“The Heavenly
Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant”
God’s Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven
Gemini - Taurus
We
return to our record of “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of God’s Eternal
Covenant” with the sign Gemini. As we have seen in the
sign of Cancer, the possession of the whole earth,
with all nations under the jurisdiction of the Victor over the Gentile
dominions, is held fast under the Lion King of the tribe of Judah, the Lord
Jesus Christ, seen in the sign of Leo. We also have a prophetic
prophecy of the victory in “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” the last book of
Scripture.
In
the fifth sign of Gemini (“the twins”) we see the figures
picturing Messiah’s reign as the Prince of Peace. In this sign we have set forth
the “two Jerusalems” purposed in the Eternal Covenant of God. These can be seen
in chapter 21 of the book of Revelation, the last book of Scripture. We also
find the prophecy in verses 2 through 6 of Isaiah 4. In His coming and having
established the Kingdom of His Covenant upon the earth, the Prince Ruler has
made all things new.
In
the sign itself we have two human figures seen as seeming to be coming. One
appears to be a man. The other appears to be a woman. The Hebrew name is Taumim,
which means “united,” or “twinned” or “double.” The names and figures of the
three decans of this sign on today’s planispheres are all more or less modern,
being from the Latin, and therefore have no relation to the ancient names of
the stars in these constellations. Reverence to more ancient Zodiac
planispheres give us clues as to the true meanings of the figures.
The first
decan in the sign of Gemini is Lepus (“the
hare”), “the enemy.” What enemy is there in the new Kingdom of
righteousness and peace? The Gentile nations have been destroyed
(Rev.19:11-21). There is no national enmity. The nations will no more learn war
(Is.2:4; Mic.4:1-4). The Dragon has been cast into the pit, bound and
shut up for the 1,000 years. He cannot deceive the nations (Rev.20:1-3). What
enemy is yet in all nations?
The
brightest star in Lupus has the name Arnebo,
which means “the enemy of Him who comes.”This would refer to the Son of the
Covenant. What in the figure of a hare would make him an enemy of the Son of
the Covenant - the One who has come and who has established His
Kingdom upon earth and who rules with a rod of iron?
In
the next sign of Taurus we will see that Orion has Lepus
under His foot, showing the enemy is subdued, but not destroyed. Why not
destroyed? The key is in the change of the figure drawn on the modern
planispheres. In the ancient Persian and Egyptian Zodiacs the figure of Lepus
(“the enemy”) is drawn as a “serpent.” The figure of “a serpent” seems the more
likely figure of the original symbol for “the enemy,” as the serpent Hydra
has already been introduced from the beginning. We do not have a clear picture
of an enemy in the hare.
Who
is the serpent? Hydra is the figure symbol for “the enmity of
man’s thinking in his own heart.” The sin, the lawlessness of man
choosing to have his own will over that of his Creator-Redeemer, will yet be in
the heart of mankind, who are the inhabitants of the nations of the new
Kingdom, even though they will then be under the jurisdiction of the King of kings and Lord of lords - Orion,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
Other
star names in the constellation of Lepus are Nibal
(“the mad”), Rikis (“the caught”), and Sugia (“the
deceiver”). The nations, caught in the deception of their own hearts to think
they could have Jerusalem, the city of God, have been destroyed. The subjects
who lived through the Great Tribulation have been invited into the Kingdom of
God Almighty and His Christ. Some came in willingly and some unwillingly, but
not willing to expose their enmity, as the King would sentence them to death.
It would be madness to expose yourself to the One who has the victory over all
enemies and who has the iron rule in His jurisdiction (Rev.12:5). These enemies
are caught in the situation of their choice. There is nothing in the new
Kingdom to please them, but they value their life in the flesh.
In
the Kingdom all is righteousness and peace. All things have been made new -
with the exception - the heart of man born of the seed of man, of human flesh
(see Gen.8:21; Ps.33:15; Jer.17:9). Down through the 1,000 years of the Kingdom
Age sons and daughters of man will be birthed and come into the new Kingdom of
this world with the heart minding the things of the flesh. “That which is born
of flesh is flesh” (Jn.3:6a).
Seed
can only reproduce after its own kind (see 1 Cor.15:37-39). The seed of man
reproduces a body of human flesh, male and female. In the tent body lives the
inner man, the personal being, with intellect, a mind to think, and with
emotions of personal desires, and with volition, a will to make personal
choices and decisions, which may or may not be carried out through the mortal
body of human flesh.
All
is purposed of God. In every age down through the ages of time, generation
after generation, each person brought into being has the same decision to make:
either do God’s will, obey the truth to be born again a son of God - or - go
your own way and lose your soul (Mt.16:24-27; Mk.8:34-38; Lk.9:23-26). All
suits God’s purpose to have sons of God - man in His image.
Mankind,
each one born of the man begins life in the image of the earthy, mortal body of
human flesh. This furnishes man the freedom to choose to make an exodus out of
a mere creation in a temporary body which will become lifeless and return to
the dust of the ground. Each one in the flesh is offered eternal life for an
immortal body to be raised up out from the dead mortal body.
The
gift of eternal life is freely given in the Gift of God’s begotten Son. The
Gift must be freely received (see Jn.1:9-13; Rom.5:12-21). Being born again is
God’s desire for each person born of human flesh and it is God’s will that none
should perish but that all, each one born of human flesh, come to Him and
receive the Gift of His begotten Son in whom is eternal life for the mortal
body of the flesh (Jn.3:3-21; 11:25-27).
For
this purpose the Creator made the inner man a soul of life. God breathes the
inner person into being (see Gen.2:7; Job 33:4). The person, who is clothed
with the mortal body of flesh, is given personal being. God shares the
very life He is - spirit life - eternal life - with each personal being born in
the mortal flesh body of humanity reproduced from the father’s seed. The
personal being, once brought into being, will always be. The life of the soul
being spirit, the soul cannot die. Life is life. The life of the earthly body
is in the blood, a created body is in the blood, a created temporary life.
The
Son of God begotten out from His dead mortal body in the likeness of man - a
body of human flesh - is incorruptible Seed to reproduce after His kind -
bodies of flesh and bone of eternal life - the life God is (1 Cor.15:35-57;
Lk.24:36-43; Jn.20:19-27; Phil.3:21; Tit.3:4-7; 1 Jn.3:1-3; 5:11-12). The gift
of the body of flesh and bone of eternal life is a body fitted for the
person, the soul of eternal life.
Any
living person who, on hearing the truth of the righteousness of God
through faith in His begotten Son, will not believe the truth and
receive the Gift of the begotten Son to be born of His incorruptible Seed is at
enmity with God in his mind. That one refuses to think of himself as a
mere creation of God in need of salvation and the redemption of the mortal body
of flesh of humanity. He thinks of the
body as him and his body as his own. Desiring to be his own person, he goes his
own way and lives his own life. God calls such rejection “disobedience.” That
is sin. Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn.3:4). Man acts out the lawlessness of his
rebellion in the mortal body of human flesh, which was given to him of God through
the seed of his father, the seed of mankind.
God
did not create the sin of self-will. The sin is in the enmity of one’s
own thinking. This is seen in the many ways of man’s thinking. Man has a
creative imagination. God did purpose the heart of man with intellect
and desires and a will. In giving man freedom of choice between the will of
God’s purpose and man’s own will of his purposes, God has given the heart, the
inner person, into one’s own keeping. Solomon warned, “Keep your heart with all
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov.4:23). “For with
the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation” (Rom.10:10; see also v9).
Jesus
witnessed a good witness before Pilate, claiming that He came into the world to
bear witness to the truth. Pilate’s answer to Him was, “What is truth?” With
that Pilate ended the conversation (see Jn.18:33-38).
Whether
one believes the truth or chooses not to believe the gospel of the Anointed Son
of God is the truth - the truth is the truth. Jesus told His
disciples, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn.14:6).
In
the first decan of Gemini the only enemy in God’s Kingdom
is the enmity of the mind of the flesh. We have already been shown in the figure
of Hydra, the serpent, that the head reaches alongside the
first three signs with the head stretching to Cancer, the
fourth sign, the sign of the Kingdom established upon earth.
In
the sign Gemini this is affirmed in the first decan, which is
seen as a serpent in ancient Zodiacs. With the figure of Hydra,
the serpent, as a long serpentine constellation with the tail in the first
sign Libra and its head in the fourth sign Cancer,
we are shown that the enmity was known when the Covenant was done in heaven.
From eternity past the Son of the Covenant had the serpent by the tail, but the
serpent could do no harm to the Son of the Covenant or to His purposes. Giving
man his freedom of choice to have his own will is necessary to God’s purpose of
eternal life for the body being a gift to be received. The lawlessness
of self-will furnishes an alternative to obedience to the will of God,
giving man opportunity to exercise his freedom of choice in his own
responsibility to truth.
Man,
born in the flesh of humanity, would continue through the Kingdom Age. It is
necessary to God’s purpose that eternal life is a free gift and must be freely
received. The serpent could be kept subdued by the rod of iron held by the One
who had the power to sentence lawlessness brought into the world to death. Any
lawlessness carried out in the body of human flesh would prove the enmity of
the heart and show one to be guilty. The enmity of the heart is put away in the
death of the body of human flesh. The judgment of the death sentence would keep
lawlessness in the imagination of the heart, where it could only be carried out
in man’s own heart. There, in the heart, the lawlessness of those minding the
flesh could only harm the lawless one himself.
In
the second decan of the sign Gemini, called Canis
Major (“the dog”) or Sirius (“the Prince”), we have the
figure of a “large dog.” Again, a modern figure from the Latin. In the Denderah
Zodiac the figure is an “eagle,” the particular enemy of the “serpent.”
In
the four living beings in heaven, seen in Revelation 4, the face of the “eagle”
is symbolic of “the begotten Son of God raised up the Ruler” of all nations.
Having put away the sin once for all and having overcome the death of
the mortal body with eternal life, the Son is given all power [all authority]
over things in heaven and upon earth (Mt.28:18). The brightest star, which is
in the head, is the brightest star in the whole heavens. It is called Sirius
(“the Prince”).
In
the Egyptian planisphere we have Naz-Seir or Nazir,
which means “the sent Prince.” Here in figure we have the sent Prince, the
Messiah of Israel of whom it was prophesied as “His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, the Prince of
Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be
no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to
establish it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even forever.
The zeal of the Jehovah of Hosts will perform this” (Is.9:6b-7; see also
Mic.5:2).
The Naz-Seir
of “The Heavenly Revelation” is the Netzer of Isaiah - the sent
Prince, the Messiah, the Branch to come forth from the stem of Jesse. This is
backed up by the name of other stars in the constellation. The sent Prince has
come to rule all nations. All kindreds and peoples are His and under His canopy
of protection and power. The throne of God and of the Lamb are in the New
Jerusalem above, come down out of heaven as a wedding canopy for the sons of
redeemed Israel having married their land (Rev.22:3; Ps.103:19; Is.4:2-6;
62:1-12). Never again will they be scattered throughout the nations. They have
joined with their Messiah. In the day of His power the eyes of the
understanding of His people Israel will have been opened and they will have
received Jesus of Nazareth to be their King and their God (Ps.110:3;
Zech.12:10).
In
the third decan of the sign of Gemini is the figure of Canis
Minor (“the second dog”). Again we have the Latin figure. Here is a
companion to Sirius following Him. In the Egyptian Zodiac the
figure for this constellation is of a “human figure with the eagle’s head.”
Therefore we have a sign of humanity exalted to power and authority under the
eagle of the Son of God begotten out from the dead. It is called Sebak
(“conquering, victorious”). The principal star, a very bright star of the first
magnitude, has the name Procyon (“redeemed” or “redeeming” or may
mean both). Procyon also has the meaning,“exalted Redeemer.”
In
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ” we see this done in the Eternal Covenant of
“The Heavenly Revelation,” as prophesied, to come to pass. As was signified to
the apostle John, he wrote, “And there came unto me one of the seven angels,
who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me,
saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife.’ And he carried
me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great
city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Rev.21:9-10).
Here
are the redeemed of the Church of God, purchased in His blood and made
in secret and intricately woven in the lowest parts of the earth (see
Ps.139:15-17). All and each one is an overcomer of sin and death through having
freely received God’s Gift of His begotten Son in whom is the righteousness of
God and eternal life for the body (Rom.4:25-5:21). The overcomers have been
gathered out of the world and they are home with their Husband, the Lamb of God
(Jn.14:1-2; 1 Thess.4:3-17; Phil.3:20-21). They have come into their heavenly
inheritance with the precious promises. In Christ all is fulfilled. His throne
is in the New Jerusalem above (Rev.22:3). The New Jerusalem above is the home
of the Lamb’s Wife, where she will dwell through all eternity. “Having the
glory of God, her light like a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone,
clear as crystal” (Rev.21:11).
Each
overcomer united to Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Each
one a true son of God, all His brethren born of God. God is their Father (see
Jn.20:17; Heb.2:9-17). Both Jesus who sanctifies - sets apart unto God - and
those who are set apart unto God in Him are of one death - His. Each one
baptized into Jesus Christ, “baptized into His death. Therefore we are buried
with Him by baptism into death, that as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if
we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also of
resurrection” (Rom.6:3-5).
“For
it became Him,” Jesus, the Heir, “for whom are all things, and by whom are
all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain,” the beginning
Leader, the Author and Originator, “of salvation to be made complete through
sufferings,” His sufferings in the mortal flesh body in the likeness of sons of
man (Heb.2:10).
Jesus
did the suffering. He was obedient to the death of the cross (Phil.2:5-8). He
went to Sheol [Hades] while the dead body was buried (Ps.16:10; Ac.2:24-31). He
came back into the body and, having been changed and glorified with eternal
life, He raised the glorified body out from the dead mortal human flesh. Jesus
did that that He might have a Body with many members to complete His household
of sons of God, a kingdom of priests to become heirs with Him and princes with
God, to rule over the Kingdom of the earthy realm. Jesus did it all that He
might share the glory with His household of sons of God (see Heb.2:9-15; 3:1-6;
1 Pet.2:9-10).
After
His resurrection and the proof of His being the Son of God, when His people
still would not have Him, Jesus left His people to again be scattered
throughout the world until the time of His power when He would again gather His
remnant. Jesus went back to heaven and began building His own household of sons
of God, who would take up their cross and, united with Him, would be baptized
into His death and burial and of His resurrection. During the Church Age Jesus
purposes sons of God for His household from all nations of the earth, Jews and
Gentiles (see Gal.3:26-28; Eph.2:4-4:16; Col.1:12-22).
In
the sign of Gemini we see the Heavenly Revelation of the two
Jerusalems as done in the Covenant. In the decans we see the New Jerusalem as
come down like the wedding huppa over the marriage of the sons of Israel
with their land on earth (Is.4:2-4; 62:1-12; Rev.19:7-9; 21:2). Jehovah
has His head nation, a regenerate nation, to put over all nations while He
builds His Kingdom of sons of God on earth during the Kingdom Age.
During the 1,000 year reign, He will fill the earth with sons of God of all
peoples and kindreds and nations. The exalted Redeemer has His redeemed in
Jerusalem above and He is redeeming mankind born in bodies of flesh upon earth.
Continuing
counterclockwise in the signs declaring the glory of God through the light of
the knowledge of the glory seen in the faces of the Covenant Son, from the fifth
sign Gemini we come to the
sixth sign, Taurus (“the bull”), the Judge of all
the earth.
The
Latin name is Taurus for “bull,” but the more common Hebrew name
is Shur, from a root which means both “coming” and
“ruling.” There are several Hebrew words for “bulls” and “oxen.” The common
poetical term is reem, to convey the idea of “loftiness,
exaltation, power and preeminence.” The brightest star, located in the bull’s
eye, is Al Debarah (“leader” or “governor”).
In
the figure the mighty Bull with great horns is rushing forward with head down
and horns set to push his enemies and pierce them through to destroy them. What
we have in figure is the mighty Judge of all the earth come to judge in
righteousness with justice for all (Ps.67:1-7; 72:1-19; 96:10-13; Is.11:1-4; 2
Tim.4:1; Rev.19:11-15).
The
“great horns” representing the “power of righteousness and the authority of
justice,” the victorious, exalted Redeemer will rule with a rod of iron.
Lawlessness is not permitted in the new Kingdom. There will be no more mankind
doing wickedness on God’s earth.
Of
course the Bull is only a figure of the mighty Prince come to
govern in righteousness and true justice for all. So we would expect the first
decan in the sign of Taurus to be a figure of a mighty,
triumphant glorious Prince, and so it is.
In
the former signs of Leo and Cancer and Gemini,
which concern the things of the Kingdom come, we do not have the figure of the
Covenant Son as a man. The figures in these signs represent things concerning
the Kingdom itself. Beginning with Taurus, the signs and
their decans have to do with the Redeemer and accomplishment of His sacrifice
and His reign, as He builds His everlasting Kingdom of sons of God upon the
earth, preparing for eternity.
The first
decan in the sign Taurus is Orion (“the coming
Prince ”). The name of the figure in this first decan was originally spelled Oarion,
from the Hebrew root which means “light.” Orion means “coming
forth as light.” The brightest star, which is in the right shoulder, is named Betelgeuz,
which means “the coming Branch.” Here is the One coming forth to cover the
earth with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God as seen in Him who is
Light, that the blind might see and the lame walk in the Way of Jehovah,
as deaf ears are opened to the truth of Him who is (Jn.1:9; Mt.11:2-5; Lk.7:19-22).
Here
is the Victim of the sign of Libra. “Christ Jesus, who, being in
the form of [in very essence] God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but emptied Himself, and took upon Him the form [the very essence] of a servant
[slave], and was made in the likeness of men, and, being found in fashion as a
man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross” (Phil.2:5b-8). The One God “highly exalted Him, and gave Him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father” (vv9-11).
Here
is Jesus, whom we do not yet see all things put under Him though He is crowned
with glory and honor (see Heb.2:9). In Orion we see Jesus coming
to receive His glory and honor. Here is the coming Branch, held up in the hand
of the woman in the sign of Virgo. Here is Jesus, the child born
of the seed of the woman, who became sin for His creation of man, that the ones
born of the seed of man might become the righteousness of God in Him to be born
again - sons of God (Gen.3:15; 2 Cor.5:14-21; Jn.1:12-13). Out of the
seed-grain came the mighty Branch, the Son of God begotten out from the dead to
bear much fruit - sons of God (Jn.12:23-24). He is known as Bootes,
from the Hebrew root bo, meaning “the coming.” “He comes to judge the
earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His
truth” (Ps.96:13b).
The
Branch is out of the stem of Jesse, David, the king of Judah (Is.11:1-12). This
identifies Orion with the Lion King. In His right hand Orion
lifts a scepter, pictured as a mighty club. The scepter held as proof of being
Sovereign is prophesied to not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes
(Gen.49:10). Shiloh, the Anointed Son, is a Shepherd King, but as the Judge,
His scepter is a rod of iron, one of unbending justice (Rev.2:27; 12:5;
19:11-15).
In
His left hand He holds the head and skin of a lion, proof that He is the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, the Branch out of Jesse, the Branch of Jehovah,
beautiful and glorious, with the fruit of His remnant escaped of their enemies
(see Is.4:2). They escaped what the enemy had planned. The hilt of His sword is
in the form of the head and body of a lamb. The Lion of the Tribe of Jesus
is the Lamb as though slain (Rev.5:6).
The
left foot of Orion is significantly placed upon Lepus,
the only enemy left in the Kingdom. As we were shown in the former sign of Gemini,
the lawlessness of man’s heart has not changed for those in the flesh of
humanity, and as was shown, there is a purpose in continuing to permit man his
freedom of choice to obey the truth or disobey the truth. Under the foot of the
crowned King of Glory, the lawlessness of the self-will of man’s heart is
subdued during the Kingdom Age. It will be understood that one dare not act out
the enmity of the thinking in the imagination of the heart. The act is the
proof of guilt and will bring immediate sentence of death (see Is.65:20; 66:24;
Jer.31:27-30; Ezek.18:4, 20).
The second
decan in the sign Taurus is Eridanus (“the
river of the Judge”). “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most
High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. God shall help
her, and that right early. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The Jehovah of Hosts is
with us; the God of Jacob is your refuge. Selah” (Ps.46:4-7; see
vv8-11).
In
the Denderah Zodiac the river under the foot of Orion, the
glorious Prince, is named Peh-ta-t (“the mouth of the river”).
The river of the Judge is an immense constellation of 84 stars. The brightest
star, located at the mouth of the river, bears the ancient name Achernar
(“the after part of the river”). The next brightest star, at the source of the
river, is named Cursa (“bent down”). At the second bend of the
river is a star called in Arabic, Zourac (“flowing”). Cetus,
the sea monster, has his foot over the river, trying to stop the flow, but in
vain.
In
this figure of the second decan of Taurus we have the full
river flowing forth from the source, the glorious Orion,
who bowed His shoulder to bear, and bent down to become the Servant of Jehovah
and be obedient unto the death of the cross, that He might redeem His creation
of and for mankind (Phil.2:5-8; 1 Tim.2:3-6; Heb.12:2; 1 Pet.2:24).
What
is this river of water flowing from the glorious Prince to continue to flow in
its after parts? At the Feast of Tabernacles, while the glorious Prince
was yet tabernacling among His people in a body in their likeness, a mortal
body of human flesh, He stood at the top of the steps of the temple in
Jerusalem on the last day, the great day of the feast. He stood before His
people as Jesus, the Son of Man sent from heaven, and cried with a loud voice,
“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink, he believing into Me. As
the Scripture has said, out of His heart shall flow rivers of living water”
(see Jn.7:37-39).
Though
the Jews of Jesus’ day were familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures, the
truth had been perverted through the religion of Judaism, a tradition of the
fathers of Israel. Down through the ages the truth had been gradually changed.
Though “the Rock” was one of the names used of Jehovah, the meaning had
been lost (see Ex.17:1-7; Ps.78:15-20; also Dan.2:31-36, 44-45). Though the
people sang “How excellent is Your loving-kindness, O God! Therefore,
the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They shall
be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Your house, and You shall make them
drink of the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the Fountain of
life; in Your light we shall see light,” from Psalm 36, the words held no
meaning for them (vv7-9; see Zech.13:1; 14:8-9).
Both
Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied of the reason for the words being meaningless.
The God of God’s Covenant had ever been the Source and Fountain of living
water, as seen in “The Heavenly Revelation of the Son of the Eternal Covenant”
and the word of God, “The Book of the Law,” and also declared by the prophets
of God.
Jehovah
made His complaint through the prophet Jeremiah, who proclaimed the two evils
committed by God’s people: “They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living
waters, and hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water”
(Jer.2:13). Jeremiah prayed for His people to repent (see Jer.17:12-15).
As
the Jews had forsaken their Jehovah, the Fountain of living water, when
they heard Jesus’ proclamation that last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, they
were unmoved. They did not recognize the dissatisfaction of their heart was the
thirst for living water.
In
his parenthetical explanation, verse 39 of John 7, John clarifies that Jesus
was speaking concerning the Holy Spirit, whom the ones believing into Him were
about to receive. With Jesus that day were His disciples who had recognized
the Fountain of living water and had come to Him. And believing into Him
and drinking in the words of eternal life each one, with the exception of Judas
Iscariot, had passed from death to eternal life (see Jn.13:2-11).
John,
writing his Gospel record many years after the Parallel Gospels, gave us added
details of the Holy Spirit being given to these believing disciples. The
evening before Jesus went to the cross as God’s Lamb who takes away the sins of
the world, He promised His disciples the Holy Spirit would come and take His
place in their midst, as their Guide and Teacher (see Jn.14:15-26; 15:26-27;
16:7-15).
In
John 7, when John spoke of Jesus’ proclamation, he explained the believing disciples
had not yet received the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had not yet been glorified
(v39). In chapter 12, John tells of the hour come that Jesus should be
glorified in the lifting up on the cross (vv23-33). Then in chapter 20 John
records the receiving of the Holy Spirit from Jesus the evening of the day He
had been raised out from the dead (vv19-22).
When
Jesus began His public ministry, He knew from the prophetic Scriptures that His
people would not receive Him as their Messiah and He would have to leave them
forsaken for a time (see Ps.118:22; Is.53:1-9; Mt.23:37-39; Lk.13:34-35;
Jn.1:9-11; Ac.2:22-40; 13:26-31). He called twelve disciples and began to lay
the foundation of a new temple of the living God and a royal priesthood for His
Kingdom of Heaven. The new called-out assembly was to be the Wife of the Lamb
slain. Jesus has gone back to heaven to prepare a place for her - the New
Jerusalem above - where she will be seated with Him in the heavenlies
throughout eternity (Jn.14:1-3; Phil.3:20-21; 1 Thess.4:13-18; Rev.3:20-22;
21:9-27).
In
the meantime, the new called-out assembly, the Church, over which Christ is the
Head, is left on earth to carry the water of eternal life flowing from the
pierced side of Him who is the Rock smitten of God (Mt.28:18-20; Jn.15:26-27;
Ac.1:1-11).
Six
months after Jesus stood at Feast of Tabernacles to make His
proclamation, it was Passover when the Rock was smitten of God, that God
might share His eternal life with His creation of man, dead in trespasses and
sins. Fifty days after Jesus was raised up out from the dead, at Feast of
Pentecost, He and the Father sent the Holy Spirit for the unity of the new
called-out assembly, His Body, with many members, the Church, over which He is
the Head.
Each
member is a channel through which the water of the word might freely flow. From
channel to channel the word of the knowledge of the light of the glory of God
is carried to the ends of the earth (Rom.1:16-17; 2 Cor.4:3-18). Whosoever
hears the words of Christ Jesus and believes the One who sent Him will be
placed into baptism with Jesus and, buried with Him in baptism, is raised up to
walk in newness of life (Jn.5:24; Rom.6:3-14).
Since
each one has been planted together, united together in the likeness of flesh of
humanity, each one will also share in His resurrection and be raised up a body
of glory of eternal flesh and bone. The members of Christ’s Body will not see
death. We came through death with Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.
God’s
people had forsaken the Glorious One, the Source and Fountain of living water. Cetus,
the monstrous world system of politics, economics and religion, had tried to
stop the river of life of the Glorious One, but the river of living water went
around the bend, and on down through the Church Age the knowledge of the light
of the glory of God flowed on to the mouth of the river - the Kingdom Age. At
that time the Glorious One will return and the Lion of the tribe of Judah will
destroy His enemies. Bootes will come and He shall judge the
world in righteousness (Ps.9:7-8; 67:4-7; 96:8-13).
In
the Kingdom Age the promise of Jehovah to Jeshurun will be fulfilled.
“Jeshurun” is Jehovah’s poetical name for His people. It means
“upright.” Then it will be seen, Jehovah will keep His promise made
through His prophet Isaiah: “I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and
floods upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit [the eternal life that He is]
upon your seed, and blessing upon your offspring” (see Is.44:1-8). At that time
the glorious river of living water of the word of God will flow freely from the
throne of the glorious Prince (Is.11:9; Hab.2:14).
In
the third decan in the sign of Taurus is Auriga
(“the Shepherd”). Taurus, the Judge with His living water,
is the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep and took it up again
as the Great Shepherd brought again from the dead through the blood of the
Eternal Covenant (Ps. 23; Is.40:10-11; Jn.10:11-18; Heb.13:20). It is the
Kingdom Age and He has come again, the Chief Shepherd to crown His sons of God,
the Old Testament saints and saints martyred during the Great Tribulation, with
a body of glory raised up out from the dead (1 Pet.5:4). They have been in
Paradise awaiting the redemption of the body in The Resurrection of Life (see
Jn.11:23-25; Rev.20:4-6).
Auriga
is pictured as seated on the Milky Way, which is a figure
of “His throne in the heavenlies” (Rev.22:3). He is holding upon His left
shoulder a she goat. She clings to His neck, looking back at Taurus,
the Governor, the One leading into eternal life, the One who was wounded for
her transgressions and bruised for her iniquities and by His wounds she is
healed, redeemed from the deceit of the lusts of her flesh, cured of her
sin-sickness (Is.53; 1 Pet.2:22-25).
The
bright star in the right foot of Auriga is El Nath
(“the wounded” or “slain”) (see Is.52:13-53:12; 1 Pet.2:24-25). The bright star
in the heart of the goat means “a she goat.” The next brightest star, located
in the Shepherd’s right arm, is Menkilinon (“the band” or “chain
of goats”). Another star, Maaz, means “flock of goats.’
In
His left hand Auriga supports two little kids, apparently just
born. Here is the fulfillment of Isaiah 54. The she goat, whose Maker is her
husband, who, in her youth, did not conceive seed of Abraham as stars of the
heavens, but only dust seed. In the day of His power she has received Jesus of
Nazareth, the Son of God begotten out from the dead, as her Messiah, the Holy
One of Israel as her Redeemer and she will have her children, seed of Abraham
as the stars of heaven, sons of the righteousness of God through faith in
Jesus, the Anointed Son, seed of Abraham’s son, Christ - sons of God.
We
have the promise of Jehovah to Abraham in chapter 13 of Genesis, that Jehovah
would give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed forever. Jehovah
had called Abraham out of the land of the Chaldees and brought him to the land
of Canaan, where God promised to make of him a great nation (Gen.12:1-3). Jehovah
would begin with Abraham’s seed as the dust of the earth, Abraham’s seed as man
reproducing after his kind, in the image of the earthy, the seed of Adam, the
first man (Gen.13:14-18).
Out
of the dust seed of Abraham and his progeny Jehovah would have seed of
Abraham’s son Christ, sons of God. One night Jehovah called Abraham to
come out under the stars and look toward heaven. Jehovah asked Abraham
to recount the declaration of the record of the Son of the Eternal Covenant by
naming the stars as they are numbered in the order of the twelve signs of “The
Heavenly Revelation of the Covenant Son,” the Anointed One (Gen.15:1-6).
Abraham could do so, as he had been born and grew up in the Chaldees, the
cradle of civilization with the Babylonian “Mysteries of the Host of Heaven.”
That night Abraham was shown the glory declared by the heavens in a new light.
With the eyes of his understanding opened in the light of the true knowledge
of the glory of God, Abraham understood sons of God were born of God’s
Seed, Christ, His Anointed Son.
Jehovah
promised Abraham that the coming Anointed Son of God would be Abraham’s seed
(see Gal.3:6-16). The seed-grain, the body in the likeness of man for the
birthed Son of God, would be birthed of a virgin daughter of Abraham (see
Is.7:14; Mt.1:1, 18-25; Lk.3:34). The Son begotten out from the dead seed-grain
would be seed for bodies for sons of God, seed as the stars of the heaven
showing forth of the Son of the Eternal Covenant. Not only would Abraham have
seed of dust of the ground through his natural progeny, bearing the image of
the earth, but Abraham would have seed as stars of the heavens, sons of God
through a birth from above. Through each one born of the flesh of man, God
would have a potential son of God. Each one bearing the image of the earthy
would be invited through the hearing of the good news of the righteousness of
God through faith in His Anointed Son to be born from above and bear the image
of the heavenly Lord from heaven, the image of God.
The
promise to Abraham is confirmed in the Eternal Covenant of God. In chapter 17
of Genesis Jehovah showed Abraham how He would make His Covenant to
stand upon earth. The Covenant cannot be annulled. It is eternal. The Eternal
Covenant is between the three persons of Deity. God must be faithful to
Himself. He is true (see Heb.6:13-20).
At
the appointed time God gave Abraham a son through a supernatural conception and
named him Isaac (Gen.17:15-22; 21:1-5; see Rom.4:13-25). Isaac was given twin
sons. Before their birth Jehovah made known to Isaac’s wife Rebekah that
the seed for the coming Christ would come through the family of the younger son
(Gen.25:19-23).
The
time came for Jehovah to confirm the promise and the oath sworn to
Abraham to the son, Isaac. God’s Eternal Covenant is made to stand in Isaac. Jehovah
promised to make Isaac’s seed to multiply as the stars of the heavens, seed of
the coming Anointed Son of the Eternal Covenant. This seed, the sons of God
born of God to bear the image of God, will be given the land of Canaan and all
the nations of kindreds and peoples will be blessed (see Gen.26:1-5).
Jacob
was fleeing the wrath of his brother Esau when Jehovah confirmed His
promises and Covenant of the land to Jacob. In Jacob Jehovah would make
His Eternal Covenant to stand. Heading towards Haran, Jacob came to a certain
place, where he spent the night. Resting his head on a pillow of stone, “And he
dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to
heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And,
behold Jehovah stood above it, and said, ‘I am the Jehovah
Elohim [Lord God] of Abraham,
your father, and the Elohim of Isaac: the land whereon you lie, to you
will I give it, and to your seed; and your seed shall be as the dust of the
earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the
north, and to the south: and in you and in your seed shall all the families of
the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with you, and will keep you in
all places to which you go, and will bring you again into this land; for
I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken to you
of’” (Gen.28:12-15).
Jacob
would have multiplied dust seed bearing the image of the earthy. Through the
multiplied dust seed God would have those who, through faith in the Anointed
Son, became the righteousness of God to be born from above a son of God.
Generation after generation, these died in the faith, not having received the
promises (Heb.11:39). In The Resurrection of Life each son of God will be
raised up in a body bearing the image of God and they will come into the
inheritance promised them.
In
time Jehovah established a great kingdom for His people and gave them a
king after His own heart (Ac.13:22). In David God established His Covenant with
Abraham. David would carry the seed for the coming Covenant Son to be begotten
out from the dead (see 2 Sam.7:4-29; Ac.13:23). The seed-grain of the birthed
Son of God would be born as the Son of Man of the seed of the virgin daughter
of Abraham and David. Mary’s father, Heli, being the seed of David through
David’s son Nathan (Lk.1:26-35; 3:23-31; Mt.1:18-25).
In
Jerusalem was the temple with the law of the sacrifices and offerings, which
were “figures of the true Son of the Eternal Covenant” (Heb.8:1-10:1). Here was
a second witness to “The Heavenly Revelation of the Anointed Son of the Eternal
Covenant.” The true prophets of God also bore witness to the Son of God’s
Covenant, the One in whom is the righteousness of God and eternal life for the
mortal body (Rom.3:21). The begotten Son is offered to man as a free Gift to be
freely received to be born a son of God (Rom.5:12-21).
Generations
more were born and Jerusalem did not bring forth multiplied seed as the stars
of the heavens for the nation to inherit the promises. “In the fullness of time,
God sent forth His Son, become of a woman, become under the Law” (Gal.4:4).
His
own people delivered Him up to be crucified. They were only seed as dust of the
ground, man’s seed, bearing the image of the earthy and dead in trespasses and
sins and satisfied in their religion.
When
Auriga comes to govern His nation and all nations, His river of
the living water of the word will flow freely from His throne, and Jerusalem
will have her children - stars of the heavens - sons of God.
As
we have seen in the figure in this third decan, the mother goat is
clinging to the Shepherd King, who supports two little kids in His left hand.
They are apparently just born, a multiple birth, the token of the multiplied
seed as stars of the heavens - sons of God.
In
that day, when the begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, comes to sit on the
throne and govern His people, barren Jerusalem will have her children - as
stars of the heavens, multiplied sons of God. Her Maker is her husband.
Isaiah’s prophecy will be fulfilled: “Sing, O barren, you who did not
bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail
with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children
of the married wife, says Jehovah. Enlarge the place of your tent, and
let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; spare not, lengthen
your cords, and strengthen your stakes; for you shall break forth on the right
hand and on the left, and your seed shall inherit the nations, and make the
desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for you shall not be ashamed,
neither be confounded; for you shall not be put to shame; for you shall forget
the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood
anymore, for your Maker is your husband, the Jehovah of Hosts is
His name; and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth
shall He be called” (Is.54:1-5; see vv6-17).
This
concludes our lesson on the stellar signs of Gemini and Taurus.
We will continue “God’s Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven” with the
signs of Aries and Pisces.
