Witness of the Stars

Chapter IV

Messiah's Consummated Triumph

LEO (The Lion). The Lion of the Tribe of Judah aroused for the

rending of the Enemy.

1. HYDRA (The Serpent). That old Serpent--the Devil, destroyed.

2. CRATER (The Cup). The cup of Divine wrath poured out upon

him.

3. CORVUS (The Crow, or Raven). Birds of prey devouring him.

For Signs and For Seasons

Such are the contents of this wondrous book that is written in

the heavens. Thus has God been speaking and emphasizing and

developing His first great prophetic promise of Genesis 3:15.

Though for more than 2,500 years His people had not this

Revelation written in a book as we now have it in the Bible,

they were not left in ignorance and darkness as to God's

purposes and counsels; nor were they without hope as to ultimate

deliverance from all evil and from the Evil One.

Adam, who first heard that wondrous promise, repeated it, and

gave it to his posterity as a most precious heritage--the ground

of all their faith, the substance of all their hope, the object

of all their desire. Seth and Enoch took it up. Enoch, we know,

prophesied of the Lord's coming, saying, "Behold the Lord cometh

with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all"

(Jude 14). How could these "holy prophets, since the world

began," have recorded their prophecies better, or more

effectually, or more truthfully and powerfully, than in these

star-pictures and their interpretation? This becomes a certainty

when we remember the words of the Holy Spirit by Zacharias (Luke

1:67-70):

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;

For He hath visited and redeemed His people,

And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us

In the house of His servant David;

As He spake by the mouth of HIS HOLY PROPHETS

WHICH HAVE BEEN SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN."

The same truth is revealed through Peter, in Acts 3:20, 21: "He

shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you;

whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of

all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all HIS HOLY

PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN."

These words have new meaning for us, if we see the things which

were spoken "since the world began," thus written in the

heavens, which utter speech (i.e. prophecy), and show forth this

knowledge day after day and night after night, the heritage of

all the earth, and their words reaching unto the ends of the

world.

This Revelation, coinciding as it does in all its facts and

truths with that afterwards recorded "in the Volume of the

Book," must have had the same Divine origin, must have been made

known by the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit.

We now proceed to compare the two, and we shall see how they

agree at every point, proving that the source and origin of this

Divine Revelation is one and the same.

If you know of any books on a similar topic that are in the

public domain and have not been converted for online viewing on

the internet, please contact: research-bpr@philologos.orgor

moza@butterfly.mv.com

Special thanks to Moza, a research member of Philologosand the

Bible Prophecy Research and Study List, for providing this

electronic copy. THIS BOOK HAS BEEN EDITED. Any corrections or

questions may be directed to the address below:

moza@butterfly.mv.com

http://www.mv.com/ipusers/butterfly/witness/00index.htm

December, 1997

The Witness of the Stars by E.W. Bullinger

Revised: Thursday, March 18, 1999

"... freely ye have received, freely give." (Mat 10:8)

The Witness of the Stars

E. W. Bullinger

Preface

Some years ago it was my privilege to enjoy the acquaintance of

Miss Frances Rolleston, of Keswick, and to carry on a

correspondence with her with respect to her work, Mazzaroth or,

the Constellations. She was the first to create an interest in

this important subject. Since then Dr. Joseph A. Seiss, of

Philadelphia, has endeavored to popularize her work on the other

side of the Atlantic; and brief references have been made to the

subject in such books as Moses and Geology, by Dr. Kinns, and in

Primeval Man; but it was felt, for many reasons, that it was

desirable to make another effort to set forth, in a more

complete form, the witness of the stars to prophetic truth, so

necessary in these last days.

To the late Miss Rolleston, however, belongs the honor of

collecting a mass of information bearing on this subject; but,

published as it was, chiefly in the form of notes, unarranged

and unindexed, it was suited only for, but was most valuable to,

the student. It was she who performed the drudgery of collecting

the facts presented by Albumazer, the Arab astronomer to the

Caliphs of Grenada, AD 850; and the Tables drawn up by Ulugh

Beigh, the Tartar prince and astronomer, about AD 1450, who

gives the Arabian astronomy as it had come down from the

earliest times.

Modern astronomers have preserved, and still have in common use,

the ancient names of over a hundred of the principal stars which

have been handed down; but now these names are used merely as a

convenience, and without any reference to their significance.

This work is an attempt to popularize this ancient information,

and to use it in the interest of truth.

For the ancient astronomical facts and the names, with their

meaning, I am, from the very nature of the case, indebted, of

course, to all who have preserved, collected, and handed them

down; but for their interpretation I am alone responsible.

It is the possession of "that blessed hope" of Christ's speedy

return from heaven which will give true interest in the great

subject of this book.

No one can dispute the antiquity of the signs of the Zodiac, or

of the constellations. No one can question the accuracy of the

ancient star names which have come down to us, for they are

still preserved in every good celestial atlas. And we hope that

no one will be able to resist the cumulative evidence that,

apart from God's grace in Christ there is no hope for sinners

now; and apart from God's glory, as it will be manifested in the

return of Christ from heaven, there is no hope for Israel, no

hope for the world, no hope for a groaning creaton. In spite of

all the vaunted promises of a religious world, and of a worldly

church, to remove the effects of the curse by a social gospel of

sanitation, we are more and more shut up to the prophecy of

Genesis 3:15, which we wait and long to see fulfilled in Christ

as our only hope. This is beautifully expressed by the late Dr.

William Leask:

And is there none before? No perfect peace

Unbroken by the storms and cares of life,

Until the time of waiting for Him cease,

By His appearing to destory the strife.

No, none before.

Do we not hear that through the flag of grace

By faithful messengers of God unfurled,

All men will be converted, and the place

Of man's rebellion be a holy world?

Yes, so we hear.

Is it not true that to the Church is given

The holy honor of dispelling night

And bringing back the human race to heaven,

By kindling everywhere the Gospel light?

It is not true.

Is this the hope--that Christ the Lord will come,

In all the glory of His royal right,

Redeemer and Avenger, taking home

His saints, and crushing the usurper's might?

This is the hope.

May the God of all grace accept and bless this effort to show

forth His glory, and use it to strengthen His people in waiting

for His Son from Heaven, even Jesus which delivered us from the

wrath to come.

Ethelbert W. Bullinger

Introduction

For more than two thousand five hundred years the world was

without a written revelation from God. The question is, Did God

leave Himself without a witness? The question is answered very

positively by the written Word that He did not. In Romans 1:19

it is declared that, "that which may be known of God is manifest

in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible

things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,

being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal

power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." But how was

God known? How were His "invisible things," i.e., His plans, His

purposes, and His counsels, known since the creation of the

world? We are told by the Holy Spirit in Romans 10:18. Having

stated in v. 17 that "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the

Word (the thing spoken, sayings) of God," He asks, "But I say,

Have they not heard? Yes, verily." And we may ask, How have they

heard? The answer follows--"Their sound went into all the earth

and their words (their teaching, message, instruction) unto the

ends of the world." What words? What instruction? Whose message?

Whose teaching? There is only one answer, and that is, THE

HEAVENS! This is settled by the fact that the passage is quoted

from Psalm 19, [one] part of which is occupied with the

Revelation of God written in the Heavens, and the part with the

Revelation of God written in the Word.

This is the simple explanation of this beautiful Psalm. This is

why its two subjects are brought together. It has often

perplexed many why there should be that abrupt departure in

verse 7--"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul."

The fact is, there is nothing abrupt in it, and it is no

departure. It is simply the transition to the second of the two

great Revelations which are thus placed in juxtaposition. The

first is the Revelation of the Creator, El, in His works, while

the second is the Revelation of the Covenant Jehovah in His

Word. And it is noteworthy that while in the first half of the

Psalm, El is named only once, in the latter half Jehovah is

named seven times, the last being threefold (Jehovah, Rock, and

Redeemer), concluding the Psalm.

Let us then turn to Psalm 19, and note first--

The Structure* of the Psalm as a whole.

A. 1-4. The Heavens.

B. 4-6. "In them" the Sun.

A. 7-10. The Scriptures.

B. 11-14. "In them" Thy Servant.

* For what is meant by "Structure," see A Key to the Psalms, by

the late Rev. Thos. Boys, edited by the present author.

In the Key to the Psalms, p. 17, it is pointed out that the

terms employed in A and B are astronomical, * while in A and B

they are literary Thus the two parts are significantly connected

and united.

* Vis., in A (vv 7,8),--

"Converting," from to return, as the sun in the heavens.

"Testimony," from to repeat, hence, a witness, spoken of the sun

in Psalm 89:37.

"Sure," faithful, as the sun (Psa 89:37).

"Enlightening," from to give light, as the sun (Gen 1:15,17,18;

Isa 60:19; Eze 32:7).

In B (vv 11-13),--

"Warned," from to make light, hence, to teach, admonish.

"Keeping," from to keep, observe, as the heavens (Psa 130:6; Isa

21:11). Or as the heavenly bodies observe God's ordinances.

"Errors," from to wander, as the planets.

"Keep back," to hold back, restrain.

"Have dominion over," from to rule. Spoken of the sun and moon

in Genesis 1:18. "The sun to rule the day," &c. (Psa 136:8,9).

Ewald and others imagine that this Psalm is made up of two

fragments of separate Psalms composed at different periods and

brought together by a later editor!

But this is disproved not only by what has been said concerning

the structure of the Psalm as a whole, and the interlacing of

the astronomical and the literary terms in the two parts, but it

is also shown by more minute details.

Each half consists of two portions which correspond the one to

the other, A answering to A, and B to B. Moreover, each half, as

well as each corresponding member, consists of the same number

of lines; those in the first half being, by the caesura, short,

while those int he last half are long (or double).

A. 1-4. Eight lines

B. 4-6. Six lines = 14 lines

A. 7-10. Eight lines

B. 11-14. Six lines = 14 lines.

If we confine ourselves to the first half of the Psalm * (A and

B, verses 1-6), with which we are now alone concerned, we see a

still more minute proof of Divine order and perfection.

The Structure of A and B.

A&B. C. 1. The heavens.

D. 2. Their testimony: incessant. (Pos.)

E. 3. Their words inaudible. (Neg.)

D. 4. Their testimony: universal. (Pos.)

C. 4-6. The heavens.

* The other half of the Psalm is just as perfectly arranged. For

example, there are six words used (vv 7-9) to describe the

fulness of the Word of God, and they are thus placed,

alternately:

F. Two feminine singulars. (Law and Testimony.)

G. One masculine plural. (Statutes.)

F. Two feminine singulars. (Commandment and Fear.)

G. One masculine plural. (Judgments).

Here we have an introversion, in which the extremes (C and C)

are occupied with the heavens; while the means (D, E and D) are

occupied with their testimony.

The following is the full expansion of the above, with original

emendations which preserve the order of the Hebrew words and

thus indicate the nature of the structure:

C. a. The heavens

b. are telling (1)

c. the glory (2) of God:

c. and the work of his hands

b. is setting forth (3)

a. the firmament.

D. d. Day after day (4)

e. uttereth (5) speech,

d. And night after night

e. sheweth knowledge.

E. f. There is no speech (what is articulate)

g. and there are no words; (what is audible)

g. and without being audible, (what is audible).

f. is their voice (what is articulate).

D. h. Into all the earth (as created)

i. is their line (6) gone forth;

h. And into the ends of the world (as inhabited)

i. Their sayings.

C. j. For the sun He hath set a tent (an abode) in them;

k. l. and he as a bridegroom (comparison)

m. is going forth from his canopy, (motion: its rising)

l. he rejoiceth as a mighty one (comparison)

m. to run his course. (Motion: its rapid course.)

k. n. From the end of the heavens (egress)

o. is his going forth, (egress)

o. and his revolution (regress)

n. unto their ends: (regress)

j. and there is nothing hid from his head (i.e. from him (7))