| The only way I could try to understand how God could be both "the beginning and the ending" was by looking at the shape of a circle or ellipse. Then it was pointed out to me by my husband, that any geometric figure which consists of a continuous line that meets itself could be regarded as having no beginning or ending (once it is drawn and we look at it - if we did not know where the artist started with his pen, then the finished result, if perfectly drawn, shows no beginning or ending to the symbol). Examples of such symbols could include a square, rectangle, triangle, pyramid shape, star shape, and any other shape which has more than four angles formed and consists of a continuous line that meets itself beginning and ending at the same place. We could say that the symbol is drawn without lifting the pen off the paper. |
| When an architect designs a building he uses some of these symbols, and his drawings are designed to give strength to the structure so that it will not collapse. God instructed Moses to build the tabernacle according to the "pattern" which God showed him. The Bible also refers to the "pattern" of heavenly things. From the little study we have done on the first and last chapters of Revelation, we already see that the Word is beginning to be presented by some form of design, or pattern. It may be that as we continue this study, we will still see definite patterns unfold throughout the Bible, history, the structures of the tabernacle and pyramid, and the heavens. God is ... He existed before creation as we see it - we read this in our opening Bible reading - Revelation 1.8 - "... I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty". |
How do we form or make a circle? We position our compass upon a piece of paper (the point), and this point represents the true centre of a perfect circle. Maybe we could say that if God or Jesus is the beginning and the ending, then He must be the centre as well, because we cannot form a perfect circle without using the central point. We can, of course, attempt to draw a circle "freehand" without using a compass, but our circumference is the same distance from the central point (the straight line which can be drawn from the central point, to any point on the circumference known as the radius). Should we therefore begin our study of the Book of Revelation by looking at the centre of the book? We will look at this, but before we do, it's worth looking at the scriptural references to the "circle". I was quite surprised to find many references to this word, and even more surprised that so many of them referred to the design of the heavens and the earth with related references to the words "tent" and "tabernacle". Examples are:
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The shape of our earth IS like a three-dimensional circle, or a sphere. The curtains over Moses' tabernacle turned the structure of the boards into a tent - there were four coverings over the tent - the creation number "four". We will talk about these curtains later in this series of writings. Note too, that this verse refers to princes and judges of the earth, and therefore implies God's relationship with the "kingdoms" of the earth.
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The earth is very slowly wobbling in space like a tilted spinning top, an effect known as precession. As a result of precession, the position of the celestial poles is constantly changing. The celestial poles trace out a complete circle on the sky every 25,800 years. Only the northern celestial pole is shown here, but the effect applies to both poles.
From the earth, astronomers both ancient and modern, use the pole star as the centre and draw their maps in the shape of a circle - the most obvious mapped examples are the ancient zodiacs. The pole star is the closest to the north or south celestial pole at any particular time. As a result of precession caused by the tilt of the earth's axis, the position of each pole traces out a circle in the sky over a period of approximately 25,800 years. The northern pole stars include Vega (12,000 BC), Thuban (2,700 BC) and the present pole star is Polaris. The descending passage of the great Pyramid of Cheops pointed to Thuban in 2625 BC and the late David Davidson gave this date as representing the possible date that the pyramid was built (though current thinking is that the pyramids and the sphinx may have been built much earlier). Davidson proved with his pyramid measurements that the ancient peoples knew about precession. These three pole stars are situated on and around the constellation of Draco.
The star closest to the north or south celestial pole at any particular time is called a "pole star". As a result of precession the position of each pole traces out a circle in the sky in a period of about 25,800 years. There is thus a sequence of stars, including Vega , Thuban, and Polaris (also known as the North Star in the constellation of Ursa Minor) that have been and will become again the northern pole star.
In 1997 AD Polaris (the North Star) will shine on the entrance to the Well Shaft in the Subterranean Passage of the Pyramid of Cheops. As each year passes this star shines further down the Descending Passage till in 2004 AD it will shine on the floor of the Subterranean Passage - the lowest known passage in the pyramid which leads to what is known as "the bottomless pit".
Ecclesiastes 1.6
"The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about into the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to its circuits."
Wind is air that is in motion relative to the surface of the earth. The general winds include Polar, Easterlies, Westerlies, and Northeast and Southeast Trade Winds, each named after the direction from which the wind is blowing. The unequal heating of the earth's surface by the sun, and the rotation of the earth are the two main causes of winds. The author of Ecclesiastes therefore had the knowledge that the earth is round, and he was well aware of directions.
Psalm 19.1-6 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a 'bridegroom', coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." We observe the sun and the planets of our solar system as they appear to move along the ecliptic path or line drawn on our maps of the heavens. The universe is so large, that man is still, after 6,000 years since the Adamic creation, realising that his knowledge of earth and of the heavens is still small, and despite the ever-increasing scientific facilities available for research there seems to be no end to it all. Things of the heavens are always beginning, and never seem to be ending; a constant change of the order of things is always taking place and ever-expanding. |
As the sun is likened to "a bridegroom" in Psalm 19.1-6 above, so too, in Revelation chapter 20, the Lamb (Jesus, the Word of God) comes to His marriage supper, and His wife is ready - He too is likened to a "bridegroom". There is a message here for us to search for, especially as God refers to "Israel" in the Bible as His bride and wife who "committed adultery". God divorced her because she played the harlot (see Jeremiah 3.6-8). However, God since sent His Son to Israel but she rejected Him also. He will return, will she be ready to accept Him, and will she be His bride? It is to the nation of Israel, and all those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal saviour, that the book of Revelation is addressed. "If ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galations 3.29). Every attempt should be made to obey God's laws once each person's individual commitment to Jesus Christ is made, and a continued relationship with God through prayer with, and faith in, Jesus Christ is paramount. From the national point of view, God says "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7.14). In Revelation chapter 12, Israel is referred to as "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: ...". Could this refer to the planetary system in which we on earth live, in relation to the circle of stars known as the constellations of the zodiac as marked out by precession? From the above biblical quotations we have astronomical references of the movements of the sun and our solar system in relation to the heavens. This knowledge was written long before Galileo, and other astronomers of, and since his time, to whom we attribute new discoveries. Thus the Bible indicates that such knowledge was known thousands of years before these people made their discoveries, but to date we do not have written words as to the extent of their knowledge and technical capabilities. |
18th October 1990 Conjunction of Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Comet Enke in the constellation of VIRGO.
The dotted line through the centre of the celestial sphere is the ecliptic path, along which the planets appear to move.
There are three conjunctions at star SPICA in the constellation of VIRGO, of the sun and moon between 1990 AD and 2001 AD. This one on 18th October 1990, and the second one on 15th October 1993. The third one is on 20th October 1998 - all in the constellation of VIRGO.
The viewing of this conjunction on 18th October 1990, is by Voyager Software, and the viewing location of this conjunction is from Jerusalem.
The ancient stone structures of the pyramids and stonehenge do give an indication that the knowledge of the ancient peoples was not limited as far as engineering and astronomical feats were concerned.
Isaiah describes the heavens as a "curtain" and a "tent". Again, perhaps we can relate the design of the heavens to the tent of Moses' tabernacle and its curtains. The Hebrew word for "line" in Psalm 19 means a line or rule, as used in measuring. Job referred to the "line" or rule also. God said to Job:
Isaiah refers, too, to this cornerstone. He speaks of "a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation" (Isaiah 28.16-17). Peter, in the New Testament refers to Jesus Christ as this chief cornerstone. To create a corner, two lines must join forming an angle. So from the quotations we see clues from God, that in His design of the universe the use of both the circle and the square, the triangle, and similar geometric figures are important to His measures. In the design of the tabernacle of Moses, the corners were specifically described as to their design so as to give strength to the tabernacle; the angles of the corners of various aspects of the great pyramid design have special numeric, geographic and astronomical significance, and of course the size and angles of the pyramid's topstone have special significance as we will discover later.
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The Pyramid of Cheops Recently discovered "tunnel" points to the Dog Star Sirius in the Constellation of Canis Major. The Summer Triangle as seen from Australia
The stars are Sirius, Betelgeuse, Procyon
Our theme is necessarily God and His creation. Genesis 1.14-19 which describes God's fourth creation day tells us that the sun, moon and stars are for signs and for seasons, days and years. We could take the liberty here to add another significance to the number "four" in that it could be applied to "signs" or "signals" to look for when God wants to give us warning or draw our special attention to something of importance. The sun, moon and stars therefore give us a basis for measuring time. The assumption can be made here that God WANTS us to measure time and look to these measurements for signs. The book of Revelation IS about time, and specific measures of time are given in its chapters.
Measure the Temple CONTENTS Bible Chronology |
