Following ‘the grandkids finding a scorpion’…
Hey Grandad, you promised us a campfire story about the stars.
So I did. Okay, we saw some constellations last night but the Bible doesn't tell us what they're supposed to look like or what they mean. The best we can do is see if the story in the Bible matches up with what we know as constellations today. Tell me - what was the name of the first woman?
Eve. She listened to the serpent and ate the fruit that God told her not to.
Yes, Eve was the mother of everybody and God promised that one of her family would deal with that naughty serpent just like when someone stomps on a snake to kill it but gets bitten. Many years later the people in Israel were told that this special son, who would be really God come to live with us, would be born by a virgin - that's a girl who ….
Yes, I know… it’s a girl who hasn't had sex yet. The baby couldn’t be more special than that! Mary was the virgin wasn't she?
Yes, Mary is even called the 'virgo' in the very old Latin bibles.
Really?? So why does Virgo in the sky hold some wheat and a palm branch.
The Branch was a special Jewish name for the coming Saviour that meant He will be a Man…and God…and King, but first He will come peacefully to serve others – that’s why we have four different gospel accounts to tell us about Jesus. Then when He was here He spoke of Himself as being like a grain of wheat producing a lot of fruit by dying in the ground.
I get it – He’s the Son of God who came here to die.
So what are the scales for?...weighing something?
Libra was the name for the Roman pound weight. We needed a Redeemer who could buy us lost sinners back but a fair price had to be paid to meet God's demands. Money like silver and gold wasn't good enough - it had to be paid in blood – not from animals but the precious blood of Jesus.
Libra was hard to see but Scorpio was easy with its big long tail and I could pick out the arrow from Sagi....whatever his name is, aimed at the scorpion.
Yes, Scorpio kind of steals the show so far. He gets in his poisonous bite and it looks like he might get away with it.
...except for that arrow aimed at him by the archer!
Do you remember what the Egyptian king ordered for the little Hebrew boys?
Yeah! Throw them into the river with the crocodiles!
And do you remember what happened to the little boys near Bethlehem after Jesus was born?
Herod the king told his soldiers to kill them all.
So when Jesus had finally let Himself be caught and nailed up on a cross to die...
...it looked like the baddies had won!
Grandad, did Jesus know what was going to happen to Him in the end?
Grandad, did Jesus know what was going to happen to Him in the end?
Yes, Jesus knew only too well that the prophets in the Old Testament were talking about Him and how He would die. Moses and Elijah even showed up to talk to Him about it!
Yeah?? Imagine waking up every morning knowing you’re one day closer – no I can’t! - it’s too horrible to even imagine….like being on death row all your life!
Grandad, I think this first star show tells us that Mary’s special Son came here to pay our penalty with His blood by dying for us.
Yes and when we look at the next four constellations we’re going to find out who really won. In October I’ll show you: Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces and Aries.
The full campfire chat can be found on Discoveryiopna.blogspot.com
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