Lessons from the expanse of the heavens part 4 – shooting stars and star constellations

In part 1 and 2 we considered the moon and the sun. In part 3 we looked at planets and stars. In this final part (part 4), we will consider shooting stars and star constellations.

Shooting stars

We will start this article by considering shooting stars. They are also mentioned in the Bible.

In my life, I haven’t had that much time standing outside looking up the night sky. But I do remember on several occasions seeing a shooting star. It is usually very quick. You are looking at the stars and then all of a sudden you see a white streak going across part of the sky. Before you know it, it is all over. The spectacle of the star shooting across the sky usually only lasts three or four seconds. Such is the speed of the shooting star.

The shooting star is actually a meteorite. They are broken pieces of rock floating around in space. The only reason we see them is because they have entered our atmosphere, ignited and then burnt up. From our point of view they seem to have a brilliant but short life. They are normally completely dissolved but occasionally you will see a piece of rock that makes it to the surface of the earth. If there are a lot of meteorites falling at the same time it is called a meteorite shower.

False teachers

A use of meteors can be seen in Jude. These verses are talking about false teachers. This is what it says in verses 12 and 13 about false teachers:

These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

These verses are speaking about the depraving effect of false doctrine on the ecclesia (a gathering of believers). The examples in these two verses tell how false doctrine and worldly ways are regarded by God as an awful deformity and wickedness.  In our consideration of stars we are interested in the last part of verse 13. False teachers are like wandering stars whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.

Normally stars have fixed places in the heavens, being held their by gravity. Planets also are fixed. They have a set revolution around the sun and are kept in position by the sun. They are controlled by the influence of the sun. Meteorites or wandering stars are not like that…. they are not fixed but rather are on the move wandering through the solar system and galaxy. For those on earth, the meteorites or comets appear out of the darkened heavens, they shoot momentarily across the sky and then they disappear into darkness again and into complete obscurity. They startle men for a time, but then they are gone for good. They cast a light for a short time, but it is only a momentary flash of no true value.

False teachers in the church (ecclesia) are like wandering stars or meteors or comets. They appear from the outside, come into the ecclesia, blaze for a short time teaching false doctrines to others in the ecclesia, and then there gone never to be seen any more in the ecclesia.   

This metaphor for false teachers in the ecclesia is even better appreciated when we think about navigators in ancient times. These ancient navigators depended upon the fixed stars in the sky for guidance. What would happen if they had used the wandering stars to make decisions as to where they should sail their ship. They would have gone off their true course and into great danger. Possibly bringing the ship, they were navigating, up onto rocks or a reef.

Jude is telling us these false teachers in the ecclesia are like wandering stars. They come into the ecclesia, teach false doctrines, convince others in the ecclesia of their teaching and then they disappear from the ecclesia leaving the ecclesia in a damaged state. As Jude suggests they will disappear into complete obscurity. They are reserved for darkness. Why is Jude warning us about them? He is concerned that not only will the false teachers disappear into the eternal darkness of obscurity and despair but they will draw others there as well. The teachings can lead to others in the ecclesia being drawn away from the Truth of God.

These false teachers in the ecclesia can be contrasted with true wise teachers. They are talked about in Daniel chapter 12 and verse 3 – the verse we read earlier tonight.

The wise people will shine as bright as the sky. Those who teach others to live right will shine like stars forever and ever.

These true teachers aren’t wandering stars but rather stars that are fixed in the sky.  They are permanent stars. They reflect the permanence of their God who is the Divine light-giver.

The Constellations

A “Constellation”” is defined as a number of fixed stars grouped within the outlines of an imaginary figure in the sky. The people of old were far more interested in the stars than we are. This was probably because they had more opportunity to observe them. In our modern age, there is street lighting to make it more difficult to see the stars. Plus we have electricity inside the house so many would say –why do we need go outside?

But in the times of people of the Old Testament it was of more interest to step outside, gaze into the sky, and imagine they saw many shapes of earthly beings and things. Then they would give them names such as the bear, the bull, the serpent, the dog and many others. Some of these names have persisted and are still in use today by those interested in the heavens. Some of the constellations are mentioned in the scriptures.

When we look at history we know that a lot of constellations had been designed and named long before Abraham left Ur. So it is clear that the Hebrews knew the constellations and that some of the Old Testament writers used them to add power to their messages.

In this article, we will just very briefly look at the constellations mentioned in the Bible.

The four constellations we will consider are The Pleiades, Orion, Mazzaroth, Arcturus.  Arcturus to the north, The Peleiades to the east, Mazzaroth to the south and Orion to the west. They are all mentioned in the book of Job.

The Pleiades

The Pleiades is a constellation to the east (see this article’s feature photo). It is translated to the Hebrew word Kimah which means a heap or a cluster. In some parts of the world, people are taught that a certain cluster of seven stars they could see in the sky was known as the “seven sisters”. Another name for that group is also known as “The Pleiades”.  The constellation is mentioned three times in the Old Testament: Job 9:9; Amos 5:8; Job 38:31.

Which (God) maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. Job 9:9

Seek him that maketh the seven stars (kimah - The Pleiades) and Orion. Amos 5:8

Job 9:9 tells us of the immense power of God.  Job is telling us that God is omnipotent. The word omnipotent means that God has unlimited power. Omnipotent comes from the Latin words for total (omni) and power (potnt). So God has total control over everything in the universe.

Earlier in chapter 9 Job tells us that God has full control over the sun. He then goes on to say in verse 9 that he made these huge constellations of stars. We are told that God can seal off the light of the stars if he chooses. His power is unlimited. He is a great and wonderful creator. His greatness in creation is beyond all human understanding. Man is helpless before it.

Even though to the naked eye there are seven stars, with a telescope it can be seen that there are more than seven stars in the group. Modern telescopes show that the Pleiadic cluster is embedded in a nebulus net that spreads far into space. So the nebulous clouds bind together the stars in the group. In other words, all the stars in the Pleiades cluster of stars are kept together or bound together by a cloud of gas.

The interesting thing is that God says this exact thing in Job chapter 38 and verse 31.

“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?"

He is effectively saying to Job – can you bind together these stars in the Pleiades in the same way I did using this cloud of gas. Job is being asked whether he could perform such a mighty feat of binding together stars. Obviously he couldn’t. God is making the point that not only did He make the stars but he controls them. They are all bound and restrained by God, who moves them around sky as He intends. Man is totally incapable of doing this.

We have just looked at Pleiades to the east.

Orion

Orion is a constellation to the west. The Hebrew word translated “Orion” is kesil, which means “an impious and godless fool”. The ancients considered Orion to be a warrior. The three bright stars in the constellation suggest Orion’s belt. It was considered that the warrior was bound in heaven as a captive by this belt. So this may be the belt by which Job is challenged to untie in Job chapter 38 and 31. “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?

So it is a similar idea to what we saw with The Pleiades. God is saying that he has full control over the movement of the stars. Man is totally incapable of doing this.

Mazzaroth

Mazzaroth is the constellations to the south. It is mentioned in Job chapter 38 and verse 32. We looked at the preceding verse – verse 31 above in relation to the Pleiades and Orion.

“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?

There is disagreement as to which constellation Mazzaroth is. But there is very strong evidence that it represents all the constellations in the twelve signs of Zodiac. We haven’t got time to go through all the evidence but let’s just say it is very compelling and highly likely to be correct. So the Mazzaroth is referring to the constellations that form part of the zodiac – the Ram, Bull, the Twins, Crab, Lion, Scorpion and so forth.

In the Job 9:9 verse we looked at before, the constellations that form part of the zodiac are referred to as the chambers of the south. So, the term chambers of the south and Mazzaroth are the same thing. As matter of fact, all the constellations in the two sets of verses match…..Pleiades…..Orion…..The bear is the same as Arcturus. Mazzaroth is the same as the chambers of the south.

So the twelve constellations of the zodiac are divisions, chambers or seasons which the sun passes through during the year. Each constellation is the resting place for the sun for a month at a time.  It starts in March and continues through to February. Then it starts all over again. Each division or chamber is one of the twelve constellations.  In Palestine, the twelve constellations are in the south. Therefore the Zodiacal positions are the chambers of the south.

Therefore, God is saying to Job in this verse “Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season?”. In other words, God is saying to Job has he got the power to control the movement of the earth so that the Zodiacal constellations should be seen regularly in their respective seasons? He is asking Job – has he got the power to do this? God is making the point to Job, that as the creator of earth He has got the power to do this. This point is made very clear in Genesis 8:22.

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” 

Man is totally incapable of doing this, But God is omnipotent. He has unlimited power and as a result, will ensure the seasons of the earth will not cease.

Arcturus

We have looked at The Pleiades, Orion and Mazzaroth. What about Arcturus?

Archturus is the Great northern constellation. It moves constantly around the pole and is visible all the year round. The Arcturus constellation is mentioned in two verses – Job 9:9 and Job 38:32. The two verses we have been looking at earlier in this article. Archurus refers to the great bear constellation. That is why it is translated as the bear in the Job chapter 38 verse. There are four stars in a square shape and three other stars in a line. The shape of a bear can be imagined from it.

In relation to Job, the same lesson is drawn from this constellation as the other ones we have looked at. This constellation is positively huge – it is 70 light years from one end to the other. No man could control this only the great creator God has the power to put the stars in place to make this huge constellation. Only He can ensure the stars in this constellation which are so far apart will move in perfect harmony.

In this article, we have been looking at the four constellations mentioned in the book of Job. As we can see, the four constellations cover all points of the compass – the Bear also known as Arcturus is in the north; Mazzaroth (the Zodiac signs) are in the south; the Pleiades, associated with the sun’s rising, in the east; Orion, associated with the sun’s setting, in the west. The point of mentioning these four constellations found in the north, south, east and west must surely be that God’s handiwork is found in all parts of the heaven. His glory can be seen everywhere – no matter where you look.

Summary

Over the four articles in this series we have looked at the sun, the moon, eclipses, the planets, the stars, shooting stars and star constellations. They can all be seen in the sky above. However, we have seen that they can be used for the wrong thing. For example, Moses warned the Israelites to not worship them. But they can also be used for good. God used them to teach us valuable lessons on how we should live our lives. God wouldn’t have mentioned them in the Bible unless he wanted us to take note of the spiritual lessons behind them to guide us closer to him. Let us therefore look to the heavens and learn about God.

In the coming kingdom let each one of us, be a multitude of stars that shine as brightly as the morning star –the Lord Jesus Christ. We just need to be baptised and then commit our life to God and his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.