Could the Stars' Constellations Give us a Hint into History and into the Earth's Future?
The mysteries of nature are revealed to us in the Bible
He made the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south Job 9:9
Lately, I have been thinking about the sky. I’ve just been curious about the stars and wondering about the stories that make up the constellations that we know today.
I began to wonder, why was this mythology about the constellation talked about in the Bible in Job 9:9 and Job 38:31. If God mentioned three of the 88 constellations to Job could he have been making a point about the mysteries mentioned in mythological folklore or his Sovereignty, Omnipresence and final plan for mankind?
I began to wonder about Orion and learned in various versions of the Greek mythology retold in many versions by other cultures but in most cultures if not all he was a great hunter. In Greek mythology, he fell in love with the Pleiades, the seven sisters, and more so with one Merope. In order to protect Merope and the seven sisters from Orion their Greek God swooped them up into the heavens and put out Orion’s eyes forcing him into exile in some remote island.
The folklore goes that Orion received an oracle to help him retrieve his sight by walking in the direction of the sunrise. So he followed the East and received his sight.
His story continues with other adventures and romances until his final demise which you can read about somewhere on the internet. It either came as a result of a scorpion bite or being mistakenly hunted by Artemis who turned him into a star in remembrance of her loving devotion towards him.
You can literally see him placed in the sky as a constellation with his shiny belt, bow, two pet dogs, the Canis Major and Canis Minor with the Lepus as they hunted the rabbit in many of his adventures.
The only mention of a great hunter in the Bible is Nimrod in Genesis 10:8-12 as “the first on the earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord”
According to Britannica, The only other references to Nimrod in the Bible are in Micah 5:6 where Assyria is called the land or Nimrod, and in 1 Chronicles 1:10, which reiterates his might.
The beginning of his kingdom is said in the Genesis passage to be Babel, Erech, and Akkad in the land of Shinar. Nimrod is said to have then built Nineveh, Calah (modern Nimrud), Rehboth-Ir , and Resen.
So, my curiosity brought me to think that if Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Why did he go to Nineveh? The same place God sent Jonah to preach to a falling city for repentance. If he was so great before the Lord how did Babel and Nineveh become so sinful before God?
You can read about Jonah’s story in the Bible and God’s love for them as the prophet reluctantly preached to the perishing city and marveled as they miraculously turned to God.
Anyway, my guess is the Assyrians might have observed Nimrod and his adventurous feats and maybe his tales became exaggerated down the line as other cultures like the Greeks and so on may have added their embellishments.
He made the Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
And makes the day dark as night;
He calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
The Lord is His name. Amos 5:8
Maybe there was 7 sisters in their own earthly way, maybe there was a story that inspired Ursa Major and minor into the heavens and maybe there were stories behind the rest of the 88 constellations that we know but there must have been something to exaggerate them in some way.
Or maybe God was acknowledging these mythological exaggerations to reinstate his authority over the heavens and the earth by saying He was the one to see the events of the earth and He is the one who placed the constellations in the sky.
“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion? Job 38:31
Job is recounted as a man in the Bible who lost a lot in life and as he was enduring in his trials he sent his complaints out to God. God answered him in Job 38:31 reminding him that Job is just a man in comparison to God’s great Sovereignty as He is the one who set the stars in the heavens.
The Psalmist says the following:
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. Psalm 8:3-4
So He is the same one who daintily placed every star in the heavens with His Fingers and He is the same one to think about you and me. So nothing we ever face on this earth is too great for Him to resolve as he consider your heart.
Ultimately, God’s plan and design for mankind was to send us his Son Jesus to die in our place to give us Salvation and Eternal Life.
Read the following scriptures to learn about God’s heart for mankind through Jesus Christ
John 3:16
Romans 5:8
1 John 4:19
1 Thessalonians 4:14
Romans 10:9
So as God reminds Job that he was the one who put the constellations in the sky. He is the same one who saw these stories turned into mythologies retold by the Greeks and other world cultures that might have been readjusted each generation as a game of phone tag changes the story down the line of whispers in the ear each time it reaches the ear of a new listener (do you recall this game in church and family gatherings? The story starts one way and is completely changed by the end of the final speaker, haha) but He is still the one in control of those tales made up on earth and the sky.
That is why we are reminded in 1 Tim 1:4
As I urged you on my departure to Macedonia, you should stay on at Ephesus to instruct certain men not to teach false doctrines or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God’s work, which is by faith.
Either way, I’m still young, and as young people have a tendency to do we are curious. I’m not focusing on mythologies because I know that is not God’s intent in focusing on our relationship with Jesus. I just wanted to explore the sky since I have nothing much else to do after finals week and I wanted to look at the constellations and began to wonder about their mention in the book of Job.
Maybe Orion is the mentioned Nimrod in Genesis and maybe some of these characters like the Pleiades and the Ursa Major did go through certain adventurous feats that changed throughout history as each storyteller readjusted certain details to make each story sound more interesting and we see them reflected in the night sky.
However, these stories aren’t God’s focus in the Bible. God’s focus in the Bible is to bring us to Salvation in Jesus. Then maybe, just maybe if we die in the Lord with Salvation in our hearts, or if we even get to see Him in the Rapture we can see the wonders of the stars from the other side of Heaven in Paradise with Jesus for all of eternity.
God’s intent in our life is for us to maintain a relationship with Jesus and not just to promote another religion. So if you are interested in this God who formed the heavens and the earth and daintily placed the stars in the sky with His mighty finger. Consider accepting God’s final plan for mankind by accepting Jesus into your heart today.
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10