Castor and Pollux & The Mystery Ship of Scripture
By admin On December 25th, 2011.
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“And after three months we departed
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in a ship of Alexandria,
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which had wintered in the isle,
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whose sign was Castor and Pollux.”
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Acts 28:11
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PAUL’S JOURNEY ON TWO SHIPS…
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Acts Chapters 27 & 28 are the account of Paul’s journey to his own Judgment Day…in Rome. Acts 27 is greatly concerned with the first ship and with that terrible storm, the storm, “Euroclydon”.
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Paul warned all those on board, that if they all should abide in the ship, then not one soul would be lost.
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And so they all abode in the ship, just as Paul commanded.
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paul in a storm acts 27-21 www.breadsite.org public domain
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THEY LEFT THE BROKEN SHIP
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But finally, upon reaching just offshore from land, the ship broke up by the impact of the crashing waves, and all had to abandon the ship and swim to shore. And so, they all jumped into the water, and some swam, and those who couldn’t swim, clung to pieces of the ship and floated to shore…
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“they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land:” Acts 27:43, 44
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Paul Shipwrecked – Acts 27:41-44 – www.lavistachurchofchrist.org – Public Domain
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WHAT DOES HENRY SAY?
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And sure enough, not one soul was lost! Listen to that great theologian, Matthew Henry… “When the church of God, like this ship, is tossed with tempests, and not comforted, when there is none to guide her of all her sons, yet God can bring her safely to shore, and will do it.”
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Notice that Henry compares this ship to the Church of God. Matthew Henry speaks of this entire Acts Ch. 27 in spiritual terms, relating Paul’s journey to the many pitfalls and tribulations that God’s people must go through on our journey through this world.
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Well, Matthew Henry wasn’t the only student of Scripture who saw this story in spiritual terms. As a matter of fact, there are many who see this story as the prophetic history of the New Testament Church. That is, this story appears to be a prophecy concerning the Church through the past two thousand years, all the way up to Judgment Day, using Paul’s judgment to represent the great Judgment Day which may soon burst forth upon the world.
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Matthew Henry – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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“THE DAWNING OF THE DAY”
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“I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in Thy Word.” Psalm 119:147. This Psalm, and many other verses in Scripture speak of the “dawning of the day”.
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Now, just as Henry says above, the ship (the churches and the Church-Elect) made it safely to land. Well almost! Actually the ship broke up in the waters just a little way from land. But Henry’s point was that the ship went through. And so, just prior to the ship breaking up, the Bible says… “And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat,” Acts 27:33.
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Matthew Henry – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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“GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL”
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“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
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Now, at this point, many will undoubtedly object, crying (as this above verse points out), “the gates of Hell will not prevail against God’s Church!”
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Now while the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church-Faithful (picture below), this statement cannot be made concerning the Church-Apostate (picture left). And so, the local congregations were to be vacated by God’s Elect, as is written… “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Revelation 18:4.
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NO ETERNAL SECURITY FOR CHURCHES
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And don’t forget! There is a big difference between the “Church” and the “churches”. Remember that Revelation, Ch.’s 2 & 3, gave very little security to those 7 churches.
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Listen… “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou (church at Ephesus) hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”
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And what about this… “I know thy (the church at Sardis) works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”
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Or this… “So then because thou (the church at Laodicea) art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth.” Revelation 2:4, 5 & Revelation 3:1, 16.
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So, no congregation, nor even any denomination was guaranteed an eternal security with God. Congregations were totally on a probationary basis. Their connection to God totally depended on their remaining faithful to obedience to the Bible.
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Now granted, the verses presented here give much truth to comprehend. But as the Reader reads this and other articles, there will be much explained in detail.
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THE CHURCH BROKEN UP…
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But the ship finally broke up, just prior to striking land.
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But what does this story have to do with Salvation? And how does all this relate to the Church of God?
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Listen to what Paul says about the Church in the last days…
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth,
and shall be turned unto fables.”
2nd Timothy 4:3, 4.
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Incredible! Just think! The Bible predicted that the day was to come, in which the churches would no longer endure sound doctrine, but began to clamor for “itching-ears” gospels. And notice it says they would “heap to themselves teachers…”. Like never before, Christians have heaped to ourselves teachers. There were so many ministries: on radio, on TV, on Internet. And many of these had programs designed for those “itching ears” which Paul mentioned in 2nd Timothy: so-called “Christian entertainment”, joking, sensual music, popular & stylish church services, energy-exhausting careers, exotic theories on Bible prophecy, “get rich” gospels, picking-n-choosing pet Bible verses, etc…
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THE CHURCHES = THE 1ST SHIP
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And this situation in the churches really aligned itself with the following passage from the story from Acts Ch.’s 27 & 28 , which is the centerpiece of this discussion.
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Just listen… “And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmovable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.” Acts 27:41.
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It did appear that we had arrived at that day, when the Church became broken up. (See “Fleeing to the Mountains–The Abomination in the Churches”.) And just as this first ship in the Book of Acts became divided into two parts, so also, the churches likewise seemed to become hopelessly broken.
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Backhuysen_Storm wikipedia public dom.
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CHURCHES FATALLY FRACTURED
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“they which could swim…cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:” Acts 27:43.
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The Bible compares the “sea” to the world. So the “two seas” which met, appear to be speaking of two worldly philosophies: conservatism, and liberalism. Liberalism (which embraces socialism & atheism) and conservatism (which embraces capitalism & religion). So when the ship broke into two parts, they which could swim…cast themselves first into the sea.
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So also, the Church seemed to have become broken into two parts. And with such a great apostasy in the God’s House, the stronger Christians could nevertheless still maintain a good relationship with the Lord. Thus being locked out of apostate local congregations was akin to Acts 28 , in which “they cast themselves out in the sea”.
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Paul Shipwrecked – Acts 27:41-44 – www.lavistachurchofchrist.org – Public Domain
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MANY JUST TRYING TO BE FAITHFUL
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Most Christians, however, put up with some less-than-biblical gathering, out of a sincere desire to “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (see Hebrews 10:25) each week. Others were perhaps, a little insecure in their relationship with God, to just worship at home.
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Still others stayed at home, but followed somewhat faithful radio or Internet ministries.
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This seemed to correspond with the verse… “And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land…” Acts 27:44.
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These boards and broken pieces of the ship represented the broken congregations and the somewhat compromising ministries on radio and Internet.
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Paul Shipwrecked Acts 27:41-44-www.lavistachurchofchrist.org–public domain.
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CASTOR AND POLLUX: THE MYSTERY SHIP…
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Back to the story of Paul’s shipwreck. While they all were saved, they had not yet reached their ultimate destination: Paul’s Judgment. And so after three months on a secular island, they all boarded another ship. This particular ship was of Alexandria. This ship’s sign was Castor & Pollux. And this ship smoothly took all to their destination… Judgment Day.
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Now just what is this new ship all about? After all, the first ship seemed to represent the church-world.
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So what was this next ship all about?
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And what in the world is Castor and Pollux?
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CASTOR AND POLLUX = THE NARROW WAY…
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“And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux.” Acts 28:11
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Most theologians interpret this verse to be speaking of two pagan gods known as Castor and Pollux. Beyond that, they are puzzled as to what significance do these twin gods have. Some believe these gods to be the patrons of safe ocean travel. Certainly God would never want His people to board such a pagan ship!
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But there is much significance to Castor and Pollux. No, not to those twin-gods. But there are two stars named Castor and Pollux. They are twin-stars, and not twin-gods. They are the two bright stars of the constellation commonly known as Gemini. But as “Signs Of Heaven” points out, these two stars also happen to be the two brightest stars on Orion’s sickle.
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And these two stars are also known as The Narrow Gate Stars. And if you will explore this concept, you will see that Castor and Pollux possess great significance…
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“Enter ye in at the strait gate:
for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14.
Castor and Pollux represent this Biblical concept of the Narrow Way.
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ABOVE PICTURE: Revelation 12 Woman (Ursa Major) & wide (Auriga) and narrow gates (Gemini) – NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USES
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LOCATING THIS GROUP…
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These two sketches below are the same picture, one with stars only, the other with embellishments. These stars appear more or less like this when they are in the western sky, just before they sink below the western horizon (please excuse the less-than 100% accurate sketch).
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At the top of the sketches in the center is the Big Dipper.
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But with other surrounding stars, along with the Big Dipper comprise what is known as Ursa Major or the Great Bear.
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But as this website points out, Ursa Major is actually the Revelation 12 Woman. (Ursa Major appears much larger in the sky than this sketch shows. But in order to fit her into this drawing, the artist had to depict her much smaller)
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ABOVE CHART : Revelation 12 Woman swerving toward Narrow Gate – late winter – signsofheaven.org
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IN THE WEST
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This most amazing phenomenon is seen throughout the winter, and even into June at the beginning of night. It is seen best when it is the western part of the sky. Orion, the Dragon, and the Glorious Horse are beginning to descend into the western horizon. And at this point it is apparent that the Woman of Revelation 12 Constellation is veering toward the Narrow Gate Stars as you can see just to the left of the mountain.
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A dark night is best for seeing this. It begins with the Woman of Revelation 12 Constellation going towards these two doors. The doors are each composed of two bright stars. The two bright stars that comprise the Narrow Gate are the two brightest stars of the Orion the Reaper’s sickle. The two stars that comprise the Wide Gate Stars (to the right of the mountain) are the two brightest stars of the Wave of Water (AKA Auriga Constellation) that comes out of the Dragon Constellation’s mouth (for explanation of “Wave of Water”, just click here).
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The stars that make up the Narrow Gate are about one-third less the width of the Wide Gate. The two bright stars which symbolize the Wide Gate are Capella and Menkalinan. These are the brightest two stars of the Auriga Constellation. (For more information on Orion’s sickle, just click here, “Orion The Reaper”. )
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Editor’s note: These sketches on this page are merely sketches. The stars are not in their exact place. But they are close enough to find them in the night sky.
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ABOVE CHART : Revelation 12 Woman swerving toward Narrow Gate – late winter – signsofheaven.org
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SKETCH: EASTERN SKY
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Here in this sketch is when these constellations are in the eastern sky in early winter. Satan spews out his false worldly ideologies, which many of these ideologies have a form of godliness. On the other hand, the Strait Gate (Narrow Gate) is composed of the two brightest stars of the Orion The Reaper’s sickle. God’s Word, the Bible is that sickle. The true Strait Gate is God’s Word, the Bible.
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As a sickle harvests the wheat, so God’s Word will gather precious souls to Him.
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BIBLE SAVES OR DESTROYS
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Well no, the Bible doesn’t explicitly say that a sickle in the Bible represents 
God’s Word. But as Isaiah 28 (click here to read) points out, the Bible will lead some to truth, while leading others to destruction.
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Listen… “But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little;
that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.”
Isaiah 28: 13.
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So, for some, the Bible leads to the Sabbath Rest unto their souls. But for others, the Bible leads to destruction. And in Revelation 14, there are two harvests: one of the Church-Faithful, and the other harvest of the Church-Apostate.
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Now there may be more aspects, as to just what a sickle represents, than what has been described, but basically this seems to be what we now understand.
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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CASTOR AND POLLUX…
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It has become apparent, while looking at a star-chart, that the Narrow Gate Constellation is made of two stars…Castor and Pollux. At first blush this fact seems to present an incredible fulfillment of a passage in the Book of Acts, which reads… “And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux.” Acts 28:11.
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It has been known for a number of years that this story in Acts concerns the Church through the New Testament era. In other words this story in Acts about Paul and the two ships he sailed on, is a prophecy. A prophecy concerning the history of the Church…told in advance…in this metaphoric little story found in Acts. Well why not? After all, the whole Bible is Prophetic!
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Listen… “…for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10. And what is “the testimony of Jesus”? The whole Bible is the “testimony of Jesus”!
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2ND SHIP = CASTOR AND POLLUX
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But to make a long story short, Paul and the others, having been saved off the first ship which broke up and destroyed by the storm, boarded a second ship whose sign was Castor and Pollux. This second ship with the sign of those bright twin stars, Castor and Pollux, appears to be speaking about these Narrow Gate Stars. In short, this ship that Paul and the others boarded seems to be referring to God’s ship (God’s true worshippers). God’s ship is His Gospel Ship and the sign of this Gospel Ship is this constellation now revealed to us as the Narrow Gate Stars, which are made of simply…two stars… Castor and Pollux. Of course the Wide Gate Stars are made of the two bright stars of the wave of water coming out of the Dragon’s mouth.
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And so we have a choice: follow lowly Jesus (represented by the Narrow Gate)…or follow the false ideologies of the “Gain = Godliness” gospels which Satan offers us (see 1st Timothy 6:5). This Revelation 12 Woman Constellation seems to be deciding which door she will enter. Will she enter the Narrow Gate…or will she enter the Wide Gate?
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ABOVE STAR-CHART – Early Winter in the east – Orion, – Revelation 12 Dragon (AKA Hyades, Pleiades, etc.) – Revelation 12 Woman (Ursa Major) – Goodly Horse in Battle with Rider (Camelopardelis, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, etc…) – www.signsofheaven.org – Not for commercial use!
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“THEY FORSOOK ALL AND FOLLOWED HIM”
LUKE 5:11
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The following verse seems to be a prophecy about this very time in history, when God’s people are ready to forsake all, in order to follow Jesus perfectly.
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Listen to Luke’s gospel…“And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him.” Luke 5:11.
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Even though this was a verse regarding Jesus’ Disciples, it seems to apply to the time we are now in…the time of the “Narrow Gate”. The time when God’s Elect will “shine as the stars, for ever and ever”! Daniel 12:3
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Christ calling His Disciples by Edward Armitage 1869 courtesy wikigallery.com public domain
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THE END
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A HEAVENLY HOBBY
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“Lift up your eyes on high,
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and behold Who hath created these things;
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that brings out their host by number:
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He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might,
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for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.”
Isaiah 40:26
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FIRST FIND ORION & 7 STARS
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The very first step in finding these many constellations, should be to find the two main constellations: Orion, and the 7 Stars (aka, The Big Dipper).
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These two constellations represent Christ (Orion), and His Church (7 Stars).
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And just as these are the easiest constellations to find, so too, the first place to begin studying the Bible is the Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).
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These four books present Christ and His Church, when He walked the earth, just as Orion and the 7 Stars represent Christ and His Church, as seen up in the heavens.
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Then, once you are comfortable finding these two constellations, you can begin to locate the next closest constellations, and so on.
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