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In Disney's animated Lion King Poomba the warthog speculates aloud
about the nature of the stars: "Balls of gas burning millions of miles away,"
Poomba suggests. Simba, the young Lion King, has a different idea. "The great
kings of the past . . . up there," he suggests sheepishly yet fervently.1 Modern
opinion, voting with Poomba, stigmatizes as "primitive" or "unscientific" any
notion of the stars as anything other than farflung balls of various gases, larger
or smaller versions of earth's own sun. The voluminous findings of modern
uniformitarian science, including the unprecedented visions of the Hubble space
telescope2 and all the data from unmanned space probes, collaborate to empty
the visible heavens of sentient life for the modern thinker.
Like Disney's lion Simba, however, people of almost all cultures and
ages have commonly associated stars with supernatural personalities rather than
inanimate gases. Ancient cultures worldwide revered the residents of the
heavens because they believed the distant points of light embodied or signified
supernatural intelligences. C. S. Lewis observes that medieval thinkers
"attributed life and even intelligence to only one privileged class of objects (the
1
Lion King, Walt Disney Productions, 1994.
2
Matt Crenson, "Taking the Long View: New Approach Allows Deeper Look into
Universe's Past," Dallas Morning News, November 18, 1996, 6D.
1
stars) which . . . [modern thinkers] hold to be inorganic."3 Lewis went on to
depict an extradimensional connection between planets and angels in his
celebrated Space Trilogy. Modern pop culture preserves similar ideas in scenes
such as the opening of Frank Capra's film It's a Wonderful Life. In that scene the
viewer sees two stars, one of which is an angel, discuss events on the world
below. Popular art frequently depicts stars and angels together, especially in
Christmas art showing the star and angels of Bethlehem.
Christian writings also associate stars and supernatural beings,
specifically, the angels. Van Dyke wrote that "stars and angels sing around Thee"
in his hymn Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, and David Jeremiah's recent book
What the Bible Says about Angels has sections entitled "Spirit Beings–Like Stars"
and "Stars and Angels and Us."4 More significantly, biblical writers frequently
portrayed the stars as something beyond mere inanimate objects. The biblical
phrase "host of heaven," in fact, often signifies both stars and angels at once.5
Throughout Scripture a "mysterious connection"6 exists between the stars, the
3
C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1964), 93.
4
David Jeremiah, What the Bible Says about Angels (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Books,
1996), 8490.
5
Gerhard von Rad, "Oujrano;ß," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed.
Gerhard Friedrich Kittel, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1967), 5:506; John F. MacArthur Jr., The Glory of Heaven: The Truth about Heaven,
Angels and Eternal Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1996), 154.
6
F. Delitzsch, Job, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, trans. Francis
Bolton (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975), 4:314; and Tayler Lewis, Job,
Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical, ed. John Peter Lange,
trans. and ed. Philip Schaff (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, n.d.), 602; and Merrill
F. Unger, "The Old Testament Revelation of the Creation of Angels and the Earth," Bibliotheca
Sacra 114 (JulySeptember 1957): 211. All three writers use the phrase "mysterious connection" to
2
3 3
heavenly bodies, and the angels, the messengers of God. This thesis seeks to
analyze inductively and to articulate specifically the nature of this "mysterious
connection." The analysis will consider every biblical occurrence of words
translated “star” or “stars.”7 The resulting articulation of the star/angel
connection carries important ramifications for how one understands Bible
references to stars, how one conceptualizes the interrelationship of the visible
and spiritual worlds, and how one responds to the pagan worldview in both its
archaic and modern (e.g., New Age) manifestations. The analysis and
articulation also matter to anyone who looks up at the twinkling little stars and
wonders what they are!
describe the link between stars and angels.
7
English Bible translations show little variance when it comes to translating biblical
terms for stars.
CHAPTER 1
OLD TESTAMENT DATA, PART 1: bDkwø;k
To pursue the exact nature of the biblical connection between stars and
angels, one must begin with an examination of the Old Testament term
translated "stars." From this examination one may delineate categories of usage
which to some extent reveal the biblical writers' understanding of the stars. This
study focuses on references to stars that deviate from the typical modern concept
of a star as an inanimate, impersonal celestial object.
Etymology
In all the Semitic languages bDkwø;k retains the basic
meaning of "star" or "heavenly body": Ugaritic kbkb , once kkb ; Phoenician
kaukab ; Ethiopic kokab . 1
Though uncertain, the likely basic meaning of
the verb is "burn brightly."2
2 2Ibid.
4
5 5
Categories of Usage
Thirtyseven times Old Testament writers use the term
bDkwø;k to refer to stars, with all but two of the occurrences being in
the plural (MyIbDkwø;k). Biblical usage of bDkwø;k falls
3
into several definable categories.
Nonpersonal Usage
Thirteen times the Scriptures speak of stars in nonpersonal ways,
though none precludes a personal view of the MyIbDkwø;k.
As created objects.
Four times the Bible speaks of
MyIbDkwø;k merely as objects of God's creative, purposeful
action (Gen 1:16; Job 9:7; Pss 8:3; 136:9; Jer 31:35; Amos 5:8). On the
fourth day God made the MyIbDkwø;k for nighttime lights,
and He controls their shinings.
As metonymy for nightfall. Nehemiah 4:21 speaks of Nehemiah's
wallbuilders working until the stars appeared, in other words, until darkness
fell.
As signs of termination. In Ecclesiastes 12:2 the darkening of the stars,
whether as an image of failing eyesight or a sign of life's twilight, signifies a
cessation of the established order. In Job 3:9 the darkening of the stars refers to
Job's wish that the day of his birth might be unmade. The Old Testament also
introduces a motif wellattested in the New Testament, the extinguishing of the
3Ibid.
6 6
MyIbDkwø;k as an accompanying sign of God's judgment in the
Apocalypse.4 Since the stars shine perpetually, from one generation to another,
the extinguishing of their brilliance betokens a fundamental alteration in the
universe. Just such an alteration will take place with the darkening of the stars
predicted in Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7; and Joel 2:10; 3:15.
Personal Usage
In twentyfour examples the Old Testament writers use
bDkwø;k in association with varying nuances of personality.
As similes for height, glory, and numerousness. Job 22:12 and
Obadiah 4 refer to the great elevation of the MyIbDkwø;k as an
image of height. Daniel 12:3 compares the eternal glory of those who turn many
to righteousness, to the shining of the MyIbDkwø;k. Yahweh
promised Abraham descendants as numerous "as the stars of heaven"5 (Gen
22:17), and this formula became the standard expression of God's multiplication
of Abraham's seed. Ten times Old Testament writers used the numerousness of
the stars as a simile to express great numbers, most often in reference to the
numbers of the children of Israel (Gen 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; Exod 32:13; Deut 1:10;
10:22; 28:62; 1 Chron 27:23; Neh 9:23; Nah 3:16). In every such Old Testament
simile, the subject compared to the height, glory, and numerousness of the stars
is human and personal.
4
See the discussion of this phenomenon below in chapters 2 and 3.
5
5
Scripture citations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990).
7 7
As representing personalities. In two verses Old Testament writers
use bDkwø;k/MyIbDkwø;k to symbolize human or
supernatural personalities. In Joseph's dream the stars bowing down to him
represent his brothers (Gen 37:9). In Numbers 24:17 the bDkwø;k or
star coming out of Jacob apparently stands for a coming mighty Hebrew who
will crush Israel's enemies. These two occurrences of "star" clearly use the term
to symbolize personalities.
As objects of worship. In two places biblical writers connected
bDkwø;k/MyIbDkwø;k with idolatrous worship (Deut
4:19; Amos 5:26). Such worship erroneously attributed divine characteristics to
the stars. Notably, the worshipers conceived of the stars as personal beings.
As symbols of subordinated entities. Isaiah wrote of the overreaching
morning star who had aspired to set his throne above the stars (14:13). Without
necessarily ascribing veracity to the tales, Isaiah here used Canaanite mythology
and the legend of Ishtar, or "the shining one," often associated with the planet
Venus.6 Daniel spoke of a male goat whose exalted little horn cast down some of
MyIbDkwø;k (8:10). In both these passages
the 7
MyIbDkwø;k denotes exalted entities, the subordination of which
represents great power.
6
Clements, “ bDkwø;k,” 7:77.
7
7Lange and Wood speak for those who see the stars here as representing the people
of Israel (John Peter Lange, Daniel, Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal and
Homiletical [Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, n.d.], 176); and Leon J. Wood, Daniel:
A Study Guide [Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975], 102).
8 8
As agents of personal action or being. Six times Old Testament writers
spoke of the MyIbDkwø;k acting or existing in ways characteristic of
persons. In Judges 5:20 the stars fought "from their courses" against Sisera. A
poem uttered by Yahweh Himself depicts the morning stars singing, together no
less (Job 38:7)! The psalmist exhorted the stars to praise Yahweh (Ps 148:3). In
two places the stars possess the more personal characteristics of impurity (Job
25:5) and names (Ps 147:4). While many commentators would see all these
usages as poetic imagery, the question remains as to whether Old Testament
writers attached personal nuances to stars in a merely symbolic, arbitrary way
(because of the stars' height, brilliance, etc.), or whether stars acquired such
associations because the writers' worldview actually connected the stars with
personal intelligences of some kind. That a given passage is poetry does not
strictly determine the nature of its language since figurative language may occur
in prose and "literal language" in poetry.8
Usages of Special Interest9
Several of these passages, being central to the concern of this study,
merit more extensive treatment.
Genesis 1:16
Ronald B. Allen, interview by author, Dallas TX, 24 November, 1996.
9
The special consideration of these passages, with the exception of Genesis 1:16,
comes from Ida Zatelli, "Astrology and the Worship of Stars in the Bible," Zeitschrift für die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 103 (1991): 93.
9 9
"He made the stars also" ( MyIbDkwø;kAh
tEa◊w). Many have suggested that the brevity of the account of the
creation of the stars in Genesis 1:16 speaks volumes against the pantheistic
worldview of the ancient Near East.10 In this passage God made the stars along
with the moon and the sun as lights to "divide the day from the night . . . [to be]
for signs and seasons, and for days and years . . . for lights in the firmament of
the heavens . . . to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the
night, and to divide the light from the darkness." Waltke perceives here a
polemic against the pagan worldview: "The sun, moon, and stars, worshiped by
the pagans, are reduced to the status of 'lamps' (Gen 1:16)."11 From this first
mention three fundamental facts about stars emerge: (1) God made them, and
(2) as their Creator He rules over them; and (3) God made them to serve definite
purposes including lighting the earth and sky, dividing day from night and light
from darkness, marking signs and times, and ruling over day and night.
Judges 5:20
In Deborah's lyrical celebration of Israel's triumph over Sisera's forces,
the MyIbDkwø;k "from their courses fought against Sisera." That
the expression occurs in poetry no one disputes, but commentators suggest
multiple reasons for the use of stars in this poetic and personal way. Sawyer
inventively suggests that the writer of Deborah's song had seen the solar eclipse
10
E.g., Bruce K. Waltke, "Creation Account in Genesis 1:13, Part IV: The Theology of
Genesis 1," Bibliotheca Sacra 132 (OctoberDecember 1975): 33334; Allen P. Ross, Creation and
Blessing (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988), 111; and Clements, " bDkwø;k," 80
81.
11
Waltke, 333.
10 10
which occurred in 1131 B.C. Such an eclipse would have made the planets
Mercury, Venus, and Mars and at least five bright stars (Regulus, Vega, Arcturus,
Spica, and Antares) visible at midday during the fourminute eclipse.12 Craigie
and others note the description of Kishon's flooding and see a parallel here to
Ugaritic sources that conceive of certain stars as sources of rain.13 In a later
article, however, Craigie goes beyond the starrain view, seeing instead a parallel
between Deborah and her leadership of Israel's soldiers and the Ugaritic myth of
the goddess Anat's leadership of the stars.14 In this view the fighting stars are
mythopoeic15 terms for Israel's soldiers fighting under Deborah's Anatlike
leadership. Chisholm, noting the possible connection to the Ugaritic starsas
sourceofrain myth and seeing the reference to the stars as a possible depiction
of Yahweh's heavenly army, interprets the language as referring to Yahweh's
causing a storm and flashflood.16 Josephus also interpreted the passage as a
poetic account of a great flood.17 Moore sees the words as mere poetic expression
12
John F. A. Sawyer, "'From Heaven Fought the Stars (Judges 5:20),'" Vetus
Testamentum 31 (1981): 8788.
13
P. C. Craigie, "The Song of Deborah and the Epic of TukultiNinurta," Journal of
Biblical Literature 88 (1969): 26263. See Kenneth L. Barker, "The Value of Ugaritic for Old
Testament Studies," Bibliotheca Sacra 133 (AprilJune 1976): 122.
14
P. C. Craigie, "Deborah and Anat: A Study of Poetic Imagery (Judges 5)," in
Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 90 (1978): 37980. Cf. idem, "Three Ugaritic Notes on
the Song of Deborah," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 2 (1977): 3337.
15
Mythopoeic language is “poetic usage of mythological allusions.” Gregory W.
Parsons, "Literary Features of the Book of Job," Bibliotheca Sacra 138 (JulySeptember 1981): 218.
16
Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., "The Polemic against Baalism in Israel's Early History and
Literature," Bibliotheca Sacra 151 (JulySeptember 1994): 277.
17
G. F. Moore, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges (Edinburgh: n.p., 1895),
158.
11 11
for Yahweh's intervention on Israel's behalf in the battle.18 The fighting stars
here, according to Moore, were held by many older commentators to refer to
angels.19
Though all the positions mentioned are more or less plausible, it is
exceedingly difficult, as Craigie notes, to define the precise content of poetic
images in a poem as "subtle" as Deborah's.20 A modern poet, and probably a
biblical one, typically chooses images to evoke emotion and to invite association
of mundane events with the grander, cosmic scheme of things.21 With this
understanding of the nature of Deborah's language, the question in Judges 5:20
remains as to why Deborah chose "stars" as the image of those who fought.
For the sake of this thesis, it is best to focus on the more obvious
aspects of the communication rather than striving for complete identification of
every nuance. The mention of the torrent of the Kishon in the next verse lends
probability to the notion that the fighting stars bore some connection to the rain.
Though literary dependence on Ugaritic backgrounds has not been proven, the
existence of a Ugaritic notion of starcontrolled rain may have informed the
understanding of the hearers/readers of the song. That the stellar forces
mentioned here are said to fight attributes to them a personal quality. The
heavenly location of stars suggests that the fighters in Deborah's poem battled
from the sky ("They fought from the heavens"). Warriors from the sky may
18
Ibid., 159.
19
Ibid., note.
20
Craigie, "Deborah and Anat," 375.
21
Ibid., 374.
12 12
explain the mention of the angel of Yahweh in Judges 5:23.22 Without
hypothesizing about their precise identity, one may say that the stars in
Deborah's poem, whether personal or nonpersonal, functioned as Yahweh's
servants from the sky who—probably by means of heavy rain and flash flood—
brought about a decisive victory. In addition to all these factors the mention of
the angel of Yahweh in 5:23 and the prominence of angels elsewhere in the Book
of Judges (Judg 2:1, 4; 6:11, 12, 20, 21; 13:3, 6, 9, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21) point to a
possible identification of the fighting stars as angelic beings .
Job 15:15; 25:5
Having previously declared that God even charges His angels with
error (Job 4:18), Eliphaz asserted that the heavens are not pure in God's sight
( wyÎnyEoVb …w;kÅz_aøl, Job 15:15). Echoing the
identical qualifying phrase of Eliphaz in Job 15:15, Bildad declared that not even
the stars, let alone men, are pure in God's sight (Job 25:5). Commenting on these
verses, Kidner and Andersen both understand "stars" and "heavens" as possibly
including angels.23 Tayler Lewis sees the verses' main comparison as being
between God's brightness and the stars' inferior shining; from which however, he
adds, "nothing can be inferred unfavorable to the theory that the stars, that is, the
22
The textual apparatus Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia comments that
JKAaVlAm here is "probably added," but the BHS text itself retains the word.
23
Derek Kidner, The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job & Ecclesiastes (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1985), 61; and Frances I. Andersen, Job: An Introduction and Commentary
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1976), 215.
13 13
heavenly globes of the starry world are inhabited by angels."24 For Origen, texts
such as Job 25:5 pointed to the rationality and animate nature of stars.25
Proof for a personal or angelic understanding of "heavens" and "stars"
in Job 15:15 and 25:5 lies in the context of these statements. In the synonymous
parallelism of Job 15:15, the parallel term for "heavens" is "saints" or "holy ones"–
a clearly personal term. Also, Job 15:15 comprises the beginning of an a fortiori
argument, that is, if the heavens are not pure in God's sight, "how much less
man" (Job 15:16). For the comparison to function most effectively, "heavens"
needs to refer to a culpable moral agent more likely to be pure in God's sight
than man. If "heavens" here merely refers to inanimate objects and not culpable
moral agents, the a fortiori argument loses its force, since Eliphaz intends to
show Job's moral blameworthiness. How would a comparison to the heavens
show Job's sinfulness if the heavens were merely insensible objects? Bildad
employs the same argument, wondering how man can be pure when even the
moon and stars are not (Job 25:5).
Again, one must remember that these verses are poetry, but the point
remains that when Eliphaz and Bildad wanted to argue Job's moral impurity,
they compared him to obviously greater, more pure entities with whom God still
found fault. For the comparison to be most telling, the "heavens" and "stars" to
which Job is compared need to be viewed as personal intelligences capable of
willful disobedience. Given the mention of God's charging His angels with error
24
Lewis, Job, 508. Clements similarly sees the main point of the comparison as God’s
greatness compared to His creation (Clements, “ bDkwø;k,” 7:81).
25
Joseph Wilson Trigg, Origen: The Bible and Philosophy in the Third Century Church
(Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1983), 1067. See Origen De Principiis, 6062.
14 14
(Job 4:18), and the stars/sons of God parallelism in Job 38:7 considered next,
these personal intelligences called "heavens" and "stars" may well have been
thought of as angelic beings of a certain type.
Job 38:7
Like Eliphaz and Bildad, the Lord Himself personifies stars in Job.
This couplet of divinely uttered poetry sheds light on the universe's primeval
past: "When the morning stars sang together / and all the sons of God shouted
for joy." These poetic expressions of the events that accompanied earth's creation
r®qOb yEbVkwø;k) in poetic
set the phrase "morning stars" (
parallel to "sons of God"(MyIhølTa y´nV;b). By this linkage as
well as by the description of the stars' singing, the writer poetically portrayed the
stars as animate, intelligent, and angelic. "Sons of God" in Job and the rest of the
Old Testament often referred to angels.26 Commenting on this verse, Delitzsch
opines that "between the stars and the angels . . . a mysterious connection exists,
which is manifoldly attested in Holy Scripture . . . so that even the beings of light
of the first rank among the celestial spirits might be understood by rqb
ybkwk." 27
Also observing the "mysterious connection," Unger asserts that
"the stars of heaven constitute a visible portrait of the invisible host of heavenly
26
David E. Stevens, "Does Deuteronomy 32:8 Refer to 'Sons of God' or 'Sons of Israel,'"
Bibliotheca Sacra 154 (AprilJune 1997): 2324. See footnote 4 especially where Stevens adduces Job
1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:67; Dan 3:25; and Gen 6:24 as examples and cites Cassuto's
unambiguous verdict: "Wherever Myhla(h) ynb or Myla ynb occurs .
. . angels are referred to" (Biblical and Oriental Studies , trans. Israel Abrahams, 2 vols.
[Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1973], 1:19). Clements sees here a reference to an ancient mythology in
which stars were considered secondclass divinities (Clements, “ bDkwø;k,” 7:81).
27
Delitzsch, Job, 314.
15 15
spirits."28 Lewis, while specifically denying the identification of the stars and
sons of God, sees the linkage in 38:7 as similar to that in 15:15, where "heaven"
and "holy ones" are parallel; and, like Delitzsch, he observes "the mysterious
connection which the Holy Scriptures generally set forth as existing between the
starry and angelic worlds."29 From Job 38:7, therefore, comes a biblical example
of stars' activities being considered identical with angels'.
Isaiah 14:13
"For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God, I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
on the farthest sides of the north.'" Commentators interpret this verse in at least
two ways. In one view the immediate speaker of verse 13 is the king of Babylon.
Young speculates on what the king—Nebuchadnezzar according to Calvin30—
may have meant by the phrase "stars of God" ( lEa_yEbVkwøk),
indicating that the "I will" expressions tap into Canaanite mythology. In that
pantheistic realm the Babylonian king intended to place himself over God's stars
and among the assembly of pagan gods on Mount Zaphon, the mountain of Baal
in Ugaritic mythology.31 In this expression stars serve as a metonymy for God's
authority and majesty.
28
Unger, "Creation of Angels and the Earth," 211.
29
Lewis, Job, 602.
30
John Calvin, Isaiah, Calvin's Commentaries (reprint, Grand Rapids: Associated
Publishers and Authors, n.d.), 206.
31
Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old
Testament, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978), 1:44142.
16 16
A second view of Isaiah 14:13 looks past the human monarch and
attributes the astonishingly blasphemous ambition of the sentiments to Satan
himself. In this view commentators apparently synthesize Isaiah 14 with Ezekiel
28 and other scriptural intimations to see Isaiah 14 as a revelation of the pride
that led to Satan's fall. Govett crossreferences Job 38:7 to support his opinion
that in this supernatural setting "the stars of God" refer to "angels or archangels
attendant on God."32 Jennings feels even more strongly, equating "the stars of
God" with other angelic powers and stating that "the term 'stars of God' . . .
covers both the material and spiritual, both the visible and invisible. This Bright
Star of the Morning aims to place his throne above all other stars."33
Consistent with the perception of Lucifer as the angelic yet fallen "son
of the morning" or "day star," many interpreters of Isaiah 14:13 view the stars of
God over which Lucifer seeks to exalt himself as other angels.
Conclusion
The Old Testament usage of
bDkwø;k/MyIbDkwø;k demonstrates a versatility of
meaning. Old Testament writers rarely if ever regarded them as subjects of
scientific curiosity, readings in Job 9:9 and 38:312 being among the only clear
references to fixed astronomical entities.34 The Bible speaks of the stars, rather, as
32
Robert Govett, Jr., Govett on Isaiah, Isaiah Unfulfilled (Miami Springs, FL: Conley &
Schoettle, 1984), 185.
33
F. C. Jennings, Studies in Isaiah (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Bros., 1966), 184 (italics his);
cf. Merrill F. Unger, "The Old Testament Revelation of the Beginning of Sin," Bibliotheca Sacra 114
(OctoberDecember 1957): 329.
34
M. T. Fermer, "Stars," in The New Bible Dictionary, 1214.
17 17
examples of God's creative power; as images of nightfall, great height, brilliance,
or numerousness; and as signs of termination or apocalypse.
In twentyfour of thirtyseven uses Old Testament writers spoke of
stars in more personal ways, using stars to refer to or to represent exalted
personalities, whether reigning or subordinated. Regarding
bDkwø;k/MyIbDkwø;k, Zatelli recommends the
"classematic" distinction of "'physical/natural elements' as well as a class of
'divinities.'"35 Though her category of "divinities" would be better considered
"supernatural personalities," inductive consideration of biblical usage of the
lexeme warrants such a distinction, as further attested in the following
consideration (in chapter 2) of an expression ( MˆyAmDÚvAh
aDbVx, "host of heaven") synonymous to
bDkwø;k/MyIbDkwø;k ("stars"). "It was commonplace,
not least within Judaism, to think of the stars as living beings (Judg 5:20; Job 38:7;
Dan 8:10; . . . )."36 McKay's conclusion summarizes much evidence for an animate
view of stars held by Old Testament writers:
Stars in the Old Testament were animate bodies with names (Ps 147:4),
who ruled over the night (Ps 136:79), who gave praise to Yahweh (Ps
148:3; Neh 9:6), who with the sons of God sang at Yahweh's creation (Job
38:7), and who fought for the Israelites in battle against the Canaanites
(Judg 5:20).37
35
Zatelli, "Worship of Stars in the Bible," 93.
36
James D. G. Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon , New International
Greek Testament Commentary, ed. I. Howard Marshall, W. Ward Gasque, and Donald A. Hagner
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 150.
37
John W. McKay, Religion in Judah under the Assyrians 732609 BC, Studies in Biblical
Theology, 2d series, no. 26 (Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1973), 5657. Clements disagrees:
18 18
Within the framework of Old Testament theology, angels would be the
biblical category for supernatural beings in the heavens. Judges, Job, and Isaiah
all speak of stars in contexts that link stars very strongly with angels. Stars fight,
sing, and are charged with error and subordinated in ways congruent to the Old
Testament concept of angels as Yahweh's messengerservants. The personal,
animate concept of the MyIbDkwø;k frequently informing biblical
writers' usage and understanding may best be explained as
MyIbDkwø;k being closely associated with angelic beings (Judg
5:20; Job 15:15; 25:5; 38:7).
“In most cases, the stars are not considered divine beings; neither do they represent such deities
or have a life of their own” (Clements, “bDkwø;k,” 7:76).
CHAPTER 2
for stars is MˆyAmDÚvAh aDbVx, "host of heaven." Occurring
eighteen times together and several other times in a partial form, the usage of
"host of heaven" has multiple connotations. In Deuteronomy 4:19
MˆyAmDÚvAh aDbVx is set off as an appositive for the
MyIbDkwø;k, and in Daniel 8:10 an apparent hendiadys occurs with
the stars and the host. On at least one main level MˆyAmDÚvAh
aDbVx refers to the stars.
Categories of Usage
With this initial translation of "stars" one can begin to examine its
categories of usage.
As Being Dissolved
In Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7; and Joel 2:10; 3:15 the
MyIbDkwø;k cease to shine or are darkened as a sign of judgment,
termination or apocalypse. Isaiah 34:4 predicts a similar fate for the host of
heaven: "All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be
rolled up like a scroll."
19
20 20
As a Simile for Numerousness
In Jeremiah 33:22 the usage of "host of heaven" again parallels the
usage of "stars." "'As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the
sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David my servant and the
Levites who ministered to Me'" (Jer 33:22).
As Representing Subordinated Entities
In Daniel 8:10 the exalted little horn of the male goat reaches all the
way to the host of heaven and casts some of them to the ground. As in the
discussion of MyIbDkwø;k in Daniel 8:10 in chapter 1 of this thesis,
the host in this verse represents persons of some type, whether human or angelic.
Daniel 8:21 reveals that the goat from whom the horn grows is a symbol of Greek
political and military power. The little horn that grows out of one of the goat's
four "notable" horns presumably continues this exercise of political/military
power. The "host" and "stars" cast down by the little horn therefore refer to
opposing powers of some kind but not to literal stars. One might interpret this
language as a description of the concomitant spiritual warfare of the little horn's
earthly attacks. The way the verse differentiates "host" and "stars" may point to a
distinction in reality, that is, the stars and host of heaven may share the same
realm but in fact be separate entities.
As Objects of Illicit Worship
By far MˆyAmDÚvAh aDbVx occurs most commonly
in the contexts of Israelite idolatry (Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kings 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:45; 2
Chron 33:3, 5; Jer 8:2; 19:13; Zeph 1:5). Deuteronomy 4:19 expresses the
prohibition of astral worship, which became a great snare to the Israelites in the
21 21
time of the divided monarchy: "And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven,
and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you
feel driven to worship them and serve them. . . ." Wellhausen writes, 'The
veneration of the stary [sic ] heavens was so rooted among the Semites, that even
in the most faithful monotheistic Jews a great temptation would always
remain.'"1 In all the previously listed passages the nature of the entities
worshiped is not discussed, but rather only their role as objects of worship.
As Constituting the Divine Serving, Worshiping Assembly
In three important passages (two of which are parallel accounts) the
MˆyAmDÚvAh aDbVx appear as the retinue of Yahweh's
heavenly court. In 1 Kings 22:19 (=2 Chron 18:18) the prophet Micaiah told his
vision to Ahab and Jehoshaphat: "'Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw
the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His
right hand and on His left.'" In the account that follows a spirit came forward,
apparently from the assembled host of heaven, to volunteer as a lying spirit in
the mouth of Ahab's prophets. According to McKay, "when Micaiah ben Imlah
saw Yahweh 'sitting on his throne all the Host of Heaven standing by him,' the
heavenly court included astral beings" (1 Kings 22:19).2 The host of heaven
played a similarly personal role in Nehemiah 9:6, which speaks of "the heaven of
heavens, with all their host" being created by and worshiping Yahweh. Though
1
1Julius Wellhausen, Reste arabischen Heidentums, 1961, 20910, cited in Ida Zatelli,
"Astrology and the Worship of Stars in the Bible," Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
103 (1991): 8788.
2
2John W. McKay, Religion in Judah under the Assyrians 732609 BC, Studies in Biblical
Theology, 2d series, no. 26 (Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1973), 57.
22 22
it is possible that Nehemiah in his description personifies an inanimate "host of
heaven," it is not necessary to resort to that explanation since, as just seen in 1
Kings 22:19, the idea of Yahweh surrounded by a retinue of heavenly,
worshiping beings had gained currency before the captivity.
Mullen views the vision of Micaiah and other throne room passages as
"divine council" scenes which share many details with the Ugaritic mythology of
El and his court of subservient gods, who carry out his wishes.3 Gordon
unambiguously posits a syncretism of Yahwistic and Canaanite beliefs:
Traditions of diverse origin have perhaps combined in this idea of the
heavenly host, which is also called the host of Yahweh. The decisive
contribution probably came from the religion of Canaan, for this host is
simply the Canaanite pantheon demoted and adapted to the belief in
Yahweh.4
Gordon's opinion raises an important question for this thesis: Did Old
Testament writers actually believe that Yahweh was surrounded by a
subservient court of heavenly beings, the "host of heaven," or were the writers
merely making literary and mythopoeic allusions? Lowell Handy frames the
issue:
There are [biblical] passages in both prose narrative and poetic
compositions that quite clearly presuppose a knowledge, on the part of
the audience, of a divine realm populated by a monarchical hierarchy of
3
3E. Theodore Mullen, Jr., The Divine Council in Canaanite and Early Hebrew Literature,
Harvard Semitic Monographs, no. 24, ed. Frank Moore Cross, Jr. (Chico, CA: Scholars Press,
1980), 183, 2057. Mullen sees similar divine council scenes in Isaiah 6 and 40, Job 1 and 2, and
Zech 1, 3, and 6 (ibid., 218).
4
4C. H. Gordon, Ugaritic Handbook, Analecta Orientalia 25 (Rome: Pontifical Biblical
Institute, 1947): 264 (–>n. 56, Glossary, 1709), cited in Gerhard von Rad, "Oujrano;ß," in
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Friedrich Kittel, trans. Geoffrey W.
Bromiley, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1967), 5:505.
23 23
divine beings. . . . The question that arises is whether the heavenly realm
of gods was understood to be a reality functioning on a divine level in the
contemporary religious thought or whether the references were a literary
allusion to some "classical," but later incredible beliefs. To some extent the
answer to this question rests on a decision about the purposes of the
biblical authors for their individual compositions.5
In the case of Micaiah and the prophets of Baal, modern
demythologizers notwithstanding, there is no indication that the biblical writers
intended any other meaning than a plain account of the heavenly assembly
which attended Yahweh's action toward Ahab. As previously mentioned,
Mullen notes that this divine throne room populated with various heavenly
beings also shows up in Isaiah 6 and 40, Job 1 and 2, and Zechariah 1, 3, and 6.
The variety of contexts in which this throne room appears–the calling of Isaiah,
the testing of Job, and the visions of Zechariah–at least indicates that if indeed
the writer of 1 Kings used a mythological rather than literal motif, the knowledge
of such a myth of a divine court was very widespread.
Conclusion
The term MˆyAmDÚvAh aDbVx does include the
visible stars of the skies as evidenced by Deuteronomy 4:19, "And take heed, lest
you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars,
all the host of heaven you feel driven to worship them and serve them . . . ." The
phrase "host of heaven" in this verse collectively describes the visible celestial
bodies. But in the majority of occurrences the phrase "host of heaven" refers to
5
5
Lowell K. Handy, Among the Host of Heaven: The SyroPalestinian Pantheon as
Bureaucracy (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994), 43. Handy helpfully illustrates the possibility
of mere mythic allusion by noting that Dante, Milton, and Mao Zedong referred in their writings
to deities in which they did not believe. Handy seems to rely heavily on redaction criticism (e.g.,
ibid., 4041).
24 24
Israel's false gods, with the writers seemingly making no distinction between the
visible luminaries of the heavens and the supernatural personalities of Israel's
idolatry (e.g., Deut 4:19; 2 Kings 17:16).
In other passages the phrase "host of heaven" refers to Yahweh's
serving, worshiping assembly (e.g., 1 Kings 22:19; Neh 9:6). This supernatural
host is closely associated with the angels or even to be equated with them
( MyIkDaVlA;mAh) in Psalm 148:2. The worshiping and serving
activities put them in the general category of angels (Pss 91:11; 148:2; cf.
seraphim in Isa 6:14 and cherubim in Ezek 10:69). As with the
MyIbDkwø;k, in biblical usage, the conceptual line between the starry
host and the angelic host is not always clear. Von Rad expresses this polysemy
well:
It is not surprising that these ideas of the host of heaven remain fluid.
Sometimes one has to think of supraterrestrial spirits which Yahweh
employs on different errands (1 Kings 22:19), sometimes of the host of
stars (Gen 2:1; Judg 5:20). The heavenly host is like an earthly army with
its leader and fiery horses and chariots (Josh 5:14; 2 Kings 2:11).6
In saying that "the host of heaven" can refer to supernatural
personalities, or in von Rad's words, to "supraterrestrial spirits," the
biblical/theological mind at once classifies these personalities or spirits as angels.
Angels, as seen in chapter 1, have an observable biblical connection to stars. The
discovery, therefore, is not unexpected that the host of heaven, being a synonym
for the stars, also serves as an expression for angelic beings.
To understand the link between stars and angels in terms of biblical
cosmology rather than popular theology, one does well to remember that the
6
6von Rad, " Oujrano/ß," 506.
25 25
Hebrew word commonly translated "heavens" ( MˆyAmDÚvAh) really
is the common word for "sky."7 One thinks of God and the "angels" living in
"heaven" as in a realm quite different from "stars" shining in the "sky," but this
distinction does not come from biblical terminology.
Furthermore, regarding the large category of beings called "angels,"
one must remember that the Hebrew word JKAaVlAm may denote
supernatural or human messengers.8 Rather than assert the host of heaven are
synonymous with MyIkDaVlA;mAh , the angels, it is better to say
that the host of heaven may serve as MyIkDaVlA;mAh, the angels
or messengers of Yahweh.
In light of the double denotation manifested by MˆyAmDÚvAh
aDbVx, one may conclude that 'the host of heaven' refers to both the starry
host and what English speakers would call the angelic host, 9 “both the material
and spiritual, both the visible and invisible."10
7Maurice E. Canney, "Sky Folk in the Old Testament," Journal of the Manchester
Egyptian and Oriental Society 10 (1923):53.
8
8Dorothy Irvin, Mytharion: The Comparison of Tales from the Old Testament and the
Ancient Near East (NeukirchenVluyn: Butzon und Bercker Kevelaer, 1978), 93; cf. Canney, "Sky
Folk in the Old Testament," 53.
9 9
Davidson agrees, writing that " MˆyAmDÚvAh aDbVx
refers in the Old Testament to both heavenly bodies and angels." Maxwell J. Davidson, Angels at
Qumran: A Comparative Study of 1 Enoch 136, 72108 and Sectarian Writings from Qumran, Journal
for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement Series no. 11, ed. James H. Charlesworth
(Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992), 67, n.
1 10
Jennings, Isaiah, 184.
CHAPTER 3
NEW TESTAMENT DATA: AJSTHVR/A[STRON
The New Testament also manifests the "mysterious connection"
between stars and angels. Pursuing the nature of this connection naturally
requires a close examination of related New Testament terms.
Background/Historical Usage1
In the classical period, ajsthvr, besides its common meaning of star,
could also refer to meteors, flame, light, fire, and metaphorically to illustrious
persons, among other things.2 The Septuagint commonly uses ajsthvr/a[stron to
translate bDkwø;k ("star") and aDbVx ("host"). The New
3
Testament equates the terms ajsthvr and a[stron,4 though a[stron may refer to an
entire constellation and ajsthvr always refers to a single star.5 In the milieu of the
1
1The structure of this background/historical usage survey owes much to Kenneth D.
Boa, "The Star of Bethlehem" (Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1972), Appendix B, "A
Study of the Old and New Testament Words for 'Star.'"
2
2Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, A GreekEnglish Lexicon ,
rev. and augmented by Henry Stuart Jones, 9th ed., (1940; reprint, Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1968), 261.
3
3Edwin Hatch and Henry A. Redpath, A Concordance to the Septuagint, 2 vols.
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1897), 1:173.
4
4James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek New
Testament (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1930), 87.
5
26
27 27
New Testament and indeed, throughout the Hellenistic world, people saw stars
as living or even divine beings.6 Twentynine times in the New Testament
ajsthvr/a[stron occur, being translated as "star" or "stars." These usages fall into
illuminating categories, outlined in the following sections.
Nonpersonal Usage
In only three cases does ajsthvr denote stars without an obvious
reference to any concept of personality. As in the Old Testament (Neh 4:21; Gen
22:17), the New Testament uses stars as images of atmospheric conditions (Acts
27:20, a starless sky denoted cloudy weather) and numerousness (Heb 11:12, an
image of the number of Abraham's descendants). Other categories of usage have
more representatives. In merely descriptive fashion, Revelation 8:12 notes that
the sounding of the fourth trumpet darkens a third of the stars.
Personal Usage
In twentysix of their uses ajsthvr/a[stron either directly or indirectly
denote or symbolize a personal entity.
As a Symbol of a Pagan Deity
In a quotation of Amos 5:26, Acts 7:43 speaks of the "star of your god
Remphan," using “star” as a symbol for the idol.
5Werner Foerster, "Ajsthvr, A[stron," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 10
vols., ed. Gerhard Friedrich Kittel, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1967), 1:503.
6
6Cf. Plato Timaeus, in Primary Readings in Philosophy for Understanding Theology, ed.
Diogenes Allen and Eric O. Springsted (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992), 24.
28 28
As Symbols of the Twelve Tribes of Israel
In Revelation 12:1, the woman who gives birth to the male Child who
will “rule all nations with a rod of iron" (Rev 12:5) has a garland of twelve stars
on her head. Since her Child is Christ and the woman likely stands for the nation
Israel, the twelve stars most likely represent the twelve tribes of Israel.7
As an Image of False Teachers
Jude 13 describes false teachers as “wandering stars for whom is
reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”
As an Example of a Celestial Body
Paul's discussion of the resurrection raises the question of the type of
body possessed by those who attain to resurrection. In answer Paul draws
several distinctions (1 Cor 15:3545). First, he contrasts heavenly and earthly
bodies as two different classes of bodies. Next he posits a distinction between
the glory of the bodies of the sun, moon, and stars. Third, he asserts that the
bodies of stars differ from each other in glory. Origen thought that believers'
resurrection bodies would in fact be similar to the stars, which he believed to be
living beings whose bodies were made of light.8 Though Paul's main concern
7John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1966), 188.
8
8Alan Scott, Origen and the Life of the Stars: A History of an Idea, Oxford Early Christian
Series, ed. Henry Chadwick and Rowan Williams (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991), 150, 157, 163.
Origen's idea that the stars were alive would be revived by Thomas Aquinas, who believed that
"the heavenly bodies had (in a restricted sense) a rational soul" (ibid., 166). Origen's idea that the
stars were rational beings had been anathematized by the Second Council of Constantinople in
A.D. 553. Henry R. Percival, ed., The Seven Ecumenical Councils , A Select Library of
Nicene and PostNicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 2d series, no. 14, ed. Philip Schaff and
Henry Wace (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971), 318.
29 29
here lies in the observable difference in degrees of glory inherent in various
bodies, earthly and heavenly, he, like his Hellenistic contemporaries, may see
stars as the bodies of living beings. As Foerster notes, “in First Corinthians
15:40f. we are led by the use of the term sw`mav, a parallel to living earthly
swvmata, and also by the context . . . to the conclusion that for Paul, too, the
stars are zw`/a. . . . He stands rather in the Old Testament tradition.”9
Foerster is correct in assuming that Paul's seeing stars as living beings
places him in the Old Testament tradition. As seen in chapters 1 and 2, the stars
in the Old Testament were also known as the host of heaven. Old Testament
writers do not seem to have distinguished clearly between the starry host and
Yahweh's angelic host. Furthermore, seeing stars as one of the variety of angelic,
heavenly beings may accord well with intertestamental views, as will be seen in
chapter 4. Stars as living beings with celestial bodies would make an apt
illustration for Paul as he described the resurrection body of the believer. Paul’s
mention of stars as examples of heavenly swvmata possessing varying degrees
of"glory" may evidence a personal aspect in New Testament usage of
ajsthvr/a[stron.
As Denoting Spiritual Personalities
Again, as in the Old Testament (Isa 14:12), the New Testament speaks
of stars in reference to entities whom the context identifies as spiritual
personalities. John disclosed the "mystery"10 of the seven stars in Christ's hand
9Foerster, "Ajsthvr, A[stron," 504.
1
10Seiss notes that John called only the stars and lampstands a "mystery." Joseph
Augustus Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan
30 30
(Rev 1:16) in verse 20: "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches."
Since the Scripture nowhere else depicts angels as being assigned to individual
churches, a fair number of commentators believe a[ggeloi here to be human
representatives of the churches or bishops.11 Kittel correctly prefers celestial
angels here, however, aptly noting that a[ggeloß always means celestial angel
elsewhere in Revelation.12
Sevenstar imagery also finds its way into Martial's poetry and Cretan
coinage, which both portray seven stars or planets as symbols of heavenly rule or
the rule of the heavenly Zeuschild who fulfills the hopes of the ages and ushers
in a golden era, and Domitian promoted his own deceased son–who died at
about age ten–as the fulfiller of this role. 13 Perhaps the Holy Spirit had John
invoke this imagery to declare that the risen and glorified Christ, and not any
Roman emperor, prevailed over and controlled all heaven and earth. In any
event, the seven stars of Revelation 1:1620, mentioned again in Revelation 2:1
and 3:1, stand for the seven angels of the seven Asian churches.
Other spiritual personalities labeled as stars clearly fall into the
diabolical category. One understands the stars spoken of in Revelation 8:10, 11;
9:1; and 12:4 as demonic entities. The star named Wormwood in Revelation 8
Publishing House, n.d.), 51.
1
11E.g., ibid., 52. Against the opinion of Seiss and others, however, per "AcCordance"
computer software search, well over half of the New Testament's uses of a[ggeloß occur in
Revelation, where a[ggeloß almost invariably refers to heavenly angels.
1
12Gerhard Friedrich Kittel, "A[ggeloß," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
, ed. Gerhard Friedrich Kittel, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1967), 1:8687.
1
13 Ethelbert Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1955),
15153; (cited in Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ , 45).
31 31
likely refers to an angel, given the other uses of this equation in Revelation (e.g.,
1:16, 20) and the immediately following context of 9:1. The description of this
star's devastating effects and its falling "from heaven" indicate demonic identity
for this star, also reminding one of Christ's observation of Satan falling "like
lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18). Revelation 9:1 portrays a star being given
the very personal role of custodian of a key to the bottomless pit. Revelation's
regular association of stars and angels along with the subsequent description of
the dragon and his angels (12:7) lead one to view the stars thrown to the earth in
Revelation 12:4 as fallen angels or demons.
As a Gift from Christ to the Overcomers
To those in Thyatira who overcame and kept Christ's works till the
end, Christ promised power and the morning star (Rev 2:28). The preceding
phrase indicates that this gift of the morning star is like the gift of the Father to
Christ. Surveying the commentators, one finds more than one idea of what the
morning star means here, but Walvoord suggests that the gift of the morning star
may refer to Christ Himself. 14
As a Name for Christ
In two passages, 2 Peter 1:19 and Revelation 22:16, the phrase
"morning star" refers to Christ. The star coming out of Jacob in Balaam's oracle in
Numbers 24:17 may provide the background for the reference in Revelation.15
1
14 Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ , 77.
1
15 Ibid., 337; Ronald B. Allen, interview by the author, Dallas TX, 24 November, 1996.
32 32
The morning star referring to Christ is less obvious in 2 Peter, but Peter's strong
Christological emphasis in the passage favors such a view.
As a Guiding Manifestation of Christ's Presence
Scripture calls the beacon of light which summoned the Magi from the
East an ajsthvr. Obviously the star of the Magi was no normal star. "There are
no natural phenomena which adequately explain the data contained therein if
Matthew's words are assumed to be an accurate description of what actually
happened," Boa says.16 That the shining which thrilled and guided the wise men
was something more personal than spherical gaseous matter used by God as a
celestial streetlantern, will be discussed later under "Usages of Special Interest."
As Removed in the End Times
Calvin speaks for those who find a literal descent of the stars untenable
and opt for a more figurative understanding of the event described in Isaiah
13:10; 34:4; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:25; Luke 21:25; and Revelation 6:13: "It
means that there will be such a shaking of the heavenly system that the stars
themselves will be thought to fall."17 The New Testament speaks of the stars
falling in the end times, not in hyperbolic imagery, but in rather straightforward
language. "The stars will fall from heaven," Matthew 24:29 says (cf. Mark 13:25
16Boa, "The Star of Bethlehem," 76.
1
17John Calvin, A Harmony of the Gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 3 vols. Calvin's
Commentaries, ed. David W. Torrance and Thomas F. Torrance, trans. A. W. Morrison (Grand
Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972), 3:94. Calvin expresses a differing opinion, that
"as for the stars, He does not mean that they shall fall in actual fact, but according to men's way of
thinking. Thus Luke predicts only that there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars."
33 33
parallel). Luke 21:25 speaks of "signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars."
A literal rather than figurative interpretation of these gospel passages seems
warranted by the following context. The Son of Man's second coming is a literal
event accompanied by literal, observable signs in the sky. It is this writer's
position that the falling stars in these passages is necessitated by the descent of
the angels at Christ’s second coming and thus belong under the category of
"Personal Usage." Reasons for this position will be evaluated under "Usages of
Special Interest."
Usages of Special Interest
Several of the previously mentioned usages of ajsthvr/a[stron intrigue
the Bible reader and require additional examination in the effort to discover why
the Bible connects stars and angels.
The Star and Angels of Bethlehem.
In his master's thesis, "The Star of Bethlehem," Boa thoroughly
considers various astronomical phenomena suggested as explanations for the
"star" which led the Magi. He carefully shows how no known natural
astronomical event adequately explains Matthew's account of a "star" that
eventually "came and stood over where the young child was" (Matt 2:7).19 Boa
concludes dramatically:
The starsign which the Magi saw was the Shekinah glory,20 the same
glory which was last present in Israel when it departed from the temple
1
19Cf. Paul Steidl, The Earth, the Stars, and the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,
1979), 128. Steidl agrees that a supernatural event explains the star of Bethlehem far better than
any known astronomical phenomenon.
2
34 34
of Solomon prior to the destruction of that temple and the Babylonian
captivity. The Shekinah now returned (the shepherds also saw it in Luke
2), revealing the fact that Yahweh was once again present among men,
and guiding the Magi to Jesus the Messiah.21
Boa's thesis has much to commend it. As he observes, when the angels
announced Christ to the shepherds, "the glory of the Lord shone around them"
(Luke 2:9), and this event appears to parallel the account of the Magi and the
star.22 Boa also astutely notes that one would expect a return of the Shekinah
since Christ is Immanuel, "God with us."23 The function of the Magi's "star," Boa
notes in another place, matches with the function of the Shekinah glory in the
Old Testament: "(1) to tell . . . of the presence of the Lord;24 and (2) to guide . . . as
the Lord directs."25 Boa considers the intense brightness unveiled at the
Transfiguration and in Paul's experience on the Damascus Road to be similar to
the glory shown by the star of Bethlehem.26 Boa's theory exhibits a positive
20Pentecost's definition of the Shekinah, cited by Boa, as "'that resplendent shining of
the light of His own Person,'" is accepted here. J. Dwight Pentecost, Pattern for Maturity (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1966), 12; cited in Boa, "The Star of Bethlehem," 80.
2
21Boa, "The Star of Bethlehem," 91.
2
22Ibid., 7778.
2
23Ibid., 87.
2
24Ronald B. Allen, interview by the author, Dallas TX, 24 November, 1996; R. A.
Stewart, "Shekinah," in The New Bible Dictionary , 1174; The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius
Nkv,
Hebrew and English Lexicon , s. v. ed. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A.
Briggs (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979), 101416. The root word for Shekinah is the
Hebrew Nkv , “to settle down, abide, dwell.” The "dwelling" glory returning makes a fitting
sign for the return of Christ as Yahweh incarnate.
2
25Kenneth Boa and William Proctor, The Return of the Star of Bethlehem (Garden City,
NY: Doubleday & Co., 1980), 123.
2
35 35
heuristic in explaining why there are no other confirmed historical accounts,
secular or sacred, of anyone observing the identical astral phenomenon: "In the
Old Testament, the Shekinah was seen only by those whom God chose to see
it."27 The appearance of the glory of the Lord as a "star" to the Magi, who in turn
came bearing "gold and incense," sounds like a fulfillment of verses from Isaiah
59 and 60:
The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob . . . .
Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising. . . .
The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. . . .
They shall bring gold and incense,
And they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord
(Isa 59:20; 60:13, 5, 6).
Perhaps God’s glory seen on Israel and the Gentiles coming to Israel’s light
presages the star of Bethlehem shining a divine glory and guiding the gold and
incensebearing foreigners, also foreseen in Isaiah 60.
The viability of Boa's view affects this thesis. If the divine glory could
appear as a “star,” then perhaps the glory of another spiritual being, an angel
could be called a “star.” Stars shine brightly, and one could call intense
26Boa, "The Star of Bethlehem," 85.
2
27Ibid., 87, note.
36 36
brightness the salient physical characteristic of more than one angelic visitation
(Matt 28:23; Luke 2:9; Acts 12:7). David Jeremiah goes a step further by
suggesting that perhaps the star of Bethlehem was in fact an angel reflecting
God's Shekinah glory.28
Some would argue that the shining of physical stars and the shining
glory of God and other heavenly beings exist in two separate timespace
dimensions, and yet such a view ignores the biblical examples of times when the
glory of a spiritual being was visible to the ordinary observer as intense shining.
When Moses' face shone with a residual reflection of divine glory, the light was
of a sort that apparently affected the ordinary vision of people in Israel's camp
(Exod 34:29, 30, 3335). The reflection of the divine shining was visible in the
ordinary sense, apparently not requiring a special revelation. Boa notes that
manifestations of God's glory described in the Bible "seem to possess almost a
physical quality," but he sees this quality as "extradimensional."29
Stars in the End Times.
The reiterated mention of the apocalyptic descent of the stars in both the
Old and New Testaments (Isa 13:10; 34:4; Zech 14:6; Matt 24:29; Mark
13:25; Luke 21:25; Rev 6:13) needs further scrutiny because of the
coincidence of this event with an another event prophesied for the
eschaton. If biblical authors portrayed some sort of ontological
connection between stars and angels, the apocalyptic falling of the stars
28David Jeremiah, What the Bible Says about Angels (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Press,
1996) 86.
2
29Boa and Proctor, The Return of the Star of Bethlehem, 131.
37 37
must certainly be accompanied by some upheaval in the angelic realm.
And this is exactly what one finds. The longprophesied falling of the
stars is followed so closely by the appearance of all the holy angels that it
tempts one to connect the two events as cause and effect. Second
Thessalonians 1:78 speak of the time when "the Lord Jesus is revealed
from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on
those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ." Matthew 25:31 describes the Son of Man as
coming with "all the holy angels." The falling of the stars and the signs
in the stars are all followed within two verses with a description of the
“Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory” (Mark
13:26; cf. Matt 24:30) and Christ sending “His angels with a great sound
of a trumpet” (Matt 24:31; Mark 13:27). In the parallel Matthean and
Marcan accounts of that glorious entrance, Christ sends His angels to
gather His elect immediately following the falling of the stars (Matt
24:31; Mark 13:27). The juxtaposition of these events, when taken with
the awareness of the Old Testament connection between stars and
angels, might suggest a causeandeffect connection between stars falling
and the angels coming.
Angelic activity increases dramatically throughout the end times.30
Such an allinclusive proliferation of angelic actions in the affairs of men and the
world necessitates an abolition of the former stellar order, if stars and angels
share a real bond in the biblical worldview. The Old and New Testaments
3
30Gordon E. Kirk, "Eschatological Angelology" (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological
Seminary, 1985), 5.
38 38
confirm that this is the case. All the stars fall. "All the host of heaven shall be
dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall
down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree" (Isa 34:4).
Conclusion
From the survey of all usage and the examination of special usage, one
must conclude that New Testament writers use ajsthvr/a[stron in a
predominantly personal way (twentysix of twentynine usages). As in the Old
Testament, stars do not arouse scientific curiosity,31 but instead they more
commonly refer to spiritual personalities (Rev 1:16, 20; 2:1; 3:1; 8:10, 11; 9:1; 12:4),
to Christ Himself (2 Pet 1:19; Rev 22:16), to examples of celestial bodies as
compared to earthly (1 Cor 15:41), to manifestations of divine presence (Matt 2:2,
7, 9, 10), to visible harbingers of the unprecedented angelic activity in the
eschaton (Matt 24:29; Mark 13:25; Luke 21:25; Rev 6:13), and to other personal
entities. Boa and Proctor succinctly summarize the biblical references to stars as
"literal celestial bodies, meteors, angels, Christ, Satan, the tribes of Israel, and
demons."32 The preponderance of personal, often spiritual usage indicates that
for the New Testament writers the stars usually represented living beings.33 In
the case of the star of Bethlehem, what may have been the manifestation of
supernatural glory is called a "star." In several significant cases, stars are spoken
of, whether literally or figuratively, as supernatural beings (Rev 1:16, 20; 2:1; 3:1;
31M. T. Fermer, "Stars," in The New Bible Dictionary , 1214.
3
32Boa and Proctor, The Return of the Star of Bethlehem, 33.
3
33Foerster, "Ajsthvr, A[stron," 504.
39 39
8:10, 11; 9:1; 12:4). As with Old Testament theology, the general category of
"angels" is the most biblical way to understand such supernatural sky beings.
CHAPTER 4
CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS
Semitic and SyroPalestinian Backgrounds
Israel's neighbors and the native peoples of Canaan worshiped the
stars as living beings. An indigenous worship of the stars likely preceded both
Israel's entrance into Canaan and the period of Assyrian domination with its
accompanying idolatrous imports.1 McKay sees CanaanitePalestinian
terminology in the account of the fall of the son of the morning in Isaiah 14.2 The
goddess Anat, who participates in the Baal cycle in Ugaritic texts, appears
sometimes as an astral deity, with a sixpointed star adorning her temple at
Megiddo.3 The mother goddess "was represented as an astral deity at Ugarit,
Megiddo, Gezer, Bethshan and Tell esSafi."4
To the south in Arabia each astral deity was thought to have an earthly
counterpart, and this idea may have infiltrated Palestine.5 To the north in Ugarit,
1John W. McKay, Religion in Judah under the Assyrians 732609 BC, Studies in Biblical
Theology, 2d series, no. 26 (Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1973), 4547.
2
2Ibid., 57.
3
3Ibid., 46.
4
4Ibid., 47.
5
5Ibid., 49.
40
41
astral deities6 had their place in a fourtiered structure of gods.7 The Ugaritic
pantheon had four levels:
Highest authority
Major (active) gods
Craftgods
Messenger deities.8
Significantly, the bottom level of gods were known as the mlakm , a term
closely related to the Hebrew word often translated “angels”
( MyIkDaVlA;m). Both Handy and Dearman see the angelic beings
9
of the Old Testament as deities borrowed from Israel's neighbors and demoted to
messengerstatus in accordance with Yahwistic theology.10 Since a good number
of the neighboring deities were linked with stars, one would expect a
continuation of the association of the angelic beings of Yahweh with stars.
Archaeological finds have unearthed evidence that Israel's neighbors
in Philistia, Moab, Tyre, and Syria most frequently worshiped Venus and the sun
as leading stellar deities.11 Such a saturation of astral religion in and around
God's people leads McKay to hypothesize that "veneration of the stars in early
6Ibid., 50.
7
7Lowell K. Handy, "Dissenting Deities or Obedient Angels: Divine Hierarchies in
Ugarit and the Bible," Biblical Research 35 (1990):18.
8 8Ibid., 19.
9
9Ibid., 18.
1
10Ibid., 2930; J. Andrew Dearman, Religion and Culture in Ancient Israel (Peabody,
MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1992), 67.
1
11McKay, Religion in Judah, 5152.
42
Israel was by and large a form of popular religion, often little better than
superstition."12 The view of stars as animate skydeities held by idolatrous
Hebrews agreed with the cosmology of the neighboring nations.
Mesopotamian Backgrounds
The Assyrian and Babylonian cultures influenced the world of the
biblical writers through military and cultural invasion. Both of these cultures
viewed some or even many of the heavenly bodies as animate divine beings. The
moon was personified as Sin, the sun as Shamash, and Venus as Ishtar.13
Manasseh may have been bowing to Assyrian cultural pressure in erecting altars
in the temple to the host of heaven (2 Kings 21:5). In the first millennium B.C.,
the period during which AssyroBabylonian culture increasingly influenced the
milieu of the biblical writers, AssyroBabylonian religion increasingly identified
the stars with the gods.14
Intertestamental Writings
While lacking the divine imprimatur, intertestamental writings
illuminate the Bible's correlation of stars and angels by giving insight into the
philosophical and theological milieu of biblical authors. Intertestamental
cosmology likely matches that of some biblical authors. Knowing this
cosmology, therefore, enhances interpretation of both testaments.
1
12Ibid., 55.
1
13Ibid., 48.
1
14Thorkild Jacobsen, The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1976), 23233.
43
1 and 2 Enoch
The pseudepigraphical books of Enoch contain extensive accounts
about the behavior of stars and the relationship between stars and angels. These
books, which date from the third through first centuries B.C.,15 view stars as
living beings with individual names, a hierarchy, and personal culpability for
their errors that contribute to the delusion of those who mistake the stars for
gods.16 During his journey to the west17 Enoch sees
the prison house for the stars and the powers of heaven. . . . they are the
ones which have transgressed the commandments of God from the
beginning of their rising because they did not arrive punctually. And he
was wroth with them and bound them until the time of the completion of
their sin. . . .18
In Enoch's view stars are culpable for their failure to appear on time! Besides
testifying to the animate view of stars held in the intertestamental period the
books of Enoch also provide background for the wandering stars and bound
angels passages of the New Testament (Jude 13; Rev 9:14; 20:2). In at least his
15Maxwell J. Davidson, Angels at Qumran: A Comparative Study of 1 Enoch 136, 72108
and Sectarian Writings from Qumran, Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement
Series no. 11, ed. James H. Charlesworth (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992), 1821.
1
161 Enoch 72:1; 80:68; 82:1020. Denying that stars should be worshiped represents
an important correction to the widespread astral worship of the ancient Near East. E. Isaac,
1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch: A New Translation and Introduction, in The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth, 2 vols. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1983),
1:50, 59, 6061.
1
17Davidson, Angels at Qumran , 62.
1
181 Enoch 18:1416. Isaac, 1 Enoch , 1:23.
44
terminology Enoch differentiates between stars and angels (and "watchers").19
Angels, in fact, serve as leaders to the stars: "The astronomical world envisaged
is populated by angels who regulate the stars so that they move across the sky in
their proper positions and order."20 Enoch speaks of "'the rulers of the stellar
orders . . . , the angels who govern the stars.'"21 These guiding angels are
seemingly neither completely identified with nor completely distinguished from
the stars themselves in the stellar angelology of the books of Enoch.
Greek Philosophy
According to Wink, "the divinization of the elements was a
commonplace in the whole GrecoRoman period."22 About four centuries before
Christ, Plato unambigously asserted the animate nature of stars: “Now when all
the stars which were necessary to the creation of time had attained a motion
suitable to them, and had become living creatures having bodies fastened by
vital chains, and learnt their appointed task . . . they
19Davidson, Angels at Qumran, 67. Davidson cites Neugebauer who sees the stars
being led as angels themselves–angels are guiding other angels (Davidson, Angels at Qumran, 93).
Otto Neugebauer, "The 'Astronomical' Chapters of the Ethiopic Book of Enoch (7282)," Appendix
A in Matthew Black, The Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch: A New English Edition, in Studia in Veteris
Testamenti Pseudepigrapha, no. 7, ed. A. M. Denis and M. De Jonge (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1985),
414.
2
20Ibid., 93; cf. 1 Enoch 80:1.
2
212 Enoch 4:1, cited in James D. G. Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon
, New International Greek Testament Commentary, ed. I. Howard Marshall, W. Ward Gasque,
and Donald A. Hagner (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 150.
2 22
Walter Wink, Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament, vol. 1
of The Powers (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), 74, cited in ibid., 149.
45
revolved. . . .”23
Hellenistic philosophies also had a place for angelic beings. Writing
during the early church period, the Alexandrian Jew Philo, "presaged
Gnosticism and Plotinus and Neoplatonism by so exalting God that He could
have no contact or involvement with the world. Therefore, intermediaries were
posited to fill the gaps (which for Philo meant angelic beings)."24
Early Church Era
Hamilton notes that
the Jews of St. Paul's day recognized the existence of three regions which
they called heavens. The first and lowest was the Cœlum nubiferum ,
where the clouds float and the birds fly. The second and next highest was
the Cœlum astriferum , the region of the stars. The third and loftiest of
all was the Cœlum empyreum , the great unexplored realm of space
beyond.25
Such an understanding shows in the description of Christ's ascension "far above
all the heavens" (Eph 4:10).26 Hamilton associates the Ephesians description with
the Acts account of Christ's ascension from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:112), and
then describes Christ's upward journey in terms congruent to the threeheavens
view held at that time:
23Plato Timaeus, in Primary Readings in Philosophy for Understanding Theology, ed.
Diogenes Allen and Eric O. Springsted (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992), 24.
2
24Stephen R. Spencer, "Greek Philosophy after Aristotle" (unpublished class notes in
444 History of Philosophy, Dallas Theological Seminary, Fall 1996), 3.
2
25Thomas Hamilton, Beyond the Stars (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1892), 38.
2
26Ibid., 37.
46
. . . the Redeemer left Olivet that day. . . . For a little we can follow Him in
thought in His flight. Upward He is wafted, beyond star after star, and
planet after planet–still upward, past all the most remote bodies of our
system . . . and not till He has left them all behind does He reach "the land
which is very far off," where He is still. . . .27
Hamilton's description illustrates how in the cosmology of the early
church era, the stars were thought of as existing in the second heaven, while the
heaven that was God’s home was the third heaven. Both of these “heavens”
apparently were thought to exist on the same spatial continuum, the same
dimension. A vision of the universe which entailed such overlap between
spiritual and physical dimensions might easily see a more spiritual significance
for the visible stars.
Neoplatonism
In the centuries that followed the founding of Christ's church, Plotinus
(A.D. 204270)28 and others synthesized Plato's thought with that of the
intervening five centuries29 (Aristotle and others) to formulate what is known as
Neoplatonism. According to this paradigm "matter has no positive existence, but
is simply the receptacle for the unfolding of Soul in its lowest aspect, which
projects the forms in threedimensional space."30 In such a system a material
27Ibid., 38.
2
28Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen M. Higgins, A Short History of Philosophy (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1996), xiv.
2
29John M. Dillon, "Plotinus," in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, ed. Robert
Audi (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 624; quoted in Stephen R. Spencer,
"Neoplatonism" (unpublished class notes in 444 History of Philosophy, Dallas Theological
Seminary, Fall 1996), 2.
3
47
entity such as a star could be viewed as the physical manifestation or
concrescence of a higher reality,31 as a "pale emanation of spiritual reality."32
Augustine modified and utilized Neoplatonism. "From Plotinus
Augustine accepted the view that true reality was spiritual and that all Being
comes from God."33 Augustine's acceptance of these ideas wielded great
influence in future theology. The cabbalistic thought that proliferated in the
Diaspora had Neoplatonic influences and worked to articulate
the precise relation between the emanations and the created world and its
features. In particular, cabbalists believe[d] that activity on one level has
an impact on the others. The belief that the whole of reality is intimately
connected also . . . [led] cabbalists to interpret events on the earthly plane
as having supernatural significance.34
Conclusion
Beliefs about the stars held in Israel were held in an ancient Near
Eastern cultural context that unswervingly, universally, and perennially
identified stars with supernatural personages.35 The Canaanite, Egyptian, and
Mesopotamian cultures surrounding Israel deified the heavenly bodies. The
Hellenistic world and the intertestamental period reiterated but modified this
30Dillon, "Plotinus," 525, quoted in Spencer, "Neoplatonism," 4.
3
31Stephen R. Spencer, interview by the author, Dallas, TX, 30 September, 1996.
3
32Solomon and Higgins, A Short History of Philosophy, 137.
3
33Ibid., 123.
3
34Ibid., 140.
3
35McKay, Religion in Judah, 47.
48
view of astral intelligences. In the intertestamental writings of Enoch, the stars
were pictured not as deities but as animate beings with angelic guides and rulers
who may or may not have been distinguishable from the lives of the stars
themselves. In the centuries that followed Christ's ministry, an evolving
Neoplatonism perceived material phenomena as concrete emanations of spiritual
reality. The utterance and subsequent interpretation of biblical statements on
stars took place with these pagan, Jewish, and classical beliefs as cultural
background.
The personal portrayal of stars by the writers of the Old and New
Testaments matches the views of their ancient Near Eastern and Hellenistic
contemporaries. In keeping with biblical practice in such matters, scientific
views available to God's omniscience but which would have overturned then
current cosmological beliefs, do not appear to have been introduced.
CHAPTER 5
SYNTHESIS
As one correlates the data in the preceding four chapters, three main
options stand out as possible ways of articulating the nature of the "mysterious
connection" between stars and angels in God's Word.
Mythopoeic/Symbolic Language
One might conclude that the prevalent view in the ancient Near
Eastern world of the stars as deities influenced Bible writers to speak of stars in
mythopoeic or symbolic terms. In this scenario the heavens have been
demythologized, the luminaries having been recognized as mere lights. The
astral deities of Israel's neighbors have been properly debunked and rightly
understood, if anything, as mere angels or fallen angels (demons) and not
animate starbeings. This understanding achieved, Bible writers continued to
speak of the stars in animate, personal terms because of the cultural familiarity
with skygod talk. Besides cultural familiarity, biblical authors also continued to
refer to the starry host by the same term as God's heavenly armies
( MˆyAmDÚvAh aDbVx) out of semantic habit, much as a
modern speaks of sunrise or sunset. In this view, biblical writers also spoke of
angels in star terms symbolically. In other words the stars made a good image of
49
50
God's angelic hosts because both stars and angels were innumerable,1 radiant,
and situated in the heavens. The symbol, however, results from a mental
connection only and not any link in reality.
This solution of the mystery appeals to the modern reader in that it
presents no contradiction between Scripture and the cherished notions of
modern materialistic science. Thus science cannot charge the Scriptures with
advocating an erroneous theory of the stars. Biblical inerrancy, it is supposed,
benefits from this position. Seeing star/angel correspondence in Scripture as
mythopoeic or symbolic language offers a fairly satisfactory explanation for
many of the contexts in which stars and angels are linked–one is so like the other
that the image begs use.
Negatively, the idea that every personal nuance of stars in the Bible
results from mythopoeic or symbolic usage stretches credibility. In such a
context of ubiquitous belief in the animate nature of stars mythopoeic usage
doubtless occurs at times, but if one is forced to see every biblical example as
merely symbolic, the result is a seeming anachronism–superimposing modern
sensibilities on the ancient text and attributing modern scientific views to biblical
writers. The mythopoeic/symbolic view also fails to explain the connection
between the falling of the stars and the arrival of the angels with Christ in the
eschaton. The mythopoeic/symbolic view has difficulty accounting for the
consistency of the double reference of the expression "host of heaven." The term
"host" or "host of heaven" routinely refers to stars in the Old Testament (e.g. Deut
4:19; Isa 40:26), and yet in a passage such as 1 Kings 22:19, where no
1
1Paul Steidl, The Earth, the Stars, and the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,
1979), 162. Earth’s own galaxy is said to contain 1011 stars, "an unimaginable number."
51
mythological motif is obvious, the same terms clearly refers to Yahweh's
surrounding company of spiritual beings.
Stars made an excellent image of the angelic host for the biblical
writers, but the connection between the two expressed in Scripture is more
integral than mere metaphor disconnected in reality.
Ontological Connection
Another major possibility for articulating the biblical link between
stars and angels is to understand biblical authors as holding some type of
ontological connection between the two, or in other words, a relation in their
being. Two variations of such an ontological connection will be considered,
followed by an excursus concerning inerrancy as it relates to the star/angel
connection in Scripture.
Angels Inhabit Stars
Some have observed the fiery nature of stars and the biblical
descriptions of angels ("Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of
fire" Ps 104:4=Heb 1:7; " . . . the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the
altar . . ." Judg 13:20; etc.) and postulated that biblical writers portray the former
as the residence of the latter. Arno C. Gaebelein's tone breathes wonder:
Is it unreasonable to suppose that these wonderful heavenly bodies we
call stars are also dwelling places? Would it be reasonable to think that all
these millions of worlds are mere ornaments, seen only by human eyes,
and that no intelligent beings outside of the human race are in these
universes to adore and praise the mighty Maker of all? We cannot be
dogmatic about it. . . . Angels are persons, they are spirits, they have a
body corresponding to their spiritual nature. Furthermore, they have
their own habitations, their own estates, where they dwell. These
52
dwelling places are in the heavenlies; the stars are in the heavens. Where
else can we locate the habitations of the innumerable company of angels,
but among the stars? Many theologians of the past have expressed the
same opinion.2
Gaebelein adduces Jude's mention of angels "who did not keep their
proper domain, but left their own abode" as proof for the idea that angels have a
proper home (Jude 6). Given the biblical connection between stars and angels
and since stars, like angels, are innumerable, shining, and in the heavens,
Gaebelein reasons that perhaps stars are angels' "proper domain."3 Dickason,
observing the distinction between the three heavens, suggests that angels
residing in the second and third heavens may explain why stars are associated
with angels biblically.4 The notion of angels as territorial has further biblical
evidence if one accepts Daniel's record of the angel's mention of the "princes" of
Persia and Greece as a reference to demonic rulers.5
2
2A. C. Gaebelein, The Angels of God (reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1969),
41.
3
3Ibid., 3940.
4
4Fred Dickason, Angels: Elect and Evil , rev. and expanded (Chicago: Moody Press,
1995), 7679.
5
5John F. Walvoord, Daniel, the Key to Prophetic Revelation (Chicago: Moody Press,
1971), 250; Arno C. Gaebelein, The Prophet Daniel (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1963), 159
62. Gaebelein mentions an alternative view of the Prince of Persia as Cyrus. The possible
rendering of "sons of God" in Deuteronomy 32:8 as a further evidence of territorial angels is
rejected. Stevens validly concludes that the variant "sons of God" found at Qumran scroll and in
Greek versions may have resulted from homoioteleuton combined with the influence of the
highly developed angelology of the Qumran community and the intertestamental period in
general. Furthermore, "sons of God" occurs nowhere else in the Pentateuch except twice in
Genesis 6. On the other hand, "children of Israel" occurs 18 times in Deuteronomy alone (David
E. Stevens, "Does Deuteronomy 32:8 Refer to 'Sons of God' or 'Sons of Israel'?" Bibliotheca Sacra
154 [AprilJune 1997]: 2933). For evidence for the "sons of God" reading, see ibid., 2330;
Timothy J. Hammons, "Deuteronomy 32:8" (Textual criticism paper submitted for 103
Introduction to Hebrew Exegesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, Fall 1996),
53
This explanation of stars as places where angels dwell well accounts
for the close association of angels and stars in Scripture. The idea also gives a
plausible reason for the coincidence of the falling of the stars and the angels’
arrival with Christ in the end times. If angels inhabit stars, perhaps the final
departure of the former leads to an extinguishing of the latter. This habitation
theory also gives ample reason for the ability of Bible writers to include both
angels and stars in the phrase "host of heaven" ( MˆyAmDÚvAh
aDbVx).
Stars as Actual Manifestations
of Angelic Glory
Another form of ontological explanation for the biblical connection
between stars and angels posits an actual identification of angels with stars.
The very simplicity of this theory commends it. The reason Old Testament
writers use "host of heaven" to refer to both stars and angels is because the
former, in their cosmology, is a subset of the latter. In this view the New
Testament speaks of a roughly simultaneous falling of the stars and arrival of all
the angelic host with Christ at His second coming because the shining orbs of the
heavens, in some sense, actually are angelic beings.
Though somewhat speculative, a Neoplatonic concept of the
relationship would be helpful in understanding stars as the "concrescence"6 of
angels, something like the tip of an iceberg where the waterline represents the
n. p. ; and J. Andrew Dearman, Religion and Culture in Ancient Israel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
Publishers, 1992), 65.
6
6Stephen R. Spencer, interview by the author, Dallas, TX, 30 September, 1996.
Without necessarily affirming its use here, Spencer supplied this term.
54
line between visible and invisible. In other words, though angels as spirits may
not inhabit space and time in the same way humans do, a star could conceivably
be the point at which angels "break through" into the visible world. A star might
be considered the spatial and temporal manifestation of angelic glory, though at
all times there would be more to the angel than what the star portrays to human
eyes.7 According to this paradigm, Scripture makes no strict distinction between
the starry host and the angelic host because of their essential connection–stars are
angels, or at least their visible expression.
In this view stars represent angels in a "hypersymbolic" way. They are
symbols yet more than symbols in this understanding of the biblical writers'
language. As Miller notes, "that symbols can participate in or be a part of the
reality to which they point is a familiar understanding of symbolic language."8
Objections
An ontological connection raises objections in several key areas.
Locating angels in a spatial sense inclines toward the view that angels have some
sort of material existence. A material existence for angels, one might object, does
not accord with the clear biblical teaching that angels are "ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation" (Heb 1:14, italics added).
Such an objection, however, errs in equating the spiritual with the
immaterial. Angels being spirits is not the same as their being incorporeal.
7The cosmology in C. S. Lewis's "Space Trilogy" offers an interesting development of
the related idea of angels being the personal embodiment of planets. Lewis does make a
distinction between the planets and their custodial spirits, strictly speaking.
8
8Miller, "Cosmology and World Order in the Old Testament," 53.
55
Though they may not have flesh and bones, this does not preclude some other
kind of body or habitation.9 Paul speaks of bodies terrestrial and celestial in 1
Corinthians 15.10 Christ's resurrection body serves as an example of a material
body that shows both material and "celestial" characteristics. Philippians 3:20
reveals that the human body of a Christian will ultimately be made like Christ's
resurrection body, which could eat with men and yet still pass through the
heavens (Luke 24:42; Acts 1:911; Heb 4:14). In the same way, angels could well
have a material aspect that matches their spiritual nature. Hamilton mentions a
church council that opined that angels "have bodies, not composed, however, of
flesh like ours, but of ether or light."11 David Jeremiah favorably considers this
option, citing Henry Morris:
[Is the] substance of angels . . . more like that of stars–orbs of fire–than
anything else? . . . Morris . . . says "This concept is beyond our naturalistic
comprehension, but that is no reason for us to reject or spiritualize it
prematurely. We do not know the nature of angels. Man was made of the
natural chemical elements and is therefore subject to the electromagnetic
and gravitational forces which control these elements. But angels are not
so bound."12
One may also object that suggesting an identification of stars and
angels or holding stars to be angelic habitations goes beyond the revelation of
biblical data. This criticism is valid. Furthermore the Bible presents angels as
9Thomas Hamilton, Beyond the Stars (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1892), 94.
1
10Ibid.
1
11Ibid.
1
12David Jeremiah, What the Bible Says about Angels (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Press,
1996), 85. No more specific source of the Morris quote is provided.
56
walking the earth incognito at times, a concept inconsistent with any
absolute identification of angels with stars. So while the Bible seems to portray
stars as connected to angels in their being, the Scriptures stop short of filling in
all the details of this connection.
Inerrancy Considerations
A need to protect inerrancy from supposed scientific absurdity forms
another objection to any ontological stars/angels connection. Science, however,
should bow to exegesis if the best performances of both conflict.
Inerrantists often qualify their view with the acknowledgment that
biblical writers wrote with a prescientific worldview, and that Scripture, though
written from such a viewpoint, does not affirm the veracity of such a worldview.
Biblical statements about stars that integrally connect stars with animate and/or
rational life might be considered examples of such a phenomenon. The difficulty
with such a concession, however, lies in the fact that what may be considered
prescientific is always changing–the line between prescientific and tenable is
always moving. A hermeneutical technique that always first asks science if such
an interpretation is admissible gives science undue influence on interpretation.
The latest truths of science, however changeful and temporary they may be, thus
dictate a priori assumptions on what the Scriptures can and cannot mean.
These things being said, this writer would hasten to add that the
prescientificstatements qualification on inerrancy is needed. Biblical writers
doubtless used phenomenological language and wrote without an awareness of
scientific facts that have since become evident in the progress of natural
revelation. This issue is scrutinized here, however, to identify the danger of
57
prematurely ruling out possible interpretations on the basis of a priori
assumptions dictated by science.13
Though useful in interpretation, the transitory conclusions14 of
rationalistic and empirical science must not be given an overly determinative
role. Holding to biblical inerrancy, as this writer does, involves accepting as
factual and inerrant anything Scripture affirms when properly interpreted. For
this reason, if the Bible affirms the ancient view of stars as personal in a real
rather than merely poetic way, if star/angels symbolism "incorporate[s] reality
itself as well as its representation,"15 the inerrantist accepts a real starangel
connection until superior exegesis dictates otherwise. In all hermeneutical
decisions the inerrantist utilizes and coordinates general revelation (logic,
linguistics, natural science, ancient history, etc.) with exegesis. Occasions arise,
however, when coordination is not possible, when the best results from science
13As an interesting sidelight, the limited research of this writer found that
commentators and Christian writers who wrote or had received their education prior to the last
sixty years or so seemed much more willing to entertain more straightforward notions of some
actual spatial or ontological connection between the stars and angels (e.g., A. C. Gaebelein,
Thomas Hamilton, and the anonymous author of The Stars and the Angels ). One wonders if the
preference for labeling any such notion as part of the prescientific worldview of biblical writers
or for seeing the star/angel as symbolic only may be part of the scar on the evangelical psyche
left by the Scopes Trial and its possible effect of motivating evangelicals to avoid ever again being
exposed as "unscientific" in the eyes of the world (cf. Mark Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical
Mind [Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995]).
1
14 Chesterton notes that the Roman Catholic Church does not “accept the
conclusions of science for the simple reason that science has not concluded. To conclude is to
shut up; and the man of science is not at all likely to shut up." Gilbert Keith Chesterton, "Why I
Am a Catholic," in The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton, vol. 3, ed. George J. Marlin, Richard P.
Rabatin, and John L. Swan (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990), 131 .
1
15Patrick D. Miller, "Cosmology and World Order in the Old Testament: The Divine
Council as CosmicPolitical Symbol," Horizons in Biblical Theology 9 (December 1987): 53.
58
and Scripture conflict. At such an impasse, science16 must be subordinated to
Scripture. If one's best science and best exegesis yield conflicting results, the
exegesis must be accepted until science rights itself or until exegesis corrects
itself as independently as possible of pressure or a priori assumptions from
science.17
Visual Representation
Both the mythopoeic/symbolic and ontological views fall short of
pinpointing the picture presented by the biblical data. Seeing stars and angels as
connected in a merely symbolic way or classifying all biblical star/angel
language as mythopoeic dilutes the connection presented in Scripture into terms
palatably modern but biblically incomplete and a touch anachronistic. On the
other hand, the ontological solutions of identifying stars and angels as one entity
or postulating the former as the habitation of the latter rely on speculative
extrapolation from biblical data and cannot be biblically proven. Relying on
elements of both the mythopoeic and ontological views, the best solution rests on
a principle articulated in Romans 1:20: "For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."
Psalm 19 records a similar thought: "The heavens declare the glory of God." In
16The findings of science are seldom of the changeless “laws of the Medes and
Persians” variety. Periodically, new evidence causes a paradigm shift which overturns cardinal
“truths” of science. Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1970).
1
17Stephen F. Barnett and W. Gary Phillips, class notes of the writer in 214 Origins,
William Jennings Bryan College, Spring 1987.
59
both of these passages the biblical authors asserted that the visible creation
manifests, portrays, and represents invisible realities about God. Stars, from
their wideranging and pervasive connection with angels throughout Scripture,
ought to be considered a special example of this phenomenon. Stars, by God's
intentional creative design, share identical characteristics of shining appearance,
heavenly location, and countless multitude with the angels. Stars thus visually
represent angels in the Romans 1:20 manner, not through any arbitrary
connection but through a deliberate and divine connection in their observable
qualities and in their very being.
Conclusion
The attempt of this thesis to analyze inductively and to articulate
specifically the nature of the “mysterious connection” between stars and angels
in Scripture concludes with the adoption of what has been termed the “visual
representation” view.
The visual representation view adopted here partakes of both the
mythopoeic/symbolic and ontological explanations for the biblical star/angel
connection. There is a truly symbolic aspect to the connection. But the
symbolism in this visual representation view goes beyond mere metaphoric
association of stars and angels (i.e., "a is b, stars are angels, metaphorically").
Stars are not a picture, a symbol, a representation of angels. Rather, stars are the
picture of angels, the symbol, the representation. Stars are "hypersymbolic" of
angels. Stars share the characteristics of location ("the heavens"), visual
brilliance, and infinite number with the angels. For this reason stars made a
good visual image of the angels for biblical writers. But biblical testimony of a
60
morethansymbolic, integral connection justifies an element of ontological
connection in the visual representation explanation of how stars and angels
biblically relate. The pervasiveness of personal usage of "stars" in both
testaments, the various descriptions of “stars” performing angelic activities (Judg
5:20; Job 38:7; Rev 9:1; 12:4), the identical expression used for both realities ("host
of heaven" indicating both stars and angels), the possible use of “star” to refer the
visible glory of a spiritual being (i.e., the glory of the Lord Himself being the star
that led the Magi), the apparent tie between the stars falling and the angels
appearing in Christ's second coming, and the overwhelming congruence to
cultural background of a personal, animate view of the stars combine to indicate
a morethanarbitrary, humanly assigned connection between stars and angels as
presented by the biblical authors.
Biblical testimony does not remove all the mystery from the connection
between the stars and the angels. The exact relationship of stars and angels may
be inconceivable and inexpressible this side of heaven. But God’s Word does
reveal that, by God’s design, the countless millions of stars visually portray the
countless millions of angels. Further, this portrayal extends to depict a presently
indefinable intersection in the being of stars and angels. Therefore, the stars do
not merely offer an illustration of the innumerable and powerful angels but are
their very visual representation; the stars not only symbolize the angels but also
portray God’s vast armies of light intentionally, creatively, and universally.
When people look up on a clear, cold night and behold the black velvet of the
heavens covered with the twinkling dust of shining diamonds too numerous to
count, they see the visual representation of the angels. They see stars and yet, in
a mysterious way, they see something more.
61
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