The Star: Antares
In the Aqrab star-family - indeed within the constellation of Aqrab itself - there is another star which is worthy of note: Antares.
The Hebrew name of Antares is Chalal (Strong's Concordance #2490), which means "to bore (as in to put nail holes in the Saviour's hands and feet), to wound, the wounding".
Antares is the "heart" of the scorpion and is the 15th brightest star in the night sky.
Its diameter is 800 times greater than our sun, which means that if it were placed in the center of our solar system, its outer surface would reach between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. In the image below, for scale, Arcturus (a star located in the foot of Bo, now called Bootes - which is a decan of Bethulah, now called Virgo) is the shown to the right of Antares. Our own sun, in this scale, is the small dot above Arcturus.
Zooming in on Antares with a powerful telescope reveals a wonderfully colored reflection and emission Nebulae. In the image below, Antares is located in the yellow cloud on the right.
This cloud is formed by the ionization of the fierce stellar winds blown by this huge star. On the right side of the above image, you can see the bright star called Sigma Scorpii centered in a pink and purple emission Nebulae.
Completing the lower point of the triangle of the three brightest objects in the above photo is M4, which is a bright globular cluster in the lower center of the above photo. M4 is actually about 10 times farther from us than Antares. But it is one of the closest globular clusters to us. It was the first globular cluster in which individual stars were resolved. M4 is a loosely concentrated cluster which measures 75 light years across. When you look at it from earth, it looks as large as a full moon (but not as bright, of course). It is bright enough to be seen by the naked eye when you look from a dark observing place.
The star Antares, in its original Hebrew name Chalal, appears in the Bible in Isaiah 53:5, which says:
As we behold this star - the red heart of the scorpion - we can think upon its message. The heart of the devil's sting of Eternal Death is the desire to "wound" and "bore" and "destroy". This intent was fully carried out upon our dear Saviour. He took the full impact of the devil's wounding, which rightly should have fallen upon you and me.
In other words, Yahshua "was treated as we deserve so that we may be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His Righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. 'By His stripes we are healed'." (Desire of Ages).
Letting the full impact of the message of Antares sink in, as we gaze upon it in the night sky, is key to victory. It is the motivation for victory. Yes, we can be victorious over the flesh and carnal ways in Christ. But the desire is often lacking. But when we see what our Saviour went through for our Redemption - the depths and lengths and breadths of what He did for us - our love affair with sin vanishes like an enchanted vapor dissolving away, allowing us to finally see things more clearly. In light of Antares, sin finally becomes "dung" in our eyes.
The Hebrew name of Antares is Chalal (Strong's Concordance #2490), which means "to bore (as in to put nail holes in the Saviour's hands and feet), to wound, the wounding".
Antares is the "heart" of the scorpion and is the 15th brightest star in the night sky.
Zooming in on Antares with a powerful telescope reveals a wonderfully colored reflection and emission Nebulae. In the image below, Antares is located in the yellow cloud on the right.
Completing the lower point of the triangle of the three brightest objects in the above photo is M4, which is a bright globular cluster in the lower center of the above photo. M4 is actually about 10 times farther from us than Antares. But it is one of the closest globular clusters to us. It was the first globular cluster in which individual stars were resolved. M4 is a loosely concentrated cluster which measures 75 light years across. When you look at it from earth, it looks as large as a full moon (but not as bright, of course). It is bright enough to be seen by the naked eye when you look from a dark observing place.
The star Antares, in its original Hebrew name Chalal, appears in the Bible in Isaiah 53:5, which says:
Isaiah 53:5 - "But He was wounded (Chalal) for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed."As we look up in the night sky, it is easy to make out the scorpion which was known as Aqrab. Antares (Chalal) is the second star in the curving line of the scorpion's body, when starting from the bow-shaped claws in the far right of the diagram below. Antares is visually red to the naked eye.
In other words, Yahshua "was treated as we deserve so that we may be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His Righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. 'By His stripes we are healed'." (Desire of Ages).
Letting the full impact of the message of Antares sink in, as we gaze upon it in the night sky, is key to victory. It is the motivation for victory. Yes, we can be victorious over the flesh and carnal ways in Christ. But the desire is often lacking. But when we see what our Saviour went through for our Redemption - the depths and lengths and breadths of what He did for us - our love affair with sin vanishes like an enchanted vapor dissolving away, allowing us to finally see things more clearly. In light of Antares, sin finally becomes "dung" in our eyes.
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"...our love affair with sin vanishes like an enchanted vapor dissolving away, allowing us to finally see things more clearly...." Extraordinarily poetic!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the closer I draw to Yah the less appealing sin has been beocming.