The sign contains 83 stars, one of which is of the 3rd magnitude, and seven are of the 4th magnitude, and the remainder of inferior magnitudes. In the centre of the Sign there is a remarkably bright cluster of stars, so bright that they can be sometimes seen with the naked eye. It looks like a comet, and is made up of a great multitude of stars. Modern astronomers have called it the _Beehive_. But its ancient name has come down to us as Praesepe, which means _a multitude_, _offspring_. The brightest star, ζ (in the head), is called _Tegmine_, _holding_. The star α (or α1 and α2), in the lower large claw, is called _Acubene_, which, in Hebrew and Arabic, means _the sheltering_ or _hiding‐place_. Another is named _Ma’alaph_ (Arabic), _assembled thousands_; _Al Himarein_ (Arabic), _the kids_ or _lambs_. North and south of the nebula _Praesepe_ are two stars, which Orientalists speak of by a name evidently of some antiquity. _Asellus_ means an _Ass_, and one was called _Asellus Boreas_, _the northern Ass_; while the other, _Asellus Australis_, is _the southern Ass_. The sign was afterwards known by the symbol ♋, which stands for these two asses.(70) This connects it with the Tribe of Issachar, who is said to have borne upon the Tribal standard the sign of _two asses_. This is doubtless the reference in Jacob’s blessing (Gen. xlix. 11, R.V.):— “Issachar is a strong ass, Couching down between the sheepfolds; And he saw a resting‐place that it was good; And the land that it was pleasant; And he bowed his shoulder to bear, And became a servant under task work.” Have we not here the gathering up of the teaching of this sign— _Messiah’s redeemed possessions held fast._ Here we come to the completion of His work. In CANCER we see it with reference to His _redeemed_, and in the next (the last) Sign, LEO, with reference to His _enemies_. The three constellations develope the truth. What is now called _Ursa Minor_ is _the Lesser Flock_; _Ursa Major_ gives us _The Sheepfold and the Sheep_; while _Argo_, _The Ship_, shows the travellers and the pilgrims brought safely home—all conflict over. To accomplish this, we see the true Issachar bowing his shoulder to bear. He could say, “My soul is bowed down” (Ps. lvii. 6). HE became a servant, and humbled Himself to death. HE undertook the mighty task of saving His people from their sins. “Their Redeemer is strong” (Jer. l. 34); for help was laid on “One that was mighty” (Ps. lxxxix. 19). And His redeemed shall come to a resting‐place that is good, and to a land that is pleasant. No earthly Khan on earth affords them a home. They look for a heavenly home, and in the many mansions of the Father’s house they shall find eternal rest. Here we see that sheltering home to which the names of these stars point; where the assembled thousands (_Ma’alaph_) shall be received into the true _Klaria_, even the “everlasting habitations.” These are now to be shown to us.