The Third Decan of the Sign
The third Decan of this sign is the beautiful cluster of little stars named Delphinus. It is the figure of a vigorous fish leaping upward. Taken in connection with the dying goat, it conveys the idea of springing up again out of death. Our great Sin-bearer not only died for our sins but also rose again, thereby becoming "the first-fruits of them that slept." As the Head and Representative of His Church, He is the principal Fish in the congregation of the fishes. Their quickening, life, and spiritual resurrection rest on His coming forth again after having gone down into the waves of death for their sakes.
Resurrection and New Life
Put to death in the flesh, He was quickened by the Spirit, and in His quickening and resurrection all His people share. Having been buried in His death, their life is by virtue of His resurrection, so "like as He was raised from the dead, so we should walk in newness of life," ever advancing toward a still more complete resurrection to come. The corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, but from that death, there is a springing up again to the intended fruitfulness. Christ dies and rises again, and His people, slain in their old carnal confidence, absolved by His suffering of the penalty due to them, and planting themselves solely upon Him as their Lord and Redeemer, rise with Him into the new, spiritual, and eternal life. The picture of the dying goat, with its after-part a living fish, implied this, but the nature of the transition could not be so well expressed in that figure by itself. Hence the additional explanatory figure of an upspringing fish, to show more vividly that the transition is by means of resurrection to a new life of another style. We thus have the vivid symbol of both the resurrection of the slain Saviour as the Head of the Church, and the included new creation of His people, who rise to their new life through His death and resurrection.
Ancient Mythology and the Dolphin
In ancient mythology, the dolphin was the most sacred and honored of fishes, doubtless because of its place among the ancient constellations, though the myths representing it are very different. It was specially sacred to Apollo, and its name was added to his - some say because he slew the dragon, others say because in the form of a dolphin, he showed the Cretan colonists the way to Delphi, the most celebrated place in the Grecian world and the seat of the most famous of all the oracles. According to some accounts, it was a dolphin that brought about the marriage of the unwilling Amphitrite with the god of the sea, and for this, it received a place among the stars. The muddy waters reflect something of the original idea. Christ was the true Son of Deity. It was He who broke the Dragon's power by submitting to become the atoning Mediator. "In all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." By His death and resurrection, He has opened and shown the way by which His people come to the blessed city of which Jehovah is the light. By His mediation, He has brought about a marriage between men in flight from their Lord and Him who loved them with a love that passeth knowledge. An enduring foretoken of all this, His sign as the Head of His people was thus placed in the heavens, where it stands as another form of the parable of the buried corn of wheat rising in new life, of which all who are His are partakers.
Conclusion
The Decan Delphinus, represented by the Dolphin, is a symbol of resurrection and new life. In both Christian theology and ancient mythology, the Dolphin holds significance as a representation of life after death, reconciliation, and guidance. As we look up to the stars and observe the constellation of Delphinus, we are reminded of the enduring story of hope, redemption, and the promise of a new beginning.