Lesson 021 The Mazzaroth of Job

The Mazzaroth of Job

Job 9:9; 38:31, 32

Understanding God’s message of the stars in Job requires a synopsis of Job 38 through 41 and a brief review of the stellar signs of Libra and Taurus.  

Verse one of Job 38 reads “Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind [and said].”  The definition of a whirlwind is a tumultuous confused rush.  Usually, a whirlwind is spinning air driven by warm air.  This applies to Job’s experience.  Job’s world has been spun around and around by the warm air of the loving chastisement of God’s mercy.  Until Jehovah chastised Job, he was unaware of his incorrect thinking.  He was missing what God was doing. 

Because Job received the sufferings in his life from the hand of God as a loving chastisement, he was ready to “see” with the eyes of his understanding and partake of the holiness of God as a son of God (Hebrews 12:10, 11).  The holiness of God is the otherness of who He is.  Holiness cannot be explained, but it can be understood in the spirit being.  Jehovah answered Job’s adversarial thinking in these four chapters by declaring His sovereignty and authority, influence and supremacy as the Almighty.  Almighty is the name of God that Job uses in his discussion with his friends and defense of himself. 

With each revelation (and there are multiple revelations in four chapters) of the Almighty (the Creator God), Jehovah (the personal name of the covenant-keeping God) enlightens Job’s understanding.  The LORD Jehovah reveals to Job the difference between what Job knows, the works of the Almighty, His acts of power and the ways of the Almighty (His otherness) in the revelation of His glory, His personal being in the Son of the covenant.  Generally, Job speaks of the Almighty God and not of the personal covenant-keeping Jehovah God.  Job knows God’s acts and power but he does not know God’s ways.  When Jehovah speaks to Job, it is as Jehovah and He reveals His ways. 

The works of God are much more straightforward and familiar to man than God’s ways.  Knowing the works of the Almighty in the mind is not the same as knowing the ways of the Almighty.  Man must be enlightened in his understanding to the ways of God.  The ways of God are received in the understanding of the spirit. 

In Job 9:9, in his discussion with his friend Bildad the Shuhite, Job mentions three stars by name, Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades.  This discussion of the stars reveals that Job has light of the knowledge of the glory of God without understanding. 

Jehovah exposes Job’s lack of understanding in chapter 38:31, 32 when He mentions the same three stars – Pleiades, Orion and Arcturus, but He lists them in their correct sequence.  The only season of the year that all three stars are in their constellations simultaneously is in the spring − May. 

The stars mentioned are not stellar sign constellations; rather they are specific stars in the constellations.  Pleiades is the cluster of seven stars in the shoulder of the stellar sign Taurus; Orion is the first decan in Taurus.  A decan is a constellation belonging to a stellar sign, meaning “a part.”  To each of the twelve stellar signs there are three decans either above or below the zodiac belt area of the ecliptic path of the sun.  

Arcturus is a specific star located in the third decan Bootes in the stellar sign of Virgo.  The word Mazzaroth used only in Job 38:32 is a term that refers to all twelve stellar signs. 

God uses the light holders of the heavens for a prophetic revelation and the signs are symbols of something other than themselves and are given to mark a way.  The figurative pictures portray literal truths.  The message of the luminaires is the memorial of both the work and person of the Son of the covenant.  Using the dominate cluster of stars, Pleiades, Jehovah enlightens Job’s understanding of the ways of the Almighty. 

The dominate sign in the heavens at a particular time of year is the sign that the Sun, the dominate luminary, tabernacles (resides) in.  (Handout of Star Magnitude, Color and Position is at the end of the lesson.)  The Sun is the brightest of all the light holders and is in figure a type of the Son (Psalm 19).  The power of the Sun governs which luminaires are declared in the evening sky. 

The Sun must be tabernacle - ing in the constellation of Taurus in order for the constellation of Virgo to be viewed.  Thus, Jehovah lists the stars (Job 38:31, 32) in the correct and only order they are seen.  

Read Job 9:9. 

The order that Job lists the stars points to the power of God.  Arcturus is recognized as the king and means “He Cometh.”  Orion is known as “The Strong One, the Light of Heaven” and is the most brilliant of all the constellations.  Pleiades means “Congregation of the Judge.” 

Light without understanding is knowledge without glory.  What Job said was true, but without wisdom and understanding; nothing personal is in what was said.  Job knows what he knows.  How does what Job knows profit Bildad?  What glory is there for God in what Job knows?  Without the understanding of the light of the knowledge, Job is in the “dark” to the reality of that which he has said.  In His answer to Job, Jehovah gives the understanding of the light of the knowledge that Job might “see” the glory that he has missed.  

Jehovah is personal with Job.  In listing the stars in their proper sequence, Jehovah declares the glory of the power of the Almighty, the Servant of Jehovah, the covenant Son.  Job does not “see” in his understanding that the power of God is His Love.  Without understanding the glory of Love, the knowledge of the works of God is spoiled.  Without Love, the influence of power as a force of sovereignty and authority and supremacy is brutal and ruthless in its pursuit of control.  

The power of God’s Love – the sovereignty and authority, the influence and the supremacy is the servant of God’s Love, the Servant of Jehovah.  The message of the glory of the power of the Almighty, the unmovable force of Love, the Servant of Jehovah is in the sign Taurus.  The Servant of Jehovah is the power reigning over the kingdom. 

The message of the stellar sign Taurus institutes that which was ordained in eternity within the counsel of the eternal God (Libra) − a kingdom of sons of God, a kingdom of priests in hope of everlasting life according to God’s own purpose and grace given in Christ Jesus.  

In the stellar sign Leo is the institution of the kingdom; Cancer is the calling home of the Jews to Jerusalem; Gemini is the marriage between the Beloved and His betrothed nation; and the message of Taurus is the establishment of the kingdom – everything is in order.  All enemies have been subdued. 

The sign of Taurus takes the seer of the stars back to before the beginning, back to the sign of Libra.  Back to eternity before the beginning, when in the counsel of the true God, Eternal Life – propitiation is made for a kingdom of sons of God.  Back to the price of conflict where God, Spirit Being of Deity, offered Himself.  In the one Offering of Himself, ransom and redemption were offered to mankind. 

In the offering of Himself was the ransom of the soul and the redemption of the body.  His soul was poured out and His life offered.  In the one offering of Himself, righteousness was given, thereby providing man with the ransom of his soul and redemption of the mortal body in the seed – the righteousness of God in Christ.  In the offering of Himself, Spirit Being of Deity offered His person, the very being of who He is − His righteousness and a fashioned body that He retains forever in the Son.  He retains and “shares” the seed body – life everlasting for all to receive their bodies raised up. 

The Spirit Being of Deity chose to cover His essence of deity and willingly stepped out of eternity and into time.  He took upon Himself the likeness of man, a mortal body of flesh and blood to be laid down in death that He might take it up again.  Raised up out from the dead, a body of flesh and bone is the meeting place for mankind; the body offered as the “House of Propitiation” is the Seed.  The life of that body is Eternal Life, spirit. 

God has a redemption price necessary for the redeeming of man’s body; the death of the mortal body of the Son is the price necessary to redeem the mortal body of man to be raised a body of Eternal Life, spirit.  Without the propitiation, there is no kingdom of sons of God, no royal priesthood.  

Without the offering of Himself, there is no ransom, no righteousness to take care of the lawlessness of man’s self-will.  Without the body laid down in death, there is no seed of life everlasting.  All was the offering of a voluntary service of supreme love. 

Taurus takes the seer back to the act of Love beyond reason.  This act of Love, God’s greatest power, must be seen in the eyes of the understanding.  Let’s consider Jehovah’s answer to Job in the three inquiries He requests of Job concerning the stars, Pleiades, Orion and Arcturus and bringing forth the Mazzaroth in his season.  

Read Job 38:31, 32. 

Verse 31:  “Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?”  

Pleiades is located in the shoulder of the bull; the shoulder is in figure a source of strength.  Burdens are borne and heavy loads are carried on the shoulders.  Orion the strong man is the strongest of men.  Both stars convey the idea of strength; uniting the two stars conveys double strength.  Figuratively the message is strength upon strength.  

The double strength of the two sources of strength, Pleiades and Orion, are set in contrast with the two verbs bind and loose.  The binding refers to chains or fetters and describes the chains or bands used in tethering the Pleiades constellation. The binding has the sense of constraining, to conspire or plot to bind.  The loosing of the bands means to open.  

The Hebrew word for bands, a cord, is used figuratively of the “cords” that bind the constellation Orion in place, keeping it in its created fixed order.  The language articulated in expressing the power of the strength is feminine, speaking of a sweet influence.  When one thinks of the strength of power in the feminine gender, the power of Love comes to mind.  In the symbolism of the sign, the power of a brute force becomes strength whose way is Love. 

Considering that Pleiades is in a constellation of power, what would be the feeling created by viewing that “power”?  The answer depends upon a right understanding of the source of that power.  What holds a creation in a fixed position?  What is the tie that binds all things together?  The powerful authority of the cords of Love binds all! 

Can Job bind that which cannot be bound?  Is he able to bind the sweet influence of Love?  Or can he loose the bands of the power of Love?  Without understanding in the spirit of Job’s being of the glory declared in the heavens, the reality of that which is unseen – the memorial of the Son of the covenant in the viewing of the Pleiades and the feeling created is missed.  It is as though Pleiades is staring Job in the face.  Without understanding of what he is viewing, he does not see. 

Verse 32:  “Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?”

As previously stated, the word Mazzaroth is used only in Job 38:32 and is a term that refers to all twelve stellar signs and is a feminine plural noun.  The signs of the Mazzaroth are symbols of something other than themselves given to mark a way.  The Mazzaroth was ordained of God as a prophetic calendar to indicate the events of “His season” − the life of the coming Son of the covenant.  These three events, He comes, He goes (ascends), and He comes again were celebrated by the nation Israel (yet future in Job’s day) as the seven feasts of Jehovah.  

Job celebrated these events (Job 1:5) yet missed the power of Love behind his offerings?  Can the practice of bringing forth the Mazzaroth in “His season” without understanding have any true influence?  It would be like partaking of communion without understanding that the celebration is a remembrance – a memorial of the union of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for the purpose of communion – for the purpose of the partaking of and entering into His holiness. 

The last star mentioned is Arcturus and is seen in the decan Bootes in Virgo.  Bootes is the resurrected Shepherd King Priest, the guardian of the flock of the household of God, His sons.  Here again is the message of strength.  

Does Job have what it takes − the strength to guide the Guider and his sons?  Can Job lead or guide in the right direction without understanding of the proper path.  “He [that] Cometh” is the Leader.  “He [that] Cometh” is the blessing; “He [that] Cometh” is the protection and wisdom.  

Obviously if Jehovah is asking Job if he can bind and loose and call and lead, did Job think he could?  He did until he had his understanding enlightened.  Jehovah is not making idle conversation; this is not a frivolous point that Jehovah is making; Jehovah is enlightening Job to the enmity of his thinking.  The lusts of deceits of the pride of self-will are very deceitful.  Some of the things that Job thought concerning himself were these (Job 31). 

As a man thinks, so is he.  Job was doing everything in his own power for God and he must not think he has a part in God’s doing.  That thinking defiles the ways of God.  Once the enmity is exposed, which is the result of the pride of self-will, Job is free of himself to follow God’s leading and learn of Him.  Job 40:4 says “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer Thee?  I will lay my hand upon my mouth.” 

I heard of thee by the ear; faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  But now, my eye sees – my understanding sees you.  Light without understanding is knowledge without glory.  The glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ, the Son of the covenant, the power of God unto salvation.  Laid out in Jehovah’s answer to Job is the power of the strength of the whole Eternal Covenant, Love. 

In the very being of his being, Job saw the ways of God.  The fulfillment of God’s requirements for His sons can come only from a heart set free from the values of this world − a heart dramatically changed by God to place first importance upon the qualities of God’s eternal kingdom of righteousness, justice, of love, light and life, of humility and closeness to God. 

A heart set free from the values of this world comes from first being broken.  God cannot use us where we are not.  God placed us where we are to shed abroad His Love.  But we have no part but to “shine” as we receive the light of the glory of God in the understanding of our being. 

The Son of the covenant was held on His course, fixed by Love for Love’s sake.  Thus, Job with his understanding enlightened to the ways of the Almighty, enlightened to the Love of God, willingly entered into the iron of this new experience, a partaker of His holiness, fettered by the Love that will not let go! 

Glossary for Mazzaroth of Job

Arcturus – is a specific star located in Bootes, which is the third decan in the stellar sign Virgo. 

Cancer’s Message – is the calling home of the Jews to Jerusalem.

Ecliptic Orbit – is the sun’s path as the earth’s rotates around the sun. 

Gemini’s Message – is the marriage between the Beloved and His betrothed nation. 

Jehovah – is the personal name of the covenant-keeping God. 

Leo’s Message – is the institution of the kingdom. 

Libra’s Message – is the propitiation ordained in eternity within the counsel of the eternal God – the overview of the Eternal Covenant. 

Mazzaroth – is the prophetic calendar in the stars that reveals the entire life of the Son of the covenant. 

Orion – is the strong man and the first decan in Taurus. 

Pleiades – is a cluster of seven stars in the shoulder of the stellar sign Taurus. 

Ransom – is the offering of righteousness in the pouring out of His soul. 

Redemption – is the life of the covenant Son - the Seed Body.

Redemption Price – is the death of the mortal body of the Son of the covenant. 

Servant of Jehovah – is the covenant Son, the power of love reigning over the kingdom – the message of Taurus. 

Stellar Signs – are the twelve primary constellations that have three decans (constellations) each.  The forty-eight constellations make up the Mazzaroth or the Zodiac. 

Taurus’ Message – is the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth – all enemies have been subdued. 

Ways of God - are the many revelations of His glory, the Son of the covenant. 

Works of God - are His acts of power. 

Star Magnitude, Color and Position

Stars that the unaided eye can see vary in magnitude from principal stars of -1 down to 6^th magnitude, the colors of the star flash are white, red, blue, green and yellow. 

Star positions depend upon the direction of the sun according to the earth’s orbit. 

Winter Stars

January − the sun is in the direction of Capricorn; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Leo, Cancer, Gemini and Taurus. 

February − the sun is in the direction of Aquarius; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Virgo, Leo, Cancer and Gemini. 

March − the sun is in the direction of Pisces; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Libra, Virgo, Leo and Cancer. 

Spring Stars

April − the sun is in the direction of Aries; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Scorpio, Libra Virgo and Leo. 

May − the sun is in the direction of Taurus; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Sagittarius, Scorpio, Libra and Virgo. 

June − the sun is in the direction of Gemini; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Capricorn, Sagittarius, Scorpio and Libra. 

Summer Stars

July − the sun is in the direction of Cancer; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Aquarius, Capricorn, Sagittarius and Scorpio. 

August − the sun is in the direction of Leo; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Sagittarius. 

September − the sun is in the direction of Virgo; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Aries, Pisces, Aquarius and Capricorn. 

Autumn Stars

October − the sun is in the direction of Libra; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Taurus, Aries, Pisces and Aquarius.  

November − the sun is in the direction of Scorpio; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Gemini, Taurus, Aries and Pisces. 

December − the sun is in the direction of Sagittarius; the stellar constellations with their decans in the evening sky are Cancer, Gemini, Taurus and Aries.  

Lesson 020 The Stars in the Book of Job

The Stars in the Book of Job

(Job 9:8, 9; 38:31-33)

Job is considered the oldest book in the scriptures.  In the book of Job the LORD Jehovah speaks of His message in the stars that tells of the righteousness of the covenant Son and His establishment of the kingdom of God on earth (Job 9:8, 9, 38:31-33).  This message of the Eternal Covenant in the luminaries in Job substantiates the significance of the covenant stellar signs (Genesis 1:14, 15). 

The book of Job as a whole is poetic and figurative, leading some to regard it as allegorical.  Questions considered by Bible scholars are many.  Some of these questions include when was it written, who is the author, and what is the setting or where does the story occur; that is, where is the land of Uz and is Job a fictional character or did he live.  

In the scripture, God gives figurative pictures portraying literal truths and He gives literal pictures in a figurative manner.  Both ways convey truth.  Although portions of Job may appear to some as figurative, the events recorded are factual - not allegorical, not fictional. 

The LORD unmistakably declares the authenticity of Job’s existence in the introduction of the book as well as in the first few chapters.  The introduction and first few chapters are a simple record of actual circumstances in Job’s life.  

As to the land of Uz, Uz was a son of Aram, who was the son of Shem who was the son of Noah (Genesis 10:23).  In addition, God speaks of Job to His prophet Ezekiel, when He includes Job with two other righteous prophets of God, Noah and Daniel.  (Ezekiel 14:14).  Had he been a fictional character, it is doubtful that he would be listed with these two men. 

Before we attempt to discuss the star message in Job, we need understanding concerning Job and the ways of God; the stars as a creation are the works of God that speak of His ways. The works of God and the ways of God are different.  The works declare His acts of power and authority, His ways reveal His glory, His personal being. 

The works of God are much more straightforward and familiar to man than God’s ways.  The ways of God require a change of thinking for man, because man has a way of thinking that is contrary to God.  

The prophets of old, as forth-tellers of God’s truth, had understanding of the ways of God; they were “seers” of His message concerning the righteous covenant Son proclaimed in God’s Eternal Covenant in the heavens. 

The prophets of old were ordinary men and women, who lived in the world with its filthy wicked conversation; yet, understanding and seeing the righteousness of God in the Son of the covenant, they publicly and faithfully declared the truth of God’s Eternal Covenant. 

Each of the three prophets, Noah, Job and Daniel, had a particular task in displaying the ways of God.  God chose each man as His instrument for a specific time and place, for His specific purpose of preserving the message of the Eternal Covenant in the luminaires.  

The memorial work of the Son of the covenant is displayed in each prophet of God and each is a testament to the hope of life everlasting and a holy calling in the covenant Son, despite the horrific circumstances in each man’s life. 

Three very different men lived in three different ages of history.  Noah lived another three hundred years after the flood and was dead by Job’s day.  Job is definitely dead by Daniel’s day.  Yet, what connects them is their obedience to protect and preserve the truth in the Eternal Covenant.  The time-period of the three men covers the creation to the flood (Noah, Genesis 1-10), after the flood to the dispersion of the nations (Job, Genesis 11) to the establishment of the kingdom (Daniel, Genesis 12ff), and captivity of the nation Israel under Gentile rule.  

Moved of God by the Spirit, these holy men of God spoke; God preserved His covenant by the faithful obedience of His servants when it was in danger because men did not and would not believe. 

Therefore, let’s look at each prophet/preacher of the righteousness of God in the covenant Son in the order of his listing in the book of Ezekiel, Noah, Job and Daniel. 

Noah was the antediluvian prophet/preacher of righteousness.  From generation to generation from Adam to Noah, God gave man the opportunity to believe into His Eternal Covenant before He destroyed them in the flood.  An ordinary man, Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.  Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God.  Walking with God, going the same direction and at the same pace, Noah knew the earth was corrupt before God and that it was filled with violence.  He knew that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually. 

Noah knew that the end of all flesh had come and that the LORD was going to destroy man whom He had created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and creeping thing and the fowl of the air (Genesis 6:5-7).  God told Noah that “I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die” (Genesis 6:17). 

These are horrific circumstances.  Destruction upon destruction!  On the one hand, mankind is destroying himself; on the other hand, God is going to destroy the whole earth.  Consider the ramifications of such a knowing and consider being “alone” in faith preaching the righteousness of God for one hundred or so years while building an ark, knowing that “all flesh wherein is the breath of life,…shall die.” 

Consider the way of Love, consider the Love of God.  Would it be considered loving of God to wipe out that which is corrupt and start over?  God must do that, or the covenant is lost.  What God did in bringing a flood of waters upon the earth was a severe mercy.  Mankind was destroying himself; God must preserve the covenant.  He must be faithful to the glory that the heavens declare; He must be faithful to His Word.  

Consider the faithfulness and the obedience of Noah.  Noah knew that it grieved God in His heart and made Him sorry that He made man.  Noah in the spirit of his being had understanding of the Love of God.  Not love that is imagined as feeling, but Love that has substance, Love that is true and just and righteous in being.  Noah’s faithfulness and obedience show the strength of his walk of faith; the substance of that faith is Love.  Noah walked with God.  

God must preserve mankind in order that He might have sons of God.  Noah must build an ark.  Noah is the heir of salvation (Hebrews 11:7).  Who is Salvation?  Jesus Christ the covenant Son is salvation.  His life is a testament to the hope of life everlasting and holy calling in the covenant Son. 

If one is not in the family, he is not an heir.  Therefore, one has no claim to the inheritance of the kingdom.  Faith works by Love.  Noah believed God to the saving of his household and His household, sons of God. 

The ark is a memorial of the work of the Son of the covenant.  The ark is a coffin and memorializes the death and burial of the Son of the covenant.  If man will not unite himself in death with the Son of the covenant to be raised a son of God, he has no claim of an inheritance; he is not a son of God.  The way of life everlasting is through the union of death in Jesus, the Love of God. 

Likewise, let’s now consider the way of Love in the life of Job. 

Job was a “Gentile” and an ordinary man.  He was the prophet/preacher of righteousness after the flood.  Historical records speak of Job as a contemporary to Abram who became the father of the nation Israel.  The introduction to the book of Job tells that Job was a perfect and upright man, one that feared God and avoided evil.  He sounds like Noah in his singular purpose of knowing God. 

Everything that pertained to Job was hedged about by God (Job 1:10).  God’s blessing was on every side, the work of Job’s hands, his affluence in the land and his family.  He had seven sons and three daughters.  However, in a matter of a few moments, the circumstances of Job’s life became extremely painful.  Everything that Job held dear was wiped out – family, home and substance.  Material blessings, everything and everyone loved were no more, all vanished!  Consider the ramifications of such a loss. 

Would such a loss be considered the loving chastisement of the LORD − a child training in righteousness?  No, of course not, yet it was.  The scriptures say “For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:6). 

The LORD [had] said to Satan “Have you considered my servant Job, there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and avoids evil?” (Job 2:3). 

God has a purpose in mind for the child training of His servant Job and a purpose in mind for Satan.  God never does anything without design or purpose, and He is never unjust in what He does; it is contrary to His being. 

Read Job 1:9-22.

Yet what was Job’s response to all that befell him?  Job knows what he knows; all that is given man is a gift from God.  “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither:  the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly” (Job 1:21, 22). 

So much for Satan’s accusation of Job cursing God.  Consider the LORD saying to Satan a second time “Have you considered my servant Job, there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and avoids evil?” and still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause” (Job 2:3).  

Read Job 2:4-8.

Job is afflicted in his body, covered from sole of his foot to the crown of his head with boils, and his wife says, “Do you still retain your integrity?  Curse God and die” (Job 2:9).  These are horrific circumstances.  Yet what was Job’s response to all that befell him?  He knows what he knows. 

He said to his wife “You speak as one of the foolish women speak.  What?  Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?  In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10).  So much for Satan’s accusation of Job cursing God. 

One more “suffering,” the surmising accusations and questions of three unsympathetic “friends” accompany Job’s losses and bodily ailments.  

This is the crux of the matter for Job. 

Job knows what he knows.  He knows each friend is at enmity in his mind; each friend has his own religious way of thinking about the God of glory.  One friend is a traditionalist − very orthodox and conventional.  Another friend is a dogmatist − a diehard and rigid in his doctrine, and the third is a spiritualist − a mystic.  The three ways of thinking, which each friend believed and taught, falsify the truth of the Son of God; they change the message of the Eternal Covenant in the covenant Son; they conceal the glory of God the heavens declare. 

Job was exactly the way the LORD says he was when He addresses the question to Satan.  The problem is the confusion of the position of righteousness with behavior.  The heart of the matter for Job is that righteous Job is also at enmity in his mind.  Really?  Is it possible to be righteous and be at enmity in our mind with God?  Yes, it is.  This was Job’s problem.  Did he know that he was at enmity or had that thinking?  No.  He is righteous and has done everything he believes necessary to ensure all is covered.  Even to the point of offering sacrifice for his children lest one of them should sin (Job 1:5).  

However it is in the conversation between Job’s friends and Job’s own defense of himself and the LORD’S response to Job’s questions that the discovery of Job’s thinking about himself and his thinking about God and what he has done for God is made known.  Unknown to Job, God has become his adversary in his thinking, rather than seeing he is adversarial in his thinking towards God, which is the thinking of Satan. 

God never does anything without purpose or design.  Nor is He ever unkind or unjust in what He does.  What the LORD did in the chastisement of Job was a severe mercy of God because Job was doing himself in with his own thinking.  Until the chastisement of the LORD, Job was unaware of his incorrect thinking - he missed what God was doing.  What Job missed concerning the Eternal Covenant in the covenant Son is that all is God’s doing.  The way of God’s kingdom is on the basis of the work of the covenant Son and none other.  

“Blessed is the man whom thou chasten, O LORD, and teaches him out of thy law; that thou may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked” (Psalm 94:12, 13). 

Now let’s consider the Love of God.  Would the suffering of Job be considered the loving chastisement of God or a severe mercy of God to protect Job from continuing on the path he is on?  If we are honest, the answer is no; yet it was.  Job was doing everything in his own power for God and he must not think he has a part in God’s doing.  The work of Job’s hands – the work done in the flesh defiles.  That thinking defiles the ways of God.  

The chastening Love of the LORD, although severe, prepared Job for his three friends, which prepared Job to have his crooked thinking corrected and made straight.  Job’s faith now has substance, Love.  

Consider therefore the faithfulness and the obedience of Job in his own words “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear:  but now my eye seeth thee.  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5, 6). 

I heard of thee by the ear; faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  Job believed to receive the life everlasting offered in the Son of the covenant.  But now, my eye sees – my understanding sees you.  In the very being of me, I see you; I see the ways of God.  I see that the work of my hands, they are nothing − dust and ashes.  Therefore, I repent – change my mind.  

Job’s confession is a living memorial of the work of the resurrection of life in the Son of the covenant.  Once the enmity is exposed, which is the result of the pride of self-will, Job is free of himself to follow God’s leading and learn of Him.  With his thinking made straight, the faithfulness of the Word, the glory of the righteousness of the Son of the covenant is preserved - all is God’s doing. 

As we have considered Love’s way with Noah and Love’s way with Job, let’s now consider Love’s way with Daniel. 

In Daniel’s day the nation of Israel was a divided kingdom.  The ten northern tribes of Israel had been taken into captivity by Assyria as a result of their idolatry.  The remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin had been warned of God not to be like Israel; for a while, they remained true to God.  Eventually the tribes of Judah and Benjamin did not continue to harken to the exhortation and were taken into captivity in the days of Nebuchadnezzar who had conquered Assyria.  The nation of Israel was captive and under Gentile dominion.  

Daniel an ordinary young man was from the royal line of Judah.  Most commentators think he was about seventeen when taken captive.  The custom of the conquering king when he took captives was to take captive the royal line of that nation and make the young men eunuchs; this ensured the ruling authority of the conquering king and the end of the conquered nation’s kingdom.  Unable to produce seed – heirs, the kingdom would cease.  

Not only is Daniel parted from his family, his nation has been taken captive and he has been made a eunuch.  Here is a young man, devoted to His God, in a strange land, under the constraint of a pagan king to do his bidding.  The people of the land at the beginning of Daniel’s captivity are enemies of Israel and consider Daniel their enemy.  These are horrific circumstances.  Now consider the Love of God.  God had plans for Daniel and the nation Israel and those Gentiles within Daniel’s influence.  A captive of Love, Daniel is without fear and at perfect peace in his circumstances.  Daniel was the prophet/preacher of righteousness raised of God not only for the nation Israel but also for the Gentiles.  Most commentators believe Daniel lived to be 90 years old, Nebuchadnezzar alone reigned forty years. 

Like Noah, Daniel preached the way of life everlasting is in the Son of the covenant and like Job, Daniel preached the faithfulness of the Word, the glory of the righteousness of the Son of the covenant - all is God’s doing.  The memorial work of the Son of the covenant is seen in the preservation of the nation Israel and the promise of the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth at the end of Gentile rule (Daniel 7 and 9). 

Although the nation in her disobedience was taken captive, God preserved a remnant.  “God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that He should repent [change His mind]:  hath He said, and shall He not do?  Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good” (Numbers 23:19)? 

The tribulation will serve as a loving chastisement of God on the nation and a severe mercy to correct their thinking and prepare them for their Messiah.  During the tribulation God will once again save a remnant and end the Gentile dominion establishing the work of His hands declared in the luminaries, a kingdom of sons of God on earth.  

The three prophets of God, Noah, Job and Daniel are linked in Ezekiel for a specific purpose.  Israel at that time in her history had set up idols in her heart, putting the stumbling block of her iniquity before the face of her prophets – the foretellers of God’s ways.  In so doing the people of Israel were estranged in their heart from the Lord God because of their idols. 

God encourages his people to repent and put away the stumbling block of their iniquity – put away the idols of the imagination of the heart – the enmity of the pride of the self-will, the enmity of their own thinking and know that “I am the LORD.” 

In mentioning the three prophets – the Lord God reminds the people of His Eternal Covenant and reminds them that they are responsible to God for the way they think.  No man can change another man’s mind; the only mind we can change is our own; even God cannot change someone’s mind and He cannot protect someone’s mind. 

As a man thinks, so is he.  We must be willing to consider God’s ways. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

No Glossary for the Stars of Job

Lesson 019 Taurus

Taurus

The Coming Ruler - Rejoicing the Heart

In the stellar story, the three signs Gemini, Taurus and Aries are a trilogy within the twelve.  Each sign expresses a different aspect of the kingdom reign and together they give a complete picture.  In this new beginning of the kingdom reign, heaven and earth have passed away and the curse of death and the resurrection of life are no more.  The political system, the economic system and the system of false worship exist no longer; “MYSTERY BABYLON” is fallen (Revelation 17:5).  The military and merchandising are no more.  

The Jews extend the invitation to come home and amnesty is offered to the nations because of the covenant Son, who is the Sovereign of the kingdom.  All the nations of the earth are separated, the sheep from the goats.  There is one flock, one sheepfold, one Shepherd.  Heaven and earth are united; there is one universal kingdom.  The betrothed regenerate people of Israel have “married” their Beloved and their land. 

The dragon that old serpent which is called the devil and Satan has been cast into the bottomless pit, shut up and a seal put upon him (Revelation 20:3).  No false worship will be tolerated.  No outward manifestation of the enmity of the lawlessness of the heart is allowed; however, the pride of the self-will exists.  Any outward act of lawlessness will result in immediate death (Revelation 13:10).  This is a kingdom of righteousness and peace; justice will be swift. 

With the establishment of the kingdom, the Old Testament ceremonial law and the offerings will resume as the perfect pictorial of the One who is the redemption, the reconciliation between God and man.  The seven feasts of Jehovah taught in the ceremonial law and offerings teach three events in the life of Christ, the anointed covenant Son.  These three events are He comes, He ascends (goes), and He comes again.  Three times a year all will come to the temple to participate in Jehovah’s feasts. 

The first festival of Jehovah has three feasts; the feasts are Passover with its slain lamb, Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits.  The three feasts picture the crucifixion (the slain Lamb of God), the life given (the bread from heaven) and the resurrection (Christ the first fruits of sons of God).  This festival is celebrated in the spring.  

The next festival of Jehovah, celebrated fifty days later, is the Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost.  This summer festival pictures the sowing of the incorruptible seed, the word of God, and the harvesting − ingathering of the seed sown (sons of God – Exodus 23:16).  

The last festival of Jehovah also has three feasts.  They are the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles.  These three feasts picture the calling of His people Israel to their homeland, the jubilee of the children of Israel because of the atonement the covenant Son made on their behalf and the “tabernacling” of their King − God in the flesh dwelling among His people.  This last feast commemorates the ingathering of the fall harvest and is a reminder to the inhabitants of the earth that one last ingathering of a harvest of sons of God will take place at the end of the thousand-year reign.  

The law and the offerings teach why the sacrifice of the Seed of the woman was necessary and why there was a need for propitiation – reconciliation between God and man.  They ask the question “Will you give up the enmity of your mind and agree with God?” 

The sign of Taurus and its three decans reveal the ruling authority of Love.  Taurus speaks of the government of God administered by the covenant Son.  “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity:  he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword …” (Revelation 13:10).  Revelation 13:10 is a Hebraism and its meaning is not clear in the English translation.  The Hebraism expresses the destiny and certainty of an approaching judgment.  Literally, it reads, “If anyone is for captivity, into captivity he goes.  If anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.”  In the sign of Taurus, all enemies have been subdued to the covenant Son. 

One chooses to be held captive by the Love of God or not.  If one chooses not to be held captive, he is an enemy and is killed with the sword.  Taurus is the coming ruler “rejoicing the heart” (Psalm 19:8).  The theme of Taurus is taking captivity captive − by the power of Love.  A heart captured rejoices continually. 

The one world government of righteousness and justice is at peace and the powerful authority of Love rules.  “… nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).  By the power of righteousness and justice, Love has come and Love rules. 

Taurus is the bull of an ancient species titled Rimu in the Hebrew scripture and translated unicorn or wild ox (Job 39:9-11, Psalm 92:10, Isaiah 34:7).  The species was wild, untamable, extremely fierce and fast charging.  Much like an ox of today except much larger, often compared to the elephant in size. 

In the star chart drawing, the head of the bull with its two enormous horns is downward and appears to be rushing forward.  The middle and hinder part of the bull is also the body of the next sign Aries.  The sign of Aries reveals the gentle merciful lamb, “The Sheep Gentle and Merciful.”  Aries is drawn in the star charts as a male lamb or ram who also has horns upon the head.  

In the scripture, horns are symbolic of power.  Thus, the two signs “share” the same body, signifying the bull and the ram are the same person of supreme power and authority.  The two sets of horns symbolize the “reaching” of that power and authority to the four corners of the earth. 

The next constellation Aries is the seventh sign from Libra.  In numerology seven is the number that refers to completeness.  The number “seven” is used as no other number is in the scripture.  Seven and its compounds occur in multiples in the scripture.  On the last day of creation, the seventh day, God ended His work; He rested from all His work that He created and made; He blessed the seventh day and He sanctified it.  

The symbolism of the two sets of horns when combined with the numbers four and seven expresses supreme world power and authority along with the perfection or completeness of the kingdom.  The symbolism expresses that this kingdom is one of absolute power, and it is pure (sanctified). 

Names of the stellar sign Taurus are “The Wild Bull,” “The Bull Coming” (carries the idea of coming and ruling), “The One Who Saves Mightily,” “The Head” or “Chief Who Comes” and “The Traveler Who Comes to Save.” 

Star names identified in Taurus are “The Governor,” “Captain,” “The Leader,” “The Wounded” or “The Slain,” “The Center,” “The Heap of The Accumulation,” “The Congregation of the Judge,”  “To The Judge,” “The Abundance,” “The Center” or “Center” and “The Turned Upon” or “Rolled Around.”  “The Congregation of the Judge” is likely who is referred to in Jude 14 and 15 “…Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all …” 

In scripture, right and left, like colors and numbers, have significance.  The right speaks of the power and authority of the first begotten Son of God (raised from the dead); the left speaks of the humanity of the Son of God (the birthed son), God come in the flesh.  

In the star charts, the stellar sign of Taurus has a star in the left horn identified as “The Wounded” or “The Slain” picturing the humanity of the son of God come in the flesh, wounded and slain.  The power of Love, like the species Rimu, is wild, untamable, extremely fierce and fast charging.  Love is a force that requires reckoning.  Love is a force greater than death.  Death cannot hold Love captive.  

Taurus is the first sign that has reference to specific star colors.  The language of color is universal.  The covenant colors in the luminaires (the colors in the rainbow) add life to the message revealed in the star names.  In the bull’s eye is the first color of three in this constellation.  The three star colors noted in this constellation are red, orange-red and white. 

The bull’s eye is a red star.  Red is the color that speaks of the dust of the ground from which God formed the body for the man, an earthen vessel of humanity.  Red is the color of shed blood.  Red is also the color of love. 

Everything in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love will be all God’s doing accomplished through the Son’s obedience of Love.  This Love led to death on the Cross.  His blood is shed for the cleansing of all unrighteousness.  All is to be to the praise of His glory - to Him be the glory. 

The brightest star in the eye of the bull has three names: 

“The Governor”

“Captain”

“Leader”

Each name boldly declares that nothing is hid from Him.  He sees everything and everyone.  He has His eye on His kingdom.  He is all knowing.  The Sovereign is “The Governor.”  

Taurus is the sixth sign from Libra.  Six is the number of man.  The covenant Son as the Son of Man, the begotten Son from the dead, is the proprietor over the affairs of men in righteousness and justice.  He is able to administer justice because He rules in righteousness. 

In God’s kingdom, His government is glorified and righteous.  The Old Testament saints with King David, the earthly ruling authority, have been raised from the dead and have received their incorruptible bodies of glory.  Therefore, it is impossible for the leaders of God’s government to govern corruptly. 

As the “Captain” of the host of the Lord, the covenant Son is the commander and chief who invites the nations to a ceasefire – to lay down their arms and to let the Love of God take them captive.  This is an offer of amnesty.  This is a government of peace and is ruled with absolute justice.  The covenant Son, the commander and chief, the head of the nations, is the forerunner, the “Leader” of peace.  Never in history has the world experienced peace. 

Nevertheless, this is a real kingdom with real people.  It is not a virtual kingdom thought up in the imagination of the heart.  The royal law of Love is the management and foundation of this kingdom, however, the enmity of the lawlessness of the heart of man – the pride of the self-will will be present. 

In the shoulder of the bull is a cluster of stars known as “The Pleiades,” which means “Congregation of the Judge.”  The shoulder is in figure a source of strength.  The government in Israel in Old Testament times was on the shoulders of the high priest and the priesthood.  It was their responsibility to bear the burden of teaching the truth to the congregation assembled.  

In this kingdom, the high priest, the judge of all the earth, will bear the burden of teaching the truth to the congregation assembled.  A congregation is an assembly of worshipers.  Worship is the rightly directed reverence for God.  Worship involves adoration, respect, and devotion because of love.  The strength of the kingdom will be the rightly directed reverence to God by the “Congregation of the Judge.”  

The first decan in Taurus is “Orion.”  In the star chart drawing, all enemies have been subdued under His authority.  In the right hand the mighty hunter holds a raised massive club.  In his left hand, he holds the head of a lion that he has killed and under his left foot is the hare of Gemini, “Lepus,” “The Enemy of Him That Cometh” and from that same foot “Eridanus,” “The River of the Judge,” (the second decan of Taurus) flows. 

The names of the first decan “Orion,” are “One Coming Forth As Light,” “The Branch,” “The Mighty,” “The Prince,” “The Strong One,” “The Wounded,” “The Light of Heaven” and “This Is He Who Triumphs.” 

Star names identified in “Orion” are “The Coming of The Branch,” “The Foot” or “One Treading Underfoot,” “Hastily Coming,” “Dividing the Belt,” “The Wounded” and “The Bruising.” 

The brightest star of this decan is in the right shoulder and is the second of the three colored stars.  This star is orange-red and means “The Coming of the Branch.”  The star name, “The Coming of the Branch,” is a reference to the humanity of Jesus.  Having laid down His strength in death, He takes it up again in Love as the Begotten Son of the Covenant.  The red of the finished work of His humanity − His blood shed for the cleansing of all unrighteousness is now orange-red in the right shoulder. 

Orange is the color that speaks of healing.  This is a new beginning.  “The Coming of The Branch,” “The Foot” or “One Treading Underfoot,” has brought about healing by the power of His righteousness. 

All enemies of the kingdom have been subdued.  Satan has been cast into the pit, the outward enmity of the pride of self-will has been restrained − “held under foot” and from that same foot “The River of the Judge” flows toward the sea monster in the next constellation Aries.  The man of lawlessness is identified as the sea monster in Aries and both he and his false prophet have been cast alive into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). 

The cut off lion’s head that “Orion” holds in His left hand is symbolic of the thinking of the false prophet, one who like his “father” sees himself as a roaring lion − the king of the jungle of men.  Having transformed himself into a so-called “angel of light” with his message that man is god, the system of the false worship has been cut off like the head of the lion that “Orion” holds. 

The star in the heel of the left foot is the third and last of the colored stars.  The star is white and speaks of cleanness and clarity.  The star in the heel means “bruised” and is the word used in Genesis 3:15, the bruising of the heel of the woman’s seed. 

Job 18:9, 10 is a reference to the snare that men lay for men in the hopes of stealing that which belongs to another.  “The gin (snare or trap) shall take him by the heel and the robber shall prevail against him.  The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.” 

In the parable of the strong man (Matthew 12:22-30, Mark 3:24-29) the Pharisees thought the snare in the ground and the trap laid in the way for Jesus was the end of Him and the beginning of the kingdom for them.  However, just the opposite occurred.  Although the trap was fatal because the body of the Lord Jesus was put to death; it was in one sense merely the bruising of the heel because His resurrection from the dead shows with cleanness and clarity that death cannot hold the powerful authority of Love. 

The leaders did not expect that Jesus would purposefully step into the snare laid for Him, nor did they ever imagine that He would be raised from the dead according to their scriptures (1Corinthians 15:3, 4)!  It is ironic that each world ruler thinks that he is the one who is king whether there are other kings ruling or not. 

This thinking is the result of the lusts of deceits of the pride of self-will.  How mistaken they all are for from the highest throne flows “Eridanus,” the “River of the Judge or Ruler,” the second decan in Taurus. 

Star names identified in the decan are “The After Part of The River,” “Bent Down,” “The Mouth of the River,” “The Water” and “The Going Forth.” 

It is from the “bruised” heel that the river of life flows, the word of God.  For those willing to drink – the river of life flows to life everlasting and for those who refuse – death; the issue is will man repent and change his mind.  Will he believe the Word and receive the gift offered?  

This decan is prophetic speaking of “The After Part of The River,” the final judgment by which all the wicked (from every age) simultaneously will be cast into the lake of fire, “the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:  which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8) 

This gathering of the judgment for the second death will take place at the end of the kingdom age (the thousand-year reign).  Matthew 13:41-42 says “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire:  there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”  Revelation 21:8 says “But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone….”  This body of people gathered at the end will unite “… to battle:  the number of whom is as the sand of the sea” (Revelation 20:8).  These will go to the sword (whose end is the lake of fire).  

They are like Cain of old, who knew to “do well” (Genesis 4:7), that is to receive the life offered.  They burn in their anger toward God − their hearts are hardened like brimstone.  Those in the kingdom who refuse to receive the powerful authority of Love, the life offered in the covenant Son, also will be gathered for the final judgment, the second death.  

For eternity, they will burn in their anger – their hearts hardened like brimstone, weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth in anger toward God remembering their refusal of the gift of life offered and the just recompense of God in their rejection.  

The names of the last decan “Auriga” are “The Shepherd,” “The Driver” or “Charioteer,” “The Wagoner” and “The Conductor of The Reins.” 

He is the great Shepherd, who conquers death, and the chief Shepherd, who comes in glory and sits on His throne.  In the star chart drawings He holds a doe, a female goat, who has given birth to a pair of kids.  He holds them in His lap with His left arm.  

Star names identified in “Auriga” are “The She-Goat,” “The Kids,” “The Band” or “Chain of The Goats or Ewes,” “The Flock of Goats, Kids,” “The Wounded” or “The Slain,” and “Wounded in The Foot.” 

In the heart of the doe is a star that means “She Goat” and in the Shepherd’s right shoulder is a star that means “The Chain of Goats.”  The “She Goat” represents the nations that have accepted the peace offering of the kingdom and have become sons of God.  The kids are the offspring born during the thousand years; the Shepherd King lovingly cares for them. 

The star name “The Chain of the Goats” in the right shoulder of the shepherd speaks of the reins/bands in the star chart drawing of Pisces.  This same band bridles or chains the multitudes together in the system of false worship led by the decan “Cetus” in the next constellation Aries.  “Cetus” is the monster of the sea of humanity; however, in the decan “Auriga,” the Shepherd, “The Governor,” “Captain” and “Leader” captivates the nations with Love. 

This pictures the exalted almighty Savior exercising His office of mercy in the midst of judgment.  Mercy triumphs over judgment.  Judgment is God’s strange work (Isaiah 28:21). 

Held in the bridle of His Shepherd love, the coming ruler – “rejoices the heart” because the nations are bound to their King − as He willingly was bound to the altar with cords of love. 

Glossary for Taurus

Names of the Stellar Sign of Taurus: 

“The Wild Bull”

“The Bull Coming”

“The One Who Saves Mightily”

“The Head” or “Chief Who Comes”

“The Traveler Who Comes to Save”

Star Names identified in the Stellar Sign of Taurus: 

“The Governor”

“Captain”

“The Leader”

“The Wounded” or “The Slain”

“The Center”

“The Heap of the Accumulation”

“The Congregation of the Judge”

“To the Judge”

“The Abundance”

“The Center” or “Center”

“The Turned Upon” or “Rolled Around” 

Names of Decans in Taurus: 

“Orion” Names:

“One Coming Forth as Light”

“The Branch”

“The Mighty”

“The Prince”

“The Strong One”

“The Wounded”

“The Light of Heaven”

“This is He Who Triumphs”

Star names identified with “Orion”:

“The Coming of the Branch”

“The Foot” or “One Treading Underfoot”

“Hastily Coming”

“Dividing the Belt”

“The Wounded”

“The Bruising”

 “Eridanus” Names:

“The River of the Judge or Ruler”

Star names identified with “Eridanus”:

“The After Part of the River”

“Bent Down”

“The Mouth of the River”

“The Water”

“The Going Forth” 

“Auriga” Names:

“The Shepherd”

“The Driver” or “Charioteer”

“The Wagoner”

“The Conductor of the Reins” 

Star Names identified with “Auriga”: 

“The She-Goat”

“The Kids”

“The Band” or “Chain of the Goats or Ewes”

“The Flock of Goats, Kids”

“The Wounded” or “The Slain”

“Wounded in the Foot”