 |
| Andromeda galaxy |
Okay Grandad, what was that fishy star show in
November all about?
Does it tell us any more of the
gospel about Jesus?
First of all, can you remember where we got up to
in the story, back in July?
Mary's special Son paid our penalty with His
blood by dying for us …..but it looked like the baddies had won.
Ah!...we need to know if that sacrifice was a tragic
defeat or a victorious achievement. Well like I told you, Capricornus may be a
dying goat struggling to get up but remember its fishy tail is very much
alive...
...so life is going to come out of death after
all, hey?
Yep! Now
these constellations may have been especially intended for God's earthly
people, Israel, so let me tell you about goat sacrifices in the Bible. A goat
was sacrificed for the ‘sin offering’ and two goats were used on Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement, when
one was sacrificed and the other was released into the desert – one died but
one lived. Can you think of any more examples in the Bible?
Joseph's big brothers dipped his fancy jacket in
the blood of a kid goat so their dad would think he had been killed by a wild
animal.
How heartless that was!...but in the end Joseph
could say:
"you
meant it for evil against me; but God meant it for good..."
The
baddies aren't going to win after all.
Just as well!
The next one was Aquarius pouring out all that water for the fish.
Yes and remember fish were the first animals God
made, they weren't in Noah's ark but lived thru the great flood and they're
always there for the eating - if we can catch them!
So what can you tell me about water?
We use it for washing but we really can't survive
without water - it's like the fuel of life. I think Jesus said: "come to
me and drink" and then water came out of His side when He died.
There you are...life out of death!..."a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life". Of course water
features many times: the Rock in the desert, the Red Sea, the Sea of Galilee,
the Jordan river, Jesus walking on water....
…and Peter nearly drowning!
The fish aren't watered in Pisces - they're trapped by this monster.
Well, the Israel people found out what it’s like
to be trapped by the monster - 70 years captivity for Judah in Babylon and
finally ‘scattered among all peoples’ just as Moses warned. Amos even warned
Israel they would be taken away with fish-hooks and sure enough, that's how
Assyrians controlled their prisoners - joined together using fish-hooks through
their noses.
Ouch! Too bad if someone fell over
or needed to go to the toilet!
That for sure.
Finally there is Aries the ram…so what does that remind you of?
Lots of stories – Abel, Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah, the Passover…
… a lamb was sacrificed at the temple every
morning and evening and remember what John the Baptist called Jesus: “Look! the
Lamb of God!”
There might be life out of death but with a dying goat, hooked fish, and a
sacrificed lamb, where’s ‘Hope’ come into it?
The apostle John sobbed over nobody being found
worthy to open the Revelation until ‘The Lamb’ came along – the Lion of the
tribe of Judah.
 |
| See the bright link in Andromeda's chain? |
Not only that, associated with these 4
constellations is another: the princess Andromeda in the north, chained to a
rock. Can you see the beautiful Andromeda nebula is the bright link in her ugly
chain, Andromeda also being the name of the spiral galaxy closest to the Milky
Way….even visible to the naked eye!
I wonder if that’s meant to
be a sign of hope?
Like Jeremiah said long ago: “Therefore I hope in Him!”
Yeah, I wonder….. Thanks, Grandad. It must be nearly time to look for the last 4 constellations, hey?
Image credits:
Andromeda
/ Rogelio Bernal Andreo / deepskycolours.com
Stellarium
Meet ‘Stumpy’ the salt-water crocodile (Crocodylus
porosus) who thoroughly enjoys the good life with Chris Peberdy’s family at
Howard Springs near Darwin N.T. 
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down
with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and
a little child shall lead them…” Isaiah 11
