Ephesians 5 – The Works of Light and Darkness & Astrology

Finger Pointing Up1 11Many ask if there’s anything wrong with just reading the definitions of the Zodiac signs and matching them to people of those signs? 

No, reading part is not a sin, but it’s like alcohol, drinking is not a sin, but getting drunk is.

By reading the signs of the Zodiac you may subconsciously judge people by those signs and then you have sinned.

Satan is extremely good at what he does, i.e., evilness.  As Peter warned us:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8).

2 10The Zodiac is like an advertisement, which is a subliminal message.  For example, you see an advertisement on the television or see a banner and later see the item advertised at the store so you buy it. 

The Zodiac came from the devil’s playground and if you venture in you might as well stand in the middle of the highway and see how long it takes to get hit.

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me” (Jn 14:1).

We are going to stay in this field and tomorrow we’ll look at…

Ephesians 5
The Works of Light and Darkness

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1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.

3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

“All uncleanness, or covetousness” – Paul moves from specifically sexual sins to more general sins, such as greed.  These include sexual lust but refer to other kinds of excessive desire as well.

4 84 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

“Foolish talking, nor jesting” – the word “filthiness” indicate that it is not humor as such but dirty jokes and the like that are out of place.

5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

“Whoremonger…nor covetous” – see note of  v. 3.

“Idolater” – the greedy person wants things more than he wants God, and put things in place of God, thereby committing idolatry.

“Inheritance’ – the person who persists in sexual and other kinds of greed has excluded God, who therefore excludes him from the kingdom.

6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

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7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

“Partakers” – even we, Christians, live among these types of people. 

That doesn’t mean you cannot associate with them and try and educate them on Jesus, it means you cannot hang out with them.

8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Paul is saying that at one time we, Christians, had been in the same darkness as those mentioned above, but we woke up and we should do our best to wake them up WITHOUT getting to close.

9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

6 510 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

“A shame even to speak of” – we are not to dwell on the evils that others do.

13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

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17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Drinking is not a sin, but getting drunk is because all drinkers know, it alters our thinking process.

19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

8 321 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body.

24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it 

26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

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29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Astrology

I had talked about Astrology, also known as Astral Worshiping,  in the book of Ezekiel, but I want to mention it again because it appears that, aside from the world’s increase of the greed for money and immoral sexuality, Astrologists and Psychics are planting a deeper foot in the ground.

10 2When I was a teenager I read a lot about Astrology because I was intrigued by the fact that all of my friends, it didn’t matter what sign they were, fit the description of the sign.  I’m on the cusp of Capricorn/Aquarius and it’s got me pegged.

God IS NOT the author of astrology, but the creator of  outer space (Gen 1:14-16).  The devil is very intelligent (Eze 28:5) and he manipulated God’s creation of the astronomical world to turn people away from God. 

The devil cannot make anything, other than trouble, he can only counterfeit things God creates.  For example, lust for love, arrogance for self-confidence and greed for a good work ethic.

How the signs fit the people is beyond me, but God has no reason to create astrology and He even tells us not to study the stars, but to come to Him only.

“And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven” (Deut 4:19).

11 1 Living by what some nut writes about astrology in the local newspaper is opening the front door of your home inviting the devil in and it will lead to the destruction of your life. I had never lived my life by astrology, drugs got me (another gift from Satan), and I made quite the mess of my life. 

Gospel in the Stars?
What Does the Bible Say About Astrology?

Introduction

I recently received an e-mail describing a Bible study in which it was stated that the gospel could be found in the stars of the Zodiac.

I was rather surprised that Christians were teaching such things and thought that it would be good to present what the Bible really says about astrology and stargazing.

12 1Gospel in the Stars?

In the late 1800’s two books were written, “The Witness of the Stars” by E.W. Bullinger’s, and “The Gospel in the Stars” by Joseph A. Seiss’s.

Current proponents claim that God’s whole plan of redemption can be found in the Zodiac and that the history of mankind and Christ can be understood from the constellations.

Most of those who promote this idea admit that the gospel can’t be seen in the stars themselves, but that it comes from a “Christianized” interpretation of the signs of the Zodiac, which were assigned by the ancient peoples to apparent groups of stars, called constellations.

These figures are not seen in the natural formations of the stars, but are the result only of human imagination. In no way could the stars provide a sign that the Son of God would come to earth and die in our place to offer forgiveness of sin as a free gift of God’s grace.

It would be impossible for an uninformed person to determine the “gospel” from the stars.

What Does the Bible Teach About Astrology?13

The Bible does not specifically discuss astrology extensively, but what it does say is always negative. Like many other sins, the problem with astrology is that people are trying to get answers about life’s questions from a source other than God.

Many people believe that they can know the future through the location of the stars and planets. However, apart from God’s revelation, fortune telling is specifically prohibited throughout the Bible.

Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God (Lev 19:31).  

“A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood [shall be] upon them” (Lev 20:27).

Astrology Has No Power of Prediction

In the book of Daniel, the Bible makes fun of astrologers and indicates that they are powerless to really observe the future.

14King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a disturbing dream that none of his astrologers or “wise men” could interpret. The King had ordered all the wise men, including Daniel, a young captive from Judah, to be executed.

Daniel convinced the king’s bodyguard that God would reveal the mystery to him and requested time to seek the answer. Having prayed to God and received the answer in a vision, Daniel reported to the king’s chambers. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar:

“Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;

But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these” (Dan 2:27-28).

Later, when King Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, saw a finger appear and write on the wall at his party, he called in the astrologers, who, likewise, failed to interpret a writing that had appeared on the wall. These astrologers were again shown to be powerless deceivers.

“In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

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Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.  (You have to laugh, this so-called mighty king wet his pants in front of all these other kings).

The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof” (Dan 5:5-8).

God demanded that we are not to practice astrology, we are not to look at “signs of the heavens.” God calls such “signs” delusions:

16“Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe” (Jer 10:2-3).

The Bible says that those who are stargazers and make predictions based upon that are in error and will not be saved from judgment:

“Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.

Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.

Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast labored, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander everyone to his quarter; none shall save thee”  (Isa 47:12-15).

The Kings (such as Josiah) were told to get rid of the worship of the heavenly bodies in their nation and did so – under penalty of the judgment of God.

17 Evil god Molech
Evil god Molech
History is filled with barbaric cultures. One of the worst, though, has to be the ancient Canaanites. As was customary in that culture, parents offered their newborn children as sacrifices to their god Molech. Most depictions of Molech include large metal statues of a man with a bull’s head. Usually these statues had outstretched arms to hold the baby sacrifices.

The seriousness of this offense is clear, since the penalty for this kind of idolatry was death by stoning. God destroyed the ten northern tribes of Israel because they indulged in astrology and other forms of demon worship:

“And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only” (2 Kgs 17:16-18).

As a judgment of God, the northern tribes were conquered by Assyria. However, Manasseh, one of the evil kings of Judah, also established astrological worship of the heavenly bodies during his reign:

“For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.

18But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,

Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle” (2 Kgs 21:3, 6-12).

As a result of this idolatry, Judah was also enslaved and dispersed as a nation, because of their involvement in astrology.

Israel’s involvement in astrology and the worship of heavenly bodies was described by many of the Old Testament prophets, including Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Amos.

They all described how this was displeasing to the Lord and that His judgment was the result of such practices.

New Testament Condemnation

As in the Old Testament, the New Testament also condemns astrology:19 1

“Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?

Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon” (Acts 7:42-43).

Conclusion

Although the heavens do declare the glory of God (Ps 19:19), they do not proclaim the gospel. The gospel was revealed to man by God Himself, who spoke through the prophets and came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ.

…the Cult of Dionysus.

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