The Lyre, The Altar And The Dragon: Mazzaroth Series Part 11

Revelation 5:8-10
⁸ Now 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.  ⁹ And 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,
¹⁰ And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”

(Lyra:  The Ascending Eagle with the Harp.)

In Part 10 we met Sagittarius, The Archer, who's arrow is aimed directly at the heart of the scorpion, the enemy.  This Major star sign has three accompanying minor constellations, or "decans," that fill in more details of this portion of the Gospel story.

Lyra:  The Lyre

Lyra is next in our story line. It is pictured as a triumphant eagle rising with a harp.  The harp or lyre is one of the oldest musical instruments.  Genesis 4:21 mentions it as being in use during the lifetime of Adam.  

This harp depicts the praise of which Sagittarius is so deserving.  But why an eagle with a harp?  Eagles, like hawks, are a natural enemy of the serpent.  In it's rising heavenward with the lyre, it symbolizes praise, singing, and rejoicing rising up to God for His great triumph over our enemy! 

Lyra pictured with an eagle ascending also speaks of Jesus as He rose from death.  He ascended from the depths of the earth and thence ascended to the highest heaven, having soundly defeated the devil with his own weapon:  Death.    

Names Of The Stars.

The ancient name of the brightest star in this constellation has been passed down to us from the Jewish people. It is called "Vega," which means, “He shall be exalted.” It directs our attention to the praise from the harp as indicated in the scripture in Revelation 5 above.

Vega is a pure white star.  In fact, it is one of the brightest in the heavens.  The Hebrew root word from which Vega is derived, "Gaah," is used by Moses in the very first song recorded in scripture.

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!"

Our English word for "Victory," comes from this very same root word!

You'll notice the ancient name for a second star in the picture above:  "Shelyuk."  In Hebrew it means, "The Fishing Eagle."  They also assigned a second name to the star:  "Sulaphat."  It means "The Springing Up."  Put them both together and it paints a picture of  "The Fishing Eagle Springing Up!"

Isn't that how birds fish?  They dive into the water, grab snd kill their prey, and then rise upward in triumph again.  

Descriptions From Other Cultures.
Arabian astronomers also had a name for this star.  They called it, "Al Nesr, The Eagle."  As expected, the most ancient planisphere, Denderah in Egypt, also describes this constellation.  They saw this decan as a triumphant hawk or eagle ruling over the serpent.  In their language it is called, "Fent-kar," which means, "The Serpent Ruled."  Notice the past tense.

These are all reasons why we offer praise and worship to our God, Who reigns forever and ever, AMEN!  That praise is perfectly expressed in Revelation 19:1-2!

 “Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments.” 

  

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!”

Ara:  The 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.

In Ara, the next decan in our story, we see an altar turned upside down, spewing it's contents out over the South Pole.  A typology of the regions of outer darkness, the river we call "the Milky Way" is pictured in some star charts as the lake of fire.

(Ara:  The Upside Down Altar.)

It depicts the fires of judgment that should have rained down on us.  But Jesus took it in our stead!

The word Ara, the name of the upside down altar means, “it is finished."  Remember the devil's perversion? Because of it, the Greeks saw a confused story.  They personified this constellation and invented a "goddess" of revenge and destruction named "Adresta." 

How did all this perversion begin, who started it and why?  Follow the link below:
https://emmausroadministries.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/the-tower-of-babel/

In Arabic it was called, "Al Mugmara," which means "The Completing," conveying the idea of perfecting.  In Psalm 138:8, David 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."

Well, because of Jesus, there is no more 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.

The Jewish people used two terms that are rooted 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."  (Remember the bitter waters of Mara?)
What you see here clearly represents the curse brought upon all men by Adam's rejection of God. 

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!



Egyptian Zodiak Of Denderah.

The Egyptians saw this star grouping as a human figure holding in his hand and instrument called a "flail."  This instrument is the very same one used on our 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. 

They called Ara by this name:  Bau, which means "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!  He and his followers, both angelic and, sadly, human, will be the ones under the scourge of the flail.

That is why it is so critical that 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 in hell.  It was designed for the devil and his angels, not for man.
But, He is a great Respector of your free will.  If you want to slap His hand away that is freely holding out to you His priceless gift, HE WON'T STOP YOU.  That's free will right there.



Draco:  The Dragon.

(The Great Dragon:  Draco.)

Revelation 12:10-12
"¹⁰ Then 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. ¹¹ And 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. ¹² Therefore 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.”


The final decan of this major constellation is none other than "Draco:  The Dragon."   Pictured above, you can see it appears as a gigantic snake, writhing and winding about among the stars.  His head is in the process of  being crushed under the foot of Hercules.

The Dragon.

The Greeks called him, "Drakon," which means "the Dragon," but also "The Trodden Down."  Remember the curse in Genesis 3?  God said that the "seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head."

Now, no such creature as a dragon exists in nature, of course.  So, what is a dragon?  It's nothing more than an over grown snake, that's what it is!  

There are several places in scripture that 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."

Sounds like final judgment for the devil, doesn't it? 

Job 26:13

"By His Spirit He adorned the heavens;

His hand pierced the fleeing serpent."

Names Of The Stars. 

The brightest star in this constellation is called, "Thuban," in Hebrew.  It means, "The Subtle."  It is located in the second coil from the tip of the tail.  Believe it or not, 4,000+ years ago, IT WAS THE POLE STAR!  It indicated that satan was--PAST TEN--the "prince of this world.” (John14:30).  This is discussed in greater detail in this article about the North Star:

https://emmausroadministries.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/the-north-star/

The Arabs called Thuban, "Al Dib: The Reptile"  Another Arabian name for it is "Al Waid," meaning "Him Who is About to be Destroyed."  Pretty descriptive if you ask me!


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 is "Her-fent: The Serpent Accursed."

HALLELUJAH!  Jesus, The Great Archer and oyr Champion, took all the punishment we deserved, destroyed the devil with his own weapon, death, and ascended on high, triumphant! 

Thank you, Abba, for sending Jesus to defeat our deadly enemy!  And thank you for restoring to the Church this beautiful story in the stars in the Lyre, the Altar and the Dragon.