The Fourth Day Prophesy.

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: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
- Genesis 1:14-19

The heavens tell of the glory of God.
The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or a word;
their voice is silent in the skies;
yet their message has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to all the world.
- Psalm 19:1-4

Genesis tells us that the lights in the firmament or stars are for signs, Psalms tells us that the Heavens speak silently of the Glory and Wonder of God. This implys that the stars are not simply for signs of direction as sailors or explorers used in navigating the sea and land, but as prophetic signs. I believe there is a specific revelation of God's plan for mankind in the stars for two reasons.

1. The Magi were guided by signs in the heavens. The has been much speculation as to how and why the stars led the Magi to the infant Jesus. One (somewhat reliable) theory is that around the time of Christ's birth a new and very bright star in the Coma constellation, one of the deacons (minor constellations) of Virgo was seen. First recorded around 100 years before Jesus' birth by Ignatious who wrote of this star, “It sparkled brilliantly above all stars” and within the space of around 100 after Jesus' death Ptolemy refers to it as having become so faint to barely be visible. The Coma constellation, as Albumazer wrote, depicts “a young woman, whose Persian name denotes a pure virgin, sitting on a throne, nourishing an infant boy, said boy having a Hebrew name... which in Greek is called Christ.” Whether or not it was this particular star in Virgo (which can no longer be seen) which led the Magi, the scriptures do in fact say the Magi were led by a star, and this cannot be denied.

2. The Stars are a special sign of God's majesty. Job 9:9 “He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;” and Amos 5:8 “ He who made the Pleiades and Orion,” When God is addressing Job (Job 38:31) He makes special reference to the stars when He says: “Have you fitted a curb to the Pleiades, or loosened the bonds of Orion? Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or guide the Bear with its train? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens; can you put into effect their plan on the earth?” The Mazzaroth is the Jewish name for the Zodiac. The Pleiades are a seven star cluster bound together by gravitational forces. The majority of star groups or constellations we see simple mover relatively with each other and have the appearance of being grouped. Orion and the bear (Ursa Major) are star constellations within the Zodiacal belt. Here God says there is a plan within the stars which He will put into effect on the Earth.

The most prominent of the signs in the stars are in fact referred to as the Star Signs. The 12 Signs of the Zodiac. The Zodiac consists of constellations made up from the stars which are within 8 degrees either side of the suns' apparent path around the earth. It is the Earth which moves but the sun and stars appear to revolve around the earth when viewed from here. The moon and planets also are contained within this belt apart from Pluto which occasionally move outside the 8 degree solar ecliptic.

The band of the Zodiac is divided into 12 equal sections, each of 30 degrees (12 x 30 = 360). This is due to the 12 phases of the moon within a solar year. Each of the sections has a major constellation, and each major constellation has 3 minor ones called deacons.

EG. The Sign of Virgo has the three deacons, Coma, Centaurus and Bootes.

The word Zodiac comes from the Greek word Zodiakos, which means circle of animals. This word likely has its root from the primitive zoad which simply means a walk, way or going by steps. Thus Zodiac refers to 12 steps of the Sun through our sky.

Using the stars or any means for divination is an abomination to God (Deut 18:10-12) and this is not my intention. I intend to examine the Signs of the Zodiac in regards to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as found in the Bible and find any corresponding themes or ideas. If a correlation is found, I suggest that this is because the Zodiac is simply one of the ways in which the “The heavens tell of the glory of God.”