Hebrew Zodiac? We Were Surprised Too - Faith and Other Oddities Episode 68

In this episode we go back to address a few issues that we skipped over in our study in Judges. We begin with the unusual topic of the Hebrew Zodiac. We discuss why the zodiac was important to ancient societies, but also how this tool was not what we think of as the Zodiac and horoscopes today. And we ask the questions - how much credence should Christians give the zodiac? Should we be consulting the zodiac? What bearing do the planets have on our lives today? And what does Mazel Tov really mean? 

Scriptures from this episode:

Deuteronomy 4:19-20, 18:9-10

Isaiah 47:12-15

Jeremiah 8:2, 10:2

Genesis 1:14

Amos 5:8

Job 38:31-33

Psalms 19:1

Matthew 2:1-2

Judges 5:20

Genesis 49

Genesis 37

Psalms 19:4

Revelation 12 

Romans 10

Deuteronomy 32:8-9

Nehemiah 9:6

Job 38:7

Resources from this episode:

Ancient Jewish Astrology, An Attempt to Interpret 4QCRYPTIC by Francis Schmidt (Article, paywall) - http://bit.ly/390dfbA

Jewish Encyclopedia: Zodiac (Article) - http://bit.ly/2Wo8rKy

Ancient Jewish History: Astrology from Jewish Virtual Library (Article) - http://bit.ly/2widt0d

Jewish Astrology in the Talmud, Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Early Palestinian Synagogues by James H. Charlesworth (Article, paywall) - http://bit.ly/2QrPVNw

Astrology in the Talmud: An Analysis of Bavli Shabbat 156 by Greg E. Gardner (Article) - http://bit.ly/38YPoc0

Jewish Worship, Pagan Symbols: Zodiac mosaics in ancient synagogues by Walter Zanger (Article) - http://bit.ly/2TYMzU9

Book of Enoch (PDF) - http://bit.ly/30PcnCo

Sibylline Oracles (PDF) - http://bit.ly/2UfPHtN

Jubilees (PDF) - http://bit.ly/2QoUgB8

Eusibius Church History (Book) - https://amzn.to/3d9IRi4

The Works of Philo (Book) - https://amzn.to/2TWERda

Eupolemus - http://bit.ly/2x3tffG

September 11th: Happy Birthday Jesus by Dr. Michael Heiser (article)- http://bit.ly/3db1Ys3

What the Early Church Believed: Astrology (Article) - http://bit.ly/33q84QZ