Revelation 5:8-10
8Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp (Lyre), and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.9And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
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(Lyra: The Ascending Eagle with the Harp.)
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In Part 10 we met the Archer, Sagittarius (Jesus), who’s arrow is aimed directly at the heart of the scorpion (satan). It’s three accompanying decans, or minor constellations, further expand His story. They tell of His great triumph over our enemy, that He fully paid for all of our sins by absorbing God’s fiery judgment in His own body, and His defeat of the great dragon.
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Lyra: The Lyre
In Lyra we see a picture of a triumphant eagle rising with a harp. Kind of a strange combination, right? What could it mean?
The harp, or lyre, is one of the oldest musical instruments. Genesis 4:21 mentions it as being in use as far back as during the lifetime of Adam. It depicts the praiseof which the greater Sagittarius, Jesus, is so deserving. But why an eagle with a harp?
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Eagles, like hawks, are a natural enemy of the serpent. In it’s rising heavenward with the lyre, itsymbolizespraise, singing, and rejoicing rising up to God for His great triumph over our enemy!
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Lyra, pictured with an eagle ascending, also speaks of Jesus as He rose from death. He ascended from the depths of the earth and from there up to the highest heaven, having utterly and completely defeatedthe devil with his own weapon: Death.
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(Lyra)
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Names Of The Stars.
The ancient name of the brightest star in this constellation has been passed down tous from our Jewish brethren. They called it, “Vega,” which means, “He shall be exalted,” pictured above. It’s purpose is to draw our attention to the praise sounding from the harp as indicated in the opening scripture from Revelation 5.
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Vega is a pure white star and one of the brightest in the heavens. The Hebrewroot word, from which Vega is derived,“Gaah,” is used by Moses in the very first song recorded in scripture.
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Exodus 15:1.
“Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying:
“I will sing to the Lord,
For He has TRIUMPHED GLORIOUSLY!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!”
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(For more on that topic, you may follow the link below: https://emmausroadministries.international/2021/03/19/8174/)
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Our English word for “Victory,” comes from this very same root word!
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The ancient name for a second star in the picture of Lyra above is, “Shelyuk,” which in Hebrew it means, “The Fishing Eagle.” They have given a second nameto this star:“Sulaphat.” It means “The Springing Up.” Put the two names together and it paints a picture of “TheFishing Eagle Springing Up!”
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That’s exactly how birds fish, isn’t it? They dive into the water, grab and kill their prey, then rise upward into the heavens again, victorious.
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Descriptions From Other Cultures.
Arabian astronomers also had a name for this star, calling it, “Al Nesr: The Eagle.” As expected, the most ancient planisphere, the Denderah of Egypt, also has a description of this star grouping, seeing it as a triumphant hawk or eagle ruling over the serpent; “Fent-kar.” In their language it means, “The Serpent RulED.” 👈🏼Notice the past tense.
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Theseare all reasons whywe sing praise and worship our God, Who reigns forever and ever, AMEN!
That praise is perfectly expressed inRevelation 19:1-2!
“Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments.”
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No wonder we shout with all the angels and saints, with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
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Ara: The Upside Down Altar.
Psalm 138:8
“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”
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Ara, the next decan in our story, is seen as an altar with burning coals atop, turned upside down, and spewing all of it’s contents out over the South Pole. A typology of the regions of outer darkness, the river we call “the Milky Way,” it is pictured in some star charts as “The lake of fire.”
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Aren’t we glad, as believers, that we are NOT going to end up there!!!
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Lake of fire.
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God’s Demands.
Altar represents God’s demands on mankind. The Priests of the Old Covenant offered sacrifices continually on an altar in order to cover their sins, because there is NO WAY man could perfectly obey His laws or adhere to His standards. We fail miserably.
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Knowing that, and because He’s a good Father, God lovingly provided for us so that sins could at least be covered…..until the day Jesus would come and wash them away with the blood of His perfect sacrifice!!!
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These offerings were like “Promissory notes” for the saints of old that Jesus cashed for them when He met with them in Paradise after He died.
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(For more on that topic, You may follow the link below:
https://emmausroadministries.international/2020/04/10/promissory-notes-passover-series-part-10/)
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This altardepicts the fires of judgment that should have rained down on us but that Jesus took in our place! HALLELUJAH!
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The word, “Ara,” itself actually means, “Finished,” in Greek! Remember the devil’s perversion? Because of it, the Greeks, and many other cultures, saw a confused story. They saw this constellation and invented a “goddess” of revenge and destruction named “Adresta.” How sad. 😞
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(As you have read before if you have been following this series, all this perversion was started by the devil in order to confuse the story so man would not believe it and be saved. That’s what astrology is: The devil’s perversion).
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Another Name For This Decan.
In Arabic this star sign was called, “Al Mugmara,” which means “The Completing, conveying the idea of perfecting or finishing, as you read in Psalm 138:8 above which says, “The LORD will perfect that which concerns me.” Both the word, “Mugmara,” and the Hebrew word for perfect share the same root word: “Gamar.”
Ara reminds us that Jesus came and finished the work so we would not have to suffer judgment if we accepted Him as our substitute payment for God’s demands!
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Guiding Monument In Egypt.
In Part 3, we discussed how God arranged for a monument to be built at the border of Egypt so that ancient cultures would know how to read the story. He did it because this is a circular narrative. You need to know where it begins and ends in order to read it correctly.
That’s why devil was able to confused the narrative. His “version” begins with Aries, the Ram. Well Church, it doesn’t start there: It begins with Virgo, the Virgin and Child, (which is Jesus), and ends with Leo, the Lion, which is also JESUS!
If you start at the wrong place in the story, you’ll get all kinds of nonsense, which is where both mythology and astrology arise. They are simply a confused version of the REAL story in the stars.
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God arranged for a very special monument to be built at the border of Egypt to show where the story begins and where it ends, i.e., the Great Sphinx which we discussed in part 3. You may follow the link below if you missed it:
The REAL Story In The Stars Part 3: The Sign At TheBorder.
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Final Sacrifice.
Now, because of Jesus, there is no need for man to make any more sacrifices for sin.Jesus is the final One! He finished the work of redemption. There is no other Name under heaven by which we must be saved. No other sacrifice will do. No other is acceptable.
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More About Ara.
TheJewish peopleused two terms that arerooted in the same word, “Ara:” Aram, which is the Hebrew name for “Syria,”and “Mara,” which means “bitter” or “to utter destruction and a curse.”
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Remember the bitter waters of Mara? (As for Syria, they were, and in fact still are, Israel’s bitter enemy). What you see is a clear picture of the curse brought uponall menbyAdam’s rejection of God.
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Names Of The Stars.
Sadly for us, no ancient names of the stars in this constellation have been passed down to us. However, the Egyptian Denderah has a different and very illuminating take! 😉
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(Dendera/ Egyptian Planisphere)
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Egyptian Zodiak Or Denderah.
The Egyptians saw this constellation as a human figure holding an instrument in his hand called a “Flail.” This is the horrific instrument that was used on our precious Jesus at the scourging post. A cat of nine tails, or scourge, was used to inflict maximum damage with minimum effort. 😭 It literally ripped our Lord to shreds as he took that inhuman beating in our place.
Remember when He died how the Father ripped the veil of the Temple in two? Paul refers to the veil in Hebrew 10:19-20:
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,” The entire Tabernacle of Moses is a picture of Jesus. The veil represents His flesh. It was torn just as His flesh was torn at the scourging post. 😭
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For more on the construction of the Tabernacle, you may follow the link below:
Four-Times Covered: Tabernacle Series Part9
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The Egyptians called Ara, “Bau: He Who Cometh.” Because of what Jesus did, the curse, instead of being placed on us, is now placed on our enemy who shall be cast into the lake of fire instead of us! He AND his followers, both angelic and, sadly, some human ones,will be the ones eternally under the scourge of the flail.
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Put Your Trust In Jesus!
That is why it is so critical we understand these things and put our trust in Jesus, the perfect sacrifice that was offered in our place. God doesn’t want man to suffer eternal punishment in hell. It was designed for the devil and his angels, not for man.
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But…..He is a great Respector of your free will. Ifyou want to slap His hand away that is freely offering you His priceless gift, HE WON’T STOP YOU. That’s free will right there.
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Draco: The Dragon.
Revelation 12:10-12
“10Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
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(The Great Dragon: Draco.)
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The final decan of this major constellation is none other than “Draco: The Dragon.” Pictured above, it appears as a gigantic snake, writhing and winding about among the stars,his head in the process of being crushed under the foot of Hercules, a decan belonging to Scorpio, the previous major constellation.
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In this story, there is a lot of this crossing over of the Strong Man either crushing, or defeating in some way, the great dragon or serpent. That’s our Jesus Who fought our great enemy wherever he was found and won it all!
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The Dragon.
The Greeks called this star grouping, “Drakon,” meaning “the Dragon.” But it also means, “The Trodden Down.” Remember the curse in Genesis 3? God said that the “seed of the woman would crush (tread down) the serpent’s head.” Now, no such creature as a dragon exists in nature, of course. So, what is a dragon? An overgrown snake. 🤨
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There are several places in scripture where this non-existent creature is mentioned.
Isaiah 27:1 says, “In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.”
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Sounds like final judgment for the devil, doesn’t it? Notice that this reptile is “In the sea.” The Sea in scripture is a picture of the peoples of the world. The devil and his henchmen are everywhere and in everything.
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Job 26:13
“By His Spirit He adorned the heavens;
His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.”
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Names Of The Stars.
The brightest star in this constellation is called, “Thuban,” in Hebrew, which means, “The Subtle.” It is located in the second coil from the tip of the tail. Believe it or not, 4,000+ years ago, THIS WAS THE POLE STAR! It indicated that satan was–PAST TENSE–the “prince of this world.” (John14:30).
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(We’ll be discussing more on that topic in part 37. But, if you just can’t wait, you may follow the link below. It is mis-numbered in the link however:
https://emmausroadministries.international/2020/06/13/the-real-story-in-the-stars-part-36-the-north-star/)
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The Arabs called Thuban, “Al Dib: The Reptile” Another Arabian name for it is “Al Waid,” meaning “Him Who is About to be Destroyed.” Wow! Pretty descriptive if you ask me!
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The Denderah.
The Egyptians as usual depict this constellation a bit differently. The Denderah Zodiak of Egypt depicts the Serpent or “Fent,” as being trampled under the forefoot of Sagittarius. They called the figure “Her-fent: The Serpent Accursed.”
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HALLELUJAH! Jesus, The Great Archer and our Champion, took all the punishment we deserved, destroyed the devil with his own weapon, death, crushed his head, exhausted all God’s judgment for our sin, and ascended on high, triumphant over all! He is deserving of highest praise!!!
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Thank you, Abba, for sending Jesus to defeat our deadly enemy and trestoring to the Church this beautiful story in the stars told through the Lyre, the Altar, and the Dragon.
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You may follow the link below to part 11 to continue this series. We’ll be introduced to Act 2 of this amazing story in the stars in Corona Borealis, the great Northern Crown:
https://emmausroadministries.international/2020/05/29/the-real-story-in-the-stars-part-11-corona-borealis-the-northern-crown/
