HOW GOD PREACHED THE GOSPEL TO ABRAHAM

by Barry Setterfield

INTRODUCTION

In the Biblical book of Galatians, the Jewish Rabbi Paul, who had studied under the well-known and widely respected Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), made a significant comment. In Galatians 3:8 Paul stated that "the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, preached in advance the Gospel unto Abraham ..." The end result is stated in Genesis 15:6 namely "that Abraham believed God (by faith) and it was counted to him for righteousness." Paul's comment in Galatians implies that just as Abraham believed the Gospel by faith when it was preached to him by God, so, in a similar way, the Gentiles will be justified by faith in the same Gospel. The question is, "How did God preach the Gospel to Abraham, and what was that Gospel?" A brief glance at Genesis 15:5 shows that the stars were intimately involved in this process, while Galatians 3:16 implies it was not the number of stars but the story they told that was important. So star names seem to be involved in this process. Let us look more deeply into this.

WHO NAMED THE STARS?

In Genesis 1:14 we are told that the stars are to be for SIGNS, seasons, days and years.

The seasons, days and years are familiar to us, but what about the SIGNS? Signs are designed to give us information; they carry a message. If we are traveling down the freeway and see a sign that reads "Los Angeles 200 miles", this gives us information. In a similar way the star signs also carry a message. But how is this message given? It is certainly not through demonic astrology which is condemned by the Scriptures of Truth. No, rather it appears that the message of the stars may be given by their NAMES and the constellation patterns. This conclusion is reached as a result of further Scriptural comment on the matter.

In Isaiah 40:26 and Psalm 147:4 we find two statements that God personally gave the stars their names. This is significant. Adam was given the prerogative of naming the animals, but God felt it important enough to name the stars Himself. It might be asked when did this naming take place? The answer is given in Isaiah 40:26. when He "Brought out the (starry) host by number, He called them all by their names", that is at the Creation event. So these star names have been known since Creation. In Psalm 147:4 the second statement reads "He TELLS the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names." The word translated "TELL" (Hebrew 'saphar') is a census-taking word. It literally means "to recount, to list in sequence (as with a name and a number - like the military), to enumerate, to take a census of, to tabulate, to tell-out, or number."

STAR NAMES AND LANGUAGES

One important fact emerges here. Many star and constellation names in a variety of languages around the world have a similar meaning. For example, one constellation was known as Virgo to the Romans, Bethulah to the Hebrews, Parthenos to the Greeks, and Kanya to the Indians, but all mean "VIRGIN". Linguistically, this strongly implies there was a common origin for the names. It is accepted theory that the three main linguistic branches from which most languages diverged had a common origin in Anatolia (see Gamkrelidze and Ivanov in Scientific American March 1990, or Colin Renfrew in Scientific American October 1989). Scripturally, this division of languages occurred at Babel, which was near Anatolia. This would imply an origin of star and constellation names prior to the Babel event which suggests that they may have been known as far back as Noah and the Flood. Linguistically, that is as far back as we can go. However, the Isaiah 40:26 statement takes us right back to the Creation and Adam.

In the mid to late 19th century, star names became fixed by astronomical convention. The name chosen for a given star was sometimes the Latin, or Hebrew, or Chaldean, or Arabic version of the original name. As a result of this process, some names have been lost. However, those who studied this topic in detail, namely Frances Rolleston, Joseph A. Seiss, and E. W. Bullinger wrote at a time when the star names in other languages were still extant. Some important information on these matters can also be found in Jamieson's Celestial Atlas of 1822 which appeared well before astronomical convention fixed the names.

Rolleston's work of 1862 comprised 221 pages of small typeface in four parts. The author died just prior to the completion of Part 4. In Part 2 there is an extensive study of star names in a variety of languages, and their primitive roots. Most give a concordant testimony. However, as noted by a number of recent commentators on the topic, modern Arabic interpretations are often discordant with the overall picture that emerges. However, Rolleston did point out the source of this problem on page 5 of Part 1. The difficulty arises because modern Arabic use of the basic roots of words gives meanings that are divergent from ancient Arabic. By reference to the ancient Arabic use of roots, corroboration of the story given by the other star names is usually obtained.

SEASONS AND CONSTELLATIONS

The time or season of the year used to be known by the constellations passing overhead or the one that the Sun was in. In Job 38:32 God said to His upright servant "Can you bring forth Mazzaroth (the 12 signs) in their season?" These 12 signs form the path that the Sun appears to take in the heavens, namely the Zodiac. The word ZODIAC comes from the Greek word ZOAD meaning "a way, a step, a circuit, a circle". In Chaldean the word has similar associated meanings. Psalm 19:6 actually uses the Hebrew equivalent of this word where it states that "(the Sun) goes from one end of heaven, and his CIRCUIT is unto the other end of it:"

There is evidence that the constellation patterns making up the Zodiac, and indeed the rest of the night sky, were formed and named by God. In Job 26:13 we find the statement "By His Spirit He has garnished and decorated the heavens; His hand has formed the FLEEING SERPENT." Note that in Hebrew poetic style the heavens and the fleeing serpent are connected. So we ask "Is there a fleeing serpent in the heavens?" The answer is YES! The constellation of HYDRA. It is a particularly apt constellation to remark upon as it is the longest constellation in the sky. It takes 7 hours to pass overhead. This comment in Job implies that the Spirit of God Himself formed and decorated the heavens with the constellation patterns, and, as shown above, He gave them their names as well. Obviously, Abraham was familiar with the constellation patterns and star names because God used the message there to instruct him. What is this message?

THE STARS CARRY A GOSPEL MESSAGE

In Romans 10, Rabbi Paul gives us some key verses to help with this. Verse 15 states "and how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written 'How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the GOSPEL OF PEACE, and bring GLAD TIDINGS of good things'." So the bringing of the GOOD NEWS, the GOSPEL OF PEACE is what Paul is talking about here in this context. In verse 18, Paul then goes on to say: "But have they (the heathen) not heard? YES! Truly they have heard! For 'their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world'." What a fascinating statement! Paul says here that the heathen have heard the Gospel of Peace, because "THEIR sound went into all the earth and THEIR words unto the ends of the world." The question is who are the "THEY" that are doing the preaching? Well, if you have a marginal reference, you find that Paul is quoting directly from Psalm 19:4 where the stars are being spoken of. Indeed, Psalm 19:3 gives the additional information that "there is no speech or language where (the stars) voice is not heard." Therefore, the "THEY" in Psalm 19 and Romans 10:18 are the stars in the heavens. As a consequence, it can only be concluded that it is the stars that are preaching the Gospel - in a particular way by their names and the arrangement of the constellation patterns.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUN

The next point to note comes from Psalm 19:4-6. Dr. D. E. Spencer paraphrases verse 4 as "In amongst these starry witnesses, God has established a dwelling place for the Sun." The next verse goes on to describe the SUN as the Heavenly Bridegroom, who comes forth to run his race and returns to his place of origin. But in the Bible, John the baptiser speaks of Christ (Messiah) as coming down from heaven, and calls Him the "Bridegroom" (John 3:25-31). The beloved disciple John also refers to the relationship of Christ to His Church as that of a heavenly bridegroom with an earthly bride, while Rabbi Paul echoes the idea in Ephesians 5. 

It is therefore apparent from Psalm 19 and the other passages that the Sun represents Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom.

This idea is accentuated by the prophet Malachi. He calls Israel's Messiah the SUN of Righteousness who will blaze forth for the sake of His people in the Last Day (Malachi 4:2). So the Sun represents Christ, the light of the world (John 8:12), who came from heaven, ran His race on earth, and returned to Heaven. The race that the Sun runs is given by the Zodiac constellations or star patterns, so all the strong-man figures along the Zodiac represent Christ the SUN of Righteousness and the work He was to do. Note further that Psalm 19 is in two parts: In Part 1 we have the message of the stars - In Part 2 we have the message of God's word, the Bible being discussed. One is set against the other in such a way that David, who wrote this Psalm about 1000 BC, is implying that the message in the stars and the message in the Scriptures are one and the same.

THE STRONG MAN CONSTELLATION FIGURES

The story told by the strong man figures of the sky has been corrupted by Greek and Roman mythology. This was recognised by Jamieson in his Celestial Atlas published in 1822. On page 40 he states that "The Lion does not seem to have been placed among the zodiacal symbols because Hercules was fabled to have slain the Nemean Lion. It would seem, to the contrary, that Hercules, who represented the Sun, was said to have slain the Nemean Lion, because Leo was ALREADY a zodiacal sign." Notice here that this nineteenth century astronomer actually states that the Sun (the light of the world) is symbolised by the strong man Hercules. This is in agreement with the Biblical interpretation which identifies the strong man who runs his race along the path of the Sun as Jesus Christ the victor.

Another point is also pertinent. The Greeks thought of each of these "strong man" figures as being a different deity. In the Biblical interpretation they represent different works of the same person, namely Jesus Christ the Messiah. Even though it will pre-empt the discussion later, an example may be appropriate. To the Greeks, the Zodiac sign of Gemini the Twins represented Apollo and Hercules, the twin sons of Zeus, the chief deity. The Roman equivalent was Castor and Pollux which star names are retained today. It is shown later that these two pictures are of the same Lord Jesus Christ in His twin role as the Son of God and also the Son of Man.

THE ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGY AND TRADITION:

Interestingly enough, the skeptic Volney is recorded by Rolleston as saying that "Everywhere in antiquity is the existence of the tradition of the expected conqueror of the serpent, a divine person, born of a woman, who was to come." Rolleston noted that Volney "sees this tradition reflected in the constellations, but why it should be there he does not say."(Part 1 page 19). A very similar statement is made by Depuis in L'Origine des Cultes who admits that this tradition was prevalent in all nations. Greek, Roman and other pagan mythologies have been built around this message from the stars and as a result must be considered as a perversion of the original. Nevertheless as Dr. D. E. Spencer concluded "Pagan mythology still retains sufficient of the truth for you to recognise it." (Word Key "Mazzaroth," broadcast over radio HCJB 1972).

Rolleston (Part 1 p.23) elaborates on this: "Should the tradition of the Divine yet woman-born Conqueror of the serpent, crushing His foe, but suffering from its venom, be met with among all nations, it is only what might have been anticipated among the descendants of one common father. From the Grecian Hercules, half human and half divine, subduing the hydra and dying from its poison; from the Indian incarnation of the Divinity, the virgin-born Krishna, slaying a serpent and wounded by it in the heel; to the serpent-worship of Mexico, and that of the woman-born and unfathered deity Mexitli; this image is everywhere present, pointing to one origin of the tradition and the race."

Dr. Spencer gave a further example of interest. In mythology "Zeus, the supreme deity of the Greeks reigned on Mount Olympus 'in the midst' of the twelve lesser gods of the Greeks." He then points to the pre-existent truth that has been corrupted by this mythology and makes an important observation. "Is it not more than chance that just as the blazing fire of the Sun dwells in the midst of the twelve constellations of Mazzaroth, so the blazing pillar of fire was the dwelling place of Jehovah in the midst of the twelve tribes of Israel? Furthermore, can it be mere chance that Jesus Christ, 'the Light of the world', is the One who dwelt in a tabernacle of flesh in the midst of the twelve disciples?" (The Gospel in the Stars, pp. 20, 53).

GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM

As noted at the beginning, Galatians 3:8 says that God preached the Gospel unto Abraham. It is important that we know when He did this as the stars were mentioned by God to Abraham on two distinct occasions, once in Genesis 15, then again in Genesis 22. We must not confuse these two separate incidents. Galatians 3:6 gives us the answer to this question. Rabbi Paul states that it was on the occasion when "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness." Importantly as we search both Genesis passages, it becomes apparent that this quote comes directly from Genesis 15:6. The context was given by Genesis 15:5. Abraham was childless and had no heir. Then God "brought him forth abroad, and said, 'Look now towards heaven, and TELL the stars if you be able to list them'; and He said unto him, 'So shall your seed be'."

Several important points emerge from this interview that Abraham had with the Almighty. In the first place, the word "TELL" is the same census-taking word as used in Psalm 147:4 so the star names are in view here. The second point is vital. The Almighty made a key comment when Abraham had finished listing off the star names. He said: "So shall your seed be." Does this mean that Abraham was to have many children? We have Rabbi Paul's exegesis of the original Hebrew on this. In Galatians 3:16, Paul says: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not, And to seeds (plural) as of many; but as of one, 'And to your seed (singular) WHICH IS CHRIST!"

Here is an amazing statement! Abraham lists the star names in sequence from constellation to constellation telling the story of the stars from their names, and God says to him "So will your seed, the Messiah, be." Here was the promise to Abraham that the Messiah would come from his lineage. Furthermore, the Gospel was obviously associated with these star names as Galatians 3:8 states that God preached the Gospel to Abraham on that occasion - a Gospel associated with the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

It is important not to confuse this incident in Abraham's life with a later one. On the second occasion in Genesis 22:17, Abraham was promised seed like "the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea shore for multitude." This is a different interview with the Lord when the Patriarch received a different promise. According to Paul in Galatians 3, it was specifically on the first occasion in Genesis 15 that Messiah was promised from Abraham's lineage and Abraham believed God. Finally note that God preached the Gospel of Christ to Abraham by this method, and by faith Abraham accepted the message. The stars must therefore be preaching the same message in every language around the world, because Psalm 19 states that there is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SPHINX

Well, if there is a message in the stars, where does the story begin since the Zodiac is a circle. An important clue is obtained from the Sphinx in Egypt. The word SPHINX comes from the Greek word SPHIGGO which means to "bind closely together". The significance of this meaning becomes apparent when ancient Egyptian Zodiacs are inspected. In those zodiacs such as one in the tombs of the kings at Karnak, the sphinx curiously linked the 12 signs together. Its woman-like face gazed upon the sign of Virgo, while its lion-like body and tail pointed to Leo. Dr Spencer notes that several other places in the Near East have similar inscriptions. Dr Spencer writes: "The sphinx is the key symbol which shows where the story in the stars begins and ends. It begins with Virgo the Virgin, and the first coming of Jesus Christ as Saviour; and closes with Leo the Lion, marking the Return of Messiah as the Lord of Glory. It begins with the story of His coming in humility and seeming defeat, and climaxes with the story of His coming again in power and overwhelming victory."

A PERSONAL TESTIMONY

Dr Spencer had a reason to be sure of that. On his radio study "Mazzaroth", he stated that on one occasion in the late 1960's he preached in Los Angeles at the Church of the Open Door on Romans 10:18 and concluded that all men had heard the Gospel in one way or another. After the service was over a very old woman introduced herself to him. She had been a missionary in Japan in her youth. She said to Dr Spencer: "I was sent far up into the hills to teach a class of women who had never seen a Christian of any kind. They had never heard the Gospel. They had never heard the name of Jesus from the lips of anyone. It was before the days of radio and television, and few of them could even read. They were totally without the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ as far as I knew. Yet when I had finished telling them the beautiful story of the Redeemer, whose shed blood had paid the price for their sins, an old crone stood to her feet and said 'Missy! That is the same story that I have been telling my village for years, but this is the first time we have ever heard the Redeemer's name.' Upon careful inquiry, I discovered that she had been repeating the names of the stars along the path of the Sun from the ancient Japanese charts of the Zodiac. These, she said, told exactly the same story that I had shared with them concerning the Lord Jesus Christ." This missionary then went on to tell Dr. Spencer that the Gospel message is even hidden cryptically in the characters of the Oriental alphabets. For example, the Chinese word for "COME" consists of a figure on a large central cross with a smaller cross on either side, while the word for "RIGHTEOUSNESS" consists of a slain lamb over the pronoun "I."

With that introduction, we are now prepared to examine briefly the 12 signs of the Zodiac to see what the Story says in its essence. Let us take note of the clue given by the Sphinx and begin with the constellation Virgo.