It is so long that it takes more than six hours to rise completely.
Along its northern side, we can observe the zodiacal signs of Cancer, Leo, Virgo and Libra.
The stars in the serpent’s head appear to be at the same distance but they are really very far away from each other.
In Greek mythology, Hercules slew Hydra, a horrible serpent with many heads that grew back as soon as they were cut off.
Killing the Hydra was one of Hercules’ twelve labors, during which he also defeated Leo, the lion, and Draco, the dragon.
People even use the Zodiac to describe the year, or actually the centuries. Have you heard of the Astrological Ages? It is not only ridiculous, but demonic, i.e., idolatry.
Tomorrow we will start a two day study with…
Philippians 2
Obligations of Christians
1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
These first five sentences is what Jesus meant when He told the scribe to obey the second commandment:
“…Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…” (Mk 12:31).
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
“In the form of God” – affirming that Jesus is fully God.
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
“Form of a servant” – realize that God lowered Himself to become a puny human being and not only that, He basically bowed down to us – can’t we do the same for Him?
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
If you live in the Southern hemisphere, or if you are vacationing in someplace like Hawaii, you can see a small but beautiful constellation with the shape of a cross.
Its name is Crux and it is located very close to the constellation of Centaurus.
The brightest star in Crux is called Acrux.
Not only did He lower Himself and serve us, He also let us beat and kill Him for the sole purpose of letting us live, and not only live, but to live forever with Him.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
2:10-11 – bow…confess” – God’s design is that all people everywhere should worship and serve Jesus as Lord. Ultimately all will acknowledge Him as Lord, whether willingly or not.
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
We complain about a lot of things and we have no right to do so. When Jesus was here the only complaints He had was when people dishonored God (e.g., Matt 21:13), He never complained about the way He was treated, even while He was being crucified He said:
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…” (Lk 23:34).
That line there is the “ram” what an imagination, but you’ll see that the Greeks had better imaginations then that.
In Greek mythology, the constellation is identified with the myth of the Golden Fleece, sought by Jason and the Argonauts.
It is said that the ram was offspring of Poseidon.
In the myth, it helped king Athamas’ children Phrixus and Helle escape over the sea after their step-mother had arranged a plot to have them killed.
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.
19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.
20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
22 But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.
23 Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.
24 But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.
25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labor, and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
It is one of the largest religions in the world, with over 1 billion Roman Catholics.
The pope is revered tremendously by Catholics all over the globe.
GOD SAYS:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God…” (Ex 20:1-15).
Did the Catholics not read that part of the Bible? Oh, they have their own Bible, maybe it’s not there.
Why is there a huge statue of the pope, and Jesus-so tiny?
Why isn’t Christ being magnified?
26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
30 Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.
The Zodiac
God told us not to live by what we see in the sky:
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).
But mankind has been doing it for centuries upon centuries. People used the sky to know when to plant their crops and things, and I believe that would be okay and even useful, if that is all they used it for.
God told us not to use the sky as a symbol of how to live because He knew what would come of it.
Since the beginning of time people have used the sun/sky/stars/planets to manipulate others, to control, more now than ever. People aren’t looking into the sky to know when to feed their family, but how to rip off their neighbor.
The Zodiac was created due to people studying the constellations and now psychics and fortune tellers are using it.
It’s idolatry:
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3).
From the mountains of Turkey to the banks of the Nile, the most wide-spread religion of the ancient world was the worship of the Moon-god.
In the first literate civilization, the Sumerians have left us thousands of clay tablets in which they described their religious beliefs.
As demonstrated by Sjoberg and Hall, the ancient Sumerians worshiped a Moon-god who was called many different names.
The most popular names were Nanna, Suen and Asimbabbar. His symbol was the crescent moon.
Given the amount of artifacts concerning the worship of this Moon-god, it is clear that this was the dominant religion in Sumeria.
The cult of the Moon-god was the most popular religion throughout ancient Mesopotamia.
The Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Akkadians took the word Suen and transformed it.
The Muslims say that the name of the Moon-god is Allah, the god they worship. And that is okay, because there is no real Moon god.
Anyone can manipulate the above scripture (the devil is the best at doing such things) and say it doesn’t pertain to the Zodiac. But if you know God then you know that He doesn’t have to spell it out word-by-word.
If you don’t know God, it would be wise to get to understand Him so you won’t get lost or stay lost. If you are going to drive across country a smart person would use a map.
The Zodiac
The constellations have been called humanity’s oldest picture book. For 5,000 and more years, people have looked into a clear night sky and seen the same stars we see today.
They isolated groups of stars and connected them to each other with imaginary lines, much as we play connect-the-dots.
In the past, people had an excellent knowledge of the night sky. They were able to tell when to plant and when to harvest, and later they navigated the seas with the stars’ help.
Characters of myth and legend were used to name and tell the stories of the stars. Here are a few.
The group of stars that looked like a man with a sword was named Orion, for the famous hunter in Greek mythology.
The pattern that looked like twin boys they called Gemini, the Twins.
The large, bright group of stars in the shape of a lion is known as Leo. According to Greek mythology, Leo was the fierce lion killed by Hercules.
There are millions of stars, but only 5,780 are visible to the naked eye. The largest constellation is Hydra, the Sea Serpent. The smallest constellation is Crux, the Southern Cross.
Until recently it has usually been assumed that they evolved from the fancies of primitive imaginations, but research now suggests that they were designed as a pictorial scientific coordinate system.
A coordinate system is a set of imaginary lines for measuring positions, like the lines of latitude and longitude for determining locations on the earth.
The constellations perform a similar function, but they employ pictures, which make it easy to identify stars without need of instruments.
Moreover, this evidence points to a time and place that they originated: about 2700 B.C at about 36° north latitude.
There are three main lines of evidence that point to this date and location.
Twelve constellations, together called the Zodiac, form a belt around the earth. As the earth revolves around the sun, a different part of the sky becomes visible until, after a year, the earth has completed one trip and starts again.
Each month, one of the 12 constellations appears above the horizon in the east to begin its march across the sky. Night after night, the constellation appears to move across our sky until it disappears below the horizon in the west and the next constellation appears in the east.
The word Zodiac comes from both Greek and Latin. It means “circle of figures” or “circle of life.” According to the ancient Romans, the year began on the spring equinox, with Aries.
The dates shown next to the signs may not be exactly correct because I have seen different dates in different places.
I’m sure everyone has, and that right there should let you know that God is not the creator of the Zodiac because He never makes errors nor does he waver.
Read the short description of each sign and tell me that they are not ridiculous.
Aries (The Ram) – March 21-April 19
In Greek mythology, Aries was a winged ram with golden wool. His hide became the much-desired golden fleece.
Taurus (The Bull) – April 20-May 20
Jupiter, the supreme Roman god, turned himself into a bull when he swam from Phoenicia to Crete.
Gemini (The Twins) – May 21-June 20
This constellation reminded the Greeks of Castor and Pollux, the mythological twin sons of Zeus. It was thought to bring good luck to sailors since it appeared at the end of the winter storm season.
Cancer (The Crab) – June 21-July 22
Cancer represents the crab that Juno, queen of the gods, sent to rescue Hydra. But Hercules stepped on the crab, crushing it to death. To reward the crab for its heroic attempt, Juno chose it to represent this constellation.
Led by the bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel, this constellation holds many fine telescopic and binocular objects, along with some of the most photographed regions of the sky.
Leo (The Lion) – July 23-August 22
This large constellation honors the strength and bravery of the lion.
Virgo (The Virgin) – August 23-September 22
Virgo is traditionally depicted as a maiden holding an ear of grain to symbolize the harvest.
Libra (The Scales) – September 23-October 22
Libra is the symbol of balance. This constellation appears at the time of the autumnal equinox, when days and nights are equal.
Scorpio (The Scorpion) – October 23-November 21
In mythology, Scorpio (or Scorpius) was the scorpion that attacked and killed the hunter Orion.
Sagittarius (The Archer) – November 22-December 21
This constellation is usually pictured as Chiron the archer, who is a centaur (half man, half horse). Chiron is said to be aiming his arrow at Scorpio to avenge the death of Orion.
Capricorn (The Sea Goat) – December 22-January 19
In many cultures, Capricorn has the head of a goat and the tail of a fish. The goat, an expert climber, represents the sun’s climb from its lowest position in the sky. After December 22, the shortest day, the sun’s time in the sky increases daily.
It was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century A.D. astronomer Ptolemy and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today.
Its name is Latin for “twins,” and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology.
Aquarius (The Water Bearer) – January 20-February 18
The Babylonians believed that this group of stars represented an old man pouring water from a jar. The Greeks saw Ganymede, the cup bearer of the gods, who poured the water of life.
Pisces (The Fishes) – February 19-March 20
Depicted as a crouching lion facing the west, with a sickle of stars marking the head and mane of the animal, this constellation is seen mostly in the evening.
Pisces represents Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and her son Cupid. To escape from a monster, they turned into fish and jumped into a river.
…the Astrological Ages.