Chapter II. The Sign LIBRA.

_The Redeemer’s Atoning Work; or The Price deficient balanced by the Price which covers_.

In the first chapter of this book we saw that this Coming Seed of the woman was, among other things, to give up His life for others.

The _second_ chapter is going to define and develope the manner and object of this death.

The name of the Sign, together with its three constellations and the names of the stars composing them, give the complete picture of this Redemption.

Plate 5: Libra (the Scales)

The Sign contains 51 stars, two of which are of the 2nd magnitude, one of the 3rd, eight of the 4th, etc.

The Hebrew name is _Mozanaim_, _the Scales_, _weighing_. Its name in Arabic is _Al Zubena_, _purchase_, or _redemption_. In Coptic, it is _Lambadia_, _station of propitiation_ (from _Lam_, _graciousness_, and _badia_, _branch_). The name by which it has come down to us is the Latin, _Libra_, which means _weighing_, as used in the Vulgate (Isa. xl. 12).

Libra contains three bright stars whose names supply us with the whole matter. The brightest, α (in the lower scale), is named _Zuben al Genubi_, which means _the purchase_, or _price which is deficient_. This points to the fact that man has been utterly ruined. He is “weighed in the balances and found wanting.”

“None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him; For the redemption of their soul is costly, And must be let alone for ever.”

(Ps. xlix. 7, R.V.)

“Surely men of low degree are vanity (Heb. _a breath_), And men of high degree are a lie; In the balances they go up; They are altogether lighter than vanity” (Heb. _a breath_).

(Ps. lxii. 9, R.V.)

This is the verdict pronounced and recorded by this star _Zuben al Genubi_.

Is there then no hope? Is there no one who can pay the price?

Yes; there is “the Seed of the woman.” He is not merely coming as a child, but He is coming as an atoning sacrifice.

He is coming for the purpose of Redemption! He can pay _the price which covers_! Hence in the upper scale we have another bright star with this very name _Zuben al Chemali_—THE PRICE WHICH COVERS! Praised be God! “They sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy ... for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.” (Rev. v. 9.) This is the testimony of β, the second brightest star! It has another name, _al Gubi_, _heaped up_, or _high_, telling of the infinite value of this redemption price. But there is a third star, γ, below, towards _Centaurus_ and the _Victim_ slain, telling, by that and by its name, of the _conflict_ by which that redemption would be accomplished. It is called _Zuben Akrabi_ or _Zuben al Akrab_, which means _the price of the conflict_!

There is, however, some reason to suppose that Libra is a very ancient Egyptian corruption, bringing in human merit instead of Divine righteousness; “the way of Cain” instead of the way of God. In the more ancient Akkadian the months were called after the names of the signs,(38) and the sign of the seventh month is the sign that we now call Libra. The Akkadian name for it was _Tulku_. _Tul_ means _mound_ (like _dhul_ and _dul_), and _ku_ means _sacred;_ hence, _Tulku_ means _the sacred mound_, or _the holy altar_.(39)

Not only is the name and its meaning different, but the teaching is infinitely greater and more important, if we may believe that the original picture of this sign was not a pair of scales, but the representation of _a holy altar_. This would agree still better with the three constellations which follow.

The names of the stars would also be more appropriate, for it is the Sacrifice of Christ which they foreshadowed, and here it was that the price which covered was paid, and outweighed the price which was deficient. What that price was to be, and how it was to be paid, and what was to be the result in the Person of the Redeemer, is set forth in detail in the three sections of this chapter by the constellations of _The Cross_ endured, _The Victim_ slain, and _The Crown_ bestowed.

1. CRUX (The Cross).

_The Cross Endured_.

The Hebrew name was _Adom_, which means _cutting off_, as in Dan. ix. 26:—“After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off.” The last letter of the Hebrew alphabet was called _Tau_, which was anciently made in the form of a cross. The ancient _Phœnician_ was [Symbol: right‐tilted cross]; the ancient _Hebrew_, as found on coins, was [Symbol: right‐tilted cross] and [Symbol: vertical cross]; the _Aramaic_, as found on Egyptian monuments, was a transition [Symbol: tilted cross] or [Symbol: stretched cross], which passed into the present square Hebrew character ת. This letter is called _Tau_, and means _a mark_; especially _a boundary‐mark, a limit or finish_. And it is the last letter, which finishes the Hebrew alphabet to this day.

Plate 6: Crux (the Cross)

The Southern Cross was just visible in the latitude of Jerusalem at the time of the first coming of our Lord to die. Since then, through the gradual recession of the Polar Star, it has not been seen in northern latitudes. It gradually disappeared and became invisible at Jerusalem when the Real Sacrifice was offered there; and tradition, which preserved its memory, assured travellers that if they could go far enough south it would be again seen. Dante sang of “the four stars never beheld but by the early race of men.” It was not until the sixteenth century had dawned that missionaries and voyagers, doubling the Cape for the first time, and visiting the tropics and southern seas, brought back the news of “a wonderful cross more glorious than all the constellations of the heavens.”

It is a small asterism, containing only about five stars, _viz._, one of the 1st magnitude, two of the 2nd, one of the 3rd, and one of the 4th. Four of these are in the form of a cross.

Long before the Christian Era this sign of the Cross had lost its true meaning, and had been perverted in Babylon and Egypt as it has since been desecrated by Rome. The Persians and Egyptians worshipped it. The cakes made and eaten in honour of the Queen of Heaven were marked with it. This heathen custom Rome has adopted and adapted in her Good Friday cakes, which are thus stamped. But all are alike ignorant of what it means, _viz._, “IT IS FINISHED.”

In Egypt, and in the earliest times, it was the sign and symbol of _life_. To‐day, Romanists use it as the symbol of _death_! But it means _life_! Natural life given up, and eternal life procured. Atonement, finished, perfect, and complete; never to be repeated, or added to. All who partake of its benefits in Christ now, in grace, by faith “ARE made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. ii. 13), and of them Jesus says, “He that heareth my voice, and believeth on Him that sent me HATH everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but IS PASSED from death unto life” (John v. 24). So perfect and complete is the work which Jesus finished on the Cross that we cannot seek to add even our repentance, faith, tears, or prayers, without practically asserting that the work of Christ is not finished, and is not sufficient!

The Hebrew names of this constellation—_Adom_ and _Tau_—rebuke our Pharisaic spirit, which is the relic and essence of all false religions, and points to the blessed fact that the Sacrifice was offered “once for all,” and the atoning work of Redemption completely finished on Calvary.

“’Tis finished! the Messiah dies! Cut off for sins, but not His own; Accomplished is the sacrifice, The great redeeming work is done.”

In the ancient Egyptian Zodiac of Denderah this first Decan of LIBRA is represented as a lion with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, as if in thirst, and a female figure holding a cup out to him. Under his fore feet is the hieroglyphic symbol of running water. What is all this but “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” brought down “into the dust of death,” and saying “I am poured out like water ... my strength is dried up” (Ps. xxii. 13‐18): “I thirst” (John xix. 28): “and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps. lxix. 21)?

The Egyptian name of this Lion, however, points to his ultimate triumph, for it is called _Sera_, that is, _victory_!

This brings us to—

2. LUPUS or VICTIMA (The Victim).

_The Victim Slain._

Its modern name is _Lupus_ (a wolf), because it looks like one. It may be any animal. The great point of this ancient constellation is that the animal has been _slain_, and is in the act of falling down dead.

Plate 7: Lupus or Victima the VICTIM Slain

Its Greek name is _Thera_, _a beast_, and _Lycos_, _a wolf_. Its Latin name is _Victima_, or _Bestia_ (Vulg. Gen. viii. 17), which sufficiently indicates the great lesson. This is confirmed by its ancient Hebrew name, _Asedah_, and Arabic _Asedaton_, which both mean _to be slain_.

More than 22 of its stars have been catalogued. None of them are higher than the 4th magnitude; most of them are of the 5th or 6th.

True, He was “by wicked hands crucified and slain,” but He is slain here by the Centaur, _i.e._ by Himself! To make it perfectly clear that it was His own act (without which His death would lose all merit), He uttered those solemn words: “I lay down my life for the sheep.... No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John x. 15‐18). He “offered Himself without spot to God.” “He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. ix. 11, 26).

In the ancient Zodiac of Denderah He is pictured as a little child with its finger on its lips, and He is called _Sura_, _a lamb_! In other pictures He has, besides, the horn of a goat on one side of His head. All this pointed to one and the same great fact, _viz._, the development and explanation of what was meant by _the bruising of His heel_! It meant that this Promised Seed of the woman should come as a child, that He should suffer, and die upon the Cross, for

“He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb; SO HE opened not his mouth.”

(Isa. liii. 7.)

Hence, the constellation prefigures a silent, willing sacrifice—Christ Jesus, who, “being found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross” (Phil. ii. 5‐8).

3. CORONA (The Crown).

_The Crown Bestowed._

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.”

This is what is foreshown by this concluding section of the second chapter. Each chapter ends with glory. As in the written Word of God, we frequently have the glory of the Second Coming mentioned without any allusions to the sufferings of the First Coming, but we never have the First Coming in humiliation mentioned without an immediate reference to the glory of the Second Coming.

So here, the CROSS is closely followed by the CROWN! True, “we see not yet all things put under Him, but we see Jesus ... for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour” (Heb. ii. 9).

Yes, “the crowning day is coming,” and all heaven shall soon resound with the triumphant song, “Thou art worthy, ... for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood” (Rev. v. 9).

The shameful Cross will be followed by a glorious crown, and “every tongue shall confess that Jesus. Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

“Mighty Victor, reign for ever, Wear the crown so dearly won; Never shall Thy people, never Cease to sing what Thou hast done. Thou hast fought Thy people’s foes; Thou wilt heal Thy people’s woes!”

The Hebrew name for the constellation is _Atarah_, _a royal crown_, and its stars are known to‐day in the East by the plural, _Ataroth!_

Its Arabic name is _Al Iclil_, _an ornament_, or _jewel_.

Plate 8: CORONA (the Crown)

It has 21 stars: one of the 2nd magnitude and six of the 4th. It is easily known by the stars θ, β, α, γ, δ, and ε, which form a crescent.

Its brightest star, α, has the Arabic name of _Al Phecca_, _the shining_.

Thus ends this solemn chapter of LIBRA, which describes the great work of Redemption, beginning with the Cross and ending with the Crown. The Redeemer’s work of Atonement is most blessedly set forth, and He alone is seen as the substitute for lost sinners.

“What wondrous love, what mysteries In this appointment shine! My breaches of the law are His, And His obedience mine.”