Stars, The
- Infinite in number.
Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Jeremiah 33:2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
- GOD
- Created.
Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
Psalm 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
Psalm 148:5 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
- Set, in the firmament of heaven.
Genesis 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
- Appointed to give light by night.
Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
- Numbers and names.
Psalm 147:4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
- Established, for ever.
Psalm 148:3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Psalm 148:6 He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
- Obscures.
Job 9:7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
- Revolve in fixed orbits.
Judges 5:20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
- Shine in the firmament of heaven.
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
- Appear of different magnitudes.
1 Corinthians 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
- Appear after sunset.
Nehemiah 4:21 So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
Job 3:9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
- CALLED
- The host of heaven.
Deuteronomy 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
Jeremiah 33:22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
- Stars of light.
Psalm 148:3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
- Stars of heaven.
Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
- When grouped together called constellations.
2 Kings 23:5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
- Exhibit the greatness of God's power.
Psalm 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
- Made to praise God.
Psalm 148:3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
- Impure in the sight of God.
Job 25:5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.
- MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURE;
- Morning star.
Revelation 2:28 And I will give him the morning star.
- Arcturus.
Job 9:9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
Job 38:32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
- Pleiades.
Job 9:9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
Amos 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
- Orion.
Job 9:9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
Amos 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
- Mazzaroth.
Job 38:32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
- One of extraordinary brightness (a meteor) appeared at Christ's birth.
Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Matthew 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
- Idolaters worshipped.
Jeremiah 8:2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
Jeremiah 19:13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
- The Israelites forbidden to worship.
Deuteronomy 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
Deuteronomy 17:2-4 If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, 3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
- Punishment for worshipping.
Deuteronomy 17:5-7 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. 6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
- False gods frequently worshipped under the representation of.
Amos 5:26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Acts 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
- Astrology and star-gazing practised by the Babylonians, &c.
Isaiah 47:13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
- Use of, in navigation, alluded to.
Acts 27:20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
- ILLUSTRATIVE
- Of Christ.
Numbers 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
- Of angels.
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
- Of ministers.
Revelation 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Revelation 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
- Of princes and subordinate governors.
Daniel 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
Revelation 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
- (Bright and morning star,) of Christ.
Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
- (Morning star,) of glory to be given to faithful saints.
Revelation 2:28 And I will give him the morning star.
- (Shining of,) of the reward of faithful ministers.
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
- (Withdrawing their light,) of severe judgments.
Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Ezekiel 32:7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
Joel 2:10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
Joel 3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
- (Setting the nest amongst,) of pride and carnal security.
Obadiah 4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.
- (Wandering,) of false teachers.
Jude 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
⇒See Star in McClintock and Strong.
