41. ALPHA AND OMEGA: ORDER OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD
Revelation 1:8: Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the Aleph and Tau, the One Who makes the universe an orderly arrangement. Without Him there is chaos, "
without form and void," whether in the personal life of an individual or in the physical order of the universe.
D. Ordering of Space, The Physical World
Only with the
knowledge of an established order in the heavens could Man map the terrestrial
regions. By reference to the stars in
their immutable order, every location on earth could be described and named,
according to the pattern of the heavens.[i] With
such a reference Man could traverse land and sea without losing his way. The aleph ve tau was therefore the means by
which Man could orient himself in space as well as time.
In fact time could only be determined with reference to a location in
space. That is, to tell time on earth, there must be a
predetermined point as the prime meridian. From this point, in reference to the
pole of the heavens and the equinoctial points, a zenith can be established,
that is, a point in the heavens directly above the earthly point. The passage
of a predetermined star across this point marks the beginning and end of a time
cycle. As we have shown above, for example, for Biblical time-reckoning of the year, that
star was no doubt Aldebaran. This event could be predicted with a great deal of
precision if the earthly point was a permanent one. That is why the Temple was so important to the
community.
The relationship
between time-reckoning and an established place is the basis for the similarity
in meaning of a cluster of words in Biblical Hebrew which have to do with time and
space. The word mô‘êd means "...appointed time, place, meeting...1.b. in
particular...sacred season...set feast or appointed season...days of
appointed season (i.e. festivals)…” An interesting passage is Isaiah 33:20:
Look upon Zion, the city of our
appointed feasts! [mô‘êd]. Your eyes
will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, an
immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its
cords be broken, (RSV).
Naturally
speaking, this is interpreted as "the
city of our appointed feasts," for indeed Jerusalem was the appointed place for the
gathering of Israel for the feasts of the Old Covenant. I believe, however, that Zion here represents the zenith, the
heavenly Pattern for the earthly Jerusalem. The
zenith as the point where the prime meridian is crossed by the equinoctial line
is the counterpart of the point represented in the mercy seat in the Holy of
Holies, in the inner court of the Temple in Jerusalem. The prophets often
called Jerusalem "the daughter of
Zion," that is, the copy, not the original. As a fallen city she was
called "daughter of Babylon."
Interpreting
Isaiah 33:20 to mean the earthly,
fallen Jerusalem, the Jews in 70 AD risked all, thinking that the copy
was the original that would never fall. When it did fall, it was as if the sun
and moon had been darkened and the stars had fallen from their place, for the
people whose faith was in the copy
were totally disoriented. Those who trusted in Christ, the true aleph ve tau, (Alpha and Omega), in the heavens that could
never be moved, had a secure and steadfast orientation. The true Jerusalem, the Body of Christ, the
Church, remained a quiet habitation,
the immovable tent, the reference point on earth representing the reality in
heaven.
Indeed, we have an
indication that Jerusalem was once called “The Aleph,” Joshua 18:28 (AMP), speaking of the
cities allotted to the tribe of Benjamin: “Zelah,
Haeleph, the Jebusite [city] – that is, Jerusalem – Gibeah, and
Kiriath-[jearim]; fourteen cities with their villages….” The ‘Ha’- is the prefix meaning “the”; therefore
Haeleph means “the Eleph,” (Aleph), Jerusalem.
The very essence
of idolatry is to worship the created rather than the Creator. Those religions whose focus, whose
confidence and faith is in the earthly copy,
are idol worshipers and are doomed to disappointment and failure as was the
Pharisaical Jews of 70 AD.
Nilsson shows that in the reckoning of
the sidereal year the most commonly used stars in all primitive societies were
the Pleiades (Nilsson, 129). The cluster
of stars called “the Pleiades” is in the constellation Taurus. The word translated “Pleiades”
in the Bible is from the Hebrew kîymah from the root cûm
related to ‘âmâm, “to gather
together, to collect, to join together.”[ii] The Pleiades, as a great cluster, is the
heavenly Pattern for the gathering of the
congregation at the Passover Feast which followed the spring
equinox, represented by Aldebaran.
This gathering of
the people, was called the ‘âdâh
meaning "1....congregation (properly company
assembled together by appointment or acting concertedly)... 3. elsewhere of
Israel....The ‘êdâh also means “testimony,
witness.”[iii] The
congregation gathered to witness the Law of God in the faithfulness of
the movements of the time-telling heavens, which Law was a counterpart of the Mosaic and Levitical Laws written upon
stone. Part of this celebration was the ritual counting (recounting) of His
mighty deeds as recorded in the Scriptures. Certain portions of Scripture were
divided in such a way as to serve as counters of the times. These chronicles, or history, of God's deeds
were imitated by the heathen cultures in recording the deeds of their king as a
record of the passing of each day and so of the counting of time.
If the point from
which the beginning of the year was reckoned was represented by Aldebaran, then
the congregation represented the cluster of the Pleiades, following shortly
behind Aldebaran. Isaiah 43:12: "Ye are my witnesses (‘êdâh)." The congregation was the
representation of the image of God, Himself, just as the Temple represented Aldebaran, as the
appointed place and time.[iv]
There are traces
of the movement of the prime meridian, no doubt to follow the precession of the
equinox before the calculations were perfected. At one period of time the
zenith was thought to be over Elam, (Olcott, 6). From the same priestly
tradition it may have later been established over Ur in the time preceding
Abraham's era. Abraham's father was Terach,
meaning “delay,” according to Gesenius, but perhaps from the root yerach meaning “moon,” or “month.” Being
from Ur of the Chaldees, the name may indicate that he was of the priestly
class who were dedicated to time-reckoning by the moon.[v] His
name, Delay, may indicate that the equinox was delayed and no longer appeared as
calculated over Ur because of the precession of the equinox.
This fact may be
part of the reason Abraham was called out of Ur to "a place which I will cause you to see."
That place is later found to be Mount Moriah,
the Mount of Seeing. The promise to Abraham that he would inherit this land
gave him reason to establish a point from which to reckon time and from which
he would establish a zenith and prime meridian for his calculations.
The city of Ur was at one time known as "the City of Light," (Ur means “light”), and there is an extant copy of the lament for
the fall of that city, which in some respects is similar to the Lament over the
fall of Jerusalem which we know as the Book of Lamentations.[vi] These
laments are structured according to the letters of the alphabet. This suggests
that the book of Revelation, while not a lament but rather a praise, celebrates the heavenly City
of Light, the New Jerusalem, Zion, in relationship to the fall of the city
which had once been the City of Light on the earth. The earthly Zion has now
become Zanah, a harlot. The physical
corollary of this fall is represented
by the fact that the equinoctial point did indeed move on. This illustrates how
the time-reckoning phenomena were used as symbols.[vii]
The writer of
Hebrews is referring to this history of
the precession of the equinox when he says of Abraham: "For he looked forward to
the city which has foundations,[viii]
whose builder and maker is God," (11:10 RSV). And although: "Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the
city which is to come," (13:14), "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in
festal gathering," (12:22). He is picturing the mo‘ed
in the heavens of which every earthly copy is but a poor and perishable
imitation.
The ancient city
of Elam, as the City of Light, from whence the zenith was reckoned in those distant days, has
probably given its name to the word for “eternity,” ‘ôwlam.[ix]
The words for Elam, the city, and for
‘ôlam, “eternity,” have the same
radicals but different vowels. ‘Ôlam,
as defined by Brown, Driver, Briggs, is from the root ‘âlam meaning “world, age, creation, time, remote time.” Some researchers see it as from ‘âlam No. I, meaning “the hidden,” or “to
conceal.”
Gesenius gives the
sense of ‘ôlam as "A) ...what is
hidden; specially hidden time, long;
eternity, perpetuity...(1) of time
long past...(2) ...future time...(c)
the metaphysical idea of eternity.."
The idea of
hidden, or unfathomable time, perhaps meant that this culture had attained the
knowledge of the time cycles so completely that they could calculate time
without being able to see the time-indicators, as for example, the new moon. It
would also indicate an awareness of cosmic
time, that is, “time as expressed by the speed of light, beyond
observation.”
I believe they did
indeed have this concept of time that was even more advanced than that of
Greece or Rome, that of time as Light. At any rate, they did discover the precession of the equinox and
realized that the zenith did not remain over Elam, but moved farther west at
the rate of approximately one degree per century, (or, depending upon your
sources, fifteen degrees each 2300 years)!
The fact that many
temples were oriented to the stars or other heavenly phenomenon shows that the
order of the heavens was necessary to the establishment of an order upon the
earth. Rameses II dedicated a temple
at Aboo Simbel to the sign "Lubat,"
(Greek: Aries), in about 1400-1100
BC. The temple was so situated that the sun penetrated the shrine of the temple
in conjunction with the first stars of Aries,
called "Lord of the Head." Eight Grecian temples are known to have
been oriented to the alpha star in Aries about 1580-360 BC. The great pyramids
of Egypt are oriented to many significant
time-telling phenomena. There is a small shaft opening from the burial chamber
in one of the tombs that was aimed directly at the pole star of that time.[x]
It seems that the
Tabernacle which Moses built was also oriented in just
such a fashion, a method described Biblically as "according to the
Pattern of the Heavens." We know it was "in
the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the
tabernacle was erected." (Exod. 40:17). "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord
filled the tabernacle." (40:34). I certainly would not minimize the
miraculous nature of that Glory, for this happened because: "Thus did Moses; according to all that the
Lord commanded him, so he did." (40:16). Moses had carefully followed
the Pattern shown him in the mount and the result was glorious, both
spiritually and naturally.
Josephus tells us: “As to the tabernacle
itself, Moses placed it in the middle of that
court, with its front to the east, that, when the sun arose, it might send its
first rays upon it," (Ant. 3.6.3).
He goes on to say
"...this proportion of the measures of the tabernacle proved to be an
imitation of the system of the world [i.e. the cosmos]..." (3.6.4)
He again stresses
this point in speaking of all the furnishings and priestly garments:
"...for if any one do without prejudice, and with judgment, look upon
these things, he will find they were every one made in way of imitation and
representation of the universe.” (3.7.7)[xi] What
Josephus calls "way of imitation and
representation of the universe" is Biblically called "the Pattern of the Heavens.
The Temple also was built in this
manner. When it was time for Solomon to
build the temple, David instructed him on "The Plan":
All this he made clear by the writing
from the hand of the Lord concerning it, all the work to be done according to
the Plan," (1Chronicles 28:19 RSV).
There was a heavenly Pattern, as there was for Moses. When the temple was dedicated at the Feast of Tabernacles, at the
fall equinox, (1Kings 8:10-13):
When the priests came out of
the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could
not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled
the house of the Lord. Then Solomon
said, “The Lord has set the sun in the heavens, but has said that he would
dwell in thick darkness. I have built
thee an exalted house, a place for thee to dwell in for ever [‘ôlam].” (RSV)
The temple was
oriented to the time-telling heavens. Its real foundations were the established points in the heavens to which it
was oriented: the zenith, the pole star and the equinoctial rising of the sun.
(These were the ’ayim, perhaps a
masculine plural form of aleph.)
Psalm 78:69: "And he built his sanctuary like high
palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever [‘ôlam]." Or: "And
he built like his holy place which is highest, the earth, established for time."
[i] Orientation in space had to do not only with a fixed and
established point, such as the temple, but also with navigation. By charting
the earth with latitude and longitude lines in relation to the stars,
navigation into strange territories was made possible, that is a GPS system, a global positioning system.. Some of the figures made
popular by ancient myths may have been drawn as outlines of coastlines so that
ships could find their way. The long coast of Palestine was called Cepha,
or “daughter of the rocks.” The long chain or ridge of rocks was similar to the
outline of the chain of Andromeda, the constellation. Navigators could steer by
this outline and avoid the rocks. The constellation called Aquarius may be the
outline of the coast of South America.
The constellation Aries, called Al-Hamal
by the Arabs is much used in
navigation. Its beta star, Greek name Arietos, was
called by the Arabs Sharatan meaning
“a sign.” The Hebrews called it Teli. The constellation Aquarius may
have been described in order to indicate a rough map of South America. (See
Olcott, 57, 59-60).
The brightest star in the constellation Aquila is Al-tair from which
mariners take the moons distance for computing longitude at sea. Aquila, the Eagle, is always associated
with the "Arrow." Aquila in ancient Sumerian-Akkadian was called
"Alula," the great spirit,
a symbol of the noontide sun. In Hebrew it was called
"Neshr," an Eagle. Arabs called it "Al-`Okab" (ibid.
47).
[ii] Ges. Lexicon,
639. BDB gives the meaning
of the root cum as “heap up,
accumulate; heap; herd.” (465).
[iii] BDB from the root yâ‘âd, but see cognate words and
phonosthemes.
[iv] The idol god of Egypt named mâ‘ât may have represented the concept
of mô‘êd, (Nilsson, Primitive Time Reckoning, 342).
[v] He was, however, an idolater according to Joshua 24:2. This indicates that he was worshiping the
created rather than the Creator. He, like the Jews who later worshiped the
Temple and the land,
failed to recognize that the reality was in the heavens.
[vi] See Piotr Michalowski, The Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur, For the Series: Mesopotamian Civilizations, (Winona
Lake, Eisenbrauns, 1989).
[vii] Ulansey has shown
convincingly that Mithraism has as its basis
the discovery of the movement of the equinoctial point. The movement of the point is relative to that
which was established in the past. It can be determined from any point on
earth, of course, but the ancient time-recorders had been keeping the record at
least from the time that the point was reckoned as over Elam. Abraham was one of the
heirs of that ancient time-telling tradition.
[viii] Perhaps elements. Malina says that foundation is a synonym for “element” or
“basic constituent.” Either of these
terms can refer to signs of the zodiac,
i.e., the heavenly alphabet in Hebrew, (Genre and Message, 241). See 2 Peter 3:10, 12.
[ix] Olcott says that stellar
lore, (called Sabianism) was
originated by the Akkadians (=highlanders, or mountaineers) from Elam or
Susianna to the east of Assyria, and that they also originated writing and
"civilization." The Chaldeans
had observatories, (ziggurats), in
all their large cities. There were many
shrines located atop terraces for this purpose.
The stars were named and numbered by this time. The zenith was thought to be over Elam
(Olcott, 6).
The Babylonian tablets reveal
that the Akkadian signs, sphere, and zodiac
were introduced prior to 3,000 BC.
[x] But this is disputed by Neugebauer.
[xi] Whiston's note (p. 75, note on 3.7.7) says this description is
taken from Philo and is
"fitted to Gentile philosophical
notions." This is no doubt true,
but how else could the idea have been translated for the Greeks? Whiston points
out that in Josephus' Wars 7.5.5,
he makes the seven-branched candlestick an emblem of the seven days of creation
and rest instead of the seven planets as in Antiquities. There need not have been a discrepancy here if we
realize that the days and the planets were named the same.
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book Revelation In Context.
My Book is available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and is also available online at www.amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com
Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net .
