Morning Star

 

On clear mornings, when I get to my prayer chair before sunrise, I can see the planet Venus in the east. It’s so bright, sometimes I have to stare at it for a while to make sure it’s not an airplane heading toward Dallas Love Field.

There’s something reassuring, perhaps even friendly about that star/planet. I’ve taken to saying “Good morning, my friend.” Venus is sometimes called the Morning Star. Apparently, Sirius (the Dog Star) and the planet Mercury are sometimes a morning star, too. If I were more of an astronomer, I could give a cogent explanation of why it’s usually Venus.

By the way. Is it just me, or does it seem like I write a lot about celestial lights? This is the third post I've done about sunrise, stars, lights, etc. 

The term “Morning Star” appears in the Bible a few times. In Isaiah 14:12, it’s in a well-known passage that some think describes Satan (“son of the morning star”) also known as Lucifer. More likely, that reference is to the king of Babylon, the personification of arrogance and oppression.

In the New Testament, the term is used quite differently.

2 Peter 1:19 -- We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Revelation 2: 26-28 -- To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star.

Revelation 22:16 -- “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

The Revelation 22:16 passage is clearly a reference to Jesus Christ. The references in Revelation 2:28 and 2 Peter 1:19 are a little less clear, but very likely are also references to Christ.

As I see it, the Morning Star is associated with Jesus. While it is still dark, the morning star is a bright light, a promise of the coming sunrise. I think Jesus, as we know Him now, is similar. A bright, guiding, comforting light that we perhaps see dimly and intermittently. But the morning star is an early sign, a herald, of something much more brilliant and glorious. Venus presages the blazing sun; Jesus presages the glorious, promised New Heaven and New Earth.

I don’t know about you, but in these very, very dark days (January 2021), I really treasure and long for that Morning Star, the promise of the coming Brightness.

Check out these two YouTube videos of a couple of anthems I love that are relevant. The hymn, “O Morning Star, How Clear and Bright,” and “Choose Something Like a Star,” from a poem by Robert Frost. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.