Prologue:
Who looks at the sky to understand the signs of the times anymore? Answer: a lot of people, actually. Astrologers are alive and well. Astronomers are plentiful. But Astro-theologians? Few and far between, I’m afraid.
I suppose that’s due to the blurred lines that still exist between “Astral” and “Astro” (see: Part I), as well as the scientific elitism of our post-enlightenment society. I’d also wager that what happened in the early 1900’s with the group of German scholars known as the Pan-Babylonians persuaded most scholars to leave well enough alone when it came to anything “astral” or “astro” related.
Fortunately, neither blurred lines, elitism, nor decades old controversies prevailed in convincing every scholar to abandon Astro-theological interests altogether. While I have yet to find any who currently “read the signs”, what the work in the field of biblical Astro-theology has done has provided the framework upon which a case to do so can be built.
But if Astro-theology is to have a proper renaissance and offer any relevance to us today—if we’re going to try and “read the signs” —the initial question that has to be answered is: How would first-century believers have read them?
To answer that question will require a retrograde approach of sorts. To know how the signs would have been “read”, we need to understand the “language” in which they were written, so to speak.
[Note: I plan to cover this subject more fully in a future series. As such, this three-part series ought to be considered a brief introduction to Astro-theology. It is in no way intended to be exhaustive.]
Revelation in Retrograde
In astronomy, retrograde motion is the apparent or actual motion of an object in the opposite direction of most other objects in a solar or astronomical system. The term comes from the Latin word retrogradus, which means “backward-step”. Apparent retrograde motion is caused by differences in the planets’ orbital speed.
Let’s use Mars as an example. This superior (farther from the Sun than Earth) planet moves slower in its orbit than Earth. When Earth passes Mars, it appears to be moving “backward” because Earth has a faster orbital speed. This is true for all the superior planets. The inferior (closer to the Sun than Earth) planets, Venus and Mercury, with a faster orbital speed than Earth, also periodically appear to move “backward”.
Ancient stargazers and astronomers were puzzled by the phenomenon of the planets’ retrograde motion. It didn’t jive well with the belief that Earth was the center of the Universe. It wasn’t until the 16th century, when Nicolaus Copernicus introduced his heliocentric model (the Sun as the center, hence “Solar system”), that scientists realized that retrograde motion was an optical illusion.
Simply put, retrograde motion, in most cases, is merely the appearance of backward movement.
As stated above, understanding (to the best of our ability) how first-century believers would have read celestial signs requires a backward-step… maybe even a few. Our modern context is not their context. We are worlds apart. Fortunately, via the mediums of written history and archeology, we are given windows into their world. The glimpses these windows provide ought to inform our hermeneutics.
Modern interpretations of the scriptures subconsciously recontextualize its content to fit the modern context. To combat this —to be able to apply the original meaning of scripture to the present day— the original context must be the basis for interpretation.
As I mentioned briefly in Part I, Astrology was common in the first-century. So was Astronomy. Star-lore was ubiquitous in the Hellenized world, whereas in our society, it is a novelty. In other words, though there were professional Astronomers, Stargazers, and Astral prognosticators, it was by no means a specialized and isolated field of study. It was considered to have relevance to every-day life. This was the first-century reality and I am, by no means, the first one to acknowledge it.
A Heavenly Host
Scholars of the late 1800’s (before the Pan-Babylonian controversy) had produced a good deal of literature on the subject of Astro-theology. The most notable are “Mazzaroth, Or the Constellations” by Frances Rolleston, “Gospel in the Stars” by Joseph A. Seiss, and “The Witness of the Stars” by E. W. Bullinger.
The work seemed to stop right around the turn of the century. In the 1990’s, several scholars restarted it. The most notable of these are “The Star that Astonished the World” by Ernest L. Martin, “The Real Meaning of the Zodiac” by D. James Kennedy, “On the Genre and Message of the Book of Revelation” by Bruce J. Malina, and “Written in the Stars: Ancient Zodiac Mosaics” by Lester J. Ness.
There have also been a number of papers written on the subject: “New Testament Astral Portents: God’s Self-Disclosure in the Heavens” Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture by Michael T. Cooper, “The Pleiades, the Flood, and the Jewish New Year” by Ellen Robbins, “The Seven Seals of Revelation and the Seven Classical Planets” by Lloyd D. Graham.
Ancient Portents
What the scholars mentioned above have discovered, is that the first-century believers viewed the movements of the night sky as a mixed bag, heavily influenced by both the Hellenized world, as well as “prophetic” tradition. To be fair, that is a bit of an oversimplification, one I intended to expound on in the future series mentioned above. But for our purposes here, it’s sufficient.
The Hellenistic “reading and interpretation” of the sky was extensive. They didn’t hone in on major events only. Astronomers, prognosticators, and the like were looking for “signs” here, there, and everywhere in the sky.
Movements of the planētēs (lit. wanderers), cycles of the Moon, comets, meteors, and meteor showers, were all considered to have significance on their owne; more so when the time of year —even the exact date— was factored in, especially if the date was already significant. The sign of the Zodiac under (or in) which the astronomical event occurred, was also considered pertinent information needed to decipher the sign’s meaning.
The Greeks were not alone in the way they “read” the sky. Many of the prophets did so as well. In fact, a good deal of the Old Testament has an astronomical context. In other words, it’s Astro-Theology. What might be surprising to most people, Christian or otherwise, is that the Bible is, among other things, a Book of Signs.
The Book of Signs (Old Testament)
The funny thing about signs is that they can be very easily missed. The content of a large billboard can be overlooked completely by a passerby, even if they’re looking in the advertisements’ general direction. However, the astronomical language of the Bible is predominately unnoticed because most don’t know it’s there. Let’s look at a few examples.
The first is fairly obvious when it’s understood for what it is. In Numbers 24:17, the prophet Balaam says this:
“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star will go out from Jacob, and a scepter will rise from Israel; it will crush the foreheads of Moab and destroy all the children of Seth.”
The Hebrew word for “star” here is kôḵāḇ. It’s the same word used throughout the OT for “star”, most notably in Genesis 1:16, the Creation account. Like I said, fairly obvious. The next example will be obvious as well, but much more descriptive.
Most Christians are familiar with the second chapter of the book of the prophet Joel. Verses 28 and 29 are quoted all the time. But verses 30 and 31, not so much.
“And it will happen afterward thus: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your elders will dream dreams; your young men shall see visions. And also on the male slaves and on the female slaves, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. –Joel 2:28-29
And I will set wonders in the heavens, and on earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh.” -Joel 2:30-31
Point of interest: the Hebrew word used in verse 30 translated as “wonder” is môp̄ēṯ which means “portent” or, you guessed it, “sign.” Clearly astronomical, especially since the prophet qualifies where these signs were set: the heavens. Again, obvious.
Now, before we move on to the sign language in the New Testament, let’s look at an OT passage that has astronomical content that isn’t so obvious.
The book of Zechariah is fascinating. It’s basically a compilation of various visions had by the prophet. Whether a thorough examination has been done concerning the astronomical context of all Zechariah’s visions, I’m not certain. However, his eighth vision is considered by scholars to be celestial in nature. We find that vision in Zechariah 6:1-7:
“I looked up again, and I saw, and look!—four chariots coming out from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. With the first there were red horses, and with the second chariot there were black horses. And with the third chariot there were white horses, and with the fourth chariot there were strong dappled horses. And I answered and said to the angel that was talking to me, “What are these, my Lord?” And the angel answered and said to me, “These are the four winds of the heavens going out after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. The one with the black horses is going out to the north country, and the white horses go after them, while the dappled ones go to the south country.” When the strong horses went out, they were anxious to go to patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” And they patrolled the earth.”
Dr. Bruce Malina, in his social science commentary on Revelation, notices a correlation between the horses in Zechariah’s vision and the four horsemen that John describes in Revelation 6:1-8. How does he make said correlation? Because in the Ancient Near East, comets, meteors, and meteor showers were referred to as “horses”, “horse-and-rider”, and/or “chariots”. What the prophet Zechariah sees in his “night vision” are presumed to be meteor showers, each resembling the color of the “horses”.
[Note: “black” in Zechariah means “dark” and in Revelation means “black ink.”]
The Book of Signs (New Testament)
Now let’s turn to the New Testament.
To bridge the gap between the Old and New Testament, as far as sign language (pun intended) is concerned, doesn’t take much effort. The gospel accounts begin with professional astronomers (Magi) tracking the movements of the sky (ancient Astrology) to find the location of a new-born king (Astro-Theology). While there are a number of examples we could examine in the NT, one in particular should answer the question of how would first-century believers have read the signs.
In his letter to the believers in Rome, the apostle Paul makes a startling astronomical statement. At least, startling to us. In fact, he does it by quoting from the Old Testament.
Romans 10 is well-known. Verses 14 and 15 have been used ad infinitum to promote evangelistic activity. They contain a series of questions that lead to a perfectly logical conclusion, if you stop at verse 15. And most do, because what follows in verses 16-18 completely reorients the emphasis of what Paul is saying. Let’s look at the passage below:
“How then will they call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in him about whom they have not heard? And how will they hear about him without one who preaches to them? And how will they preach, unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How timely are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.”
But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word about Christ. But I say, they have not heard, have they? On the contrary, “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world.”” –Romans 10:14-18
First off, what most who stop at verse 15 miss is that Paul’s questions don’t stop at “How timely are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.”
Secondly, verse 16-17 clearly indicates that the issue is not about the need to hear, but about believing what has been “heard”. Now that’s a horse (meteor) of a different color.
Lastly, in verse 18, Paul is quoting something, Psalm 19 to be exact.
“The sky is telling the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. Every day they pour forth speech, and every night they tell knowledge. There is no speech and there are no words; their sound is inaudible. Yet in all the world their line goes out, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has pitched a tent for the sun, and it is like a bridegroom who comes out of his bridal chamber. It is glad like a strong man to run its course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens and its circuit to the other end of them; and nothing is hidden from its heat.” –Psalms 19:1-6
What Paul is saying in Romans 10:14-18 is that the starry sky is the precursor to the gospel message. Wait, what? Yes, that’s what he’s saying. Not only were there significant, historically proven astronomical events on the day Jesus’ was born, but there is also evidence to indicate that what Paul was referring to here was the astronomical lore surrounding the Zodiac.
Though there is some debate among scholars regarding the gospel being written in the stars, it is clear that Paul was making an astronomical appeal in Romans 10:18 by quoting Psalm 19. From the text alone, he regarded the celestial tapestry as the evidence confirming his “report”. What this indicates is that the first-century believers didn’t just “read the signs” in a general way. They read them as “signs” that confirmed the gospel of the kingdom.
Like I said, startling.
Epilogue:
So then, to answer our question —or at least, begin to— the first-century believers read the movements of celestial objects as a cosmic forecast. They looked at the sky as a source of general divine information. The stars, in their eyes, were heavenly writ. But that’s not all. First-century believers, especially seers and prophets like John, read the “signs of the times” as portents for what their celestial king was doing and how they, his ekklesia on earth, should operate.
We’ll cover that in more detail in Part III.
Stay tuned…