Virgo

Our story begins with a woman and a promise.

Adam and Eve lived in a garden in the presence of God. But when they Fell, everything changed. Death and Sin seperated mankind from the Father.

And yet, before Adam and Eve ever left the Garden of Eden, God gave them a promise.

A Savior would come.

Speaking to the serpent, God foretold a day when the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head, though the serpent would bruise His heel. Genesis 3:15

Imagine Adam and Eve looking into the faces of their children and teaching them that promise. Death had entered the world—but death would not have the final word. God had promised a Deliverer. And their children could teach that promise to their children, and their children after them:

The Savior is coming.

Now look up at Virgo.

There among the stars is a woman—a virgin maiden. In one hand she holds an ear of grain full of seeds. Look at the seeds she holds and remember the promise:

The Seed of the woman is coming.

Generations would pass before the prophets revealed more. The promised Savior would be born in a miraculous way: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

The maiden in the heavens gives us a picture to remember. A virgin will bear the promised Son.

But Virgo holds something else.

In her other hand is a branch.

Again and again, the prophets would speak of the coming Messiah as the Branch—a righteous King who would grow out of the line of David. “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper.” Jeremiah 23:5

So look again at the maiden in the sky.

The woman. The seed. The branch.

Each points toward the same promise.

Humanity has fallen, but God has not forgotten His children. A Savior will come. He will be born of a woman. He will be the promised King. He will defeat the enemy and rescue mankind from the curse of the Fall.

Imagine that promise being carried from one generation to another. Fathers teaching sons. Mothers teaching daughters. Grandparents pointing into the night sky and telling little children the promise their own parents taught them.

And year after year, Virgo rises again.

Remember the promise. The Savior is coming. God will keep His word.

And Virgo is only the beginning. Three accompanying constellations unfold the promise further: The Woman and the Child points toward the promised mother and Son; Centaurus reveals more of the coming Redeemer and His sacrifice; and Boötes looks forward to the Shepherd and Ruler who will come for His people.

Our story has only just begun.