Sagittarius is the fulfillment of the promised victory!

Sagittarius will bring us 1/3 of the way through the circuit of the heavens. Virgo gives us the prophecy of the seed of the woman. Libra shows us the prophecy accomplished in grace. Scorpio shows us the prophecy accomplished in conflict. And finally Sagittarius is the fulfillment of the promised victory!

The name Sagittarius from Latin means the Archer. The Hebrew and Syriac name of this sign is Kesith which also means the Archer. While the Arabic name is Al Kaus and it means the arrow. I like the Coptic name Pimacre, which means the graciousness or beauty of the coming forth.

The brightest star is Naim, which means the gracious one. Reminding us all that, "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, not of ourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). I love the Akkadian name of this Alpha star Nun-ki which means the Prince of the Earth. And we have been saved by the grace of the Prince of Heaven and Earth.

Like Centaurs, Sagittarius is two natured, revealing Jesus as the God-man. In fact, Sagitarius is the chief Centaur who is noble in character, righteous in his dealings and divine in his power. He is full of grace and truth, but going forth a conquering and to conquer. Our Archer sent forth from God as an arrow reminds me of what the Psalmist penned:

"But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down. He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shalke their heads in scorn. All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what He has done. Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in Him; let all the upright in heart praise Him!" (Psalms 64:7-10).

I need to remind everyone, to get a better view of the Constellations that I have put together for illustration, just click on them for a better view. Grace and Peace all my friends, next time it will be the three companion constellations of Sagittarius which are Lyra the Harp, Ara the Altar, and Draco the Dragon.

The struggle with the enemy is won by our mighty hero!

The heavens reveal the plan of the one who brings war against our redeemer. Serpens attempts to take the crown, Corona. However, Ophiuchus wrestles with him, even as though to be struck on the heel by the Scorpion and His other foot over the very heart of the Scorpio.

All this is a contest for dominion, remember when Jesus was in the wilderness and Satan came to test him. He took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him the kingdoms of the earth and all their glory saying, "All these are mine, worship me and I shall give them to you" (Luke 4:6, paraphrase).

Serpens is the Serpent of the garden who comes to kill, steal and destroy. The brightest star in the constellation, the Alpha star, is Unuk which means encompassing. In the Hebrew the name is Alyah or the accursed and in Arabic the name is Al Hay meaning the reptile.

The next brightest star, the Beta star is Cheleb or Chelbalrai which means the serpent enfolding, both the Hebrew and Arabic names mean the serpent held.

Hercules is the strong one who comes to crush and destroy the works of the serpent. The Alpha star Ras al Gethi, located in the head of Hercules, whose name means the head of him who bruises. The Beta star is Kornephorus which means the branch or kneeling. Other stars with in the constellation of Hercules are Ma'asyn which means the sin-offering and Caiam which means punishing or treading under foot.

Notice that as our mighty vanquisher goes to battle with the serpent, He is brought to one knee in the conflict as if He had been struck on the heel, yet holding up His victorious club as if to subdue all His enemies and planting His foot on the head of the Serpent. Fulfilling Genesis 3:15, "You (the serpent) shall bruise his heel, and He (the seed of the Woman) shall bruise your head."

Within every war there is conflict!

So far we have learned quite a lot in going through our first two constellations and their companions. First, we learn that the "seed of the woman" would be born of a virgin, He would be called the desire of the nations, and be dispised and rejected of men. We wait now for Messiah to return again and rule and reign.

.

We have also learned that there is a price for redemption, a balance that is deficient vs. the price to redeem. We learned that the price would take place at a cross and a victim would be slain, of His own accord. Then a crown is bestowed.

.

Our third constellation brings us to the conflict. The Hebrew name is Akrab, which is a name of a scorpion, but it also means the conflict or war. The Coptic name is Isidis, which means the attack of the enemy or oppression. While the Arabic name is Al Akrab which means wounding him that is coming.

.

The Alpha star, which is the brightest star is the star Antares which means the wounding. It marks the place of the Scopions heart beating in a deep red. The bright star in the stinger is called in the Hebrew Lesath which means the perverse.

.

The Messianic prophesy from Genesis 3:15 tells of "Ementy" between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. This hatred is shown in this third constellation who brings war against our redeemer. Our companion constellation spell defeat of this enemy of the cross.

The Cross endured by the Victim Slain then a Crown bestowed

The Scales (Libra) have three companion constellations; the great southern cross (Crux), a victim slain (Lupus), and a crown (Corona).

.

I was amazed to learn of an extra-biblical source inwhich it tells a a dream Pharaoh of Egypt had. In his dream, Pharaoh saw a giant scale with the land of Egypt on one side and a lamb on the other (Targum Jonathan). What is amazing is that Egypt represents the fallen world and the lamb is Jesus Christ.

The three companion constellations to Libra tell how the scales come into balance. First, is the cross Crux, the Hebrew name of the great southern cross is Adom which means cutting off as in Daniel 9:26, "After 62 weeks Messiah shall be cut off." Amazingly this constellation has been sinking in the southern sky from Jerusalem and disappeared from sight there around 32 A.D.

.

The second companion constellation is Lupus a wolf who is slain, although the ancient constellation is that of an animal slain. The Hebrew name Asedah and Arabic name Asedaton, both mean to be slain. But notice in the heavens he is slain by Centaur or by himself the God-man. Jesus said himself, "that no one takes his life but he lays it down freely, having the power to take it up again" (John 10:15-18). The ancient Zodiac of Denderah pictures a lamb called Sura. Jesus is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world to offset the scales that hold our sin.

"And being found in appearance as a man He humbled Himself even unto death (Lupus), even death on a cross (Crux), wherefore God has highly exalted Him (Corona) and given Him a name which is above every name" (Philipians 2:5-12).

.

The last of the three companion signs tells of the crown bestowed. Hebrews 2:9 tells that although Jesus suffered death he is crowned with glory. The Hebrew name of this constellation is Atarah which is a royal crown. Corona's alpha star is Al Phecca or the shining.

.

So our second constellation along with the companion constellations would read in the heavens of the great redemption work through death on a cross and ending with a crown bestowed.

The balanced owed vs. the price of redemption!

The prophet Jeremiah wrote; "Do not be dismayed by the signs you see in the heavens, for the heathens are dismayed by them" (Jeremiah 10:2).

Libra is the sign in the heavens that appears as scales. In fact the Hebrew name for this sign literally translates the Scales or weighing. This sign symbolizes the amount deficient balanced by the redemption price which covers, hence the atonement.

The Psalmist foresaw the extreme cost to ransom or redeem a soul, he wrote, "No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him - the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enought" (Psalm 49:7-8).

But the Psalmist saw the answer, the one capible of balancing the scales and redeeming a soul. He wrote, "But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself" (Psalm 49:15). Jesus being the infinite God-man tipped the scales with his death as a payment for my huge debt which no one else could do. The theme of Libra is redemptions price balancing out the debt of my sin. The Arabic name for Libra is Al Zubena, which means to purchase or redemption.

The alpha star of this constellation, Zuben al Genubi means, the purchase or the price which is deficient. This star points to my debt which was owed. The beta star or second brightest star of this constellation located in the opposite scale is Zuben al Chemali which name means the price which covers. The price which covers balances out the price which is deficient.

This is the miracle of Salvation that men are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood" (Romans 3:24-25). God ransomed us through the blood of His only begotten Son and He did it for love. "For God so loved you, that He gave (as a ransom) His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe, should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

The price would not be cheap or easy and this is foretold in the third brightest star of this constellation. The star Zuben Akrabi which means the price of the conflict. Peter confirms this when you wrote, ""For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19).

This sign in the heaven Libra, the Scales, points to the price which covered balancing out the price which was in debt. While this last star points out that there was a price to this conflict. Next, time we will examine exactly how this price was to be paid. The heavens describe the passion of the Christ in detail and all of this was laid out in the heavens from the beginning of time. So "do not be dismayed by the heavens as the heathen are."

Three Companions of the Virgin tell more of the story!

Still amazed at what was revealed out of our first of the 12 major constellations, Virgo. The first of the three companion constellations is Coma the ancient Hebrew name is Comah and the name means the desired or the longed for, just as in the passage from Haggai 2:7.

a

This little constellation is the shape of a woman seated holding a child in her arms. Further telling us that the Branch would come as a child. Not only would a child be born and a Son given but the next constellation reveals His twin natures.

a

Centarus reveal the two natures of our God-man Jesus Christ. The ancient name of this constellation is Bezeh which means the despised just as is found in Isaiah 53:3 where He is "despised and rejected of men." The ancient Hebrew name for this constellation was Asmeath, which means a sin-offering, just as in Isaiah 53:10. The Greek name for this constellation was Cheiron, which means the pierced. Cheiron was supposed to be immortal, but he voluntarily agreed to die. Sounds a lot like my Jesus!

a

The very first star my father taught me by name was "Alpha Centarus" the closest star outside of our sun to the earth. It is just 4.3 light years from the earth and is the brightest star in the southern sky. The ancient name for the Alpha star is Toliman which means the heretofore and the hereafter, just as is revealed to us about Jesus in the opening chapter of Revelation where it says, "which is, and was and is to come" (Revelation 1:8).

a

So far our two companion constellations tell us that our child would grow strong and that as a man have two natures and then suffer and die. But our God-man would not mearly die and fade into history, the next constellation Bootes reveals that He is coming again. And He will not be a baby in the manger anymore, not a broken man on the cross. He is coming to rule and reign!

a

The Greek name for our third companion constellation is Bootes which comes from the Hebrew Bo which means to come or the coming one. The ancient name of this constellation may have been Arcturus which is the name of the alpha and brightest star of this constellation. The name is even found in Job 9:9. The ancient Egyptian name of this alpha star is Smat which means the one who rules or governs.

a

We learn more about the constellation Bootes from the name of the brightest stars within this constellation. The Beta star is named Nekkar and it means the pierced, from Zechariah 12:10. This tells us that the one who will come and rule and reign is the one who was peirced.

a

The star in the spear-head named Al Katurops means the branch or treading under foot.

a

The star just below the waist is called Mirac which means the coming forth as an arrow. This points out that when Jesus returns he will do so quickly. Another name for this same star is Mizar which means the preserver or guarding one.

a

The star Muphride which is in the left leg near Arcturus has a name which means who seperates. As in the one who is coming who will seperate the sheep from the goats.

a

This year opening constellation of Virgo with her three companion constellations tell quite a story. First a virgin is carrying the her own seed, hence the seed of a woman. She bears the branch the Messiah who is King and servant, God and man. He comes as a child who will grow strong in His dual nature until the God-man becomes the despised and reject of men and our sin-offering. Then although he was pierced for our transgressions, He will come again to rule and reign subduing His enemies, treading them under foot.

The promised Seed of the woman!

Before there ever was a Bible, God placed the stars in the heavens to tell His Story. His word says, "Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one of them is missing" (Isaiah 40:26).

Every star is exactly where God placed it in the heavens. When the Lord says, none of them is missing, the Hebrew would better translate as 'not one is out of place.' We are going to examine the 12 major constellations as well as an additional 36 minor constellations. Each is exactly where God has placed it and God was the first to call them by name. He leads them forths from day to day, month to month, and year to year. And He has commanded that we lift up our eyes and see these stars!

The Hebrew Secular year begins in the fall and the first constellation to pass through the heavens in their year is Bethulah which translates as a virgin, hence the Latin name that has been passed down to us today matches in meaning from the name Virgo. Virgo the virgin is holding a branch in her right hand and ears of corn in her left. The ears are symbolic of seed. Jesus spoke often of seed, once saying, "Unless a grain of wheat (which is a seed) falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24).

The very first Messianic prophecy concerning Jesus is found early in the book of Genesis when the Lord says to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel" (Genesis 3:15). Notice that the one who will destroy the serpent is the "seed of a woman." Although men are the ones who carry the seed, the anointed one would not be born of the seed of men, instead he is called the seed of a woman.

God had promised that He would do a great sign, "A virgin will be with child and she shall bear a Son, and she will call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). This is the sign described by God in the constellations of heaven. Virgo carries the promised seed of the woman at the same time her right hand is holding the branch.

Amazingly the Alpha star, or brightest star, of Virgo is called Spica, which means an ear of corn. But the ancient Hebrew name for this star is Tsemech, which is the Hebrew word for branch. There are some twenty different Hebrew words for branch or sprig, but this one is unique as it is only used to describe the coming Messiah of the Old Testament. Tsemech appears four different ways in the Old Testament describing four different attributes of the Messiah.

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as King" (Jeremiah 23:5). This righteous Branch who will reign as king parallels the description of we get of Messiah the King in the Gospel of Matthew.

The next description of the Branch, Tsemech, is found in the writtings of Zechariah where the Lord says, "For behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch" (Zechariah 3:9). The Branch, Messiah, the servant is how He is described in the Gospel of Mark.

Zechariah foretells another attribute of the Branch when he wrote, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, a man whose name is Branch'" (Zechariah 6:12). The man who is Messiah is exactly how the Gospel of Luke describes him when he consistantly writes of Jesus as the son of man.

Lastly, the Branch is said to be of God when Isaiah wrote, "In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious" (Isaiah 4:2). The Branch, Messiah, of the LORD, which parallels the last of the four gospels descriptions written in the Gospel of John where he frequently used the term son of God to describe Jesus.

Each of these four uses paralleling all four of the gospels each hidden in the Hebrew name of the brightest star in Virgo. While the second brightest star in the constellation confirms the last passage we just read from Isaiah. It's name Zavijaveh, means gloriously beautiful.

The last star we are going to examine is the star Al Mureddin, which means who shall come down as found in Psalm 72:8. The Chaldean name for this star is Vindemiatrix, which means the son, or branch, who comes.

The meaning hidden within the names of the of the stars of this constellation reveal a seed of a woman who is the gloriously beautiful one, who comes down as a king, a servant, a man, and God. He is the promised the Son who comes of a virgin.

Tomorrow we will examine the three companion constellations of Virgo, they are Coma, Centarus, and Bootes.