forth', for at the close of his great protest that included a reference to Adam's transgression he says, `If I have (done

such things) let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley' (31:40). Furthermore, in the same

chapter and connection, Job appears to make a reference to the sin of Cain when he says, `If my land cry against me'

(31:38), for he uses the same word `cry' that is found in the words `The voice of thy brother's blood crieth ... from

the ground' (Gen. 4:10), and in chapter 16 he exclaims, `O earth, cover thou not my blood, and let my cry have no

place' (16:18), or, as Dr. Bullinger's metrical version reads, `And let my cry (for vengeance) have no rest'.

Into the record of Genesis, unprepared for and unexplained, comes `The Serpent'. To any reader who had no

other source of information than Genesis 1 and 2, the sudden introduction of such a creature is somewhat baffling,

but if the book of Job provides a link with earlier and more primitive revelations the difficulty passes. So far as we

can gather from the teaching of Scripture, revelation has come to men in several successive ways.

by

The evidence of Creation (Rom. 1:19,20).

by

The evidence of Conscience (Gen. 3:11; Rom. 2:14,15).

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The supplementary evidence of `The Stars' (Gen. 1:14-16; Job 38:32).

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The use of Vision and Dream (Gen. 37:5,9; 40:5; Job 33:15).

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Tables of stone written with the finger of God (Exod. 31:18).

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Scriptures written by men inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16).

by

The `Word' becoming flesh (John 1:1,14; 14:9; 1 Tim. 3:16).

Now it appears that the first four of this series, Creation, Conscience, the Witness of the Stars, Vision and

Dream, had taught mankind all that they then knew of the ways and will of God. The book of Job forms a link

between this earlier mode, and the written Scriptures as we have them today. The witness of the stars, though very

complete in their testimony, had been so distorted and abused by the enemy as to be a source of evil and of danger.

Appendix 12 of The Companion Bible reads:

`The stars were all named by God (Psa. 147:4). Most of these names have been lost; but over 100 are preserved

through the Arabic and Hebrew, and are used by astronomers today, though their meaning is unknown to them.

Many of them are used in Scripture as being well known, though the translations are somewhat speculative: e.g.

Job 9:9. Heb. `ash (Arcturus, R.V. the Bear), kesil (A.V. Orion), kimah (Pleiades). Job 38:31,32, mazzaroth

(margin, and R.V., the twelve signs; margin, the signs of the Zodiac) ... These names and the twelve "signs" go

back to the foundation of the world. Jewish tradition, preserved by Josephus, assures us that this Bible

astronomy was invented by Adam, Seth, and Enoch ... In later years, when Israel came into possession of the

written "Scriptures of truth", there was no longer any need for the more ancient writing in the heavens. Hence,

the original teaching gradually faded away, and the heathen, out of the smattering they had heard by tradition,

evolved their cosmogonies and mythologies'.

Now any acquaintance with the story attached to the signs of the Zodiac will make it evident that the ancient

world had a knowledge of the purpose of redemption and of the great enemy `The Serpent'. There, in the sign

Scorpio, are three constellations, one of which is known as Serpens where the serpent is seen struggling in the grip

of a man. In this constellation we see the Scorpion endeavouring to wound the man in the heel, while the Serpent is

reaching up to grasp a crown. In the sign Sagittarius comes the constellation Draco `The Dragon'. Here we see the

dragon being cast down. In the sign Aries `The Ram', the binding of Cetus `The Sea Monster' is depicted; this is

very forcibly portrayed in Job 41:1-10, where the Almighty speaks of `drawing out leviathan with a hook'. In this

constellation the brightest star is called Menkar which means `the bound or chained enemy', while the next brightest

star is called Diphda, or Deneb Kaitos, `overthrown or cast down'. It may be as well, at this point, to show that we

are not drawing upon our imagination when we link `the serpent' with `leviathan' for we read in Isaiah that leviathan

is the `piercing serpent' and the `crooked serpent'; and closely associated with `the dragon that is in the sea' (Isa.

27:1). In the sign Leo `The Lion' we have the final overthrow of the Serpent, this time called Hydra.

Bailly (Astronomer) says `The Zodiac must have been first devised when the sun and the summer solstice was 1°

VIRGO, where the woman's head joins the lion's tail'.