God and Stars - part 2

Post 147


After part one, I began asking myself; Why would God wait until after the event to show Paul the vision and prophecy in the stars regarding Jesus’ birth?

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” Revelation 12:1-2

This particular revelation seems to have come late.
So why did Jesus bother to show it to him and then make sure it got into the Scriptures?

It MUST have a usefulness after the event which was inappropriate to have before the event!

We are now made aware of previously unknown information, which the wise men from the east were privately aware of.
With this new information, we can now understand what would have caused these men to make the journey, and deduce that God must have shown Daniel prophetic information which he then passed on to the Magi, after he became ruler and chief of those who governed the wise men of Babylon. (Daniel 2:48, Daniel 6:1-3)
Now add to that the scenes in the cosmos, as viewed only from Babylon, by star charting software, and we can quite safely conclude the origin of the wise men, and the source of the information they had.
Finally, we can reasonably gather that these wise men were of Jewish descent from those who did not return from the Babylonian captivity, based upon the purpose for which they made such a journey; To worship the king of the Jews: interpreted; the Messiah. (Matthew 2:2)
It is not likely that Persian Babylonians would embark on such a venture to worship the Messiah of the slaves that the previous Empire held captive!
And So just as we see by the original design in the placement of the stars, we see the great foresight of God in knowing all the events which culminated in the 70 years of Babylonian captivity, all in a collection of great subplots that eventually come together into one great story!

All that seems irrelevant to us now, other than historical information.
Therefore it would appear that God had a different purpose for providing the information after the crucifixion took place, but not before.

* * *
Using the wise men from the east as a type and shadow of something more, we understand that while the Jewish chief priests were ignorant of the prophecy in the stars regarding their own messiah, men in a Pagan culture yet faithful, had been provided this amazing sign for the purpose of recognizing the arrival of the Messiah.
In other words, while Jews locked inside the heavy Jewish culture failed to recognize their Messiah, Jews within the Gentile culture were able to see! This is a deep thought that reveals much, as God now uses the Gentile Christians to reveal the Messiah to the Jews with secrets the Orthodox Jews do not yet have. Only a few “wise” Jews will understand, just as the few “wise” men in that day.

Those who are familiar with the cyclic nature of scripture, can interpret this to represent yet a similar event in the future, with similar criteria:
We know by scripture that the Jews will not accept Jesus as the Messiah until after the Antichrist commits the Abomination of desolation by sitting in the Holy place claiming to be God. *1
This continued ignorance is because they rejected Him the first time he came.
Because of this rejection, the Jews have no use for the New Testament.
THIS is why God did not include this prophecy in the Tanakh. (Hebrew Bible or Christian's Old Testament)
God intended to keep this information hidden from the Jews, for the purpose of extending his grace to the Gentiles, while the Jews paid for their sins having rejected him who desired to pay the debt himself on their behalf. Having no other available sacrifice, they indeed have taken their sins upon their own heads and those of their children, just as they swore. *2
Therefore, being safe from the eyes of the Jews, this “late” prophecy regarding the 1st arrival of the Messiah was shown to John and entered into the New Testament for later use.

Cue the near future:

Now those (Jews or Gentiles) unfortunate enough to miss the rapture of the faithful unto Christ, yet fortunate enough to then become faithful after the event, will have great use for the New Testament. They will use this past sign in the stars coupled with the Revelation explaining the sign, to confirm that Jesus really was and is the Messiah.

Having this firm understanding, they will then be able to use the second half of this sign to see the prophesied arrival of the Antichrist also revealed in the stars. *3
So while the few wise men saw and recognized the arrival of the Messiah, though the rest of the world including the “authorized” religious leaders remained ignorant,
So this next time the few “wise people” will see and recognize the arrival of the Dragon (Antichrist) while the rest of the world, including the “authorized” religious leaders, will ignorantly accept him as the Messiah.
Scripture suggests that the nation of Jews will accept the Antichrist as their Messiah by signing a seven-year treaty. *4

And finally, 3-1/2 years later, at the Abomination of Desolation, when the Jews eyes are opened to understand, *5 they will then know that Jesus truly was the Son of God when he came the first time.
They will turn to Jesus, and THEN they too will have use for the New Testament, and see the prophecies in their own Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) that foretold the events revealed only in the New Testament.
You don’t get the message without the Messiah!

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:30

I hate to break this off here, but the actual signs in the cosmos are many according to scripture. Be very careful not to poetify scripture and thereby miss the reality.

* * * * * * *

*1
Acts 26:16-18 “But rise… for I have appeared unto thee (Paul) for this purpose…To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Words of Jesus
Matthew 20:33-34 - A type and shadow
Romans 10:1-4 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Words of Paul

*2
Leviticus 3:2 describes this proclamation of passing guilt, by laying it upon the head of the sacrifice. “And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:…”
I kings 2:32-33 describes a prophetic example of killing the prophets, and finally the Savior.
Acts 5:27-31 shows the confusion of the high priests, who assumed the Apostles were attempting to lay the blood of Christ at their door, But the Apostles answered in effect; You have done that yourselves! We are simply obeying God to declare what you have done.
Finally we read in Matthew 27:23-25 “And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
When Pilot saw that he could prevail nothing… (he) washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.”
What a paradox to need a sacrifice, but be the one who takes the life of the sacrifice!
Yes the Jews killed the Messiah, but he had to die in order to be the Sacrifice.
Their sin is not in killing the Messiah, their sin is in rejecting his sacrifice as payment for their sins.
This paradox is shown in the type and shadow of animal sacrifice of the Law, yet they do not see it.

*3
Revelation 12:3 “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head…”
Daniel 8:9-10 “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.”…
This is a fantastic study of the near future that is very complex with many subplots.
I hope to one day soon address some of it here in this blog, but there is so much to it, and it is so complex, that due justice can only be done to this story in book form.
Note that even without the revelation explanation of the arrival time, The Tanakh prophesies show this Antichrist so that after he fulfills these prophecies, the Jews will be able to then recognize him for who he really is; Satan himself in the body of a man.

*4
Daniel 9:27 “And he (the prince that shall come) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: (7 years) and in the midst of the week (3-1/2 years) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
Wow is there a lot of information packed into this verse, but for our present study, we understand the Antichrist will confirm a covenant with the Jews.
We know the third temple must be built before this event, for them to be able to resume their sacrifice as confirmed.
I propose that the Jews will be convinced this man is their Messiah because he will come 69 weeks after the command to begin the construction of the third temple. Daniel 9:25
Because they rejected Jesus as he fulfilled this prophecy, they are still looking for someone to fulfill it.
But while they are convinced he is the Messiah, the True faithful to God will recognize the signs in the stars as revealed in the Revelation and know this is the “king of fierce countenance” mentioned in Daniel 8:23 who will do them great harm.

*5
Matthew 24:15-16 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountain:” (see also Jeremiah 44:22 for the cause principle)
Daniel 7:20-21 “…I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;”
Daniel 11:31 “And arms (militaries) shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”
Daniel 12:11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”

Strong’s:
Desolate 8074 shamem, a prime root; to stun (grow numb), i.e. devastate or (figuratively) stupefy (both usually in a passive sense).

It is my belief that at that time they will cry out to God in prayer, repeating the prayer of Daniel 9:17-19 with full understanding, initiating the cry, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the LORD.” Matthew 23:39

Which will indeed usher in the second coming of the Messiah!