“For this is what the Lord says: Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Proclaim, praise, and say, ‘Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’” (Jeremiah 31:7)
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord shines over you. For look, darkness will cover the earth, and total darkness the peoples; but the Lord will shine over you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to your shining brightness.” (Isaiah 60:1-3)
Well, we survived the end of the world. The Great American Eclipse has come and gone. While a spectacular sight, none of the feared repercussions fell. You know, like the long-feared “dogs and cats, living together! Mass hysteria!” (Hat tip to Bill Murray in Ghostbusters.)
I had the opportunity to see this total solar eclipse, but I bailed out. I saw the one seven years ago and wanted to see this one, but it would have required a 16-hour drive – one way – from Naples, FL, to Effingham, IL, to meet up with my brother and sister. I could have done it in my younger days. Now? Not so much.
Not to fear, though. The next total solar eclipse is coming on August 12, 2045, and the shadow will pass right over Florida (nationaleclipse.com). Seeing that the date is twenty-one years from now, I may be viewing it from above, if you know what I mean.
A total solar eclipse is truly something to behold. I watched the 2017 solar eclipse from a hilltop vantage point with my friend, Mark, my bro and sis, and their friends. It was stunning to watch the entire shadow slowly advance across the landscape and then move over the hilltop where we stood, gawking. Colors faded away along with almost all sounds. The birds and many other creatures went quiet as deep darkness slowly enveloped us. Hello, Egyptian Plague # 9.
And then the crickets started in. Spooky.
For about 5 minutes, we gazed at the corona, clearly visible to our naked eyes, which we quickly covered with the super-duper Amazon.com eclipse sunglasses as the pearls (aka Baily’s Beads) started to appear around the sun’s edge. The pearls are the points of the corona that jut out from the corona as the moon moves on. When you see the corona and pearls, that effect is called the diamond ring, and worth the time and effort of seeing a total solar eclipse.
What causes a solar eclipse? Here you go, nerds. “A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting the moon’s shadow on Earth. This only happens occasionally, because the moon doesn’t orbit in the exact same plane as the Sun and Earth do. Two things need to occur at once for you to see a solar eclipse: the Sun, moon, and Earth need to be in a straight line, with the moon between the Sun and Earth; and you need to be standing in the correct spot on Earth. Lucky for us, our moon is the perfect size and is located at the perfect distance. When it passes in front of the Sun, it covers the Sun’s disk. During an annular eclipse, the moon is a bit closer to the Sun, leaving the edge of the Sun’s disk uncovered. The result looks like a bright ring of fire in the sky. During a total eclipse, the Sun’s disk is completely covered, allowing the outermost layer of its atmosphere, the corona, to shine out around the moon in a spectacular display” (exploratorium.edu).
Until this uncommon alignment occurs during the daytime, the sun either obscures the moon due to its brightness or, if we do see it, it’s faint because the sun is prominent.
Having experienced the eeriness of a total solar eclipse, I can easily understand why ancient peoples thought something was seriously wrong in the spirit world. Or the gods were trying to communicate with them.
They’re not entirely wrong, you know.
From the earliest days of creation, God created lights in the heavens to serve as signs for His soon-to-be-formed-from-the-dirt children. “What?” you say. “Didn’t God create those glowing gas bags and solar reflectors on the first day when He said, ‘Hit the lights!’?” Nope.
On Day 1, God created general light and dark (Genesis 1:3-5) to delineate days. It wasn’t until Day 4 that God created the sun, moon, and stars (Genesis 1:14-19). God gave them specific purposes when he made the sun, moon, and stars:
1) To add distinction between dark and light in Genesis 1:3-5.
2) To serve as signs noting the passing of the seasons (mo’edim), days, and years. Regarding the seasons, the heavenly bodies helped coordinate the yearly agriculture cycle. But more specifically, the moon’s cycle coordinated the Lord’s Feasts (mo’edim, appointed times). God commanded Israel to keep the Feasts as appointments with Him to celebrate past events and anticipate future ones. Regarding days and years, the sun and moon are components of a God-created timepiece that regulates calendars. The moon plays a huge role in regulating the biblical calendar, and the sun governs the Gentile (Gregorian) calendar.
3) To light up the earth, both day and night.
4) And here’s the big one, “They will serve as signs (Heb. oth)” (Genesis 1:14). The Hebrew word’s primary use is “sign, signal.” Other meanings are “distinguishing mark, remembrance, omen/warning, proof.” Signs and markers are meant to draw our attention to something. I want to focus on this aspect of the sun and moon.
God says the sun and the moon serve as signs to humankind whether we choose to believe it or not.
There have been four recent solar eclipses in the United States:
Eclipse # 1 was on August 21, 2017.
Eclipse # 2 was on June 10, 2021.
Eclipse # 3 was October 14, 2023.
Eclipse # 4 was the last one on April 8, 2024.
Did these recent solar eclipses serve as signs? Many who study such things think so. Check out these exciting coincidences:
· During the first 2017 eclipse, the moon’s circular shadow moved like an indicator over seven cities named Salem, short for Jerusalem, in Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, and South Carolina.
· During the 2021 second eclipse, the precise line of totality exited the United States over Corpus Christi (“Body of Christ”), Texas.
· During the 2024 fourth eclipse, the moon’s shadow again moved like an indicator over seven cities in the U.S. named Nineveh in Texas, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York.
· All four eclipses cover seven years, 7 being the number of completion, tribulation, creation, and the Sabbath.
· Another sign will be in the sky during this year’s fourth eclipse. The event will take place under the constellation Cetus, which is the whale constellation! And not only will it pass through the seven cities of the United States named Ninevah, but it will also pass through Jonah, Texas!
· Finally (and yes, there’s even more weird stuff I won’t include), where the fourth 2024 eclipse crosses the first 2017 eclipse to mark the center of the “X” is an area in southern Illinois called Little Egypt. Even more fascinating is that Little Egypt is sandwiched between 2 other cities – Alpha, Kentucky, and Omega, Illinois – both having the 2017 eclipse over their cities. (From Chad Smith via Facebook and eclipsewitness.com)
Are you gettin’ the wooie-oo’s yet? It sounds like God is telling us to repent or get judged. After all, how can a nation kill 67 million babies, become the largest provider of pornography on the planet, and blaspheme God through its culture, politics, judicial system, and overall lawlessness, and the Lord not judge it? What else could we conclude regarding the four solar eclipses crossing the United States over seven years, especially when it involves cities named Corpus Christie, Salem, Nineveh, and Jonah? It seems like the message is to turn back to Jesus or face judgment.
Maybe there’s more to this sign than many people realize.
However, as a student of prophecy, I see another picture embedded in the eclipse to serve as a sign to the world’s nations.
When God gave His calendar to Israel, He commanded them to live by the lunar cycle of new moon to new moon to designate a month. As a reminder, the biblical calendar is lunar based, not solar. The moon’s phases set the biblical calendar for when the Feasts of the Lord are to be celebrated. For example, Passover is during the full moon in spring, Trumpets is at the new moon in autumn, and Tabernacles commences during the full moon in the same month as Trumpets.
Because lunar events so orchestrate Israel’s life, the moon has come to symbolize Israel. The rabbis teach that Israel’s light source is not in themselves, but they reflect God’s light to the world. At least, that was God’s intent.
On the other hand, the sun represents the Gentile nations. Their calendar is solar-based, and Israel’s Gentile neighbors worshiped the sun (jewishvirtuallibrary.org).
Eclipses often portend God’s warning, approaching trouble, or even judgment in the Bible. “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes” (Joel 2:31), “Then I saw him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of hair; the entire moon became like blood” (Revelation 6:12), and “Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Matthew 24:29).
When a solar eclipse occurs, it’s regarded as applying to the Gentiles, and a lunar eclipse applies to Israel. The rabbis teach that “An eclipse of the sun is an evil sign for the gentiles while an eclipse of the moon augurs evil for the Jews. When the solar eclipse occurs in the eastern horizon it forecasts bad tidings for the inhabitants of the East; if in the western horizon it betokens ill to those of the West; while if it occurs in the zenith it threatens the entire world. When the color of the eclipse is red it symbolizes war; when gray, famine; when changing from red to gray, both war and famine. When the eclipse occurs in the beginning of the day or of the night it signifies that evil will come soon; if late in the day or night, then it will arrive tardily.” (jewishvirtuallibrary.org)
As a child, I learned that the moon is closer to the Earth than the sun. Amazing insight, right? All kidding aside, that means the sun may overpower the moon with its brightness most of the time, but there are times when the moon obscures the sun physically, even if for a relatively short time.
This event brilliantly reflects God’s prophecies about Israel’s future.
Israel may be only a speck of land relative to all the nations on the earth, and the Jews may only be .002 % of the world’s population (jewishagency.org, worldometers.info), but look at how much attention is focused on Israel and the Jews. The U.N. is obsessed with passing resolutions against Israel and its existence. The Islamic world generally hates Israel and the Jews and seeks to exterminate them. (“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” That’s correct, Leftists. You’re supporting a Hitlerian genocide.) After October 7, 2023, virulent antisemitism has burned wildly around the globe, much to everyone’s surprise.
Why?
Because whether or not anyone wants to admit it, especially Christians who are supposed to know God’s Word, the people of Israel are central to God’s plan and prophetic calendar. Only Jesus (Jewish, by the way) is at the center.
For millennia, the people of Israel and the geo-political entity called the nation of Israel have long been overpowered by the “light” of the Gentile nations. However, when the time comes, Israel will eclipse the Gentile nations in prominence during Jesus’ messianic reign.
From Abraham’s call through the fall of Jerusalem forty years after Jesus ascended to heaven, Israel’s light waxed and waned like the moon through a growing population birthed by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then a nation bound to God at Mount Sinai (1440 B.C.), planted in the land of Canaan by God (ca. 1400), wrenched from the land for their idolatry (586 B.C.), returned to their land (ca. 516 B.C. ), and removed a second time by the Romans (A.D. 70). The Diaspora has been one long lunar eclipse of pain and sorrow for the Jewish people as strangers in a strange land.
But that has changed.
Scripture tells us how important 1948 and 1967 were. In 1948, the people of Israel became a nation once again. In 1967, Israel took control of Jerusalem as their historic capital. “They (the Jews) will be killed by the sword and be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).
There’s now a nation to receive the people of Israel, and the Gentiles no longer control Jerusalem. We’re approaching an eclipse of biblical proportions.
When Messiah Jesus returns, His people will receive Him (Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 23:39), He will ascend the throne of His human ancestor, David (Luke 1:32), and He will fulfill God’s promises to Israel of a Davidic kingdom on earth, preeminent over all the nations, as prophesied by God Himself:
“In the last days (acharit, referring to the End Times as we know them) the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established at the top (rosh, chief/head) of the mountains (a metaphor for nations) and will be raised above the hills. All nations will stream to it, and many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways so that we may walk in his paths.’ For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Micah 4:1-2; cf. Isaiah 2:2-3). Because of the Lord’s victory over His enemies at the end of the Last Days, Israel will become the head of the nations.
Why will this happen? Because Jesus will be with His people once again.
“On that day the root of Jesse (Jesus, God’s Messiah per Isaiah 11:1-5) will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will look to him for guidance, and his resting place will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10).
“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8).
“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him” (Psalm 22:27).
Isaiah prophesies about Jesus in his Servant Song, “Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: ‘Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you’” (Isaiah 49:7).
And finally, “At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts” (Jeremiah 3:17).
But lest we think it’s okay to trash the people and nation of Israel at this time because they haven’t come to full prominence, God already regards them as preeminent among the nations, even though they’re currently outnumbered and routinely put upon by the nations. “For this is what the Lord says: Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost (Heb. rosh, chief/head) of the nations! Proclaim, praise, and say, ‘Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’” (Jeremiah 31:7).
Because the nation of Israel has been reborn and the people of Israel control Jerusalem, we’re rapidly approaching the time of the Jews, the eclipse of the nations, and the soon return of Israel’s Messiah.
When the sun eclipses, there’s a ring around the totality called the corona. Corona means “crown.” When the nation of Israel eclipses the world’s nations, and Jesus reigns from Jerusalem, the world will be crowned with God’s grace and mercy. The Bible tells us a brief moment of trouble and judgment will precede the totality of Jesus’ reign, but our King will see us through it.
But will the Gentile eclipse be a time of darkness over the earth, literally or figuratively? Certainly not. Physical darkness will flee from the brightness of Jesus’ arrival (2 Thessalonians 2:8), and spiritual darkness will dissipate as the nations come to Israel to learn of the Lord.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord shines over you. For look, darkness will cover the earth, and total darkness the peoples; but the Lord will shine over you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to your shining brightness” (Isaiah 60:1-3).
Eclipses may be harbingers of trouble and judgment. Even if they are, should we fear? Nope. If we follow the Lord’s word and embrace the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and His Son, Jesus, “This is what the Lord says: Do not learn the way of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them” (Jeremiah 10:2). Why? Because we don’t serve the signs in the heavens. We serve the Sovereign King who made those signs to enlighten us about His ways and Word.
And one day, even the sun and moon will become irrelevant.
“(The New Jerusalem) does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there. They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:23-27).
Will you be there?
Sources:
“Jews who are true to their faith need not worry about these premonitions since the prophet already said: “….be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the nations are dismayed at them” (Jer. 10:2; Suk. 29a). https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sun#google_vignette
Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead
Pastor Jay Christianson
The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts