Page 293 - Through New Eyes

NOTES TO PAGES 59-74 295

5. There is a considerable literature on the synagogal zodiacs. See Bernard
Goldman, The Sacred Portal: A PrirnaT Symbol in Ancient Judaic Art (Lanham,
MD: University Press of America, 1986); and Rachel Hachlili, “The Zodiac in
Ancient Jewish Art: Representation and Significance,” Bulletin of the American
Schools of Oriental Research 228 (December, 1977):61-77. Most modern authors are
slow to associate these zodiacs with the twelve tribes, but Josephus as an an-
cient source is probably more reliable, and he does do so. In his Antiquities,
3:7:7, he associates the twelve stones of the High Priest’s breastpiece with the
twelve months and the twelve signs. The names of the tribes were on these
stones.
6. See Joseph A. Seiss, The Gospel in the Stars; oq Prirneoal Astronomy (Grand Rapids:
Kregel, [1882] 1972); Ethelbert W. Bullinger, The Witnes$ of the Stars (Grand
Rapids: Kregel, [1893] 1967); and a more moderate presentation, Duane E.
Spencer, The Gospel in the Stars (San Antonio, TX: The Word of Grace, 1972).
7. R. H. Allen, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning (New York: Dover, 1963), pp.
57, 362.
8. For further study, see Ernest L. Martin, The Birth of Christ Recalculated, 2d ed.
(Pasadena, CA: Foundation for Biblical Research, 1980), pp. 167-172; Austin
Farrer, A Rebirth of Images: The Making of St. Johnk Apoca~pse (Gloucester, MA:
Peter Smith, [1949] 1970), chaps. 7, 8; Farrer, The Revelation of St. John the Divine
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964); David Chilton, The Days of Vmgeance: An
Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987), pp.
300-303. Farrer’s approach is not the same as Martin’s. The student will find
that the faces in Numbers 2 are transposed from their positions in the zodiac.
The explanation for this is that Judah replaced Reuben as firstborn. See also
Joan Ands+ Moore, Astronomy in the Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 1981), pp.
85-91.
9. On Revelation 6 in detail, see Chikon, Days of Vmgeance, pp. 196-199.
10. On the overall interpretation of Matthew 24, see J. Marcellus Kik, An
Eschatolog.v of Victoy (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co.,
1971); Ralph Woodrow, Great Prophecies of the Bible (Box 124, Riverside, CA:
Woodrow Evangelistic Association, 1971); David Chilton, The Great Tn”bulation
(Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987); William R. Kimball, What the Bible
Says About the Great Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1983); and James B. Jordan,
“Lectures on Matthew 24,” eleven-tape series (available from Biblical Horizons,
P.O. Box 132011, Tyler, TX 75713). On verse 29, see Kimball and Jordan.

Chapter 6 — Rocks, Gold, and Gems

1. Some very interesting observations on the context of this verse (the headwaters
of the Jordan flow from a huge rock, and other matters) are discussed in
Stanley L. Jaki, And On This Rock: The Witness of One Land and Two Covenants
(Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1978). Jaki is a conservative Roman Cath-
olic, and argues for the office of the papacy in this book. Nonetheless, many of
his observations are very useful.
2. There is a reference to bdellium in Revelation 2:17, “To him who overcomes, to
him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone,
and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives
it .“ Like everything in Revelation, this verse ties together many Old Testament
passages; but with manna and white stone both mentioned together, a reference
to the bdellium of Havilah cannot be excluded from the list.