Revelation 22:1-5
“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month.
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”
The River, Eridanus, is the second decan of Taurus. It is a very great river flowing in an undulating pattern from the upraised foot of our previous decan, “Orion.” It then flows downward and out of sight, down toward the earth.
The River.
This is the same river to which we were introduced when we met Aquarius who was pouring water out of the pitcher at his right side. The water from His great urn flowed into the mouth of a huge fish.
The upraised foot of this figure in the sky represents the wounded heel of our Champion, Jesus, Whose suffering at the cross and won our freedom. From Him pours the living waters which give His people life from within and surrounds them with His protection.
And who are these mystical fish people? We are, Church! We are the mystical Fish people of Aquarius the water pourer living in the river who are hunted by Cetus. But thanks be to God, this great enemy is kept at bay by our Savior, represented by Aries, the Ram. Amazing isn’t it? We have those two particular major star signs coming to the aide of the minor ones being hunted by the enemy. That’s’ our Jesus!
Ezekiel 47:8-9 beautifully describes this river: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.”
What a God! What a Savior!
At this point in our story, The River brings life and healing wherever it goes. Those that pass through it, like the Jordan which means “River of judgment,” will be saved. But one day, this very same river will mete out judgment on all who have rejected Jesus. Like those who perished in the great flood, they will also perish in this torrent and die in their sins.
First Mention.
The Law of first mention is the principle of interpreting of Scripture which states that “The first mention or occurrence of a subject in Scripture establishes an unchangeable pattern with that subject. It remains unchanged in the mind of God throughout Scripture.” This law is the key to revealing truths hidden in the Bible in the meaning and of words, names, and even numbers.
The word river is mentioned 142 times in scripture. It is mentioned in Genesis 2 where one river flowed out of Eden and divided into four separate rivers. They are Pishon, which means “Freely flowing;” Gihon: “Bursting forth;” Hiddekel or Haddakel, meaning “Sharp Rapids;” and the Euphrates: “Fruitfulness.”
All numbers in the Bible have meaning and are not there just to make the book thicker. 4 in biblical numerics (no, NOT numerolgy) is a picture of creation. It also reminds us of the four corners of the altar and the four “corners” of the cross.
The fact that this River is flowing out from the upraised foot of our celestial Champion tells us that this water, which gives gives eternal life, flows freely to the whole world. Whosoever will may come and drink and be saved. But of course, one is free to not come and drink and not be saved as well.
Eridanus reminds me of the woman at the well, who was a Gentile by the way. Jesus said to her in John 4:13, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst again. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
The water that flowed out of Jesus’ riven side is the water that flows out to refresh the whole world. “Whosoever will” may come and drink the water of life freely, though it was anything but free to Him. Jesus paid for our freedom with everything He had.
The Downside.
The fact that this river first touches the paws of Cetus (the devil), meanders around the heavens, and then turns downward toward the earth could be a warning. It may be a graphic picture to us by a loving Heavenly Father what happens to those who reject Jesus as payment for their sin debt: You’ll suffer the same fate as the devil.
Ancient Names For The Sign.
The only name for this sign that has come down to us from the ancients is its Hebrew name, “Eridanus,” which means “River of the Judge or Ruler.” This seems to confirm both the negative and positive aspects of this sign.
The Denderah.
The Egyptians, as usual, always have pictures and descriptions of the constellations that are closest to their original intent. Their names for the stars give a new perspective.
They named the brightest star with a Hebrew name: Achernar, with means “The after part of the River.” The second brightest also has a Hebrew name: “Cursa,” meaning “Bent down.” The next brightest star bears an Arabic name: Zourak: “Flowing.” Three more stars, whose exact positions are no longer certain, also have Hebrew names: Phaet: The mouth of the River; Theemin: The water; and Ozha: The going forth.
Now why would any of these stars have a Hebrew name? 🤔 Remember who ruled Egypt at one time? A former Hebrew slave named “Joseph.”
The Egyptians did have a name for this sign: “Peh-Ta-T.” In the previous star sign we saw that “T” means “The.” As in Hebrew, “Peh,” means “Mouth;” “Aa” means “Water.” Put it all together and we have “The mouth of the river of water.”
In the Egyptian version, their river has its beginnings from the urn of Aquarius and continues in the river of Eridanus. It would make a lot more sense that there is one continuous river as opposed to two different ones.
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In the next decan, we’re going to meet a constellation that completely baffled the Greeks: Good Shepherd: Auriga! You may follow the link below to continue:
The REAL Story In The Stars Part 31: Auriga, The Shepherd.
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