Leo | Lion of Judah
Leo, Lion of Judah is the zodiac sign and the symbol and biblical representation of Jesus the Messiah.
On the morning of August 12, 3 B.C., about an hour and twenty minutes before sunrise, Jupiter, having just left the Sun, rose as a morning star conjunct with Venus. Known astrologically as “Father of the Gods”, Jupiter symbolizes deity. Associated with the birth of kings, it is also called the “King Planet”. To the Magi of Mesopotamia Venus was Ishtar the Mother, and the Goddess of Fertility.
By August 27, all the major planets, except Saturn, had rendezvoused in Leo, with Jupiter at 142.6°, Mars 142.64°, Venus 141.67°, and Mercury 143.71°. As the Moon enters Leo and the Sun enters “The Virgin”, three starstruck “Wise Men” mount their camels, and begin their journey toward the “Day-Star”.
The Bible says the Magi followed the “star” until it “stopped over the child”. On December 25th, 2 B.C., just before dawn, as viewed from Jerusalem, Jupiter came to a stationary position on the meridian directly over Bethlehem at an elevation of 68°. Fixing itself in the center of the constellation of the Virgin, the “King Planet” ceased its lateral motion through the stars and payed homage for six days. Coincidentally?, while Jupiter was “standing still” over Bethlehem, the Sun was also “standing still”. Solstice means “Sun stands still”. With God’s glorious spotlight upon the newborn Jesus, our three Kings humbly dismount and adore the “Lion of Judah” with their gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
For many Christian “astrologers?” the Zodiac does not begin at the Vernal equinox of Aries, but with Virgo and the virgin birth and ends with the Alpha and Omega – Leo, The Lion of Judah. Virgo was originally marked as the beginning of the Zodiac, the last time that this “house” was in the correct position was 240CE. At the time the fixed Zodiac was adopted for astrological purposes, it had been observed that each of the twelve sections that divided the cosmos into segments or zones of 30 degrees each, indicated certain definite characteristics peculiar to each section. These properties were decisively identified with the particular section of the sky in which they were first observed and each segment of the Zodiac thus was eventually distinguished and described by the specific conditions to exist in it.
Jacob (Israel) as the dying patriarch in the Book of Genesis, blesses Judah, his fourth son, as Gur Aryeh (“Young Lion”). The constellation of Leo imagines a lion standing with one leg raised – a phrophetic representation of Jesus as the Lion of Judah triumphant over his enemies.
The Lion is a fitting symbol of this tribe, from which came David, and the Son of David, Shiloh, the true “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” to whom all powers shall finally bow and all nations render homage. The lion is a symbol of pride, potency, virility, royalty, majesty, authority, invincibility, fearlessness and bravery. “Lion” is mentioned more than 100 times in Scripture. During biblical times lions were considered instruments of God’s punishment. Daniel’s testing in the lion’s den (Dan.6) demonstrates an oriental rulers use of the lion as a means of execution, and divine protection. When the king of Assyria planted foreigners in the land of Israel, God sent lions to attack the settlers because they did not fear the LORD. Even during the Middle Ages, stone lions represented justice in the ecclesiastical courts. The connection is made between the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, and the Lion of Judah.
The carcass of a young lion which Samson had killed with his bare hands had attracted a swarm of bees that made honey in it. The carcass of the dead lion (Jesus) would bring forth salvation. “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” David tells Saul, the king, that he is prepared to face the giant Goliath because he has killed a lion (1 Sam.). Some believe the lion killed by David the shepherd boy is a symbol of the devil or the pride which could so easily have engulfed him (1 Sam 17:34).
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