Plate 8: CORONA (the Crown) It has 21 stars: one of the 2nd magnitude and six of the 4th. It is easily known by the stars θ, β, α, γ, δ, and ε, which form a crescent. Its brightest star, α, has the Arabic name of _Al Phecca_, _the shining_. Thus ends this solemn chapter of LIBRA, which describes the great work of Redemption, beginning with the Cross and ending with the Crown. The Redeemer’s work of Atonement is most blessedly set forth, and He alone is seen as the substitute for lost sinners. “What wondrous love, what mysteries In this appointment shine! My breaches of the law are His, And His obedience mine.” Chapter III. The Sign SCORPIO. _The Redeemer’s Conflict_. We come now right into the heart of the conflict. The star‐picture brings before us a gigantic scorpion endeavouring to sting in the heel a mighty man who is struggling with a serpent, but is crushed by the man, who has his foot placed right on the scorpion’s heart. The Hebrew name is _Akrab_, which is the name of a scorpion, but also means _the conflict_, or _war_. It is this that is referred to in Ps. xci. 13: “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” David uses the very word in Ps. cxliv. 1, where he blesses God for teaching his hands _to war_. The Coptic name is _Isidis_, which means _the attack of the enemy_, or _oppression_; referring to “the wicked that oppress me, my deadly enemies who compass me about” (Ps. xvii. 9). The Arabic name is _Al Akrab_, which means _wounding him that cometh_. [Illustration] Plate 9: SCORPIO (the Scorpion) There are 44 stars altogether in this sign. One is of the 1st magnitude, one of the 2nd, eleven of the 3rd, eight of the 4th, etc. The brightest star, α (in the heart), bears the ancient Arabic name of _Antares_, which means _the wounding_. It is called by the Latins _Cor Scorpii_, because it marks the scorpion’s heart. It shines ominously with a deep red light. The sting is called in Hebrew _Lesath_ (Chaldee, _Lesha_), which means _the perverse_. The stars in the tail are also known as _Leshaa_, or _Leshat_.(40) The scorpion is a deadly enemy (as we learn from Rev. ix), with poison in its sting, and all the names associated with the sign combine to set forth the malignant enmity which is “set” between the serpent and the woman’s Seed. That enmity is shown more fully in the written Word, where we see the attempt of the enemy (in Exod. i.) to destroy every male of the seed of Abraham, and how it was defeated. We see his effort repeated when he used Athaliah to destroy “all the seed royal” (2 Kings xi.), and how “the king’s son” was rescued “from among” the slain. We see his hand again instigating Haman, “the Jews’ enemy,” to compass the destruction of the whole nation, but defeated in his designs.