Bane of The Zodiacal Approach
“Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ -Matthew 24:29
As the Israelites crossed over the Red Sea and came to Mount Sinai, The LORD said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” So Moses got the congregation to wash their clothes and there he consecrated them. On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
(Exodus 19:10-16)
Have you ever been scared out of your wits by thunder and lightning before? During Temujin’s times, thunderstorms is a cultural fear and clothes washing is a taboo for the ancient Mongols. The Mongols believed that their Tengri (The sky’s father) abhorred it when people washed their clothes and the Tengri they knew of always expressed his wrath through nature phenomena such as thunderstorms. On second thoughts, their fear may not be baseless after all but to associate their belief with clothes washing is sheer paganism and we cannot imagine how many Israelites would have refrained themselves from clothes washing, or at least not until the next call for consecration.
I remembered the real life's story told of two young toddlers who died a most gruesome death in their home when a cruel archenemy of their father took a hammer and crushed the skulls of the two young kiddos while no one was around. A day before the news came out in the media, skies surrounding the entire land were darken and heaven broke out crimson red. Does God speak through signs in the sky? I believe the nature of God does express Himself through signs in the sky and sometimes He also express His wrath through natural catastrophes and calamities through hard fallen times of men. (Genesis 19:23-25; 1 Samuel 7:10; 2 Samuel 22:14-15; Nahum 1:3,5-6)
The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they reveal knowledge. Our God is a righteous Judge. Yes, He is a God Who is indignant every day, and if a man does not turn and repent, He (God) does not relent and will sharpen His sword. He will bend and string his bow and made it ready by treading it with His foot. (Psalm 7:11-12)
Similar story was also told of Constantine I who won the miraculous battle of the Milvian Bridge. The Roman Emperor Constantine I was commanded in a dream to delineate the heavenly sign on the shields of his soldiers followed by a vision of the cross of light above the sun reflected with it the Greek words "Εν Τούτῳ” (meaning “In this sign, you shall conquer.” – The Sign of Christ).
Astrology however as defined by Wikipedia, in its broadest sense, is “the search for meaning in the sky.” Yet God in a broader sense to them, is not Jesus or Jehovah God but nonetheless a deity and one "divine being" such as the tengri who reveals himself to mankind either through dreams or signs from the sky. (NKJ , Thus says the Lord: “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. -Jeremiah 10:2-3)
There will come a day whereby God's divine wrath will be revealed to all mankind even when the conscience of men would sometimes as if seared as with a hot iron, man ought to always be conscious of (God) and of the divine judgment that is coming upon the surface of the earth. In ancient times, phenomenon that originates outside the atmosphere of Earth may help serves as a guideline to lead the ancient men who had had so much a lower intellectual approach than the modern men, and hopefully in the midst of it all, they may understand and know that (Divine) Providence does exists and that men will eventually be held accountable for all sin of grievances that fell to their hands.
For long enough I find it amazing that humans in ancient times had their own unique way of calculating the most accurate almanacs for weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar. And all these could be made possible because of accurate astronomical data and various statistics that provides information to calculations such as the times of the rising and setting of the sun and moon, eclipses, hours of full tides and timelines etc. The scientists understood it as astronomy and the modern man call it natural sciences.
The LORD alone is the Maker of the constellations, the Bear, Orion, and the loose cluster of Pleiades, and the vast starry spaces of the south. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. (Job 9:9, Psalm 147:4) He is the ONE God who expresses His wrath and concerns through signs in the heavens and He is the ONE God who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners. (Isaiah 44:25-26) The LORD is the One who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense but carries out the words of His servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers.
Verse For Meditation: 2 Peter 3:8-10
LORD, You are altogether the One Glorious, Wonderful, Mighty Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. We thank you for the Holy Spirit you have given to us, so that the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night are no longer needed today as we look to your Word for guidance and there Your Holy Presence's with us, every moment and every second of our life. In Jesus Most Mighty Name. Amen.
