INTRODUCTION

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 far-flung 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

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), 84-90.5

?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

2

exists between the stars, the 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!

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 (July-September 1957): 211. All three writers use the phrase "mysterious connection" to describe the link between stars and angels.7

? English Bible translations show little variance when it comes to translating biblical terms for stars.

3

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 hkkbm ; Akkadian kakkabu ; Amoritic kakkabum ;

Syriac kawkeba ; Arabic kaukab ; Ethiopic kokab . 1 Though

uncertain, the likely basic meaning of the verb is "burn brightly."2

1

1Ronald T. Clements, "bDkwø;k," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, trans. David E. Green, 7 vols. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 7:76.

2 2Ibid.4

5

Categories of Usage

Thirty-seven 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).3 Biblical usage of

bDkwø;k falls 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 wall-builders 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 well-3

3Ibid.

5

6

attested in the New Testament, the extinguishing of the

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 twenty-four 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

4

4 See the discussion of this phenomenon below in chapters 2 and 3.5

5Scripture citations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990).

6

7

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.

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 over-

reaching 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 the 6

6 Clements, “bDkwø;k,” 7:77.

7

MyIbDkwø;k (8:10).7 In both these passages

MyIbDkwø;k denotes exalted entities, the subordination of

which represents great power.

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

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

?Ronald B. Allen, interview by author, Dallas TX, 24 November, 1996. 8

Usages of Special Interest9

Several of these passages, being central to the concern of

this study, merit more extensive treatment.

Genesis 1:16

"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

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): 93.10

?E.g., Bruce K. Waltke, "Creation Account in Genesis 1:1-3, Part IV: The Theology of Genesis 1," Bibliotheca Sacra 132 (October-December 1975): 333-34; Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988), 111;

and Clements, "bDkwø;k," 80-81.11

?Waltke, 333.9

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 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 four-minute 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

star-rain 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

12

?John F. A. Sawyer, "'From Heaven Fought the Stars (Judges 5:20),'" Vetus Testamentum 31 (1981): 87-88.13

?P. C. Craigie, "The Song of Deborah and the Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta," Journal of Biblical Literature 88 (1969): 262-63. See Kenneth L. Barker, "The Value of Ugaritic for Old Testament Studies," Bibliotheca Sacra 133 (April-June 1976): 122.14

?P. C. Craigie, "Deborah and Anat: A Study of Poetic Imagery (Judges 5)," in Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 90 (1978): 379-80. Cf. idem, "Three Ugaritic Notes on the Song of Deborah," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 2 (1977): 33-37.

10

mythopoeic15 terms for Israel's soldiers fighting under Deborah's Anat-

like leadership. Chisholm, noting the possible connection to the

Ugaritic stars-as-source-of-rain 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 flash-

flood.16 Josephus also interpreted the passage as a poetic account of a

great flood.17 Moore sees the words as mere poetic expression 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

15

?Mythopoeic language is “poetic usage of mythological allusions.” Gregory W. Parsons, "Literary Features of the Book of Job," Bibliotheca Sacra 138 (July-September 1981): 218.16

?Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., "The Polemic against Baalism in Israel's Early History and Literature," Bibliotheca Sacra 151 (July-September 1994): 277.17

?G. F. Moore, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges (Edinburgh: n.p., 1895), 158.18

?Ibid., 159.19

?Ibid., note.20

?Craigie, "Deborah and Anat," 375.21

?Ibid., 374.11

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 star-controlled 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 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,

22 ?The textual apparatus Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia comments that

JKAaVlAm here is "probably added," but the BHS text itself retains the word.

12

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 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

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), 215.24

?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), 106-7. See Origen De Principiis, 60-62.

13

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 (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

14

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 set the phrase "morning

stars" (r®qOb yEbVkwø;k) in poetic 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 spirits."28 Lewis, while specifically denying

26

?David E. Stevens, "Does Deuteronomy 32:8 Refer to 'Sons of God' or 'Sons of Israel,'" Bibliotheca Sacra 154 (April-June 1997): 23-24. See footnote 4 especially where Stevens adduces Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:6-7; Dan 3:25; and Gen 6:2-4 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 second-class divinities (Clements,

“bDkwø;k,” 7:81).27

?Delitzsch, Job, 314.28

?Unger, "Creation of Angels and the Earth," 211.15

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

29

?Lewis, Job, 602.30

?John Calvin, Isaiah, Calvin's Commentaries (reprint, Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and Authors, n.d.), 206.

16

Ugaritic mythology.31 In this expression stars serve as a metonymy

for God's authority and majesty.

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 cross-references 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

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), 1:441-42.32

?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 (October-December 1957): 329.

17

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 38:31-2 being

among the only clear references to fixed astronomical entities.34 The

Bible speaks of the stars, rather, as examples of God's creative power;

as images of nightfall, great height, brilliance, or numerousness; and

as signs of termination or apocalypse.

In twenty-four of thirty-seven 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

34

?M. T. Fermer, "Stars," in The New Bible Dictionary, 1214.35

?Zatelli, "Worship of Stars in the Bible," 93.36

18

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 136:7-9), 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

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 messenger-servants. 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).

?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 732-609 BC, Studies in Biblical Theology, 2d series, no. 26 (Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1973), 56-57. Clements disagrees: “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).

19

CHAPTER 2

OLD TESTAMENT DATA, PART 2: MˆyAmDÚvAh aDbVx

Besides bDkwø;k another common Old Testament

expression 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."

20

21

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

21

22

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; 23:4-5; 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 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

1

1Julius Wellhausen, Reste arabischen Heidentums, 1961, 209-10, cited in Ida Zatelli, "Astrology and the Worship of Stars in the Bible," Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 103 (1991): 87-88.

22

23

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 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

2

2John W. McKay, Religion in Judah under the Assyrians 732-609 BC, Studies in Biblical Theology, 2d series, no. 26 (Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1973), 57.3

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, 205-7. Mullen sees similar divine council scenes in Isaiah 6 and 40, Job 1 and 2, and Zech 1, 3, and 6 (ibid., 218).4

23

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 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

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), 5:505.5

5Lowell K. Handy, Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Palestinian 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., 40-41).

24

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 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 6:1-4 and

cherubim in Ezek 10:6-9). 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:

25

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 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

6

6von Rad, " Oujrano/ß," 506.7

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 (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Butzon und Bercker

26

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

Kevelaer, 1978), 93; cf. Canney, "Sky Folk in the Old Testament," 53.

9 9Davidson 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 1-36, 72-108 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, 184.27

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").3 The New

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

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 Greek-English 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.

28

star.5 In the milieu of the New Testament and indeed, throughout the

Hellenistic world, people saw stars as living or even divine beings.6

Twenty-nine 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 twenty-six of their uses ajsthvr/a[stron either directly or

indirectly denote or symbolize a personal entity.

As a Symbol of a Pagan Deity

5

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.

29

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.

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 15:35-45). 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

7

7John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1966), 188.8

30

Though Paul's main concern 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

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 Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 2d series, no. 14, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971), 318.9

9Foerster, "Ajsthvr, A[stron," 504.31

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 (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

Seven-star 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 Zeus-child who

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 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), 1:86-87.

32

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 1:16-20, 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 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.

1

13 Ethelbert Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1955), 151-53; (cited in Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ , 45).

33

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 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

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.

34

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 street-lantern, 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 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

1

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."

35

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 star-sign which the Magi saw was the Shekinah glory,20 the same glory which was last present in Israel when it departed from the temple 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

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

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.

36

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 heuristic in explaining

why there are no other confirmed historical accounts, secular or 2

21Boa, "The Star of Bethlehem," 91.2

22Ibid., 77-78.2

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 Hebrew and English Lexicon , s. v. Nkv, ed. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson

Publishers, 1979), 1014-16. 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

26Boa, "The Star of Bethlehem," 85.37

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; 60:1-3, 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 incense-bearing 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 brightness the salient physical

characteristic of more than one angelic visitation (Matt 28:23; Luke

2

27Ibid., 87, note.38

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

time-space 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, 33-35). 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 "extra-dimensional."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

2

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, 131.39

of ontological connection between stars and angels, the apocalyptic

falling of the stars must certainly be accompanied by some upheaval

in the angelic realm. And this is exactly what one finds. The long-

prophesied 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 1:7-8 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 cause-and-effect connection between stars falling and

the angels coming.

Angelic activity increases dramatically throughout the end

times.30 Such an all-inclusive proliferation of angelic actions in the

3

30Gordon E. Kirk, "Eschatological Angelology" (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985), 5.

40

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 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 (twenty-six of twenty-

nine 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

3

31M. T. Fermer, "Stars," in The New Bible Dictionary , 1214.3

32Boa and Proctor, The Return of the Star of Bethlehem, 33.41

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;

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.

3

33Foerster, "Ajsthvr, A[stron," 504.42

CHAPTER 4

CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS

Semitic and Syro-Palestinian 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 Canaanite-Palestinian 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 six-pointed star adorning

her temple at Megiddo.3 The mother goddess "was represented as an

astral deity at Ugarit, Megiddo, Gezer, Bethshan and Tell es-Safi."4

To the south in Arabia each astral deity was thought to have

an earthly counterpart, and this idea may have infiltrated Palestine.5

1

1John W. McKay, Religion in Judah under the Assyrians 732-609 BC, Studies in Biblical Theology, 2d series, no. 26 (Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1973), 45-47.2

2Ibid., 57.3

3Ibid., 46.4

4Ibid., 47.5

5Ibid., 49.43

To the north in Ugarit, astral deities6 had their place in a four-tiered

structure of gods.7 The Ugaritic pantheon had four levels:

Highest authorityMajor (active) godsCraft-godsMessenger 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).9 Both Handy and Dearman see the angelic

beings of the Old Testament as deities borrowed from Israel's

neighbors and demoted to messenger-status 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

6

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., 29-30; J. Andrew Dearman, Religion and Culture in Ancient Israel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1992), 67.1

11McKay, Religion in Judah, 51-52.44

to hypothesize that "veneration of the stars in early Israel was by and

large a form of popular religion, often little better than superstition."12

The view of stars as animate sky-deities 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 Assyro-Babylonian culture increasingly influenced the

milieu of the biblical writers, Assyro-Babylonian 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

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), 232-33.

45

authors. Inter-testamental cosmology likely matches that of some

biblical authors. Knowing this cosmology, therefore, enhances

interpretation of both testaments.

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

1

15Maxwell J. Davidson, Angels at Qumran: A Comparative Study of 1 Enoch 1-36, 72-108 and Sectarian Writings from Qumran, Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement Series no. 11, ed. James H. Charlesworth (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992), 18-21.1

161 Enoch 72:1; 80:6-8; 82:10-20. 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, 60-61.1

17Davidson, Angels at Qumran , 62.1

181 Enoch 18:14-16. Isaac, 1 Enoch , 1:23. 46

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 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

1

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 (72-82)," 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.

47

According to Wink, "the divinization of the elements was a

commonplace in the whole Greco-Roman 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

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

2 22Walter 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., 149.2

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.

48

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 1:1-12), and then describes Christ's

upward journey in terms congruent to the three-heavens view held at

that time:

. . . 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

2

25Thomas Hamilton, Beyond the Stars (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1892), 38.2

26Ibid., 37. 2

27Ibid., 38.

49

In the centuries that followed the founding of Christ's

church, Plotinus (A.D. 204-270)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 three-dimensional space."30 In such a system a

material 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

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

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.

50

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 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.

3

34Ibid., 140.3

35McKay, Religion in Judah, 47.

51

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.

52

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 star-beings.

This understanding achieved, Bible writers continued to speak of the

stars in animate, personal terms because of the cultural familiarity

with sky-god 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.

53

54

In other words the stars made a good image of 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

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."

55

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

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

56

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 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 2

2A. C. Gaebelein, The Angels of God (reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1969), 41.3

3Ibid., 39-40.4

4Fred Dickason, Angels: Elect and Evil , rev. and expanded (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), 76-79.

57

of the "princes" of Persia and Greece as a reference to demonic

rulers.5

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. 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 [April-June 1997]: 29-33). For evidence for the "sons of God" reading, see ibid., 23-30; Timothy J. Hammons, "Deuteronomy 32:8" (Textual criticism paper submitted for 103 Introduction to Hebrew Exegesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, Fall 1996), n. p. ; and J. Andrew Dearman, Religion and Culture in Ancient Israel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1992), 65.

58

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 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.

6

6Stephen R. Spencer, interview by the author, Dallas, TX, 30 September, 1996. Without necessarily affirming its use here, Spencer supplied this term.7

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.

59

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. 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

8

8Miller, "Cosmology and World Order in the Old Testament," 53.9

9Thomas Hamilton, Beyond the Stars (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1892), 94.1

10Ibid.

60

Christ's resurrection body, which could eat with men and yet still pass

through the heavens (Luke 24:42; Acts 1:9-11; 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 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 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.

61

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 prescientific-statements 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 prematurely ruling out

62

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 star-angel

connection until superior exegesis dictates otherwise. In all

hermeneutical decisions the inerrantist utilizes and coordinates

general revelation (logic, linguistics, natural science, ancient history, 1

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 Cosmic-Political Symbol," Horizons in Biblical Theology 9 (December 1987): 53.

63

etc.) with exegesis. Occasions arise, however, when coordination is

not possible, when the best results from science 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

1

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.

64

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 both of these passages the biblical authors asserted that the visible

creation manifests, portrays, and represents invisible realities about

God. Stars, from their wide-ranging 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

65

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 more-than-symbolic, 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 more-than-arbitrary, 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

66

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.

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