May 4, 2025 • 34 mins
The gospel message may be written in the stars themselves, revealing Paul's true meaning in Romans 1:19-20 about what can be "clearly perceived" about God since creation.
• Examining the concept of natural revelation versus the gospel revelation
• Understanding how the gospel functions as both salvation and judgment
• Connecting Paul's teachings to Psalm 19's celestial declarations
• Exploring how "the heavens declare the glory of God" through biblical astronomy
• Discovering how Abraham might have "read" the gospel in the stars
• Learning how ancient cultures may have seen the redemption story in constellations
• Recognizing that the zodiac (meaning "path") may reveal God's precepts
• The constellation Virgo with its brightest star meaning "branch" (a Messianic title) points to Christ
• The Magi followed astronomical signs that exactly matched Revelation 12's description of Christ's birth
• Biblical astronomy appears in Job (the oldest biblical book) suggesting this knowledge predates written Scripture
• The gospel written in the stars explains how God's message was available to all humanity before the Bible
For those interested in biblical astronomy, check out "The Witness of the Stars" by E.W. Bullinger and "The Gospel in the Stars" by Joseph Seiss, available on Amazon.
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Episode Transcript
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Announcement (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace
podcast, where we celebrate andexplore the finished work of our
Lord, Jesus Christ.
Tune in to the Waking Up toGrace podcast on every major
platform.
You can also listen to ourepisodes and read our full
transcripts atwakinguptograce.com.
And now, here's Lenny.
Lenny (00:22):
Welcome back to the podcast, everyone.
Glad to have you listening andhappy to be here.
Today's study is going to becentered around Romans 1, 19
through 20.
These passages are generallytaught as describing the concept
of natural revelation, that Godcan be found in nature, that we
are without excuse when wereject Christ because we can see
(00:44):
the mountains and trees thatGod has created when we're out
in nature.
This view of the Lord'screation is thought by many to
have the power to bring us tosalvation somehow.
We should know God when we lookat the world he created and
therefore have no excuse forunbelief.
The question I'll be askingtoday will be, is the concept of
natural revelation what Paul isteaching his audience here?
(01:05):
Does Paul believe that Yahwehcan be found by experiencing the
wind blowing through the trees?
Or a beautiful sunny day withcrystal clear skies?
Does Paul teach us that Christis revealed to humanity simply
through nature and oursurroundings?
I think when we look at thecontext of the passage, we find
that there must be somethingmuch more specific that Paul
(01:26):
tells us of in Romans 1.19-20.
So let's dive in, shall we?
I'll be using the ESVtranslation for our study today.
If you're new to the Waking Upto Grace podcast, I'm doing
things quite differently fromother podcasts.
I'm now creating study guidesfor our Roman studies.
I started doing this at episodenumber 46.
(01:46):
You can find these study guidesat wakinguptograce.com on our
podcast episodes pages.
There will be a link to eachepisode page in the description
section of my podcast episodesin your podcast app.
Just click that link and itwill take you right to my
episodes page atwakinguptograce.com.
My hope in putting togetherthese study guides is that
(02:08):
they'll help others in thechurch to ask the right
questions about Scripture.
According to our Lord, thetruth will set us free.
So should we not seek biblicaltruth through a careful
investigative process?
If we end up in error, we'llreceive the opposite of being
set free.
So I say we should make everyeffort to be sure that what we
believe is true.
(02:28):
We have nobody to blame butourselves if we don't.
So it is my hope and it is mypurpose that my podcast and
these study guides will help youto be transformed by the
renewing of your mind the wayPaul describes in his letter to
the Romans.
I encourage you to always checkto make sure that what you are
learning is true.
I believe that when we seek, wewill find.
Don't ever believe somethingjust because someone with
(02:50):
credentials says it.
Today, most of what we see asthe church is not following
guidance from the Spirit of God.
Instead, they ignorantly seektruth from leaders who are
actually suppressing the gloryof our Lord.
Life is too short to miss outon the gospel of grace and
realize the blessing of Christliving in and through you.
But enough of the intro.
Let's get started on today'sstudy.
(03:11):
Let's pick up from where weleft off in our last Romans
study to gain some context.
Paul says, For I am not ashamedof the gospel, for it is the
power of God for salvation toeveryone who believes, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness ofGod is revealed from faith for
faith.
As it is written, the righteousshall live by faith.
(03:34):
That's Romans 1, 16-17.
In episode number 49 we talkedabout the gospel.
also known as the good tidingsof our Lord, being revealed by
faith.
The righteousness of Yahweh wasrevealed through the gospel of
Christ Yeshua.
But is the gospel good news foreveryone that hears it?
Paul seems to tell us that itis not good news for everyone in
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the next verse of his letter.
For the wrath of God isrevealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousnessof men who by their
unrighteousness suppress thetruth.
Is Paul speaking about thegospel here?
I'd say he definitely istalking about the gospel here.
He was just talking about it inthe verse prior, about the
gospel being the power of Godfor salvation.
(04:18):
And now he's saying the wrathof God is revealed from the
heavens in the same context ofthe gospel.
The question we've got to askourselves then is, is Yahweh an
angry God or a just God?
Is he just angry, blowing histemper?
Or is justice being served whenGod is angry?
Does he have a right to beangry?
(04:40):
Is he just in his ways?
In scripture we see absolutelyhe is just.
His laws are good and holy,according to Paul.
But let's look at some otherpassages to be sure that the
gospel can mean wrath for thosewho reject it.
Let's see if Yahweh uses thegospel in his divine justice
system.
In John 3.36, John the Baptistproclaimed, "...whoever believes
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in the Son has eternal life."Whoever does not obey the Son
shall not see life, but thewrath of God remains on him.
What does believing the gospeldo for those with faith?
Well, it gives them eternallife, according to this passage.
So who does God's wrath remainon, according to this passage?
It would be those who don'tbelieve.
Whoever does not obey the Son.
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It starts out saying whoeverbelieves, and then whoever does
not obey.
What he's saying is that thosewho don't believe, you won't see
life.
The wrath of God remains onyou.
what would then be the outcomefor those who reject the gospel?
It would be wrath.
The wrath of God is still onyou.
We're into that passage.
Then Paul says in Romans 2.8,But for those who are
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self-seeking and do not obey thetruth, but obey
unrighteousness, there will bewrath and fury.
So how to avoid God's wrath andavoid being brought to justice
for our sins before a most holyGod?
Paul continues by saying, Onthat day when, according to my
gospel...
God judges the secrets of menby Christ Jesus.
And that's in Romans 2.16, alittle bit later in the letter
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that we haven't gotten to yet.
Can we confirm that Yahwehjudges men through the gospel of
Christ though?
It says it right there.
So we have to be able to saythat.
That helps set some context forwhat we were reading in our
study today, doesn't it?
Did Paul believe the gospel washow God was judging mankind?
Yeah, he absolutely does.
The gospel is judgment.
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For the unbeliever and itssalvation.
For the believer and life.
And what's the judgment?
What's the wages of sin?
Death.
Spiritual death and literaldeath.
So keep this in mind as we gointo the next verse in our
study.
We left off with Paul saying inRomans 1, 16-18, For I am not
ashamed of the gospel.
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For it is the power of God forsalvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first andalso to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness ofGod is revealed.
And then we read, That's verse19.
Is this statement being made byPaul connected with the
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previous verse?
I would say for sure it is.
This is all connected.
He's not changing the subject.
He's saying, for what can beknown?
He's just adding into it.
So I'm not seeing any kind ofchange of subject.
If we study the passage andlook at it, check it out for
yourself.
I'm not seeing any change.
So the next question would be,if what can be known about God
is the gospel, who is them?
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Who is the they here?
It says the gospel is plain tothem because God has shown it to
them.
Who is he talking about when hesays them?
Doesn't sound like he's talkingabout to the saints in Rome
that he's writing to, does it?
If them is something broaderthan just the saints in Rome,
such as mankind in general,let's just say, if we take it
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that way, has the gospel beenshown to mankind?
Paul continues in verse 20, Forhis invisible attributes,
namely his eternal power anddivine nature, have been clearly
perceived ever since thecreation of the world.
There again we see they andthem.
(08:34):
Is this still a continuedstatement in the context of the
revelation of the gospel?
I would say for sure it is.
Can our Lord's eternal natureand divine power be found in the
gospel?
Yeah, we learned that earlierin Romans.
The gospel is the power of God.
The resurrection, the power ofGod.
(08:54):
We see Paul answer this earlierin his Romans letter, Romans
1.4.
We read, So has the gospel beenclearly perceived since the
creation of the world?
If we think back on episodes 42and 43, the gospel was
(09:19):
certainly declared throughouthistory by Yahweh through
mankind.
But, Is mankind what Paulrefers to as the things that
have been made?
Or is it something else?
Later in our Roman study, Paulsays something very interesting.
In chapter 10, verse 17, hesays, So faith comes from
hearing, and hearing from theword of Christ.
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But I ask, have they not heard?
Indeed they have.
For their voice has gone out toall the earth, and their words
to the ends of the world.
Now we have to realize thatPaul is not the original author
of this statement.
Their voice has gone out to allthe earth and their words to
the ends of the world.
This is Paul quoting Psalm19.4.
(10:02):
Most Bible translations makethis indication in some way to
help us.
The ESV uses quotes and theNASB uses capital letters as an
indicator.
And then we can search in thecolumns or footer for the
passage reference.
But it's Psalm 19.4 and itreads...
Their measuring line goes outthrough all the earth and their
(10:22):
words to the end of the world.
And them he has sent a tent forthe sun.
So let's dig a little more intoPsalm 19 and see how the gospel
was declared to the ends of theworld.
Are you ready for this?
Psalm 19.1 So this is justdigging further into that Psalm
19 passage Paul was quoting in19.4.
(10:43):
Psalm 19.1 reads, The heavensdeclare the glory of God, and
the sky above proclaims hishandiwork.
The Hebrew word for sky here israkia.
In Genesis 1, we see that thestars are in this expanse.
The Septuagint, which is theGreek translation of the Old
Testament, uses the wordfirmament instead of expanse.
(11:05):
For reference, Genesis 1.14reads, And God said, Let there
be lights in the expanse, orfirmament.
The Hebrew word for firmamenthere is rakia.
(11:30):
So David in our psalm istalking about the same thing
that we see here in Genesis.
Along the lines here, but on adifferent note, the word zodiac
means path or way.
The zodiac is the stages of thesun's path through the heavens
in 12 months.
And another very interestingfact is the word sign used here
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in Genesis is from the Hebrewword auth.
So when he says, and let thembe for signs and for seasons and
for days and years about thestars, the word sign is a Hebrew
word auth, which means the signor the seal.
Evidently, when you examine theHebrew letters in auth, you get
aleph, which means leader, vav,which means nail, and tav,
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which means cross.
So you'd have leader, nail,cross.
And let them be for signs andfor seasons, for days and years.
Isn't that interesting?
Is it possible that the gospelof our Lord is written in the
stars and that all the thingswe're told about the meaning of
the stars is actually an error?
We hear things about our starsigns and what that means about
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you, your birthday, and whatkind of personality traits you
have, all these differentthings, and predictions.
Is that really what the starsare telling us?
Is David talking about thestars pointing us to Christ?
Did Yahweh actually have a planwritten in the stars?
The plan of redemption?
Let's read on and see what wecan take from the rest of Psalm
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19.
19, 1-4 says, kind of puttingit all together, we read, Did
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David just tell us that the skypours out speech day to day?
And night to night revealsknowledge?
The sky?
In the King James Version,instead of reading, There is no
speech, nor are there words,whose voice is not heard.
In verse 3, the King Jamessays, There is no speech, nor
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language, where their voice isnot heard.
Is David saying that thisgospel and the stars can be
heard in any language?
Would that mean even after theTower of Babel and the
scattering of the nations?
that the stars could still beread, and that they can be read
in all languages?
In the next verses about thesun, David says, and this is
(14:13):
Psalm 19, 5-6, "...in them hehas set a tent for the sun,
which is a bridegroom coming outof his chamber.
It rejoices as a strong man torun his course.
Its rising is from one end ofthe heavens, and its circuit to
the other end of them, and thereis nothing hidden from its
heat." So can you see the zodiachere?
(14:34):
Zodiac is the stages of thesun's path through the heavens
in 12 months.
Can you see that here?
I'm seeing it.
The next verses baffle many,thinking that there is an abrupt
shift in focus.
Let's think about this aminute.
So we read, The law of the Lordis perfect, restoring the soul.
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The testimony of the Lord issure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord areright.
Rejoicing the heart, thecommandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean,enduring forever.
The judgments of the Lord aretrue.
They are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable thangold, yes, than much fine gold,
(15:15):
sweeter also than honey and thedrippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them your servantis warned.
In keeping them there is greatreward.
Who can discern his errors?
Equip me of hidden faults.
Is this a shift of focus, or isDavid telling us that this can
all be seen in the sky?
David finishes Psalm 19 bysaying, Also keep back your
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servant from presumptuous sins.
Let them not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless, and Ishall be acquitted of great
transgression.
Let the words of my mouth andthe mediation of my heart be
acceptable in your sight, OLord, my rock and my Redeemer.
Is it possible that the gospelis written in the stars and they
had a knowledge that has beenlost today?
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Is it possible that the gospelwas written in the stars and
observed by those in ancienttimes?
Is it possible that in theperiod of more than 2,500 years
before written scripture, thatthe gospel was revealed in the
firmament through the stars?
When we think of majorrevelations of the gospel prior
to Israel, do we not have toconsider Abraham?
(16:23):
About Abraham, Paul wrote, InGalatians 3.8, the scripture,
foreseeing that God wouldjustify the Gentiles by faith,
preached the gospel beforehandto Abraham, saying, And then in
3.16 he writes, How are we toldthat Abraham was revealed the
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gospel?
Let's look back at Genesis andsee what we can find.
Genesis 13.16 says, I will makeyour offspring as the dust of
the earth, so that if one cancount the dust of the earth,
your offspring also can becounted.
So we have the promise of manydescendants.
But we see more in chapter 15.
In 15.1-6 of Genesis, we read,After these things, the word of
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the Lord came to Abram in avision.
Fear not, Abram.
I am your shield.
Your reward shall be verygreat.
But Abram said, O Lord God, Andthe heir of my house is Eliezer
of Damascus.
And he believed the Lord, andhe counted it to him as
(17:58):
righteousness.
Yahweh tells Abram in verse 5to number the stars.
The word number here is fromthe Hebrew word safar, which can
mean intensively to recount.
That is, celebrate, shoo forth,speak, talk, tell.
It comes from a root meaning, abook or a scroll.
So when Yahweh told Abraham tolook toward heaven and read the
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stars...
Look toward heaven and read thestars.
Then what happened next?
Abraham believed the Lord andhe counted it to him as
righteousness.
So the question is, did Abrahambelieve in God about having
many descendants save him?
Or did he actually see thegospel written in the stars?
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Did believing God about havingdescendants make Abraham
righteous to God by faith?
Or was there something morethat he saw?
In Hebrews 11.17, we read, Andthen Paul says in Galatians
3.16, Now the promises werespoken to Abraham and to his
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seed.
He did not say, and to seeds,as referring to many, but rather
to one, and to your seed, thatis Christ.
Did Abraham believe his sonIsaac was the seed?
Is it possible that Abrahambelieved that his son Isaac was
the Redeemer?
In Genesis 22, we read, ThenAbraham said to his young men,
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Stay here with the donkey.
I and the boy will go overthere and worship and come back
to you.
Is it not slightly shocking?
that he didn't argue withYahweh about this at all?
Did this very same Abraham nottry and convince Yahweh to save
people from his wrath in Sodomand Gomorrah?
Basically, trying to negotiatewith Yahweh about how many
people that he would save fromhis wrath?
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Is it safe to say that he sawmore than just a whole bunch of
stars that meant he'd have awhole bunch of descendants?
I think it is.
Well, I gotta say, I'm justgrateful for the church.
In conversing with my sisterthe other day, it came to my
attention...
that I missed some major pointsin this episode and in the
study guides, so I had a chanceto make some updates to it now.
(20:27):
We were just having ourordinary conversations about
Christ, Yeshua, and Yahweh, andall of a sudden it just clicked.
It's like God said, like, hey,you forgot something in your
message.
So I get to get that update in.
So let's finish this thing up.
We read in Psalm 147, 4, Hedetermines the number of the
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stars.
He gives to all of them theirnames.
So in episode number 40, westudied how Hebrew names always
had meaning.
And if Yahweh named the stars,would they not also have
meaning?
Would those names not also havesome sort of meaning to them?
In Job, we see a couple of theconstellations of the Zodiac
(21:10):
actually mentioned by name.
In Job 38, 31, we read, Can youbind the chains of the
Pleiades, or loose the cords ofOrion?
Can you lead forth the Mazarothin their season?
Or can you guide the bear withits children?
Now the book of Job is theearliest completed book of our
Bible.
It is said to have been writtenabout 2900 BC.
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The specific 12 constellations,recognized today as the Zodiac,
are referred to as the Mazarothin Hebrew.
And then again in Job we read,By his wind the heavens were
made fair, his hand pierced thefleeing serpent.
That's in Job 26, 13.
The fleeing serpent here isHydra.
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The constellation Hydra takesseven hours to pass overhead
because of its length.
It's the longest constellationin the sky.
So do you think that thesepassages in Job indicate that
there was an ancient knowledgeof the zodiac and its
constellations?
I would say absolutely they do.
They obviously knew about theseconstellations, and that was a
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long time ago.
2900 BC, having that recordedat that time, that's a long
time.
So we see that ancient evidencehas been found that has
recorded information about theconstellations and their names.
Where did this knowledgeoriginate?
Did people just stare up at thesky and figure this out?
Or were they taught?
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Ancient Persian and Arabiantraditions ascribe the invention
of astronomy to Adam, Seth, andEnoch, interestingly.
So that would have been wayearly on, having atoms going
back to the beginning.
Scholars suggest that the signsof the zodiac, or Maseroth, and
the names of the starsassociated with them originally
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were created as a mnemonicdevice by these forefathers of
the Hebrews to tell the story ofthe Bible.
Historian Flavius Josephus saysSeth and his offspring
preserved ancient astronomicalknowledge in pillars of stone.
And for what it's worth, thebook of Enoch states that an
angel revealed theconstellations to Enoch.
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An angel.
So it's not really surprisingthat the knowledge of this could
have come from the angels.
I mean, we've got to rememberthat Adam walked with God in the
garden.
Enoch walked with God.
Adam in the garden would havehad the divine counsel with him.
He was amongst God and hisdivine counsel.
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Just walking among them.
There again, is it really thatfar-fetched to think that they
were taught early on about thisby the Lord or the angels?
Not at all.
I don't see any kind ofsurprise there.
So we have all this ancientinformation about the
possibility of a gospel and thestars, but we haven't discussed
how in the world the wise menfound the newly born Christ.
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We know that they followed astar, but how did they know this
information?
In Matthew 2.10 we read, So itsays when they saw the star, so
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they were following something inthe skies.
Did the wise men who trackeddown the newly born Messiah get
their information from thestars?
Were they following the starsto see when and where he might
be born?
Is it possible that theconstellations told of the birth
of Messiah and even the timingof that event?
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The first sign of the zodiac isknown as Virgo, the virgin, a
young maiden holding a leafybranch and or a small sheaf of
grain.
In the Maseroth, aka thezodiac, the Hebrew name of this
constellation is Bethulah, whichalso means virgin.
and she holds a branch in herhand.
(25:08):
In this constellation, thebrightest star is Spica, Latin
for ear of grain.
The Hebrew name for the star,Tzemek, means branch, as does
the Arabic name, Elzemach.
In Egyptian, the star isAspolia, or the seed.
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There are 20 Hebrew words thatcan mean branch.
Smach, I don't know if I'msaying this right, but I'm
trying.
Zemach is consistentlyassociated with the Messiah, the
branch who will sprout up outof the root of David.
We see that in Isaiah 4.2,Jeremiah 23.5, and Zechariah
(25:50):
3.8.
The three Deccan constellationsassociated with Virgo are Coma,
Centaurus, and Boutes.
In the Egyptian temple ofDendera, Coma is portrayed as a
woman holding a child.
E.W.
Bollinger quotes the Arabianastronomer, Albamazar, making a
(26:12):
statement about Coma.
There rises in the firstDeccan, as the Persians,
Chaldeans, and Egyptians, andthe two Hermes, and Aselius,
teach, a young woman, whosePersian name denotes a pure
virgin, sitting on a throne,nourishing an infant boy, the
boy, I say, having a Hebrewname.
Are you seeing that theconstellations may have a deeper
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meaning than what we're taughttoday?
Many Christians are afraid totalk on this subject, as if it
is some kind of pagan worship.
But would it be surprising ifthe truth in the stars is being
misinterpreted by the ungodly?
Let's look at a passage inRevelation.
Let's take a look at aninteresting passage in
Revelation.
In the Revelation of John 12,1-2, we read, And a great sign
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appeared in heaven, a womanclothed with the sun, with the
moon under her feet, on her heada crown of twelve stars.
She was pregnant and was cryingout in birth pains and the
agony of giving birth.
So where did this great signJohn refers to of appear?
It appeared in heaven.
And what have we learned aboutthe heaven so far in our study?
(27:24):
What would it mean here?
I think he's referring to thesky, the rakia.
Where did we see the word signused early in our study?
He says, and a great signappeared in heaven.
Where did we see this wordbefore in our study today?
Oh, it would have been Genesis1.14.
And God said, let there belights in the firmament of the
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heavens to separate the day fromthe night, and let them be for
signs and for seasons and fordays and years.
The word John uses for signhere is semion.
This was the term used in theancient world to describe the
constellations of the zodiac.
The constellation Virgo, infact, has a crown of 12 stars.
Is this a coincidence?
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I don't think so.
It's been said that the 12stars could represent the 12
signs of the zodiac, which maybe symbolic of the 12 tribes of
Israel.
In Genesis 37, 9, we read, Thenhe dreamed another dream, and
told it to his brothers, andsaid, Behold, I have dreamed
another dream.
In this passage about Joseph'sdream, his father, mother, and
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the twelve tribes weresymbolized by the sun, the moon,
and twelve stars ofconstellations.
Then pulling all this togetherin a message called Biblical
Astronomy and the Birth ofChrist, David Curtis notes, In
his book, The Birth of ChristRecalculated, Ernest Martin
says, In the period of Christ'sbirth, the sun entered the head
(28:54):
position of the woman aboutAugust 13th and exited from her
feet about August 2nd.
But John saw the scene when thesun clothes or adorns the
woman.
This surely indicates that theposition of the sun in the
vision was located somewheremid-bodied of the woman between
the neck and knees.
The only time in the year thatthe sun could be in position to
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clothe the celestial woman, tobe mid-bodied, is when it was
located about 150 and 170degrees along the ecliptic.
This clothing of the woman bythe sun occurs for a 20 day
period each year.
This 20 degree spread couldindicate the general time when
Christ was born.
In 3 BC the sun would haveentered the celestial region
(29:39):
about August 27th and exitedfrom it about September 15th.
If John in the book ofRevelation is associating the
birth of Christ with the periodwhen the son is mid-bodied to
the woman, then Christ wouldhave had to been born within
that 20-day period.
From the point of view of theMagi, who were astronomers, this
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would have been the onlylogical sign under which the
Jewish Messiah might be born,especially if he were to be born
of a virgin.
Even today, astrologersrecognize that the sign of Virgo
is the one of which hasreference to a messianic world
ruler to be born of a virgin.
The key to narrowing down thedate of the birth of Christ is
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the moon.
The apostles said it waslocated under her feet.
Since the feet of Virgo, thevirgin, represent the last seven
degrees of the constellation,in the time of Christ this would
have been about 180 and 187degrees along the ecliptic.
the moon has to be positionedsomewhere under that seven
degree arc.
But the moon also has to be inthat exact location when the sun
(30:47):
is mid-bodied to Virgo.
In the year 3 BC, these twofactors came to precise
agreement for less than twohours.
As observed from Palestine onSeptember 11th, this is the only
day in the whole year that thiscould have taken place.
David Curtis says, now I'm notan astronomer, but if Martin is
right, then it seems quite clearthat Christ was born on
(31:10):
September 11th in the year 3 BC.
What about December 25th?
Martin states, Jupiter,recognized by Jews and Gentiles
alike as the planet of theMessiah, was located in Virgo's
womb and standing still,directly over Bethlehem, on
December 25th, 2 BC, when thechild was a little over a year
(31:31):
old.
Matthew states that the HolyFamily was settled in a house by
the time the Magi visited.
So there is actually possiblysome significance to the date of
Christmas, which is kind ofinteresting because I always
thought it was just a paganholiday.
I think this topic is extremelyfascinating.
If you find yourself interestedin biblical astronomy, there
(31:53):
are a couple of books I canrecommend.
These authors really dig intoit and go into the details and
start uncovering and unfoldingwhat can be uncovered and
unfolded about this gospel andthe stars.
One of the books is called TheWitness of the Stars by E.W.
Bollinger, and another one isThe Gospel in the Stars by
(32:13):
Joseph Seiss.
You can find them both onAmazon.
I know there's some more wherethose came from, but these are,
I would say, some good startingpoints.
So hopefully that will give youguys something to ponder out
there, some ideas.
So although the idea of naturalrevelation telling us that
there is a God does hold somewater, It doesn't really tell us
(32:34):
who God is and doesn't allow usto really know God.
It doesn't allow us to knowChrist or know the gospel, does
it?
When we think of it that way,why would Paul be teaching such
a thing?
He teaches that the gospel issalvation.
That's the power of salvation.
There's no other way.
So how would mountains andtrees and wind be telling us
anything about Christ?
It doesn't.
(32:55):
God has to draw us, but we alsohave to have the gospel.
The gospel is the vehicle thatGod uses for salvation.
We have to understand thegospel.
Going back to what we weretalking about earlier, you could
say that the gospel is beingrevealed through mankind, but
then why does he later quotePsalms in such a way?
I feel like we have to come tothe conclusion that there's
(33:18):
something in the stars and inthe sky that we just don't
understand today.
It's been lost in history.
And we just don't see and can'tsee some of these passages the
way they would have seen it inthose days.
I think we should stay open tothese ideas because it helps us
to better understand the depthof some of the amazing things
(33:38):
that God has done.
I mean, a gospel written in thestars.
Is that not cool?
The Bible is just a host oftruth and knowledge that's just
unbelievable.
Anyhow, that's what I got forthis week, and I look forward to
seeing you guys on the nextone.
Talk to you then.
Announcement (33:55):
Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to
Grace podcast, brought to you bythe finished work of our Lord,
Jesus Christ.
WakingUpToGrace.com
Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace
podcast, where we celebrate andexplore the finished work of our
Lord, Jesus Christ.
Tune in to the Waking Up toGrace podcast on every major
platform.
You can also listen to ourepisodes and read our full
transcripts atwakinguptograce.com.
And now, here's Lenny.
Lenny (00:22):
Welcome back to the podcast, everyone.
Glad to have you listening andhappy to be here.
Today's study is going to becentered around Romans 1, 19
through 20.
These passages are generallytaught as describing the concept
of natural revelation, that Godcan be found in nature, that we
are without excuse when wereject Christ because we can see
(00:44):
the mountains and trees thatGod has created when we're out
in nature.
This view of the Lord'screation is thought by many to
have the power to bring us tosalvation somehow.
We should know God when we lookat the world he created and
therefore have no excuse forunbelief.
The question I'll be askingtoday will be, is the concept of
natural revelation what Paul isteaching his audience here?
(01:05):
Does Paul believe that Yahwehcan be found by experiencing the
wind blowing through the trees?
Or a beautiful sunny day withcrystal clear skies?
Does Paul teach us that Christis revealed to humanity simply
through nature and oursurroundings?
I think when we look at thecontext of the passage, we find
that there must be somethingmuch more specific that Paul
(01:26):
tells us of in Romans 1.19-20.
So let's dive in, shall we?
I'll be using the ESVtranslation for our study today.
If you're new to the Waking Upto Grace podcast, I'm doing
things quite differently fromother podcasts.
I'm now creating study guidesfor our Roman studies.
I started doing this at episodenumber 46.
(01:46):
You can find these study guidesat wakinguptograce.com on our
podcast episodes pages.
There will be a link to eachepisode page in the description
section of my podcast episodesin your podcast app.
Just click that link and itwill take you right to my
episodes page atwakinguptograce.com.
My hope in putting togetherthese study guides is that
(02:08):
they'll help others in thechurch to ask the right
questions about Scripture.
According to our Lord, thetruth will set us free.
So should we not seek biblicaltruth through a careful
investigative process?
If we end up in error, we'llreceive the opposite of being
set free.
So I say we should make everyeffort to be sure that what we
believe is true.
(02:28):
We have nobody to blame butourselves if we don't.
So it is my hope and it is mypurpose that my podcast and
these study guides will help youto be transformed by the
renewing of your mind the wayPaul describes in his letter to
the Romans.
I encourage you to always checkto make sure that what you are
learning is true.
I believe that when we seek, wewill find.
Don't ever believe somethingjust because someone with
(02:50):
credentials says it.
Today, most of what we see asthe church is not following
guidance from the Spirit of God.
Instead, they ignorantly seektruth from leaders who are
actually suppressing the gloryof our Lord.
Life is too short to miss outon the gospel of grace and
realize the blessing of Christliving in and through you.
But enough of the intro.
Let's get started on today'sstudy.
(03:11):
Let's pick up from where weleft off in our last Romans
study to gain some context.
Paul says, For I am not ashamedof the gospel, for it is the
power of God for salvation toeveryone who believes, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness ofGod is revealed from faith for
faith.
As it is written, the righteousshall live by faith.
(03:34):
That's Romans 1, 16-17.
In episode number 49 we talkedabout the gospel.
also known as the good tidingsof our Lord, being revealed by
faith.
The righteousness of Yahweh wasrevealed through the gospel of
Christ Yeshua.
But is the gospel good news foreveryone that hears it?
Paul seems to tell us that itis not good news for everyone in
(03:57):
the next verse of his letter.
For the wrath of God isrevealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousnessof men who by their
unrighteousness suppress thetruth.
Is Paul speaking about thegospel here?
I'd say he definitely istalking about the gospel here.
He was just talking about it inthe verse prior, about the
gospel being the power of Godfor salvation.
(04:18):
And now he's saying the wrathof God is revealed from the
heavens in the same context ofthe gospel.
The question we've got to askourselves then is, is Yahweh an
angry God or a just God?
Is he just angry, blowing histemper?
Or is justice being served whenGod is angry?
Does he have a right to beangry?
(04:40):
Is he just in his ways?
In scripture we see absolutelyhe is just.
His laws are good and holy,according to Paul.
But let's look at some otherpassages to be sure that the
gospel can mean wrath for thosewho reject it.
Let's see if Yahweh uses thegospel in his divine justice
system.
In John 3.36, John the Baptistproclaimed, "...whoever believes
(05:03):
in the Son has eternal life."Whoever does not obey the Son
shall not see life, but thewrath of God remains on him.
What does believing the gospeldo for those with faith?
Well, it gives them eternallife, according to this passage.
So who does God's wrath remainon, according to this passage?
It would be those who don'tbelieve.
Whoever does not obey the Son.
(05:25):
It starts out saying whoeverbelieves, and then whoever does
not obey.
What he's saying is that thosewho don't believe, you won't see
life.
The wrath of God remains onyou.
what would then be the outcomefor those who reject the gospel?
It would be wrath.
The wrath of God is still onyou.
We're into that passage.
Then Paul says in Romans 2.8,But for those who are
(05:47):
self-seeking and do not obey thetruth, but obey
unrighteousness, there will bewrath and fury.
So how to avoid God's wrath andavoid being brought to justice
for our sins before a most holyGod?
Paul continues by saying, Onthat day when, according to my
gospel...
God judges the secrets of menby Christ Jesus.
And that's in Romans 2.16, alittle bit later in the letter
(06:12):
that we haven't gotten to yet.
Can we confirm that Yahwehjudges men through the gospel of
Christ though?
It says it right there.
So we have to be able to saythat.
That helps set some context forwhat we were reading in our
study today, doesn't it?
Did Paul believe the gospel washow God was judging mankind?
Yeah, he absolutely does.
The gospel is judgment.
(06:33):
For the unbeliever and itssalvation.
For the believer and life.
And what's the judgment?
What's the wages of sin?
Death.
Spiritual death and literaldeath.
So keep this in mind as we gointo the next verse in our
study.
We left off with Paul saying inRomans 1, 16-18, For I am not
ashamed of the gospel.
(06:54):
For it is the power of God forsalvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first andalso to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness ofGod is revealed.
And then we read, That's verse19.
Is this statement being made byPaul connected with the
(07:26):
previous verse?
I would say for sure it is.
This is all connected.
He's not changing the subject.
He's saying, for what can beknown?
He's just adding into it.
So I'm not seeing any kind ofchange of subject.
If we study the passage andlook at it, check it out for
yourself.
I'm not seeing any change.
So the next question would be,if what can be known about God
is the gospel, who is them?
(07:49):
Who is the they here?
It says the gospel is plain tothem because God has shown it to
them.
Who is he talking about when hesays them?
Doesn't sound like he's talkingabout to the saints in Rome
that he's writing to, does it?
If them is something broaderthan just the saints in Rome,
such as mankind in general,let's just say, if we take it
(08:12):
that way, has the gospel beenshown to mankind?
Paul continues in verse 20, Forhis invisible attributes,
namely his eternal power anddivine nature, have been clearly
perceived ever since thecreation of the world.
There again we see they andthem.
(08:34):
Is this still a continuedstatement in the context of the
revelation of the gospel?
I would say for sure it is.
Can our Lord's eternal natureand divine power be found in the
gospel?
Yeah, we learned that earlierin Romans.
The gospel is the power of God.
The resurrection, the power ofGod.
(08:54):
We see Paul answer this earlierin his Romans letter, Romans
1.4.
We read, So has the gospel beenclearly perceived since the
creation of the world?
If we think back on episodes 42and 43, the gospel was
(09:19):
certainly declared throughouthistory by Yahweh through
mankind.
But, Is mankind what Paulrefers to as the things that
have been made?
Or is it something else?
Later in our Roman study, Paulsays something very interesting.
In chapter 10, verse 17, hesays, So faith comes from
hearing, and hearing from theword of Christ.
(09:41):
But I ask, have they not heard?
Indeed they have.
For their voice has gone out toall the earth, and their words
to the ends of the world.
Now we have to realize thatPaul is not the original author
of this statement.
Their voice has gone out to allthe earth and their words to
the ends of the world.
This is Paul quoting Psalm19.4.
(10:02):
Most Bible translations makethis indication in some way to
help us.
The ESV uses quotes and theNASB uses capital letters as an
indicator.
And then we can search in thecolumns or footer for the
passage reference.
But it's Psalm 19.4 and itreads...
Their measuring line goes outthrough all the earth and their
(10:22):
words to the end of the world.
And them he has sent a tent forthe sun.
So let's dig a little more intoPsalm 19 and see how the gospel
was declared to the ends of theworld.
Are you ready for this?
Psalm 19.1 So this is justdigging further into that Psalm
19 passage Paul was quoting in19.4.
(10:43):
Psalm 19.1 reads, The heavensdeclare the glory of God, and
the sky above proclaims hishandiwork.
The Hebrew word for sky here israkia.
In Genesis 1, we see that thestars are in this expanse.
The Septuagint, which is theGreek translation of the Old
Testament, uses the wordfirmament instead of expanse.
(11:05):
For reference, Genesis 1.14reads, And God said, Let there
be lights in the expanse, orfirmament.
The Hebrew word for firmamenthere is rakia.
(11:30):
So David in our psalm istalking about the same thing
that we see here in Genesis.
Along the lines here, but on adifferent note, the word zodiac
means path or way.
The zodiac is the stages of thesun's path through the heavens
in 12 months.
And another very interestingfact is the word sign used here
(11:50):
in Genesis is from the Hebrewword auth.
So when he says, and let thembe for signs and for seasons and
for days and years about thestars, the word sign is a Hebrew
word auth, which means the signor the seal.
Evidently, when you examine theHebrew letters in auth, you get
aleph, which means leader, vav,which means nail, and tav,
(12:17):
which means cross.
So you'd have leader, nail,cross.
And let them be for signs andfor seasons, for days and years.
Isn't that interesting?
Is it possible that the gospelof our Lord is written in the
stars and that all the thingswe're told about the meaning of
the stars is actually an error?
We hear things about our starsigns and what that means about
(12:40):
you, your birthday, and whatkind of personality traits you
have, all these differentthings, and predictions.
Is that really what the starsare telling us?
Is David talking about thestars pointing us to Christ?
Did Yahweh actually have a planwritten in the stars?
The plan of redemption?
Let's read on and see what wecan take from the rest of Psalm
(13:03):
19.
19, 1-4 says, kind of puttingit all together, we read, Did
(13:26):
David just tell us that the skypours out speech day to day?
And night to night revealsknowledge?
The sky?
In the King James Version,instead of reading, There is no
speech, nor are there words,whose voice is not heard.
In verse 3, the King Jamessays, There is no speech, nor
(13:49):
language, where their voice isnot heard.
Is David saying that thisgospel and the stars can be
heard in any language?
Would that mean even after theTower of Babel and the
scattering of the nations?
that the stars could still beread, and that they can be read
in all languages?
In the next verses about thesun, David says, and this is
(14:13):
Psalm 19, 5-6, "...in them hehas set a tent for the sun,
which is a bridegroom coming outof his chamber.
It rejoices as a strong man torun his course.
Its rising is from one end ofthe heavens, and its circuit to
the other end of them, and thereis nothing hidden from its
heat." So can you see the zodiachere?
(14:34):
Zodiac is the stages of thesun's path through the heavens
in 12 months.
Can you see that here?
I'm seeing it.
The next verses baffle many,thinking that there is an abrupt
shift in focus.
Let's think about this aminute.
So we read, The law of the Lordis perfect, restoring the soul.
(14:54):
The testimony of the Lord issure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord areright.
Rejoicing the heart, thecommandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean,enduring forever.
The judgments of the Lord aretrue.
They are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable thangold, yes, than much fine gold,
(15:15):
sweeter also than honey and thedrippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them your servantis warned.
In keeping them there is greatreward.
Who can discern his errors?
Equip me of hidden faults.
Is this a shift of focus, or isDavid telling us that this can
all be seen in the sky?
David finishes Psalm 19 bysaying, Also keep back your
(15:40):
servant from presumptuous sins.
Let them not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless, and Ishall be acquitted of great
transgression.
Let the words of my mouth andthe mediation of my heart be
acceptable in your sight, OLord, my rock and my Redeemer.
Is it possible that the gospelis written in the stars and they
had a knowledge that has beenlost today?
(16:01):
Is it possible that the gospelwas written in the stars and
observed by those in ancienttimes?
Is it possible that in theperiod of more than 2,500 years
before written scripture, thatthe gospel was revealed in the
firmament through the stars?
When we think of majorrevelations of the gospel prior
to Israel, do we not have toconsider Abraham?
(16:23):
About Abraham, Paul wrote, InGalatians 3.8, the scripture,
foreseeing that God wouldjustify the Gentiles by faith,
preached the gospel beforehandto Abraham, saying, And then in
3.16 he writes, How are we toldthat Abraham was revealed the
(16:51):
gospel?
Let's look back at Genesis andsee what we can find.
Genesis 13.16 says, I will makeyour offspring as the dust of
the earth, so that if one cancount the dust of the earth,
your offspring also can becounted.
So we have the promise of manydescendants.
But we see more in chapter 15.
In 15.1-6 of Genesis, we read,After these things, the word of
(17:16):
the Lord came to Abram in avision.
Fear not, Abram.
I am your shield.
Your reward shall be verygreat.
But Abram said, O Lord God, Andthe heir of my house is Eliezer
of Damascus.
And he believed the Lord, andhe counted it to him as
(17:58):
righteousness.
Yahweh tells Abram in verse 5to number the stars.
The word number here is fromthe Hebrew word safar, which can
mean intensively to recount.
That is, celebrate, shoo forth,speak, talk, tell.
It comes from a root meaning, abook or a scroll.
So when Yahweh told Abraham tolook toward heaven and read the
(18:22):
stars...
Look toward heaven and read thestars.
Then what happened next?
Abraham believed the Lord andhe counted it to him as
righteousness.
So the question is, did Abrahambelieve in God about having
many descendants save him?
Or did he actually see thegospel written in the stars?
(18:43):
Did believing God about havingdescendants make Abraham
righteous to God by faith?
Or was there something morethat he saw?
In Hebrews 11.17, we read, Andthen Paul says in Galatians
3.16, Now the promises werespoken to Abraham and to his
(19:21):
seed.
He did not say, and to seeds,as referring to many, but rather
to one, and to your seed, thatis Christ.
Did Abraham believe his sonIsaac was the seed?
Is it possible that Abrahambelieved that his son Isaac was
the Redeemer?
In Genesis 22, we read, ThenAbraham said to his young men,
(19:43):
Stay here with the donkey.
I and the boy will go overthere and worship and come back
to you.
Is it not slightly shocking?
that he didn't argue withYahweh about this at all?
Did this very same Abraham nottry and convince Yahweh to save
people from his wrath in Sodomand Gomorrah?
Basically, trying to negotiatewith Yahweh about how many
people that he would save fromhis wrath?
(20:04):
Is it safe to say that he sawmore than just a whole bunch of
stars that meant he'd have awhole bunch of descendants?
I think it is.
Well, I gotta say, I'm justgrateful for the church.
In conversing with my sisterthe other day, it came to my
attention...
that I missed some major pointsin this episode and in the
study guides, so I had a chanceto make some updates to it now.
(20:27):
We were just having ourordinary conversations about
Christ, Yeshua, and Yahweh, andall of a sudden it just clicked.
It's like God said, like, hey,you forgot something in your
message.
So I get to get that update in.
So let's finish this thing up.
We read in Psalm 147, 4, Hedetermines the number of the
(20:49):
stars.
He gives to all of them theirnames.
So in episode number 40, westudied how Hebrew names always
had meaning.
And if Yahweh named the stars,would they not also have
meaning?
Would those names not also havesome sort of meaning to them?
In Job, we see a couple of theconstellations of the Zodiac
(21:10):
actually mentioned by name.
In Job 38, 31, we read, Can youbind the chains of the
Pleiades, or loose the cords ofOrion?
Can you lead forth the Mazarothin their season?
Or can you guide the bear withits children?
Now the book of Job is theearliest completed book of our
Bible.
It is said to have been writtenabout 2900 BC.
(21:33):
The specific 12 constellations,recognized today as the Zodiac,
are referred to as the Mazarothin Hebrew.
And then again in Job we read,By his wind the heavens were
made fair, his hand pierced thefleeing serpent.
That's in Job 26, 13.
The fleeing serpent here isHydra.
(21:54):
The constellation Hydra takesseven hours to pass overhead
because of its length.
It's the longest constellationin the sky.
So do you think that thesepassages in Job indicate that
there was an ancient knowledgeof the zodiac and its
constellations?
I would say absolutely they do.
They obviously knew about theseconstellations, and that was a
(22:16):
long time ago.
2900 BC, having that recordedat that time, that's a long
time.
So we see that ancient evidencehas been found that has
recorded information about theconstellations and their names.
Where did this knowledgeoriginate?
Did people just stare up at thesky and figure this out?
Or were they taught?
(22:37):
Ancient Persian and Arabiantraditions ascribe the invention
of astronomy to Adam, Seth, andEnoch, interestingly.
So that would have been wayearly on, having atoms going
back to the beginning.
Scholars suggest that the signsof the zodiac, or Maseroth, and
the names of the starsassociated with them originally
(22:57):
were created as a mnemonicdevice by these forefathers of
the Hebrews to tell the story ofthe Bible.
Historian Flavius Josephus saysSeth and his offspring
preserved ancient astronomicalknowledge in pillars of stone.
And for what it's worth, thebook of Enoch states that an
angel revealed theconstellations to Enoch.
(23:18):
An angel.
So it's not really surprisingthat the knowledge of this could
have come from the angels.
I mean, we've got to rememberthat Adam walked with God in the
garden.
Enoch walked with God.
Adam in the garden would havehad the divine counsel with him.
He was amongst God and hisdivine counsel.
(23:39):
Just walking among them.
There again, is it really thatfar-fetched to think that they
were taught early on about thisby the Lord or the angels?
Not at all.
I don't see any kind ofsurprise there.
So we have all this ancientinformation about the
possibility of a gospel and thestars, but we haven't discussed
how in the world the wise menfound the newly born Christ.
(24:01):
We know that they followed astar, but how did they know this
information?
In Matthew 2.10 we read, So itsays when they saw the star, so
(24:26):
they were following something inthe skies.
Did the wise men who trackeddown the newly born Messiah get
their information from thestars?
Were they following the starsto see when and where he might
be born?
Is it possible that theconstellations told of the birth
of Messiah and even the timingof that event?
(24:46):
The first sign of the zodiac isknown as Virgo, the virgin, a
young maiden holding a leafybranch and or a small sheaf of
grain.
In the Maseroth, aka thezodiac, the Hebrew name of this
constellation is Bethulah, whichalso means virgin.
and she holds a branch in herhand.
(25:08):
In this constellation, thebrightest star is Spica, Latin
for ear of grain.
The Hebrew name for the star,Tzemek, means branch, as does
the Arabic name, Elzemach.
In Egyptian, the star isAspolia, or the seed.
(25:29):
There are 20 Hebrew words thatcan mean branch.
Smach, I don't know if I'msaying this right, but I'm
trying.
Zemach is consistentlyassociated with the Messiah, the
branch who will sprout up outof the root of David.
We see that in Isaiah 4.2,Jeremiah 23.5, and Zechariah
(25:50):
3.8.
The three Deccan constellationsassociated with Virgo are Coma,
Centaurus, and Boutes.
In the Egyptian temple ofDendera, Coma is portrayed as a
woman holding a child.
E.W.
Bollinger quotes the Arabianastronomer, Albamazar, making a
(26:12):
statement about Coma.
There rises in the firstDeccan, as the Persians,
Chaldeans, and Egyptians, andthe two Hermes, and Aselius,
teach, a young woman, whosePersian name denotes a pure
virgin, sitting on a throne,nourishing an infant boy, the
boy, I say, having a Hebrewname.
Are you seeing that theconstellations may have a deeper
(26:38):
meaning than what we're taughttoday?
Many Christians are afraid totalk on this subject, as if it
is some kind of pagan worship.
But would it be surprising ifthe truth in the stars is being
misinterpreted by the ungodly?
Let's look at a passage inRevelation.
Let's take a look at aninteresting passage in
Revelation.
In the Revelation of John 12,1-2, we read, And a great sign
(27:02):
appeared in heaven, a womanclothed with the sun, with the
moon under her feet, on her heada crown of twelve stars.
She was pregnant and was cryingout in birth pains and the
agony of giving birth.
So where did this great signJohn refers to of appear?
It appeared in heaven.
And what have we learned aboutthe heaven so far in our study?
(27:24):
What would it mean here?
I think he's referring to thesky, the rakia.
Where did we see the word signused early in our study?
He says, and a great signappeared in heaven.
Where did we see this wordbefore in our study today?
Oh, it would have been Genesis1.14.
And God said, let there belights in the firmament of the
(27:45):
heavens to separate the day fromthe night, and let them be for
signs and for seasons and fordays and years.
The word John uses for signhere is semion.
This was the term used in theancient world to describe the
constellations of the zodiac.
The constellation Virgo, infact, has a crown of 12 stars.
Is this a coincidence?
(28:07):
I don't think so.
It's been said that the 12stars could represent the 12
signs of the zodiac, which maybe symbolic of the 12 tribes of
Israel.
In Genesis 37, 9, we read, Thenhe dreamed another dream, and
told it to his brothers, andsaid, Behold, I have dreamed
another dream.
In this passage about Joseph'sdream, his father, mother, and
(28:34):
the twelve tribes weresymbolized by the sun, the moon,
and twelve stars ofconstellations.
Then pulling all this togetherin a message called Biblical
Astronomy and the Birth ofChrist, David Curtis notes, In
his book, The Birth of ChristRecalculated, Ernest Martin
says, In the period of Christ'sbirth, the sun entered the head
(28:54):
position of the woman aboutAugust 13th and exited from her
feet about August 2nd.
But John saw the scene when thesun clothes or adorns the
woman.
This surely indicates that theposition of the sun in the
vision was located somewheremid-bodied of the woman between
the neck and knees.
The only time in the year thatthe sun could be in position to
(29:16):
clothe the celestial woman, tobe mid-bodied, is when it was
located about 150 and 170degrees along the ecliptic.
This clothing of the woman bythe sun occurs for a 20 day
period each year.
This 20 degree spread couldindicate the general time when
Christ was born.
In 3 BC the sun would haveentered the celestial region
(29:39):
about August 27th and exitedfrom it about September 15th.
If John in the book ofRevelation is associating the
birth of Christ with the periodwhen the son is mid-bodied to
the woman, then Christ wouldhave had to been born within
that 20-day period.
From the point of view of theMagi, who were astronomers, this
(30:01):
would have been the onlylogical sign under which the
Jewish Messiah might be born,especially if he were to be born
of a virgin.
Even today, astrologersrecognize that the sign of Virgo
is the one of which hasreference to a messianic world
ruler to be born of a virgin.
The key to narrowing down thedate of the birth of Christ is
(30:24):
the moon.
The apostles said it waslocated under her feet.
Since the feet of Virgo, thevirgin, represent the last seven
degrees of the constellation,in the time of Christ this would
have been about 180 and 187degrees along the ecliptic.
the moon has to be positionedsomewhere under that seven
degree arc.
But the moon also has to be inthat exact location when the sun
(30:47):
is mid-bodied to Virgo.
In the year 3 BC, these twofactors came to precise
agreement for less than twohours.
As observed from Palestine onSeptember 11th, this is the only
day in the whole year that thiscould have taken place.
David Curtis says, now I'm notan astronomer, but if Martin is
right, then it seems quite clearthat Christ was born on
(31:10):
September 11th in the year 3 BC.
What about December 25th?
Martin states, Jupiter,recognized by Jews and Gentiles
alike as the planet of theMessiah, was located in Virgo's
womb and standing still,directly over Bethlehem, on
December 25th, 2 BC, when thechild was a little over a year
(31:31):
old.
Matthew states that the HolyFamily was settled in a house by
the time the Magi visited.
So there is actually possiblysome significance to the date of
Christmas, which is kind ofinteresting because I always
thought it was just a paganholiday.
I think this topic is extremelyfascinating.
If you find yourself interestedin biblical astronomy, there
(31:53):
are a couple of books I canrecommend.
These authors really dig intoit and go into the details and
start uncovering and unfoldingwhat can be uncovered and
unfolded about this gospel andthe stars.
One of the books is called TheWitness of the Stars by E.W.
Bollinger, and another one isThe Gospel in the Stars by
(32:13):
Joseph Seiss.
You can find them both onAmazon.
I know there's some more wherethose came from, but these are,
I would say, some good startingpoints.
So hopefully that will give youguys something to ponder out
there, some ideas.
So although the idea of naturalrevelation telling us that
there is a God does hold somewater, It doesn't really tell us
(32:34):
who God is and doesn't allow usto really know God.
It doesn't allow us to knowChrist or know the gospel, does
it?
When we think of it that way,why would Paul be teaching such
a thing?
He teaches that the gospel issalvation.
That's the power of salvation.
There's no other way.
So how would mountains andtrees and wind be telling us
anything about Christ?
It doesn't.
(32:55):
God has to draw us, but we alsohave to have the gospel.
The gospel is the vehicle thatGod uses for salvation.
We have to understand thegospel.
Going back to what we weretalking about earlier, you could
say that the gospel is beingrevealed through mankind, but
then why does he later quotePsalms in such a way?
I feel like we have to come tothe conclusion that there's
(33:18):
something in the stars and inthe sky that we just don't
understand today.
It's been lost in history.
And we just don't see and can'tsee some of these passages the
way they would have seen it inthose days.
I think we should stay open tothese ideas because it helps us
to better understand the depthof some of the amazing things
(33:38):
that God has done.
I mean, a gospel written in thestars.
Is that not cool?
The Bible is just a host oftruth and knowledge that's just
unbelievable.
Anyhow, that's what I got forthis week, and I look forward to
seeing you guys on the nextone.
Talk to you then.
Announcement (33:55):
Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to
Grace podcast, brought to you bythe finished work of our Lord,
Jesus Christ.
WakingUpToGrace.com
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