UNFINISHED BUSINESS

IOPNA takes one last look - south of Leo, the 12^th and final constellation of the ‘Mazzaroth’ (Zodiac):

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is identified as the King of kings so I guess that’s it for now – the end of the show.

Not quite. There’s still some unfinished business to attend to…a bit of unpleasant housekeeping…                                                            
How did all the trouble begin, back in the Garden of Eden?

I guess it was with the serpent sneakily questioning Eve about God’s generosity.


Align top to north

Here is Hydra, apparently referred to by Job as ‘the crooked serpent’ (26:13). He is the largest constellation in the night-sky taking up more than 100 degrees, all the way from Pollux in Gemini to Spica in Virgo.  The only prominent star is Alphard, ‘the solitary one’ from Arabic al-fard.

So who could this serpent represent really?

‘The serpent’ is finally identified in Revelation 12 being thrown out of heaven half-way through the coming Tribulation period:

“…the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceived the whole world…”

Right, so the same serpent who deceived Eve, is the devil who tempted Jesus, is Satan…’transformed into an angel of light’…

…now reinvented as the dragon who attacks Israel, who inspires the revival of the Roman Empire with its leader in league with the antichrist and who instigates the battle of Armageddon.

So what happens to the serpent in the end?

After one last attempt at destroying the peace of Christ’s 1000 year reign:

“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone…” Revelation 20:10

What’s with the raven or crow?

Gruesome reality!

That’s Corvus moving in to feast on the dead just as the birds of prey will be gathered to feast after the battle of Armageddon in Revelation 19.

And the cup?...does that connect with this?

That’s Crater the wine cup. Anybody who worships the Beast or accepts his mark will…

“drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation” (Revelation 14:10)

Who else has to experience this?

“Great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”                              
Many believe that refers to the ecumenical ‘world church’ that is forming now.

Who else gets to taste this wrath of God?

Asaph the psalmist warned about 3000 years ago:

            “…in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them…” Psalm 75

Whoa!...this is heavy stuff - all the wicked; it looks like God might be just a tad angry towards the end…still, there’s plenty of warning there.

Our God is unbelievably gracious: “…longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

FINALLY: Around the campfire with the grandkids…on Discoveryiopna.blogspot.com

Acknowledgement: Stellarium

Photo credit: ShadOwer.tumblr.com

 

 

 

 

 

KING OF KINGS

At last, IOPNA reaches the 12^th constellation of the Mazzaroth (Zodiac):

Hey, we’re back to Virgo – the tail of this lion is swishing her head.

Align top to north-east

Yes, this is Leo and if you want to make sure you’ve found him in the night-sky, that brilliant quadruple star over his heart is Regulus, virtually in a line with Megrez and Phad down the back of the ‘Big Dipper’. What’s more, of all the brilliant stars in the night-sky Regulus is the closest to the ecliptic line which makes it rather special. 

So what do Leo’s stars mean?

Regulus (heart) : Latin for ‘little king’                                                           

Denebola (tail) : from Arabic ahanab al-asad meaning ‘tail of the lion’              

Algiebha (neck) : from Arabic al-Jabhah meaning ‘forehead’                                   

Zozma (rear) : Persian for ‘loincloth’

Okay, they fit.                                                                      
A lion is supposed to be ‘king of the jungle’- is that what the Bible says?

Sure! Proverbs tells us it is ‘strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any’ – recorded by perhaps the greatest king ever, Solomon of Israel, who had 2 gold lions beside his throne and 12 more on the steps, so there would be no mistake as to who was boss! 
Even the wicked prophet Balaam had been forced to say this about Israel:                            

“He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesses thee and cursed is he that curses thee.” Numbers 24:9

Ah…so all Israel would identify with Leo then - and look out if you don’t treat them right!  What about any individual son of Jacob?

“Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and unto him shall the gathering of the peoples be.”  Genesis 49:9-10

Okay then!....the Lion of the tribe of Judah gets to hold the sceptre!

No-one will be found worthy to open the seals of God’s judgment, except….

“Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof… a Lamb as it had been slain.” Revelation 5:5

Well that has to be the Lord Jesus Christ. I notice Matthew opens his account by presenting the royal title of Jesus Christ, worshipped by the magi, honoured as the Lamb of God by John the Baptist and even recognised by Rome’s Pontius Pilate.         So why the title - Shiloh?

That’s the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9 verse 6, but first He must judge the nations...

“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”     Revelation 19:16

I think I can see why Leo is the climax of the ‘Mazzaroth’. The Lion of the tribe of Judah must finally be honoured as the King of king and Lord of lords!                      

NEXT: Unfinished business

 http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/unfinished-business.html

Acknowledgements:   Stellarium    
Wallace K, Dawes G, Northfield P, ‘Astronomy Australia 2013’, Quasar Publishing 
Image credit: GM-Holden/flickr.com  
                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WELCOME ABOARD 'THE ARGO'!

IOPNA now looks to the south of Cancer, the 11^th constellation in the Mazzaroth (Zodiac):

 

Is there any other constellation connected with Cancer?

Yes, there’s this giant ship called the Argo Navis on the southern side of the ecliptic line – so large that in 1752 astronomers carved it up into 6 constellations: Puppis the bow, Carina the stern, Vela the sails, Pyxis the compass, Volans the flying fish and there’s even…..Columba the dove!





Align top to north

This must be where we find Canopus, the second brightest star.

It sure is…there on the keel.

Hang on. Isn’t Argo the ship that Jason and the Argonauts sailed in to capture the Golden Fleece?....that’s Greek mythology again.

So let’s check the star positions and meanings in Argo’s constellations:
Argo Navis: Latin for ‘swift ship’                                                 

Canopus (keel): Latin from Greek Kanobos, possibly meaning ‘golden earth’, from an ancient Egyptian city named in honour of a famous sea captain.                                  

Naos (foc’sle): Greek for ‘ship’                                             

Suhail        (mainsail): handsome, brilliant                                            

Aspidiske (quarter deck): ‘little shield’ or Tureis: ‘possession’                                            

Avior (amidships): from Latin avis for ‘bird’                                         

Regor (mainsheet): named in honour of astronaut Roger Chafee killed in the Apollo 1 tragedy on 27 January, 1967                                                   

Miaplacidus (stern): ‘gentle waters’

…and in Columba, the dove –                                                   

Wazn: ‘weight’ (an olive leaf plucked off?)                                    

Phact: ‘ring dove’

Well that all sounds nautical, even aeronautical too with an astronaut honoured. In fact it reminds me of Noah’s ark but he didn’t need sails or compass - all he needed was a dove.                                      
What about ships carrying Israel home?

Jacob said Zebulon would be “for an haven for ships” in Genesis 49.                

In the 1940’s the clandestine Aliyah Bet operation assisted Jews in sailing to Palestine but many lives were lost on the way.               

On 24 February, 1942, the Russians torpedoed M.V. Struma, helplessly drifting while filled with Jewish refugees.                                        

Here we can see British ‘protection’ as they violently intercept the Jewish refugee ship Chaim Arlossorof on 27 February 1947.

How would that be…survive the German concentration camps only to die at sea at the hands of the Allies.

It makes you wonder whether politicians will ever learn from history that God makes you pay for treating Jews rough.

…and now the U.S.S.R. and the British Empire are just faded memories.

Well, it looks like it could be the Brits who will have to provide the Jews with both sea and air transport next time around - Isaiah 60 verses 8 and 9 tell us:

“Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them…”                                    

Okay, does ‘Welcome aboard!’ mean anything for Christians?

Here’s what the apostle Peter had to say:

“…the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us…by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: who is gone into heaven…”    1 Peter 3:20-22

Ah, so the Lord Jesus Christ is our ‘Ark’ to take us home. You know, I think Argo might link with Cancer after all…

You’ve got to be aboard to get home safe!

NEXT: The King of kings and Lord of lords

 http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/king-of-kings.html

Acknowledgements:  Stellarium                                                                         

Photo credit: cjhsla.org

 

 

 

BEARS, BIBLES, DIPPERS & DRAGON

IOPNA looks to the north of Cancer, the 11th constellation of the ‘Mazzaroth’ (Zodiac):

 Aha!!...so the Great Bear mentioned in the Bible keeps Cancer company. There’s the Lesser Bear too, with Polaris on his tail.

Maybe…maybe not. 


Align top to west

What do you mean - may be not? Didn’t you say that “Arcturus with his sons” in Job 9 and 38 is generally accepted to be the Great Bear with its cubs?  That’s what all the translations and concordances say.

The King James Bible doesn’t say that - it just leaves it as Arcturus meaning ‘keeper of the bear’ - but the original Hebrew name was ash meaning ‘group’.                    

Huh??...there’s something wrong there.                

Where are the cubs anyway?...I can only see one…and have you ever seen polar bears with long tails like that?

Well no, I suppose not. You don’t think this is all based on mythology do you?

Well the story goes they‘ve got long tails because that’s how Zeus threw them up there!

Aw, sure!

So let’s take a close look at this name ‘Arcturus’.  The Greeks have apparently invented this, with arktikos in Greek meaning ‘bear’, hence arcticus in Latin from which we have ‘arctic’ in English. We have assumed the Bible’s Hebrew couldn’t mean the brilliant star in Bootes because the original name meant ‘group’ so it must refer to a constellation, obviously the Great Bear, while overlooking the mythology or any flaw.   However…..                                                                         
If we could take a bird’s eye view from the North Pole, of the 30 brightest stars in the heavens only 9 are north of the ecliptic line …and guess which is the brightest of those?                                                           

Not Arcturus in Bootes?  Is that the brightest star north of the ecliptic?

It sure is – Arcturus is the brightest of ‘the group’!...followed closely by Vega and Capella, then Altair, Pollux and 4 more. It was the first star ever seen in the daytime – in 1635.

Really? So Job highlights the starry southern sky as “the chambers of the south” then God reminds him of the northern constellations with: “Arcturus (Ash) with his sons”! That in itself was worth discovering!

God is thinking bigger than us….

…as usual!  Seeing mythology seems to have messed up the Redemption story at this point, can we briefly check what there is to see here?

In Ursa Major (Great Bear): the stars Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, Phad, Merak and Dubhe form the Big Dipper or Plough.  Mizar (2^nd last on the tail) is a quadruple star and has a twin, Alcor, which itself is a binary star….

…and together they make for the famous eyesight test known as ‘the horse & rider’ - once used by the Roman army!  

Now extend a line from Merak thru Dubhe on the bear’s flank leading direct to Stella Polaris marking the North Celestial Pole.                                          

Yes but apparently that hasn't always been the case; the Earth’s rotation shifted it from being marked by Thuben in Draco the dragon.
Interesting hey!?                                                                       

Polaris, Kocab, Pherkad and 2 other stars form the Little Dipper in Ursa Minor (Lesser Bear). At least that’s what they tell me – we might have a brilliant starry sky ‘downunder’ but we can’t see the Little Dipper.                                                                    

So we didn’t draw a complete blank after all. 
Of course we're going to get climate change if Earth's orbit precesses!                                      

Is there any other constellation associated with Cancer?

NEXT: Welcome aboard the ‘Argo’ - and don’t miss the comment below
 http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/welcome-aboard-argo.html

 

 

Acknowledgements:   
Stellarium 
Wallace K, Dawes G, Northfield P, Astronomy Australia 2013, Quasar Publishing 
Photo credit: Egnorance.blogspot.com.au