Astrology
By Marco Blankenburgh
The stars tell their secrets
I could just as easily have put another title above this article, such as: Revelations of a manifold, infinite God. For that is what God is: God is infinite. His revelations are manifold. God reveals Himself in His Word the Bible, in His creation, in His nature through His Holy Spirit and He reveals Himself to the full in His Son, the Lord Jesus, Who is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.
God is One, therefore all these revelations must also be in agreement with each other. They each may highlight a different aspect of God’s infinity, but they can never contradict each other. Revelations of God should be in agreement with each other. Jesus says: “You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me.” This clearly shows that the Scriptures are Christ-centered. About the Holy Spirit, Jesus says: “He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine.” Contradicting “truths” cannot co-exist. The God Who reveals Himself in Christ, is the same of Whom the Bible speaks. The creation also reveals the same God and is therefore a confirmation of the Biblical data.
Horoscope
Nevertheless the general concept about the latter, the creation, sounds differently. According to many, science is in conflict with the Bible. In the examination of nature, people come to different conclusions than mentioned in the Bible. Just think of the theory of evolution which claims that life came into being and is not created; they assume that man is a mammal instead of made in the image of God. Maybe the starting point indeed plays a major role here. This is how the theory of the Micro-cosmos against the Macro-cosmos came about, which assumes that the earth and the cosmos form a closed system. Therefore there is no supernatural world, the existence of God is being denied. Furthermore, there is a connection between the events in the cosmos and life on earth, or life of man personally.
This is where astrology also comes from, on which I would like to further elaborate in this article. It’s not about astronomy, which is the science that deals with the study of the universe. It’s about astrology: the belief that the position and the conjunction of the stars contains a message, a prediction for the life of every man. The best-known outcome of this is the horoscope, which is unmissable in any magazine.
The data and information that is given there, depend on a number of aspects.
The most important one is under which zodiac sign you were born, in other words: in which sign the sun stood in the moment of your birth.
Furthermore, this has influence on your life and character. In addition the place of the moon and the five closest planets give certain indications.
The angle formed by those planets combined, with regards to the earth and in which sign these planets are situated influence us as well, claims astrology.
In order to obtain and calculate these all this (these were only some main points), people have put complicated computer programs together to be able to read from the stars what the course of our paths of life will be.
Besides the general horoscopes that are to be read in newspapers and magazines, there is also the possibility to have a personal horoscope drawn. After providing some personal data and the payment of 5 to 100 euros, one can obtain a prophetic report.
Partly due to the use of the computer, astrology gains a scientific status. There are literally millions of people who believe that the stars (the cosmos) influence their lives and they therefore make their decisions based upon the position of the stars and their behavior. They determine their course of action by the message in the horoscope. Before deciding what to do, they first consult the stars.
In this way their lives are not guided by God, they don’t focus on the Creator, but on the creation. It is therefore plain idolatry. Of course I owe you an explanation to the question: How is it that certain predictions do come true? And yes, indeed, certain predictions do come true. Not all of them. Most horoscopes are stated so generally, that there is very likely to be a situation where you can identify with the horoscope.
When the horoscope gives more exact information, it often doesn’t come true. In the unlikely event that it does happen, it’s not that surprising, because there are so many horoscopes that it’s very likely that one is right, just by mere chance.
Nevertheless, it’s exactly these unexpected successes that are thrown in public and deliver the evidence for the ‘realness’ of astrology.
Demons
Besides all this, there are horoscopes that will come true, not because it is written in the stars, but because satan takes advantage of this superstition. There are demonic powers at work that keep people under the spell of the predictions.
Predictions that often include happiness, health, love, wealth, etc. But sometimes also threatening things, so that fear and fatalism will come into play. Only by faith in Christ can these demonic ties be broken, so that God can start to guide one’s life.
I started this article by telling that God reveals Himself in many ways.
Also in creation God wants to reveal Himself. In the letter to the Romans it is said that “for since the creation of the world His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made.” Also the planetarium, the stars are created by God. In the Psalms it is sung: “The heavens tell of the glory of God;
And their expanse declares the work of His hands.” In astrology it is assumed that the heavens are telling the stars something about man and about life on earth, but in this Psalm it’s said that their expanse declares the work of His hands. The expanse refers to Christ. All revelations are Christ-centered.
The star of Bethlehem pointed the magi from the East to the child in the stable – Christ-centered. The prophecy of Balaam (Numbers 24) is about the star that would rise from the lineage of Jacob, and would be King over Israel.
The Lord Jesus call Himself the Bright and Morning Star, thus Christ-centered. The heavens tell of the glory of God here, so also the zodiac signs do. They point to Him.
Horoscopes are detracting from this and should therefore be rejected.
There is often deception in vagueness that on the basis of the law of probability will always come true somewhere. Sometimes even the demonic is at play. Evil spiritual powers can and will deceive us. Whatever the case, it would be better for anyone to stay far away from astrology. God is to receive the honor, also in His creation. We can trust the Creator, not the created things. That’s idolatry.
Literature
Domein van de slang (Dominion of the snake)- Ouweneel
Het staat in de sterren (It’s written in the stars)- brochure 1202 - Jb. Klein Haneveld