The Second Coming of Christ is Written in the Sky :: By John Sarkett

“He counts the stars and calls them all by name” (Psalm 147:4).

There is a deep meaning in the signs of the zodiac, and few there be that know of it: it is prophecy, what we know as Bible prophecy, but the zodiac itself, the heavens, testified to God’s prophecy even before there was a Bible as we know it.

Each of the astrological signs, in one way or another, talks about a mighty Person who is going to come, triumph over a great enemy, take away sin and its terrible consequences, and establish an era of great health, wealth, and well-being right here on this earth. This person is Jesus Christ. Each of these signs tells a part of the story of his return in triumphant glory — returning to establish his kingdom on this earth.

Before there was the written Word, remarkably, the astrological signs were God’s testimony, his own sign language, the revelation of his plan. Moses, who wrote the first five books of the Bible, was not born until 1571 B.C., some 2,433 years after the creation of Adam, yet he knew and understood God’s plan.

“And the sound of this testimony has gone into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world,” the apostle Paul wrote, quoting Psalm 19, where David writes about the stars, and how they declare the glory of God, a very specific, prophetic glory, not just the glory of shining orbs lighting up an otherwise pitch-dark night (Romans 10:18).

The word zodiac itself is taken from the Greek word zodiakos. It means ‘a circle.’ Since so many astrological signs depict animals, like that of a lion, fish, scorpion, ram, and so on, many have assumed that the word ‘zodiac’ comes from the Greek zoe, to live, the same place we get our word zoo, or zoology. But the root of zodiakos is actually zoad.

Zoad means a way, or a path, or a going by steps. In this connection, the word zoad describes how the sun appears to move through the stars — step by step — every twelve months. As the sun returns to almost the exact spot that it occupied on the same date a year earlier, this course is repeated every year. So, the path, or way, or the going by steps through the sky is called the zodiac.

Starting with Job

Most of us would assume that Genesis is probably the oldest book in the Bible, since it starts at the beginning of the story. Surprisingly, this is not the case. Possibly dating from as early as 2000 B.C., the book of Job is regarded by most scholars as the oldest book in the Bible. Interestingly, this is the book that most often mentions the stars. Job refers to two zodiac signs: Taurus, distinguished by the Pleiades, and Scorpio, called the “Chambers of the South” in the King James Version. Three other constellations are mentioned as well: Orion, the Bear, and Hydra.

After Job endured his immense suffering, God asks him a number of questions, including: “Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?”

Now this strange word Mazzaroth occurs twice in Scripture, first in Job 38:32 and again in a slightly different form, Mazzaloth, in 2 Kings 23:5. It means The Separated, The Divided, or The Apportioned. It refers to the allotted spaces given to the twelve signs in the circle of the zodiac.

So the great God Jehovah is asking Job if he can bring forth the twelve signs in their successive order. Of course, he could not. Only Jehovah could bring these signs into view, at the appointed time, and for his own purpose.

Take that thought one step further and you quickly realize that these zodiac signs belong to Jehovah — not the astrologers. He invented them. He used them as his own “neon signs” during the early years of the history of man. (That’s how Enoch, seventh from Adam, was able to “see” the Lord coming with ten thousands of his saints (Jude v.14).

Jehovah, indeed, did regard the stars with a proprietary perspective. He created them. He created them for a purpose: to be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years (Genesis 1:14-19).

“A sign” is from the Hebrew avah. It means a prophetic mark.

“Seasons” is from the Hebrew moed. It means an appointed time, here a prophetic appointed time.

Days and years have a natural meaning here. The sun is a star. We get day and night from the turning of Earth in reference to our sun star.

But days and years, as Biblical terms, also have prophetic significance. For example, to the Lord, a thousand years is as a day, and a day as a thousand years (2 Peter 3.8). Or the day of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). Or the three-and-one-half years of Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21).

God also put the stars in specific places (Psalms 8:3). They are his work, his design. And most important of all, God named the stars (Psalms 147:4. “He counts the stars and calls them all by name” (Living Bible). As a shepherd leads his sheep, calling each by its pet name, and counts them to see that none are lost or strayed, so God does with stars and planets! (Isaiah 40:26). God left the naming of the animals to man, but He named the stars himself — because of their prophetic significance.

It’s by those names that God’s plan is revealed in the stars. Spica means The Branch. Arcturus means He Comes. Pollux means Who Comes to Suffer. Antares means The Wounded. Elnath means Slain. Procyon means The Redeemer. Orion means Coming as Light. Sirius means The Prince. Vega means He Shall Be Exalted.

In fact, many of our words have come down to us from God’s naming of the stars. For example, the brightest star in the sky is Sirius. Coming from this very same root is the Egyptian osiris, the Hebrew sirai, the Etruscan aesar, and the Indian aswara. These mean prince, sire, or sir. Those of us in the English-speaking world use the word sir every day as a term of dignity and respect.

If the ancients took words from these stars, did they, in fact, know the prophetic messages that God was presenting to them? They did, but unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the ancient Babylonian astrologers had twisted many of these stories, and then later the Greeks expanded them into their fantastic myths. And so the truth of the stars, the truth in the zodiac was lost.

However, it’s interesting to note that all cultures — the Hebrews, the Aztecs, the Babylonians, the Norsemen, the Egyptians, and the Chinese — all recognized the same names for the stars and the same patterns they make up. This has led some scholars to conclude that Judaism and Christianity descended from the “original religions.” Actually, just the opposite is true. Just as Satan has taken everything else that God has made and fashioned his own imitation, so too did he take the original, true religion that God wrote in the stars and transmogrified it into the heathen religions.

If this information was lost for so long, how did we get it back?

In the middle of the 19th century, a scholar of the ancient classics and the history of language was struck by Psalm 147:4, which says that God calls the stars by their names. This scholar, Frances Rolleston, spent most of the rest of her life studying the root meanings of the names of the stars in many ancient languages. Though most of the names of the stars were lost, some 100 or so were preserved in either Hebrew or Arabic. These continue to be used by astronomers today, though the meanings are unknown to them.

Frances Rolleston published her findings in 1863 in a book entitled, appropriately enough, Mazzaroth. Several other writers also took up the theme and popularized her work.

What she learned can help us be surer of the reality of the ‘rest of the story,’ the kingdom of heaven — where it is and what it will be like.

Walking the circle written in the sky

Twelve signs forming a circle. How can we know where to begin?

Through the “procession of the Equinoxes,” the sun gradually shifts its position a little each year, till in about every 2,000 years, it begins the year in a different sign. This was foreseen by the ancient Egyptians, and it was also foreseen that succeeding generations would not know when and where the sun had begun its course, and where the teaching of this heavenly book commenced, and where we were to open its first page.

And so the Sphinx was invented as a memorial guide to the heavens. It had the head of a woman and the body and tail of a lion, to tell us where to start and stop. The word “Sphinx” is from the Greek “sphingo,” to join — because it binds together the story’s two ends, making this circle of the heavens.

Confirmation of this is found in one of the oldest zodiacs, dating back to approximately the year 2000 B.C. This is the zodiac of Dendereh. It was discovered by scholars in the ceiling of the portico of the temple of Esneh in Egypt. In this zodiac, there is placed between the signs of Virgo and Leo a picture of the Sphinx.

That, then, solves the “riddle” of the Sphinx.

Compare the prophecies in the Bible with the prophecies in the heavens, and you may quickly further confirm that the place to begin is Virgo … the place to end is Leo.

Why?

In Genesis 3:15 (the first book of the Bible, notably), we have a promise concerning the Seed of the woman who would be wounded in the heel but, in turn, crush the head of his enemy. Virgo signifies a woman.

And then, in Revelation 5:5 (the last book of the Bible, notably again), we have a promise concerning triumph of the lion of the tribe of Judah. Leo signifies that lion.

The 12 signs of the zodiac are divided into three books of four signs each. As Bullinger brings out in an appendix of his Companion Bible, God is indeed a highly organized, precise personage. Here is how his heavenly book is organized: (The Companion Bible. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers) Appendix 12.)

First Book. The Redeemer. (His first coming)

Virgo. The prophecy of the promised seed of the woman. Christ, the Incarnate Son.

Libra. The Redeemer’s work (grace). Christ, the Redeemer.

Scorpio. The Redeemer’s conflict. Christ, the Sufferer.

Sagittarius. The prophecy fulfilled. Christ, the Conqueror.

Second Book. The Redeemed. (His work and results)

Capricornus. The prophecy of deliverance. Christ, the Sacrifice.

Aquarius. Results of work bestowed. Christ, the Living Water.

Pisces. Results of work enjoyed. Christ, the Liberator.

Aries. The prophesied deliverance fulfilled. Christ, the Crowned Lamb.

Third Book. The Redeemer. (His second coming)

Taurus. The prophecy of coming judgment. Christ, the Judge.

Gemini. The Redeemer’s reign in glory. Christ, the King.

Cancer. The Redeemer’s possession safe. Christ, the Protector.

Leo. The prophecy of triumph fulfilled. Christ, the Victor.

Simplifying that magnificent organization just a bit, the meanings of the signs would be as follows:

• The Seed of the woman.
• The required price paid.
• The mortal conflict.
• The final triumph.
• Life out of death.
• Blessing out of victory.
• Deliverance out of bondage.
• Glory out of humiliation.

These remain to be fulfilled:

• His glorious coming.
• His rule on Earth.
• His possessions held secure.
• His enemies destroyed.

We don’t know the meanings of these star groups because of the physical patterns they make up. They don’t make up patterns that look like fish or rams. We know the meanings from the names of the stars themselves, the names that God himself gave them.

The sign of Taurus is about to be fulfilled. In terms of both human years and eternity, we stand on the precipice.

Excerpted from After Armageddon by John A. Sarkett. Other titles: Bach and Heaven: The Promise of Afterlife in the Text of the Cantatas; Strangest Stories in the Bible; Revelation Illustrated. He is a frequent contributor to Rapture Ready.

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