Unleashing the Beast

C OSMIC S IGNS AND L AST D AYS P ROPHECY / 245

eventually formed the nation of Israel (see Genesis 35:22). In chapter 37, Jacob's youngest son, Joseph, experienced a prophetic dream in which he saw the sun, moon and stars of the heavens bowing before him (Genesis 37:9). Jacob interpreted his son's dream to mean that he (Jacob), Joseph's mother and the 11 other brothers would bow before Joseph (Genesis 37:10). The 11 stars were symbols of the 11 constellations in heaven, with Joseph representing the 12 th . Some Jewish scholars believe that the 12 tribes were given an emblem connecting each tribe with one of the 12 major constellations. An example related to the tribes is the symbol for the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:9 reveals that Judah's tribal emblem is a lion. In the heavens, one of the 12 major constellations is a lion known as Leo. The sun begins its yearly circuit in constellation of the virgin (Virgo) and the year ends in the constellation Leo, the lion. These two heavenly symbols, a virgin and a lion, reveal the beginning and the conclusion of Christ's ministry. He was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), and He will become the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). Notice a prophecy given by Jacob to his son Judah: Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the