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Answer for yourself: What does the bible teach about astrology and the heavens?
More than likely you know that from the very very ancient mankind observed the Heavens and the stars in them. What you more than likely did not know that likewise from the beginning Gods people were instructed to and encouraged to study the stars and the signs in the heavens. We find this admonition right in the beginning of our Bibles and the Hebrew Scriptures.
Gen 1:14 14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (KJV)
God instructs us from the beginning that the stars and the heavens are for signs!
Answer for yourself: What is the meaning of these "signs"? Signs for what?
Well it cannot be for seasons (spring, summer, etc) because that is mentioned in addition to "signs" in the same verse so "signs" must mean something else.
Strong's Concordance
226 'owth (oth); probably from 225 (in the sense of appearing); a
signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen,
prodigy, evidence, etc.: KJV-- mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon:
226 'owth- 1) a sign, a signal
2) a token, an ensign, a standard, a miracle, a proof
Answer for yourself: Could these "lights" in the firmament mean more than the Sun and the Moon? Could these "lights" in the firmament possibly mean astrological signs or the signs of the Zodiac? Does the bible ever mention the Zodiac? You might be surprised but the Bible surely does mention the Zodiac and often synagogues had a zodiac in their floor.
In 1928, Israeli farmers in Beth Alpha, located at the base of Mount
Gilboa in the Valley of Jezreel, were digging an irrigation ditch when
they unearthed a brightly colored mosaic chip. A Hebrew inscription on the
piece
was cause for consultation with Professor Eliezer Sukenik of the Hebrew
University, who immediately ordered an archaeological dig. This led to the
discovery of the remains of a fifth century synagogue's pillars and walls.
The greatest surprise came when they unearthed an almost completely intact
zodiac mosaic floor.
The elegant floor of warmly colored stones contains an instantly recognizable image of the twelve signs. The Greek Sun god Helios is the largest image, appearing in the center of the horoscope wheel. He's crowned and is shown inside his chariot surrounded by stars and a crescent Moon. Four horses appear with him, and his chariot has multi-colored wheels.
Beautiful renditions of the zodiac signs appear in the house sectors, starting with Libra at the rising sign point, rather than traditional Aries. Angels of the four seasons decorate the corners. Twenty-two different stones were used to create this masterpiece; the Hebrew alphabet is comprised of the same number of letters. The pavement was made in the time of Emperor Justin the First, who reigned from 518 to 527. It covers the entire nave area and has inscriptions referring to the zodiac in Hebrew and Greek. Examples of the twelve zodiac signs with Helios in his sun chariot surrounded by angels have been discovered in seven ancient synagogues in Israel. In addition to Beth Alpha, the zodiacs appear at Hammath Tiberias, Khirbet Susiya, Yafia, Sepphoris, Beth Shean, Husifa, and Na'aran.
Hebrew tradition believes the first Jewish patriarchs used astrology, including Abraham. Abraham came from Babylon or Mesopotamia, a city with a name that translates as "light of the astrologers," where planetary deities were worshipped. One astrological treatise possibly written by Abraham is known to have existed in the third century B.C. Abraham's father Terah was also an astrologer.
Moses (c.1200-1100 B.C.), as Pharaoh's adopted son, was also an astrologer. He correlated the attributes of the twelve signs to the twelve tribes of Israel, then took the people from the tabernacle in the wilderness on their pilgrimage, lined up by zodiacal order. Rabbinical tradition asserts that the signs of the zodiac have represented the twelve tribes since antiquity.
Beth Alpha's floor is renown as one the most important mosaics in Israel. The synagogue is now part of a National Park on Kibbutz Hefzibah. Visitors can tour the Beth Alpha Synagogue National Park and see the most complete zodiac floor from the time when astrology held a place in the synagogue.
We should expect and do find multiple references to the Zodiac in the Bible.
Job 38:31-33 Canst thou bring bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
Answer for yourself: Did you notice the word "Pleiades"? Pleiades is a cluster of seven stars in the neck of the constellation Taurus. Then there is Orion. Orion is constellation in the southern hemisphere containing seventy-eight stars.
Answer for yourself: Did you notice the word Mazzaroth? What does this word mean?
Strong's Concordance:
4216 Mazzarah (maz-zaw-raw'); apparently from 5144 in the sense of distinction; some noted constellation (only in the plural), perhaps collectively, the 12 signs of the Zodiac: KJV-- Mazzoroth. Compare 4208.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon:
4216 mazzarah- Mazzaroth; the 12 signs of the Zodiac and their 36 associated constellations
Here we have a verifiable account of the Zodiac being looked upon with a holy reverence.
Job is actually asking if Yahweh (the so called sacred name for the tribal god of the Jews) God can bring the Zodiac about each day and according to the dates thereof. So it is very clear that we are talking about Astronomy here.
Amos 5:8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and changes deep darkness into morning.
These people knew the Zodiac and Astrology.
Answer for yourself: Why would God mention the Zodiac in the Hebrew Scriptures if we are not to understand it? It would appear without a doubt that these people knew the Zodiac and Astrology!
Answer for yourself: Why should this surprise anyone; it is all right there in the Bible?
Even Yahweh himself was fascinated with His stars that He even named them.
Ps 147:4 4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. (KJV)
The Book of Jasher is given scriptural authority in Joshua 10:13 and II Samuel 1:18.
Answer for yourself: Why have we as Christians and followers of "the Christ" not ever been taught or know much concerning the Book of Jasher? The reason this book has not been very popular and probably hidden, is because what it says about astrology. One of the many problematic passages in the book is the one concerning Abrahams father Terah who had twelve gods of large size, made of wood and stone, after the twelve months of the year, and he served each one monthly (Jasher 9:8). Abraham himself is depicted as worshipping the sun and the moon:
And Abram served the sun in that day and he prayed to it and Abram served the moon and prayed to it all that night. (Jasher 9:14-17)
Then we have recorded that the Jews did the same thing later, And he (Josiah) did away with the idolatrous priests who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and to the constellations and toall the host of heaven. (II Kings 23:5)
These Jewish kings were sun-worshippers as it is stated in II Kings 23:11, removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun
This is where it really gets interesting. We see the phrase all the host of heaven in the passage above.
Answer for yourself: What is meant by "all the host of heaven"?
It is clearly referring to the stars and the constellations and such. That is what is meant by the host of heaven, it is basically astrological.
Now we have a problem in the next passage which seems contradictory to what we have seen up to this point and especially so when comparing what we saw written in Genesis earlier in this article. Notice with we the diametrically opposite position now taken concerning the Sun and the stars:
Yahweh warned his people, And beware, lest you lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them So we see here that all the host of heaven is the stars and such and that Yahweh warned to not even look up at them.
Answer for yourself: What is going on? Isn't this contradicting from Genesis 1:14 where it says that these host of heaven were given for a sign to his people? Something is wrong and unless one studies hard he will forever confused when contrasting these several passages; some for and some against astronomy and astrology.
Deut. 17:3 is another place where Yahweh condemns his people who has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, or the sun or the moon or any heavenly host, which I have not commanded'. The interesting thing is here is that Yahweh, God the creator of all these things, the stars, the sun and moon NEVER once says that these things are not real, living creatures. Think about it. These verses go on to call them gods. It is as if Yahweh and His people all believed that these host of heaven had personalities and were living.
Answer for yourself: Can we prove this? To prove my point: Nehemiah 9:6 Thou, even thou, art Lord and all the host of heaven worshippeth thee. So here we see the stars as worshipping Yahweh. This must mean that the writer believed that the stars were actually living creatures.
Judges 5:20 The stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera.
Answer for yourself: What did we see in the above verse from Judges 5:20? Here we see that the stars are actually fighting in battle. The writer of the book of Judges seemed to think that stars were living beings.
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, all the sons of God shouted for joy.
This is basically saying that the sons of God were in reality the stars or host of heaven.
Ps 147:4 4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. (KJV)
Here the bible says that even Yahweh himself gave the host of heaven, the stars, names.
Ps 148:1-3 1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. 2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. 3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. (KJV)
So here we see that the stars and sun and the moon are told to praise God as if they were living souls. We can clearly see that this is exactly what the Hebrews believed. They believed that the stars were living beings.
Dan 12:3 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. (KJV)
So here Daniel said that those who have a special insight will be like the stars and that the stars are actually righteous.
Answer for yourself: How can a mass of organic and gaseous substance be righteous?
The only way is that Daniel thought that the stars had souls and were living. This is what was generally believed in ancient times as well as the Hebrews as we will see as our studies advance.
Answer for yourself: So who exactly was Yahweh? We have all been taught that Yahweh is believed to be a name for God but when we look deeper we see what we have missed our whole lives.
I King 22:19 19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. (KJV)
We have already seen in this article as discussed above that the host of heaven is the stars of the heavens. Then this verse is referring to the stars in the Heavens which surround the Yahweh's throne. More specific it refers to all the Heavenly orbs in the Heavens above which include the planets, the sun or the moon.
Answer for yourself: Is there anywhere that tells us exactly who Yahweh might be?
Ps 89:36-37 36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. 37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. (KJV)
The verse says that Yahweh's throne is as the sun, and that it stands as a witness in heaven! This means that we should be able to "see" this witness and see Yahweh's throne as we look into the sky above. This is all the more amazing when it dawns upon us that we have seen the Throne of Yahweh our whole lives and never recognized it as we looked at the Sun over and over again.
Answer for yourself: Could it be that this verse is saying that the ancient Hebrews viewed the Sun as if it was Yahweh or at least a symbol of Yahweh? Is this any different from Egypt who likewise looked at the Sun as the representation of God as their Savior?
Ps 50:1-2 1 The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. (KJV)
So here we see that the rising of the Sun and its going down has something to do with Yahweh speaking.
Answer for yourself: Is God communicating a message to us from the Sun and other stars in the Heavens and we not know it?
These are very, very important questions. I realize that this is new material for most but that does not change the fact that unlike "literal Christians today" and "literal followers of the Christ" the Ancients and their Priests understood the movement of the Heavens as the message of God and the voice of God to them. God's salvation message was proclaimed on the chalkboard of the Heavens above and the wisdom of the Ancients reveal to us such wisdom if only we knew to look. This concept of God speaking to us from the Sun and the Stars is totally foreign to Christianity in the Western Hemisphere today since we are taught since childhood that Astrology and Astronomy is evil.
The above passage goes on to say that God (the sun) hath shined. This is clearly speaking of the sun.
We all have at one time or another in our lives heard of Malachi 4:2
But for you who fear my name the SUN of Righteousness will rise with healing in its wings
Here the SUN is referred to as being righteous and able to heal. This next verse should wrap this up and really expose just who Yahweh was.
Ps 84:11-12 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. 12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. (KJV)
It is as plain as can be that this verse refers to Yahweh as being a star or the sun! How much more evidence do we need to see that the Ancients, and even the Hebrews, understood God as associated with the Sun and saw a message being proclaimed by the Creator by the movement of the orbs of the Cosmos?
Yahweh was worshipped in the symbol of the SUN!
Job 37:14-21 14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. 15 Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine? 16 Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge? 17 How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind? 18 Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass? 19 Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness. 20 Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up. 21 And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them. (KJV)
Answer for yourself: Now what does this mean? This is talking about Gods light shining through a cloud. Now what is the bright light in the clouds? It is the SUN!
Let us consider these other verses.
Isaiah 2:5 walk in the light of the Lord.
Isaiah 60:1 Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen.
Numbers 24:17 a STAR shall come forth from Jacob
There are many more examples as these. As stated before the bible is nothing more than Astrotheology and is not to be taken literally in many places where we have erroneously done so because of inadequate teachings. One might say that the whole book can be shown to be nothing but myths, astral worship, and personification of the movement of the Heavens rolled into one book which is dispersed among the history of a people; the Hebrews.
Answer for yourself: Is there proof that the early Christians and even recent day Christianity still worship the sun? And what about Jesus?
If you have read the New Testament much then you have read astrology over and over again and never possibly noticed it. Let us look quickly at only a few examples before we move to a deeper study.
Matthew 2:2 Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.
Here we see that Jesus the Christ had his own star for they saw his star.
Matthew 2:10 And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
Answer for yourself: Is this not worship of the stars?
I Corinthians 15:40-41 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory.
It is interesting that Paul states that some stars are different from others and compares the resurrection with the glory of a star.
Answer for yourself: Are stars born? Do they die? Does this have anything to do with them rising in the horizon and setting below the horizon and was this understood by the Ancients that God was speaking to them of "birth, life, death, and rebirth"? Was the rising and setting of the Sun and Stars a symbol of a theological Divine Truth; one of "birth" and "death" and "rebirth"? Did the Ancients see the same message spoken to them by God in Nature with the seasons which itself was controlled by the "signs" of Heaven? You bet they did and in fact in time they came to see these same Divine Principles working in their own bodies. In such a way Ancient mankind and the Egyptians and their Priests, who just happen to be the biological parents of the later Jewish race, came to see that mankind was "created in the image of God" which they saw above their heads, around them on earth, and within their own bodies. Keep that in mind.God was speaking to them of "life after death" and "Eternal Life" through the message of the Sun and Stars. Understand these movements of the Cosmos were understood allegorically by the Ancients of deeper Divine Principles and these Divine Principles later became religious Dogmas that were always understood "allegorically" and not literally. Literal truths were expressed through the medium of allegory by Ancient sages and Priests of Egypt for example but the myths created to express them were never meant to be believed literally. For example Osiris was a type and shadow of a Divine Concept and never meant to be understood as a historical person. Keep that in mind when we look at the life of "Jesus Christ" in the New Testament. Personification is fine to teach Divine Truths if we understand it as such but when personification and allegory become "literalized" without the reader's knowledge then deception enters into the mix and in the case of Christianity the personification of the allegorical "Christ" into a historical literal "Jesus Story" has rendered us as idolators since the vast majority of Christians today worship Jesus as a godman instead of worshipping the Invisible Divine Creator as instructed by Moses and the Ten Commandments.
Answer for yourself: Did we miss something of major importance in I Corinthians 15:44-41? Yes we did.
We must take time to notice something very important in this verse which was the very substrate of Egyptian and Jewish religion. Egypt understood and the substructure of their whole worship of God was the Divine Principles that "So Above, So Beneath". Let me explain. There is a heavenly and an earthly figure or pattern for everything. Two different concepts. Remember this it is very important.
Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun to it's setting my name (Yahweh) is great among the nations.
Answer for yourself: But Yahweh's name is not said to be great after the setting of the sun. Why? Because his name was that of the Sun.
Before we go on we need to learn a little more of what the Ancients understood of the Sun. This brings us to Horus, the Son of God in Egypt. The name Horus comes from the Egyptian word "Hor", which translates as 'face'. We find that he had many names because of the different aspects connected to him. We find him worshipped as Mekhenti-irry which translates as 'He who has on his brow Two Eyes', the sun and moon representing his eyes. The followers of Horus invaded Egypt in pre dynastic history, at this time he was venerated as a victorious warlord. He became a part of the state religion and was associated with the sun god, Ra. Horus was so important to the state religion that Pharaohs were considered his human manifestation (representatives) and even took on the name Horus. In the more popular religious beliefs of the Osiris cults he was the son of Osiris and Isis. The avenger of his father's murder and the model of a dutiful son. It is in these stories that we find him doing battle with his uncle, Seth (personified darkness). This sure should make us think of the Sun battling darkness on a daily basis; especially when the Sun sets in the western horizon and "dies" only to be "resurrected later".
Other Names For Horus:
being suckled by Isis. In this form he is often depicted as a naked
child seated on Isis's lap. This motif later become the icon for baby
Jesus and Mary.The picture of Isis and Horus is
another image that has supposedly been Christianized.
The worship of the mother and her child, the re-incarnated sun god, has
been one of the main components of sun worship
since
ancient times. The child represented the reborn sun god, proclaimed to be
husband of the mother. That enabled her to claim the title mother of
god queen of heaven. Please notice the nimbus
surrounding the heads in many depictions of the mother and child.
This nimbus or radiant light, in the form of a circle or halo,
originated in the sun worship. The nimbus was used to indicate the
radiance of the sun gods or goddesses. As if that was not enough often
Catholic theology is betrayed by their artwork and no greater example
could be found that this next picture of Mary and baby Jesus, not only
with the nimbus of the sun above their heads but they are surrounded by
the constellations of the Zodiac. Notice also the rays of the Sun behind
her and let us never forget that we get the word for "ray", as
in rays of the Sun, from Ra, the personification of God the Creator as the
Sun in Egypt.
Answer for yourself: In the myth of Horus did the Ancients understand by watching the path of the Sun that God was speaking to them of higher Divine Truths such as "birth, life, death, and resurrection"? It sure appears so and they immortalized this Divine Truth in the allegory of Horus, the Son of God. We should expect to find the same Divine Truth in the "Jesus Story" and we do but like Horus it was never meant to be taken "literally" as a historical person. Modern scholarship reveals this to today if we only look.
Answer for yourself: Since we saw earlier that Yahweh was often depicted as the Sun then is there a possibility the Yahweh was first know by the Egyptians long before the Jewish people which again modern scholarship today shows us were their biological children? Did you know that the name "Yahweh" is from an Egyptian word Ioa?
Exod 3:13-14 13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (KJV)
The Egyptian name for God was "Nuk-Pa-Nuk," or "I Am That I Am". James Bonwick, in Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, goes on to teach us that this Egyptian phrase, "I Am That I Am" should recall to our memory the Mosaic narrative. Also he informs us that the secret Name of God was earnestly sought for in prayer. On an ancient image of a priest, the Deity is styled "Divine Father." It was a solemn declaration on the tomb of an Egyptian worthy the cry of a pious Israelite-"The Lord is God, there is but one God for me". This is all the more understandable when we come to realize that all the various names for their "gods" and "goddesses" but nothing more than expressions of the Many in the One or the various attributes of the Creator individualize and expressed individually (James Bonwick, Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, p. 395). In none of these forms or attributes, however, not even in the naked shining sun, was it the literal object that was worshiped, but certain functions or powers, of which these were but the representations. It was observed that the sun in cooperation with the earth and the atmosphere which gave rain, caused all manner of verdure to spring forth and bear its proper fruit. It was held, therefore, that the sun was the supreme formative power, the mighty author of fruitfulness, and that the greatest and most glorious manifestation and exertion of his powers were employed in reproduction. Sun worship was therefore nothing more nor less than the worship of the principle of reproduction in man and nature and symbolized the very gift of life which came ultimately from the invisible Creator Himself. And as the influence of the real sun was extended over and through all nature, so this principle was extended through all worship.
Godfrey Higgins, in his Anacalypsis, vol. ii, p. 17, informs us that this Egyptian name "I Am That I Am" was found on the temple of Isis at Sais in Egypt. "'I Am' was a Divine name understood by all the initiated among the Egyptians" says Higgins. He goes on to say that "The 'I Am' of the Hebrews and the 'I Am" of the Egyptians are identical." Furthermore he make note of the fact that the name esteemed the most sacred by the Egyptians was that which the Hebrews later adopted; namely Y-Ha-Ho (Yahweh or Jehovah to us today). He says it is variously pronounced: but Clement, of Alexandria, Egypt, assures us, in his Stromatis, that all those who entered into the temple of Serapis, were obliged to wear on their persons, in a conspicuous place on their breast or forehead, the name of "I-ha-h", (Jao) or "I-ha-hou" (J-ha-ho), which signifies "the God eternal." Now for a remarkable statement: From this, I think, we may fairly infer, that the Egyptians were of the same religion, in its fundamentals, as the Jews (Godfrey Higgins, Anacalypsis, vol. ii, p. 17).
Answer for yourself: Then does it not appear that the name "Jehovah" or "Yahweh", which was adopted by the Hebrews, was a name esteemed sacred among the Egyptians? The Hebrews called "Nuk-Pa-Nuk" which they learned of only in Egypt by the name recognized today which is "Y-ha-Ho" or "Yahweh" (Godfrey Higgins, Anacalypsis, vol. i, p. 329; vol. ii. p. 17). Bonwick goes on to say that this name was well-known to the Egyptian Gentiles long before the Jewish nation there can be no doubt. Bonwick also make mention of the fact that the Egyptian expression "Nutar Nutra" exactly corresponds in sense to the Hebrew "El Shaddai," the very title by which God tells Moses he was known to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob (Prof. Renouf: Religion of Ancient Egypt, p. 99). For those who want to check this out and learn more in detail a fantastic book I highly recommend is Bible Myths and Parallels in Other Religions by T. W. Doane (1910) and you can these things in greater detail.
Answer for yourself: What other "Divine Truths" did Egypt know which we have today inherited from the hands of antisemitic Rome (remember the Jewish nation would be not only the children of the Egyptians but inherit their religion of the Sun as well) altered and changed? Has the allegories and symbolisms expressing Divine Truth as taught by Egypt and Judaism been "literalized" by Rome in the New Testament and in so doing we have lost the true message of God which He spoke from the Sun and the Stars which the Ancients priesthoods knew?
One more thing before we move on. Amen-Ra was another name for this Divine Father in heaven, who has the title of Huhi the eternal, from which the Hebrews derived the name Ihuh. The closest the Jews come to a name for their god is Yahweh or as some call him Jehovah. But Jehovah had never been pronounced until the 17th century when the letter J was added to the English alphabet. Yahweh is translated in the Bible as LORD. But Lord is just another title, making the name of the Jewish god two titles, lord and god. It was their Shem Hammephorash for which neither Yahweh nor Jehovah are the correct pronunciations. The Jews considered the name of their god to be so sacred that it was only pronounced once a year and only by the High Priest in the temple in Jerusalem. Additionally, only the Hebrew consonants which correspond to IHUH or later JHUH, which comprise the Tetragrammaton - the Ineffable name, were written. Instead of pronouncing the name, the Jews substituted the name "Adonai" for the name of their god. Or so they now claim. But Adonis is the Phoenician God of love and beauty. It is quite probable that the Jews simply did not have a name for their god, so they borrowed the Greek name early in Jewish history. Whatever the name of the Jewish god may have been, there hasn't been a high priest who could pronounce the name in the temple for 1900 years. The fact is, there is not a modern Jew, or anyone else who knows how to pronounce his own god's name. And the Christian god does not even have a name. For the derivation and origin of the name "Jesus Christ" we must look to Ancient Egypt for it began there thousands of years before the first century.
Psalms 68:32-34 Sing praises to the Lord, to him who rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times and his strength is in the skies.
This makes it clear that Yahweh rides in the heavens and in the sky is his strength.
Jesus, as the Christ, was also worshipped as the sun.
Answer for yourself: When did Paul see Jesus?
Acts 26:13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me
Here Paul says he seen this bright light at midday, the time of day when the sun is the brightest (Horus Behudety: Paul saw in this Jesus another form of Horus of Edfu as he represented the midday sun).
II Peter 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the DAY DAWNS and the MORNING STAR arises in your hearts.
Answer for yourself: What exactly does Peter mean by morning star and the reference to the "dawning of the day"? Could he possibly mean Jesus Christ?
Revelation 2:27 And I will give him the MORNING STAR.
Well we finally get our answer as to whom Jesus Christ is and he himself admits it.
Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the BRIGHT and MORNING STAR.
Well we have our answer but it is not comforting for some who have been taught a historical "Jesus" their whole lives. Jesus Christ tells us who he is just as God did in Psalms 84:11.
Ps 84:11 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. (KJV)
God and Jesus are the SUN in many of the texts within our Scriptures and we fail to recognize it today! And these bible verses and the earliest Christian history which escapes the literary purge and destruction of Rome clearly prove that "Jesus Christ" was but an allegory for deeper Divine Concepts and was not worshipped as a historical person but as the Sun and the heavens was his father's house. The Bishop of Carthage Tertullian says that Christians were considered as sun worshippers because they prayed towards the east just like their pagan counterparts who also worshipped the sun. Tertullian goes on to say, You say we worship the sun; so do you. (CE xiv, 525; Ad. Nationes, xiii; Ante-Nicene Father. iii, 123) Tertullian went on to renounce Christianity and admitted that he was in error.
Other orthodox Christian fathers had interesting things to say also.
This is really where the beginning of Christianity lays, in Egypt. There was a group there called the Therapeutae. For many centuries before the time of Jesus there lived a sect of religious monks in Egypt known as Essenes, or Therapeutae. Numerous bodies of ascetics (Therapeutae), especially near Lake Mareotis, devoted themselves to discipline and study, abjuring society and labor, and forgetting it is said, the simplest wans of nature, in contemplating the hidden wisdom of the Scriptures. Eusebius even claimed them as Christians and some of the forms of monasticism (by Christians) were evidently modeled after the Therapeutae" (Smith's Bible Dictionary, art, "Alexandria"). As Eusebius states in his Ecclesiastical History, Book II chapter 17, Those ancient Therapeutae were Christians, and that their writings are our Gospels and Epistles. This sect of mystical Jews who lived near Alexandria in Egypt at the beginning of the first century CE. They are described by Philo in his book On the Contemplative Life as a Jewish Pythagorean school which also included the Essenes. Some say that Philo himself may have been a member. Although the Church historian Eusebius argued that the Therapeutae were the first Literalist Christians, as Philo wrote about them in 10 CE, 20 years before the supposed date of the crucifixion, this theory has now been thoroughly discredited. Philo writes about the Therapeutae in terms suggesting that they were practising a Jewish version of the Pagan Mysteries. Ironically, Eusebius may well have been right. The Therapeutae are most likely the proto-Christians who created the Jesus story.
The Gnostics Jews had a very big influence on Christianity. Time and space will not allow me to go into the connection here but as we have seen before on our other websites the Gnostics did not believe that the bible should be taken literally. The early Jewish and Gentile Gnostics believed that the bible should be interpreted allegorically. It is no coincidence that there are 12 patriarchs, 12 tribes of Israel and 12 disciples. 12 is the number of astrology and the 12 houses that the sun passes through every day and the 12 hours of night and day. The seven branched candlesticks seen in all Catholic churches are taken from, Revelation 1:12-16. These seven candlesticks are nothing more than the Sun as the central light and represented as Jesus again, and the Moon, Mercury, and Venus on one side and Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn of the other. Because in the middle of the lamp stand one like a son of man, girded across his breast with a golden girdle, and his head and hair were white like wool, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. (Vs. 16) And in his right hand he held seven stars; and his face was like the SUN shining in its strength.
Answer for yourself: What did we just read? We just read another account where Jesus Christ is being described as the Sun again!
Revelation 4:7 And the first creature was like a lion (Leo), and the second creature like a calf (Taurus the bull calf), and the third beast had a face as a man (Aquarius, the waterman) and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle (Aquila).
Answer for yourself: Does this sound familiar? This is basically a copy of what Ezekiel chapter one states.
Answer for yourself: How did Ezekiel view this relationship?
Ezekiel states in 1:1 the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
We should notice right off that Ezekiel got his vision from the heavens.
Matt 28:20 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (KJV)
Answer for yourself: Are you aware that the word "world" is purposefully mistranslated in your Christian New Testaments? Why?
Strong's Concordance:
165 aion (ahee-ohn'); from the same as 104; properly, an age; by extension, perpetuity (also past); by implication, the world; specially (Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future): KJV-- age, course, eternal, (for) ever (-more), [n-] ever, (beginning of the while the) world (began, without end). Compare 5550.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon:
165 aion-
You hear often the talk about the new age coming. Well in this verse we find that the word "aion" is a reference to the divisions of the Zodiac that reveal to us the precession of the equinoxes. Gerald Massey says this about the end of an age. When Horus had fulfilled the period of 2155 years with the Easter Equinox in the Sign of Aries, the birthplace passed into the Sign of Pisces, when the Ever Coming One, the Renewer as the Eternal Child who had been brought forth as a Lion in Leo, a Beetle in Cancer, as one of the Twins in Gemini, as a calf in the Sign of the Bull, and a Lamb in the Sign of the Ram, was destined to manifest as the Fish, in the Sign of the Fishes...Pisces.The Zodiac moves in the Heavens and every 2160 years one sign of the Zodiac moves out from the Vernal Equinox and is replaced by the next revolving sign of the Zodiac and a complete cycle of the Zodiac and all 12 constellations takes 26,000 years. In other words the time of the era of Jesus everywhere they were looking for a Messiah because of the Zodiac cyclic calendar. Massey goes on to state, The Messiah who manifested in this sign was foreordained to come as Ichthys the fisherman, or, doctrinally, the fisher of men(G. Massey, The Light of Egypt, p.20). ICHTHYS is an anagram for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior and also ichthys is the Greek word for fish. Early Christians were called Pisciculi or little fishes (Higgins, Anacalypsis, vol. i, p. 568). Augustine said of Jesus, he is the fish of the living water, (Higgins, Anacalypsis, vol. i, p. 636). Tertullian calls Jesus, our fish. Thus every where you look you see a fish symbol on the back of cars that is suppose to represent a historical person but now you know it is all just Astrotheology. I think that there is more than enough proof here to say that the Egyptians and their children the Jews had a love affair with the heavens and even worshipped them for they were for them the picture of the Invisible God. We must never forget that the worship of the Invisible God was aided by what they saw from the hands of this God and by that I mean the Heavens from which He spoke to them. To think that they physically and literally worshiped an orb and not the God which made them is foolish. We have seen Yahweh and Jesus the Christ both referred to as the Sun.
Answer for yourself: What do with do with the many stories of Jesus in the New Testament? Are all of them Astrotheology literalized? Where does the Astrotheology stop and literal truth begin? Was Jesus Christ really a historical person or a personified Divine Concept later "literalized"? Can we be sure? Will checking out the evidence for ourselves help us come to the truth about the "Jesus Story"?
Answer for yourself: After what we have seen thus far don't you owe it to yourself to check out the evidence for what this article contends for yourself?
You bet it will and we move on to this task at present. Blessings.....