On December 21, 2010 (Tevet 14, 5771 in the Jewish calendar), there will be a full lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse is also know as a "blood moon" due to the red color that the Moon has from the shading the Earth gives it as the Earth comes between the Sun and the moon.
The eclipse begins on 12/21/10 at 1:33 am EST (12/20/10 at 10:33 pm PST). At that time, Earth's shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the Moon. It takes about an hour for the "bite" to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality commences at 02:41 am EST (11:41 pm PST) and lasts for 72 minutes. If you're planning to take a look, then I recommend checking it out at 03:17 am EST (17 minutes past midnight PST) which is when the Moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of blood red.
What does God say about the objects in the sky?
"Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth'; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:14-18)"Let them be for signs and seasons" God says. The Hebrew word for "signs" in Genesis 1:14 is "אוֹת" (pronounced "ōth") in Hebrew. The Strong's Concordance defines it as a "sign" or "signal", "a distinguishing mark", a "banner", a "remembrance", a "miraculous sign", an "omen", a "warning". The Strong's also says it can be considered as a "token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof"--not much gray area on this one. This literally means a "signal", a beacon or a monument. The idea here is that the Lord is trying to "signal" us, to get our attention. It is not only a signal, but a signal for a specific purpose. These signal His appointments that He has made with His people.
So, it is perfectly acceptable that we should consider what God places in the sky. I mean those "wise men" from the east that saw the "star of Bethlehem" and knew without any doubt that the Messiah had been born. They went looking for the Messiah and found Him! How did they know what to look for in the sky to tell them that? Some say that these "wise men" had been trained by none other than the prophet Daniel to read the signs in the sky back when the Jews were in Persia.
If you have any doubts about the seriousness of the objects in our night sky, then please view the videos below:
The Legendary Saga of Jupiter and Saturn (part 1)
The Legendary Saga of Jupiter and Saturn (part 2)
The Legendary Saga of Jupiter and Saturn (part 3)
What is the meaning of this??
"Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.'" (Zechariah 8:19)In Jewish writings, a "blood red" Moon speaks of something bad to come, and a total Solar eclipse means bad things for the Gentile Nations. What the Lord is saying in Zechariah 8:19 is that He will turn those fast days of mourning, into days of joy for the nation of Israel. In other words, the rest of the nations will be judged during that time.
At NASA's "Eclipse Web Site", they list all of the solar and lunar eclipses spanning five millennium. Which is just a small sample demonstrating that the Lord is very mathematical and very precise in the way that He ordered the Universe. The eclipses (solar and lunar) happen on a very reliable and predictable schedule which means that with a little computer work, we can figure out precisely when the past eclipses have occurred and exactly when the future eclipses will occur. Of course, if you're an atheist, then the entire Universe is just a big accident and all of this "precision" doesn't really exist. Yeah, sure, and I am supposed to believe that a tornado can go through a junkyard and accidentally make a 1957 Chevy, right?
Mark Biltz explains this much better than I ever could, please view the below interview that he had with Gary Stearman and J.R. Church:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near--at the doors!" (Matthew 24:29-33)The darkened Sun is a solar eclipse. The Moon not giving light is a lunar eclipse. The stars falling from heaven is a meteor shower. Can anyone give another explanation?
"I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" (Revelation 6:2-7)So, after the Sun turns black (solar eclipse), the stars fall (meteor shower/falling stars), and the Moon turns red (lunar eclipse) then the "sky recedes". Perhaps our protective ozone layer is gone at this point exposing us to the direct effects of radiation in the Universe and the scorching sun?
Guess what? The last in a series of solar eclipses that all occurred on the 1st of Av (Jewish calendar) concluded with the final eclipse on July 11 of THIS YEAR (Av 1 of the previous Jewish year), we're currently in the midst of a meteor shower, and we'll have a blood red moon lunar eclipse on 12/21/10.
Yeah...well, what's so special about 12/21/10?
Besides there being a lunar eclipse, 12/21/10 is also the day of the "Winter Solstice". Besides being the time of the year when the heathens of the world howl into the midnight sky and talk to their dead relatives (I don't really know what they do...I'm just making stuff up here), there are some interesting things that are associated with this day.
The winter solstice occurs exactly when the Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the Sun at its maximum of 23° 26'. Though the winter solstice lasts only a moment in time, the term is also a turning point to midwinter. More evident to those in high latitudes, this occurs on the shortest day, and longest night, and the sun's daily maximum position in the sky is the lowest. The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the winter solstice occurs on December 21 or 22 each year in the Northern Hemisphere, and June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. The 2010 winter solstice will occur on December 21, at 6:38 pm EST.
BUT, it doesn't fall on any of the Jewish feast days. So, what day of the Jewish calendar does it fall on? The 14th of Tevet is the answer. Has anything significant happened with Israel on the 14th of Tevet? Well, according to the "This Month in Jewish History" website...
14 Tevet 5501: "Window Purim" or "Purim Chevron" in Chevron (Hebron), commemorating the miraculous discovery of a sack with 50,000 gold coins on a window sill in the synagogue, the exact amount the Pasha demanded in exchange for abrogating his expulsion order.
It is this day that I would like to examine more closely. On this day, it is reported that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob came to the rescue of the Jewish community of Hebron, after an evil Pasha (Ottoman ruler) imprisoned its leaders and threatened to sell the entire Jewish population into slavery and kill the Jewish leaders if they did not pay a sum of fifty thousand piasters within the month. The Jews fasted and prayed to God because they knew that it was impossible for them to raise this much money is such a short time.
The night before the due date for payment, the Pasha went to bed and was shocked to find three old men in his room. "Give us the bag with the fifty thousand piasters if you value your life," was their demand. Out of fear, he gave them the money, and the old men disappeared. The Pasha woke up from the nightmare and blew it off. He reassured himself that nothing had happened.
The next morning, he and some of his soldiers set out to collect his money from the Jews. When they arrived at the Beth Hamidrash (a house of study) they banged on the door exclaiming, "Open the door for the Pasha!"
As they were going to open the door, one of the Jews saw a strange bag lying in the wash basin where the congregants washed their hands before entering the Beth Hamidrash--he could hardly lift it!
"I have come for the fifty thousand piasters which are due today," the Pasha demanded. They handed over the bag to the Pasha, he shook with fear because this was indeed his bag of gold which he confessed that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had visited him in the night and took the bag of gold from him the previous night.
Then he said, "The Guardian of Israel does not sleep, and I beg you now to forgive me for my evil intentions. Pray for me and I promise I will never again attempt to do you harm in any way."
The Sephardic community of Hebron would celebrate this day to mark the great miracle which occurred.
You can read more about this at chabad.org.
This very well could have been Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but could it have been the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost instead? You know, Abraham was visited by three strangers in Genesis 18 which turned out to be God.
Guess what? There was a lunar eclipse on the 14th of Tevet 5501! 14 Tevet 5501 is January 2nd, 1741.
"But, the lunar eclipse was on January 1st, 1741 according to the NASA website!", you say.
Yep, that's what NASA says. Go check it out for yourself right HERE. But if you will notice, the "TD of Greatest Eclipse" (the instant when the axis of the Moon's shadow cone passes closest to Earth's center) occurred at 23:47:06 which is six seconds after 11:47pm on 01/01/1741. We have to remember that all Jewish days begin the evening before the date specified on most calendars. This is because a Jewish "day" begins and ends at sunset, rather than at midnight. If you read the story of creation in Genesis Ch. 1, you will notice that it says, "And the evening and the morning were the first day." From this, we infer that a day begins with evening, that is, sunset. So, at 11:47pm on 01/01/1741 is after sunset and considered 14 Tevet 5501. Not only that, but 11:47pm on 01 January 1741 is 6:45am on 14 Tevet 5501 in Israel!
A Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse...How rare is that?
Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years. "Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21," says Chester. "Fortunately we won't have to wait 372 years for the next one...that will be on 2094 DEC 21."
See an animated map of the Solstice Lunar Eclipse HERE.
Now, keep in mind that, just like in my other writings, I am exploring possibilities here. And since Israel had bad occurrences associated with Av 1 (where we have 3 recent solar eclipses--see the Mark Biltz video near the top of this posting) which do not fall on any Jewish feast days but is still considered as a significant "sign" in the heavens. This being so, I see no reason why we cannot also consider any events associated with a lunar eclipse that has occurred on a Winter Solstice. If anyone can give me a reason not to pursue this, then please let me know at watchman.rayburn@gmail.com ok?
We've already quoted Geoff Chester as saying that the only other occurrence of a solstice lunar eclipse that he could find was 12/21/1638. You can go to the NASA website where they have it catalogued HERE. I plan to search this out for any other occurrences of a solstice lunar eclipse, but I wanted to get this out on my blog as quickly as possible. Don't worry, if I find any others, then I will post an update.
Before we go any further, we must consider the "Saros cycle". The Saros cycle is an eclipse cycle with a period of 223 synodic months (approximately 6585.3213 days, or nearly 18 years 11 1/3 days), that can be used to predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon. One cycle after an eclipse, the Sun, Earth, and Moon return to approximately the same relative geometry, and a nearly identical eclipse will occur. A series of eclipses that are separated by one Saros cycle is called a Saros series.
As you all probably know, the Jewish calendar observes 360 days per year while our more commonly used Gregorian calendar observes a 365-day year. As you can probably guess, just because the 21st of December 2010 is the 14th of Tevet 5771 this year, it won't be next year. Because of the difference in the number of days per year that each calendar observes, they separate by a factor of about 5 days at the same time the next year, about 10 days the year after that, and so on. To put it short, these two calendars don't get on the same page every often.
On top of that, let's consider this whole Saros cycle thingy. How often do you think Mr. Saros, Mr. Gregorian, and Mr. Jewish calendar all meet up for lunch? How often do you think they've all met on Winter Solstice? Forget it, I'm not doing the math. If anybody figures it out, then let me know, but I am not putting my poor little mind through that.
Now, what is the Jewish calendar date for 12/21/10 of our Gregorian calendar? As we already said, the 21st of December 2010 is the 14th of Tevet 5771. Ok, so what is the Jewish calendar date for 12/21/1638 of our Gregorian calendar?
21st of December 1638 = 14th of Tevet 5399
21st of December 2010 = 14th of Tevet 5771
Both of these lunar winter solstice days are on the 21st of December AND the 14th of Tevet! Mr. Saros, Mr. Gregorian, and Mr. Jewish all met! Check it out the dates for yourself at Hebcal Jewish Calendar. A very rare occurrence indeed!
So what happened on 14 Tevet 5399???
Nothing! Well, nothing of historical significance that I could find. Believe me, I looked...
However, two days later on 16 Tevet 5399 (December 23, 1638) we have what the Jews have called the "Baghdad Purim". At this time, the Turkish leader Sultan Murad IV conquered Baghdad from other Persians with the help of the Jews. The day was celebrated as a Yom Ness (a day of miracles). In general, when the Ottomans ruled the city, life for its Jewish residents improved. When the Persian Shiites ruled the city the situation was very difficult to say the least.
Now, I may be just spit-balling here, but if Turks and the Jews got together to defeat the Persians on 16 Tevet 5399, then I don't think it would be too far-fetched to think that the Turks and the Jews had planned this attack from at least 14 Tevet 5399. I'm not a betting man, but I think it is highly unlikely that they formulated their attack strategy and executed it all on the same day (16 Tevet 5399). I mean we're not talking about two armies meeting together on the battlefield in a war that is already in progress. This was an attack to depose at ruling army from Baghdad where they had been dug-in for years prior. You don't just waltz into Baghdad and take it over in one day. It didn't happen that way for America in "Operation Iraqi Freedom", and I sincerely doubt that it happened that way on "Baghdad Purim" also.
Are there any others?
So far, we've uncovered two days that are considered "miraculous" by the Jewish people in close proximity to 14 Tevet--one in 5399 and the other in 5501 of the Jewish calendar that are associated with a lunar eclipse. Are there any others?
14 Tevet 5675 (January 1, 1915) Jews of Laibach, Austria expelled. (No lunar eclipse in Tevet of 5675. The nearest lunar eclipse was on January 31, 1915 which is 16th Sh'vat 5675 in the Jewish calendar.)
14 Tevet 5731 (January 11, 1971) Population of Eretz Yisroel reached three million. (No lunar eclipse in Tevet of 5731. The nearest lunar eclipse was on February 10, 1971 which is 15 Sh'vat 5731 in the Jewish calendar.)
But there is a very well-known fast day amongst the Jews that is observed every 10th of Tevet. This fast is done in remembrance of the destruction of the very first temple and the exile of the Jews from the land of Israel and Jerusalem — it all started on the 10th of Tevet with the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. So, both of these dates and their miraculous events (14 Tevet 5675 & 14 Tevet 5731) could be easily associated the with destruction of the first temple, but it just doesn't seem likely. Maybe I'm just not seeing it correctly, but these two days (14 Tevet 5675 & 14 Tevet 5731) of "miracles" just don't seem to go into the same category as the day that the king of Babylon came to destroy the Jewish temple, kill the Jews, and take the Jewish people into exile. Call me crazy, but their is a clear distinction between days of "miracles" and days of "destruction". I guess the lowest common denominator that these have are that all of these days are considered days that God greatly intervened in the lives of the Jewish people.
What will happen on 14 Tevet 5771?
14 Tevet 5399 = 21 Dec 1638 ("Baghdad Purim")
14 Tevet 5501 = 01 Jan 1741 ("Chevron Purim")
14 Tevet 5771 = 21 Dec 2010 ("??????? Purim")???
Could this be the Rapture? Yes, it "could be", but I ain't no stinkin' "date setter" for the Rapture, comprende? But let's just suppose that it is indeed the prelude to the Rapture. What can we expect after that??
"After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed [...] After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (Revelation 7:1-10)The ellipses above in brackets "[...]" are mine. I put them there for the sake of time in reading. Basically it says that 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel were sealed. However, the tribe of Dan is conspicuously absent which is another off-topic yet highly relevant "can of worms" that we don't have time to discuss here. I highly recommend "Daniel Reveals the Bloodline of the Antichrist" for anyone wanting to delve into this subject.
Then the wind stops blowing but no harm will come to the earth, the sea, or the trees until what? Until the Rapture! The servants of God will be sealed.
And in case anyone doubts that this is the Rapture, then see here where these folks are identified:
"Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, 'Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?' And I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' So he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'" (Revelation 7:13-14)Who are those who have "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"? Those who believe in Jesus ("Yeshua" in Hebrew) as their Lord and Savior!
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18)
The Bible is self-explanatory if we'll only allow the Holy Ghost to lead us in our study.
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