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“A SIGN…OF THE LORD…IN THE HEIGHT ABOVE”

Isaiah 7:11

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“Ask thee a sign of the LORD…

in the depth…

or in the height above…

Behold, a virgin shall conceive,

and bear a son,

and shall call His name Immanuel…

And there appeared a great sign in heaven; a woman…

And she brought forth a man child…

And the woman fled into the wilderness,”

Isaiah 7:11, 14 & Revelation 12:1, 5, 6

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Long ago, God made a promise in the Book of Isaiah, Ch. 7… “Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”

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Now just what sign could this be, that was either in the depth or in the height above? Well, Isaiah continues…

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;

Behold, a virgin shall conceive,

and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

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Oh, okay. So, we know this sign was fulfilled in the depth, with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

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But God also spoke of a sign in the “height above”.

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So where is the fulfillment of this sign, in the “height above”?

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A SIGN IN HEAVEN

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“And there appeared a great wonder (sign) in heaven;

a woman clothed with the sun,

and the moon under her feet,

and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:”

Revelation 12:1

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You see, God has placed in the heavens, the symbol of His bride, the Church-Faithful.

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In the summer night-sky, she appears as the woman-in-travail. 

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This is the constellation, Ursa Major.

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And this article will introduce you to this amazing sign of Heaven, and what it means to you and to me.

 

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DOUBLE ENTENDRE OF REVELATION 12 WOMAN

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…”For the husband is the head of the wife,

even as Christ is the head of the Church:

and He is the Savior of the body.”

Ephesians 5:23

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This page concerns the constellation which is commonly known as “The Big Dipper” and the “Great Bear”.

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It actually appears in the summer months as a woman travailing in child-birth.

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God has purposely given her no head.

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But God did this to present a very important concept.

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Yes, this woman represents the Church, the “Jerusalem above, which is free, and is the mother of us all” (see Galatians 4:26).

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You see, the single star she is giving birth to typifies the Christ child.

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Reading in Ephesians that Christ is the “head” of the Church, this single star is logically going to become her head.

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But how will that be accomplished? 

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ABOVE STAR-CHARTS: Ursa Major – IAU.svg – Star-Chart – Wikipedia – Share-Alike License

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WOMAN FLIPS AROUND IN WINTER

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Now, if this Woman-in-Travail were all that the Lord created in the heavens, it would be nothing short of amazing!

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But God, in His infinite power and majesty, has made this a great sign in Heaven, just as Revelation 12 proclaims.

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Because as the summer passes, this constellation begins to slowly flip around, until the stars representing her arms now become her legs.

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And the stars that once represented her legs now become her arms. 

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And finally, it appears as the Fleeing Woman of Revelation 12.

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And at that point, this single little star in her womb-area, representing the Christ-child, now becomes her head!

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And of course, this reminds us of the passage… “And He (Christ) is the head of the body, the Church…” Colossians 1:18.

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ABOVE STAR-CHARTS: Ursa Major – IAU.svg – Star-Chart – Wikipedia – Share-Alike License

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REVELATION 12 TAKES PLACE IN HEAVEN

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“And there appeared a great sign in heaven; a woman…

And she brought forth a man child,

who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron:

and her child was caught up unto God,

and to His throne….

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle,

that she might fly into the wilderness”

Revelation 12:1, 5, 14

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From time to time, the Book of Revelation mentions stars.

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But when we get to Revelation Chapter 12, it speaks of two “sign(s) in heaven”.

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First, it speaks of a sign of a woman with child.

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Then it speaks of a sign of a great red dragon, with a tail that sweeps one third of the stars and casts these stars down to the Earth.

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And this same chapter also speaks of Michael fighting against the dragon.

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And so these two signs in heaven, a woman, and a dragon (but also Michael, i.e., Orion), are a major part of this website, Signs Of Heaven.

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So as we read Revelation 12, we get the sense, that these signs which the Apostle John was shown, were closely intertwined with the starry host of the heavens. 

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TRAVAILING

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Jeremiah shows that Jacob’s night of wrestling was a picture of that time known as, “the time of Jacob’s trouble”.

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The question, “Ask ye now…does a man travail with child?” shows that this is speaking metaphorically.

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Listen to Paul’s language, his strange language regarding a church that’s having spiritual problems…  

…”My little children,

of whom I travail in birth again

until Christ be formed in you…”

Galatians 4:19.

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The churches of Galatia were being leavened by false teaching that propped up the notion that Christianity is comprised of following rules and regulations.

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Paul was trying to dispel that notion by showing how Christianity is growing into a Christ-like character.

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It is a “new birth” experience.  

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CONCLUSION…

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These prophecies show that God is not wanting for His people to take a relaxed attitude toward their Salvation.

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Like Paul, every Christian too, must be running the Race.

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Like Paul, the individual Christian must be fighting the Good Fight.

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And just like Paul, we should not consider ourselves to have already attained.

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Rather we need to joyfully suffer the loss of all things counting them as rubbish that we might obtain Christ…

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“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:

but this one thing I do,

forgetting those things which are behind,

and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

 I press toward the mark for the Prize

of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:12-14.

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In essence, what Paul is saying here is the very same concept as that of having Christ formed within, yet in different language.

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Paul the Apostle – cropped & brightened photo – Artist – Valentin de Boulogne or Nicolas Tournier – circa 1500s – Wikipedia – 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,

and behold Who hath created these things;

that brings out their host by number:

He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might,

for that He is strong in power;

not one faileth.”

Isaiah 40:26

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ABOVE PICTURE – Starry Night at La Silla – cropped  and altered image – Wikimedia – Share-Alike license

 

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“AND WHEN YE SEE THESE THINGS…

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LOOK UP, LIFT UP YOUR HEAD”

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In this busy work-a-day world, there are many very interesting things which can occupy one’s time and energy: hobbies, and careers, and entertainments and worries, and habits, to name just a few.

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But having said this, there is one hobby which every ‘Noble Berean’ may take up, which only compliments the pursuit of the heavenly Prize.

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Yes, Signs Of Heaven becomes a wonderfully rewarding hobby which, unlike many less meaningful hobbies, pays off with rich, heavenly rewards. Everlasting rewards!

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And unlike the person in this photo with equipment, all you need is fairly good vision, and a dark, starry night.

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And once a person really gets to know these heavenly messengers, it will become very apparent that the message connected with these signs is truly a message to be heeded.

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Thus will the Christian be able to share this message with others. And there are perhaps many nuances and hidden biblical truths to these signs which have yet to be discovered.

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Astronomy Amateur – cropped image – Wikipedia – share-alike license

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“And there shall be signs in the sun,

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and in the moon,

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and in the stars;

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and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;

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the sea and the waves roaring;”

Luke 21:25

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ABOVE CHART: Summer Constellations with Doves (Sagittarius) & Woman (Ursa Major)

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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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ABOVE PICTURE: Orion the Soldier and the Revelation 12 Dragon (Hyades & Pleiades, etc.) – winter constellations – www.signsofheaven.org – not for commercial use

ABOVE PICTURE – 7 Stars Constellation as the Cross (aka Big Dipper) – winter – signsofheaven.org – not for commercial uses

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