In the old testament, there are many descriptions concerning worshipers of the sun, the moon, and all the hosts of heaven. For example, we can see that from the descriptions below.
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."
2 Kings 21:3 "For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshiped all."
2 Kings 21:5 " And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD."
As it is written "But without a parable spake he not unto them," there are parables hidden in many of the scriptures in the Bible. If there are hidden meanings in these words, "the sun" or "the moon," what might they be? We hope to find out what the hidden meanings of these words are. The important principle needed to interpret the Bible correctly is not to do "private interpretation" as per the scripture of 2 Peter. That is to say, we are not to interpret scripture by its own text, but are to interpret a text by referring it to other scriptures. This is the most important principle of hermeneutics. As a divinely inspired book, the Bible may have had different human authors for each book, but the real author of the Bible is God himself. Therefore, there is a hidden meaning and a deeper meaning which transcend the boundaries of the human pen.
First, let us see how the Bible speaks about the word "star." Related to the word "star" is a passage from Genesis. Genesis 22:17 "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies."
This is God's word given to Abraham. Abraham is the father of both the Israelites and Christians. In this scripture, his seed is called "stars." So, the Israelites and Christians are like "stars." This world is a spiritually dark place, but Christians are created to shine in the darkness. As it is written, "You are the light of the world". Christians, as offspring of Abraham, are basically "stars." Furthermore, some of them are "the sun" or "the moon." As it is written:
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."
They have a more brighter light than the usual Christian, so, they are a large vessel.
There are no basic differences among stars, sun and moon. They are "all the hosts of heaven." But, only their largeness and brightness of light are different. Likewise, there is no basic difference among these people as Christians. But, their works are different. In Genesis, there is a figurative description written about these Christians.
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.
17 And God set them in the firmament of
the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the
night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was
good."
I think these descriptions were written by God to make us understand "all the hosts of heaven." So, we had better know its meaning.
This description is clearly talking about "the sun and moon." "The greater light"is the sun. "The lesser light" is the moon. But, there is something odd here. There is no word sun or moon in these passages. These words are completely omitted as if it was designed that way. Concerning the sun, it is described as "the greater light" and concerning the moon, it is described as "the lesser light."
In the biblical view, the sun is "the greater light" and the moon is "the lesser light." This is a biblical definition about the sun and the moon. In other words, concerning the sun and the moon, the Bible emphasizes this characteristic of "light." It is like a star which is figured as a Christian who shines within the spiritually dark night.
In addition, it says "the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night." "Rule" means "govern." That is to say, the sun or moon "rule" or "govern" God's people.
Let's return back to the main text for today from the book of Jeremiah. In this scripture, the Bible talks about the sin to love, serve, walk after, seek and worship "all the hosts of heaven." We can not understand the meaning of these words. We can not imagine a Christian who would attend church yet would still love, walk after, seek and worship the stars, sun or moon. Normally Christians would never do so. If this kind of Christian were to exist, their number would be exceptionally low. In addition, unless we were crazy and wanted to love, serve, walk after, seek and worship the sun, we could not hear the voice of the sun and the planets. Since it is too far away, it is actually impossible for us to serve, walk after, seek the sun. Therefore, it seems this sin has no actual relation to Christians of this age. But, these scriptures should be interpreted figuratively, not literally. If we interpret it figuratively, and understand this scripture as "a warning against the sin of worshiping vessels", we can understand the meaning and contents of the warning. Actually, we Christians tend to "love, serve, walk after, seek and worship" God's workers visible to us as compared to the invisible God. But, we ought to know this is a great sin related to idol 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."
God's workers are "divided unto all nations under the whole heaven" by God. We know God's living word is given through these workers. We may be charmed by their holiness or speech. But, it is different to worship God as compared to loving, serving, walking after, seeking and worshiping God's workers. If we do not make a clear distinction, we may enter the way of error.
"2 Kings 21:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD."
The house of the Lord is the place where we worship God. The house of God had at least two courts. In Kings we see two altars built for the host of heaven. Therefore, we ought to know that worshiping God is very close to worshiping and serving workers. Therefore, there is a high probability of confusing these.
This principle, not to worship God's vessels, is also described in the
new testament. When Jesus says not to call anybody in the earth father,
teacher or Lord, he talks about this matter. In addition, both the apostle
Peter and Paul stopped the people when the people attempted to worship
them.
This is the hidden but great principle here for us in this text.
Let's do the Lord's will in this area.
end.