By  E.W. Bullinger (1837-1913)

Book Review by Robert Guenther
In Psalms 19:1 it says that “The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.”

This work covers how God used the arrangement of the stars in heaven to reveal His redemptive purpose. After the Bible was completed, mankind no longer needed to look to the stars to learn about the Lord’s second coming or any other prophecy.

In Genesis 1:14-19 we see that God created the heavenly bodies to separate the day and night, to give light upon the earth, to be for days, for years, for seasons, and for signs. This latter subject is expounded on in this book. God named the stars (Psalms 147:4) and Adam, Seth and Enos named the 12 signs of the Zodiac.

The signs of the Zodiac are always listed in the same order which can be remembered by this mnemonic.

The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,
And next the Crab, the Lion shines,
The Virgin and the Scales;
The Scorpion, Archer, and Sea-Goat,
The Man that carries the Water-Pot,
And Fish with glittering scales.

The figures themselves cannot be seen as one gaze up at the group of stars. We cannot draw imaginary lines from one star to another as we sometimes see in a child’s dot-to-dot coloring book, but rather the Signs and Constellations were first named and designed, then the picture were drawn around the group of stars. This was the method that God used to reveal the truth before the written Word of God was made available.

Every month a new Sign would appear in the sky. Also, within that same month, three separate constellations would also appear, i.e. Virgo as the main sign which contains 110 stars. Coma, Centaurus and Bootes are her constellations. Each of these groups told a story in picture form. Virgo stood for the Virgin and the promised seed. In one year a person would see the 12 main signs, plus 36 constellations, totaling 48 star-pictures in all. So month after month, year after year, the revelation of the Lord’s birth, and his yet-future second coming was told in the heavens.

Dr. Bullinger uses a number of celestial charts and diagrams throughout the book to supports his conclusion that God arranged the stars to reveal Himself, and that they are a benefit to man to be able to tell time. He also explains the ten cycles of time, i.e. the 24-hour day, the revolution of the moon, the solar cycle of 365 days, the eclipse named Saros which occurs every 18 years and 11 days, etc.