WARNING: SARCASM AHEAD:
I just saw an article written by someone called “Gary” on Bible prophecy entitled “The Divine Message Of The August Eclipse” (original source here, including any links to other articles). I don’t look for these articles, I promise, but somehow they seem to find me. This one came to me by way of a facebook feed.
My responses are in bold type so anyone can follow along. OK here we go…
On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will cross the entire contiguous United States, beginning in Oregon and ending in South Carolina. Incredibly, the eclipse will actually begin as soon as the sun rises on the West Coast (the sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west, but eclipses travel in the opposite direction – see here). In other words, people will witness a black sun rising over the United States. It has also been noted that another total solar eclipse will cross the United States at an opposite angle seven years later in 2024.
Ok, I am staying calm, breathing in and out slowly at this point. Not much to say here, except I am not sure the word “incredibly” is entirely appropriate. Eclipses happen!
Note: Before you continue reading, please realize that this is not an end of the world prediction.
Praise the Lord for that!
We actually believe the world will never end.
Huh? I thought the prophetic promise for this world is pretty bleak, if I am reading 2 Peter 3:10 correctly… but ok. As I say, I am trying to stay calm.
We believe that God may be communicating a message through this eclipse about the general nearness of Christ’s return.
Ok, I am all ears.. carry on.
The amount of prophetic meaning behind these eclipses is simply overwhelming and I dare not attempt to interpret it all. I’ll simply share with you a few of the discoveries I and others have made and you can interpret it for yourself:
How is it that I have the feeling I am about to be underwhelmed rather than overwhelmed?
1. The August eclipse occurs exactly 33 days before the Revelation 12 Sign, beginning in the 33rd state (Oregon), and ending in South Carolina at the 33rd parallel. I’ve personally verified each of these details (see here, here, and here). Can you really chalk up the significance of this to pure coincidence or confirmation bias?
Actually, in that there is nothing in Scripture that speaks about the 33rd state and 33rd parallel… yes, I can chalk this up to coincidence.
It’s been noted that an eclipse like this hasn’t happened in 99 years.
Errr… so what?
That would be 3 x 33 years.
Really?
You know, you are right about that.
What might God be communicating?
Errr… “nothing whatsoever”, is my guess.
One of our readers noticed Ezekiel 33:
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’”
I’ve noticed Ezekiel 33 too and I also notice it has nothing to do with the 33rd state and 33rd parallel, and… chapter numbers and verses are not inspired and part of the original text anyway. They were added many centuries later, actually, millennia later.
2. The eclipse is also exactly 40 days from Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). “40” represents a period of testing in the Bible as can been seen in the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness and the 40 days Jesus was tested in the wilderness. This 40 day period leading up to Yom Kippur is more than random.
How so?
In fact, this period of time beginning on August 21st is called the Season of Teshuvah, which in the Jewish faith is a time to get right with God before judgment falls on the Day of Atonement. In other words, repent before time is up.
There is nothing wrong with calling people to repentance. Acts 17:30, 31 says, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” That’s the Biblical reason why all need to repent and that is more than enough reason to do so. Lets just stick with the Bible shall we, rather than trying to find extra reasons for repentance, not found in the Biblical text?
3. While eclipses are not that uncommon, total solar eclipses only occur about every year and a half and often occur over the ocean rather than land. Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking this eclipse is nothing out of the ordinary.
It may be somewhat unusual, but other than that, not much to it, in my opinion… and I am still waiting for a biblical text to be cited that shows that any of this is significant.
Day will be turned to night all across the middle United States. It’s been 99 years since a total solar eclipse crossed the entire United States and having another total solar eclipse cross the entire United States again, forming an ‘X’, just a few years later is perhaps unprecedented.
…and what happened 99 years ago when this happened? We are not told.
4. It’s been noted that the United States is the wealthiest, most powerful, and most influential Gentile nation. It is also the world’s ethnic melting pot and hosts a proto-world government in the form of the United Nations. Lunar eclipses (blood moons) are omens for Israel whereas solar eclipses are omens for the Gentiles.
What is your Biblical basis for this assertion?
The 7 year Tribulation is also known as the Day of the LORD when God enters into judgment with the Gentile nations. The fact that two total solar eclipses, spaced seven years apart, cross the entirety of the contiguous United States, and form an ‘x’ over the chief Gentile nation on earth should give you pause.
ok, I paused.
May I carry on now?
5. The Tribulation (also called Daniel’s 70th Week or The Time of Jacob’s Trouble) is understood to be a worldwide version of the Exodus from Egypt. The plagues and Exodus were a sort of microcosm of the future Day of the LORD. The ruthless Pharaoh was a type of the antichrist, the plagues were a type of the coming worldwide trumpet and vial judgments, the Exodus was a type of both the rapture and the future Israelite remnant that will escape into the wilderness, and so forth. Even some of the minute details were types and shadows. Moses was a type of the future “male child” (Christ and the Church) that was and will be delivered from harm’s way. He escaped the tribulation that his people endured when he was placed in a basket and ended up as a prince in palaces of splendor. Yet his people continued to endure tribulation and suffering until he later returned to deliver them from Egypt. Even some of the specific plagues in Egypt will be replicated on a worldwide scale during the Tribulation. As a matter of fact, there is a direct parallel in the book of Revelation to seven of the ten plagues in Egypt (see here). You could say the Tribulation is almost a “do-over” of the Exodus because the Israelites were not faithful to the end in the first instance, but at the end of the Tribulation will be faithful, saved, and delivered.
Talk of “The Tribulation” opens up a fairly large can of worms. Many miss the significance of various prophecies already fulfilled in the first century, particularly around AD70 in Jerusalem… but to go into detail on this would require a great amount of writing… maybe an entire book. Anyway, hopefully we can continue..
With this in mind, consider that the ‘x’ that will be formed over the United States rests right over a region in southern Illinois called “Little Egypt”.
Wow!
Actually, I take that back! I am not particularly ‘wowed’ to be honest.
Even more – the exact point where the two paths cross is in the town of Makanda, which used to be called the “Star of Egypt”.
and again, Scripture says what about this? Errrr… zero… am I right?
6. The eclipse occurs in conjunction with Regulus, the “King Star”. Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation Leo and Leo is one of the two constellations involved in the Revelation 12 Sign. The fact that this eclipse occurs in Leo, which will be part of the Great Sign the month after, is astonishing. It’s like God’s trying to fix our attention on the King and on the following month’s Great Sign.
Not feeling great astonishment here, sorry!
Also, a reader noticed that the eclipse crosses exactly 12 states and I verified the count to make sure. An eclipse across 12 states just one month before the Revelation 12 Sign that features a woman with a crown of 12 stars.
Again, sorry.. but what does the Bible say about an eclipse across 12 states a month before the Revelation 12 sign (which again is another issue altogether as to what exactly that means)? Errr.. is it the big round digit once again? Yeah, thought so!
7. The first major city that will witness the eclipse is Oregon’s state capital, Salem. Salem is of course the shortened version of “Jerusalem”, which is the most prophetically significant city in the entire Bible.
Admittedly, the Bible has a lot to say about Jerusalem. But nothing to say about Salem, Oregon. Sorry!
Jerusalem was originally called “Salem” in the days of Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18) who was a foreshadowing of Christ or possibly even a Christophany.
You are right!
If that isn’t interesting enough, the closest road to the exact point where the two eclipses cross is Salem Road in Makanda, Illinois. What are the chances of that?
You got me there… not too great… but again, what Biblical text tells us to look for this sign of two eclipses crossing on Salem Road in Makanda, Illinois? Didn’t see those names in my Bible concordance.
8. After crossing Salem, Oregon, the path of totality then crosses Madras, which means “Mother of God” (reminiscent of the Revelation 12 Woman). Then it crosses the city of John Day, which of course reminds us of the Apostle John who recorded the Book of Revelation and described to us the Day of the LORD.
Ok… you’ve lost me now… My name is John and I think I am going to call it a day!
After that it crosses Weiser, Idaho, which is German for “wise man”.
I don’t feel any wiser after reading this.
The wise men from the east were those who were watching the signs in the heavens when Jesus Christ was born. They followed His star and found the exact place where He was born.
Yes, that is true.
Likewise we see another sign in the heavens pointing to the nearness of Jesus’ return.
No, actually we don’t.
The path then points us to John again as it passes over Grandjean, which is French for “Big” or “Tall” John.
Big Bad John! Wasn’t that an old western song from the 60’s? let me look it up?
Yes!!! Yes!!! here it is:
It then crosses Stanley, which means “stone clearing” (see Psalm 118:22, 1 Peter 2:4-7) and Mackay, which means “Son of fire” (see 1 John 4:15, Revelation 1:14, 19:12, Daniel 10:6).
Then it goes through Rexburg (“City of the King”) and Victor (Matthew 12:20, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, 1 John 5:4) and then again points us to the Apostle John as it goes through Jackson (“Son of John”). The amazing message continues as it goes right through Casper, Wyoming. “Casper” is a Chaldean name and is the traditional name assigned to the wise men/magi (see here).
The eclipse then moves through Alliance, Nebraska. An alliance is a union of multiple parties. The Church is soon to be brought into an eternal alliance with Christ when the Body is joined to the Head. Likewise, down on earth a satanic alliance will soon be forming in the form of ten horns (Revelation 17:12) and a “covenant with many” (Daniel 9:27).
Next up is Ravenna, which means “raven” and points us to the days of Noah. Noah sent forth a raven from the Ark before he sent a dove (Genesis 8:7). Also, Ravenna, Italy was where Julius Caesar gathered his forces before crossing the Rubicon. The term “crossing the Rubicon” is an idiom for saying “the die has been cast” or “past the point of no return”. In other words, there’s no turning back.
The meaning goes on and on and that’s just a small sampling.
Thank the Lord for that!!!
What have you discovered?
Nothing at all!
Maranatha! 
Amen… Come quickly Lord Jesus.
Fond regards,
Big Bad John!