Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Guest (Male): The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals presents the timeless teaching of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse. Over a half a century ago, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, then pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God's word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio ministry which has become known as Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.

The application of God's word as taught by Dr. Barnhouse is as relevant today as when he first taught over the radio airwaves decades ago. The message we will be featuring on today's edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is entitled "The Heavens Declare."

When did Christianity begin? Most people would probably say that Christianity began with the birth of Jesus Christ. But in chapter ten of Romans, the apostle Paul sets forth an astonishing truth: that the gospel had been known for hundreds of years before Christ. Today, hundreds of years after Christ, the good news of salvation continues to sound forth throughout the world. The scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible: Romans chapter 10. We are looking at verse 18. Here again is Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse with a message entitled "The Heavens Declare."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ we come unto thee, our Father and our God, and in the Holy Spirit. We pray thee that thou shalt use the word as it goes forth in this hour, and to thine honor and thy glory make it very rich to those who listen. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We are studying together in the tenth chapter of Romans and come to a verse that is an extraordinary one. Perhaps you have never in all your life heard a sermon preached on this text, but as I set out at the beginning to give the commentary on every word in the epistle to the Romans, so we cannot pass this by. The text as it is printed in the King James Version says, "But I say, have they not heard? Yes, truly, their sound went into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world."

All through this part of the epistle, Paul is setting forth the truth that the gospel had been known for hundreds of years before Jesus Christ, that Christianity did not begin with Jesus Christ, and that each member of the children of Israel should have been aware of his duty to tell all the world—the Gentile world—about the grace of God which was for all men. And he now asks the question, "Did they fail to hear?"

The meaning is as follows: It was well known that the children of Israel had turned their religion within upon themselves and had imagined that they were specially privileged, and that they had sovereign squatter rights on God. But the opposite of this was true. God had given them the true faith, but it was to be for all the peoples of the world. God had told Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth and all the families of the earth would be blessed. Well, did Israel fail to hear this missionary call? Did they fail to get the message that the good news of the grace of God was for all men?

Paul then answers the question by an extraordinary quotation from the 19th Psalm. The King James Version reads, "Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world." The same version in the Psalms reads, "Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." Why does Paul quote such a verse as this as an answer to the question, "Did they fail to hear?"

The answer can be found only in the nature of the particular Psalm which is quoted here. The 19th Psalm has baffled many commentators. Now, let me quote the first half-dozen verses in this Psalm, including the one that is found in our text in the New Testament. "The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament is proclaiming his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night radiates knowledge. There is no speaking, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Yet their line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hid from its heat."

I am indebted to an English writer of the last century, Bullinger, for much of what follows and give this single acknowledgment so that I may paraphrase and not merely quote him. The secret of this Psalm lies in the fact that this first half of the Psalm does not talk about the wonders of creation when it says "the heavens declare the glory of God," but about the eloquence of the stars in teaching and revelation. They declare, proclaim, tell, narrate. They utter speech, but without words. They show forth, they exhibit, they prophesy day by day, night by night.

The question is, what do they prophesy? What knowledge do they show forth? What glory do they tell of? The answer leads us into a field that is unknown to most Christians, but which, we believe, is definitely taught by the word of God. I shall express the teaching boldly and then bring out the passages in the word of God by which the truth is established.

It is this: God promised Christ to man as soon as man had sinned. The promise was given to Adam and Eve in the prophecy announced in the Garden of Eden before the pair was expelled from their first home. God speaks: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel." Now, the whole story of the gospel was revealed to Adam and Eve and to their descendants, and they told it to their children, and on to children's children, by connecting different details of the story with the stars of the heavens.

God announced that he was going to send Christ the Redeemer. And as he told the story, he had Adam and Eve look to the stars. The first time that the heavenly bodies are mentioned in the Bible, God's purpose in them is clearly set forth. We read in the first chapter of Genesis, "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and for years. And let them be lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.' And it was so."

Now, it should be noted then that the Bible teaches that these heavenly bodies were created not only to separate the day from the night and to give light, but that they were set for signs and for seasons and for days and for years. What does it mean when God says that he created the heavenly bodies for signs? The Hebrew word is *oth*, and it is used 79 times in the Old Testament. Once it is translated "mark," when we're told that God put a mark on Cain when he became a murderer. Twice the word is rendered "ensign," and twice "miracle." 14 times we have "token" as its translation, and 60 times it is "sign."

Included in the latter are all of the references to the mighty signs which the Lord did through Moses when the plagues were brought against the gods of Egypt. The fact that the heavenly bodies, the stars, were created as signs means that God was announcing something to come or someone to come. Those who understand the stars as signs are enlightened about them and have no fear of the way the heathen world has twisted them.

Through Jeremiah, God gave us this further enlightenment and warning: "Learn not the way of the heathen, the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them." And we can well realize that those who do not understand the true meaning of the stars are dismayed by them. First of all, in Psalm 147, the Bible tells us that God counts up the numbers of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

There is much more in this statement about the names of the stars than appears on the surface. Most of the names of the stars have been lost, but about a hundred have been preserved through the Arabic and Hebrew, and a few through Coptic, Egyptian, Chinese, and Akkadian. And they are used, some of them by astronomers today, even though the astronomers do not know the meanings of the names that they use.

Let me say at once that I am not using any of the terms of this study in the sense that they are used by astrologers. The whole idea of astrology according to the Bible is bound up with devil worship, and some of the worst of the curses that have been spoken by God are upon those who have anything to do with astrology as a system that might tell an individual something about his life, past or future. What I am speaking about is the original truth about the stars that the Bible contains, and which has been degraded by demon forces into its various forms in the world religions, which are bound up with the worship of the sun, the moon, and the stars.

As Satan has sought to battle against the truth, the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ, which God Almighty has bound up with the stars from the beginning of man's life upon this world. The 12 constellations of the zodiac are mentioned several times in the Bible. There is an important use of the word in the book of Job, when the Lord Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind in the great declaration that begins, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding."

And after speaking of the wonders of the earth and the seas, the rain and the snow, God asks, "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?" Now, this word Mazzaroth is the original Hebrew for the 12 constellations of the zodiac, and another spelling of it, Mazzaloth, is translated as "planets," and in the revision as "constellations."

Originally, probably at the very door of the Garden of Eden, God revealed the whole story of redemption through Christ to Adam and Eve thousands of years before Christ was born, using the constellations as memory pegs so that men might not forget the truth. The names of various stars that are in the Bible and the names of the 12 signs of the zodiac go back to the beginning of God's dealings with man.

Jewish tradition, preserved by Josephus, assures us that this Bible astronomy was invented by Adam, Seth, and Enoch. The spiritually minded student of the word of God will not hesitate long in believing that the whole idea was planned by God and given to man in the terms in which God wished man to have the truth. Now, we have to remember that our written scriptures began with Moses, roughly 1,500 years before Christ.

And thus before Moses, when there was no Bible, the revelation of the hope which God gave to man when he promised at the door of the Garden of Eden that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head, this truth was preserved in the naming of the stars and their grouping in signs and constellations. Now at the Tower of Babel, when men were corrupted and departed from God, seeking to get away from his control, they took with them, when God created nationality as a curse, they took with them the garbled story of redemption and the fact that the story had been pegged to the stars by God.

Little by little, they corrupted the whole thing into the vile religions of the East, religions which spread across the world, remnants of which are found in the Mayan civilization of Yucatan and among other so-called primitive peoples. The Babylonian creation tablets refer to them, though the primitive meanings of the star names had either been corrupted or lost. It is the same with Greek mythology, which is a corruption of primitive truth which had been lost and perverted.

We see evidence of this corruption as early as the 11th chapter of Genesis, where we read of the Tower of Babel having its top with the heavens. There is no suggestion in the original Hebrew that the builders had any idea of building a tower whose top would reach the heavens. And it is to be noted that the words "may reach" in the King James Version are in italics, the slanting type being used in that version to note that the words are not to be found in the original Hebrew.

The words doubtless refer to the signs of the zodiac, pictured in stone on the top of the tower like the zodiacs that have been discovered in the tops of towers of Dendera and Esna in Egypt. This is what the Tower of Babel was: a tower which men had built with the zodiac on top in order to try and plot their future without any control by God. Now, the groupings of the stars are quite arbitrary. There is nothing in the positions of the stars to suggest the pictures originally drawn around them.

The signs and constellations were first designed and named, and then the pictures were drawn around them respectively. Thus, the truth of the gospel story was enshrined and written in the heavens where no human hand could touch it. In later years, when Israel came into the possession of the written scriptures of truth, there was no longer any need for the more ancient writing in the heavens. And so the original teaching gradually faded away, and the heathen, out of the smattering that they had heard by tradition, evolved their cosmogonies and their mythologies.

Now, what we are teaching is that God Almighty gave to Adam and his descendants the whole of the gospel story about the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the story was pegged on the 12 signs of the zodiac. The zodiac declares the glory of God; the firmament shows the wonders of the divine plan. Day unto day the story pours forth, and night unto night the same story is radiated from the stars. In the 12 signs, God has made a tent for the sun, who moves around through these signs like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber or a strong man rejoicing to run a race. This is the Psalm.

Now, where is the door of the tent? Where does this story start? This difficulty was foreseen. It was also foreseen that succeeding generations would not know when and where the sun began its course and where the teaching of this heavenly book commenced and where we were to open its first page. And hence the Sphinx was invented as a memorial. The Sphinx had the head of a woman and the body and tail of a lion. This was in order to tell us that the book of the heavens began with the sign Virgo and ends with the sign Leo.

The word Sphinx is from the Greek *sphingo*, "to join," because it binds together the two ends of this circle of the heavens. The 12 signs of the zodiac are divided into three groups of four each. The first group tells us about the first coming of Christ as the suffering Savior. The second group tells us of those who are redeemed. And the third group tells of the future second coming of Christ in glory. I purposely do not use the Arabic or Hebrew names for the stars in these constellations, but run briefly through the story that we may see how plain it is.

The first constellation sign is that of Virgo, the Virgin, and tells of the promised seed of the woman who is to come as the Redeemer. In this constellation are stars called Coma, which means "the desired"; Centaurus, that head of a man and body of a horse—the two natures; "the despised sin offering" is the name of another star; and Boötes, "the coming one with a branch." In Arabic names, the three most important stars in Virgo are "the desired son," "the despised," and "the coming ruler."

The second sign of the zodiac is Libra, the Redeemer's atoning work. Anciently, this was called the Altar. In Arabic, the two bright stars are called "the price which is deficient" and "the price which covers"—sin and salvation. The three sub-constellations in Libra have names signifying "the cross endured," "the victim slain," and "the crown bestowed." The Hebrew name for one of the stars is that word translated as "cut off" in Daniel, where we read that Messiah was cut off for the sins of his people.

Most interestingly, one of the stars in this group is called in Greek *thera*, "a beast," and the same star in Latin is called *victima*, "a victim," in Hebrew it's called *zaba*, "slain," and in the Egyptian of Dendera, *sura*, "a lamb." You can see how these stories were told in the different languages of the world, all of them with a little truth and all of them separating from the original truth. The constellation Corona in this sign is Corona, the royal crown, and the brightest stars have as their Arabic names "jewel" and "the shining one."

The third sign of the zodiac is Scorpio. Here we have set before us the Redeemer's conflict with the dragon, Satan, the serpent. The three sub-constellations of this sign refer to the assaulting of the man's heel, the man grasping the serpent, and the mighty man victorious. Individual stars in this group have revealing names in various languages. The sign itself is called in Coptic "the attack of the enemy." In Arabic, it is "the wounding of the coming one." The brightest star is Antares, which means "wounding," and in Hebrew, "perverseness."

The brightest star in Serpens is called "encompassing." In Hebrew, it's called "the accursed," in Arabic, "the reptile." Other names in this sign are "the serpent held," "the head of him who holds," "contending," "the chief who cometh," "treading underfoot," and "bruised." The fourth sign is Sagittarius, which speaks of the Redeemer's triumph. The sub-constellations are Lyra, "praise prepared for the conqueror"; Ara, "fire prepared for his enemies"; and Draco, "the dragon cast down."

Now, it's because of the lack of time that we cannot carry the detailed study throughout the remaining signs of the zodiac. Suffice it to say that the story goes on through Capricornus, the slaying of the scapegoat, with the constellation Delphinus, "the fish full of life." In the early church, the fish was always the symbol of the followers of Christ. The sixth sign is Aquarius, the pouring forth of blessing, and the seventh sign is Pisces, with stars named "the swarms" or "multitudes of him who cometh."

In this constellation there are 113 stars much the same size, and the brightest is called "the united," and the next brightest, "the upheld." How beautiful a picture of us who believe, who are drawn together in oneness in Christ and who are held by him. In this sign is also the constellation called the Band, with a star called "he comes," binding them together. Andromeda is here, meaning "seated as a queen," a perfect picture of the church, with individual stars meaning "the chains of the weak being broken and struck down," and the next constellation is Cepheus, the king coming to rule.

The eighth sign of the zodiac is Aries, with the ram or the lamb full of vigor, not falling in death like Capricornus, but alive and reigning. In this sign is Cassiopeia, "the freed and enthroned woman"; Cetus, "the monster enemy subdued and bound"; and Perseus, "the breaker who subdues the enemy and helps his own."

The third and last quartet of the signs of the zodiac begins with Taurus, the Messiah coming to rule, with the great red star Aldebaran, "the leader" or "the governor." In this sign is Orion, "the coming prince," the Redeemer breaking forth as a light. The brightest star in all our heaven is here, Betelgeuse, meaning "the coming of the branch." Here also is a star named Rigel, "the foot of him who crushes." In this sign are also Eridanus, "wrath breaking forth as a flood," and Auriga, "the shepherd with safety for his redeemed in the day of wrath."

The tenth sign is Gemini, Messiah as a Prince of princes, with constellations meaning "the enemy trodden underfoot," "the coming glorious prince," and "the exalted Redeemer." The eleventh sign is Cancer, the crab, "the one who seizes, who holds fast." The sub-constellations are the Lesser Fold and the Greater Fold and the Flock, with Argo the ship, "the pilgrim safe at home."

And the last of the signs of the zodiac is Leo. The Lion of the tribe of Judah is full conqueror. The three sub-constellations are Hydra, Crater, and Corvus. The Hydra monster is that old serpent, the devil and Satan, now destroyed. Crater is the cup of wrath poured out, and Corvus the raven, the bird of prey devouring the evil one.

From Virgo to Leo, the heavens declare the glory of God in the story of redemption. Now we can understand why the Holy Spirit brings the 19th Psalm into the tenth of Romans where we are studying. Was the gospel story not known? Of course it was. The heavens had been telling the story as God revealed it long before he had Moses and the prophets write it down in the inspired scriptures. And our God and Father, we pray thee that the Holy Spirit shall take this word to our hearts. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Throughout history, the gospel message of salvation by God's grace has gone out to all the earth and will continue until the return of Jesus Christ. You have been listening to Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible, a ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. We hope you've benefited from today's message, "The Heavens Declare."

You may listen to additional teaching by Dr. Barnhouse by visiting us online at Alliancenet.org. An audio copy of today's teaching is available by calling us toll-free: 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled "The Heavens Declare." Or simply request message number R10-19. We would also like to make available to you a free copy of our booklet entitled "The History of Sin."

The reality of sin is a stumbling block for many people when they consider the existence and character of God. If God is loving and all-powerful, then why does he allow sin, evil, and suffering to exist? In this free booklet, Dr. Barnhouse carefully and scripturally outlines the history of sin and examines its nature, extent, and course. Ask for your free copy of "The History of Sin" when you call or write.

Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals exists to promote a biblical understanding and worldview. Drawing upon the insight and wisdom of Reformation theologians from decades and even centuries gone by, we seek to provide contemporary Christian teaching which will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place.

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