt that we have in this Sign the foreshowing of the\nmultiplication and blessing of the children of promise, and a token of\ntheir coming deliverance from all the power of the enemy.\n\nBut why _two_ fishes? and why is one horizontal and the other\nperpendicular? The answer is, that not only in Israel, but in the seed of\nSeth and Shem there were always those who looked for a heavenly portion,\nand were \u201cpartakers of a heavenly calling.\u201d In Heb. xi. we are distinctly\ntold that Abraham \u201clooked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder\nand maker is God\u201d (_v._ 10). They were \u201cstrangers and pilgrims on the\nearth\u201d (_v._ 13). _Strangers_ are those without a home, and _pilgrims_ are\nthose who are journeying home: \u201cthey seek a country\u201d (_v._ 14). They\ndesired \u201ca better country, that is, an HEAVENLY: wherefore God is not\nashamed(52) to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city\u201d\n(_v._ 16). It is clear, therefore, that what are called the \u201cOld Testament\nSaints\u201d were \u201cpartakers of THE HEAVENLY CALLING\u201d (Heb. iii. 1), which\nincluded a heavenly portion and a heavenly home; and all through the ages\nthere have been \u201cpartakers of the heavenly calling.\u201d This is quite\ndistinct from the calling of the Church, which is from both Jews and\nGentiles to form \u201cone body,\u201d a \u201cnew man\u201d in Christ (Eph. ii. 15). It must\nbe distinct, for it is expressly stated at the end of that chapter (Heb.\nxi. 40) that God has \u201cPROVIDED (marg. _forseen_) SOME BETTER THING FOR\nUS.\u201d How can this be a \u201cbetter thing,\u201d if it is the _same thing_? There\nmust be two separate things if one is \u201cbetter\u201d than the other! Our calling\nin Christ is the \u201cbetter thing.\u201d The Old Testament saints had, and will\nhave, _a good thing_. They will have a heavenly blessing, and a heavenly\nportion, for God has \u201cprepared for them a city,\u201d and we see that prepared\ncity, even \u201cthe holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of\nHEAVEN, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband\u201d (Rev. xxi. 2). This\nis the \u201cheavenly\u201d portion of the Old Testament saints, the Bride of\nChrist. The Church will have a still \u201cbetter\u201d portion, for \u201cthey without\nus should not be made perfect\u201d (Heb. xi. 40).\n\nThe fish, shooting upwards to the Polar Star, exquisitely pictures this\n\u201cheavenly calling\u201d; while the other fish, keeping on the horizontal line,\nanswers to those who were content with an earthly portion.\n\nBut both alike were divinely called, and chosen, and upheld. The names of\ntwo of the stars in the sign (not identified) are _Okda_ (Hebrew), _the\nunited_, and _Al Samaca_ (Arabic), _the upheld_.(53) These again speak of\nthe redeemed seed, of whom, and to whom, Jehovah speaks in that coming day\nof glory in Isa. xli. 8\u201010 (R.V.):\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cBut thou, Israel, My servant,\n    Jacob, whom I have chosen,\n    The seed of Abraham My friend;\n    Thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth,\n    And called thee from the corners thereof,\n    And said unto thee, Thou art My servant;\n    I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away;\n    Fear thou not, for I am with thee;\n    Be not dismayed, for I am thy God!\n    I will strengthen thee;\n    Yea, I will help thee;\n    Yea, I will UPHOLD thee with the right hand of My righteousness.\u201d\n\n\nThis is the teaching of the Sign; and the first constellation takes up\nthis thought and emphasises it.\n\n\n\n1. THE BAND.\n\n\n              _The Redeemed Bound, but binding their Enemy._\n\nThe band that _unites_ these two fishes has always formed a separate\nconstellation. It is shown in Plate XXI. The Arabian poems of ANTARAH\nfrequently mention it as distinct from the Sign with which it is so\nclosely connected. ANTARAH was an Arabian poet of the sixth century.\n\nIts ancient Egyptian name was _U\u2010or_, which means _He cometh_. Its Arabic\nname is _Al Risha_, _the band_, or _bridle_.\n\nIt speaks of the Coming One, not in His relation to Himself, or to His\nenemies, but in His relation to _the Redeemed_. It speaks of Him who says:\n\n\n    \u201cI drew them with cords of a man,\n    With bands of love;\n    And I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws.\u201d\n\n    (Hosea xi. 4, R.V.)\n\n\nBut it speaks also of His unloosing the bands with which they have been so\nlong bound.\n\nIn the picture these fishes are bound. One end of the _band_ is fastened\nsecurely round the tail of one fish, and it is the same with the other.\nMoreover, this _band_ is fastened to the neck of _Cetus_, the sea monster,\nwhile immediately above is seen a woman chained as a captive. These both\ntell the same story, and, indeed, all are required to set forth the whole\ntruth. The fishes are _bound_ to _Cetus_; the woman (_Andromeda_) is\nchained; but the Deliverer of both is near. Cepheus, the Crowned King, the\nRedeemer, \u201cthe Breaker,\u201d the Branch, is seen coming quickly for the\ndeliverance of His redeemed. These are the three constellations of this\nsign, and all three are required to set forth the story.\n\nIsrael now is bound. The great enemy still oppresses, but deliverance is\nsure. ARIES, _the Ram_, is seen with his paws on this band, as though\nabout to loosen the bands and set the captives free, and to fast bind\ntheir great oppressor.\n\n\n\n2. ANDROMEDA (The Chained Woman).\n\n\n             _The Redeemed in their Bondage and Affliction._\n\nThis is a peculiar picture to set in the heavens. A woman with chains\nfastened to her feet and arms, in misery and trouble; and bound, helpless,\nto the sky. Yet this is the ancient foreshowing of the truth.\n\nIn the Denderah Zodiac her name is _Set_, which means _set_, _set up as a\nqueen_. In Hebrew it is _Sirra_, _the chained_, and _Persea_, _the\nstretched out_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                 Plate 22: ANDROMEDA (the Chained Woman)\n\n\nThere are 63 stars in this constellation, three of which are of the 2nd\nmagnitude, two of the 3rd, twelve of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the head), is called _Al Phiratz_ (Arabic), _the\nbroken down_. The star \u03b2 (in the body) is called _Mirach_ (Hebrew), _the\nweak_. The star \u03b3 (in the left foot) is called _Al Maach_, or _Al Amak_\n(Arabic), _struck down_.\n\nThe names of other stars, not identified, are _Adhil_, _the afflicted_;\n_Mizar_, _the weak_; _Al Mara_ (Arabic), _the afflicted_. ARATUS speaks of\n_Desma_, which means _the bound_, and says\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cHer feet point to her bridegroom\n    _Perseus_, on whose shoulder they rest.\u201d\n\n\nThus, with one voice, the stars of _Andromeda_ speak to us of the captive\ndaughter of Zion. And her coming Deliverer thus addresses her:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cO thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,\n    Behold, ... in righteousness shalt thou be established:\n    Thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear:\n    And from terror; for it shall not come nigh thee.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. liv. 11\u201014.)\n\n    \u201cHear now this, thou afflicted....\n    Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion;\n    Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem....\n    Shake thyself from the dust;\n    Arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem:\n    Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of\n                Zion.\n    For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought;\n    And ye shall be redeemed without money.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. li. 21\u2010lii. 3.)\n\n\n\u201cThe virgin daughter of My people is broken with a great breach, with a\nvery grievous blow\u201d (Jer. xiv. 17).\n\nThe picture which sets forth her deliverance is reserved for the next\nchapter (or Sign), where it comes in its proper place and order. We are\nfirst shown her glorious Deliverer; for we never, in the heavens or in the\nWord, have a reference to the sufferings without an _immediate_ reference\nto the glory.\n\n\n\n3. CEPHEUS (The King).\n\n\n                     _Their Redeemer Coming to Rule._\n\nHere we have the presentation of a glorious king, crowned, and enthroned\nin the highest heaven, with a sceptre in his hand, and his foot planted on\nthe very Polar Star itself.\n\nHis name in the Denderah Zodiac is _Pe\u2010ku\u2010hor_, which means _this one\ncometh to rule_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                   Plate 23: CEPHEUS (the Crowned King)\n\n\nThe Greek name by which he is now known, _Cepheus_, is from the Hebrew,\nand means _the branch_, and is called by EURIPIDES _the king_.\n\nAn old Ethiopian name was _Hyk_, _a king_.\n\nThere are 35 stars, _viz._, three of the 3rd magnitude, seven of the 4th,\netc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the left shoulder), is called _Al Deramin_,\nwhich means _coming quickly_. The next, \u03b2 (in the girdle), is named _Al\nPhirk_ (Arabic), _the Redeemer_. The next, \u03b3 (in the left knee), is called\n_Al Rai_, which means _who bruises_ or _breaks_.\n\nIt is impossible to mistake the truth which these names teach. The Greeks,\nthough they had lost it, yet preserved a trace of it, even in their\nperversion of it; for they held that _Cepheus_ was the father of\n_Andromeda_, and that _Perseus_ was her husband.\n\nYes; this is the glorious King of Israel, the \u201cKing of kings, and Lord of\nlords.\u201d It is He who calls Israel His \u201cson,\u201d and will yet manifest it to\nall the world.\n\nIn Jer. xxxi., after speaking of Israel\u2019s restoration, Jehovah says (_v._\n1):\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cAt the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the\n                families of Israel,\n    And they shall be My people....\n    For I am a father to Israel,\n    And Ephraim is My firstborn\u201d\n\n    (_v._ 9).\n\n\nAs He said to Moses: \u201cThus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my\nfirstborn\u201d (Exod. iv. 22).\n\nHere is the foundation of Israel\u2019s blessing. True, it is now in abeyance,\nbut \u201cthe LORD reigneth,\u201d and will in due time make good His Word, for\n\n\n    \u201cThe counsel of the LORD standeth for ever.\n    The thoughts of His heart to all generations.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. xxxiii. 11.)\n\n\nThis leads us up to the last chapter of the Second Book, which shows us\nthe fulfilment of all the prophecies concerning the Redeemed and the sure\nfoundation on which their great hope of glory is based.\n\n\n\n\nChapter IV. The Sign ARIES (The Ram or Lamb).\n\n\n         _The Blessings of the Redeemed Consummated and Enjoyed._\n\nThis Second Book began with _the Goat_ dying in sacrifice, and it ends\nwith the Lamb living again, \u201cas it had been slain.\u201d The goat had the tail\nof a fish, indicating that his death was for a _multitude_ of the\nredeemed. In the two middle Signs we have had these fishes presented to us\nin grace, and in their conflict. We come now to the last chapter of the\nbook: and, as we have seen, like each of the other books, it ends up with\nvictory and triumph. Here we are first shown the foundation on which that\nvictory rests, namely, Atonement. Hence we are taken back and reminded of\nthe \u201cblood of the Lamb.\u201d\n\nThis is pictured by a ram, or lamb, full of vigour and life; not falling\nin death as _Capricornus_ is.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                        Plate 24: ARIES (the Ram)\n\n\nIn the Denderah Zodiac its name is _Tametouris Ammon_, which means _the\nreign_, _dominion_, or _government of Ammon_. The lamb\u2019s head is without\nhorns, and is crowned with a circle.\n\nThe Hebrew name is _Taleh_, _the lamb_. The Arabic name is _Al Hamal_,\n_the sheep_, _gentle_, _merciful_. This name has been mistakenly given by\nsome to the principal star, \u03b1. The Syriac name is _Amroo_, as in the\nSyriac New Testament in John i. 29: \u201cBehold the Lamb of God which taketh\naway the sin of the world.\u201d The ancient Akkadian name was _Bara\u2010ziggar_.\n_Bar_ means _altar_, or _sacrifice_; and _ziggar_ means _right making_; so\nthat the full name would be _the sacrifice of righteousness_.\n\nThere are 66 stars in this sign, one being of the 2nd magnitude, two of\nthe 4th, etc.\n\nIts chief star, \u03b1 (in the forehead), is named _El Nath_,(54) or _El\nNatik_, which means _wounded_, _slain_. The next, \u03b2 (in the left horn), is\ncalled _Al Sheratan_, _the bruised_, _the wounded_. The next, \u03b3 (near to\n\u03b2), is called _Mesartim_ (Hebrew), _the bound_.\n\nHow is it there is no conflicting voice? How is it that all the stars\nunite in one harmonious voice in testifying of the Lamb of God, slain, and\nbruised, but yet living for evermore, singing together, \u201cWorthy is the\nLamb that was slain to receive power and riches, and wisdom, and strength,\nand honour, and glory, and blessing\u201d (Rev. v. 12)?\n\nThis rejoicing connected with the Lamb shines faintly through the heathen\nperversions and myths: for HERODOTUS tells us how the ancient Egyptians,\nonce a year, when it opened by the entrance of the sun into ARIES,(55)\nslew a Ram, at the festival of Jupiter Ammon; branches were placed over\nthe doors, the Ram was garlanded with wreaths of flowers and carried in\nprocession. Now the sun entered ARIES on the 14th of the Jewish month\nNisan, and _another lamb_ was then ordered to be slain, even \u201cthe LORD\u2019S\npassover\u201d\u2014the type of that Lamb that should in the fulness of time be\noffered without blemish and without spot. Owing to the precession of the\nequinoxes, the sun, at the time of the Exodus, had receded into this sign\nof ARIES, which then marked the Spring Equinox. But by the time that the\nantitype\u2014the Lamb of God, was slain, the sun had still further receded,\nand on the 14th of Nisan, in the year of the Crucifixion, stood at the\nvery spot marked by the stars \u03b1, _El Nath_, _the pierced_, _the wounded_\nor _slain_, and \u03b2, _Al Sheratan_, _the bruised_ _or wounded_! God so\nordained \u201cthe times and seasons\u201d that during that noon\u2010day darkness the\nsun was seen near those stars which had spoken for so many centuries of\nthis bruising of the woman\u2019s Seed\u2014the Lamb of God.\n\nWas this design? or was it chance? It is far easier to believe the former.\nIt makes a smaller demand upon our faith; yes, we are compelled to believe\nthat He who created the sun and the stars \u201cfor signs and for cycles,\u201d\nordained also the times and the seasons, and it is He who tells us that\n\u201cWHEN THE FULNESS OF TIME WAS COME, God sent forth His Son\u201d (Gal. iv. 4),\nand that \u201cin due time Christ died for the ungodly\u201d (Rom. v. 6).\n\n\n\n1. CASSIOPEIA (The Enthroned Woman).\n\n\n  _The Captive Delivered, and Preparing for her Husband, the Redeemer._\n\nIn the last chapter we saw the _woman bound_; here we see the same woman\nfreed, delivered, and enthroned.\n\nULUGH BEY says its Arabic name is _El Seder_, which means _the freed_.\n\nIn the Denderah Zodiac her name is _Set_, which means _set_, _set up as\nQueen_. ALBUMAZER says this constellation was anciently called \u201c_the\ndaughter of splendour_.\u201d This appears to be the meaning of the word\n_Cassiopeia_, _the enthroned_, _the beautiful_. The Arabic name is\n_Ruchba_, _the enthroned_. This is also the meaning of its Chaldee name,\n_Dat al cursa_.\n\nThere are 55 stars in this constellation, of which five are of the 3rd\nmagnitude, five of the 4th, etc.\n\nThis beautiful constellation passes vertically over Great Britain every\nday, and is easily distinguished by its five brightest stars, forming an\nirregular W.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                 Illustration showing the W of Cassiopeia\n\n\nThis brilliant constellation contains one binary star, a triple star, a\ndouble star, a quadruple star, and a large number of nebul\u00e6.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                Plate 25: CASSIOPEIA (the Enthroned Woman)\n\n\nIn the year 1572 Tycho Brahe discovered in this constellation, and very\nnear the star \u03ba (under the arm of the chair), a new star, which shone more\nbrightly than Venus. It was observed for nearly two years, and disappeared\nentirely in 1574.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the left breast), is named _Schedir_ (Hebrew),\nwhich means _the freed_. The next, \u03b2 (in the top of the chair), likewise\nbears a Hebrew name\u2014_Caph_, which means _the branch_; it is evidently\ngiven on account of the branch of victory which she bears in her hand.\n\nShe is indeed highly exalted, and making herself ready. Her hands, no\nlonger bound, are engaged in this happy work. With her right hand she is\narranging her robes, while with her left she is adorning her hair. She is\nseated upon the Arctic circle, and close by the side of _Cepheus_, the\nKing.\n\nThis is \u201cthe Bride, the Lamb\u2019s wife, the heavenly city, the new\nJerusalem,\u201d the \u201cpartakers of the heavenly calling.\u201d\n\nHe who has redeemed her is \u201cthe Lamb that was slain,\u201d and He addresses her\nthus:\n\n\n    \u201cThy Maker is thine husband;\n    The LORD of Hosts is His name;\n    And the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer;\n    The God of the whole earth shall He be called.\n    For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in\n                spirit,\n    Even a wife of youth when she is cast off, saith thy God.\n    For a small moment have I forsaken thee;\n    But with great mercies will I gather thee.\n    In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment;\n    But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the\n                LORD thy Redeemer.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. liv. 5\u20108. R.V.)\n\n    \u201cThou shalt be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,\n    And a royal diadem in the hand of thy God,\n    Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken;\n    Neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate;\n    But thou shalt be called Hephzi\u2010bah (_i.e._, _my delight is in\n                her_),\n    And thy land Beulah (_i.e._, _married_);\n    For the LORD delighteth in thee,\n    And thy land shall be married.\n    For as a young man marrieth a virgin,\n    So shall thy sons (_Heb._ thy Restorer) marry thee:\n    And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride,\n    \u201cSo shall thy God rejoice over thee.\n\n    (Isa. lxii. 3\u20105, R.V.)\n\n    \u201cThe LORD hath appeared of old (or from afar) unto me, _saying_,\n    Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love;\n    Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.\n    Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O Virgin of\n                Israel....\n    He that scattered Israel will gather him,\n    And keep him as a shepherd doth his flock,\n    For the LORD hath ransomed Jacob,\n    And redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.\u201d\n\n    (Jer. xxxi. 3\u201012, R.V.)\n\n\nCan we close our eyes to the testimony of these scriptures\u2014that Israel is\nthe Bride of the Lamb? When we have all these, and more, why should we\nread \u201cthe Church\u201d into these ancient prophecies, which was the subject of\na long\u2010subsequent revelation, merely because (in Eph. v. 25) Christ\u2019s love\nto His Church is _compared_ to a husband\u2019s love for his wife? \u201cHusbands,\nlove your wives, even AS Christ also loved the Church.\u201d There is not a\nword here about the Church being His wife. On the contrary, it reveals the\nsecret that the Church of Christ is to be the mystical \u201cBody of Christ,\u201d\n_part of the Husband_ in fact, \u201cOne new man\u201d (Eph. ii. 15)! whereas\nrestored Israel is to be the Bride of this \u201cNew Man,\u201d the Bride of Christ,\nthe Lamb\u2019s wife! Blessed indeed it is to be united to Christ as a wife to\na husband, but glorious beyond all description to be \u201cone\u201d with Christ\nHimself, part of His mystical Body.\n\nIf men had only realised the wondrous glory of this mystery, they would\nnever have so _wrongly_ divided the Word of Truth by _interpreting_ Psalm\nxlv. of this Mystical Christ. If we \u201crightly divide\u201d it, we see at once\nthat this Psalm is in harmony with all the Old Testament scriptures, which\nmust be interpreted alike, and can be interpreted only of Israel however\nthey may be _applied_.\n\nHaving spoken of the Godhead and glory of this King (faintly and in part\nforeshown by _Cepheus_), the Holy Spirit goes on in the latter part of the\nPsalm to speak of the Bride\u2014the Queen:\n\n\n    \u201cAt Thy right hand doth stand the Queen in gold of Ophir,\n    Hearken, O daughter, and consider, incline thine ear;\n    Forget also thine own people, and thy father\u2019s house;\n    So shall the King desire thy beauty;(56)\n    For He is thy Lord; and worship thou Him....\n    The King\u2019s daughter within _the palace_ is all glorious;\n    Her clothing is inwrought with gold,\n    She shall be led unto the King in broidered work;\n    The virgins her companions(57) that follow her shall be brought\n                unto thee,\u201d etc.\n\n    (Ps. xlv. 9\u201017, R.V.)\n\n\nThen shall she sing her Magnificat:\n\n\n    \u201cI will greatly rejoice in the LORD,\n    My soul shall be joyful in my God;\n    For He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,\n    He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness,\n    As a bridegroom decketh _himself_ with ornaments,\n    And as a bride adorneth _herself_ with her jewels.\n    For as the earth bringeth forth her bud,\n    And as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring\n                forth;\n    So the Lord GOD [Adonai Jehovah] will cause righteousness and\n                praise to spring forth before all the nations.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. lxi. 10, 11.)\n\n\nThis, then, is the truth set forth by this enthroned woman. The blessing\nfounded on Atonement, and the Redemption wrought by the Lamb that was\nslain, result in a glorious answer to Israel\u2019s prayer, \u201cTurn our\ncaptivity, O LORD\u201d (Ps. cxxvi. 4): when they that have \u201csown in tears\nshall reap in joy,\u201d and the LORD shall loosen her bonds, and place her\nenthroned by His side.\n\nThis, however, involves the destruction of her enemy, and this is what we\nsee in the next section.\n\n\n\n2. CETUS (The Sea Monster).\n\n\n                         _The Great Enemy Bound._\n\nWhen John sees the New Jerusalem, the Bride, the Lamb\u2019s wife (Rev. xxi.\n10, 2), Satan has been bound already: for we read, a few verses before\n(xx. 1\u20103): \u201cI saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the\nbottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the\ndragon, that Old Serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him\n[_and kept him bound_] a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless\npit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the\nnations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.\u201d\n\nThis is what we see in the second section of this chapter\u2014the second\nconstellation in ARIES.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                    Plate 26: CETUS (the Sea Monster)\n\n\nThe picture is that of a great Sea\u2010monster, the largest of all the\nconstellations. It is the natural enemy of fishes, hence it is placed here\nin connection with this last chapter, in which fishes are so prominent.\n\nIt is situated very low down among the constellations\u2014far away towards the\nsouth or lower regions of the sky.\n\nIts name in the Denderah Zodiac is _Knem_, which means _subdued_. It is\npictured as a monstrous head, trodden under foot by the swine, the natural\nenemy of the serpent. The hawk also (another enemy of the serpent) is over\nthis figure, crowned with a mortar, denoting _bruising_.\n\nIt consists of 97 stars, of which two are of the 2nd magnitude, eight of\nthe 3rd, nine of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe names of the stars interpret for us infallibly the meaning of the\npicture.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the upper mandible), is named _Menkar_, and\nmeans _the bound_ or _chained enemy_. The next, \u03b2 (in the tail), is called\n_Diphda_, or _Deneb Kaitos_, _overthrown_, or _thrust down_. The star \u03bf\n(in the neck) is named _Mira_, which means _THE REBEL_. Its name is\nominous, for the star is one of the most remarkable. It is very bright,\nbut it was not till 1596 that it was discovered to be _variable_. It\ndisappears periodically _seven_ times in _six_ years! It continues at its\nbrightest for fifteen days together. M. Bade says that during 334 days it\nshines with its greatest light, then it diminishes, till it entirely\ndisappears for some time (to the naked eye). In fact, during that period\nit passes through several degrees of magnitude, both increasing and\ndiminishing. Indeed its variableness is so great as to make it appear\n_unsteady_!\n\nHere, then, is the picture of the Great Rebel as shown in the heavens.\nWhat is it, as written in the Word?\n\nThe Almighty asks man:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cCanst thou draw out Leviathan with a fish hook?\n    Or press down his tongue with a cord?\n    Canst thou put a rope into his nose?\n    Or pierce his jaw through with a hook?...\n    Shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?\n    None is so fierce that he dare stir him up.\u201d\n\n    (Job xli. 1\u201010, R.V.)\n\n\nBut he whom man cannot bind can be bound by the Lamb, and He is seen with\n\u201cthe Band\u201d that has bound the fishes, now in His hands, which he has\nfastened with a bright star to his neck, saying,\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cBehold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling,\n    Even the dregs of the cup of My fury;\n    Thou shalt no more drink it again,\n    But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. li. 22, 23.)\n\n    \u201cBehold, the LORD cometh forth out of His place\n    To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity....\n    In that day the LORD, with His sore, and great, and strong sword,\n    Shall punish Leviathan, the piercing serpent,\n    And Leviathan, the crooked serpent;\n    And He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xxvi. 21\u2010xxvii. 1.)\n\n    \u201cFor God is my king of old,\n    Working salvation in the midst of the earth.\n    Thou didst divide (marg. _Heb._, _break_) the sea by Thy strength,\n    Thou brakest the heads of the dragons (R.V. marg., _sea monsters_)\n                in the waters.\n    Thou brakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. lxxiv. 12\u201014.)\n\n\nAnd this Second Book closes by revealing to us this glorious \u201cBreaker.\u201d\n\n\n\n3. PERSEUS (\u201cThe Breaker.\u201d)\n\n\n              _\u201c__The Breaker__\u201d__ delivering His Redeemed._\n\nHere we have set before us a mighty man, called in the Hebrew _Peretz_,\nfrom which we have the Greek form _Perses_, or _Perseus_ (Rom. xvi. 13).\nIt is the same word which is used of Christ in Micah ii. 13. When He shall\nsurely \u201cgather the remnant of Israel\u201d (_v._ 12), it is written\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cTHE BREAKER is gone up before them....\n    Their King is passed on before them,\n    And the LORD at the head of them.\u201d\n\n\nThis is what is pictured to us here. We see a glorious \u201cBreaker\u201d taking\nHis place before His redeemed, breaking forth at their head, breaking down\nall barriers, and breaking the heads of Leviathan and all his hosts. In\nHis right hand He has His \u201csore, and great, and strong sword\u201d lifted up to\nsmite and break down the enemy. He has wings on His feet, which tell us\nthat He is coming very swiftly. In His left hand He carries the head of\nthe enemy, whom he has slain.\n\nIn the Denderah Zodiac His name is _Kar Knem_, _he who fights and\nsubdues_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                     Plate 27: PERSEUS (the Breaker)\n\n\nIt is a beautiful constellation of 59 stars, two of which are of the 2nd\nmagnitude, four of the 3rd, twelve of the 4th, etc.\n\nTheir names supply us with the key to the interpretation of the picture.\n\nThe star \u03b1 (in the waist) is called _Mirfak_, _who helps_. The next, \u03b3 (in\nthe right shoulder), is named _Al Genib_, which means _who carries away_.\nThe bright star in the left foot is called _Athik_, _who breaks_!\n\nIn his left hand he carries a head, which, by perversion, the Greeks\ncalled the head of Medusa, being ignorant that its Hebrew root meant _the\ntrodden under foot_.(58) It is also called _Rosh Satan_ (Hebrew), _the\nhead of the adversary_, and _Al Oneh_ (Arabic), _the subdued_, or _Al\nGhoul_, _the evil spirit_.\n\nThe bright star, \u03b2 (in this head), has come down to us with the name _Al\nGol_, which means _rolling round_.\n\nIt is a most remarkable phenomenon that so many of these enemies should be\ncharacterised by variable stars! But this head of _Medusa_, like the neck\nof _Cetus_, has one. _Al Gol_ is continually changing. In about 69 hours\nit changes from the 4th magnitude to the 2nd. During four hours of this\nperiod it gradually diminishes in brightness, which it recovers in the\nsucceeding four hours; and in the remaining part of the time invariably\npreserves its greatest lustre. After the expiration of this time its\nbrightness begins to decrease again. Fit emblem of our great enemy, who,\n\u201clike a _roaring lion_, goeth about seeking whom he may devour\u201d (1 Pet. v.\n8.); then changing into a _subtle serpent_ (Gen. iii. 8.); then changing\nagain into \u201can angel of light\u201d (2 Cor. xi. 14.). \u201cTransforming himself\u201d\ncontinually, to devour, deceive, and destroy.\n\nThis brings us to the conclusion of the Second Book, in which we have seen\nthe Redeemed blessed with all blessings, delivered out of all conflict,\nsaved from all enemies. We have seen their Redeemer, \u201cthe Lamb slain from\nthe foundation of the world,\u201d \u201cthe Conqueror,\u201d \u201cthe King of Kings and Lord\nof Lords.\u201d\n\nThis is the Revelation recorded in the heavens. This is the prophetic\ntestimony inspired in the Book. And this is the heart\u2010cry prompted by\nboth:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cCome, Lord, and tarry not,\n    Bring the long\u2010looked\u2010for day;\n    Oh, why these years of waiting here,\n    These ages of delay?\n\n    Come, for Thy saints still wait;\n    Daily ascends their cry:\n    \u2018The Spirit and the Bride say, Come\u2019;\n    Dost Thou not hear their cry?\n\n    Come, for creation groans,\n    Impatient of Thy stay;\n    Worn out with these long years of ill,\n    These ages of delay.\n\n    Come, for Thine Israel pines,\n    An exile from Thy fold;\n    Oh, call to mind Thy faithful word,\n    And bless them as of old.\n\n    Come, for Thy foes are strong;\n    With taunting lips they say,\n    \u2018Where is the promised advent now,\n    And where the dreaded day?\u2019\n\n    Come, for the good are few;\n    They lift the voice in vain;\n    Faith waxes fainter on the earth,\n    And love is on the wane.\n\n    Come, in Thy glorious might;\n    Come, with Thine iron rod;\n    Disperse Thy foes before Thy face,\n    Most mighty Son of God.\n\n    Come, and make all things new,\n    Build up this ruined earth;\n    Restore our faded paradise,\n    Creation\u2019s second birth.\n\n    Come, and begin Thy reign\n    Of everlasting peace;\n    Come, take the kingdom to Thyself,\n    Great King of Righteousness.\u201d\n\n    _Dr. Horatius Bonar._\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE THIRD BOOK. THE REDEEMER.\n\n\n                            HIS SECOND COMING.\n\nIn this Third and Last Book we come to the concluding portion of this\nHeavenly Revelation. Its subject is Redemption completed, and consummated\nin triumph. No more sorrow, suffering, or conflict; no more the bruising\nof the heel of the Redeemer. We have now done with the prophecies of \u201cthe\nsufferings of Christ,\u201d and have come to those that relate to \u201cthe glory\nthat should follow.\u201d\n\nNo more reference now to His _first_ coming in humiliation. No more coming\n\u201cforth\u201d to suffer and die, a sacrifice for sins; the reference now is only\nto His second coming in glory; His coming \u201cunto\u201d this earth is not to\nsuffer for sin (Heb. ix. 28.), but it will be a coming in power to judge\nthe earth in righteousness, and to subdue all enemies under His feet.\n\nLike the other two books, it consists of four chapters.\n\nThe _first_ chapter is the prophecy of the coming Judge of all the earth.\n\nThe _second_ sets before us the two\u2010fold nature of the coming Ruler.\n\nThe _third_ shows us Messiah\u2019s redeemed possessions\u2014the Redeemed brought\nsafely home, all conflict over.\n\nThe _fourth_ describes Messiah\u2019s consummated triumph.\n\n\n\n\nChapter I. The Sign TAURUS (The Bull).\n\n\n              _Messiah, the coming Judge of all the Earth._\n\nThe picture is that of a Bull rushing forward with mighty energy and\nfierce wrath, his horns set so as to push his enemies, and pierce them\nthrough and destroy them.\n\nIt is a prophecy of Christ, the coming Judge, and Ruler, and \u201cLord of all\nthe earth.\u201d\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                       Plate 28: TAURUS (the Bull)\n\n\nThe Egyptian Zodiac of Denderah already, 4,000 years ago, had forgotten\nthe truth to which the prophecy had referred, and called him _Isis_,\n_i.e._, _who saves or delivers_, and _Apis_, _i.e._, _the head or chief_.\nThe Bull is clearly represented, and in all the zodiacs which have come\ndown to us is always in the _act of pushing_, or _rushing_.\n\nThe name of the sign in Chaldee is \u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8, _Tor_. Hence, Arabic, _Al\nThaur_; Greek, _Tauros_; Latin, _Taurus_, etc. The more common Hebrew name\nwas \u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e8, _Shur_, which is from a root which means both _coming_ and\n_ruling_. There are several Hebrew words for bulls and oxen, etc. But the\ncommon poetical term for all is \u05e8\u05d0\u05dd, _Reem_, conveying the idea of\nloftiness, exaltation, power, and pre\u2010eminence. We find the root in other\nkindred languages (Etruscan, Sanscrit, etc.), and it can be traced in the\nname of Abram, which means _pre\u2010eminent_ or _high father_; _Ramah_, _high\nplace_, etc.\n\nThe stars in Taurus present a brilliant sight. There are at least 141\nstars, besides two important groups of stars, which both form integral\nparts of the sign.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the bull\u2019s eye), has a Chaldee name\u2014_Al\nDebaran_, and means _the leader_ or _governor_. The star \u03b2 (at the tip of\nthe left horn) has an Arabic name\u2014_El Nath_, meaning _wounded_ or _slain_.\nAnother prophetic intimation that this coming Lord should be first slain\nas a sacrifice.\n\nThen there is the cluster of stars known as the _Pleiades_. This word,\nwhich means _the congregation of the judge_ or _ruler_, comes to us\nthrough the Greek Septuagint as the translation of the Hebrew \u05db\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05de\u05b8\u05d4,\n_Chima_, which means _the heap_ or _accumulation_, and occurs in Job ix.\n9; xxxviii. 31, 32, and Amos v. 8.\n\nIt consists of a number of stars (in the neck of Taurus) which appear to\nbe near together. The brightest of them, marked \u03b7 in all the maps,(59) has\ncome down to us with an Arabic name\u2014_Al Cyone_, which means _the centre_,\nand has given the idea to some astronomers that it is the centre of the\nwhole universe. The Syriac name for the Pleiades is _Succoth_, which means\n_booths_.\n\nAnother group of stars (on the face of the Bull) is known as _The\nHyades_,(60) which has the similar meaning of _the congregated_.\n\nOther stars, not identified, are named _Palilicium_ (Hebrew), _belonging\nto the judge_; _Wasat_ (Arabic), _centre_ or _foundation_; _Al Thuraiya_\n(Arabic), _the abundance_; _Vergili\u00e6_ (Latin), _the centre_ (Arabic,\n_vertex_) _turned on_, _rolled round_.\n\nEvery thing points to the important truth, and all _turns_ on the fact\nthat the Lord is COMING TO RULE! This is the central truth of all\nprophecy. \u201cThe testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.\u201d All hope for\nCreation, all hope for the world, all hope for Israel, all hope for the\nChurch, turns on this, that \u201cJesus is coming again,\u201d and that when He\ncomes His saints, \u201cthe daughters of the King\u201d (like the Pleiades and\nHyades), will be with Him.\n\nThere is nothing of \u201cthe Church\u201d revealed here. The Church will be caught\nup to meet the Lord in the air, to be for ever with the Lord (1 Thess. iv.\n17) _before_ He thus _comes unto_ the world in judgment. He will _come\nforth_ to receive the members of His Body unto Himself, before He thus\ncomes with them to destroy all His enemies and \u201cjudge (or rule) the world\nin righteousness.\u201d When we read this Sign of Taurus, therefore, we are to\nunderstand that His Church will be _with_ Him, safe from all judgment.\n\nThere is very much in the Scripture of the Book, (as there is in the\nprophecies in the heavens) about the coming of the Lord in judgment; and\nabout this time of His indignation. For Enoch, who doubtless was used in\narranging these prophetic _signs_, uttered the prophetic _words_, \u201cBehold\nthe Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon\nall and to convict all that are ungodly\u201d (Jude 14, 15).\n\nWe have said (pages 17, etc.) that at a very early period these signs were\nappropriated to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and borne upon their\n\u201cstandards.\u201d This may be traced in the Blessing of Jacob (Gen. xlix.), and\nin the Blessing of Moses (Deut. xxxiii.). Taurus was assigned to Joseph,\nor rather to his two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, like the two powerful\nhorns:\n\n\n    \u201cThe firstling of his bullock (marg. _his firstling\n                bullock_)\u2014majesty is his,\n    And his horns are the horns of the wild\u2010ox (_Reem_).\n    With them he shall PUSH (marg. _gore_) the peoples, all of them,\n                even the ends of the earth.\n    And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,\n    And they are the thousands of Manasseh.\u201d\n\n    (Deut. xxxiii, 17, R.V.)\n\n\nIt is not, however, merely by men alone that this will be done, for David\nsings:\n\n\n    \u201cThou art my King, O GOD....\n    Through Thee will we PUSH down our enemies;\n    Through Thy Name will we tread them under that rise up against\n                us.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. xliv. 5.)\n\n    \u201cI will punish the world for their evil,\n    And the wicked for their iniquity;\n    I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease,\n    And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible....\n    Every one that is found shall be THRUST THROUGH.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xiii. 11\u201015.)\n\n\nSpeaking of that day, the Holy Spirit says by Isaiah:\n\n\n    For the LORD hath indignation against all the nations,\u201d\n    And fury against all their host:\n    He hath utterly destroyed them,\n    He hath delivered them to the slaughter....\n    The LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah,\n    And a great slaughter in the land of Edom,\n    And the wild oxen [_Reem_] shall come down with them,\n    And the bullocks with the bulls;\n    And their land shall be drunken with blood,\n    And their dust made fat with fatness.\n    For it is the day of the LORD\u2019S vengeance,\n    The year of recompense in the controversy of Zion.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xxxiv. 2\u20108, R.V.)\n\n    \u201cBehold, the LORD cometh forth out of His place\n    To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:\n    The earth also shall disclose her blood,\n    And shall no more cover her slain.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xxvi. 21.)\n\n\nThis is the united testimony of the two Revelations. It is pictured in the\nheavens, and it is written in the Book. It is the prophecy of a coming\nJudge, and of a coming judgment.\n\nIt is, however, no mere _Bull_ that is coming. It is a man, a glorious\nman, even \u201cthe Son of Man.\u201d This is the first development, shown in the\nfirst of the three constellations belonging to the sign.\n\n\n\n1. ORION (The Coming Prince).\n\n\n                 _Light Breaking Forth in the Redeemer._\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                    Plate 29: ORION (the Glorious One)\n\n\nThis picture is to show that the coming one is no mere animal, but a man:\na mighty, triumphant, glorious prince.\n\nHe is so pictured in the ancient Denderah Zodiac, where we see a man\ncoming forth pointing to the three bright stars (_Rigel_, _Bellatrix_, and\n_Betelguez_) as his. His name is given as _Ha\u2010ga\u2010t_, which means _this is\nhe who triumphs_. The hieroglyphic characters below read _Oar_. Orion was\nanciently spelt _Oarion_, from the Hebrew root, which means _light_. So\nthat Orion means _coming forth as light_. The ancient Akkadian was _Ur\u2010\nana_, _the light of heaven_.\n\nOrion is the most brilliant of all the constellations, and when he comes\nto the meridian he is accompanied by several adjacent constellations of\ngreat splendour. There is then above the horizon the most glorious view of\nthe celestial bodies that the starry firmament affords; and this\nmagnificent view is visible to all the habitable world, because the\nequinoctial line (or solstitial colure) passes nearly through the middle\nof Orion.\n\nARATUS thus sings of him:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cEastward, beyond the region of the Bull,\n    Stands great Orion. And who, when night is clear,\n    Beholds him gleaming bright, shall cast his eyes in vain\n    To find a Sign more glorious in all heaven.\u201d\n\n\nThe constellation is mentioned by name, as being perfectly well known both\nby name and appearance, in the time of Job; and as being an object of\nfamiliar knowledge at that early period of the world\u2019s history. See Job\nix. 9; xxxviii. 31, and Amos v. 8 (Heb. \u05db\u05b0\u05bc\u05e1\u05b4\u05d9\u05dc, _Chesil_, which means _a\nstrong one_, _a hero_, or _giant_).\n\nIt contains 78 stars, two being of the 1st magnitude, four of the 2nd,\nfour of the 3rd, sixteen of the 4th, etc.\n\nA little way below \u03b9 (in the sword) is a very remarkable nebulous star. A\ncommon telescope will show that it is a beautiful nebula. A powerful\ntelescope reveals it as consisting of collections of nebulous stars, these\nagain being surrounded by faint luminous points, which still more powerful\ntelescopes would resolve into separate stars.\n\nThus beautifully is set forth the brilliancy and glory of that _Light_\nwhich shall break forth when the moment comes for it to be said, \u201cArise,\nshine, for thy light is come.\u201d\n\nThe picture presents us with \u201cthe Light of the world.\u201d His left foot is\nsignificantly placed upon the head of the enemy. He is girded with a\nglorious girdle, studded with three brilliant stars; and upon this girdle\nis hung a sharp sword. Its handle proves that this mighty Prince is come\nforth in a new character. He is again proved to be \u201cthe Lamb that was\nslain,\u201d for the hilt of this sword is in the form of the head and body of\na lamb. In his right hand he lifts on high his mighty club; while in his\nleft he holds forth the token of his victory\u2014the head and skin of the\n\u201croaring lion.\u201d We ask in wonder, \u201cWho is this?\u201d(61) and the names of the\nstars give us the answer.\n\nThe brightest, \u03b1 (in the right shoulder), is named _Betelgeuz_, which\nmeans _the coming_ (Mal. iii. 2) _of the branch_.\n\nThe next, \u03b2 (in the left foot), is named _Rigel_, or _Rigol_, which means\n_the foot that crusheth_. The foot is lifted up, and placed immediately\nover the head of the enemy, as though in the very act of crushing it.\nThus, the name of the star bespeaks the act.\n\nThe next star, \u03b3 (in the left shoulder), is called _Bellatrix_, which\nmeans _quickly coming_, or _swiftly destroying_.\n\nThe name of the fourth star, \u03b4 (one of the three in the belt), carries us\nback to the old, old story, that this glorious One was once humbled; that\nHis heel was once bruised. Its name is _Al Nitak_, _the wounded One_.(62)\nSimilarly the star \u03ba (in the right leg) is called _Saiph_, _bruised_,\nwhich is the very word used in Gen. iii. 15, thus connecting Orion with\nthe primeval prophecy. Like Ophiuchus, he has one leg _bruised_; while,\nwith the other, he is _crushing_ the enemy under foot.\n\nThis is betokened by other stars, not identified, named _Al Rai_, _who\nbruises_, _who breaks_ (as in _Cepheus_); and _Thabit_ (Hebrew), _treading\non_.\n\nOther (Arabic) names relate to His Person: _Al Giauz\u00e2_, _the branch_; _Al\nGebor_, _the mighty_; _Al Mirzam_, _the ruler_; _Al Nagjed_, _the prince_;\n_Niphla_ (Chaldee), _the mighty_; _Nux_ (Hebrew), _the strong_.\n\nSome names relate to His coming, as _Betelgeuse_ and _Bellatrix_, as\nabove; _Heka_ (Chaldee), _coming_; and _Meissa_ (Hebrew), _coming forth_.\n\nSuch is the cumulative testimony of Orion\u2019s stars, which, day after day,\nand night after night, show forth this knowledge. That testimony was\nafterwards written in the Book. The Prince of Glory, who was once wounded\nfor the sins of His redeemed, is about to rise up and shine forth for\ntheir deliverance. Their redemption draweth nigh; for\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThe LORD shall go forth as a mighty man,\n    He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war;\n    He shall cry, yea, roar;\n    He shall prevail against His enemies.\n    I have [_He says_] long time holden my peace;\n    I have been still, and refrained myself:\n    Now will I cry like a travailing woman;\n    I will destroy and devour at once.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xlii. 13, 14.)\n\n\nThen it will be said to His people (and the setting of the prophecy in its\nbeautiful introverted structure shows us the beauty and glory of the truth\nit reveals):(63)\n\n\n    a | _Arise_,\n        b | Shine; for _thy light_ is come,\n            c | And _the glory of the _LORD is risen upon thee.\n                d | For, behold, the _darkness_ shall cover the earth,\n                _d_ | And gross _darkness_ the people;\n            _c_ | But _the _LORD shall arise upon thee, and _His\n                        glory_ shall be seen upon thee.\n        _b_ | And the Gentiles shall come to _thy light_,\n    _a_ | And kings to the brightness of thy _rising_.\n\n    (Isa. lx. 1\u20103.)\n\n\nThis is \u201cthe glory of God\u201d which the heavens constantly declare (Ps. xix.\n1). They tell of that blessed time when the whole earth shall be filled\nwith His glory (Num. xiv. 21; Isa. xi. 9); when \u201cthe glory of the LORD\nshall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together\u201d (Isa. xl. 5), as\nall see now the beauty of Orion\u2019s glory.\n\nBut side by side with the glory which the coming Light of the world shall\nbring for His people, there is \u201cthat wicked,\u201d whom the Lord \u201cshall destroy\nwith the brightness of His coming.\u201d Hence, as in the concluding chapter\n(IV.) of the _First_ Book (of which this _Third_ Book is the expansion) we\nhad in LYRA (_the harp_), as \u00a7 1, Praise prepared for the Conqueror; and\nin ARA (_the burning pyre_), as \u00a7 2, Consuming fire prepared for His\nenemies: so in the _first_ chapter of this book, we have in ORION, as \u00a7 1,\nGlory prepared for the Conqueror; and in ERIDANUS, as \u00a7 2, the River of\nwrath prepared for His enemies. This brings us to\u2014\n\n\n\n2. ERIDANUS (The River of the Judge).\n\n\n           _The River of Wrath Breaking Forth for His Enemies._\n\nIt issues forth, in all the pictures, from the down\u2010coming foot of Orion.\nWhile others see in it, from the ignorance of fabled story, only \u201cthe\nRiver Po,\u201d or the \u201cRiver Euphrates,\u201d we see in it, from the meaning of its\nname, and from the significance of its position, _the river of the Judge_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                      Plate 30: ERIDANUS (the River)\n\n\nIn the Denderah Zodiac it is a river under the feet of Orion. It is named\n_Peh\u2010ta\u2010t_, which means _the mouth of the river_.\n\nIt is an immense constellation, and our diagram is on a smaller scale than\nthe others (which are all in relative proportion, except where otherwise\nnoted).\n\nAccording to the Britannic catalogue, it consists of 84 stars; one of the\n1st magnitude, one of the 2nd, eight of the 3rd, etc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (at the mouth of the river), bears the ancient name\nof _Achernar_, which is in, as its name means, _the after part of the\nriver_.\n\nThe next star, \u03b2 (at the source of the river), is named _Cursa_, which\nmeans _bent down_. The next, \u03b3 (at the second bend in the river), is\ncalled _Zourac_ (Arabic), _flowing_. Other stars, not identified, are\n_Pheat_, _mouth_ (of the river); and _Ozha_, _the going forth_.\n\nHere, then, we have a river flowing forth from before the glorious\n_Orion_. It runs in a serpentine course towards the lower regions, down,\ndown, out of sight. In vain the sea monster, _Cetus_, strives to stop its\nflow. It is \u201cthe river of the Judge,\u201d and speaks of that final judgment in\nwhich the wicked will be cast into the lake of fire. It was evidently\noriginally associated with _fire_; for the Greek myths, though gross\nperversions, still so connect it. According to their fables, something\nwent wrong with the chariot of the sun, and a universal conflagration was\nthreatened. In the trouble, _Phaeton_ (probably a reference to the star\n_Pheat_) was killed and hurled into this river, in which he was consumed\nwith its fire. The whole earth suffered from such a burning heat that\ngreat disasters ensued. We see from this myth two great facts preserved in\nthe perverted tradition, _viz._, _judgment_ and _fire_.\n\nARATUS also preserves the connection,\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cFor yonder, trod by heavenly feet,\n    Wind the scorched waters of Eridanus\u2019 tear\u2010swollen flood,\n    Welling beneath Orion\u2019s uplifted foot.\u201d\n\n\nIs not this the testimony afterwards written in _the Book_? Daniel sees\nthis very river in his vision of that coming day, when the true Orion\nshall come forth in His glory. He says, \u201cI beheld till the thrones were\nplaced, and one that was ancient of days did sit:... His throne was fiery\nflames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A FIERY STREAM ISSUED AND\nCAME FORTH FROM BEFORE HIM.\u201d This is _the River of the Judge_; for he goes\non to say, \u201cthe judgment was set, and the books were opened\u201d (Dan. vii.\n9\u201011, R.V.).\n\nWe have the same in Ps. xcvii. 3\u20105 (R.V.), which describes the scene when\nthe Lord shall reign:\n\n\n    \u201cA FIRE GOETH BEFORE HIM,\n    And burneth up His adversaries round about.\n    His lightnings lightened the world:\n    The earth saw and trembled,\n    The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD,\n    At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.\u201d\n\n\nSo again in Ps. l. 3, we read:\n\n\n    \u201cOur God shall come, and shall not keep silence,\n    A FIRE SHALL DEVOUR BEFORE HIM,\n    And it shall be very tempestuous round about Him.\u201d\n\n\nBy Habakkuk the coming of the Lord is described; and it is written:\n\n\n    \u201cHis brightness was as the light, ...\n    Before Him went the pestilence,\n    And burning coals went forth at His feet.\u201d\n\n    (Hab. iii. 5.)\n\n\nWhat is this but _Orion_ and _Eridanus_!\n\nAgain, it is written in Isaiah xxx. 27\u201033 (R.V.):\n\n\n    \u201cBehold, the name of the LORD cometh from far,\n    Burning with His anger, and in thick rising smoke:\n    His lips are full of indignation,\n    And His tongue is as a DEVOURING FIRE:\n    And His breath is as AN OVERFLOWING STREAM [_of fire_]....\n    For a Topheth is prepared of old;\n    Yea, for the king [_Moloch_] it is made ready;\n    He hath made it deep and large;\n    The pile thereof is FIRE and much wood;\n    The breath of the LORD, LIKE A STREAM OF BRIMSTONE, doth kindle\n                it.\u201d\n\n\nSo, again, we read in Nahum i. 5, 6:\n\n\n    \u201cThe mountains quake at Him,\n    And the hills melt;\n    And the earth is burned up at His presence,\n    Yea, the world and all that dwell therein.\n    Who can stand before His indignation?\n    And who can abide in the fierceness of His anger?\n    His fury is POURED OUT LIKE FIRE.\u201d\n\n\nIn Isa. lxvi. 15, 16, we read:\n\n\n    \u201cFor, behold, the LORD will come with fire,\n    And with His chariots like a whirlwind,\n    To render His anger with fury,\n    And His rebuke with FLAMES OF FIRE,\n    For BY FIRE, and by His sword, will the LORD plead with all\n                flesh.\u201d\n\n\nWith this agree the New Testament scriptures, which speak of \u201cthe Day of\nthe Lord,\u201d \u201cwhen the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His\nmighty angels, IN FLAMING FIRE taking vengeance on them that know not God,\nand that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (2 Thess. i. 7, 8).\n\nThis is the true Eridanus. It is no mere \u201cpicture.\u201d It is a dread reality!\nIt is written in stars of fire, and words of truth, that men may heed the\nsolemn warning and \u201cflee from the wrath to come\u201d!\n\nBut we ask, \u201cWho may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when\nHe appeareth\u201d (Mal. iii. 2)? \u201cWho can stand before His indignation,\u201d when\n\u201cHis fury is poured out like fire\u201d (Nah. i. 6)?\n\nThe answer is given in the next picture!\n\n\n\n3. AURIGA (The Shepherd).\n\n\n              _Safety for the Redeemed in the Day of Wrath._\n\nHere is presented to us the answer to the question, \u201cWho may abide the day\nof His coming?\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cBehold, the Lord GOD (Adonai Jehovah) will come as a mighty one,\n    And His arm shall rule for Him:\n    Behold, His reward is with Him,\n    And His recompense before Him.\n    He shall feed His flock like a shepherd,\n    He shall gather the lambs in His arm,\n    And carry them in His bosom,\n    And shall gently lead those that give suck.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xl. 10, 11. R.V.)\n\n\nThis is exactly what is presented before us in this last section of the\nchapter, which tells of the coming judgment. We have had the picture of a\nmighty _Bull_ rushing forth; then the fiery river of _the Judge_; and now\nwe see _a Great Shepherd_. He is seated upon \u201cthe milky way,\u201d holding up\non his left shoulder a she goat. She clings to his neck, and is looking\ndown affrighted at the terrible on\u2010rushing Bull. In his left hand he\nsupports two little kids, apparently just born, and bleating, and\ntrembling with fear.\n\nARATUS says,\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cShe is both large and bright, but they\u2014the kids\u2014\n    Shine somewhat feebly on _Auriga\u2019s_ wrist.\u201d\n\n\nIs not this the Great Shepherd gathering the lambs in His arm? and\ncarrying them in His bosom? Is He not saying:\n\n\n    \u201cI will save My flock,\n    And they shall no more be a prey.\u201d\n\n    (Ezek. xxxiv. 22.)\n\n    \u201cAnd David my servant shall be king over them,\n    And they shall have one shepherd.\u201d\n\n    (_ib._ xxxvii. 24.)\n\n    \u201cAnd they shall fear no more,\n    Nor be dismayed,\n    Neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.\u201d\n\n    (Jer. xxiii. 4.)\n\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                     Plate 31: AURIGA (the Shepherd)\n\n\nAURIGA is from a Hebrew root which means _a shepherd_. It is a beautiful\nconstellation of 66 stars; one of the 1st magnitude, two of the 2nd, nine\nof the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the body of the goat), points her out as the\nprominent feature of the constellation, for its name _Alioth_ (Hebrew)\nmeans _a she goat_. It is known by the modern Latin name _Capella_, which\nhas the same meaning.\n\nThe next star, \u03b2 (in the shepherd\u2019s right arm), is called _Menkilinon_,\nand means the _band_, or _chain of the goats_, and points out the truth\nthat they are never more to be lost again, but to be bound, with the bands\nof love, to the Shepherd for evermore.\n\nThe name of another star is _Maaz_, which means _a flock of goats_.\n\nCan there be any mistake as to who this Shepherd is? for the bright star\nin his right foot is called _El Nath_(64) (like another in ARIES), which\nmeans _wounded_ or _slain_. This is He, then, who was once bruised or\nwounded in the heel. He is \u201cthe GOOD Shepherd,\u201d who gave His life for the\nsheep (John x. 11), but He was \u201cthe GREAT Shepherd\u201d brought again from the\ndead (Heb. xiii. 20); and is now the CHIEF Shepherd (1 Pet. v. 4) seen in\nthe day of His coming glory. Another star emphasises this truth, for it is\nnamed _Aiyuk_, which also means _wounded_ in the foot.(65)\n\nThe star marking the kids is called _Gedi_ (Hebrew), _kids_.\n\nIn Latin, the word _Auriga_ means a _coachman_ or _charioteer_, the band\nin his right hand being taken as his _reins_. But the incongruity of a\n_charioteer_ carrying a she\u2010goat, and nursing two little kids, never\nstruck them; nor did the fact that he has no chariot and no horses! When\nman blunders in the things of God, he does it thoroughly!\n\nIn the Zodiac of Denderah the same truth was revealed more than 4,000\nyears ago; but the Man, instead of carrying the sheep, is carrying a\nsceptre, and is called _Trun_, which means _sceptre_ or _power_. But this\nis a strange sceptre, for at the top it has the head of a goat, and at the\nbottom, below the hand that holds it, it ends in a cross! With the\nEgyptians the cross was a sign of _life_. They knew nothing of \u201cthe death\nof the cross.\u201d Here, then, we see _life_ and _salvation_ for the sheep of\nHis flock when He comes to reign and rule in judgment. The truth is\nprecisely the same, though the presentation of it is somewhat varied.\n\nThe connected teaching of the two constellations, _Eridanus_ and _Auriga_,\nis solemnly set forth in Mal. iv. 1\u20103 (R.V.):\n\n\n    \u201cBehold, the day cometh,\n    It burneth as a furnace;\n    And all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble:\n    And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of\n                hosts,\n    That it shall leave them neither root nor branch.\n    BUT UNTO YOU that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness\n                arise with healing in His wings;\n    And ye shall go forth and gambol as calves of the stall.\n    And ye shall tread down the wicked;\n    For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet\n    In the day that I do make (marg. _do this_), saith the LORD of\n                hosts.\u201d\n\n\nIn Psalm xxxvii. this day is repeatedly referred to, the day when \u201cthe\nwicked shall be cut off\u201d; and it concludes by summarizing the same great\ntruth (_vv._ 38\u201040, R.V.):\n\n\n    \u201cAs for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together;\n    The latter end of the wicked shall be cut off,\n    But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD:\n    He is their stronghold in the time of trouble,\n    And the LORD helpeth them, and rescueth them;\n    He rescueth them from the wicked and saveth them,\n    Because they have taken refuge in Him.\u201d\n\n\nOh, that all who read these pages may heed the solemn warning, and flee\nfor refuge to Him who now, in this day of grace, is crying, \u201cLook unto me,\nand be ye saved, O all ye ends of the earth\u201d (Isa. xlv. 22).\n\n\n\n\nChapter II. The Sign GEMINI (The Twins).\n\n\n                  _Messiah\u2019s Reign as Prince of Peace._\n\nAll the pictures of this sign are confused. The Greeks claimed to have\ninvented them, and they called them Apollo and Hercules. They are given in\nour illustration. The Latins called the Castor and Pollux; and the name of\na vessel in which Paul sailed is so called in Acts xxviii. 11, \u0394\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03ba\u03bf\u03cd\u03c1\u03bf\u03b9.\n\nThe name in the ancient Denderah Zodiac is _Clusus_, or _Claustrum Hori_,\nwhich means _the place of Him who cometh_. It is represented by two human\nfigures walking, or coming. The second appears to be a woman. The other\nappears to be a man. It is a tailed figure, the tail signifying _He\ncometh_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                       Plate 32: GEMINI (the Twins)\n\n\nThe old Coptic name was _Pi\u2010Mahi_, _the united_, as in brotherhood. Not\nnecessarily united by being born at the same time, but _united_ in one\nfellowship or brotherhood. The Hebrew name is _Thaumim_, which means\n_united_. The root is used in Exod. xxvi. 24: \u201cThey (the two boards) shall\nbe coupled together beneath.\u201d In the margin we read, \u201cHeb. _twinned_\u201d\n(R.V. double). The Arabic _Al Tauman_ means the same.\n\nWe need not trouble ourselves with the Grecian myths, even though we can\nsee through them the original and ancient truth. The two were both heroes\nof peculiar and extraordinary birth\u2014sons of Jupiter. They were supposed to\nappear at the head of armies; and as they had cleared the seas of pirates,\nthey were looked upon as the patron saints of navigation. (Hence the name\nof the ship in Acts xxviii. 11.) They were held in high esteem both by\nGreeks and Romans; and the common practice of taking oaths and of swearing\nby their names has descended even to our own day in the still surviving\nvulgar habit of swearing \u201cBy Gemini!\u201d\n\nThe more ancient star\u2010names help us to see through all these and many\nother myths, and to discern Him of whom they testify; even Him in His\ntwofold nature\u2014God and Man\u2014and His twofold work of suffering and glory,\nand His twofold coming in humiliation and in triumph.\n\nThere are 85 stars in the sign: two of the 2nd magnitude, four of the 3rd,\nsix of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe name of \u03b1 (in the head of the one at our right hand) is called\n_Apollo_, which means _ruler_, or _judge_; while \u03b2 (in the head of the\nother) is called _Hercules_, _who cometh to labour_, or _suffer_. Another\nstar, \u03b3 (in his left foot), is called _Al Henah_, which means _hurt_,\n_wounded_, or _afflicted_. Can we have a doubt as to what is the meaning\nof this double presentation? In _Ophiuchus_ we have the two in one person:\nthe crushed enemy, and the wounded heel. But here the two great primeval\ntruths are presented in two persons; for He was \u201ctwo persons in one God,\u201d\n\u201cGod and man in one Christ.\u201d As man, suffering for our redemption; as God,\nglorified for our complete salvation and final triumph. A star, \u03b5 (in the\ncentre of his body), is called _Waset_, which means _set_, and tells of\nHim who \u201cset His face like a flint\u201d to accomplish this mighty Herculean\nwork; and, when the time was come, \u201csteadfastly set His face to go\u201d to\ncomplete it.\n\nHe bears in his right hand (in some pictures) a palm branch. In the one\nfrom which our illustration is taken, it is a club; but both the club of\nthis one and the bow of the other are _in repose_! These united ones are\nneither in action nor are they preparing for action, but they are _at\nrest_ and _in peace_ after victory won. The star \u03b5 (in the knee of the\nother, \u201cApollo\u201d) is called _Mebsuta_, which means _treading under feet_.\nThe names of other stars, which are not identified, have come down to us\nwith the same testimony. One is called _Propus_ (Hebrew), _the branch_,\n_spreading_; another is called _Al Giauz\u00e2_ (Arabic), _the palm branch_;\nanother is named _Al Dir\u00e2_ (Arabic), _the seed_, or _branch_.\n\nThe day has here come to fulfil the prophecies concerning Him who is \u201cthe\nBranch,\u201d \u201cthe Branch of Jehovah,\u201d \u201cthe man whose name is the Branch.\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cIn that day shall the Branch of Jehovah be beautiful and\n                glorious;\n    And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely\n    For them that are escaped of Israel.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. iv. 2.)\n\n    \u201cBehold, a king shall reign in righteousness,\n    And princes shall rule in judgment;\n    And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xxxii. 1, 2.)\n\n    \u201cBehold, the days come, saith the LORD,\n    That I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,\n    And He shall reign as King and deal wisely,\n    And shall execute judgment and justice in the land.\n    In His days Judah shall be saved,\n    And Israel shall dwell safely:\n    And this is His name whereby He shall be called,\n    The LORD is our Righteousness.\u201d\n\n    (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6, R.V.)\n\n    \u201cBehold, the days come, saith the LORD,\n    That I will perform that good word which I have spoken\n    Concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.\n    In those days, and at that time.\n    Will I cause a Branch of Righteousness to grow up unto David;\n    And He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.\u201d\n\n    (Jer. xxxiii. 14, 15, R.V.)\n\n\nThis is what we see in this sign\u2014Messiah\u2019s peaceful reign. All is rest and\nrepose. We see \u201cHis days,\u201d in which \u201cthe righteous shall flourish; and\nabundance of peace, so long as the moon endureth\u201d (Ps. lxxii.).\n\nBut, for this blessed time to come, there must be no enemy! All enemies\nmust be subdued.\n\nThis brings us to the first section of this book.\n\n\n\n1. LEPUS (the Hare), THE ENEMY.\n\n\n                     _The Enemy Trodden under Foot._\n\nThe names of the three constellations of this Sign, as well as the\npictures, are all more or less modern, as is manifest from the names being\nin _Latin_, and having no relation to the ancient names of their stars. To\nlearn their real meaning, therefore, we must have recourse to the ancient\nZodiacs. In the Persian planisphere the first constellation was pictured\nby a _serpent_. In the Denderah (Egyptian) Zodiac it is an unclean bird\nstanding on the serpent, which is under the feet of Orion. Its name there\nis given as _Bashti\u2010beki_. _Bashti_ means _confounded_, and _Beki_ means\n_failing_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                   Plate 33: LEPUS (the Hare) or ENEMY\n\n\nARATUS says,\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cBelow Orion\u2019s feet, the Hare\n    Is chased eternally.\u201d\n\n\nIt is a small constellation of 19 stars (all small), three of which are of\nthe 3rd magnitude, seven of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest, \u03b1 (in the body), has a Hebrew name, _Arnebo_, which means\n_the enemy of Him that cometh_. The Arabic, _Arnebeth_, means the same.\nOther stars, not identified, are _Nibal_, _the mad_; _Rakis_, _the bound_\n(Arabic, _with a chain_); _Sugia_, _the deceiver_.\n\nThere can be no mistaking the voice of this united testimony. For this\nenemy is under the down\u2010coming foot of Orion, and it tells of the blessed\nfact that when the true Orion, \u201cthe Sun of Righteousness, shall arise,\u201d\nand \u201cthe true light\u201d shall shine over all the earth, He \u201cshall tread down\nthe wicked\u201d (Mal. iv.), and every enemy will be subdued under His feet.\n\u201cIt is He that shall tread down our enemies\u201d (Ps. lx. 12), as He has said:\n\n\n    \u201cI will tread them in Mine anger,\n    And trample them in My fury ...\n    For the day of vengeance is in Mine heart,\n    And the year of My redeemed is come.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. lxiii. 3, 4.)\n\n\n\n2. CANIS MAJOR (The Dog), or SIRIUS (The Prince).\n\n\n            _The coming Glorious Prince of Princes (Sirius)._\n\nThis second constellation carries on the teaching, and tells of the\nglorious Prince who will thus subdue and reign.\n\nIn the Denderah Zodiac he is called _Apes_, which means _the head_. He is\npictured as a hawk (_Naz_, \u05e0\u05b7\u05e5, _caused to come forth_, _coming swiftly\ndown_). The hawk is the natural enemy of the serpent, and here it has on\nits head a pestle and mortar, indicating the fact that he shall crush the\nhead of the enemy.\n\nIn the Persian planisphere it is pictured as _a wolf_, and is called\n_Zeeb_, which in Hebrew (\u05d6\u05b0\u05d0\u05b5\u05d1) has the same meaning. Plutarch translates\nit \u03a0\u03c1\u03bf\u03cc\u03c0\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2, _Leader_. In Arabic it means _coming quickly_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n     Plate 34: CANIS MAJOR (the Dog) and CANIS MINOR (the Second Dog)\n\n\nIts ancient name and meaning must be obtained from the names of its stars\nwhich have come down to us. There are 64 altogether. Two are of the 1st\nmagnitude, two of the 2nd, four of the 3rd, four of the 4th, etc. Of these\n\u03b1 (in the head) is the brightest in the whole heavens! It is called\n_Sirius_, _the Prince_ (\u05e9\u05b7\u05c2\u05e8, _Sar_), as in Isa. ix. 6.\n\n_Sirius_(66) was, by the ancients, always associated with great heat. And\nthe hottest part of the year we still call \u201cthe dog days,\u201d though, through\nthe variation as observed in different latitudes, and the precession of\nthe equinoxes, its rising has long ceased to have any relation to those\ndays. Virgil says that Sirius\n\n\n    \u201cWith pestilential heat infects the sky.\u201d\n\n\nHomer spoke of it as a star\n\n\n    \u201cWhose burning breath\n    Taints the red air with fevers, plagues, and death.\u201d\n\n\nIt is not, however, of its heat that its name speaks, but of the fact that\nit is the brightest of all the stars, as He of whom it witnesses is the\n\u201cPrince of princes,\u201d \u201cthe Prince of the Kings of the earth.\u201d\n\nThough this \u201cDog\u2010Star\u201d came to have an ill\u2010omened association, it was not\nso in more ancient times. In the ancient Akkadian it is called _Ka\u1e61i\u1e61ta_,\nwhich means _the Leader_ and Prince of the heavenly host. While (as Mr.\nRobert Brown, Junr., points out) \u201cthe Sacred Books of Persia contain many\npraises of the star _Tistrya_ or _Tistar_ (_Sirius_), \u2018the chieftain of\nthe East.\u2019 \u201d(67)\n\nThe next star, \u03b2 (in the left fore foot), speaks the same truth. It is\nnamed _Mirzam_, and means _the prince_ or _ruler_. The star \u03b4 (in the\nbody) is called _Wesen_, _the bright_, _the shining_. The star \u03b5 (in the\nright hind leg) is called _Adhara_, _the glorious_.\n\nOther stars, not identified, bear their witness to the same fact. Their\nnames are\u2014_Aschere_ (Hebrew), _who shall come_; _Al Shira Al Jemeniya_\n(Arabic), _the Prince or chief of the right hand_! _Seir_ (Egyptian), _the\nPrince_; _Abur_ (Hebrew), _the mighty_; _Al Habor_ (Arabic), _the mighty_;\n_Muliphen_ (Arabic), _the leader_, _the chief_.\n\nHere there is no conflicting voice; no discord in the harmonious testimony\nto Him whose name is called \u201cWonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God ... the\nPrince of Peace\u201d (Isa. ix. 6).\n\nThe names of the stars have no meaning whatever as applied to an Egyptian\nHawk, or a Greek Dog. But they are full of significance when we apply them\nto Him of whom Jehovah says:\n\n\n    \u201cBehold, I have given Him for a witness to the people,\n    A LEADER and commander to the people.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. lv. 4.)\n\n\nThis is \u201cthe Prince of princes\u201d (Dan. viii. 23, 25) against whom, \u201cwhen\ntransgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance ... shall\nstand up,\u201d \u201cbut he shall be broken without hand,\u201d for he shall be\ndestroyed \u201cwith the brightness of His coming\u201d (2 Thess. ii. 8). This is He\nwho shall come forth \u201cKing of kings and Lord of Lords\u201d (Rev. xix. 16).\n\nBut Sirius has a companion, and this brings us to\u2014\n\n\n\n3. CANIS MINOR (The Second Dog).\n\n\n                    _The Exalted Redeemer (Procyon)._\n\nThe same facts are to be remembered concerning the Greek picture, and\nLatin name of this constellation.\n\nThe Egyptian name in the Denderah Zodiac is _Sebak_, which means\n_conquering_, _victorious_. It is represented as a human figure with a\nhawk\u2019s head and the appendage of a tail.\n\nThis small constellation has only 14 stars according to the Britannic\ncatalogue. One of the 1st magnitude, one of the 2nd, one of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the body), is named _Procyon_, which means\nREDEEMER, and it tells us that this glorious Prince is none other than the\none who was slain. Just as this chapter begins with _two_ persons in one\nin the Sign (Gemini), one _victorious_, the other _wounded_; so it ends\nwith a representation of two princes, one of whom is seen triumphant and\nthe other as the Redeemer. This is confirmed by the next star, \u03b2 (in the\nneck), which is named _Al Gomeisa_ (Arabic), _the burthened_, _loaded_,\n_bearing for others_. The names of the other stars, not identified, still\nfurther confirm the great truth; _viz._, _Al Shira_, or _Al Shemeliya_\n(Arabic), _the prince_ or _chief of the left hand_, answering to the star\nin _Sirius_. One _right_, the other _left_, as the two united youths are\nplaced. _Al_ _Mirzam_, _the prince_ or _ruler_; and _Al Gomeyra_, _who\ncompletes_ or _perfects_.\n\nThis does, indeed, complete and perfect the presentation of this chapter:\nMessiah\u2019s reign as Prince of Peace; the enemy trodden under foot by the\nglorious \u201cPrince of princes,\u201d who is none other than the glorified\nRedeemer.\n\nThis is also what is written in the Book:\n\n\n    \u201cShall the prey be taken from the mighty,\n    Or the lawful captives(68) be delivered?\n    But thus saith the LORD,\n    Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,\n    And the prey of the terrible shall be delivered:\n    For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee,\n    And I will save thy children.\n    And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh;\n    And they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine;\n    And all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour,\n    And thy REDEEMER\u2014the Mighty One of Jacob.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xlix. 24\u201026, R.V.)\n\n    \u201cWhen the enemy shall come in like a flood,\n    The Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him,\n    And the REDEEMER shall come to Zion.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. lix, 19, 20.)\n\n    \u201cAnd He shall divide the spoil with the strong,\n    Because He hath poured out His soul unto death.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. liii. 12.)\n\n\n\n\nChapter III. The Sign CANCER (The Crab).\n\n\n               _Messiah\u2019s Redeemed Possessions held fast._\n\nWith regard to the sign of CANCER, one thing is certain, that we have not\ngot the original picture, or anything like it.\n\nIt does not agree with the names either of its three constellations which\nhave come down to us, or of its stars.\n\nIn the ancient Denderah Zodiac it is represented as a _Scarab\u00e6us_, or\nsacred beetle.(69) In the Zodiac of Esneh and in a Hindu Zodiac (400 B.C.)\nit is the same.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                       Plate 35: CANCER (the Crab)\n\n\nAccording to the Greeks, Jupiter placed this Crab amongst the signs of the\nZodiac.\n\nIn Sir William Jones\u2019s Oriental Zodiac we meet with a crab, and an\nEgyptian Zodiac found at Rome bears also the crab in this sign.\n\nThe more ancient Egyptians placed _Hermanubis_, or _Hermes_, with the head\nof an ibis or hawk, as the symbol of the sign now allotted to Cancer.\n\nThe Denderah name is _Klaria_, or _the cattle\u2010folds_, and in this name we\nhave the key to the meaning of the sign, and to the subject of this\nchapter.\n\nThe Arabic name is _Al Sartan_, which means _who holds_ or _binds_, and\nmay be from the Hebrew \u05d0\u05b8\u05e1\u05b7\u05e8, _to bind together_ (Gen. xlix. 11). There is\nno ancient Hebrew word known for the crab. It was classed with many other\nunclean creatures, and would be included in the general term \u201cvermin.\u201d\n\nThe Syriac, _Sartano_, means the same. The Greek name is _Karkinos_, which\nmeans _holding_ or _encircling_, as does the Latin, _Cancer_, and hence is\napplied to the crab. In the word _Khan_, we have the traveller\u2019s rest or\n_inn_; while _Ker_ or _Cer_ is the Arabic for _encircling_. The ancient\nAkkadian name of the month is _Su\u2010kul\u2010na_, _the seizer_ or _possessor of\nseed_.\n\nThe sign contains 83 stars, one of which is of the 3rd magnitude, and\nseven are of the 4th magnitude, and the remainder of inferior magnitudes.\n\nIn the centre of the Sign there is a remarkably bright cluster of stars,\nso bright that they can be sometimes seen with the naked eye. It looks\nlike a comet, and is made up of a great multitude of stars. Modern\nastronomers have called it the _Beehive_. But its ancient name has come\ndown to us as Praesepe, which means _a multitude_, _offspring_.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b6 (in the head), is called _Tegmine_, _holding_. The\nstar \u03b1 (or \u03b11 and \u03b12), in the lower large claw, is called _Acubene_,\nwhich, in Hebrew and Arabic, means _the sheltering_ or _hiding\u2010place_.\nAnother is named _Ma\u2019alaph_ (Arabic), _assembled thousands_; _Al Himarein_\n(Arabic), _the kids_ or _lambs_.\n\nNorth and south of the nebula _Praesepe_ are two stars, which Orientalists\nspeak of by a name evidently of some antiquity. _Asellus_ means an _Ass_,\nand one was called _Asellus Boreas_, _the northern Ass_; while the other,\n_Asellus Australis_, is _the southern Ass_.\n\nThe sign was afterwards known by the symbol \u264b, which stands for these two\nasses.(70)\n\nThis connects it with the Tribe of Issachar, who is said to have borne\nupon the Tribal standard the sign of _two asses_.\n\nThis is doubtless the reference in Jacob\u2019s blessing (Gen. xlix. 11,\nR.V.):\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cIssachar is a strong ass,\n    Couching down between the sheepfolds;\n    And he saw a resting\u2010place that it was good;\n    And the land that it was pleasant;\n    And he bowed his shoulder to bear,\n    And became a servant under task work.\u201d\n\n\nHave we not here the gathering up of the teaching of this sign\u2014\n\n               _Messiah\u2019s redeemed possessions held fast._\n\nHere we come to the completion of His work. In CANCER we see it with\nreference to His _redeemed_, and in the next (the last) Sign, LEO, with\nreference to His _enemies_.\n\nThe three constellations develope the truth. What is now called _Ursa\nMinor_ is _the Lesser Flock_; _Ursa Major_ gives us _The Sheepfold and the\nSheep_; while _Argo_, _The Ship_, shows the travellers and the pilgrims\nbrought safely home\u2014all conflict over.\n\nTo accomplish this, we see the true Issachar bowing his shoulder to bear.\nHe could say, \u201cMy soul is bowed down\u201d (Ps. lvii. 6). HE became a servant,\nand humbled Himself to death. HE undertook the mighty task of saving His\npeople from their sins. \u201cTheir Redeemer is strong\u201d (Jer. l. 34); for help\nwas laid on \u201cOne that was mighty\u201d (Ps. lxxxix. 19). And His redeemed shall\ncome to a resting\u2010place that is good, and to a land that is pleasant. No\nearthly Khan on earth affords them a home. They look for a heavenly home,\nand in the many mansions of the Father\u2019s house they shall find eternal\nrest.\n\nHere we see that sheltering home to which the names of these stars point;\nwhere the assembled thousands (_Ma\u2019alaph_) shall be received into the true\n_Klaria_, even the \u201ceverlasting habitations.\u201d\n\nThese are now to be shown to us.\n\n\n\n1. URSA MINOR (The Little Bear).\n\n\n                         _The Lesser Sheepfold._\n\nHere we come to another grievous mistake, or ignorant perversion of\nprimitive truth, as shown in the ancient names of these two\nconstellations.\n\nIt is sufficient to point to the fact that no Bear is found in any\nChaldean, Egyptian, Persian, or Indian Zodiacs, and that no bear was ever\nseen with such a tail! No one who had ever seen a bear would have called\nattention to a tail, such as no bear ever had, by placing in its very tip\nthe most important, wondrous, and mysterious Polar Star, the central star\nof the heavens, round which all others revolve. The patriarchal\nastronomers, we may be sure, committed no such folly as this.\n\nThe primitive truth that there were _two_, or a pair of constellations is\npreserved; and that of these two, one is larger, and the other smaller.\nBut what were they? We have the clue to the answer in the name of the\nbrightest star of the larger constellation, which is called _Dubheh_. Now\n_Dubheh_ means _a herd of animals_. In Arabic, _Dubah_ means _cattle_. In\nHebrew, \u05d3\u05b9\u05bc\u05d1\u05b6\u05e8, _D\u014dhver_, is _a fold_; and hence in Chaldee it meant\n_wealth_. The Hebrew \u05d3\u05b9\u05bc\u05d1\u05b6\u05d0, _D\u014dhveh_, means _rest_ or _security_; and\ncertainly there is not much of either to be found or enjoyed with bears!\nThe word occurs in Deut. xxxiii. 25: \u201cAs thy days so shall thy strength\nbe.\u201d The Revised Version gives in the margin, \u201cSo shall _thy rest_ or\n_security_ be.\u201d This accords with what we have already seen under\n\u201cCANCER\u201d: \u201cCouching down between the sheepfolds,(71) he saw a resting\u2010\nplace that it was good.\u201d\n\nHere are the two Sheepfolds, then; the Greater fold, and Lesser; and here\nis the _rest_ and _security_ which the flocks will find therein.\n\nBut in Hebrew there is a word very similar in sound, though not in\nspelling\u2014\u05d3\u05b9\u05bc\u05d1 or \u05d3\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1, _d\u014dhv_, which means _a bear_! So we find in Arabic\n_dub_; Persian, _deeb_ and _dob_. We can see, therefore, how the Hebrew\n_D\u014dhver_, _a fold_, and _D\u014dhv_, _a bear_, were confused; and how the\nArabic _Dubah_, _cattle_, might easily have been mistaken by the Greeks,\nand understood as a bear.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                           Plate 36: URSA MINOR\n\n\nThe constellation, which we must therefore call THE LESSER SHEEPFOLD,\ncontains 24 stars, _viz._, one of the 2nd magnitude, two of the 3rd, four\nof the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (at the point of the tail), is the most important in\nthe whole heavens. It is named _Al Ruccaba_, which means _the turned_ or\n_ridden on_, and is to\u2010day the Polar or central star, which does not\nrevolve in a circle as does every other star, but remains, apparently,\nfixed in its position. But though the star does not revolve like the\nothers, the central point in the heavens is very slowly but steadily\nmoving. When these constellations were formed the Dragon possessed this\nimportant point, and the star \u03b1, in _Draco_, marked this central point.\nBut, by its gradual recession, that point is sufficiently near this star\n_Ruccaba_, in the _Lesser Sheepfold_, for it to be what is called \u201cthe\nPolar Star.\u201d But, how could this have been known five or six thousand\nyears ago? How could it have been known when it received its name, which\nmeans _the turned_ or _ridden on_? That it was known is clear: so likewise\nwas it made known in the written Word that the original blessing included\nnot merely the multiplication of the seed of faithful Abraham, but it was\nthen added, \u201cAnd thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies\u201d (Gen.\nxxii. 17).\n\nThis star was called by the Greeks \u039a\u03c5\u03bd\u03cc\u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03b1, the \u201c_Cynosure_.\u201d ARATUS\nseems to apply this term to the whole of the seven stars of the _Lesser\nBear_. Mr. Robert Brown, Junr., shows(72) that \u039a\u03c5\u03bd\u03cc\u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03b1, once supposed to\nbe Hellenic, is non\u2010Hellenic, and possibly Euphratean in origin, from a\nword which he transliterates _An\u2010nas\u2010sur\u2010ra_, and renders it, \u201cas it\nliterally means, _high in_ rising, _i.e._, in heavenly position.\u201d Is not\nthis the primitive truth of the Revelation? Will not this Lesser Fold be\nhigh, yea, the highest in heavenly position?\n\nThe Polar Star has been removed from the Dragon, and is now in _the Lesser\nFold_; and when the Dragon shall be cast down from the heavens, the\nheavenly seed will be safely folded there. But this is _the Lesser\nSheepfold_. These are they who all through the ages have been \u201cpartakers\nof the heavenly calling,\u201d who desired a better country, that is, a\n_heavenly_; wherefore God \u201chath prepared for them a city,\u201d the city for\nwhich Abraham himself \u201clooked.\u201d This was no earthly city, but a city\n\u201cwhose builder and maker is God\u201d (Heb. xi. 10\u201016). These have always been\na smaller company, a \u201clittle flock,\u201d but the kingdom shall be theirs, even\nthe kingdom of God, for which they now look and wait. They have not yet\n\u201creceived the promises; but, having seen them afar off\u201d by faith, they\n\u201cwere persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were\nstrangers and pilgrims on the earth\u201d (Heb. xi. 13). Their Messiah has\naccomplished \u201cthe redemption of the purchased possession,\u201d and in due time\nthe redeemed will inherit it, \u201cunto the praise of His glory\u201d (Eph. i. 13).\n\nThe bright star \u03b2 is named _Kochab_, which means _waiting Him who cometh_.\nOther stars, not identified, are named _Al Pherkadain_ (Arabic), which\nmeans _the calves_, or _the young_ (as in Deut. xxii. 6), _the redeemed\nassembly_. Another, _Al Gedi_, means _the kid_. Another is _Al Kaid_, _the\nassembled_; while _Arcas_, or _Arctos_ (from which we derive the term\n_Arctic_ regions), means, according to one interpreter, _a travelling\ncompany_; or, according to another, _the stronghold of the saved_.\n\nBut there is not only the heavenly seed, which is compared \u201cto the stars\nof heaven,\u201d but there is the seed that is compared to \u201cthe sand of the\nsea\u201d\u2014the larger flock or company, who will enjoy the earthly blessing.\n\nThis brings us to\u2014\n\n\n\n2. URSA MAJOR (The Great Bear).\n\n\n                        _The Fold and the Flock._\n\nOf these it is written:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cBut in Mount Zion there shall be those that escape,\n    And it shall be holy:\n    And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.\u201d\n\n    (Obad. 17\u201019, R.V.)\n\n\nIt is a large and important constellation, containing 87 stars, of which\none is of the 1st magnitude, four of the 2nd, three of the 3rd, ten of the\n4th, etc. It always presents a splendid appearance, and is perhaps,\ntherefore, the best known of all the constellations.\n\nIn the Book of Job (ix. 9, and xxxviii. 31, 32) it is mentioned under the\nname of _Ash_. \u201cCanst thou guide _Ash_ and her offspring?\u201d which is\nrendered in the A.V., \u201cArcturus and his sons,\u201d and in the R.V., \u201cThe Bear\nwith her train\u201d (marg., \u201c_sons_\u201d). The Arabs still call it _Al Naish_, or\n_Annaish_, _the assembled together_, as sheep in a fold. The ancient\nJewish commentators interpreted _Ash_ as the seven stars of this\nconstellation. They are called by others _Septentriones_, which thus\nbecame the Latin word for _North_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                           Plate 37: URSA MAJOR\n\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the back), is named _Dubhe_, which, as we have\nseen, means _a herd of animals_, or _a flock_, and gives its name to the\nwhole constellation.\n\nThe star \u03b2 (below it) is named _Merach_ (Hebrew), _the flock_ (Arabic,\n_purchased_).\n\nThe star \u03b3 (on the left of [Greek: beta]) is called _Phaeda_, or _Phacda_,\nmeaning _visited_, _guarded_, or _numbered_, as a flock; for His sheep,\nlike the stars, are both _numbered_ and _named_. (See Psalm cxlvii. 4.)\n\nThe star \u03b5 is called _Alioth_, a name we have had in _Auriga_, meaning _a\nshe goat_.\n\nThe star \u03b6 (in the middle of the tail) is called _Mizar_, _separate_ or\n_small_, and close to it _Al Cor_, _the Lamb_ (known as \u201cg\u201d).\n\nThe star \u03b7 (at the end of the so\u2010called tail) is named _Benet Naish_\n(Arabic), _the daughters of the assembly_. It is also called _Al Kaid_,\n_the assembled_.\n\nThe star \u03b9 (in its right foot) is called _Talitha_.\n\nThe names of other stars, not identified, all give the same testimony: _El\nAlcola_ (Arabic), _the sheep\u2010fold_ (as in Ps. xcv. 7; and c. 3); _Cab\u2019d al\nAsad_, _multitude_, _many assembled_; _Annaish_, _the assembled_;\n_Megrez_, _separated_, as the flock in the fold; _El Kaphrah_,\n_protected_, _covered_ (Heb. _redeemed_ and _ransomed_); _Dubheh Lachar_\n(Arabic), _the latter herd_ or _flock_; _Helike_ (so called by HOMER in\nthe _Iliad_), _company of travellers_; _Amaza_ (Greek), _coming and\ngoing_; _Calisto_, _the sheepfold set_ or _appointed_.\n\nThere is not one discordant voice in the rich abundance of this testimony.\nWe have nothing to do here with the Grecian myths about bears or wild\nboars. We see only the innumerable seed _gathered_ by Him who _scattered_\n(Jer. xxxi. 10).\n\nMany are the Scriptures we might quote which speak of this gathering and\nassembling of the long\u2010scattered flock. It is written as plainly in the\nBook, as it is in the heavens. The prophecies of this gathering are as\nconspicuous in the Word of God as the \u201c_Seven Stars_\u201d are in the sky. It\nis difficult even to make a selection from the wealth of such promises;\nbut few are more beautiful than that in Ezek. xxxiv. 12\u201016:\n\n\n    \u201cAs a shepherd seeketh out his flock\n    In the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered;\n    So will I seek out my sheep,\n    And will deliver them out of all places where they have been\n                scattered in the cloudy and dark day.\n    And I will bring them out from the people,\n    And gather them from the countries,\n    And will bring them to their own land,\n    And feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers\n    And in all the inhabited places of the country.\n    I will feed them in a good pasture,\n    And upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be:\n    There shall they lie in a good fold,\n    And in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.\n    I will feed my flock,\n    And I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. (Adonai\n                Jehovah).\n    I will seek that which was lost,\n    And bring again that which was driven away,\n    And will bind up that which was broken,\n    And will strengthen that which was sick:\n    But I will destroy the fat and the strong;\n    I will feed them with judgment.\u201d\n\n\nIt is of this judgment with which this book, and indeed the whole\nRevelation, ends, in the next and final chapter.\n\nBut before we come to that we have one more picture in the third\nconstellation of this Sign, which combines the first two in one.\n\n\n\n3. ARGO (The Ship).\n\n\n                       _The Pilgrims safe at Home._\n\nThis is the celebrated ship of the Argonauts, which HOMER sung nearly ten\ncenturies before Christ. Sir Isaac Newton puts the expedition of the\nArgonauts shortly after the death of Solomon (about 975 B.C.). While Dr.\nBlair\u2019s chronology puts it 1236 B.C.\n\nWhatever fables have gathered round the story there can be no doubt as to\nits great antiquity. Some think that the story had its origin in name, as\nwell as in fact, from the _Ark_ of Noah and its mysterious journey. All\nthat is clear, when divested of mythic details, is that the sailors in\nthat ship, after all their dangers, and toils, and battles were over, came\nback victorious to their own shores. The \u201cgolden fleece,\u201d for which the\nArgonauts went in search, tells of a treasure that had been _lost_.\n\u201cJason,\u201d the great captain, tells of Him who recovered it from the\n_Serpent_, which guarded it with ever\u2010watchful eye, when none else was\nable to approach it. And thus, through the fables and myths of the Greeks,\nwe can see the light primeval shine; and this light, once seen, lights up\nthis Sign and its constellations, so that their teaching cannot be\nmisunderstood.\n\nARATUS sings of _Argo_:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cStern\u2010foremost hauled; no mark of onward\u2010speeding ship.\n    Sternward she comes, as vessels do\n    When sailors turn the helm\n    On entering harbour: all the oars back\u2010water,\n    And gliding backward, to an anchor comes.\u201d\n\n\nIt tells of that blessed home\u2010coming, when\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThe ransomed of the LORD shall return\n    And come to Zion with songs,\n    And everlasting joy upon their heads;\n    They shall obtain joy and gladness,\n    And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. xxxv. 10.)\n\n\nIt tells of the glorious Jason,(73) of whom it is asked:\n\n\n    \u201cArt thou not it which hath cut Rahab,\n    And wounded the dragon?\n    Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great\n                deep;\n    That hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to\n                pass over?\n    Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return,\n    And come with singing unto Zion,\u201d etc.\n\n    (Isa. li. 9\u201011.)\n\n    \u201cFor the LORD hath redeemed Jacob,\n    And ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.\n    Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion\n    And shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD.\u201d\n\n    (Jer. xxxi. 11, 12.)\n\n\nThis is the return of the great emigrant\u2010ship (_Argo_) and all its\n_company of travellers_ (for this is the meaning of the word _Argo_).\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                        Plate 38: ARGO (the Ship)\n\n\nIn Kircher\u2019s Egyptian Planisphere _Argo_ is represented by two galleys (as\nwe have two sheepfolds), whose prows are surmounted by rams\u2019 heads; and\nthe stern of one of them ends in a fish\u2019s tail. One of the two occupies\n_four segments_ of the sphere (from Taurus to Virgo), while the other\noccupies the four from Leo to Capricorn. _One half_ of the southern\nmeridians is occupied with these galleys and their construction and\ndecorations. Astronomers tell us that they carry us back, the one to the\nperiod when the Bull opened the year (to which time VIRGIL refers); and\nthe other to the _same_ epoch, when the summer solstice was in Leo\u2014\u201can era\ngreatly antecedent to the Argonautic expedition. How else, they ask, do we\naccount for the one ship having her prow in the first Decan of _Taurus_,\nand her poop in the last Decan of _Leo_? or for one galley being freighted\nwith the installed _Bull_, and the other with the solstitial _Lion_?\u201d(74)\n\nThese are the words of an astronomer who knows nothing whatever of our\ninterpretation of the heavens which is set forth in this work.\n\nIt will indeed be a large vessel, the true _Argo_, with its _company of\ntravellers_, \u201ca great multitude which no man can number.\u201d All this is\nindicated by the immense size of the Constellation, as well as by the\nlarge number of its stars. There are 64 stars in _Argo_ (reckoning by the\nBritannic catalogue); one of the 1st magnitude, six of the 2nd, nine of\nthe 3rd, nine of the 4th, etc. Only a small part of the ship\u2019s poop is\nvisible in Britain.\n\nIts brightest star, \u03b1 (near the keel), is called _Canopus_ or _Canobus_,\nwhich means _the possession of Him who cometh_. Other star\u2010names, not\nidentified, are\u2014_Sephina_, _the multitude_ or _abundance_; _Tureis_, _the\npossession_; _Asmidiska_, _the released who travel_; _Soheil_ (Arabic),\n_the desired_; and _Subilon_, _the Branch_.\n\nIs not all this exactly in harmony with the rest of this sign? And is not\nthis what is written in the Book?\n\n\n    \u201cTherefore, fear thou not, O My servant Jacob, saith the LORD;\n    Neither be dismayed, O Israel:\n    For, lo, I will save thee from afar,\n    And thy seed from the land of their captivity;\n    And Jacob shall return and be in rest,\n    And be quiet, and none shall make him afraid,\n    For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee.\u201d\n\n    (Jer. xxx. 10, 11.)\n\n    \u201cLift up thine eyes round about, and see;\n    All they gather themselves together, they come to thee;\n    Thy sons shall come from far,\n    And thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side,\n    Then thou shalt see, and flow together,\n    And thine heart shall fear and be enlarged;\n    Because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee....\n    Who are these that fly as a cloud?\n    And as doves to their windows?\n    Surely the isles shall wait for me,\n    And the SHIPS of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far.\u201d\n\n    (Isa. lx. 4, 5, 8, 9.)\n\n\nThe whole chapter (Isa. lx.) should be read if we wish to understand the\ngreat teaching of this Sign, which tells of Messiah\u2019s secured possessions,\nthe safe folding of His blood\u2010bought flock, the blessed return of His\npilgrims, and their abundant entrance into everlasting rest.\n\n\n    \u201cThere is a blessed home\n      Beyond this land of woe,\n    Where trials never come,\n      Nor tears of sorrow flow;\n    Where faith is lost in sight,\n      And patient love is crowned,\n    And everlasting light\n      Its glory throws around.\n\n    O joy, all joys beyond,\n      To see the Lamb who died,\n    And count each sacred wound\n      In hands, and feet, and side;\n    To give to Him the praise\n      Of every triumph won,\n    And sing through endless days\n      The great things He hath done.\n\n    Look up, ye saints of God,\n      Nor fear to tread below\n    The path your Saviour trod\n      Of daily toil and woe;\n    Wait but a little while\n      In uncomplaining love,\n    His own most gracious smile\n      Shall welcome you above.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter IV. The Sign LEO (The Lion).\n\n\n                     _Messiah\u2019s Consummated Triumph._\n\nHere we come to the end of the circle. We began with Virgo, and we end\nwith Leo. No one who has followed our interpretation can doubt that we\nhave here the solving of the Riddle of the Sphinx. For its _Head_ is Virgo\nand its _Tail_ is Leo!\n\nIn Leo we reach the end of the Revelation as inspired in the Word of God;\nand it is the end as written in the heavens.\n\nBAILLY (_Astronomy_) says, \u201cthe Zodiac must have been first divided when\nthe sun at the summer solstice was in 1\u00b0 Virgo, where the woman\u2019s head\njoins the Lion\u2019s tail.\u201d\n\nAs to its antiquity there can be no doubt. JAMIESON says, \u201cthe Lion does\nnot seem to have been placed among the Zodiacal symbols, because Hercules\nwas fabled to have slain the Nemean Lion. It would seem, on the contrary,\nthat Hercules, who represented the Sun, was said to have slain the Nemean\nLion, because _Leo_ was already a Zodiacal sign. Hercules flourished 3,000\nyears ago, and consequently posterior to the period when the summer\nsolstice accorded with _Leo_.\u201d (_Celestial Atlas_, p. 40).\n\nThere is no confusion about _this_ sign. In the ancient Zodiacs of Egypt\n(Denderah, Esneh) and India we find the Lion. The same occurs on the\nMithraic monuments, where Leo is _passant_, as he is in Moor\u2019s Hindu, and\nSir William Jones\u2019s Oriental Zodiacs. In Kircher\u2019s Zodiacs he is\n_courrant_; in the Egyptian Zodiacs he is _couchant_.\n\nIn the Denderah Zodiac he is treading upon a serpent, as shown in Mr.\nEdward Cooper\u2019s _Egyptian Scenery_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n                         Plate 39: LEO (the Lion)\n\n\nIts Egyptian name is _Pi Mentekeon_, which means _the pouring out_. This\nis no pouring out or inundation of the Nile, but it is the pouring out of\nthe cup of Divine wrath on that Old Serpent.\n\nThis is the one great truth of the closing chapter of this last Book. It\nis\n\n   THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH AROUSED FOR THE RENDING OF THE PREY.\n\nHis feet are over the head of _Hydra_, the great Serpent, and just about\nto descend upon it and crush it.\n\nThe three constellations of the Sign complete this final picture:\n\n\n    1. _Hydra_, the old Serpent destroyed.\n\n    2. _Crater_, _the Cup_ of Divine wrath poured out upon him.\n\n    3. _Corvus_, the Bird of prey devouring him.\n\n\nThe Denderah picture exhibits all four in one. The Lion is presented\ntreading down the Serpent. The Bird of prey is also perched upon it, while\nbelow is a plumed female figure holding out _two cups_, answering to\n_Crater_, the cup of wrath.\n\nThe hieroglyphics read _Knem_, and are placed underneath. _Knem_ means\n_who conquers_, or _is conquered_, referring to the victory over the\nserpent. The woman\u2019s name is _Her\u2010ua_, _great enemy_, referring to the\ngreat enemy for which her two cups are prepared and intended.\n\nThe Hebrew name of the sign is _Arieh_, which means _the Lion_. There are\nsix Hebrew words for Lion,(75) and this one is used of the Lion _hunting\ndown his prey_.\n\nThe Syriac name is _Aryo_, _the rending Lion_, and the Arabic is _Al\nAsad_; both mean _a lion coming vehemently_, _leaping forth as a flame_!\n\nIt is a beautiful constellation of 95 stars, two of which are of the 1st\nmagnitude, two of the 2nd, six of the 3rd, thirteen of the 4th.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (on the Ecliptic), marks the heart of the Lion\n(hence sometimes called by the moderns, _Cor Leonis_, _the heart of the\nLion_). Its ancient name is _Regulus_, which means _treading under foot_.\nThe next star, \u03b2, also of the 1st magnitude (in the tip of the tail), is\nnamed _Denebola_, _the Judge_ or _Lord who cometh_. The star \u03b3 (in the\nmane) is called _Al Giebha_ (Arabic), _the exaltation_. The star \u03b4 (on the\nhinder part of the back) is called _Zosma_, _shining forth_.\n\nOther stars, not identified, are named _Sarcam_ (Hebrew), _the joining_;\nintimating that here is the point where the two ends of the Zodiacal\ncircle have their _joining_. Another star has the name of _Minchir al\nAsad_ (Arabic), _the punishing_ or _tearing of the Lion_. Another is\n_Deneb Aleced_, _the judge cometh who seizes_. And another is _Al Dafera_\n(Arabic), _the enemy put down_.\n\nWhat can be more expressive? What can be more eloquent? All is harmony,\nand all the names unite in pointing us to what is written of \u201cthe Lion of\nthe Tribe of Judah.\u201d\n\nAnd why is Messiah thus called? Because it is applied to Him in Rev. v. 5\nin connection with His rising up for judgment: and because the Lion is\nknown to have been always borne upon the standard of Judah, whether in the\nwilderness (Num. ii.) or in aftertimes.\n\nIn Israel\u2019s dying blessing the prophetic words foretold of Judah:\n\n\n    \u201cThy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; ...\n    Judah is a lion\u2019s whelp;\n    From the prey, my son, thou art gone up.\n    He stooped down, he couched as a lion,\n    And as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?\u201d\n\n    (Gen. xlix. 8, 9.)\n\n\nIn the prophecy of Balaam (Num. xxiv. 8, 9), we read:\n\n\n    \u201cHe shall eat up the nations his enemies,\n    And shall break their bones,\n    And pierce them through with his arrows,\n    He couched, he lay down as a lion,\n    And as a great lion; who shall stir him up?\u201d\n\n\nThe same testimony is borne by the Prophet Amos:\n\n\n    \u201cWill a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey?\n    Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he hath taken nothing?...\n    The lion hath roared, who will not fear?\u201d\n\n    (Amos iii. 4, 8.)\n\n\nWhen \u201cthe Lion of the tribe of Judah\u201d is roused up for the rending, the\nSpirit describes the scene in Isa. xlii. 13:\n\n\n    \u201cThe LORD shall go forth as a mighty man,\n    He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war;\n    He shall cry, yea, roar;\n    He shall prevail against His enemies.\u201d\n\n\nAnd this is what is meant and included when the Elder says for John\u2019s\ncomfort, \u201cthe Lion of the Tribe of Judah _hath prevailed_,\u201d and hence, is\n\u201cworthy ... to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and\nhonour, and glory, and blessing\u201d (Rev. v.).\n\nWhether we look, therefore, at the primeval Revelation in the heavens, or\nat the later Revelation in the Word, the story is one and the same.\n\nAnd what we see of Leo and his work in both, we find developed and\ndescribed in the three constellations of the Sign.\n\n\n\n1. HYDRA (The Serpent).\n\n\n                       _The Old Serpent Destroyed._\n\nThe time has at length come for the fulfilment of the many prophecies\npictured in the heavens: and in its three final constellations we see the\nconsummation of them all in the complete destruction of the Old Serpent,\nand all his seed, and all his works.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n   Plate 40: HYDRA (the Serpent), CRATER (the Cup), CORVUS (the Raven)\n\n\nIt is the special work of the Messiah, as \u201cthe Lion of the tribe of\nJudah,\u201d to trample it under foot.\n\nIt is pictured as _the female serpent (Hydra)_, the mother and author of\nall evil. _Hydra_ has the significant meaning, _he is abhorred_!\n\nIt is an immense constellation extending for above 100 degrees from east\nto west, beneath the Virgin, the Lion, and the Crab. It is composed of 60\nstars; one of the 2nd magnitude, three of the 3rd, twelve of the 4th, etc.\n\nThe brightest star, \u03b1 (in the heart of the Serpent), is sometimes called\nby the moderns _Cor Hydr\u00e6_ on that account. Its ancient name is _Al Phard_\n(Arabic), which means _the separated_, _put away_. Another is called _Al\nDrian_, _the abhorred_. Another star is named _Minchar al Sugia_, _the\npiercing of the deceiver_.\n\nThere can be no doubt as to what is taught by the constellation of Hydra,\nnor is it necessary to quote the Scriptures concerning the destruction of\nthe Serpent. We pass on to consider the second.\n\n\n\n2. CRATER (The Cup).\n\n\n              _The Cup of Divine wrath Poured out upon Him._\n\n\n    \u201cGod is the Judge.\n    He putteth down one, and setteth up another,\n    FOR IN THE HAND OF THE LORD THERE IS A CUP,\n    And the wine is red; it is full of mixture,\n    And He poureth out of the same:\n    But the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring\n                them out and drink them.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. lxxv. 8.)\n\n    \u201cUpon the wicked he shall rain snares,\n    Fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest:\n    THIS SHALL BE THE PORTION OF THEIR CUP.\u201d\n\n    (Ps. xi. 6.)\n\n\nThis is no fabled wine\u2010cup of Bacchus; but it is \u201cThe cup of His\nindignation\u201d (Rev. xiv. 10); \u201cThe cup of the wine of the fierceness of his\nwrath\u201d (Rev. xvi. 19). This is what we see set forth in this\nconstellation. The Cup is wide and deep, and fastened on by the stars to\nthe very body of the writhing serpent. The same stars which are in the\nfoot of the Cup form part of the body of Hydra, and are reckoned as\nbelonging to both constellations.\n\nThis Cup has the significant number of _thirteen_ stars (the number of\nApostacy). The two\u2014_Al Ches_ (\u03b1), which means _the Cup_, and (\u03b2)\u2014determine\nthe bottom of the Cup.\n\n\n\n3. CORVUS (The Raven).\n\n\n                _The Birds of Prey devouring the Serpent._\n\nHere is the final scene of judgment. We have had _Zeeb_; _the Wolf_; now\nwe have _Oreb_, _the Raven_. _Her\u2010na_ is its name in the Denderah Zodiac.\n_Her_, means _the enemy_; and _Na_, means _breaking up_ or _failing_. That\nis to say, this scene represents _the breaking up_ of the enemy.\n\nThere are nine stars (the number of _judgment_) in this constellation. The\nbright star \u03b1 (in the eye) is called _Al Chibar_ (Arabic), _joining\ntogether_, from the Hebrew _Chiba_ (Num. xxiii. 8), which means\n_accursed_. This star, then, tells of _the curse inflicted_. The star \u03b2\n(in the right wing) is called _Al Goreb_ (Arabic), from Hebrew _Oreb_,\n_the Raven_. A third star is named _Minchar al Gorab_ (Arabic), and means\n_the Raven tearing to pieces_.\n\nThis brings us to the end. There is nothing beyond this. Nothing remains\nto be told. We know from the Word of God that\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThe eye that mocketh at his father,\n    And despiseth to obey his mother,\n    The ravens of the valley shall pick it out.\u201d\n\n    (Prov. xxx. 17.)\n\n\nWe remember how David said to the Giant Goliah\u2014a type of this enemy of\nGod\u2019s people\u2014\u201cI will smite thee, and take thy head from thee; and I will\ngive the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls\nof the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth\u201d (1 Sam. xvii. 46).\n\nWhen the great day of this judgment comes, an angel standing in the sun\nwill cry \u201cto all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come, and\ngather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may\neat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty\nmen, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh\nof all men, both free and bond, both small and great\u201d (Rev. xix. 17, 18).\n\nAnd after these awful words shall be fulfilled, in the closing words of\nthe prophecy of Isaiah, Jehovah foretells us how\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThey shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that\n                have transgressed against Me;\n    For their worm shall not die,\n    Neither shall their fire be quenched;\n    And they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.\u201d\n\n\nThis is the teaching of the whole Sign of LEO! It is all summed up in Jer.\nxxv. 30\u201033:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cTherefore prophesy against them all these words, and say unto\n                them,\n    The LORD shall roar from on high,\n    And utter His voice from His holy habitation;\n    He shall mightily roar upon His habitation;\n    He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes,\n    Against all the inhabitants of the earth.\n    A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth;\n    For the LORD hath a controversy with the nations,\n    He will plead with all flesh;\n    He will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.\n    Thus saith the LORD of hosts,\n    Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation,\n    And a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the\n                earth.\n    And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the\n                earth\n    Even to the other end of the earth;\n    They shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried;\n    They shall be dung upon the ground.\u201d\n\n\nHere is the conclusion of the whole matter! Here is the final triumph of\nthe Son of Man in the consummated victory of the Seed of the woman:\n\u201cWorthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and\nwisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing\u201d (Rev. v. 12).\n\n\n    \u201cO what a bright and blessed world\n      This groaning earth of ours will be,\n    When from its throne the tempter hurled,\n      Shall leave it all, O Lord, to Thee!\n\n    But brighter far that world above,\n      Where we, as we are known, shall know;\n    And, in the sweet embrace of love,\n      Reign o\u2019er this ransomed earth below.\n\n    O blessed Lord! with longing eyes\n      That blissful hour we wait to see;\n    While every worm or leaf that dies\n      Tells of the curse, and calls for Thee.\n\n    Come, Saviour! Then o\u2019er all below\n      Shine brightly from Thy throne above,\n    Bid heaven and earth Thy glory know,\n      And all creation feel Thy love.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\nSUMMARY.\n\n\nMan has ever sought to rob Christ of His glory. He has long since done his\nbest to obliterate His name and His work from the Revelation which had\nbeen written in the stars of light. When He humbled Himself, and came as\nthe promised Seed of the woman, men \u201csaw no beauty in Him that they should\ndesire Him.\u201d And these were _religious_ men. It was religious men, not the\ncommon rabble, whom the Old Serpent made use of to wound Him in the heel.\nThe Devil could not touch Him himself; he must use them as his\ninstruments; and it was only _religious_ men that could be so used.\n\nIt was the \u201cchief priests and scribes,\u201d men learned in the Scriptures,\nwhose very knowledge of the Word was used to compass His death amongst the\nbabes at Bethlehem (Matt. ii. 4\u20106).\n\nIt was the same priests and scribes who were used to put Him to death, and\ngive the long\u2010prophesied wound in the heel.\n\nReligion without Christ is enmity against God! Knowledge of the Scriptures\nwhere the heart is not subject to Christ, and where Christ is not seen in\nthem, is powerless and lifeless. It is true of the Scriptures, as it will\nbe of the heavenly Jerusalem\u2014\u201cTHE LAMB IS THE LIGHT THEREOF\u201d (Rev. xxi.\n23).\n\nThe Church of Rome has been used of the great enemy to rob the Lamb of God\nof His promised glory. JEROME, in his Latin translation of the Bible (405\nA.D.), wrote \u201c_ipse_,\u201d HE, in Gen. iii. 15, as the \u201cbruiser of the\nserpent\u2019s head.\u201d And, in spite of the fact that JEROME himself so quotes\nit in his commentary, and that it is _masculine_ in all the other ancient\ntranslations of the Bible, Rome has first corrupted JEROME\u2019S Vulgate by\nchanging the \u201ce\u201d into \u201ca,\u201d and putting \u201c_ipsa_\u201d (she) instead of \u201c_ipse_\u201d\n(He); then she has so translated this corruption and perpetuated this\nperversion in various languages! So that in all her versions, in her\npictures and statues, in the decree of Pope Pius IX., which promulgated\nthe dogma of the \u201c_immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary_,\u201d this lie of\nthe Old Serpent has been foisted on unnumbered thousands of deluded souls,\nwho have thereby been deceived into putting Mary in the place of Jesus;\nthe \u201cco\u2010Redemptress\u201d in the place of the Redeemer; the creature in the\nplace of the Creator; the woman in the place of the woman\u2019s Seed;\u2014until\nthe outcome is reached by emblazoning, in huge gilt letters, on the\noutside of a large church in Rathmines, Dublin, \u201cMARI\u00c6 PECCATORUM\nREFUGIUM,\u201d to Mary the Refuge of Sinners!\n\nSo complete has been the success of the subtlety of the Serpent, that he\nhas beguiled thousands of Protestants to unite in circulating these\n_corrupted versions as the Word of God_, thus giving currency to the\nDevil\u2019s lie. This is done on the plea of expediency, in order that these\nversions might come to many as Protestant truth instead of Popish error;\nbut thus misleading those who were seeking for light, while confirming\nPapists in their darkness.\n\nBut through all the \u201cwisdom of the Serpent\u201d we can detect his lie. It is\nvery thinly veiled, and the Old Serpent has not succeeded in blinding the\neyes which the Spirit of God has opened. True, we see in all Rome\u2019s\npictures and statues the foot of Mary, on the Serpent\u2019s head, but the foot\nis not _coming down_, nor is the head _crushed_! Rather is the woman\u2019s\nfoot resting on its head; and the woman herself supported by the Serpent.\n\nThe whole system of Mary\u2010anity is thus seen to be the outcome of the\nSerpent\u2019s wisdom in opposition to the true Christ\u2010ianity.\n\nHow different are the primeval star\u2010pictures of the heavens. There, the\nclub is lifted up, the foot is coming down, yea, the foot is actually\nplanted upon the enemy, treading the Scorpion under foot.\n\nRome may corrupt the words of the Book, but she cannot touch the stars of\nheaven! The Devil himself cannot move them from their places. He may\nchoose and use his servants and agents for corrupting the Scriptures\nwritten in the Book, but he cannot change the Revelation of the stars.\n\nThere,\u2014no woman\u2019s foot is seen upon the Serpent\u2019s head! There,\u2014no woman\nusurps the place of the all\u2010glorious Redeemer!\n\nIn _Ophiuchus_ we see HIM in dread conflict with the Serpent, and we see\nHIS foot upon the Scorpion\u2019s heart (SCORPIO). We see HIM, the Risen Lamb\n(ARIES), binding _Cetus_, the great Monster of the Deep; we see HIM in the\nglorious _Orion_, whose foot is coming down on the enemy\u2019s head (_Lepus_);\nwe see HIM in the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (LEO), about to tread down\nthat Old Serpent (_Hydra_) the Devil; we see HIM in the mighty _Hercules_,\nwho has his foot on the head of the _Dragon_ (_Draco_), and his up\u2010lifted\nclub about to inflict the long\u2010threatened blow; we see HIM crowned in\n_Cepheus_, with all His enemies subdued, and His right foot planted upon\nthe Polar Star!\n\nTrue, we do see a WOMAN in this heavenly and Divine revelation; for there\nare four women. Two are connected with the REDEEMER, and two with the\nREDEEMED. The Redeemer is seen in the one (VIRGO) as the \u201cpromised Seed\u201d;\nin the other (_Coma_), He is seen as the child born, the Son given. The\nRedeemed are represented in one as a captive _chained_ (_Andromeda_), with\nno power to wage conflict with an enemy, but a prey to every foe; in the\nother (_Cassiopeia_), she is _enthroned_, with no necessity for conflict.\nFor with one hand she waves the palm of a victory which another\n(_Perseus_) has wrought on her behalf, while with her right hand she is\npreparing and making herself ready for \u201cthe marriage of the Lamb.\u201d\n\nThus pure and undefiled is this primeval fountain of Divine truth. Thus\nharmonious is it with the written Word of God. And He who gave them both\nto enlighten a dark world which lieth in the power of this wicked one, has\nfilled both with one subject\u2014\u201cThe sufferings of Christ and the glory that\nshould follow.\u201d\n\nThese are set forth by the Holy Spirit in a double sevenfold expansion of\nthe prophetic promise of Gen. iii. 15, giving seven steps in His\nhumiliation and seven in His glorification (Phil. ii. 5\u201011(76)).\n\n\n                              CHRIST JESUS,\n\n    1. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery (a thing\n    to be grasped at and held) to be equal with God;\n\n    2. But made Himself of no reputation (Gr. _emptied Himself_),\n\n    3. And took upon Him the form of a servant,\n\n    4. And was made in the likeness of men:\n\n    5. And being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself.\n\n    6. And became obedient unto death,\n\n    7. Even the death of the cross.\n\n                                WHEREFORE\n\n    1. God also hath highly exalted Him,\n\n    2. And given Him a name which is above every name:\n\n    3. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,\n\n    4. Of things in heaven,\n\n    5. And things on earth,\n\n    6. And things under the earth;\n\n    7. And that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,\n    to the glory of God the Father.\n\n    Amen.\n\n    \u201cCome, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,\n    Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth,\n    Thou who alone art worthy! It was thine\n    By ancient covenant, ere Nature\u2019s birth;\n    And Thou hast made it Thine by purchase since,\n    And overpaid its value with Thy blood.\n    Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and in their hearts\n    Thy title is engraven with a pen\n    Dipp\u2019d in the fountain of eternal love.\n    Thy saints proclaim Thee king; and Thy delay\n    Gives courage to their foes, who, could they see\n    The dawn of Thy last advent, long desired,\n    Would creep into the bowels of the hills,\n    And flee for safety to the falling rocks.\u201d\n\n    \u201cCome, then, and, added to Thy many crowns,\n    Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest,\n    Due to Thy last and most effectual work,\n    Thy Word fulfilled, the conquest of a world.\u201d\n\n    (_Cowper._)\n\n\n\n\n\n\u201cFOR SIGNS AND FOR SEASONS.\u201d\n\n\nWe have seen the great truths which are taught from the position, and\nforms, and names of the heavenly bodies. There are also truths to be\nlearnt from their _motions_.\n\nWhen God created them and set them in the firmament of heaven, He said, in\nGen. i. 14\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cLet them be for signs and for seasons.\u201d\n\n\nHere the word \u201csigns\u201d is _othoth_ (\u05d0\u05b9\u05ea\u05b9\u05ea, plural of \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea, _oth_, from the\nroot \u05d0\u05b3\u05ea\u05b3\u05ea, _to come_). Hence, _a sign of something_ or _some One to\ncome_. In Jer. x. 2 Jehovah says, \u201cAnd be not dismayed _at the signs_\n(\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b5\u05d0\u05ea\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea) of the heavens, for the heathen are dismayed at them.\u201d The\nword \u201cseasons\u201d does not denote merely what we call the four seasons of the\nyear, but _cycles_ of time. It is \u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05e2\u05b5\u05d3, _appointed time_ (from the verb\n\u05d9\u05b8\u05e2\u05b7\u05d3, _to point out_, _appoint_). It occurs three more times in Genesis,\neach time in connection with the promised Seed\u2014\n\nGen. xvii. 21, \u201c_At_ this _set time_ in the next year\u201d;\n\nGen. xviii. 14, \u201c_At the time appointed_ I will return\u201d; and\n\nGen. xxi. 2, \u201c_At the set time_ of which God had spoken.\u201d\n\nGen. i. 14 is therefore, \u201cThey (the sun, moon, and stars) shall be for\nsigns (things to come) and for cycles (appointed times).\u201d\n\nHere, then, we have a distinct declaration from God, that the heavens\ncontain not only a Revelation concerning _things to come_ in the \u201cSigns,\u201d\nbut also concerning _appointed times_ in the wondrous movements of the\nsun, and moon, and stars.\n\nThe motions of the sun and moon are so arranged that at the end of a given\ninterval of time they return into almost precisely the same position, with\nregard to each other and to the earth, as they held at the beginning of\nthat interval. \u201cAlmost precisely,\u201d but not quite precisely. There will be\na slight outstanding difference, which will gradually increase in\nsuccessive intervals, and finally destroy the possibility of the\ncombination recurring, or else lead to combinations of a different\ncharacter.\n\nThus the daily difference between the movement of the sun and of the stars\nleads the sun back very nearly to conjunction with the same star as it was\ntwelve months earlier, and gives us the cycle of the year. The slight\ndifference in the sun\u2019s position relative to the stars at the end of the\nyear, finally leads the sun back to the same star at the same time of the\nyear, _viz._, at the spring equinox, and gives us the great precessional\ncycle of 25,800 years.\n\nSo, too, with eclipses. Since the circumstances of any given eclipse are\nreproduced almost exactly 18 years and 11 days later, this period is\ncalled an _Eclipse Cycle_, to which the ancient astronomers gave the name\nof _Saros_;(77) and eclipses separated from each other by an exact cycle,\nand, therefore, corresponding closely in their conditions, are spoken of\nas being one and the same eclipse. Each _Saros_ contains, on the average,\nabout 70 \u00b1 eclipses. Of these, on the average, 42 \u00b1 are solar and 28 \u00b1 are\nlunar. Since the _Saros_ is 11 days (or, more correctly, 10.96 days)\nlonger than 18 years, the successive recurrences of each eclipse fall 11\ndays later in the year each time, and in 33 _Sari_ will have travelled on\nthrough the year and come round very nearly to the original date.\n\nBut as the _Saros_ does not reproduce the conditions of an eclipse with\nabsolute exactness, and as the difference increases with every successive\nreturn, a time comes when the return of the _Saros_ fails to bring about\nan eclipse at all. If the eclipse be a solar one before this takes place,\na new eclipse begins to form a month later in the year than the old one,\nand becomes the first eclipse of a new series.\n\nThis is the history of one such eclipse: On May 15 (Julian), 850 A.D.,\nthere was a (new) eclipse of the sun, and it occurred as a _partial_\neclipse. On August 20 (Julian), 1012 A.D., this new eclipse became\n_total_. From that time it has been an _annular_ eclipse, the latitude of\nthe central shadow gradually shifting southward from the north, until on\nDecember 17 (Julian), 1210, it had reached N. Lat. 24\u00b0. It turned\nnorthward again after 1210, until March 14 (Julian), 1355, when it fell in\nN. Lat. 43\u00b0. Then it turned south, and has moved steadily in that\ndirection, until on March 18 (Greg.), 1950, its last appearance as an\nannular eclipse will take place. On May 22 (Greg.), 2058, it will fall so\nfar from the node that a new eclipse will follow it on June 21. It will\nmake three more appearances as an ever\u2010diminishing partial eclipse, and be\nlast seen on June 24 (Greg.), 2112. Its total life\u2010history, therefore,\nwill have been 1,262 years and 36 days, and will have occupied 70 _Sari_.\n\nIn the above life\u2010history of an eclipse(78) there is not the slightest\ndifficulty as to its identification. The _Saros_ shows no break, and no\ninterruption; nor does the character of the eclipse suffer any abrupt\nchange. The district over which it is visible moves in a slow and orderly\nfashion from occurrence to occurrence over the earth\u2019s surface.\n\nNow the important point is this, that if we take the prophetic reckoning\nof 360 days to the year, we have the following significant Biblical\nnumbers:\u2014\n\nIn the first place, we already have the 70 \u00b1 _Sari_ divided into two\nportions of 33 + 37.\n\nA perfect cycle is accomplished in 33 _Sari_, or 595 years, when the\neclipse, by a series of unbroken _Sari_, has accomplished a passage\nthrough the year of 360 days; or, if we reckon only the whole numbers,\n_i.e._, the 18 completed years, we have for the 33 _Sari_ the period of\n594 years, while the remaining portion of 37 _Sari_ makes 666 years (37 x\n18) ; and the whole 70 \u00b1 _Sari_ makes 1,260 years (594 + 666).(79)\n\nWe have then the following figures:\u2014\n\n\n    18 x 33 =  594 years.\n    18 x 37 =  666 years.\n    18 x 70 = 1260 years.\n\n\nIndependently of this, we also know that 1,260 years is a soli\u2010lunar\ncycle, so exact that its epact, or difference, is only 6 hours!\n\nThere must, therefore, be something significant in these numbers, _e.g._,\n70; in the number 1,260, with its divisions, not into two equal parts, but\ninto 594 and 666; as also in its double, 2,520.\n\nThere must be something to be learned in the occurrence and repetition of\nthese heavenly cycles, which for nearly 6,000 years have been constantly\nrepeated in the heavens, especially when we find these same numbers very\nprominently presented in the Word of God in connection with the fulfilment\nof prophecy.\n\nWe have the great \u201cseven times\u201d (2,520) connected with the duration of\nIsrael\u2019s punishment, and of the Gentiles\u2019 power. We have in Daniel and the\nApocalypse the half of this great period presented as \u201cdays\u201d (1,260), as\n\u201cmonths\u201d (42), and as \u201ctimes,\u201d or years (3\u2010\u00bd).\n\nFuturists believe that these \u201cdays\u201d and \u201cmonths,\u201d etc., _interpret for us_\nthe purposes and counsels of God as connected with \u201cthe time of the end,\u201d\nand as meaning literal \u201cdays\u201d and \u201cmonths,\u201d etc.\n\nHistoricists take these terms and themselves _interpret the numbers_, in\nthe sense of a \u201cday\u201d being put for a _year_, and they believe that these\n\u201c1,260 days\u201d will be fulfilled as 1,260 _years_.\n\nOne party boldly and ungraciously charges the other with teaching \u201c_The\nFallacies of Futurism_\u201d; while the other might well retort with a\nreference to the _Heresies of Historicism_.\n\nBut is there any necessity for the existence of two hostile camps? Is it\nnot possible that there may be what we may call a _long_ fulfilment in\nyears? And is it not more than probable that in the time of the end, the\ncrisis, there will also be a _short_ and literal fulfilment in days?\n\nWe firmly believe that there will be this literal and _short_ fulfilment.\nWe believe that when God says \u201cdays,\u201d He means _days_; and that when He\nsays \u201c42 months,\u201d He means _months_, and not 1,260 years. In all of the\npassages referred to by historicists in support of what is called \u201cthe\nyear\u2010day theory,\u201d the Holy Spirit uses these words \u201cdays\u201d and \u201cyears\u201d in\nthe sense of days and years. In the two particular instances of Israel\u2019s\nwanderings (Num. xiv. 34), and Ezekiel\u2019s prophesying (Ezek. iv. 6), He\nchooses to take the _number_ of days as denoting the _same number_ of\nyears; but He does not tell us that we are to do the same in other cases!\nHe only asserts His sovereignty by thus acting, while we only show our\npresumption in taking His sovereign act as a general principle.\n\nBut while fully believing in the _short_ fulfilment, we are quite prepared\nto admit that there may be a _long_ fulfilment _as well_; and that, owing\nto the wondrous harmony, and marvellous correspondence, and infinite\nwisdom of all the works and ways of God, there may be a fulfilment, or\nrather a \u201cfilment,\u201d if we may coin the word, in years, which will be only\na foreshadowing of the literal _ful_\u2010filment afterwards to take place in\n_days_.\n\nIf historicists will allow us this liberty as to _interpretation_, and\npermit us to believe that God means what He says, we will give them some\nremarkable evidence in support of their views, by way of _application_. In\nother words, if they will allow us to _interpret_ \u201cdays\u201d as meaning days,\nwe will gladly allow them, and be at one with them, in _applying_ them to\nyears. So that while we believe the _interpretation_ to mean \u201cdays,\u201d and\nto teach a _short_ fulfilment at the time of the end, we will thankfully\nadmit an _application_ which shall take these days as foreshowing a _long_\nfulfilment in years.\n\nIn _applying_, then, these significant numbers (42, 70, 594, 666, 1,260,\nand 2,520) to years, from what point or date shall we begin to reckon the\n\u201c_times of the Gentiles_\u201d (Luke xxi. 24)? That there are such definite\n\u201ctimes\u201d the words of the Lord Jesus show, when He says, \u201cJerusalem shall\nbe trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be\nfulfilled.\u201d (Luke xxi. 24). That there are \u201cseven times\u201d of Gentile\ndominion is more than intimated by the symbolic episode in the life of\nNebuchadnezzar as recorded in Dan. iv.; and that there are \u201cseven times\u201d\nof Israel\u2019s punishment is clearly stated in Lev. xxvi. 18. \u201cSeven times,\u201d\naccording to the Historicist school of interpreters, are equal to 2,520\nyears.\n\nInstead of asking where they begin, let us first note the fact that it is\n_duration_ which is emphasised in the Scriptures rather than _chronology_;\nand look at the duration of these years independently of, and before we\nattempt to fix, their beginning and ending.\n\nIn Daniel ii. and vii. it is shown first to Nebuchadnezzar in a \u201cdream,\u201d\nand afterwards to God\u2019s servant the prophet in a \u201cvision,\u201d that Israel was\nto be put on one side and become \u201cLo\u2010Ammi\u201d (_not My people_), while\ngovernment was to be put into the hands of the Gentiles. Jerusalem was the\ncentral point of both these great and solemn facts. That is to say, during\n2,520 years, while Jerusalem should remain in the power of the Gentiles,\nIsrael could be \u201cno more a nation\u201d in possession of their land and city.\n\nWe know, as a matter of fact, that to\u2010day Jerusalem is in the hands of the\nTurks, and that it is still \u201ctrodden down of the Gentiles.\u201d\n\nIf we ask how long it shall continue to be \u201ctrodden down\u201d? how long it\nwill be before Israel shall again possess their city and their land?\u2014the\nanswer brings us at once to the heart of our subject.\n\nIn seeking to determine both duration and chronology, it is necessary to\nplant our feet on sure ground. To do this, let us take a point on which\nall are agreed.\n\nThere is _one_ date which is universally accepted; and concerning which\nthe evidence is unquestioned.\n\nABU OBEIDA, the Mahommedan General, laid siege to Jerusalem towards the\nclose of 636 A.D. The city was then occupied by the Romans, who held out\nfor four months. When they capitulated, the Patriarch SOPHRONIUS obtained\na clause in the treaty giving security to the inhabitants, and requiring\nthe ratification of OMAR himself. OMAR, who had therefore to be sent for,\narrived some six months afterwards, and the delay caused the actual\ndelivering up of the city to take place early in the autumn of A.D.\n637.(80)\n\nThe year A.D. 636\u20107 is therefore the accepted date of the passing over of\nJerusalem from the Romans to the Turks.\n\nOMAR seems to have stayed in the city only about ten days, during which he\nmust have given his instructions for the erection of the Mosque on the\nsite of the Temple. This Mosque, therefore, stands as the sign and the\nsymbol of the treading down of Jerusalem, and while it remains, those\ntimes of treading down cannot be considered as fulfilled.\n\nHow steady was Israel\u2019s decadence from Nebuchadnezzar to OMAR! Nothing\nwould exceed that darkest moment in Israel\u2019s history, when Israel was well\nnigh obliterated in the mighty struggles of her enemies who fought over\nher inheritance. Thus OMAR becomes the great central point of the 2,520\nyears, whether reckoned as _Lunar_, _Zodiacal_, or _Solar_, dividing them\nequally into two portions of 1,260 years.(81)\n\nHaving thus fixed the central date, which already points forward to the\nend, let us go back and find the starting point, that we may the better\nunderstand the end.\n\nWhen Daniel was explaining to Nebuchadnezzar his mysterious dream, he\nsaid, \u201cThou art this head of gold\u201d! (Dan. ii. 38). This moment is\npopularly, but erroneously, supposed to mark the commencement of the\nBabylonian kingdom\u2014the first of these four great Gentile powers.\n\nBut Daniel spoke of what ALREADY existed, and was _explaining the then_\ncondition of things. He said, \u201cGod _hath_ given thee a kingdom, power, and\nstrength, and glory\u201d (Dan. ii. 37). The kingdom of Babylon had already\nbeen in existence for more than thirty years, for its king had destroyed\nJerusalem and burnt the Temple with fire, and brought away many captives,\namongst whom was Daniel and his companions. The opening words of the book\nmake this very clear.\n\nThe monumental history of Babylon, as now dug up, shows that before this\nit had been sometimes tributary to, and sometimes almost independent of,\nAssyria. In A.M. 3352, after a severe struggle with Assurbanipal, the\nAssyrian king, Babylon was once more subdued, and its king setting fire to\nhis palace perished in the flames. After that there was peace for twenty\u2010\ntwo years, during which time Kandalanu governed Babylon in succession to\nSumas\u2010sum\u2010ukin, a son of Assurbanipal.\n\nIn A.M. 3375 (_i.e._ B.C. 627),(82) another revolt broke out, and the\nAssyrian king sent a general of great ability to quell it. His name was\nNabu\u2010pal\u2010user (which means _Nebo protects his son_). He put down the\nrebellion with so much skill that Assurbanipal made him governor of\nBabylon. He shortly afterwards, in A.M. 3376, himself rebelled, and made\nhimself King of Babylon. Associating with him his son Nebuchadnezzar, they\ncommenced a campaign against Assurbanipal, which ended in the fall of\nNineveh and the complete subjugation of Assyria. The kingdom of Babylon,\nthus commencing in B.C. 625,(83) became the first great Gentile kingdom as\nforetold in Daniel.\n\nThere is practically no question, now, as to this date.\n\nThe actual _duration_ of the three kingdoms that followed\u2014Babylon, Medo\u2010\nPersia, and Greece, may not perhaps be so accurately determined. Their\ntotal duration is known, because it is fixed by a known date at the other\nend, but it might introduce controversial matter if we attempted to assign\nto them their exact relative duration. Probably they were,\nroughly:\u2014Babylon about 90 years; Medo\u2010Persia about 200 years; Greece about\n304 years.\n\nWe believe these to be fairly proportionate,(84) but whether they are or\nnot, their total amount must have been 594 years, because the undisputed\ndate of the battle of ACTIUM by which Augustus became the head of the\nRoman Empire, was September B.C. 31. From this date Jerusalem passed\npermanently under the power of Rome until the Mahommedan conquest in A.D.\n636\u20107.\n\nWe have, therefore, _three fixed dates_, and these decide for us the\n_duration_ of the intervening periods; dividing them into the two great\nEclipse Cycles of 594 years and 666 years!\n\n\n                     _Jerusalem under the Gentiles._\n\n    Babylon (the 1st Kingdom) commenced B.C. 625.\n\n    Battle of Actium, ending the possession of the 3rd Kingdom, B.C.\n    31.\n\n    _Duration_ of the three Kingdoms, Babylon, Medo\u2010Persia, and\n    Greece, together (1st Eclipse Cycle), 594 years.\n\n    Rome (the 4th Kingdom) became the possessor of Jerusalem, B.C. 31.\n\n    Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem, ending the possession of Rome,\n    A.D. 636.\n\n    _Duration_ of Rome\u2019s possession of Jerusalem (2nd Eclipse Cycle),\n    666(85) years.\n\n    FIRST HALF OF \u201cTHE TIMES OF THE GENTILES\u201d, 1260 years.\n\n    Date of Mahommedan conquest of Jerusalem, A.D. 636\u20107.\n\n    SECOND HALF OF \u201cTHE TIMES OF THE GENTILES\u201d and _Duration_ of\n    Mahommedan possession of Jerusalem, A.D. 1260, and 1260 years.\n\n    End and \u201cfulness\u201d of \u201cthe times of the Gentiles\u201d, A.D. 1896\u20107, and\n    2520 years.\n\n\nFrom this it appears that 1896\u20107 A.D. would mark the fulfilment, and\ncomplete the duration, of \u201ctimes of the Gentiles.\u201d\n\nThe above reckoning has the following advantages over all previous\nhistoricist interpretations:\u2014\n\n1. _Controverted_ dates are excluded.\n\n2. The _whole_ period of 2520 years is dealt with, instead of only the\nlatter half (1260), as is usually the case.\n\n3. It confines these \u201ctimes\u201d to the one place where the Lord Himself put\nthem, _viz._, \u201cJERUSALEM.\u201d He said, \u201cJerusalem shall be trodden down of\nthe Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.\u201d\n\nThese \u201ctimes,\u201d therefore, are confined to Jerusalem. This \u201ctreading down\u201d\nis confined to Jerusalem. It is not the city of Rome that is to be trodden\ndown for 1260 years. Why, then, should these \u201ctimes\u201d be separated from\nwhat is characteristic of their _duration_, and applied to Rome, papal or\nimperial? Why should historicists search for some act of emperors or popes\nin the early part of the seventh century in order to add it to 1260, so as\nto find some terminal date in or near our own times!(86)\n\nWe claim that the Lord Himself has joined these \u201ctimes of the Gentiles\u201d\nwith the city of \u201cJerusalem,\u201d and we say, \u201cWhat, therefore, God hath\njoined together, let not man put asunder\u201d (Matt. xix. 6).\n\nWhen Jesus spoke of this _treading down_, it looks as though it were then\nstill future; for He said, \u201cJerusalem _shall be_ trodden down,\u201d etc., The\noccupation of Jerusalem by Babylon, Medo\u2010Persia, Greece, and Rome, was for\npurposes of _government_ rather than for a wanton treading down.\nGovernment on the earth was committed unto them. But when Jerusalem passed\nfrom the government of the Roman Empire into the hands of the Turks, it\ncould then be said, in a very special sense, to be \u201ctrodden down.\u201d For of\nany government worthy of the name there has been none; and of desolation\nand desecration the city has been full. Under the feeble rule of the\nTurks, all the Gentiles seem to have combined in laying waste the holy\ncity.\n\nThough Jews are returning thither in ever\u2010increasing numbers, they are\nonly strangers there. They have as yet no independent position, nor can\nthey make any treaties. But when these \u201ctimes\u201d shall end, it means that\nthey will have a position of sufficient independence to be able to make a\ntreaty or league with the coming Prince (Dan. ix. 27); and then the course\nof events will bring on another treading down of 1260 literal \u201cdays\u201d which\nwill thus have had a fore\u2010shadowing fulfilment in years! This is written\nin Rev. xi. 2. And to save us from any misunderstanding, the time is\ngiven, not in days, but in \u201c_months_.\u201d\n\nThe angel, after directing John to measure the Temple of God and the\naltar, adds, \u201cbut the court which is without the Temple leave out, and\nmeasure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall\nthey tread under foot forty and two months.\u201d\n\nThis refers to a future treading down, which will be limited to the brief\nperiod of \u201cforty two\u201d literal \u201cmonths,\u201d during the time of the coming\nPrince; and \u201cin the midst\u201d of the last week, when he shall break His\ncovenant with the Jews,(87) set up the \u201cabomination of desolation\u201d (Dan\nix. 27; which is still future in Matt. xxiv. 15), and \u201ctread down the holy\ncity.\u201d\n\nWe now desire to specially emphasize the fact that all these dates, and\ntheir termination in a rapidly approaching fulfilment, refer ONLY TO\nJERUSALEM, AND THE GENTILES, AND THE JEWS! They refer only to the end of\nthe Gentile possession of Jerusalem, and to the settlement of the Jews in\ntheir own city and land.\n\nThese \u201ctimes and seasons\u201d have nothing whatever to do with \u201cthe Church of\nGod\u201d (1 Thess. v. 1). The mystical Body of Christ, whenever its members\nare complete, \u201cwill be taken up to meet the Lord\u2014the Head of the Body\u2014in\nthe air, so to be ever with the Lord\u201d (1 Thess. iv. 15\u201017). This glorious\nevent has nothing to do with any earthly sign or circumstance, so far as\nthe members of this mystical Body are concerned.\n\nTherefore we are not dealing here with the coming of the Lord; either for\nHis saints, or with them. We are not referring to what is commonly and\nerroneously called \u201cthe end of the world.\u201d We are merely pointing out that\nthe end of Gentile dominion _over Jerusalem_ is drawing near! And we\ncannot close our eyes to the marvellous manner in which the veil is being\nremoved from Jewish hearts: to the change which has come over the Jewish\nnation in its attitude towards Christ and Christianity, chiefly, under\nGod, through the unparalleled circulation of more than a quarter of a\nmillion copies of a new translation of the New Testament into Hebrew, by\nthe late Isaac Salkinson, published by the Trinitarian Bible Society, and\nfreely distributed by the Mildmay Mission to the Jews: to the Palestine\nliterature which has sprung up amongst the Jews in recent years: to the\npersecutions in various countries which are stirring their nest, and\nsetting the nation in motion: to the organized emigration to Argentina,\nwhich its promoters avowedly speak of as \u201ca nursery ground for Palestine\u201d\n(_Daily Graphic_, March 10th, 1892): to the railways completed and in\ncourse of construction in the Holy Land: to the numerous Societies and\ntheir branches which have permeated the whole nation, which, while having\nvarious names, have only one object\u2014\u201cthe colonisation of Palestine.\u201d\n\nWhen we put these events side by side with the teaching of the heavens as\nto the \u201ccycles\u201d or appointed times, we are merely showing how wonderfully\nthey agree with what is written in the Book, and witnessed to by great and\nuncontested historic dates.\n\nNor are we absolutely naming a definite year or day even for these\nPalestine events. After all, they can be only approximate, for man has so\nmisused every gift that God has ever given him, that even with such\nwondrous heavenly time\u2010keepers he cannot really tell you what year it is!\nAnd, besides this loss of reckoning, there is confusion as to the\ncommencement of the A.D. era, which makes absolute accuracy between the\nA.M., B.C., and A.D. dates impossible.\n\nAdded to this, there is another point to be borne in mind, _viz._, that\nwhen the \u201ctimes of the Gentiles\u201d shall end, Jewish independence need _not\nbe either immediate or complete_!\n\nFor when Nebuchadnezzar began his kingdom of Babylon in A.M. 3376 (B.C.\n625), the Jews, though in their land and city, were not independent.\nNebuchadnezzar went to and fro to Jerusalem, and put down and set up whom\nhe would; and it was not till some thirty years afterwards that he\ndestroyed the City and Temple and made the people captives.\n\nSo, likewise, in the time of the end, there may be an _epanodos_. There\nmay be a similar period of possession without independence, a quasi\u2010\nindependence guaranteed by the Great Powers; and, for ought we know, it\nmay be that, in order to gain _complete_ independence, they may ultimately\nmake that fatal league with the coming Prince.\n\nSo that while we name the dates 1896\u20107 as being significant, we are not\n\u201cfixing dates\u201d in the ordinary sense of the term, but merely pointing out\nsome of \u201cthe signs of the times,\u201d concerning which we ought not to be\nignorant.\n\nThe _true interpretation_ will in any case still remain, and will surely\nbe literally fulfilled in its own time. The Word of God will be\nvindicated; its prophetic truth will be verified; God Himself will be\nglorified; and His people saved with an everlasting salvation.\n\nMeanwhile the members of His Body will \u201cwait for His Son from heaven, whom\nHe raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to\ncome\u201d (1 Thess. i. 10). They will live \u201clooking for that blessed hope, and\nthe glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who\ngave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify\nunto Himself a peculiar people (R.V., a people for His own possession)\nzealous of good works\u201d (Titus ii. 13, 14). They will \u201clook for the\nSaviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d from heaven, believing that there is no\nhope either for \u201cthe Jew, the Gentile, or the Church of God,\u201d or for a\ngroaning creation, until \u201cthe times of refreshing shall come from the\npresence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, whom the heaven must\nreceive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath\nspoken by the mouth of ALL HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN\u201d (Acts\niii. 19\u201021).\n\n\n    \u201cThe world is sick, and yet not unto death;\n      There is for it a day of health in store;\n    From lips of love there comes the healing breath,\u2014\n      The breath of Him who all its sickness bore,\n      And bids it rise to strength and beauty evermore.\n\n    Evil still reigns; and deep within we feel\n      The fever, and the palsy, and the pain\n    Of life\u2019s perpetual heartaches, that reveal\n      The rooted poison, which, from heart and brain,\n      We labour to extract, but labour all in vain.\n\n    Our skill avails not; ages come and go,\n      Yet bring with them no respite and no cure;\n    The hidden wound, the sigh of pent\u2010up woe,\n      The sting we smother, but must still endure,\n      The worthless remedies which no relief procure,\u2014\n\n    All these cry out for something more divine,\n      Which the worst woes of earth may not withstand;\n    Medicine that cannot fail\u2014the oil and wine,\n      The balm and myrrh, growth of no earthly land,\n      And the all\u2010skilful touch of the great Healer\u2019s hand.\n\n    Man needs a prophet: Heavenly Prophet, speak,\n      And teach him what he is too proud to hear.\n    Man needs a priest: True Priest, Thy silence break,\n      And speak the words of pardon in his ear.\n      Man needs a king: O King, at length in peace appear.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX. NOTE ON THE SIGN LIBRA.\n\n\nOn page 47 we called attention to the point that in all probability the\nSign LIBRA was a very ancient corruption.\n\nThe ancient Akkadian name for the _seventh_ month, which was the month\nwhen the sun was in the Sign now called LIBRA, was _Tul\u2010ku_, which means\n_the sacred mound_, or _altar_. The Akkadian name for this Sign was _Bir_,\nwhich means _the Light_, hence, the Lamp with its light, or the Altar with\nits fire.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n         Fig. 1\u2014The Circular Altar, in the Sign now called Libra.\n\n\nIts most ancient form was a circular altar.(88) In Figure 1 we have\nreproduced this,(89) and it will be at once seen that we have the original\nof the disc now preserved in the _two circular scales_ which form the Sign\nof LIBRA.\n\nThe next stage of the corruption is shown in the Akkadian name of\n_Scorpio_ (the Scorpion)\u2014the Sign immediately to the left of the Altar. It\nwas called _Gir\u2010tab_, which means _the Seizer and Stinger_, and the next\nFigure (2), taken from an Euphratean boundary stone,(90) shows the two\nSigns combined, for the Scorpion is stretching out its claws in order to\n_seize_ the _Lamp_ or _Altar_.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n  Fig. 2\u2014The Scorpion and the Lamp. (From a Euphratean Boundary Stone.)\n\n\nThus the meaning of its name is exemplified. It is called the _Seizer and\nStinger_. And just as in the constellation above it, the Serpent is\nstruggling with the man, while at the same time it is stretching out its\nneck to seize the crown,(91) so here the Scorpion, while trying to _sting_\nthe same man in the heel, is stretching out its claws to _seize_ the\naltar.\n\nA seal on a contract, nearly 700 B.C., shows this Circular Altar actually\nin the grasp of the Scorpion.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\n           Fig. 3\u2014Scorpion and Lamp. (From an Euphratean Seal.)\n\n\nFigure 3 is a picture of this Euphratean Seal, preserved on a contract\nmade on the 8th day of the month _Tisri_, _i.e._, this same _seventh_\nmonth!(92)\n\nThis then is the next stage. But Mr. Robert Brown, junr., observes, \u201cThe\n_Circle_ or other representation of an _Altar_ not unnaturally disappeared\nas the use of the Sign advanced westward; whether by sea, or across Asia\nMinor, or both, and the _Chelai_ alone remained when the shores of the\n\u00c6gean were reached.\u201d(93)\n\nThis is quite true, for the Greek name for the Sign was _Chelai_, which\nmeans simply _the Claws_. And thus the Scorpion monopolised two Signs; its\nbody one, and its claws the other. This led to the mistake of SERVIUS, the\nintelligent commentator on VIRGIL,(94) that \u201cthe Chaldean Zodiac consisted\nof but eleven constellations.\u201d We now know that there were twelve Signs,\nand the mistake is thus explained.\n\n                              [Illustration]\n\nFig. 4\u2014The Constellation of \"the Claws.\" Formerly the Circular Altar, now\n                                  Libra.\n\n\nMr. Brown quotes ACHILLES TATIUS, about 475 A.D., in a Fragment on the\n_Phainomena_, who says, \u03c4\u1f70\u03c2 \u03c7\u03b7\u03bb\u1f70\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f70\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03cc\u03c5\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 \u1f51\u03c0 \u1f08\u03b9\u03b3\u03c5\u03c0\u03c4\u03af\u03c9\u03bd \u0396\u03c5\u03b3\u1f78\u03bd.(95)\n\nARATUS says that \u201csome few stars of the _Claws_ are in the (Celestial)\nEquator.\u201d And PTOLEMY describes the stars, now reckoned in LIBRA, as being\nin what he calls \u201cThe Constellation of the Claws.\u201d We have reproduced them\nso that his description of them may be readily traced. He speaks of\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cThe bright one of those at the end of the southern _Claw_.\u201d (It\n    is named _Zuben el Genubi_ and now marked \u03b1).\n\n    \u201cThe one more northerly than it, and dimmer\u201d (now marked \u03bc).\n\n    \u201cThe bright one of those at the end of the northern _Claw_\u201d (named\n    _Zuben el Chemali_, and now marked \u03b2).\n\n    \u201cThe one in front of it and dim\u201d (\u03b4).\n\n    \u201cThe one in the middle of the southern _Claw_\u201d (1 i).\n\n    \u201cThe one in the middle of the northern _Claw_\u201d (now marked \u03b3).\n\n    \u201cThe one behind it in the same _Claw_\u201d (\u03b7).\n\n    \u201cThe foremost of the three more northerly than the northern\n    _Claws_\u201d (1 f).\n\n    \u201cThe southern one of the two hindmost\u201d (\u03b5).\n\n    \u201cThe hindmost of the three between the _Claws_\u201d (one of the stars\n    now marked \u03ba or \u03bb).\n\n    \u201cThe northern of the two remaining and preceding ones\u201d (\u03b6).\n\n    \u201cThe southern one of them\u201d (n).\n\n\nThis is how the stars formerly in the Sign of the (Circular) ALTAR, came\nto be reckoned in _the Claws_ of the Scorpion; and this is how the\ncircular scales of LIBRA came to be substituted for the ancient _Circular_\nALTAR.\n\nThis corruption of the primitive teaching of the ALTAR, shows how the\nenemy attempted to _seize_ on the Atonement, bring in \u201cthe way of Cain,\u201d\nand substitute _human merit_ for the atoning sacrifice of Christ; thus\nperverting the truth at its fountain head. Just as in Gen. iii. we have\nthe woman\u2019s promised Seed in conflict with the Enemy, so in Gen. iv. we\nsee the Scorpion\u2019s claws\u2014\u201cthe way of Cain\u201d in conflict with \u201cthe way of\nGod.\u201d\n\nThere can be but little doubt, therefore, that the first Sign of the\nZodiac was VIRGO, the second was the ALTAR, and the third was the\nSCORPION. The lesson which they teach is clear: The Seed of the woman\n(VIRGO), who was to come as a child, should be a sacrifice (the ALTAR) for\nthe sins of His people; endure a great conflict with the enemy (SCORPIO),\nin which He should be wounded in the heel; but should in the end crush and\ntread the enemy under foot.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n    1 For what is meant by \u201cStructure,\u201d see _A Key to the Psalms_, by the\n      late Rev. Thos. Boys, edited by the present author, 7, St. Paul\u2019s\n      Churchyard. Price Five shillings.\n\n    2 _Viz._, in _A_ (verses 7, 8),\u2014\n\n      \u201cConverting,\u201d from \u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05bc\u05d1, _to return_, as the sun in the heavens.\n\n      \u201cTestimony,\u201d from \u05e2\u05d5\u05bc\u05d3, _to repeat_, hence, _a witness_, spoken of\n      the sun in Ps. lxxxix. 37.\n\n      \u201cSure,\u201d \u05d0\u05b8\u05de\u05b7\u05df, _faithful_, as the sun. (Ps. lxxxix. 37.)\n\n      \u201cEnlightening,\u201d from \u05d0\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8, _to give light_, as the sun. (Gen. i. 15,\n      17, 18; Isa. lx. 19; Ezek. xxxii. 7.)\n\n      In _B_ (verses 11, 12, 13),\u2014\n\n      \u201cWarned,\u201d from \u05d6\u05b8\u05d4\u05b7\u05e8, _to make light_, hence, _to teach_,\n      _admonish_.\n\n      \u201cKeeping,\u201d from \u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05de\u05b7\u05e8, _to keep_, _observe_, as the heavens. (Ps.\n      cxxx. 6; Isa. xxi. 11.) Or as the heavenly bodies _observe_ God\u2019s\n      ordinances.\n\n      \u201cErrors,\u201d from \u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e0\u05b7\u05d4, _to wander_, as the planets.\n\n      \u201cKeep back,\u201d \u05d7\u05b8\u05e9\u05b7\u05c2\u05da\u05b0, _to hold back_, _restrain_.\n\n      \u201cHave dominion over,\u201d from \u05de\u05b8\u05e9\u05b7\u05c1\u05dc, _to rule_. Spoken of the sun and\n      moon in Gen. i. 18. \u201cThe sun to rule the day,\u201d &c. (Ps. cxxxvi. 8,\n      9.)\n\n    3 The other half of the Psalm is just as perfectly arranged. For\n      example, there are six words used (verses 7\u20109) to describe the\n      fulness of the Word of God, and they are thus placed, alternately:\u2014\n\n      F | _Two_ feminine singulars. (Law and Testimony.)\n      G | _One_ masculine plural. (Statutes.)\n      _F_ | _Two_ feminine singulars. (Commandment and Fear.)\n      _G_ | _One_ masculine plural. (Judgments.)\n\n    4 From \u05e1\u05b8\u05e4\u05b9\u05e8, _to cut into_, or _grave_, hence, _to write_. It has the\n      two senses of our English verb _tell_, which means _to count_, and\n      also _to narrate_. The first occurrence is Gen. xv. 5, \u201c_Tell_\n      (\u05e1\u05b0\u05e4\u05b9\u05e8) the stars, if thou be able to _number_ (\u05dc\u05e1\u05b5\u05e4\u05b9\u05bc\u05e8) them.\u201d Gen.\n      xxiv. 66, \u201cThe servant _told_ Isaac all things that he had done.\u201d\n      Ps. lxxi. 15, \u201cMy mouth shall _show forth_ (\u05d9\u05b0\u05e1\u05b7\u05e4\u05b5\u05bc\u05e8, _tell of_,\n      R.V.) thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know\n      not the _numbers_ (\u05e1\u05b0\u05e4\u05b9\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea, _i.e._, _the accounts_) of them,\u201d\n      _i.e._, all the particulars.\n\n    5 From \u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05d1\u05b7\u05d3, _to be heavy, weight_, the context determining whether\n      the weight spoken of is advantageous or not. The first occurrence is\n      Gen. xii. 10, \u201cThe famine was _grievous_ (\u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05d1\u05b5\u05d3) in the land.\u201d The\n      next, xiii. 2, \u201cAbram was very _rich_ (\u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05d1\u05b5\u05d3).\u201d It is often applied\n      to persons who are _of weight_ and _importance_, hence, glorious and\n      honourable. It is used of the _glory_ of the Lord, and of God\n      Himself, as we use Majesty of a person. See Isa. iii. 8; iv. 2; xi.\n      10; xliii. 20; Hag. ii. 8; Ex. xvi. 7; xxiv. 17; 1 Sam. iv. 21; Pss.\n      xxvi. 8 (_honour_); lxiii. 3.\n\n    6 From \u05e0\u05b8\u05d2\u05b7\u05d3, _to set before_, _to set forth_, _to shew_. First\n      occurrence, Gen. iii. 11, \u201cWho _told_ thee that thou wast naked.\u201d\n      Ps. xcvii. 6, \u201cThe heavens _declare_ His righteousness\u201d; cxi. 6,\n      \u201c_He hath shewed_ his people the power of his works.\u201d\n\n    7 This is the English idiom for the Hebrew \u201cDay to day.\u201d The \u05dc is used\n      in its sense of _adding_ or superadding to, as in Isa. xxviii. 10,\n      \u05e6\u05b7\u05d5 \u05dc\u05b8\u05e6\u05b8\u05d5, \u201cprecept to precept;\u201d _i.e._, precept after precept, line\n      after line. Gen. xlvi. 26, \u201cAll the souls that came with Jacob\u201d\n      (\u05dc\u05b0\u05d9\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05e7\u05b9\u05d1, to Jacob; _i.e._, in addition to Jacob. So here, \u201cDay to\n      day;\u201d _i.e._, Day in addition to day, or, as we say, Day after day).\n\n    8 From \u05e0\u05b8\u05d1\u05b7\u05e2, _to tell forth_, akin to \u05e0\u05b8\u05d1\u05b7\u05d0, _to prophesy_, from root\n      _to pour forth_. Lit., here, poureth forth discourse. Ps. cxlv. 9,\n      \u201cabundantly utter.\u201d\n\n    9 Their line, \u05e7\u05b8\u05d5, _i.e._, their measuring line. By the figure of\n      metonymy the _line_ which measures is put for the portion or\n      heritage which is measured, as in many other places. See Ps. xvi. 6,\n      \u201cThe lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a\n      goodly heritage.\u201d (See also Ps. lxxviii. 55, &c.) Here, it means\n      that \u201cTheir measuring line has gone forth unto all the earth\n      (\u05d0\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5)\u201d; _i.e._, All the earth inherits this their testimony\n      (_i.e._, has this testimony for its heritage), and to the ends of\n      the world (\u05ea\u05b5\u05d1\u05b5\u05dc, _the inhabited world_) their instruction has gone\n      forth. With this agrees, in sense, the LXX. here, and Rom. x. 16,\n      which each has \u03c6\u03b8\u03cc\u03b3\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2, _a sound_, or _voice_; _i.e._, a sound in\n      relation to the hearer, rather than to that which causes it. The\n      meaning of the passage is, \u201cAll the earth has their _sound_ or\n      testimony as its heritage, and the ends of the world hear their\n      words.\u201d Symmachus has \u1f26\u03c7\u03bf\u03c2, _a sound_, or _report_.\n\n   10 \u05d7\u05b5\u05de\u05b8\u05d4 means _that which is hot_, and is a poetical name of the sun\n      itself.\n\n   11 Job is thought by some to be the Jobab mentioned in Gen. x. 29, the\n      third in descent from Eber.\n\n   12 Note the structure of this verse:\u2014\n\n      A | The seven stars,\n      B | Orion,\n      _A_ | The twelve signs,\n      _B_ | Arcturus.\n\n   13 General Chesney allowed the late Dean Goode to copy the passage,\n      among other matters, from his private MS. The Dean quotes it in his\n      _Warburtonian Lectures_ (2nd Ed., Note I. to Sermon IV., p. 170\u20101.)\n\n   14 Fragments of these coloured glazed bricks are to be seen in the\n      British Museum.\n\n   15 _Babylonian Life and History_, p. 36.\n\n   16 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03b3\u03b1\u03c1 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b3\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c3\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd.\n\n   17 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03b3\u03b1\u03c1 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b3\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c3\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd.\n\n   18 Besides this _monthly_ difference, there is an _annual_ difference;\n      for at the end of twelve months the sun does not come back to\n      exactly the same point in the sign which commenced the year, but is\n      a little behind it. But this difference, though it occurs every\n      year, is so small that it will take 25,579 years for the sun to\n      complete this vast cycle, which is called _The precession of the\n      Equinoxes_; _i.e._, about one degree in every 71 years. If the sun\n      came back to the precise point at which it began the year, each\n      _sign_ would correspond, always and regularly, exactly with a\n      particular _month_; but, owing to this constant regression, the sun\n      (while it goes through the whole twelve signs every year) commences\n      the year in one sign for only about 2,131 years. In point of fact,\n      since the Creation the commencement of the year has changed to the\n      extent of nearly three of the signs. When Virgil sings\u2014\n\n      \u201c_The White Bull with golden horns opens the year_,\u201d\n\n      he does not record what took place in his own day. This is another\n      proof of the antiquity of these signs.\n\n      The _Ecliptic_, or path of the sun, if it could be viewed from\n      immediately beneath the Polar Star, would form a complete and\n      perfect circle, would be concentric with the _Equator_, and all the\n      stars and the sun would appear to move in this circle, never rising\n      or setting. To a person north or south of the Equator the stars\n      therefore rise and set obliquely; while to a person on the Equator\n      they rise and set perpendicularly, each star being twelve hours\n      above and twelve below the horizon.\n\n      The points where the two circles (the _Ecliptic_ and the _Equator_)\n      intersect each other are called the _Equinoctial points_. It is the\n      movement of these points (which are now moving from Aries to Pisces)\n      which gives rise to the term, \u201c_the precession of the Equinoxes_.\u201d\n\n   19 It is exactly the same with the books of the Bible. Their order and\n      their names, _as we have them_ in the English Bible, are those which\n      _man_ has given them, copied from the Septuagint and Vulgate, and in\n      many cases are not the Divine names according to the Hebrew Canon.\n\n   20 Here, the fact of His humiliation, together with this long period of\n      His rejection, is leaped over, and the prophecy passes on at\n      once\u2014over at least a period of 1893 years\u2014to this \u201cglory which\n      should follow.\u201d\n\n   21 \u03b5, _Al Mureddin_.\n\n   22 \u03b2, _Zavijavah_.\n\n   23 The star now marked \u03b4.\n\n   24 The star \u03b6.\n\n   25 The star \u03b1, _Al Zimach_.\n\n   26 The stars are known by Greek letters and sometimes by numbers, &c.\n      Alpha (\u03b1) denotes a star of the _first_ magnitude; Beta (\u03b2), the\n      second, and so on. This plan was originated by Bayer in his\n      _Uranometria_, 1603. The star _Alpha_, as seen in the New Great\n      Equatorial Telescope recently set up at Greenwich, is now discovered\n      to be really a _double_ star, though it had hitherto always appeared\n      to be _one_.\n\n   27 Jer. xxxiii. 15 being only a repetition of Jer. xxiii. 5.\n\n   28 From \u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05de\u05b7\u05d4 which occurs only in Ps. lxiii. 1, \u201cmy flesh _longeth_\n      for thee.\u201d It is akin to \u05d7\u05b8\u05de\u05b7\u05d3, _to desire_. Ps. xix. 10; Is. liii.\n      2; Hag. ii. 7; etc.\n\n   29 A Latin translation of his work is in the British Museum Library. He\n      says the Persians understood these signs, but that the Indians\n      perverted them with inventions.\n\n   30 The constellations are called _Decans_. The word means _a part_, and\n      is used of the three parts into which each sign is divided, each of\n      which is occupied by a constellation.\n\n   31 It appears that MM. Saulnier, fils, and Lelorrain arrived while\n      Signor Bossi was engaged in copying it, but concealed their design\n      to remove it. The King of France paid \u00a36,250 sterling for it. It has\n      since been copied, and lithographs have been published.\n\n   32 Act IV., Scene 3.\n\n   33 _I.e._, _come forth_ (as in the R.V.). _At_, as the preposition \u05de is\n      rendered in Gen. iii. 24. \u201cThere shall come forth a star at or over\n      the inheritance or possessions of Jacob,\u201d thus indicating the\n      locality which would be on the _meridian_ of this star.\n\n   34 It ought also to be noted that in the preceding year there were\n      three conjunctions of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, at the end of\n      May and October, and at the beginning of December. Kepler\n      (1571\u20101631) was the first to point this out, and his calculations\n      have been confirmed by the highest authorities. These conjunctions\n      occurred in the sign of PISCES: and this sign, according to all the\n      ancient Jewish authorities (Josephus, Abarbanel, Eliezer, and\n      others), has special reference to _Israel_. The conjunction of\n      Jupiter and Saturn, they hold, always marked the occurrence of some\n      event _favourable to Israel_; while Kepler, calculating backwards,\n      found that this astronomical phenomenon always coincided with some\n      great historical crisis, _viz._: the Revelation to Adam, the birth\n      of Enoch, the Revelation to Noah, the birth of Moses, the birth of\n      Cyrus, the birth of Christ, the birth of Charlemagne, and the birth\n      of Luther.\n\n   35 The ancient name could not have been _Bo\u00f6tes_! though it is derived\n      from, and may be a reminiscence of the Hebrew.\n\n   36 ARATUS calls him _Arctophylax_, _i.e._, the guardian of Arctos, the\n      flock of the greater fold, called to\u2010day the Great Bear:\u2014\n\n      \u201cBehind, and seeming to urge on the Bear,\n      Arctophylax, on earth Bo\u00f6tes named,\n      Sheds o\u2019er the Arctic car his silver light.\u201d\n\n      By some moderns he is mistakenly called _The Waggoner_. Hence the\n      allusion of Thompson:\u2014\n\n      \u201cWide o\u2019er the spacious regions of the North,\n      Bo\u00f6tes urges on his tardy wain.\u201d\n\n      This perversion scarcely does justice even to human common sense, as\n      waggoners do not use a sickle for a whip!\n\n   37 The constellation is a very brilliant one, having 54 stars, _viz._,\n      one of the 1st magnitude, six of the 3rd, eleven of the 4th, etc.\n\n      The constellation of the _Canes Venatici_ (_the Greyhounds_),\n      _i.e._, the two dogs (Asterion and Chara), which Bo\u00f6tes holds by a\n      leash, is quite a modern invention, being added by Hevelius\n      (1611\u20101687). The bright star of the 3rd magnitude in the neck of\n      Chara, was named \u201c_Cor Caroli_\u201d (_the heart of Charles_) by Sir\n      Charles Scarborough, physician to Charles II., in honour of Charles\n      I., in 1649. This is a good example of the almost infinite distance\n      between the ancient and modern names. The former are full of\n      mysterious significance and grandeur, while the latter are puerile\n      in the extreme, almost approaching to the comic! _e.g._, the Air\n      Pump, the Painter\u2019s Easel, the Telescope, the Triangle, the Fly, the\n      Microscope, the Indian, the Fox and Goose, the Balloon, the Toucan\n      (or American Goose), the Compasses, Charles\u2019s Oak, the Cat, the\n      Clock, the Unicorn, &c. The vast difference can be at once seen\n      between those designed by the ancients and those added by\n      astronomers in more recent times.\n\n      These new constellations were added, 22 by Hevelius (1611\u20101687); and\n      15 by Halley (1656\u20101742). They were formed for the purpose of\n      embracing those stars which were not included in the ancient\n      constellations. This shows that the old constellations were not\n      designed, like the modern ones, merely for the sake of enabling\n      astronomers to identify the positions of particular stars. In this\n      case _all_ the stars would have been included. _The object was\n      exactly the opposite_! Instead of the pictures being designed to\n      serve to identify the stars, only certain stars were used for the\n      purpose of helping _to identify the pictures_!\n\n      This is another important proof of the truth of our whole argument.\n\n   38 See quotation from Dr. Budge, on page 12.\n\n   39 And certainly the symbol by which it is still known \u264e is more like\n      the top of an altar (See _Ara_, Plate XIV.) than a pair of balances,\n      to which we can trace no resemblance whatever. See Note in the\n      Appendix.\n\n   40 _Antares_ seems also to have been known as _Lesath_.\n\n   41 Luke xxii. 53: comp. Col. i. 13 and Eph. vi. 12.\n\n   42 In 1604 a new star appeared in the eastern foot of Ophiuchus, but\n      disappeared again in 1605.\n\n   43 There is an ancient Greek fable which calls Ophiuchus \u00c6sculapius,\n      the son of Apollo. Having restored Hippolytus to life, he was\n      everywhere worshipped as the god of health, and hence the serpent\n      entwined around him is, to this day, the symbol of the medical art!\n      This, however, is, doubtless, another perversion of the primitive\n      truth that the Coming One in overcoming the serpent, should become\n      the great healer of all the sorrows of the world, and cause all its\n      groanings to cease.\n\n   44 _Cerberus_, or the serpent with three heads, was placed by Hevelius\n      (1611\u20101687) by the side of Hercules. Bayer had previously placed the\n      apple branch in his hand. This was symbolical of the golden apples\n      of _Hesperides_, which he obtained by killing the three\u2010headed\n      _hydra_, by whom they were guarded. In our picture these are\n      combined, and a bow and quiver added from other ancient authorities.\n\n   45 In our picture we have combined the two great thoughts, taking the\n      _harp_ from a picture dug up at Herculaneum, and adding an eagle\n      soaring up with it.\n\n   46 This is the first time that the word \u201cAlleluia\u201d occurs in the New\n      Testament, and it is praise for judgment executed.\n\n      Where is its first occurrence in the Old Testament? In Ps. civ. 35,\n      where we have the very same solemn and significant connection:\u2014\n\n      \u201cLet the sinners be consumed out of the earth,\n      And let the wicked be no more.\n      Bless thou the LORD, O my soul,\n      HALLELUJAH (Praise ye the LORD).\u201d\n\n   47 There is a fish tail here. The third Decan of CAPRICORNUS is a fish\n      (_Delphinus_). There is again a fish (_Piscis Australis_) in the\n      next sign (AQUARIUS), and then the following sign is PISCES, or the\n      Fishes. So that the Redeemed Multitudes are presented throughout\n      this Second Book.\n\n   48 When we come to the last chapter of this book we shall see that the\n      Sun was in the sign of the other sacrificial animal, ARIES, at the\n      very hour of the Crucifixion. And ARIES sets before us the victory\n      of \u201cthe Lamb that was slain.\u201d\n\n   49 The eleventh, because everyone begins to reckon from ARIES, and not\n      as we have done from VIRGO, as shown by the riddle of the Sphinx.\n      See page 20.\n\n   50 And in great contrast with several modern ones near it, _e.g._, the\n      Balloon, the Sculptor\u2019s Apparatus, the Microscope, Euclid\u2019s Square,\n      the Telescope, etc., etc.\n\n   51 How inconsistent when there were three such conjunctions in one\n      year, all in the same sign of PISCES, immediately preceding the\n      birth of the woman\u2019s Seed; and in addition to this the new star\n      which had been foretold. See under _Coma_, Pages 36, 37, 38.\n\n   52 The figure of _Tapeinosis_, which calls our attention to that fact\n      that He was delighted thus to be called.\n\n   53 There are 113 stars in this sign, none of any great importance; only\n      one of the 3rd magnitude, five of the 4th, etc.\n\n   54 \u201cEl Nath\u201d is used by Chaucer as the name of a spring star.\n\n   55 TAURUS then marked the Spring Equinox.\n\n   56 \u201cThy beauty; for it was perfect through My comeliness, which I put\n      upon thee (Jerusalem), saith the LORD\u201d (Ezek. xvi. 14).\n\n   57 Those who interpret the Queen here of the Church as the Bride,\n      interpret the \u201cVirgins\u201d in Matt. xxv. of the Bride also. But how\n      inconsistent! If the \u201cVirgins\u201d be the Church in Matt. xxv., then\n      where is the Bride? If the Queen is the Bride (the Church) in Ps.\n      xlv., then who are the \u201cvirgins her companions\u201d? Both cannot be the\n      correct interpretation. In fact, both are wrong, and hence the\n      _confusion_. The Bride must be interpreted by the Old Testament\n      scriptures, and the Prophecies which belong to Israel must not be\n      robbed and given to the Church. They cannot be thus diverted without\n      bringing confusion into the Scripture, and causing loss to our\n      souls.\n\n   58 See Job xxxix. 14, 15, where it is said, the ostrich \u201cleaveth her\n      eggs in the dust, forgetting that the foot may crush them, or that\n      the wild beast may break them.\u201d\n\n   59 The others have names, but they were given by the Greeks from the\n      names of the seven daughters of _Atlas_ and _Pleione_. The Hyades\n      were their sisters. Together they tell us that the saints will be\n      secure with this mighty Lord when he comes to rule.\n\n   60 The Pleiades and Hyades are sometimes spoken of as constellations,\n      but this is a mistake; they are integral parts of Taurus.\n\n   61 See Jer. xxx. 21; and Matt. xxi. 10.\n\n   62 The star \u03b6 (in the belt) is called _Mintaka_, _dividing_, as a\n      sacrifice. (Lev. viii. 2.)\n\n   63 Note, that\u2014\n\n      In a and _a_, we have the rising of Israel;\n      In b and _b_, the light that is come upon her;\n      In c and _c_, the glory of the LORD; and\n      In d and _d_, the darkness of the world.\n\n   64 It is also reckoned in the horn of Taurus.\n\n   65 The same as in 2 Sam. iv. 1.\n\n   66 Our English \u201cSir\u201d is derived from this word.\n\n   67 _Euphratean Stellar Researches_.\n\n   68 Marg., \u201c_the captives of the just_,\u201d or, as read by _the Vulg._ and\n      _Syr._, \u201c_the captives of the terrible_.\u201d\n\n   69 The Scarab\u00e6us, passing its early existence as a worm of the earth,\n      and thence issuing as a winged denizen of heaven, was held sacred by\n      the Egyptians as an emblem of the resurrection of the body.\n\n   70 The _Ass_ was the emblem of _Typhon_, the king _who smites_ or _is\n      smitten_.\n\n   71 The word is so rendered in Judges v. 16, in A.V.\n\n   72 _Euphratean Stellar Researches_, pp. 8, 9.\n\n   73 The Gr\u00e6co\u2010Judean equivalent of Joshua or Jesus.\n\n   74 Jamieson\u2019s _Scientific Display_, &c., p. 58.\n\n   75 (1) _Gor_, a lion\u2019s whelp. (2) _Ciphir_, a young lion when first\n      hunting for himself. (3) _Sachal_, a mature lion in full strength.\n      (4) _Laish_, a fierce lion. (5) _Labia_, a lioness; and (6) _Arieh_,\n      an adult lion, having paired, in search of his prey (Nah. ii. 12; 2\n      Sam. xvii. 10; Num. xxiii. 24).\n\n   76 The passage consists really of two members, each of which is\n      arranged as an introversion, where the subject of 1 corresponds to\n      7; 2 corresponds to 6; etc.\n\n   77 General Vallancey spells _Saros_ \u05e9\u05c2\u05e2\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9\u05e5, which amounts to 666 by\n      Gematria! _Viz._, \u05e9 = 300 + \u05e2 = 70 + \u05e8 = 200 + \u05d5 = 6 + \u05e5 = 90 = 666.\n\n   78 These facts are kindly supplied by Mr. E. W. Maunder, of the Royal\n      Observatory, Greenwich, who gives another example, as follows:\u2014\n\n      In A.D. 586 there were two solar eclipses: on June 22 (Julian) the\n      old and dying eclipse, and on July 22 (Julian) another (the new\n      one). A _Saros_ (_viz._, 18 years and 11 days) earlier _there was\n      only one_, _viz._ on June 11 (Julian), A.D. 568, there being no\n      eclipse on July 11 of that year.\n\n      The last appearance of this new eclipse, which first appeared on\n      July 22, 586, was on August 28 (Greg.), 1848, so that it had a life\n      history of 70 _Sari_, amounting to 1,262 years 36 days (after the\n      Julian dates have been corrected to correspond to the Gregorian).\n      Thus the eclipse that died, so to speak, on August 28 (Greg.), 1848,\n      first appeared on July 22 (Julian) in A.D. 586. See an important\n      article on Eclipses by Mr. E. W. Maunder in _Knowledge_, for October\n      1893, where other _life\u2010histories_ of eclipses are given, and the\n      whole subject of eclipses clearly explained.\n\n   79 The relations between 595 years and 1,262 years 36 days, are the\n      same as the relations between 594 years and 1,260 years. The\n      difference of the 2 years 36 days is due to the excess of 10.96 days\n      over the 18 completed years in each _Saros._\n\n   80 This is the date which concerns only the _City of Jerusalem_. The\n      Romans were not completely driven out from _the land_ until C\u00e6sarea\n      had fallen in 638, when the conquest was finally completed. See\n      Gibbon\u2019s _Decline and Fall_.\n\n   81 This date 636\u20107 is a great and important central date, whether we\n      reckon backwards or forwards; whether we reckon them as _Lunar_,\n      _Zodiacal_ (360 days), or _Solar_ (365 days) years.\n\n      (1.) If we take _Lunar years_ (= 1222\u20101/2 Solar)\u2014\n\n      (a.) reckoning _backward_, we get to 587 B.C., the very date of the\n      destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar.\n\n      (b.) reckoning _forward_, we get to 1860 A.D., the very date of the\n      European intervention in the Lebanon, which has brought the Eastern\n      Question into its present prominent position.\n\n      (2.) If we take _Zodiacal years_ (= 1242 Solar)\u2014\n\n      (a.) reckoning _backward_ we get to 608 B.C., the date of the battle\n      of Carchemish (2 Chron. xxxv. 20), when Babylon completed the\n      conquest of Assyria, and became supreme; utterly shattering all the\n      hope which Israel had in Egypt.\n\n      (b.) reckoning _forward_ brings us to 1879 A.D., when, by the Treaty\n      of Berlin, Ottoman power received a blow from which it has never\n      recovered, and which has prepared the way for its extinction.\n\n      (3.) If we take _Solar years_, then\u2014\n\n      (a.) reckoning _backward_, we get to B.C. 624 (A.M. 3376), the\n      beginning of the Babylonian kingdom, the \u201chead of gold.\u201d\n\n      (b.) reckoning _forward_ we get to 1896\u20107 A.D., which is yet future.\n\n      These reckonings in their _beginnings_ and _endings_ form an\n      _introversion_, or _Epanodos_, thus:\u2014\n\n      587 B.C. ... 606 B.C. ... 624 B.C. ... dates increasing.\n\n      1860 A.D. ... 1879 A.D. ... 1896\u20107 A.D. ... dates increasing.\n\n      The _Solar_ reckonings are the more important dates; the _Lunar_ are\n      next in significance; while _Zodiacal_ reckonings furnish us with\n      dates which, to say the least, fit neatly into their places.\n\n   82 These dates are those furnished by the Monuments, as given by Dr.\n      Budge, of the British Museum, in his _Babylonian Life and History_,\n      R.T.S., 1885. They also agree with the dates dug up by Sir Henry\n      Rawlinson in 1862, consisting of fragments of seven copies of the\n      famous \u201cEponym Canon of Assyria,\u201d by which the Assyrian chronology\n      has been definitely settled. Before this, historians had to be\n      content with inferences and conjectures.\n\n   83 In adjusting the A.M. and B.C. dates, the latter are always\n      apparently one year in advance of the former, because B.C. 4000 was\n      A.M. 1, and B.C. 3999 was A.M. 2. Hence A.M. 3376 is not B.C. 624,\n      but it is B.C. 625.\n\n   84 Cyrus took Babylon, according to the Monuments, in the 17th year of\n      Nabonidus, B.C. 539. 1 Maccabees i. begins the first of Alexander\n      from the death of Darius Codomannus in A.M. 3672. This would\n      slightly vary the above distribution of the years of separate\n      duration.\n\n   85 In passing from B.C. dates to A.D. dates, _one year must always be\n      deducted_, _e.g._, from B.C. 2 to A.D. 2 is only _three_ years, not\n      four! Thus\u2014\n\n      From Jan. 1 B.C. 2 to Jan. 1 B.C. 1 is one year.\n\n      From Jan. 1 B.C. 1 to Jan. 1 A.D. 1 is one year.\n\n      From Jan. 1 A.D. 1 to  Jan. 1 A.D. 2 is one year.\n\n      These make only _three_ years.\n\n      Hence, B.C. 31 to A.D. 636 is 666 years, not 667.\n\n   86 While the _premisses_ of the Historicist school are thus\n      strengthened, their _conclusions_ are shown to be erroneous.\n\n   87 And cause sacrifice and oblation to cease (Dan. ix. 27). We know\n      that is referred, by historicists, to the Messiah. But they are not\n      entitled to so interpret this passage unless they take with it viii.\n      11, xi. 31, and xii. 11, where the same event is distinctly referred\n      to, and is spoken, not of Christ, but of Antichrist.\n\n   88 See ARATOS, line 440.\n\n   89 As proved by Mr. Robt. Brown, junr., in his _Remarks on the\n      Euphratean Astronomical Names of the Signs of the Zodiac_ (p. 16).\n\n   90 By the kind permission of Mr. Robt. Brown, junr., _The Celestial\n      Equator of Aratos_, p. 466.\n\n   91 See this shown on the cover of this book.\n\n   92 Menant, _Empreintes de Cachets Assyro\u2010Chald\u00e9ens_, 9. \u201cSur un contrat\n      dat\u00e9 du 8 Tisri, de l\u2019ann\u00e9e de Bin\u2010takkil\u2010ani, 690 ou 645 avant\n      J.C.\u201d\n\n   93 _Researches on the Euphratean Astronomical Names of the Signs of the\n      Zodiac_, p. 17.\n\n   94 In _Georgica_, i. 33.\n\n   95 AP PETAVIUS, _Uranologion_, 168, \u201c_The claws, called by the\n      Egyptians Zugon_,\u201d _i.e._, _the yoke_ that joins any two things\n      together.","title":"The Witness of the Stars","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":52430}