The Thoughts of Wesley son of Cornelius

"Out of the eater, something to eat;
out of the strong, something sweet." (Judges 14:14)

Today was a much needed lazy day. I sat in front of the TV and watched a History Channel Marathon called Engineering an Empire. Every hour a new empire was examined. The focus of every show was engineering marvels during the height of the empire being examined. Each show began with the birth of the empire. However, every show ended with the empire’s final demise. The all day marathon can be summarized as follows:

“You [Nebuchadnezzar] are that head of gold. After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to peaces, so it will crush and break all the others. … In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” (Daniel 2:38-40, 44 NIV)

“The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.’” (Daniel 2:47)

So what can be said:

Let all heaven and earth proclaim: Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s just something about God’s name.

“He is the Maker of the [Bear] and Kesil, Kemah and the constellations of the south.” (Job 9:9)

“Can you bind the beautiful* Kemah? Can you loose the cords of Kesil? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs.” (Job 38:30-31)

*: Or the twinkling Kemah or the chains of the Kemah.

“…he who made the Kemah and Kesil, who turns blackness into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land—the LORD is his name …” (Amos 5:8)

Due to the difficulty in associating proper names of stars and constellations in various cultures, no one knows for sure what Kesil and Kemah stand for. However, Kesil is closely related to the word for fool. With this meaning and the mention of cords makes most theologians and historians believe Kesil is referring to Orion. Ancient societies commonly referred to Orion as a giant, and in many cases a fool.

Kemah is associated with the Arabic word to accumulate or the Assyrian word to bind. Therefore, Job 38:30 might read “can you bind the chains of the bound?” Here the bound probably refer to the star cluster we now call the Pleiades. Therefore, God might be asking Job, can you separate this star cluster. If you have ever seen the Pleiades, this question would make sense.

The picture below shows a close up of this star cluster. In the previous post picture, the blue spot to the upper right of Aldebaran (star labeled 6) is the Pleiades. On a clear winter night, you can see the Pleiades with your naked eyes. However, they usually appear clearer if you gaze slightly to the right or left of the cluster. Because of the Earth’s rotation, they lead Aldebaran across the night sky. For this reason, star 6 is called Aldebaran which means to follow.

“God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” (Genesis 1:16)

The picture below shows a detailed picture of the winter heavens from the Northern Hemisphere and looking east. Due to our atmosphere, city lights, and pollution you will never see this view with your own eyes. However, on a clear winter night, you will be able to see some of the detail.


I ended the last post with the star Rigel. In the above picture, I have labeled Rigel as number 1. (Can you make out Orion? It is not easy!) I will now rotate around the winter sky clockwise.

The star numbered 2 is called Sirius. Sirius is the brightest star in the nighttime sky. The name of the star comes from Greek, meaning glowing or scorching. Sirius is not just one star but two stars rotating around each other. Sirius is the head of the Big Dog (Canis Major) constellation.

Continuing clockwise, the star numbered 3 is called Procyon, meaning before the dog. Due to Earth’s rotation, Procyon, apart of Canis Minor, appears to be leading the Big Dog constellation. Like Sirius, Procyon is also a binary star.

In Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux were two mischievous twins. They are represented in the constellation Gemini (Latin for twin) as the heads. In the above picture I have labeled Pollux 4a and Castor 4b. Pollux is believed to be a single star that is 30 times more luminous than our Sun. However, current studies have shown that Castor is a sextuple (that is 6 star) system.

The top star, numbered 5, is named Capella. Capella means little she goat. In Roman mythology Capella was the goat that suckled Jupiter (that is Zeus in Greek myth). Jupiter accidentally broke off her horn and created the Cornucopia, Horn of Plenty. The star is actually a quadruple star system.

The last star, numbered 6, is named Aldebaran. The name comes from the Arabic to follow. I will explain the meaning on a later post. The unmanned Pioneer 10 spacecraft was released in 1972 to be the first spacecraft to go through the asteroid belt. It is currently heading in the direction of Aldebaran. It should reach this lone star in about 2 million years.

Finally, we return back to Rigel. We have just traveled the Winter Hexagon.

“[The LORD] determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” (Psalm 147:4)

We probably do not call the stars by the same name as God, however, over time various stars have been given specific names.

Looking back at the picture on the previous post, we can become familiar with the stars of Orion.

The three bright blue stars make up Orion’s belt. The farthest left star has become known as Alnitak. Alnitak means belt in Arabic. Alnitak is actually a triple star system; that means, three stars rotate in some pattern around each other. They appear as one star to us here on Earth. The largest of the three stars is about 15 times the diameter of the Sun.

The middle star in Orion’s belt is named Alnilam, meaning string of pearls in Arabic. Current measurements predict that Alnilam is about 30 times the diameter of the Sun.

The last star in Orion’s belt is named Mintaka, also meaning belt in Arabic. Mintaka could actually be a four star system. It appears that two of the stars in the set are rotating around each other very closely.

The star that commonly represents Orion’s raised left hand is named Bellatrix, Latin for Amazon. Its diameter is only 6 times the size of the Sun. Bellatrix appears to be the same size as Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. However, it is much closer than the stars of the belt.

The right foot of Orion is named Saiph. Saiph probably has a diameter 11 times the diameter of the Sun.

The red star around Orion’s head is named Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is a massive star. Jupiter’s orbit would be within this large star.

Finally, the star at Orion’s left foot is named Rigel, which is a contraction of the Arabic for left foot of the Central One. Like Mintaka, it is believed that Rigel is a four star system.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1 NIV)

In my opinion, the winter stars are the most magnificent. In the following posts, I hope to introduce you to the eastern sky from the Northern Hemisphere. As a starting point, look for the following famous constellation: Orion. This will be our reference point.



REF: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

God use me!

The three previous posts have been about the different committed types of Christians. The three groups mirrored Gideon’s army. However, if you look at the passage as a whole (Judges 7:1-25), the primary focus is not Gideon’s army. The central theme is the LORD.

“The LORD said to Gideon, ‘You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, … anyone who trembles with fear may turn back.’” (Judges 7:2-3)

“The LORD said to Gideon, ‘With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.’” (Judges 7:7)

“God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into [Gideon’s] hands.” (Judges 7:14b & 15b)

“When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the [Midianites] throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.” (Judges 7:22)

The size of Gideon’s army did not matter, the strength of Gideon’s army did not matter, and the talent of Gideon’s army did not matter. Trust and faith in the LORD was all that mattered.