Page 214 - Foundations

that he was righteous...

“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It is discernible through the Scriptural
comments about Abel’s offering that Yahweh had spoken to man about the principle of a
substitutionary offering. By faith Abel was looking forward to that perfect sacrifice that Yahweh
would one day provide as Yahshua, the Lamb of God, was offered up to atone for man’s sins. Even
as Passover was delivered to Moses by God, and was to be observed annually until the Passover Lamb
of God would be slain for the sins of the world, so too did men from the very earliest days offer up
sacrifices to God, beginning with Abel. These had to be repeated annually as they were mere shadows
of the perfect sacrifice to be realized in Christ.

Hebrews 10:1, 14
For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things,
can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who
draw near... For by one offering [Yahshua] has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

It is not through direct statement of the Scriptures that we are able to ascertain that Yahweh
communicated to Adam and his descendants many things regarding the coming Messiah; the One who
would bear the sins of the world and destroy the power of Satan. Rather, it is through a significant
accumulation of details that we are informed of these facts. The preponderance of evidence points to
the conclusion that Yahweh, at least in general terms, communicated to early mankind specific
information about His plan for the redemption and restoration of humanity to divine fellowship.

Through a similar accumulation of evidence we are made to understand that Yahweh taught to men
the message of their coming redemption through the constellations of the heavens. There is no
specific verse stating this fact, but there are numerous passages that inform us of the following:

• Yahweh assigned to the stars a role to serve as signs, or oracles of divine truth. (Genesis 1:14,
Psalm 19:1-4, Luke 21:11, 25, etc.)
• Yahweh legitimizes a number of constellations in the Bible, as well as the collective zodiac
(mazzaroth), by mentioning them by name. (Job 9:9, 38:31-32, Amos 5:8, etc.)
• Yahweh states that He is the One who has assigned the stars to their courses and leads them
forth in their seasons. (Job 38:31-33, Psalms 8:3, Isaiah 40:26, etc.)
• Yahweh declared that He created the constellations. (Amos 5:8)
• Yahweh used the stars to announce the birth of His Son to the magi. (Matthew 2:2, 9-10)
• In the Book of Revelation we are given an example of Yahweh speaking prophetically through
signs in the heavens in the form of constellations. (Revelation 12:1-17)

Added to this, we have the historical record that shows a tremendous consistency in describing the
number of constellations and their figures. One of the earliest extant writers outside of the Bible to
make mention of the constellations of the zodiac is Homer, the Greek author of the Iliad and the
th
Odyssey. The date which Homer lived is disputed, with some placing him as early as the 12 century
th
B.C., while others argue for a more recent date around the 8 century B.C.. In the Iliad is found the
following passage describing Vulcan’s shield.