"We are told in Genesis that God put the stars in the heavens for signs, and these signs convey a message.
The theory we are presenting is that God revealed that message to Adam and to his sons and grandsons and that message has
gone into all of the civilizations of the world and has been passed down through the centuries...
"According
to Arabic tradition, the signs came from Seth and Enoch. This tradition is interesting since it links these signs to the grandson
of Adam and says that Enoch and his father Seth (both men of faith) were the founders of this ancient understanding of the
heavens."
Ecclesiastes is Solomon's praise of, and acceptance of, God-given Astrological cycles in
poetry and lyrical prose. Note, Ecc. 3:1 & 15 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter
under heaven: ..." & " Whatever is has been already, and whatever is to come has been already, and
God summons each event back in its turn." Solomon, in the wisdom the Lord gave him, observes (Ecc. 9:11) "Again
I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to all." The New English Bible
translates the last phrase as "time and chance govern all." The study of the differing qualities and characteristics
in moments and periods of time, and their appropriateness for different individuals and endeavors, is the essence of
Astrology.
God sets "a time for war, and a time for peace." See Judges 4:14, And Deborah said to
Barak "Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before
you?" Later (5:20) she and Barak sing "From Heaven fought the stars, from their courses they fought
against Sisera." She couldn't be referring to anything but Astrology. God sets the times; Astrologers and Prophets
read the clock, call the hour, and sound the alarm.
Daniel was chief among the astrologers and other forecasters,
in Babylon. He was one of them by virtue of education, training, and association; he was the best of them by virtue
of his spirituality and the Lord's blessings. If the other 'wise men' were practicing abominable arts would Daniel have
asked that they not be killed (Dan. 2:18,24)? Would he still be blessed and gifted if he were doing so?
Any careful, responsible, reading of Isaiah (47:13-15) reveals he was condemning the wickedness of Babylon, and predicting
its destruction, in spite of the greatness of its astrology, rather than because of it. No art, trade, or philosophy
is an alibi for wickedness; none is a shield from divine retribution. But believing in, or practicing, astrology does
not call for condemnation. We're all doing God's work in our own way. We commend your work. Please respect ours.
Astrologers are not your adversary.
For an example of God's declaration of authorship of astrology: The Lord speaks to Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38:12,13 New English), "In all your life have you ever called up the
dawn or shown the morning its place? Have you taught it to grasp the fringes of the earth and shake the Dog-star from
its place;" The Dog-star, Sirius, was Sopdet to the Egyptians; its heliacal rising was the cornerstone of
their Astro-calendar signaling the eminent flooding of the Nile.
God continues in verses 31-33, "Can
you bind the cluster of the Pleiades or loose Orion's belt? Can you bring out the signs of the zodiac" (the Mazzaroth) "in their season or guide Aldebaran and its train?" (Aldebaran in the brightest star in Taurus,
the Bull that pulls or leads the zodiac across the sky.) "Do you proclaim the rules that govern the heavens, or
determine the laws of nature on earth?" The RSV reads "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can
you establish their rule on the earth?"
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