Allow me to enlighten my audience on this question. I think that as soon as people hear the word “zodiac” they immediately associate it with occult practices, with the horoscope, monthly prognosticators and so on. However, the very first thing God said about the lights he placed in the firmament were that they were to be for “signs.” Somehow we have all glossed over that verse no matter how many times we have read it.


“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for SIGNS, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” (Gen. 1:14)


So I think we should take the Creator of the starry heavens at his word and “let them be for signs.” For why would God tell us that the lights in the firmament were to be for “signs” but then discourage or forbid us from trying to understand them? Just remember that whatever God has the genuine of the devil has the counterfeit and perverted version of. There is a Biblical approach to understanding the signs and there is the pagan or astrological version to which many associate the Zodiac with.


Now we will turn to the book of Job where God asks Job a very interesting question:


“Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?” (Job 38:32)


If you look up the word “Mazzaroth” in Stong’s Exhaustive Concordance it will tell you that it refers to “the 12 signs of the Zodiac and it’s 36 accompanying constellations.”




COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ZODIAC AND

THE WORD OF GOD


1. Both are inspired by the spirit of God.



“By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.” (Job 26:13)


“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (1 Pet.1:21)


2. Both preach the gospel.


“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” (Rom. 10:16-18)


In this passage Paul is quoting Psalms 19:4


“Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.”



3. Both the Bible and the Signs in the heavens are misinterpreted and misapplied.


Through the higher criticism of today the Bible is allegorized to such an extent that nothing means what it says anymore. And the signs God placed in the heavens which were to declare His glory are instead mythologized and used for divination. It is as the parable of the sower:


“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.”


The creator who gave to each star it’s name (Ps. 147:4) and arranged the stars into constellations to form word pictures, imagery that is everywhere seen in the Scriptures, used these series of star pictures to tell of his glory and of the history and redemption of his bride, Israel. But an “enemy” came along and sowed “tares” among the wheat in the form of mythological gods and, divination and monthly prognosticating.


The only way that I have found to separate the wheat from the tares is by relying upon the 12 single Hebrew letters that each sign is represented by. Furthermore, I utilize the meaning of the Hebrew names of the 12 zodiac signs and compare these meanings to the word of God. Lastly, I turn to the word of God where much of the imagery of the constellations are seen throughout.


4. Both the Bible and the Zodiac signs are interpreted based upon theological biases.



This is a difficult problem to escape from, especially when egos get in the way. However, one can apply the same method to studying the meaning of the zodiac signs as one should use when studying the word of God. When studying any doctrinal belief one must look up every scripture related to the topic at hand to see what the Bible has to say about. You’ll also want to look up the meaning of words for an expanded understanding which will lead to still other word searches. In like manner, when studying the sign of Virgo, “the Virgin” for instance, look up every reference to the word “virgin” in the Bible. Especially the very first usage of this word, referred to as “the law of first mentioned.”


In the case of the word virgin, the very first reference to a virgin in the Bible is in reference to Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, and mother of Jacob who had his name changed to Israel. The angel saying unto Jacob: “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” (Gen. 32:28). Thus Jacob was given the spiritual name of Israel because he prevailed, he overcame, he endured to the very end until he received the blessing he so earnestly sought after.


From this story we learn that the very first reference to a virgin in the Bible is to Rebecca, the mother of Israel (Jacob). Thus the sign of Virgo is going to relate to all those, who like Jacob, wrestle with God and “overcome.” To the five wise virgins who took oil in their lamps (Mt. 25:4), and to the 144,000 in the book of Revelation who are also called virgins (Rev. 14:4), the Israel of God. Also to all those who have been “espoused unto one husband that you may be presented as a chaste virgin unto Christ” (2 Cor. 12:2).


This is how you study the signs in the heavens from a Biblical perspective. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” (Isa. 28:10)


Virgo will also relate to Sarah, the Patriarchal mother of Israel, and also to the virgin Mary who gave birth to the Messiah, the second Israel whom God called forth out of Egypt who was to be bruised in the heal by the serpent but crush it’s head. (Gen. 3:15)


Virgo lies on her back as the sun passes through her (the position of a woman in labor). She possesses two wings of a great eagle. This correlates perfectly to the “sign” that John saw in heaven in Revelation 12.


“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.” (Rev. 12:1-2)


“Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.” (Rev. 12:13-14)


So you see “the heavens truly DO declare his glory” (Ps. 19:1). They tell his story in the 12 signs he placed in the heavens. To each star he gave its name to. (Ps. 147:4). The number 12 throughout the Bible always refers to God’s people. The 12 tribes, 12 disciples, 12 gates to the city and 12 foundations, etc.


All throughout the Bible God’s people are likened to “stars.” God told Abraham that his seed would become “as the stars of heaven for a multitude.” In Joseph’s dream he saw the sun, moon and 11 stars bowing before him. Joseph being the 12th star, the sun and moon representing his father and mother. The 12 stars on the woman’s crown in Rev 12:1, and the 7 stars in the hand of Jesus in Rev. 1.


I could go on further which I do on my SIGNS page but i think you get the idea now. The Zodiac (i.e. “the Mazzaroth”) is not inherently something pagan or evil, else why would God refer to it in a positive context in the book of Job? And why would Daniel be made “chief of the astrologers” if it was an evil practice? No, Daniel understood the true meaning of the signs of the heavens which were far superior to that of the astrologers and magicians of Babylon.


It is interesting to note that in Islam, the contest between astronomy and astrology became explicit. al-Ghaz(x)ali (considered the greatest religious authority after the prophet Muhammad in the 10th century): he commended astronomy as a part of the study of the science of God in God’s creation, but strongly condemned astrology as spurious.


Dr. Adam Clark says of the ancient Egyptians that they held the stars to be symbols of sacred things. Astronomy was the soul of the Egyptian religious system which was brought to them by Abraham.


Even the great king of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed “How great are your signs! and how mighty are his wonders” (Dan. 4:3). It was Daniel who was made chief over all the wise men and astrologers in Babylon that must have revealed the true meaning of the great signs in the heavens!


ENOCH


The star figures in the sky form a very precise map of the heavens and display many allegories which have been preserved as Greek myths. But much more than that, the book of Enoch states that the angel Uriel revealed them to the prophet Enoch long before the great flood. When he came to understand their meaning he exclaimed: “I blessed the Lord of glory, who had made those great and splendid signs, that they might display the magnificence of his words to angels and to the souls of men; and that these my glorify all his works in operation; might see the effect of his power, might glorify the great labor of his hands; and bless him forever.”