Page 221 - Foundations

merely replicas of much older writings whose date of origin is very difficult to establish. George
Smith shares that the Assyrian language remained unchanged for more than a thousand years which
makes it difficult to establish a date for the original writing. What can be confidently asserted is that
in the time between the flood of Noah in approximately 2500 B.C., and the copying of these tablets
over 1,800 years later, sufficient time had elapsed for many corruptions to enter into the Assyrian
stories. Sound doctrine devolved into myths and fables. Although the events of history and Biblical
parallels can be discerned in a general sense, the narratives include many spurious additions and
alterations by man.

My purpose in mentioning The Chaldean Account of Genesis is that on tablet five of the series the
constellations are mentioned and their creation is ascribed to God. Following is a translation of a
portion of the tablet performed by George Smith.

Fifth Tablet of Creation Legend
1. It was delightful, all that was fixed by the great gods.
2. Stars, their appearance [in figures] of animals he arranged.
3. To fix the year through the observation of their constellations,
4. twelve months (or signs) of stars in three rows he arranged,
5. from the day when the year commences unto the close.
6. He marked the positions of the wandering stars (planets) to shine in their courses,
7. that they may not do injury, and may not trouble any one...

If these statements are consistent with the rest of the information on these ancient tablets, we may
conclude that the basic facts are true, but the details have suffered corruption due to the vanity of
man’s thoughts. The tablets substantiate the fact that ancient civilizations believed that God was the
creator of the constellations, passing the knowledge of them on to man. We also observe that the early
Assyrians embraced a zodiac of twelve signs, while also having two additional groups of twelve
constellations, making thirty-six in all.

I believe it is credible from both the Biblical and historical evidence to suggest that the constellations
of the zodiac were originated by Yahweh, but through time, due to the darkness of man’s
understanding and a tendency for vain speculations, the original identity of the constellations, and the
message they conveyed, became corrupted. Nevertheless, there is still visible in what remains to this
day shadows from which the original can be reconstructed, however imperfectly. This is what
Christian scholars and writers such as Frances Rolleston, Joseph Seiss, E.W. Bullinger, Ken Fleming,
E. Raymond Capt, J. Preston Eby, and others have labored to do.

(Dr. D. James Kennedy published a book on this subject in 1989 titled The Real Meaning of the
Zodiac. I have not read it as it appears to be an entry level book on this subject designed for mass
appeal. It likely provides a good summary of this subject, while not being a scholarly treatise. Chuck
Missler has also authored a book on this subject, Signs in the Heavens, which is available as a Kindle
e-book. Missler’s teaching also exists in tape format and he has numerous videos on this topic
available on YouTube. Chuck Missler adds some interesting thoughts and information that are not
mentioned by the other authors listed. For example he suggests that if the star names of a constellation
are read in the order of their magnitude of brightness they form a message. He compares it to reading