"Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared...After they had heard the king, they went on their way and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child...and they bowed down and worshiped him..." (Matthew 2:7, 9-11 NIV).
Stars, the sun and moon, and planets were created into place thousands of years before Jesus came to Earth in His humanity. The position of stars and sun in relation to Earth can tell mankind a lot. Men have navigated by them from the beginning of time until now, or, at least, until modern technology took over a major role in steering people in the direction they wished to go.
Astronomers from ancient times have studied the skies from as many angles and with as many gadgets as they have had capability to do so and still there is vast 'beyond' to explore. Having said that, it's a puzzle then, why folks all down through the ages until today still gravitate to horoscopes which base their findings on apparent movement of the sun around the Earth! Horoscopes are their gospel "truth" from which they glean guidance and insight for their lives.
Astrology and Astronomy have some linkage in that they study God's firmament and beyond (although most do not want to acknowledge they belong to Him), and how they relate to our Earth-home and influence "Earthlings" for better or worse.
Some say that depending on which month, which day and even which hour one is born, there is major bearing on one's behavior and character for life and must name a baby carefully and accordingly so as to balance out yin and yang. This is determined by where in the sky the sun is and which particular star, is stationed overhead at the time. One's character, destiny or fate is established and so one has no choice but to be what they perchance, are. What a 'fix' to be in.
To be more precise, astrology is the study of "the movement and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having influence on human affairs and the natural world". Astronomy gears towards more pure science, meaning, the "branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space and the physical universe as a whole".
Which, when you think of it all, is grand grandeur beyond our human comprehension. Truly God's...
"...thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV).
Pull your thoughts now to how this relates, or does not, to Buddhism. Consider the idea behind horoscopes and Zodiac sign month of birth (I won't go into detail of all this). The main purpose for this "knowledge" is to learn about oneself. A person who reads their horoscope hopes to gain...
"...insight into one's own character, in the same way that an X-ray photograph can show physical make-up of a person" (Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda in What Buddhists Believe, page 400).
Trying to examine oneself and one's behavior and character whether it is good or bad in thought and deed is not a bad thing. However to attempt to gain this information through such knowledge based on the sun's supposed path around the earth (which doesn't happen) and how it can influence a person, is erroneous.
Buddhism believes that a...
"...highly developed human being will have no need for a horoscope" (Page 404).
Recall that to reach Buddhist enlightenment one must use one's own effort through training and disciplining one's own mind to think what's right and good so that action will follow suit. Using anything else or gaining aid from anyone else is a crutch and therefore of little use towards gaining one's end goal.
Nevertheless, Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda comments on page 405 that,
"...Buddhism teaches that through the intellect a person can arrange his or her life in harmony with the planets and also cultivate inherent talents and manipulate them for his or her personal betterment."
So...the Buddhist does not need to totally discount the use of horoscope, however, followers of Buddha should not become too dependent upon them.
Tied into astrology is something called "divination". Divination is the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means. This is forbidden in God's Word the Bible. The Bible equates it with witchcraft which in turn derives from Satan's world and ways.
In Deuteronomy 18:10-14 (NIV) God commands and explains to the Israelites on the subject,
"Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so."
Someone has said about astrology that the "fascination with astrology and horoscopes reflects people's desire for wisdom beyond their own and direction for the future."
Remember what happened to Adam and Eve when they thought they wanted more knowledge than they had. It brought catastrophic repercussions not only to themselves but to all mankind ever after! It harmed the animal kingdom and the agriculture of earth which they'd been given the mandate to care for. Stern warning for us all.
This is not to say one cannot learn new things, after all education is a big help to those who have it in most cases. The point is, what knowledge are you seeking? What is your motivation and from whence do you seek?
I like the story of Daniel in Daniel 2:10-11 and 4:7-8. King Nebuchadnezzar had had a most disturbing dream. He called his astrologers to come and interpret it. Most aggravating to the astrologers, the king wanted them to also tell him what the dream was about before they interpreted it; an almost impossible task!
The astrologers felt that only gods could accomplish such a feat but the gods didn't live among men so all would be out of reach of humankind's interpretation.
Yet God had the last laugh, so to speak. God had Daniel, one of His mighty men in place for such a time as this. Look at the chapter 11 verses. We read that Daniel could and did tell the king the dream and what it meant. The magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners could not.
Nebuchadnezzar attributed Daniels' "success" to his having,
"...the spirit of the holy gods" in him" (Daniel 11:18 NIV).
We know that that "spirit" was the Spirit of Almighty God (singular). Our God is great and greatly to be praised, as one song goes. We can trust Him for our guidance in life presently and into the future.
Followers of Jesus Christ, take God's view seriously. Our late brother Billy Graham taught,
"Astrology is offensive to God because it attributes to planets and stars the power that belongs to God alone and because it tries to find the will of God by other means than God has appointed. The Bible guides us. God tells us in His Word in several places."
Peruse Psalm 32:8 (NIV),
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."
How about the promise in John 7:17 (NIV), the words of Jesus,
"If any one chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether My teaching comes from God or whether I speak on My own..."
Graham goes on to say,
"Christians have no need of astrology and horoscopes because we have God, His Word and His Holy Spirit."
Granted, all the heavenly host of stars, planets, sun and beautiful moon are awesomely wondrous to behold. As mentioned in the opening statements, men have been guided by them in terms of navigation. The most momentous navigation was the guiding "star" that galvanized wise men from the east to seek Jesus.
The true "Star of Wonder" came from Heaven as a babe,
"...wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12 NIV).
Shepherds came, saw and rejoiced, giving glory to God and proclaimed Jesus' arrival to others. The wise men eventually found Jesus whom they sought.
Taking it from there, we can read this story of Jesus from the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). We can follow Jesus from His birth, to His circumcision to His 40th, or so, day of life, appearance in the Temple when Joseph and Mary came to fulfill the requirements of the Law in regards to purification and other sacrifices and offerings in regards to His birth and had the encounter with Simeon and Anna; at the age of 12 when Jesus remained behind in the Temple and then back to His hometown in obedience to His earthly parents.
Later we "join" the disciples as they shuffle along dusty roads with Jesus over the many miles of ministry from about the age of 30. His ministry where He made "appointments" to see particular people or just mingled with crowds healing the sick and infirm and casting out demons.
Jesus's main purpose was to bring salvation to all mankind. He accomplished this through His death on the cross and resurrection. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
We do not have to have our future "in a fix" according to a horoscope. Fix your eyes on Jesus, trust in Him, accept His gift of salvation. He gives everlasting life. All the turmoil created by Adam and Eve's disobedience can be overturned. In time to come God will make a new Heaven and a new Earth where there will be no more sin, suffering, death, pain or tears (Revelation 21). This is an everlasting joyful "fix" to find ourselves destined for.
At Pentecost, after Jesus' ascension back to Heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell all believers of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:1-12).
Followers of Jesus Christ now have direction for their lives through the Holy Spirit and through obedience to God's Word. This is God's means of communication and direction with and for His children.
Reject horoscopes and the like. Turn, instead, to seek God, through Jesus Christ, our true Guiding Star...Jesus our "bright Morning Star" and Light in this world (John 9:5; Revelation 22:16 NIV). In Him, we can rejoice with great joy.
~ERC 17 March 2019~
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