Learn 12 important Biblical lessons about stars derived from 60 different Bible verses in this in-depth word study by Jerry Robinson.
Throughout most of the Old Testament, the word “star” is translated from the Hebrew word, kokab. (Pronounced ‘ko-kawb’)
The Bible makes several mentions of “stars,” comparing them to Old Testament saints, angels, and even church leaders. Stars in the Bible are a common occurrence.
In ancient times, it was not uncommon for the illiterate and unlearned masses to worship heavenly bodies. After all, the Sun dominated the sky during the day, giving life to their crops. Meanwhile, the Moon dominated the night, providing adequate lighting for travel and leisure activities.
But it is the stars that invoked humanity’s greatest creative and intricate legends and myths. The ancients enjoyed the most unobstructed celestial view. Void of modernity’s artificial light pollution, the network of stars that filled the night sky must have been stunning to the ancient mind. As they gazed upon the stars, they looked with eyes seeking familiar objects.
Both the Egyptians and the Babylonians assigned stars to their myriad of deities. The practice of star worship also thrived under the Assyrians and especially the Chaldeans.
Spiritual experiences often included worshiping the heavenly bodies, such as the Sun, Moon, and stars. This form of idolatry of astral bodies has been appropriately dubbed “Astrolatry.”
The Bible is clear that God does not approve of His people engaging in the worship of the celestial spheres. In fact, after warning His people time and again not to worship the hosts of heaven, this practice inevitably weakens Israel to the point that God gives them over to their enemies. Consider this stunning description of the transgressions that led to the downfall of Israel in 2 Kings 17:16-20:
“They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves molten images, two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him. So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah.
Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. The LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.”
One of the most egregious forms of celestial worship described in the Bible is Sun worship. This is one of the practices that God finds abominable. Consider the stunning vision given to the prophet Ezekiel concerning this practice in Ezekiel 8:16-18:
“Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”
The Bible is clear that there are severe consequences for choosing to worship creation over the Creator.
Below, you will find nearly 60 Bible verses associated with the word “star” or “stars”.
1. God created the stars.
“God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; the stars also. (Genesis 1:16)
2. God established the stars in their place and He alone controls them.
“Who commands the sun not to shine, and sets a seal upon the stars;” (Job 9:7)
“Is not God in the height of heaven? Look also at the distant stars, how high they are!” (Job 22:12)
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained;” (Psalm 8:3)
“Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name.” (Jeremiah 31:35)
3. God promised to multiply Abraham’s seed as the stars of heaven.
“And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” (Genesis 15:5)
“Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.” (Genesis 22:17)
“I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;” (Genesis 26:4)
“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'” (Exodus 32:13)
“The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number.” (Deuteronomy 1:10)
“Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.” (Deuteronomy 10:22)
“Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 28:62)
“But David did not count those twenty years of age and under, because the LORD had said He would multiply Israel as the stars of heaven. (1 Chronicles 27:23)
“You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.” (Nehemiah 9:23)
4. In dreams and visions, the twelve tribes of Israel are represented as stars.
“Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” (Genesis 37:9)
“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; (Revelation 12:1)
5. The Jewish Messiah’s initial appearance is heralded by a star.
“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth. (Numbers 24:17)
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2)
“Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. (Matthew 2:7)
“After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. (Matthew 2:9)
“When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. (Matthew 2:10)
6. God warns his people not to worship the stars.
“And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. (Deuteronomy 4:19)
7. The Bible refers to angels as stars.
“The stars fought from heaven, From their courses they fought against Sisera. (Judges 5:20)
“When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7)
“But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. (Isaiah 14:13)
“Though you build high like the eagle, Though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD. (Obadiah 1:4)
“In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. (Revelation 1:16)
“As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. (Revelation 1:20)
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: (Revelation 2:1)
“And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. (Revelation 12:4)
7. Every star has been given a name by God.
“He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. (Psalm 147:4)
“There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. (1 Corinthians 15:41)
8. Astrologers and those who “read” the stars are powerless before God.
“You are wearied with your many counsels; Let now the astrologers, Those who prophesy by the stars, Those who predict by the new moons, Stand up and save you from what will come upon you. (Isaiah 47:13)
9. The wise witness of Jesus will shine as brightly as the stars forever.
“Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)
10. Just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus, the stars will lose their brightness and fall from heaven.
“Before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; (Ecclesiastes 12:2)
“And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud And the moon will not give its light. (Ezekiel 32:7)
“It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. (Daniel 8:10)
“Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. (Joel 2:10)
“The sun and moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. (Joel 3:15)
“For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. (Isaiah 13:10)
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Matthew 24:29)
“AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. (Mark 13:25)
“And the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. (Revelation 6:13)
“The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. (Revelation 8:10)
“The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter. (Revelation 8:11)
“The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way. (Revelation 8:12)
“Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. (Revelation 9:1)
11. The ancients often assigned specific stars to false idols.
“You also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. (Amos 5:26)
“Wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude 1:13)
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. (Revelation 3:1)
12. Jesus is called the bright morning star.
“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19)
“And I will give him the morning star. (Revelation 2:28)
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. (Revelation 22:16)
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