THE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE

SIGN OF MOZNAYIM (LIBRA), “The Balances”

The Exodus of the Children of Israel out of

Egypt and the Giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.

“And this shall be a SIGN to you that I have sent you:

When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you

shall serve God on this mountain.” (Ex. 3:9-12)

Moznayim is represented by the 5th letter of the

Hebrew alphabet and has a value of 5.

Hey

Modern

Hebrew

5

Paleo

Hebrew

Hey is the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a value of 5. Here we see how even the construct of this letter resembles a pair of balances, and or an “altar” as some believe Libra should be represented by. In either case the letter hey and the number 5 tie in to both the law of Moses, consisting of 5 books, and the altar upon which 5 different types of offerings were placed.

In most languages when you want to get someone’s attention you say, “hey!” The Hebrew letter hey conveys the same idea. It means “to look, behold, reveal, spirit and breath.” The original pictograph was of a man standing with his hands raised above his head to draw attention to something of great importance. In like manner, did the God of Israel command the attention of all those who were gathered around Mt. Sinai when he revealed himself in all his thundering glory atop Mt. Sinai and spoke his law in the hearing of all the people.

Similarly, attention was also drawn to Christ by John the Baptist when proclaimed: “Behold the Lamb of God the take away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).

*****

In Libra, the ecliptic passes through the downward side of the scales. To the west, Scorpius with its claws is grasping hold of the Scales.

The Scales are a very ancient symbol associated with the law, representing the impartial deliberation, or weighing, of two sides in a legal dispute. In ancient times, the scale was used by putting the objects to be weighed on one side and stones in units of measurement on the other.

The “balances” are mentioned in several places in the Bible.

“Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.” (Lev. 19:36-37)

“Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!” (Job 6:2)

In the book of Daniel, moments before the fall of Babylon, a mysterious hand is seen writing on the palace walls of King Belshazzar. Daniel interprets the mysterious writing and tells the King:

“Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” (Dan. 5:27)

“And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.” (Jer. 32:10)

“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” (Rev. 6:5,6)

In the previous sign Virgo symbolized the seed of Abraham growing into a multitude in the land of Egypt, “as the stars of heaven for a multitude”. In Libra God fulfills his promise to Abraham to liberate his seed after 400 years in a land not their own. Egypt is “weighed in the balances and found wanting.” Justice is poured out on the Egyptians in the form of 10 plagues, devastating the land and the death of the firstborn resulting in Pharaoh setting the captives free.

In the sign of Libra Moses brings the children of Israel out of Egypt to serve God on Mt. Sinai:

“Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a SIGN to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Ex. 3:9-12) NKJV

In this passage Moses is told to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt to serve God on Mt. Sinai, and that it would be a “SIGN,” the Sign of Moznayim (Libra, “the Scales”) symbolizing the law.

Being guided by a pillar fire by night and a cloud by day, Moses brought the children of Israel to the foot of Mount Sinai to receive the Law that they might be a holy and peculiar people unto the LORD. Laws based upon fairness and equality for all, free and bond.

The Hebrew name for Libra, Mozna'aim, means “scale”. The primitive root, ázan, means “to weigh, test, prove”. H0239.

Shortly after leaving Egypt, the LORD spoke unto Moses saying:

“Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.” (Ex. 16:4)

Immediately after God spoke the ten commandments to the children of Israel we read:

“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” (Ex. 20:18-20)

As Egypt and Babylon were weighed in the “balances” and judged accordingly, so today is each individual being weighed in the balances of heaven in accordance with the holy law of God. As the children of Israel were “proved” in whether or not they would walk in God’s law, so is God testing and proving his people today if they will walk in his ways or not.

“God is weighing our characters, our conduct, and our motives in the balances of the sanctuary. It will be a fearful thing to be pronounced wanting in love and obedience by our Redeemer, who died upon the cross to draw our hearts unto Him. God has bestowed upon us great and precious gifts. He has given us light and a knowledge of His will, so that we need not err or walk in darkness. To be weighed in the balance and found wanting in the day of final settlement and rewards will be a fearful thing, a terrible mistake which can never be corrected.” (Counsels for the Church by E.G.White, Pg. 188)

CORRESPONDING HEBREW MONTH - Tishri

Meaning: Tishri, the first month of the Jewish civil calendar, means “beginning”.

Before the Babylonian Exile however, this month was the seventh month of the Ecclesiastical calendar and was called Ethanim.

“And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.” (1 Ki. 8:2)

It appears in Exodus 14:27, Amos 5:24, and Psalm 74:15.

Meaning: “the permanent brooks, enduring” H0388. “from an unused root (meaning to continue); permanence; hence (concrete) permanent.” H0386

There was a “brook” that descended down from Mt. Sinai where the law was given, just as there is a brook (or river) that flows out from the throne of God in heaven. (Dt. 9:22; Rev. 21:1)

“But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” (Amos 5:24)

The words, “enduring, continue, permanence, concrete”, are all words that speak of the permanent, concrete and enduring nature of the law of God.

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Mt. 5:18)

Libra corresponds to the 7th Hebrew month of Tishri. It was on the first day of the seventh month which relates to Libra, that Ezra the priest read the law of Moses to the children of Israel before the water gate. “And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up: And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands (the letter “hey”): and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” (Neh. 8:5-6,8) Significant that the law should be spoken before the “water gate”, as there was a brook of water that descended out of the mountain from where the law was spoken (See Dt. 9:21)

It was on the first day of the seventh month that Ezra the priest read the law of Moses to the children of Israel before the water gate.

“And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up: And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” (Neh. 8:5-6,8) Significant that the law should be before the “water gate”, as there was a brook of water that descended out of the mountain from where the law was spoken (See Dt. 9:21)

SUMMARY

To King Solomon to whom was given great wisdom are recorded these words concerning the law of God:

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Eccl. 12:13-14)

The Old Testament closes with these words:

“Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Mal. 4:4-5)

John the Baptist was a partial fulfillment of this. There will be another fulfillment just prior to Christ’s seconding coming referred to as “the great dreadful day of the Lord.”

When the law giver Himself was here he stated:

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt. 5:17-19)

(Note that this spoken in the 5th chapter of Matthew, corresponding to the value of the letter hey.)

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (Jn 14:21)

The Apostle Paul affirmed that “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Rom. 7:12).

PROMISES

“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” (Rev. 22:14)

“Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons.” (Dt 4:5-9)

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