Feb 6

Num 1-2
Today's reading was just about a exciting as watching grass grow! And it doesn't get much more exciting for a while! But praise the Lord, He lead me to something interesting!

I wondered what in the world I would blog about. Then I ran across this. The way the tribes camped formed a cross! For reasons that I don't fully understand, this author plotted out how the tribes would have to fit in this space and came up with this drawing. Since the tabernacle would be in the middle, and the Levites right in front of it, I would think that would make it look even more like a cross! (If your brain comprehends numbers and details better than mine here is the website I got the info from http://ldolphin.org/camp.html)

The author also notes that the 4 tribes on the 'main' points of the compass (N-E-S-W) had these tribal insignias: Judah's tribal standard was, of course, the lion. Reuben's ensign was a man; Ephraim's the ox; Dan's, ultimately, the eagle. That peaked my interest, because in prophesy literature these same 4 creatures are around the throne of God  Ezek 1:10,  Rev 4:7. So it seems again that the Tabernacle is a picture of the heavenly throne room.

I wondered how the author came up these signs. The "Lion of Judah" most of us know, but I had never heard the rest. Apparently each of the 12 tribes is associated with the Mazzeroth (the Hebrew Zodiac). It is believed that when the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon (much later in our reading) that it was currupted there and that is how we got our 'modern day' zodiac. Ancient non-Biblical literature indicates that the 12 major contellations were revealed to Adam. I had heard that the contellations reveal the gospel story, so this made sense to me. It also kind of made sense because you wonder how ancient people navigated by the stars with no maps etc. Where did that knowlege originate? I found a presentation of the Mazzeroth and the gospel story on this video (which gives a little more detail than I want) and it's not the most compelling delivery but the information is pretty awesome.
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=a9bbe3cbef1135154f2f

If you are into zodiac and horoscopes etc. I that hope this will compel you to follow only the Creator of these wonderful constellations and story that they reveal all on their own.

God's word is more and more awesome!!