Ancient Monuments of Biblical Archaeo-Astronomy
One of the fascinating realities of Biblical Astronomy is that God first wrote the truths of His Word in the Heavens, [Ps. 19] before they were ever recorded in Scripture. As we have seen in numerous studies on this blog and website, the first Messianic prophecy in Scripture [Gen. 3:14-15] has various pictorial representations in the stars as seen the constellations Ophiuchus, Scorpius, Hercules, and Orion to name a few. The Mazzaroth or Celestial Gospel was first addressed to the Age of the Biblical Patriarchs, from Adam to Moses. One of the goals of the Try-God sites has been to research the principles that unlock the keys of the Celestial Gospel and witness to the truths God put in the heavens in coordination with His Written Word. Even as prophecies of the Blood Moons were spoken by the Apostle Peter during his opening address, reverberating through the Age of Grace [Acts 2], so the Book of Job is the only Book of the Bible other than Genesis that was specifically addressed to the Age or Administration of the Bible Patriarchs. As such, it is this oldest book of Biblical canon that discloses the monuments of Biblical Archaeo-Astronomy in their unique role as witnesses to the Celestial Gospel. A Biblical Administration is “a period of time in God’s historical and spiritual timetable during which God deals with man in a particular way. It is governed by principles or spiritual truths that may be unique unto itself. In rightly dividing the Word of Truth, we must understand that Biblical Administrations have to remain within the boundaries or confines in which God has placed them within His Word. The rules of life change in these various time periods, so we must see each administration within its distinct context. When we investigate ‘to whom’ a particular Scripture is addressed, we must also see which Biblical Administration governs the rules.” 1
Since Christ is the end of the Law, we are no longer subject to the dictates of Old Testament Law, because we live by the higher Law of the Love of God, upon which as Jesus said “hang all the law and commandments.” Yet the accuracy of these ordinances of heaven continue to set the standard for truth in the important area of calendars and timekeeping that man continues to apply in modern times according to the perpetual Covenant of Day and Night [Jer. 33:20 -22]. In the Creator’s Eternal and Omniscient wisdom He instituted a perfect symmetry in these Biblical Administrations so the foundations of one supported the next. This accounts for the trait in a “mandates from heaven,” that their truth can remain applicable beyond the scope of its original Biblical Administration.
The Great Sphinx is the only Anti-diluvian monument that unifies the first and last signs of the Biblical Mazzaroth in the head of the woman Virgo with the body of the Lion Leo.
Rev. 22:12-13
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
Jesus is the Alpha and Omega not only in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, but also from Virgo to Leo in the Celestial Gospel of the Mazzaroth, represented in the Great Stone Monument of the Sphinx on the Giza Plateau. We find these landmarks of the Alpha and Omega at the head and tail of the zodiac, which adds light to Dr. Martin’s observation that: “the woman Virgo is the Constellation of Headship for all twelve signs. The head position of Virgo is located within the last 10 degrees of Leo.” Virgo’s head is seen in Fig. 1, just below & adjacent to the star Denebola in the tail of the Lion, unifying the circle of the zodiac. The Sphinx also unifies the Biblical canon, establishing the chronological order of God’s written revelation, in the Bible’s earliest book of Job.
The first level crowning of Virgo also foreshadowed the Celestial Sphinx prophecy of the birth of Christ, 3 days prior to the 1st of 3 Jupiter-Regulus conjunctions marking the birth of Christ in 3-2 BC, pictured below [Fig. 1].
Figure 1. The Celestial Sphinx as seen from Jerusalem on Sept. 14th with Jupiter-Regulus union. 2
Job 19:23-25
Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were printed in a book! [24] That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! [25] For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
These verses are indicative not only of Job’s knowledge prophesying of his coming redeemer, but of his faith that his redeemer would stand at a future day upon the earth. This knowledge directly corresponds both, to a witness engraved in rock forever, remaining unto our day, that testifies to the celestial and written gospels. The word “For,” beginning verse 25, grammatically depicts the purpose of Job’s reference to a monumental witness in stone, whose longevity has lasted into our day, as a witness to the redeemer that Job foresaw so long ago. Thus Job’s reference, in this majestic declaration of his redeemer, graven in rock forever, is readily linked with this enduring memorial on the Giza plateau, analogous with the prophecy written in the stars between Leo and Virgo. Job’s words certainly stand out as a reference to the witness of the stars in stone, a witness God provided to the Biblical Patriarchs written by Job, enshrining these sacred stone landmarks of the Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid as unique testaments of the truths of the Celestial and Scriptural Gospels. To further cement the link between the Great Sphinx and the Scriptures, let’s take a look at Job 38:
The witness of Scripture continues in the Book of Job, which contains more overt astronomical references, with Biblical constellation names than any other book in the Bible.
The Famed Star Cluster of the Pleiades.
Job 38:31-33
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? [32] Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? [33] Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
From a Biblical perspective outside the Books of Genesis and Job, God revealed His Word and Will to the Patriarchs in the stellar witness and celestial narrative of the Promised redeemer of mankind. When we consider the Hebrew word “mazzaroth,” we find a very early reference to the 12 signs of the zodiac, occurring only in Job. There are other later references to the 12 signs of the ecliptic in Scripture, but this gives us more evidence of the antiquity of this knowledge of the entire zodiac, in the context of the Biblical Patriarchs. This idea alone flies in the face of evolutionary archaeology which has not taken this Biblical evidence into account in its historical view of human knowledge of the entire zodiac. Among the earliest overt astronomical references in all of Scripture, Job lays an indispensable basis for the ordinances of heaven, or “statutes from the Creator as laws of Nature that were permanently binding.” The universal influence of the 365-day calendar and the division of the Mazzaroth circle into 12 equal sections of 30-days each, represent two undeniable innovations in the history of Astronomy forming a foundation upon which the rest of ancient Astronomy and timekeeping were built. Thus the Biblical records of Job based on Noah, establish the advanced astronomical practice of the Biblical Patriarchs, providing a basis from which the roots of ancient Astronomy and studies in Archaeo-Astronomy can be traced in their true context.
When Job spoke these words however, the Bible, or even the Pentateuch had not been completed yet by Moses the lawgiver. Thus, we see in [Job 19:23], Job’s desire that his book would be part of the sacred written oracles tied to the bedrock truths of the Great Sphinx, engraved in stone as a testimony to his coming redeemer.
The word “graven” *H2710 [chaqaq] 3 in Job 19:24 means: to cut, carve, hew, square, quarry, mason or engrave. This is the same word translated as “lawgiver” in Gen. 49:10, and is the same root for the word “ordinances” in Job 38:33, in the sense that the ordinances or laws of God and nature, were many times engraved in stone, even as the 10 Commandments were by the “finger of God.” As we say God’s Word is “set in stone.” An important point to realize regarding this word [chaqaq] is that it is also translated as “Lawgiver” in Deut. 33:21 and “governors” in Judges 5:14. This relates to another ancient Egyptian name of the Sphinx;
Bel-hit, which means the “Lord who cometh” as seen in Deut. 33:21. Deuteronomy’s 33rd chapter includes the Song of Moses, as the 5th chapter of Judges contains the Song of Deborah, both of which list the Tribes of Israel. Another occurrence of “Lawgiver” is seen below in Genesis 49, also a listing of the Tribes of Israel, all of which refer to the Biblical zodiac, containing celestial and Scriptural links to each of the tribes. These Biblical lists of the 12 tribes of Israel are refined in the discussion of the breastplate of Israel’s High Priest, that models the structure and symbolism of the Mazzaroth. Another occurrence of this word [chaqaq] is found in Jeremiah.
The Mazzaroth and the 12 Tribes of Israel
Jer. 31:35-36
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: 36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.
In Jer. 31:35 the root of this word [chaqaq] is used of the light of the celestial ordinances of the Sun by day, and the Moon and stars by night, [Gen.1:16-18]. The ordinances of God’s Covenant with the seed of Abraham were first written with the finger of God in the rock of His holy mountain and given to Moses the lawgiver, [Ex. 24:12 31:18, 32:16]. This verifies the relation between God’s celestial witness and His word written in the Scriptures [Ps. 19], memorialized in stone. It is a known historical and archaeological fact that the Great Sphinx was carved out of a rock formation on the Giza plateau, which is consistent with the testimony of God’s Word in Job 19:23, where the word “rock” [*H6697] means “a cliff, sharp rock compressed, or boulder.”4 We can see the intimate link between God’s stellar witness of His ordinances fulfilled in His covenant with the seed of Israel in verse 36 above. The promised seed was consummated in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jeremiah‘s key point is that the celestial witness of God’s Covenant with Day and Night [Jer. 33:20-26], has not ceased and no one is able to halt these celestial cycles and seasons set in motion by the Creator, thus the surety of the return of His promised seed for his people is set in the firmament, in stone, in Scripture, and irreversibly embodied in the Man Christ Jesus!
The union of the celestial signs of Leo the lion, with the woman Virgo in the female-headed Great Sphinx also depicts the life of Jesus, from birth, starting with the setting of Spica on September 11th, 3 BC. This is depicted in Gen. 49:9 as his human maturation from lion’s whelp, where his prey is provided for him, to stalking his own prey, unto his ultimate victory casting down and rending the dragon. This is the three-fold theme that ties directly to the celestial wonders of Revelation 12, linking God’s Word together with His stellar revelation. We have seen this set for us at the canonical start and finish of both the Biblical and stellar gospels, forming a parallel testimony of the Scriptures with the stars.
This mirrors the celestial symbolism of the Jupiter-Regulus triple unions seen in Genesis 49:9 depicting the growth cycle of the lion from whelp, to adult lion, to the aged lion at rest. This is another example of the corrupting influence of myth that still retains elements of the truth it hides. This triple Conjunction of Jupiter and Regulus in Leo marking the birth of Christ, also exemplifies the narrative in the entire zodiac, the great stellar witness of the ages that embodies God’s first revelation to the Patriarchs, beginning with Adam. As the star names of the 12 Constellations of the Mazzaroth with each of their decans relate varying aspects of the nature, sufferings and glory of the Promised Seed, so this witness is summarized in the first and last zodiacal signs that compromise the Great Sphinx.
Gen 49:10
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah“- “sceptre” is shebet in the Hebrew, the same word used in Numbers 24:17; referring to the “star out of Jacob and sceptre out of Israel.” This star out of Jacob is a clear reference to the king planet Jupiter which is covered in detail in the Astronomy of the Birth of Christ section of our try-god.com web-site.
“lawgiver from between his feet“- Regulus the king star and the brightest star in Leo. “The Arabic word “regel” means “foot” and is identical in meaning to the Aramaic word “regla” and the Hebrew word “regel” linking with “from between his feet” above.” In this one verse the Lion of Judah, Leo, intertwined with the lawgiver coming from between his feet, symbolizing the king star Regulus [Psalm 60:9]. This gives a clear Biblical picture of the stellar aspects of the Jupiter-Regulus triple union in Leo the lion of the tribe of Judah revealed in the 3 aspects of Genesis 49:9!
“Lawgiver“- *H2710 [chaqaq] meaning; to cut or engrave, inscribe, establish, ordain, to decree, leadership, a ruler, a lawgiver; a scepter.5 It occurs 19 times in the Hebrew O.T. The main meaning is “writing or drawing in the sense of etching“ [Isa. 30:8; in a book] The root can mean to enact a decree [In Prov. 8:15 its used of a governor decreeing justice with wisdom.] This word [chaqaq] attests to the power of the coordinated decrees of God’s Word first written in the stars, then later in stone and in the Scriptures, providing a great precedent for the idea of all language being rooted in the celestial alphabet. [Ex. 32:13-16].
Finally the Word (logos) was made flesh in Jesus Christ, and God’s Word incarnate dwelt with us. These manifold witnesses to God’s omnipotent Glory and Grace, testify to the awesome beauty and Symmetry inherent in the mathematical precepts found at the basis of Creation. As the Red Thread and master key to the expression and interpretation of God’s Word, Jesus is the lawgiver, after the form of Moses, the ultimate decree of righteous judgment as the embodiment of the Word made flesh.
The decan of Virgo-Coma [from the Dendera Zodiac]
Psalm 19:1-5
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 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, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The word “line” in verse four refers to the ecliptic as the path in the Sun’s Tabernacle, at the end of the verse. These 12 houses or “Tabernacles of the Sun” refer to the 12 signs of the zodiac and the 12 tribes of Israel, the Bride of the Bridegroom. Here, the Bible compares the Sun to a Bridegroom in verse 5, running a race-course through the circuit of heaven, the 12 signs of the ecliptic and their decans. The Great Sphinx elucidates the details of the 19th Psalm because it unifies these Tabernacles of the Sun, first with Virgo, the woman, the Bride-Israel and last with Leo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Thus, all the tribes are presented to the Lord prepped for the marriage supper of the Lamb, preserved in this Great Stone Monument of the ages. As these magnificent monolithic witnesses to the Astronomy of the Biblical Patriarchs, the Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid have preserved the principles of Biblical Astronomy timelessly, they embody God’s original truth.
The power of the Celestial Gospels is truly awesome, but due to the corrupting power of Astrology it has been misunderstood. We see below how mankind during the times after Noah’s Flood shared a common language, and the tremendous benefits this afforded the people as a result. One of these potent benefits is seen in the universal witness of the stars, which has literally spoken to every nation and kindred on the face of the earth. As the first 4 verses of the 19th Psalm declare, their voice or the teachings of the stars in their courses, have spoken clearly to all the earth and their words have been heard to the ends of the earth, [Ps. 19:3-4]. This 19th Psalm (The Song of Creation) whose witness has spoken to mankind since the beginning with Adam exhibits a very intriguing structure: the first six verses pertaining to God’s Revelation written in the Heavens, employ verbs that are literary in nature. The second part of this Psalm pertains to God’s written revelation in His Word, and employs verbs that are astronomical in nature. The first set of verses refer to God’s Revelation as Creator, (ELOHIM), while the second set is the Revelation of God as (JEHOVAH) in His Covenant relationship to His people.6 This two part structure of the 19th Psalm is set in direct association and correspondence, even as God’s Word supports and witnesses God’s Works and vice versa.
Figuratively, the Sun is a symbol of the promised seed–Jesus Christ, weaving his way through the circular path of the ecliptic and the 12 houses of the Hebrew Mazzaroth, giving us the basic relationship between God’s earthly seed and His heavenly seed.
Gen. 22:17-18
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice. [Num. 24:7]
Here we find the true godly context of a comparison between the seed of Abraham and the stars of heaven. This truth was corrupted in astrological doctrines going back to Cush and Nimrod. An example of Nimrod’s corrupting influence of God’s Word written in the heavens is evident where he egotistically identifies himself with Orion “the hunter,” one of the most conspicuous Decans in the heavens, located on the celestial equator, intersecting the star groups of the ecliptic at the equinoxes. Sirius-the brightest star in the skies after the Sun and Moon, is aligned with Orion’s belt, prominent not only in Babylon but also ancient Egypt. Nimrod wanted to destroy the positive links between Sirius and Orion as seen in the Great Pyramid [more on his in Part 2] by inserting himself in the role of “Orion the hunter.”
The Decan of Orion.
Gen 10:8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
“Cush begat Nimrod”- Cush means Chaos, or the “confounder”; in reference to he that causes confusion and error regarding truth.7 “Bel” also signified “the Confounder” or the god of chaos. 8 To trace the ancient usage of this word we find that it was contracted from the Aramaic form of “Baal,” the name of the main Babylonian triune god linked with Anu and Enki, found in the Epic of Gilgamesh. This idol system corresponds to the Greek god Zeus, or Jupiter in the Roman pantheon, [Isa. 46:1, Jer. 50:2, 51:34-58]. The meaning of “Belial,” is also related to “Bel” seen from multiple viewpoints. First, the Hebrew roots of Belial, with the Masoretic vowels “beli”=without, and ya`al”=profit, gives a meaning of “worthless.” Secondly, Belial can also be derived from the Hebrew word “bala” meaning to swallow up, engulf. This describes one who is engulfed or swallowed up by the dragon, becoming worthless and unredeemable in the sight of the true God. The unwavering goal of the men of Belial is to corrupt God’s Word, which in the Patriarchal Age involved the corruption of the Celestial Gospel, since there was no written divine oracle until the time of Moses. Cush was a Patriarch of evil, and Nimrod his son carried the practice of evil exceedingly beyond his father, establishing and systematically working idolatry into civilization, being the equivalent of Cain after the flood.
“began“- Nimrod “began” setting the standard of evil established in the “way of Cain,” following the flood.
“mighty”- marad; rebel= we will rebel. Nimrod organized people in cities, at first for protection against the wild beasts. A hero, tyrant & champion of evil, he lorded his power over men. He systemized the conquest of other nations with the use of military might, for the first time after the flood. This had the effect of elevating Nimrod as the protector of the people, above God in the eyes of the conquered, which he bolstered in linking himself with Orion in the heavens.
Gen 10:9-10 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said; {Nimrod’s name was a proverb for a hunter} Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
“mighty hunter before the LORD”-As a mighty hunter in defiance of God, he cleared the land of the beasts that threatened the people, and by bold and daring deeds in hunting beasts and kingdoms of men viewed as a benefactor and protector of the people by seemingly benevolent acts, enticed men through fear, Nimrod made the way of Cain the new standard of civilization. He set up the first great universal false religion opposing God after Noah’s flood, founded upon the Babylonian idol Trinity of Bel, Anu and Enki, and was openly rebellious against God without remorse. The Beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Babylon was the first empire or Kingdom for Nimrod among men. Nimrod inspired the building of a city on the plain in the land of Shinar with a city and tower or Ziggarat, built with burnt bricks, whose reputation would make a name for themselves. This Tower of Babel is related in Gen. 11:4 as having a “top may reach unto heaven” in the KJV reflecting the words “may reach” in italics, indicating they were added by the translators in their effort to “clarify” he text. Since they were added, and do not appear in the Stephens text from which the KJV is taken, a better translation would be a “top as a representation of the heavens.” But in an effort to establish the first great universal false religion after Noah’s Flood, the image of this tower did not reflect the original sense of the celestial gospel, and being based on idolatry, was openly rebellious against the true God. With the added advantage that the whole earth was of one language, [Gen. 11:1] this tower reflected an image completely removed from the true Creator which could influence the entire world’s population.
“Mighty”- is “gibbor” in Hebrew and “gigas” in Greek-LXX, meaning monstrous, or gigantic in evil. Rooted in ge, or “gaia” meaning earthborn as the “sons of gaia” the earth-goddess (Ashtoreth), the female form of the Babylonian trinity. It is interesting how the Gaia movement has been revitalized in modern times in the context of the “tree huggers” of the “Green movement,” bringing these ancient idols back from the idol foggy mists-there is truly “nothing new under the Sun.”
“beginning of his kingdom was Babel”- Babylon was the beginning of this type of empire among men. As the prototype, Nimrod initiated the “canon” of the standard of teaching men to prosper and live outside of God. His canon included all categories of life; architecture, geometry, Astrology, music, martial arts etc. all devoted to idolatry. By building up standing armies and training men to fight, he conquered his neighbor-countries. This was the beginning of the corruption of the Astronomy of the Biblical Patriarchs, after the flood, seen not only in the fame of the Babylonian astrologers, but also in the architecture and astrology of the Tower or Ziggurat of Babel.
The Ziggurat at Ur.
Gen. 11:1 refers to one language and a common speech. This was a great advantage to these people who wanted to make a name for themselves, instead of the true God, who had saved their ancestors from the great flood. They wanted to centralize their location in a city and apply their astronomical and architectural expertise to design this city with man-made bricks instead of the stones of the land. The emphasis of their great tower was not that it reached to the heavens as is commonly misunderstood, but this tower would be a representation of the heavens in geometric and architectural design. Here we can see one setting where this sacred geometry was applied. As Livio Stecchini stated in reference to the ziggurats of Babylon;
“they transfer curved data to a flat surface in order to make a projection of the Earth’s hemisphere, with a minimum of distortion.” Each of the primary steps of the pyramid thus represents a 90 degree quadrant, and the levels can represent the zone between two parallels of Latitude in a series of Mercator projections, several thousand years before the advent of the Flemish cartographer.”9
Thus one function of this ziggurat was to map the northern hemisphere of the Earth from the Equator to the pole, into seven zones each diminishing in width corresponding to the decreasing degrees of Latitude. This figure was a mirror image of ancient celestial maps. [Thompkins] This shows that an advanced geography based on this cosmic architecture did not evolve, but actually devolved after perverted by heathen Astrology, from what was first given by revelation from God. This sacred architecture based on celestial structure, not only embodies man’s relationship with his Creator, as seen in the sacred architecture of Noah’s Ark, and later the Hebrew Tabernacle and Temple, but also included specific prophecies of the coming promised seed including details of his redemptive work, which set man’s alliance with the Creator back on course. These elements of sacred geometry are further seen in the 3rd 4th and 5th steps of the ziggurats of Babylon, which make triangles with sides measuring according to the 3-4-5 Pythagorean triangle. We have noted in other studies on our Try-god website how the 3-4-5 triangle was utilized in elements of the Hebrew Tabernacle and Temple, along with the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid.
We will see more in Part 2 of The Ancient Monuments of Biblical Archaeo-Astronomy in our next blog post…
God Bless!
Footnotes
1. Living in God’s Power Syllabus
2. Jesus Christ our Promised Seed, p.45, American Christian Press
3. Strong’s Concordance, [H2710] James Strong
4. Ibid [H6697]
5. Ibid [H2710]
6. The Companion Bible, E.W Bullinger, p737
7. “The Two Babylon’s,” A. Hislop, ppg. 26-27
8. Ibid
9. Secrets of the Great Pyramid, Peter Thompkins ppg. 184-85.
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