String Theory
or Music of the Spheres
Peter Leithart recently posted about ancient astronomy’s “lyre in the sky.”
According to ancient astronomy, the planets were in crystal spheres that formed a seven-stringed lyre in the sky. Moving from earth outward, the seven strings are: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. If you ascended from earth all the way up to the sphere of fixed stars, you’d pass through those seven spheres.
This progression of the planets is call their order of ascension. In his Revelation lectures, James Jordan notes the ancient “characteristics” of each planet and the “influence” that each of these spheres was believed to exert upon human lives.
…………………………Moon – Light (reflected)
……………………………..Mercury – Wealth
………………………………….Venus – Jealous Love
………………………………………Sun – Light (in itself)
………………………………….Mars – War
……………………………..Jupiter – Rule
…………………………Saturn – Blessing and Curse
He notes the correspondence between these seven and the blessings in Revelation 5 given to the Lamb (at His Ascension) by the Old Covenant angelic elders, who were soon to retire.
…………………………Power – Moon
……………………………..Wealth – Mercury
………………………………….Wisdom – Venus (“sophia”)
………………………………………Might – Sun
………………………………….Honor – Mars
……………………………..Glory – Jupiter
…………………………Blessing – Saturn
The Creative Word of God at the beginning results in the Prophetic Word of God’s Man at the end. We can also see the pattern of Adam’s Testing in this arrangement. He is created, delegated God’s authority, and then a bride (Venus) by Covenant. He was to let the light of the Law of God shine as the Sun, then crush the serpent (Mars), be invested by God as a ruler and the outflow of his actions would bless the world. The “doxa” given to him as Jupiter would lead to doxology, God’s pronounced blessing. Adam would not be simply good, but very good, that is, complete.
As Dr Leithart notes, when it comes to the days of the week, this order of the planets is not followed. It still begins with the Moon, but works its way through in fifths (counting every fourth planet). See Leithart’s post for details of the names of the days.
…………………………Moon – Monday
……………………………..Mars – Tuesday
………………………………….Mercury – Wednesday
………………………………………Jupiter – Thursday
………………………………….Venus – Friday
……………………………..Saturn – Saturday
…………………………Sun – Sunday
What is really interesting, as Jordan observes, is the correspondence between this “retuned” week and the glorified Christ in Revelation 1.
Moon – His head and hair were white like wool,
as white as snow,
…..Mars – and His eyes like a flame of fire;
……….Mercury – His feet were like fine brass,
……….as if refined in a furnace,
……………Jupiter – and His voice as the sound of many waters;
……….Venus – He had in His right hand seven stars,
…..Saturn – out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,
Sun – and His countenance was like the sun
shining in its strength.
If the first order concerns Ascension (both in the sky and in Revelation 5), this tuning by “fifths” seems to indicate Maturity. In Him, the lyre in the sky now moves from lunar to solar, from Old Covenant to New, from “reflected light” to “light in itself.” (Notice that Deborah was the third elected judge, who sang a song predicting Samson’s victory. Samson was the seventh elected judge, and his name means “sunrise.”)
So, at Ascension, the lyre is “formed.” The Bridegroom is judged worthy. The Covenant is made. The marriage is Legal. But at Maturity, when Adam speaks “Deuteronomically,” his love is proven. The “Law” has been given, opened, and received. The Legal is now also Relational, or “indwelling.” The lyre is “filled,” and Step 5 in the Bible Matrix often concerns music and song, a different kind of sacrifice. The movement is from silence (Mosaic House) to song (Davidic House), from Priest to King to Prophet (blood, fire and smoke).
Also, applying the Creation matrix, we can observe that Christ’s feet have moved from Day 2 (the firmament) to Day 3 (the Land); the sword has moved from Day 7 (guarding the Garden, at rest) to Day 6 (into the hand of Adam/Joshua), and the Woman from Day 3 (the Bride by Law) to Day 5 (the Warrior Bride). We can make some guesses at His intentions for first century Israel in the late 60s from this!
There’s plenty more going on here as well. I have some notes in Totus Christus, and you can get James Jordan’s Revelation lecture series from www.wordmp3.com
