Expanded Light on The Coma Supernova and The Celestial Prelude

Birth of Jesus Christ
Biblical Astronomy of the Birth of Christ

This month’s blog shines more light on the subject of the Celestial Prelude as it relates to the Coma Supernova. There has been a lack of tangible historical evidence surrounding this Supernova in the decans of Virgo, which is the aim of this study to generally remedy. By using mostly ancient sources like the Scriptures of the Bible, and artifacts of ancient archaeology like the Dendera Zodiac, the Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid, two mainstays of ancient Egyptian Megalithic Architecture, unified using the principles of Biblical Astronomy, we can show how these wonders of the ancients can reveal more of their secrets in answer these questions. Along the way we will continue to unmask the errors of a main critic of the Celestial Gospels; Dr. David Faulkner.

To begin with, Faulkner makes numerous false claims, one of which is “If the Gospel in the Stars was antediluvian as claimed, then there were two millennia to garble the message before any sources that we have regarding the names of stars and constellations.”1 Here Faulkner has his dates confused since historical sources for star names in ancient Egypt are not only found related to the star shafts of the Great Pyramid, but stars named in decans in the Dendera Zodiac, and the Pyramid texts that are all pre-flood references. “Even if the message was kept intact by a remnant unto Abraham and down to Moses, that still leaves a gap of 1000 years. Not only are there no texts preserving the original knowledge of the Gospel in the Stars, but we know of no sources before Rolleston claiming that there ever were such texts, or that any ever lived who believed such things. The first source
we know of to make this claim is Rolleston’s book. To be clear-it’s obvious from Rolleston’s book that she had no texts that clearly taught her thesis. Instead, she created the meanings to support her thesis without reliance upon any older texts. The evidence we have is most consistent with the Gospel in the Stars thesis not being an ancient idea at all, but entirely the invention of Frances Rolleston less than 200 years ago.”2 Contrary to this, studies on the Egyptian star names and their Decans, in the Dendera Zodiac show bonafide historical sources for the existence of these star names and their meanings over 3,500+ years before Rolleston. Biblical sources alone provide extensive evidence in this category, that Rolleston herself referenced in her extensive charts on Hebrew Star names in God’s Word. [Job 9:9, 26:13, 38:31-33, Gen. 37:9-11, 43:33Joseph, Gen. 49:1-28, Num. 2, 24:5-20 Deut33: 5-29, Ps. 19, 147:4 Song of Deborah, Judg. 5:12-20

Excerpts from “A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars” 3

Rolleston (1865, part 2, pp.104–106) included a section on the Star of Bethlehem. She stated that in about 125 BC a bright star appeared, so bright it was visible to the naked eye during the day. Rolleston also said that this event induced Hipparchus to make his star catalog about the same time. In his work called the Almagest, Ptolemy said it was Hipparchusdiscovery of the precession of the equinoxes that provided the impetus for Hipparchus to produce his Star Catalogue.”We need to take a moment here to recognize the powerful influence that Hipparchus and Ptolemy had on ancient Astronomy, and the involvement of both of these historical stalwarts speaks volumes to the legitimacy of the Coma Supernova.

Both of these giants where eyewitnesses to the Coma Supernova, and if there were two ancient astronomers one could choose to have as witnesses of this event, these two all-stars would surely be on the guest list. Probably one of the greatest (and underrated) astronomers that ever lived, was Hipparchus of Rhodes. He is known to have been active at least from 147 127BC, making him contemporary to the explosion of the Coma Supernova, as he was a recorded eyewitness to its appearance in c. 134 BC.

Hipparchus of Nicea

Hipparchus of Nicea by Raphael (by Dryoldscholar, Public Domain)

Hipparchus is considered the greatest astronomical observer, and by some the greatest astronomer of classical antiquity. Most textbooks laud the accomplishments of Aristotle and Ptolemy, yet Hipparchus probably did more for the subject than any other Greek. Most of Ptolemy’s works were based on his ideas, yet Ptolemy is generally given credit because he perfected many of Hipparchus‘ concepts. Below is a short list of some of the accomplishments of Hipparchus:

* Hipparchus invented/developed trigonometry, a branch of mathematics which he used to determine geometric relationships between the earth, moon and sun. The word “tri” (meaning 3) comes from the reference to these three celestial bodies.

* Hipparchus made elaborate sky charts which included 1080 stars.  On these maps he invented a coordinate system similar to longitude and latitude on a globe.  Each star was given a number (1- 6) based on its brightness.  The brightest stars were 1 and the naked eye limit were 6. Our modern magnitude scale is a slight modification of this original brightness scale.

* Hipparchus used data on eclipses to determine that the moon’s distance from us was 59 times the earth’s radius (actual value is 60).  This involved clever use of logic and intricate mathematics, beyond the scope of this project. Ptolemy used a different (more direct) technique and arrived at the same number. Most text-books give all the credit to Ptolemy.

Claudius Ptolemy

Image result for where do hipparchus and ptolemy rank as figures in ancient astronomy?

* Hipparchus determined the motions of the sun and the moon so well that he could predict eclipses within a few hours. He also detected the precession of the equinoxes, by studying sky maps made generations earlier.

* He perfected the sun’s motion along the ecliptic so well that he observed slight irregularities in its speed.  At one time of the year it seemed to go slightly faster, at other times slightly slower.  Use your SC001 sky charts and pick out a few 10 day intervals along the ecliptic throughout the year. With careful measurements, you are able to see this effect.  Why is this important?  As we can see how Hipparchus solved this mystery, we will understand how Ptolemy used the same techniques to construct his model for the entire solar system.

*Hipparchus had to account for the irregular speed of the sun along the ecliptic that he discovered.  At this time, it was believed that all heavenly bodies were perfect spheres.  Not only that, but any sphere in motion must revolve with uniform speed. This is just the opposite to what Hipparchus discovered. He needed to mend this inconsistency, and he did.

Over 200 years pass in Greek astronomy between Hipparchus and Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria. Ptolemy basically took all of Greek astronomy and summarized it in his great book – The Almagest (meaning The Greatest), consisting of 13 volumes, that became the “astronomical Bible” for centuries. In it, he expanded on all the great works of earlier astronomers and added some “finishing touches” to the geocentric model.” 5

Needless to say, these two stalwarts of ancient astronomy had an incalculable influence on the science of astronomy, and the fact that both of these scientific pillars led the science to opening the recognition of the Coma Supernova, in light of Christ’s birth speaks volumes in history, facts mostly ignored by Dr. Faulkner, who alleges a lack of modern sources.

Faulkner points out, “by Rolleston’s comparison with much later events, such as the “new stars” seen by Brahe in 1572, and with Kepler’s Nova in 1604, today we would recognize the 125 BC event as a nova or supernova. “Indeed, many modern astronomers think that it was a supernova, though not much credence was given to it, because mentions of it come from much later, secondary sources. Rolleston went on to suggest, in an oblique manner as a series of questions, that this star remained bright for many years (into the 2nd century AD), and may have been in Coma (alleged constellation of “the Desired”), and hence was the star that alerted the Magi that the Messiah was born. I find it interesting that she did not clearly state these as facts.”6 [Coma is a decan of Virgonot a “constellation,” see below. Dr. Danny Faulkner citing problems with Rolleston’s hypothesis in his article continues as follows;

“She [Rolleston] also brought in legends about the star which are attributed to Zoroaster. Rolleston  cited Arabian astronomer Albumazar describing the signs and “decans of Virgo with Virgo having two parts and 3 forms, saying in the first decan as the Persians and Egyptians teach-a young maiden arose, a pure and immaculate virgin in Arabic named Adrenedefa, holding in her hand two ears of corn, seated on a throne, nourishing an infant, whose Hebrew name was Ihesus, meaning to save, that the Greeks called Christos, or Christ, rising with the virgin. These figures, found in the Egyptian Planisphere [Dendera Zodiac-Plate 3] with the Virgin holding the ear of corn as Virgo, while Koma may be the original name seen in Coma, marking the Head of the infant, the Desired seed of the Woman. It was said Zoroaster predicted that this star would appear in the figures of the Virgin.” 7

Faulkner also refers to a legend that the Magi came to a well wherein they saw a reflection the star in the well-water, suggests that since this occurred around midnight on the winter solstice, this must have been when the Magi arrived. Notice the endorsement of the traditional date of December 25 for Christ’s birth, something that Rolleston endorses elsewhere, but almost no scholars today believe was the correct date.”8

Here are historic roots for some of the “legends” Faulkner refers to in his criticism of Rolleston’s Mazzaroth.

According to Hislop, the Chaldean version of the word; “Zer,” that mean “to encompass” gives us not only the English basis for: “Zero signified by a circle among the Chaldeans,” but also Zero; “the seed.”9 Further, it relates to the Hebrew word zera [H2233] used referring to the promised seed in Gen. 3:15. 10 To this end the Chaldean word for the “woman’s promised seed” was “Zero-ashta,” that also formed the basis of the name Zoroaster. We take note in Zoroastrian writing in the Zend-Avesta, the predicted return of Zoroaster as a savior who would renew all existence in preparation for the Last Judgment, was prophesied. These references to the woman’s promised seed point directly to what I’ve termed as the General sign of the Celestial Prelude. To sketch this “legendout further, Hislop also notes:

In almost all nations, not only was a great god known under the name of Zero or Zer; the seed, and a great goddess under the name of Ashta or Ishta; the woman, but the great god Zero is frequently characterized by some epithet which implies that he is The only One.” 11

This evidence provides a basis for a direct correlation to the decan Coma, the seed who was the desired of the nations, [Hag. 2:7] especially in context of the Coma supernova in the child’s head [pictured in Plate 1. below from the Dendera Zodiac] the promised seed, as the general sign of the Celestial Prelude. The implication that the promised seed of the woman as the only man, who could be the perfect sacrifice for the redemption of mankind, speaks to the truth that Christ is the Alpha and Omega, or the first and last way God made available to redeem humanity. Hislop goes on to say:

As he who by the Chaldeans was regarded as the great Seed was looked upon as the Sun incarnate, [Ps. 19] and as the emblem of the Sun was a circle, a hieroglyph relating between zero; “the circle,” and zero; “the seed” was easily established.”12 The Biblical references to Christ associated with the Sun incarnate as the “light of the world,” the “Sun of Righteousness” [Mal. 4:2] and in Psalm 19:4-6, are only a few of many such references. Thus, the case of the promised seed, Zero-ashta, the religion of the Magi served as a vessel for numerous principles and astronomical precepts, that led Mankind to the realization of the Promised Seed.

This part of Faulkner’s criticism exposes his lack of knowledge on the birth of Christ, opposed to its traditions. He equates the time of the Magi’s arrival in Jerusalem, with Christ’s birth, when in truth the Magi arrived in Jerusalem, and just after that in Bethlehem, about 15 months after Christ’s birth. This of course is the same error found in the traditions of all the Christmas “manger scenes” showing the wise men at the birth of Christ, no where found in scripture, or true historical records. This fits with our date for the birth of Christ on 9/11/3 BC, for the Jerusalem arrival and afterwards in Bethlehem, in Dec. of 2 BC. The Magi did not find a “babe” [brephos-Lk. 2:12, 16] in a “manger,” but a young child [paidon] in a house [Matt. 2:8-11]. There were also no shepherds present as December was too cold for sheep to be in pasture. Our thesis is confirmed in the research of Dr. Ernest Martin in his book; “The Star that Astonished the World.”13 Faulkner notes that “Rolleston did not cite her sources for some of her work, but did quote from Trench (1850). RC Trench spoke of “this star as so many of the ancients and moderns have done, to have been a new star in the heavens.”14 Rolleston also quoted Trench on the early church fathers, like Ignatius, on the appearance of this star; Coma Supernova. Both Seiss (1882, pp.161—162) and Bullinger (1893, pp.36—39) included like passages about this alleged “new star” as the star of Bethlehem. From their descriptions, it is clear that Seiss and Bullinger solely and uncritically relied on Rolleston in this matter.”15 Fortunately, many other sources have come to the fore since then, on this topic, which we will review below. Back in the late 1990’s when I first broached my ideas on the Celestial Prelude I built on some of Rolleston’s concepts as a basis of the celestial events leading to the Birth of Christ. In the last 21 years my views also developed, improving on the science and Biblical verities that inform this topic of research.

The premise of a Celestial Prelude is based on the simple fact that God would not ordain the long awaited birth of His only begotten son, the eternal purpose of the ages, without a little advanced notice in the sky. This Celestial Prelude has 2 key parts, the first is general the second specific. The entanglement of these two separate parts of the Celestial Prelude has caused much of the confusion surrounding the “Star of Bethlehem.” A good place to start thinking about the first part of the Celestial Prelude is:

Where did the popular idea of a single bright star, obvious to everyone, marking the birth of Christ originate? To answer this question we look to what I’ve termed as the General Sign of the Celestial Prelude, that alerted the Magi to the broad period of time [200+ yrs.] when the promised seed would appear. We will distinguish the General sign of the Coma Supernova, that was unpredictable for astronomers, from the specific signs of astronomy marking the birth of Christ, like planetary unions, alignments, solar and lunar eclipses, meteor showers, comets etc. that are predictable in the context of the science of astronomy. Dr. Henry Morris has marked some of these differences between the predictable scientific basis of astronomy as opposed to astrology.

Their knowledge and conviction that the birth of a Jewish Prince had occurred, that they came to honor and recognize with their best gifts and adoration, showed much more than the expectant masses of the time. Their unique revelation which was established in the appearance of the star over Bethlehem, and in dreams from God showing them the way home to avoid Herod, took place after the fact. Since astrology is strictly forbidden in God’s Word, there is no way God would talk to the Magi if they were astrologers. [Dan. 1:20, 2:2, 27]

As Dr. Morris states; “There is also the very realistic possibility that this new star occurred in one of the constellations which had been associated with God’s primeval promise of the coming Savior. This “protevangel” (that is, “1st Gospel“) prophesied the age-long conflict between the Serpent (or Satan) and the Seed of the Woman (that is, Christ). The Gospel in the Stars began in (Gen. 3:15), with the first prophecy of Christ. This promise reflected in many of the star-pictures of the constellations, especially the twelve signs of the Zodiac and their decans. While these stellar messages have been badly corrupted by astrology, they do predate any astrological meanings later imposed on them. In fact, the Scriptures themselves imply that these pictures and their primeval meanings were established originally by God Himself, through the ancient patriarchs (Seth in particular, according to the Jewish historian Josephus). He wanted to imprint His purposes and promises on the very heavens themselves, so they could be seen in all times and nations, especially before His written Word would become available. Thus, “the heavens declare the glory of God” and have been uttering speech and showing knowledge day and night throughout the world” (Psalm 19:1, 2), ever since the beginning.

In this regard we find references to a prophecy of SethAdam’s righteous son, that at the birth of the Promised Seed, a very bright singular star would herald his arrival. This new star that manifested in the decans of Virgo, was so bright as to be visible to the naked eye in the daytime, was seen by the Church Fathers of the period. The Magi’s faith in the true God of creation and the promises in His Word, undoubtedly familiarized them with the original signs and symbols God had imposed on the stars, and thus were able to recognize that this new star that had suddenly blazed forth in the sky must indeed be “His Star,” announcing the birth of the promised King.” 16

As Dr. Morris tells us; “There does remain one special type of star which is free from astrological associations, these are the novas (formerly called “new stars“) or, still more intriguingly, the rare supernovas. These real stars, are separate and apart from conjunctions of stars [planets], or comets, certainly not atmospheric phenomena. Supernovas, are sudden, rare, entirely unpredictable explosions of existing stars that had been originally created on Day Four of Creation Week.”
Somehow what seems to be an ordinary star suddenly increases tremendously in brilliance, continuing so for varying periods until it finally fades out of telescopic or naked eye visibility. “As a matter of fact, there may well be certain other hazy records of such a star. In the Bible, the only mention of the star is in Matt. 2:1-12. However, a number of the early Christian writers were fascinated with the account, and apparently did some contemporary research of their own, in extra-Biblical sources. Here is Dr. Morris’ recognition of the Coma Supernova by Ignatius; 17

“For example, Ignatius, who was the apostolic father closest in time to the New Testament writers (died 107 A.D.) wrote of the star as follows: “(It was) a star which so shone in heaven beyond all the stars, its newness caused excitement.”18

Rolleston’s reference to Ignatius, one of the Church Fathers and the Bishop of Antioch, in about 69 AD, records that, “At the appearance of the Lord a star shone forth brighter than all other stars.”19 If we are careful not to confuse this Coma supernova reference with the planet Jupiter, we find evidence of a supernova still visible over 200 years after it was first seen as a celestial marker of the general timeframe of Jesus’ birth. Seiss has some viable historical references on this point:

Hipparchus about a hundred twenty-five years before Christ, [c. 128BC] observed it [Coma supernova] as a new star, and was led by it to draw up his catalogue of stars. Ptolemy, about one hundred and fifty years after Christ, refers to it as having been observed by Hipparchus, but as having become so faint [c. 147 AD] as hardly to be any more discernible.”20 

Pliny the Elder wrote in 79 AD that Hipparchus suspected the fixed stars were not as fixed as other people thought. After all, Hipparchus had seen a new star in Coma appear from nowhere. He first recorded precession of about 1 degree a century21 A point of interest here regarding Hipparchus is that he is generally credited with the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes, by modern science said to be c. 134 BC. He reportedly came upon his discovery studying the star Spica, on a celestial map from his predecessorTimocharis. He noticed that Spica was about 2 degrees away from its location on the star map, and decided that it was moving an average of 1 degree every 75 years: [close to the actual 72 years]. “Hipparchus began to wonder if the ‘fixed’ stars might move relative to one another. If so, constellations may change their shapes over time, a fact he hoped his star catalog would help future astronomers discover if true. This is a well-known fact in modern astronomy, called the proper motion of stars, that was discovered by Edmund Halley in 1718 of Halley’s Comet fame, when he noted the movement of the stars Sirius, Arcturus, and Aldebaran compared to the positions in Ptolemy’s catalog. This stellar movement was independent of precession.” 22

 The decan of Coma is pictured below as the three bright stars forming the inverted L” shape, which significantly contains the North Galactic Pole, located 5 degrees west of Beta Coma. This bears a closer look in light of the original star picture associated with this decan, as seen in the Dendera zodiac, of a mother holding her Son in her lap, known as “the Desired of the Nations,” [Plate 1 below]. The close proximity of the Northern Galatic Pole, recalls the imagery of Cepheus “the crowned king” regally seated astride the Celestial Pole star polaris, picturing Christ seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of the Heavenly Father, [Eph. 1:20-23].

new star shining brightly in coma
 The Stars of the “L” shaped Decan Coma. 23

During this proposed 250 year period between c. 128 BC-147 AD referred to by Ptolemy above, shekels from Judea struck during the period of the second revolt, [132 AD.] bear the image of a bright star over the Jerusalem Temple, called Bar Kaukab, or Son of the Star. As this star was seen to be vertical over the Temple in Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, as Coma was known to be, so it was recalled on this temple coin. This could have also been a logical reference to a supernova appearing in the head of the woman’s son in Coma‘s lap, the desired of the nations, that would still have been visible to the naked eye, perhaps even a celestial reference to Jesus as the true temple.

The Magi would have witnessed both this new star shining brightly in Coma, a decan of Virgo, while Jupiter was in retrograde, standing still on the Meridian in Virgo, in December of 2 BC. The General sign of our Celestial Prelude thus overlaps the Specific planet signs, as the Magi headed south from Jerusalem, their visit with Herod just concluded, towards Bethlehem in search of the promised seed. This also explains why the Magi were the only group to recognize these specific celestial signs of the Messiah’s birth, because the General sign was a fixture in Coma for over a century prior to this period. The typical person wouldn’t have noticed anything out of the ordinary in the heavens, since it would not stand out unless coupled with the knowledge of the specific signs, which brought the Magi to Israel in the first place. This is another reason why the Magi were so joyful when they saw “his star,” Jupiter over Bethlehem. This scenario of what the Magi beheld in the skies over Bethlehem in December of 2 BC, is depicted in the title banner of this article above. In Num. 24:17, when Jacob is referred to in Balaam’s prophecy, it bears reference not only for the seed of Jacob, but also in the land promised to him as an inheritance, in his covenant with God [Gen. 15:18]. Rolleston has a noted remark regarding this:

The Magi forewarned that the star must appear over Jacob, over his inheritance, would see that star in Coma passed over the center of that inheritance: but as it would also appear to pass vertically over every part of it that was nearly in the Latitude of Jerusalem, they could not at once fix on the spot of the Messiah’s birth, therefore they went to inquire; the Latitude, as it were, being given by the star, the longitude by the prophecy.24

Here we see the witness of the stars, and the Scriptures, working together to bring the Magi to the toddler Jesus, because their alert observation of “his star” brought them to Jerusalem and the scribes declaration from Micah 5:2, when Herod questioned them, sent the Magi to Bethlehem. While en route they witnessed the heavens come alive with the proof that their historic journey was not in vain, because they saw both the Coma supernova, and Jupiter in Virgo in the same skies over Bethlehem, marking the savior’s location.

In Faulkner’s criticism of Rolleston, he fails to acknowledge Dr. Ernest Martin ‘s and other’s extensive research on this topic, showing his short-sited approach to this important history. Although the key contributions of Seiss and Bullinger to the topic of the Gospel in the Stars are important, they are not the sole authorities referred to in this area. Based on this faulty and myopic view of history, Faulkner questions the credibility of this explanation of the Star of Bethlehem, as follows; “Unfortunately, it is not credible. First, a nova or supernova is not readily visible for yearsA nova is bright for a few days, but then quickly fades away.”25

Here Faulkner also overlooks or discounts a very real probability, as presented by Dr. Hugh Ross of the various types of nova’s/supernova’s including Recurrent Supernova’s, which we will see more on below.

Dr. Henry Morris refers to some extra-Biblical references as the writings called The Protoevangelium of James, quoting the wise men as saying to Herod: “We saw how an indescribably great star shone among these stars and dimmed them so that they no longer shone, and so we knew that a King was born for IsraelEusebius, a scholarly church historian of the early fourth century, evidently made a considerable study of literature available from the centuries before him, and came to this conclusion about the star.”26

“Let us now learn the reason why the star appeared, according to the agreement of prophetic prediction with Gospel fulfilment. Moses says, that all the stars were set in the firmament by God “for signs and for seasons.” But this was a strange and unusual star, not (d) one of the many known stars, but being new and fresh by its appearance here it portended a new luminary that should shine on all the Universe, the Christ of God, a great and a new Star, whose likeness the star that appeared |153 to the wise men symbolically shewed. For since in all the holy and inspired Scriptures the leading object of the meaning is to give mystic and divine instruction, while preserving as well the obvious meaning in its own sphere of historical facts, so the prediction before us was properly and literally fulfilled in the matter of the star that was prophesied to appear at our Saviour’s Birth.

In the case of other remarkable and famous men we (420) know that strange stars have appeared, what some call cometsor meteorsor tails of fireor similar phenomena that are seen in connection with great unusual events. But what event could be greater or more important for the whole Universe than the spiritual light coming to all (b) men through the Saviour’s Advent, bringing to human souls the gift of holiness and true knowledge of God? Wherefore the herald star gave the great sign, telling in symbol that the Christ of God would shine as a great new light on all the world.

And the prophecy foretells a man as well as a star, for it says: “A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall spring from Israel,” naming first the heavenly light, the Word of God, and next the Humanity. And He is called, as I have shown in my former books, in other places by the varying names of Rising, Light, &  Sun of Righteousness.

And here, by applying to Him the verb from “Rising,” “a star shall rise out of Jacob,” it shews his divine aspect, as “giving light to every man that comes into the world“; while it shews the Humanity, by the suffering that comes to him, where it foretells that He will fall to rise again, in words like what Isaiah says of Him: “And there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to rule the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles |154 trust.” And we see how true it is that the light of our (d) Saviour, which rose from Jacob, that is from the Jews, has shone on all nations but Jacob, from whence it came forth.

And while this can be found in many prophecies, which say as it were to Christ himself: “Behold, I have set thee for a light to the Gentiles, for a covenant of thy race,” it is especially obvious in the words of Balaam, when he says: “A man shall come from his seed, and shall rule many nations.” Whose seed but Israel’s, as the context shews?” 27

A recent writer, Robert McIver, has spent 3 decades researching this subject. In his book, Star of Bethlehem-Star of Messiah, published 1998, he cites star records from ancient Chinese and Korean astronomers who both noted such an unusual new star about the time of Christ’s birth. He also discusses paintings in the Roman catacombs, as well as coins from various countries which depict an unusual star about this time. He even notes possible sightings of the star in the Americas. Much of his evidence is open to other possible interpretations, but it is an interesting coincidence, if nothing else, that such indications of an unusual new star about the time of Christ’s birth are found all over the world.

“In any case, it does seem that the most feasible explanation for the Christmas star is that it was a real star, other than either a conjunction of two or more stars or a special moving light of some kind in the lower atmosphere. After all, the Magi called it a star, and they would surely know the difference.”28 Of course the ancients during the times of the Magi and later referred to planets as “stars” also, not making the distinction of “wandering stars” until much later.

They were almost certainly acquainted with the of the Old Testament, especially Balaam’s prophecy of a new Star which would signal the rising of a great King in Israel. Balaam himself was probably a member of the Magi, perhaps even the founder of their caste. Zoroaster also was probably one of the earlier Magi, between the times of Balaam and Christ.

Thus it is significant that both Balaam’s divinely inspired prophecy and Matthew’s divinely inspired history recognized it as a star? In fact as “HisStar! Unless God created a brand new star at this time, which is possible, of course, the most realistic explanation is that it was either a nova, or (more probably) a supernova? A gigantic explosion of an existing star. 29

As noted before, this was the conclusion of the late British astronomer, E. W. Maunder. He simply called it a “new star,” the terms nova and supernova not yet having come into use in his day. In a more recent scientific article, “The Star of Bethlehem,” published in Science Digest in Dec. 1976, James Mullaney says: “The considered opinion of nearly all who have studied the question that a nova or supernova seems most likely explanation for the Christmas star of all those put forth to date” (p.65). 30

Mullaney makes the cogent observation: “Truly, here is a celestial announcement card above all others worthy the birth of a king“.) 31 A supernova explosion radiates more energy at its peak than all the stars in our own galaxy combined! The entrance of God’s only begotten Son into God’s creation, the perfect man among men would surely warrant the most majestic announcement possible in His creation. An angelic host announced it at the scene? A mighty star to the rest of the world!

Dr. Henry Morris continues; “The later Magi, especially those in Babylon and Persia (where Daniel’s influence, as well as Mordecai and Esther) was profound and enduring, was surely familiar with this prophecy as with the various prophecies of Daniel (who was a most highly respectedwise man” in Nebuchadnezzar’s courts, [Dan. 2:45; 6:28]. The Persian Magi in particular were known as very competent observational astronomers, not astrologists. If they were not Jews or Jewish proselytes (both good possibilities), they were Zoroastrians, and the Zoroastrian religion was similar to Judaism in many ways, among which was an aversion to astrology.

At the time of God’s great deliverance of the Jews in Persia during the days of Queen Esther, it was recorded “many of the people of the land became Jews” (Esth. 8:17). This event in itself would constrain many of the Persian members of the Magi at that time to study the Jewish sacred books, like the Messianic prophecies of Daniel. This history would have been a basis of the Magi’s required learning, handed down through the generations, to the time of Christ.

Among the prophecies of Daniel, during the reign of Darius the Mede, was the great prophecy of the “seventy weeks,” which revealed that the Messiah would come as Prince of Israel 483 years after the Persian emperor gave a commandment to the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem (Dan. 9:24,25). It was a distinct possibility that the Persian Magi, as the date approached, put these prophecies of Balaam and Daniel together, as they watched for “His star” to appear.” 32

Since supernovas are very rare and generally unpredictable, they bear no astrological import. There have only been a few visible supernovas reported in our galaxy, Some of the oldest of which includes Supernova RCW 86, seen below.

Supernova RCW 86: The oldest recorded Supernova

supernovaRCW86

Supernova RCW 86.
In 185 A.D., Chinese astronomers saw a strange “guest star” suddenly appear in the night sky. It was visible for a staggering eight months. That was enough time for ancient sky-watchers to take notice and make the first-known observation of a supernova in human history. The appearance of this supernova in 185 AD, puts it in the general time frame of the Coma Supernova, that reportedly began to fade from naked eye visibility by 150 AD. There’s also some evidence that Roman astronomers witnessed the event.

In modern times, astronomers have rediscovered the remains of this dead star. Their studies have revealed Supernova RCW 86 happened after a neighboring star offloaded huge amounts of its own matter onto a white dwarf; essentially a stellar corpse. This led to what astronomers call a Type Ia Supernova exploding some 8,000 light-years from Earth. 33

SN 1054: The Crab Nebula

 SN1054
SN 1054, the Crab Nebula. Credit: ESO

On July 4, 1054 A.D., as reported by Chinese astronomers all of Earth was treated to celestial fireworks as a new star appeared in the constellation Taurus the Bull. The supernova – initially brighter than the Moonslowly faded away over the course of two years.

Today, amateur astronomers still regularly view the supernova remnant, now known as the Crab Nebula. Researchers suspect it most likely formed from a Type II supernova, which happens when a lone massive star explodes. 34 But there is a great disparity in detecting these Supernova remnants from the total number of Supernovae that have taken place in history, a category that includes the Coma Supernova.

Faulkner states, “in 1975 I independently “discovered” Nova 1975 (V1500 Cygni). For one night, it was one of the brightest stars in the sky, but it faded from view within a week. A supernova stays bright longer than a nova, but it too fades. For instance, the 1054 supernova that produced the Crab Nebula was visible during the day for a few weeks, but it completely faded from naked-eye view after 14 months. Therefore, I seriously doubt that an alleged nova or supernova could have been visible for as long as Rolleston claimed (over a century).35 Faulkner here, overlooks the likelihood of a Recurrent Novae. Recurrent novae – are “defined as systems with more than one recorded nova outburst. There are few members of the Recurrent novae subclass: at this point in research, just ten,” one of which [RS Oph] has a documented history of at least eight multiple outbursts, from 1898 to 2021, a 123 year period.36  Recurrent novae repeat the nova process approximately every 10 to 100 years, while nova outbursts are thought to repeat on much longer timescales of potentially over 1000+ years.

Figure 1. The Recurrent Nova RS Oph. 37

Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi Just Blew its Top! - Sky & Telescope - Sky & Telescope

RS Oph about 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. In its quiet phase it has an apparent magnitude of about 12.5. It has been observed to erupt in 1898, 1933, 58′, 67′, 1985, 2006 and 2021, reaching a magnitude of about 5 on average. 38

If the Coma Supernova was recurrent for a period of about 250+ years, from c. 128 BC to about 147 AD, it would explain the sequence of events described in history according to modern scientific evidence, with the reputable references we have cited.  Ancient records only record naked eye-visibility of the Coma Supernova, not potential fluctuation due to multiple eruptions of a Recurrent Supernova, that I’m aware of. As we find in Figure 1 above, the effect of the supernova eruption described in the extra-biblical source attributed to James, as “a great star shone among these stars and dimmed them so that they no longer shone…” is indeed evident resulting from the Oph Recurrent Supernova, adding weight to this hypothesis.

What were the history and traditions that brought the Persian wise men/Magi to Jerusalem in recognition of the birth of Christ?  In the modern world, the details of what causes new stars to appear, or stellar explosions of supernova’s with their after-effects are obviously not as obscure scientifically as they once were, and these star explosions are much better understood than even in the recent past. The Coma Supernova would have been evident to many in the head of the young child in the woman’s lap in the Zodiac of Dendera.

Plate 1. The Decan Coma adjacent from Virgo, in the Dendera Zodiac. 39

sun of righteousness
Since the graphic of Virgo’s Decan of Coma from Bullinger, is documented from the ancient Egyptian Dendera Zodiac, we find some of the ancient source texts that not only far predate Rolleston by over three thousand years, but also predate the Greek corruption of this decan of Virgo, to what we have found pictured in this decan for the last 2000+ years into modern times, that the Greeks erroneously called Berniece’s Hair, in their mythology. “The Hebrew word for “Coma the desired” related to the Greek word for hair; “Co’-me,” so her wig [Plate 2.] replaced the longed for, the image of he who was the “desired of all nations,” seen also in the Egyptian name-Shesnu for Coma, meaning the desired son!” [Ps. 19: 10, Isa. 53:2, Hag. 2:7]. 40

Plate 2Berniece’s Hair adjacent to Virgo replaced Dendera Zodiac Decan of the Woman with her son, seen in the Rev. 12 sign on August 27th, 70 AD: with a Jupiter-Venus union in Leo’s hind paw. 41

How, then, did Balaam know about the Coma sign that would occur at the time to mark the Messiah’s birth, some 1400 years in the future? As all prophets previous and since, reluctant or not, are moved by divine revelation, [Num. 24: 16] which is God making Himself known to His peopleBalaam’s reluctant, but divinely inspired prophecy, revealed that a unique Star out of Jacob-linked with Israel would accompany the future Sceptre (King planet Jupiter], Num. 24:17-19), as the redeemer of the world. This is a first usage of the word for “sceptre” in Gen. 49: 8-10, in the prophecies of Judah. These verses of the Celestial Sphinx refer to the Alpha & Omega signs of the Mazzaroth; Virgo the virgin & Leo the Lion of the tribe of Judah. [Lk. 1: 78 dayspring=anatole] With Berniece’s wig/ Coma set between and above Virgo and Leo, in Plate 2 above it calls attention to this key section of the ecliptic.

Gen. 49:8-10 breaks down the maturation of the Lion of Judah, from lion cub, to adult Lion, to aged Lion. The specific relationship of this prophecy with the triple conjunction of Jupiter-Regulus in 3-2 BC was first presented as part of my DVD Seminar on the Biblical Astronomy of the Birth of Christ, in the segment provided below.

As we just saw in the video above, the prophecies of Balaam in Num. 24:16-19 corresponding to the Jacob’s prophecies in Genesis 49, because they not only both deal with Jacob’s star in Israel in general, but they prophesy of the man and Promised Seed-man Jesus Christ specifically.

As we note in the relief from the ceiling of the Temple of Esneh [Plate 3 below], the stellar figures of Virgo and Leo unified in the Great Sphinx, pictured with the solar disk crowning the head of the woman– “sun clothing Virgo,” who is joined with the body of the Lion’s extended claws, above the serpent Hydra. This stellar image seen in the same temple site housing the Dendera zodiac, provides archaeological evidence, for the union of Virgo and Leo affirmed in the two stellar aspects of the earth’s oldest carved monument of the Great Sphinx.

Virgo is seen at the far right below, prominently holding her grain stalk, or branch as shown in the zodiac of Dendera symbolizing her bearing the promised seed and the light of the world. Her branch represents the Alpha Star of Virgo-Spica-Al Zemach, the branch or offspring of God the Father, [Jer. 23:5].

Plate 3. Sun in Virgo, in the Temple of Esneh in Egypt. 42

great sphinx

The union of the ends of the ecliptic in the Great Sphinx, with the Sun in Virgo, as seen in Egypt’s Temple of Esneh.

This sets the basic context of the original function of the Great Sphinx, including:

  • The unity of the Biblical zodiac which starts at Virgo and ends in Leo.
  • The original role of the Sun in this context of “clothing Virgo,” along with embodying the solar aspects of the Sphinx as the Sun of Righteousness, as it moves through the 12 Mazzaroth signs during the year, [Ps. 19].
  • A Stone monument bearing parallel witness to the coming redeemer found both in the Stars and in Scripture.

With this in mind, lets look at some specific stellar aspects of the Great Sphinx. A key indicator of the central importance of these stellar traits of the Great Sphinx, is our recognition of the Celestial Sphinx, seen below, in Virgo and Leo the lion providing the basis of signs of the triple union of Jupiter-Regulus in Leo, in 3 BC linked to Gen. 49. This also ties the Great Sphinx both to the Celestial Gospel and Scripture, in their unified testimony of the Coming Promised Seed, starting with the 1st Jupiter-Regulus union,days after Christ’s birth on Sept. 14th, 3 BC.

Plate 4. The Celestial Sphinx. The Head of the Woman and the Body of the Lion as seen on Sept. 14th, 3 BC, 3 days after Christ’s birth on 9/11/3 BC on the eastern horizon from Jerusalem forming the Great Sphinx, marking the first Jupiter-Regulus Conjunction in Leo. 43

head of a woman and body of a lion

In addition to marking the Alpha and Omega of celestial canon, these signs of the Great Sphinx not only mirror the binding of Scripture together from Genesis to Revelation, presenting Her Promised Seed as the unifying subject in every book of the Bible, starting with Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah in both Gen. 49:810, and Rev. 5:5, and Rev. 12, the first and last books of the Bible, but they also prophesy of the Age of Pisces seen in Axis E of the Dendera Zodiac, [Plate. 5] wherein we dwell today, extending from the star Spica-the branch and offspring of God through the sign of both fish of Pisces, that opened the Piscean Age with the JupiterSaturn triple union in Pisces in 7 BC.

Plate 5. Axis E on the Dendera Zodiac. 44

The heavens declared Jesus’ arrival with the setting of the star SpicaVirgo’s branch on our Sept. 11th, of 3 BC, between the setting Sun and Moon in Virgo. This established in the 5th Axis of the Dendera zodiac, Axis E in Plate 5, above, dividing the zodiac while extending below the standing womanVirgo, holding her grain stalk mirrored in the seated woman, with her child Coma[Fig. 2 below]. The color-coded image of the Dendera Zodiac in Fig. 2 below, shows how the decans of the middle yellow and outer tan ring of this zodiacmatch up with the 12 main constellations in magentaorange, blue, and Yellow. Specifically, as we view the magenta signs, we find Virgo in the sky blue band, the 2nd ring from the center of this target above Coma in the yellow middle band seated below Virgo’s grain stalk, between Virgo and Leo, the lion’s tailbeing one of four main signs of the zodiac of the Cherubim. These 4 Cardinal Directions, of the Hebrew Mazzaroth are a template for the 12 major constellations of the zodiac both in Egypt and Israel. [Num. 24:79]

Figure 2. A color-coded image of the Dendera Zodiac. 45

Sun, Stand Thou Still Upon Gibeon; And Thou, Moon, In The Valley ...

This color coded image of Dendera’s Zodiac adds to our understanding of Axis E in the Plate 5 graphic above, since the location of Axis E labelled below Virgo’s erect standing image in the sky blue band, fits the place where Coma is found on the yellow band under Virgo, aligned with Axis E. Thus we can see how Axis E links Coma and her Son with Virgo’s branch, prophesied to appear near the opening of the Piscean Age, seen in Axis E extending through both fish of Pisces, at one end of the Axis E, to Coma with the supernova appearing in the head of the child in her lap, at the other end of Axis E. See [Plate 5, above].

The image consistent with the path of Axis E on the Dendera Zodiac matches the image in [Fig. 3] below focused on the Great Pyramid embodied in the small white triangle at the center of this graphic. This image shows two Pyramid shaft alignments, one [dotted line] from the Pyramid’s Ascending Passage that aligned with the Conjunction of Venus and Regulusking star-in the heart of Leo, on Sept. 20th, 2017. The 2nd alignment [solid line] from the Pyramid’s base with the Sun in Virgo, on Sept. 20th, 2017 extends through and beyond Virgo’s body, unites in her first decan Coma, like the image found above in Fig. 2 with Axis E on the Dendera Zodiac. This image of the 2nd alignment with the base of the Great Pyramid, shows the horizon from the Giza Plateau aligned with sunset in Virgo, and Coma, where the General sign of the supernova was bright shining, while the Specific signs of the Jupiter-Regulus conjunctions followed by the Jupiter-Venus conjunctions occurred in 3-2 BC.

Figure 3. The Blood Moon Tetrad and the signs of 2017. 46

Robert Breaker Exposed false prophet | What will happen on September 23 2017

Jesus as the Seed of the Woman was the perfect sacrifice for all mankind on Passover. He was the ear of grain that had to die so that life would abound. The Brightest star in Virgo– Spica in Hebrew is Zerah, meaningseed”–the off-spring of God, the same word found in Gen. 3:15 as the first prophecy of the Promised Seed. Thus, with the Jupiter-Spica triple union that took place in Virgo’s womb in 2017, leading to the birthing of Jupiter, was a sign warning of Jesus’ return when this Great Pyramid sign occurs again in 2028, [or 2047] the 2000-year anniversary of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. This graphic of Great Pyramid alignments is enlarged below in Fig. 4, to include a 3rd Pyramid shaft alignment at the Christ angle of the Descending Passage, with Jupiter lower in Virgo’s womb in 2017.

Figure 4. Kings Chamber Star Shaft and Descending Passage Star alignments on Sept. 20-21, 2017. 47

On Rosh Hashanah leading to the Rev. 12 sign on 9-23-17, these shafts and passages built in the Great Pyramid exhibit astronomical alignments on the date prophesying, and witnessing to Jesus Christ. As these Pyramid alignments take place in the signs of Virgo and Leo, they qualify as signs of the Celestial Sphinx as seen in Plate 4 above. These are a special class of star signs that speak to the birth and return of Jesus Christ, as separate confirmation, of both the Celestial Sphinx and the astronomy of the Great Pyramid shaft system. We also find the horizon alignment of the Great Pyramid extending through Virgo, to the Coma decan on Rosh Hashanah. This reveals back in the time of inspired construction of the Pyramid, that its unique shaft system, found only in the Great Pyramid had a special purpose, that unified the Coma Supernova leading to the Bethlehem star. Even as the birth of Christ was prophesied by the Great Sphinx, and the Dendera Zodiac, so also the Great Pyramid provides an even greater witness to Christ, as Isaiah prophesied in [Isa. 19:19-21Jer. 32:20-23]

God included a special heavenly sign linked to the Great Wonder of Rev. 12, in our day. If we back-track, 1260 days from the Rev. 12 sign, we conspicuously arrive at the day of the 1st Blood Moon lunar eclipse in the 2014-2015 Tetrad, [Joel 2:30-32]. This Passover lunar eclipse of April 15, 2014 occurred at a key locale in the heavens near the star Spica in Virgo. This is a celestial warning that the Tribulation is close, not that it is here yet as is implied in Fig. 3. 

Two separate aspects of the stars of Christ’s birth include the General sign linked to Coma’s Supernova, with specific signs tied to the planetary unions of the King Planet Jupiter, and sceptre prophecies. The context of the Celestial Prelude holds the General sign of the Coma Supernova, marking the time frame to expect Christ’s first Advent. Then the specific time of his birth was marked by the series of Planetary conjunctions starting with the Jupiter-Saturn triple union in 7 BC, as a precursor for the Jupiter-Regulus triple coronation in 3-2BC, along with the Jupiter-Venus unions of the same time frame, with and eye towards Celestial Sphinx signs.

These key Jupiter planetary conjunction series leading to and surrounding the Birth of Christ, show how the Specific signs of the Celestial Prelude differ from the General sign of the Coma Supernova, that was designed to alert the Magi to the coming period of the Birth of Christ. The key to a clear understanding of these celestial signs of Christ, is to distinguish them, so as not to confuse them. The 12 Traits of the Celestial Prelude, help to do this from the Magi’s perspective. These are found in the links supplied in the blog [like Kepler’s Supernova]. We can also see what prompted the Magi to make their Jerusalem journey, when we see the series Jupiter planetary unions leading up to and following it.

We have also seen evidence of why astronomical records of the Coma Supernova are questioned. Its not that they don’t exist, since we have cited multiple records from ancient and modern science of astronomy, of their appearance, and not just from Christian writers. We have also presented key Archaeo-Astronomical evidence which agrees with various authorities in this field like; Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, John Anthony West and others. But many in atheistic modern science still generally discounted it.

It is my hope and belief that we have presented enough in this study, combined with the body of work on this blog and website, that those interested will consider the evidence here on a scientific and biblical level to be aided in their understanding, of what the Heavenly Father has done for them, in His only begotten Son-Jesus Christ. To this end that people activate their faith, which has been evident in the world-wide revival that we are currently seeing take place across the globe!

God’s Blessings to you all!! 

Agape’
Rene’

Footnotes

1. A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars. Faulkner [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
2. IBID
3. IBID
4. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston, (1865, part 2, pp.104–106).
5. A History of Hipparchus & Ptolemy.        [https://ecampus.matc.edu/mihalj/astronomy/test1/history_of_ast_the_universe.htm]
6. [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
7. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston, (1865, Notes on Zoroaster)
8. [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
9. The Two Babylons, p.59 Alexander Hislop
10. Strong’s Concordance [H2233-zera] James Strong
11. The Two Babylons, p.59 Alexander Hislop
12. IBID, p. 18
13. The Star that astonished the World, Dr. Ernest Martin
14. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston, 1865.
15. A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars. Faulkner [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
16. [https://icr.edu/when-they-saw-star] Dr. Henry Morris
17. IBID
18. IBID
19. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston.
20. The Gospel in the Stars, Joseph Seiss, 1882.
21. [https://ecampus.matc.edu/mihalj/astronomy/test1/history_of_ast_the_universe.htm].
22. IBID
23. Coma Decan Picture Credit
24. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston.
25. A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars. Faulkner [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
26.  [https://icr.edu/when-they-saw-star] Dr. Henry Morris
27. [Eusebius of Caesarea: Demonstratio Evangelica. Tr. W.J. Ferrar (1920) — Book 9, Chapt. 1]
28. [https://icr.edu/when-they-saw-star] Dr. Henry Morris
29. IBID
30. Science Digest in December 1976, p. 65
31.IBID
32. [https://icr.edu/when-they-saw-star] Dr. Henry Morris
33. Supernova RCW 86. X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO & ESA; Infared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B. Williams (NCSU)
34. SN 1054, the Crab Nebula. Credit: ESO
35. A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars. Faulkner [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
36. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/physics-and-astronomy/recurrent-novae]
37. Figure 1 picture credit [https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/recurrent-nova-rs-ophiuchi-just-blew-its-top/]
38.
IBID
39. Plate 1, picture credit, Witness of the Stars, p. 34 E.W. Bullinger.
40.
IBID p. 35
41. Plate 2
, picture credit, Berniece’s Hair.
42. Plate 3, picture credit, Witness of the Stars, p. 21 E.W. Bullinger.
43. Plate 4 picture credit, Jesus Christ our Promised Seed. p.45 American Christian Press
44. The Skies in Memory, John Lash in The Atlantis Blueprint, ppg. 168-172. Wilson and Flem-Ath.
45. Figure 2. picture credit for The color-coded image of the Dendera Zodiac.
46. 
Figure 3. Picture credit for The Blood Moon Tetrad and the signs of 2017. [Watchfortheday.org]
47. Figure 4. Picture credit for Kings Chamber Star Shaft and Descending Passage Star alignments on Sept. 20-21, 2017. [Watchfortheday.org]


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Joshua’s Long Day and the birth of the King’s Son.

Our recent study of the Astronomical Miracle of Joshua’s Long Day, in the context of Jon Nessle’s OT History Class [Session 15] has opened some of the in-depth ramifications of the events related to this Bible record, as presented by Rev. Nessle, Ren Manetti and myself. This blog, picks up where my teaching on Chapter 3, Session 15b left off in OT History Class; The Eclipse and the Great Pyramid. We will start this initial blog of 2023 with a brief review of our Nov. 2022 blog on Joshua’s Long Day, focusing on how the key Hebrew words for the Sun and Moon standing still [dom and amad] are in this context held figuratively as synonymous. In this Jan. 2023 blog, we will see more on how this relates to the Great Pyramid, along with Jesus as the King’s Son. We will begin with some related comments and word studies below for further study, on Josh. 10 & Hab. 3 from our previous blog for context, to see where that leads us…

Habakkuk 3:11:
The sun and moon stood still in their habitationAt the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.

Sun and moonstand still’ on high (ʿāmad zəbūlâ) / as Your arrows fly in brightness, Your flashing spear in brilliance.” The connection between this poetic source in the book of Habakkuk and the story of the miracle in the book of Joshua is clear and has been accepted by many interpreters throughout the ages.21 However, the syntax of the first line of the verse and the meaning of the word zəbūlâ posed major problems for them.22 Zəbūl in this verse is usually interpreted as the name of a sanctuary, throne, or platform for a god.23 The noun zəbūl appears four times in the Bible in addition to this passage in Habakkuk.24 In Isa 63:15, it clearly refers to a place high in the heavens where God usually dwells and from which He looks down on the earth. This is similar to one of the meanings of the Ugaritic term zbl; sometimes interpreted as the throne of a divine being in the heavens.25 The construction bêth zəbūl appears in Solomon’s speech at the temple’s dedication in 1 Kings 8:13 and its parallel in 2 Chr 6:2, 26 In this speech, scholars distinguish two parts: the first part, consisting of the opening two verses, 12–13, in which the construct bêth zəbūl appears; and the second, longer part, comprising the remainder of the speech from verse 14 to verse 53. 1

The authors continue with comments related to King Solomon’s building the first Temple to the true God, with the “additional words in the Greek text that constitute the first colon of a parallelism, with “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness” (v. 12) constituting the second cola. This extra line in the LXXSeptuagint includes added information that can contribute meaningfully to our topic, since it includes a reference to the sun: “Then Solomon said [concerning the house when he finished building it: He (the LORD) revealed the sun in the sky;] 28 the Lord has chosen to abide in thick clouds.” This shows that bêth zəbūl in the next verse corresponds to the place in the sky where the sun dwells. 2

Plate 1. Total Solar Eclipse North of Canaan on July 14th, 1405. 3

The solar eclipse of 1405 BC with the blue band showing the zone of totality. 

In our previous Nov. 2022 blog we presented evidence for the Miracle of Joshua’s Long Day as a Total Solar eclipse, specifically the solar eclipse of July 14th, 1405 BC, visible over Canaan. We will expand on this idea in this study, especially the idea linked to the Hebrew words for the “Sun and Moonstand still’ on high (ʿāmad zəbūlâ) in Josh. 10:12 and Hab. 3:11. The comment above in  reference to “Zəbūl in this verse usually interpreted as the name of a sanctuary, throne, or platform for a god,” is an idea we will expand on, in light of Scripture and Hebrew culture. In Jewish life, the Tabernacle and Temple embodied the center of their spiritual and social life activities. This sanctuary and Holy place where the people interacted with Priests and Prophets, that ministered to the Almighty in the Holy of Holies, responding to the oracles of God’s Covenant with Israel, also included the King, and whether or not his administration followed the godly ordinances, doing good or evil in God’s sight, fits with Zəbūl above being interpreted as the name of a sanctuary, throne, or platform for a god. What is interesting is the link to the Sun and Moon here, since the state of light or darkness was dependent on how the king ruled to uphold God’s Covenant for Israel.

It is interesting that Christ as the King of kings embodies the light of God as the apex of the royal line, and consummation of the kings of Israel in the Davidic Dynasty as the Lion of Judah. As Mal. 4:2 statesBut unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wingsrefers to Jesus Christ, who embodied more of God’s names than any other. In this light, we will investigate the references to the king’s coronation process, and their implications below, as found in the records in Kings & Chronicles.

This is consistent with a comparison of this verse to Josh 10:13: zəbūl in Hab 3:11 seems to parallel the “midheaven” (ḥaṣî haššāmayim) in Joshua.30 The second part of the speech expresses a clear underlying view that the earthly temple is not intended to be the dwelling place of God, but only the place where His name dwells.31 As explained in detail in the speech, people will pray to God facing the earthly temple in Jerusalem, and God will hear their prayer from His dwelling in heaven.32 The concept of zəbūl as a divine place in the heavens is found in a non-biblical scroll from Qumran in which “the holy zəbūl (of God)” is the place of the angels33 and the location from which the two great luminaries come. 4

Echoes of the view that the sun has a home are found in the Bible; See Ps 19:5–7. The root bwʾ, “come,” refers to the disappearance of the sun over the western horizon, and the root yṣʾ, “go out,” refers to its appearance in the east (Gen 19:23; Judg 5:31; Isa 13:10). That is also the “location” of the sun in Eccl 1:5, as rising and setting points on the Horizon. It may even be that gebūrātô, “its might,” in “the sun precisely, the entry of the sun god into his heavenly palace, means that the sun has gone dark. [under the earth at night] This can also represent the collective temple of the Sun/Son of God moving on the ecliptic through the 12 Houses/Tribes/ Apostles of Israel as the head/apex and capstone of the Great Pyramid. [See Figs 1 & 3 below]

The word zebul/zebula is interpreted as the name of a sanctuary, throne, or platform for a god,
it is fitting Biblically that bêth zəbūl appears in Solomon’s speech at the Temple’s dedication in Jerusalem in 1 Kings 8:13, 27, 42. As a reflection and earthly representation of God’s true temple in Heaven, it embodies the physical and spiritual light of God, the Father of Lights for all Creation, the main two being the Sun and Moon. The interrelation between these primary two sources of light on earth is witnessed in the eclipse cycle, which is the subject of Joshua’s Long Day, also in Hab. 3:11. The Word study below includes the main related roots alongside dom, of amad H59755976amad,
5977omed, and H5982-ammud. We will start with Scriptural references of amad H5975, as follows;

The word translated stand still in [Josh. 10:12-13Hab. 3:11 is amad H5975prime root to stand, lit./fig. trans & intrans. also abide, appoint, arise, cease, confirm, continue, dwell, endure, estab. leave, make ordain, be over, place, present one, raise up, remain, repair, set forth, settle over, settle up, stand; by, firm, fast, still, stay, tarry.]  31:17 ‘are these evils not on us because our God is not among us?’-as in our day… TODAY! Josh 3:16- the waters of Jordan parted [stood up] so Israel could walk into the Promised Land. Josh. 11:13. A. To stand before a king, ie. serve, minister; Gen. 41:46,-Joseph serving Pharaoh as Grand Vizier. Deut. 1:38, Joshua, who stood beforeserved Moses with Caleb as the only two who entered the Promised Land, from the wilderness; I Kgs. 1:28, 10:8, Dan. 1:4-5, minister to Jehovah, used of Prophets, I Kgs. 17:1, 18:15, Jer. 15:19, Judg. 20:28, Ps. 134:1, a Psalm of Degrees. Levi18:23a. Princes of the 12 tribes set over anyone-used of men; Gen. 24:303141:17, [in Pharoah’s dream interpreted by Joseph, He stood upon the riverbank…out of which came the 7 cattle] and inanimate things, Num. 7:2, b. confide in anyone, Stand by or defend one, as by Michael, the ArchangelDan. 12:1-4, Esth. 8:11, 9:16. The Jews stood unified vs. Haman’s genocide plot2. to Stand For, Stand Firm, remain, endureStehen bleiben, Ps. 33:11, Jehovah’s decrees stand forever, Ps. 102:25-27, the heavens shall perish, but God remains, Ex. 18:23, Amos 2:15, Hos. 10:9, Esth. 3:4-6, Stand firm in battle before anyone. Josh. 21:44, there stood not a man of all their enemies before them. 23:9, Ecc. 4:12, Dan. 11:8, 15, 25. Persist, persevere in anything. Ecc. 8:3,
To be constituted, set, appointed, Ezr. 10:14, let our rulers be appointed.

To desist from anything, leave off, Gen. 29:35, 30:9. 4. To Stand up, arise, Dan. 12:1, 13, a new prince; AC, Dan. 8:23, 25, 11:2, 3, 20, Ecc. 4:15, of war springing up, 1 Chron. 20:4, rise up against anyone, Dan. 11:14, 1Chron. 21:1, Satan stood up against Israel to provoke David to do a census of the population. Levi. 19:16 No Talebearing5.  Dan. 11:31. A/C in AntiochusactionsHiphil, a. Cause to stand, Ps. 31:9, Ezek. 33:26,-[take your stand leaning upon your swords, the posture taken by Necromancers waiting for the rites, of witchcraft. Isa. 47:12, marginal Bull-note]. Ezek. 13:5-7, False Prophets of Israel didn’t resist or stand firm. Ps. 76:8, 130:3; a Psalm of the degrees, 147:17, Nah. 1:68, [Nahum served c. 603 BC in Hezekiah’s 14th year of living the prophecy of the 15 years added to his life, prior to the eclipse over Nineveh preceding Jonah-possibly relating to Nah. v.8 darkness pursuing their enemies?

The sea becomes tranquil, Jon. 1:15, cp. 2 Kgs 4:6; miracle oil in the cruse endured for the widow. Levi 14:11-20. Priest presented [caused to stand] the leper to be cleansed before the Lord @ the door of Tabernacle of Congregation, w/proper offerings for his cleansing & atonement. Fig. to decree, 2 Chron. 30:5, 33:8; to destine/promise anyone, impose a law on anyone, Neh. 10:33, Seat in office or function: 1 Kgs. 12:32, made priests of the lowest of the people. I Chron. 15:16. David speaks to the Chief Levites to appoint musicians like Asaph in the Temple service. 2. To cause to stand firm, establish, endure, preserve, 1 Kgs. 15:4, 2 Chron. 9:8, Prov. 29:4, to confirm; 2 Chron. 35:2, Dan. 11:14, confirm the vision by the event. 3. Stand Still, 2 Chron. 18:34, 4. Raise, to set up as idols; 2 Chron. 33:19, a house, Ezr. 2:68, 9:9, to repair the wall and house of the Lord. to arouse, stir up, Neh. 6:7, Dan. 11:11, 13. Hophal; to be set, placed, Levi 16:10, the goat on which the lot fell… to remain, 1 Kgs. 22:35.

 2Kgs. 23:3, the king stood by a pillar in the 10 steps of his coronation at the entrance of the TempleEzek. 17:14, Keep, stand by the Covenant, Ex. 9:28-remain in same place, or state both people or things, Levi. 13:5, 37, Jer. 32:14, 48:11, Dan. 10:17, 11:6. Stay amongst the living, Ex. 21:21. 3. Stillstehn, stand Still, stop, 1 Sam. 20:38, used of the sun standing still in its course; Josh. 10:13, Deut. 31:15, God in the cloudy Pillar, appeared over the Tabernacle door. 31:17 ‘are these evils not on us as our God is not among us?’6     

[5976amad=shake, be at a stand.] Ezek. 29:7 thou have made all their loins to shake, cp. Ps. 69:23. The context of Ezek. 29:2-ff is Pharaoh of Egypt, the great dragon/crocodile of the Nile who invaded and captured Gaza, [Jer 47:1] Bullinger says Pharaoh Hophra called Apries by the Greeks, who also hit Zidon in assault and battled the Prince of Tyre on the Sea [Herodotus ii, 161, 169] cp. 2 Kgs. 24:7, Jer. 46:2, battle of Carchamesh 37:5-8. Egypt thus caused Jerusalem’s destruction. [Jer. 44:30, 46:25-26.] Ezek. 29:4 uses the same language here describing Leviathan in Job as Cetus the decan of the sea monster, and Rahab=Egypt in Isa. 51:9-16, 30:7, the strength of Egypt is to sit still. Ps. 74: 13-14. As Israel under Zedekiah relied on Egyptian support which faltered [Ezek. 29:6-7] making their loins to come to a standstill, shake or “be a stand“=this usage of [H5976amad]. God divided the sea by His strength, breaking the heads of dragons in the waters, the heads of Leviathan in pieces… see Job 40-41, Hislop p. 293 talks of this Pharaoh as the embanker of the Nile.  7

In light of the astronomical meanings of the root ʿāmad (see below, section 4.2), if we read zəbūlâ in Hab. 3:11as it is vocalized in the Masoretic Text,43 the verse can be understood in its plain sense, without any need for emendations: the moon in its orbit went—unexpectedly—into the orbit of the sun and made it go dark. With the little light that remained on the earth, the flying arrows and the heads of the spears appeared to the soldiers to shine like the glow of stars. As explained below (section 4.4), observers can distinguish both the sun and the moon covering it only during an annular solar eclipse.8 [or a total solar eclipse seen through the overcast skies that spawned the hailstorm of Josh. 10:11

Thus, the aspect of darkness of dôm is directed primarily to the sun, which stopped shining in the middle of the day, while the aspect of cessation refers primarily to the moon, which appears as if it were “standing in front of the sun, as explained in verse 13, “And the sun went dark/halted, And the moon stood (still).” Other scholars, beginning in the 1940s, arrived at the conclusion that the two verbs used in this descriptiondôm and ʿāmād, express an unexpected cessation of the sun’s illumination and not the sun’s halting in its heavenly orbit,55 a result arrived at by various Jewish  commentators in the Middle Ages. The interpretation of the root dwm/dmm as a cessation of the sun’s illumination accords with one of the meanings of the root, which sometimes refers to the (usually sudden and unexpected) cessation of something from its natural, designated activity, as, for example, in Jer 47:6, in which the sword is asked to stop slaying, and in 1 Sam 14:9—in a parallel to ʿāmād, as in our verse—where it refers to non-participation in a battle.56 The same is true of ʿāmad, primarily with the preposition m-, as in Gen 30:9, where it refers to Leah’s ceasing
to bear children.57] 9

Later, J.F.A. Sawyer58 also interpreted the biblical description as a solar eclipse and suggested identifying it with the eclipse that occurred on September 30, 1131 BCE. He interpreted dôm as “stillness,” meaning that the sun ceased to shine. He explained the word ʿāmād and the clausedid not press, [or proceed] to set a whole day…10

[5977omed=a spot as being fixed, stood upright, from [H5975]. 2 Chron. 34:31, a place, where one stands, as King Josiah stood on his platform, Dan. 8:17-18. 11 H5982-Ammud also occurs in I Kgs. 7:2, cloudy pillar, Ex. 33:9-10, God’s presence [v.14] in the cloudy pillar at the Tabernacle door  to talk with Moses face-to-face, like the pillar of fire at night in [Ex. 13:22, 40:34-38]. Also used of pillars of heaven in Job 26:11 and pillars of the earth, Job 9:6. [2.] a Platform or scaffold; 2 Kgs. 11:14, 23:3. There is conjecture in the meaning of this pillar or column [H5982-ammud= Judg. 16:25-26, The pillars upon which the temple of Dagon of the Philistines standeth [H3559-kuwn= w/o God no human line is perpetuated, Isa. 9:6, Ps. 89:37, Judg. 16:26, 29]; that Samson was set between that he leaned on before destroying this temple w/ worshippers] God guarantees a kingship by establishing His Sanctuary among His people; Ex. 15:17, Isa. 2:2]. 12

2 Chron. 34:31-33
31 Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book32 And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 Thus Josiah removed all the abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the Lord their GodAll his days they did not depart from following the Lord God  of their fathers.

The teaching of this “place” where the King stood is at least two-fold, first being a physical place or platform, where he stood. Secondly, the spiritual foundation of his standing. King Josiah was a reformer who returned the kingdom of Israel to the precepts of righteousness, within God’s Covenant. We will look into this in greater detail below, in our study of 2Kgs. 23:3 and the king’s coronation record. The King’s coronation was always held in the temple, served by the prophets and priests who ministered in the ordination and installment of the King according to godly standards, as we find in the installment of King Josiah. It will help to understand better the celestial/astronomical implications of these temple pillars, for context.

A key aspect of the Temple layout regards the two large Brass Pillars at the entrance of the Temple at Jerusalem, and their relation to the Pi ratio. They are described in I Kings 7:13-15 below.

1 Ki 7:13 And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. [14] He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work. [15] For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.

The word for “line” in verse 15 above indicates a line for measuring, thus a closer look at these brass pillars is called for. The Pi ratio has long been considered transcendental number, or constant of  mathematics (3.14159…), linking a straight diameter to a curved circumference. The archaeologist and mathematician Charles Funk-Hellet points out that:

“Solomon had Hiram contribute to building a temple whose brass columns were 18 cubits high, and 12 cubits around. In other words, one cubit equaled the twelfth part of the circumference of the arc of 30 degrees, or pi/6. By subtracting the circumference from the height, they obtained 6 cubits in a straight line, which was equal to 1/2 the circumference, or the exact value of pi; so that 1000 years before Christ the Hebrews knew that a cubit was a mathematical entity dependent on the circumference, and were able to resolve pi to four points of decimal.” 13 

Figure 1. Pi ratio applied to the circle of 12 signs or Constellations of the ecliptic.

Funk-Hellet’s observation that: “By subtracting the circumference from the height, they obtained 6 cubits in a straight line, which was equal to 1/2 circumference, or the exact value of pi/6.…“ is worth noting when we come to the subject of the celestial symbolism of the Menorah, and its application of pi, building on what we have found here. Funk-Hellet goes on to say that: “the Biblical cubit is equal to the Egyptian Royal cubit, that was incorporated into the Jerusalem Temple as pi/6, or 523.6 mm. Using one unit of measure as the radius of a circle, the ancients found the trigonometric value of 30 degrees to be pi/6, (that divided the full circumference of the circle into 12 equal parts, as the 12 signs of the zodiac are divided into 12/30 degree segments) and was the value of the royal cubit, or .5236 of the unit used: 3.1416/6= .5236“ 14 (parenthesis & emphasis mine)

Figure 2. Solomon’s Temple with Brass Pillars at the Entrance. 15

Brass Pillars at the Entrance of Solomon’s Temple

In effect, we have an architectural representation of the twelve-fold division of the heavens preserved in the dimensions of the Temple’s Brass columns, all based on the mathematical standard Pi, long before most modern scientists imagined the ancients knew anything about Pi at this level of accuracy. This provides more evidence showing the Creator’s perfect wisdom and Nature’s Great Geometer, at work in the dimensions of His Temple, as an illustration of heavenly realities [Heb. 8:5], which He gave to King  David by revelation. Also symbolically contained in the dimensions of the Temple’s brass columns, is a figure of 12 calendar months of 30 days, totaling the 360 days of their year, a calendar also used going all the way back to Noah’s time, in the context of the 360-degrees of the ecliptic. This reveals a true origin of the 12 – 30° segments of the ecliptic, as a standard celestial measure, and also reveals the Pi ratio at the root of the Hebrew Calendar matching the 360 degrees of the circle with the 360 days of the year on the Calendar of the Biblical Patriarchs. And since Noah was already 600 years old when the Bible records the details of his luni-solar calendar in Genesis 7, it also implies that it was used by the earlier Biblical Patriarchs prior to the flood, and centuries before history and human science thought this level of sophisticated astronomical timekeeping was in use. For more information on Noah’s Calendar, please check our website link @try-god.com. As we find other Biblical uses of the Hebrew word “qav,” God’s application of the Pi concept far exceeds any previous application in human history. Views based on scientific Materialism will never account fully for the realities of God’s Creation. Only from the Creator’s viewpoint in His Word, and the Works of His Hands, do these applications of pi make sense. Only He could apply pi to the ecliptic and the dimensions of planet Earth, an idea borne out in greater detail, in how pi is symbolically and architecturally appliednot only in the Hebrew Tabernacle and Temple, but moreso in the Great Pyramid, [Fig. 3, below]. Since the pattern shown to Moses for the Tabernacle was by divine revelation, just as the Temple’s pattern was shown to King David, these men of God did not calculate the blueprints for these sacred edifices, or their related measurements, by scientific trial and error. Thus, they didn’t need to wait centuries on the Greeks-like Archimedes, generally considered the greatest of ancient scientists, to rediscover or apply them in divine architecture. Although Archimedes is to be commended for his application of the pi ratio, at his later time in history, respectfully it pales compared to what we find in the Biblical uses of “qav” relating to pi.

Figure 3. Pi Ratio in the Great Pyramid of Giza – Bing images 16.

Image result for Golden Ratio Great Pyramid of Giza

In Isa. 9:6, one of the great prophecies of the promised seed, it is used of the Messiah as Sar-Shalom, the Prince of Peace, the one who brings peace to all Creation, [Eph. 2:11-18]. The word Sar as the root of saros doubtless linked to the Hebrew word [H8269] of the same spelling, meaning; “ruler, prince captain, chief, leader, head.”17 The word retained this meaning even in modern usage, as in the Tsar of all the Russias. As a witness linking to the roots of very early human language, Aesar is a word for “God” in both, Icelandic and Irish, Osar in Egyptian like Osiris was the prince. Even the English word “sir” and the RomanCeasar” are traceable to this root. It is used in Daniel 10:13 & 20, referring the arch-angel Michael who routed the fallen angel (Daimon), opposing the messenger angel that God sent to answer Daniel’s prayer. The meaning of “sar” is Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace embodies “the sum of creation, as the prince of Creation.” The most important date on the calendar of Israel then becomes the birthday of Jesus Christ on New Years Day, Tishri 1, 3 BC. Because the Hebrew calendar was lunar based [saros] as to the start of its months, the coordination of the lunar and solar cycles set the basis for the signs marking the birth of Christ. “With every 19 solar years plus 2 hours, the Sun and Moon return to meet each other at the same appointed time and place in the sky. The saros, however being an eclipse lunar cycle, consists of 19 eclipse years, which is only 18 solar years plus eleven days. An eclipse year consists of 346.62 solar days, which is equal to 11.738 full moons. When we divide the saros by 11.738, we get 1.618, (or phi), accurate to 4 digits!”18 This shows us a comparison between 2 lunar cycles (eclipse years & full moons) that harmonize according to the phi ratio. Since the Sun intersects a lunar Node two times every 346.62-day eclipse year, we see how the solar and lunar cycles might also be linked by the phi proportion. As we consider the Calendar of Israel, which unified the luni-solar cycles according to phi, in concert with Israel’s sacred fifty-year cycle of Jubilees, the impact of this pattern in the Natural Order is evident, since there are 618 full Moons in any given 50-year Jubilee cycle.

According to Hislop, The Chaldean version of this word: Zer, meaning “to encompass” gives us not only the English basis for; “Zero signified by a circle among the Chaldeans,” but also Zero; “the seed.”19 It further relates to the Hebrew word “zera” [H2233], used referring to the promised seed in Genesis 3:15. To this end the Chaldean word for the “woman’s promised seed” was Zero-ashta, that also formed the basis of the name Zoroaster. We should note here that the Zoroastrian writings in the Zend-Avesta predicted the return of Zoroaster as a Messianic savior who would renew all existence in preparation for the Last Judgment. These references to the woman’s promised seed point directly to the general sign of the Celestial Prelude. Hislop also notes:

 “In many nations, not only was a great god known under the name of Zero or Zer; the seed, and a great goddess under the name of Ashta or Ishta; the woman, but the great god Zero is frequently characterized by some epithet which implies that he is The only One.”20

This evidence provides a strong basis for a direct correlation to Coma, the seed as the desired of the nations, [Hab. 2:7] especially when we view the supernova in this child’s head, as the promised seed, pictured in the woman’s lap in the decan of Coma, as the general sign of the Celestial Prelude. Hislop goes on to say: “As he who by the Chaldeans was regarded as the great Seed was looked upon as the Sun incarnate, and as the emblem of the Sun was a circle, the hieroglyphic relation between zero; “the circle,” and zero; ‘the seed‘ was easily established.”21

The Maya were also familiar with the concept of zero long before it reached Europe through India and the Arab traders. They used a shell shape to symbolize zero, but to them “it was not a symbol for nothing; but it represented completion and the seed from which all could be derived.”22

From the information above we can see related cultural connotations for Sar-zero in the sun, embodied as the promised “great seed” [Mal. 4:2], the ecliptic upon which the sun travels [Psalm 19:4-6], in its course, moon (saros), and the “encompassing” circle, in spite of being separated by culture and time. The history of “zero” from a mathematical viewpoint is interesting in this light, because the Arabs, from whom we have taken it, got it from the Chaldeans. In our modern usage, zero is the absence of quantity, the point where a continuous function changes its sign from positive to negative [or from the physical to spiritual] as in, for example, zeropoint energy Physics. From a Biblical viewpoint, this transition between the physical and spiritual realms is embodied in Jesus Christ who is the crown of Creation. As the Word made flesh, seated at the right hand of God at the utmost peak of the cosmos, Jesus gives mankind our only access to the true spiritual side of life that arches over our physical “reality,” [II Cor. 4:18]. As the ideal man and mediator, he embodies the relationship between all humanity on Earth and our Heavenly Father. This becomes more interesting when we consider that, according to ancient Sumerian myth, Sar also symbolized the totality of the cosmos. The Sumerian conception of this was dual, meaning there was an upper totality called An-Sar, and a lower totality known as Ki-Sar. “An” meant heaven, and “Ki” meant Earth to the Sumerians, who believed that originally these two were unified in one place, until circumstances demanded that Earth be set aside for humanity in its fallen state. The Sar was the prince who would once again unify these disparate aspects of Creation resulting from the temptation and fall of man. As we consider the Sumerian cosmos, we find the ancient concept of a layered Celestial Sphere within the great circle of An-Sar that encompasses the lesser ellipses or pillars of the eclipticEquator, the planetaryearthly and lunar orbits.

As the high priest after the order of Melchisedek, Jesus inherits his double square breastplate of 12 precious stones, symbolizing the authority of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah as Priest-King over Israel’s 12 [4 x 3] tribes [Ex. 28:15-30]. Keeping with the celestial symbolism theme, the breastplate, was designed with a niche holding the Urim and Thummim, or lights and perfections; representing the two great lights of the Sun and Moon. As oracles of the High Priest, these two stones revealed the wisdom and glory of the Creator, even as the movements of the Sun and Moon in the sky declare God’s glory [Ps. 19:1]. We find more references to these 12 stones and their variants in the living stones of I Pet. 2:4-7

Another element in understanding the celestial/astronomical implications of these temple pillars, includes the astronomy of the birth of Christ. This is a natural progression from the Kings of Israel, starting with King David and the Davidic Dynasty leading to the promised seed and King of Kings, the apex of this royal spiritual line in Jesus Christ.

Other notable researchers have acknowledged the correlation of Rosh Hashanah not only at the Birth of Christ on Sept. 11th, 3 BC, but also as his birth relates to his victorious return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, with the Rev. 12 heavenly birth signs replaying in 2017 and beyond, in light of the Biblical Archaeo-Astronomy of the Great Pyramid. The principal on the Signs of the End web- site isDaniel Matson, @[http://watchfortheday.org/signsoftheend/giza2024.html]. 23

He broached this topic with the question; “Could Rosh Hashanah be the real factor? His basic idea is  that the pyramid complex is a map of the heavens of a point in time when Christ returns. The pyramids show what is to be at meridian (Al Nitak in Orion), taking into account the causeways heading east from the pyramids, showing the importance of the rising sun or other items rising in the east. That the Sphinx also looks to the east is a factor as well. The point though was to see when a candidate for an alignment of Rosh Hashanah and the meridian alignment of Orion at dawn.”24

An earlier version of this was realized in the Great Pyramid’s Rosh Hashanah alignment of 2017,

As we have posted in numerous blog studies, the heavenly signs marking the birth of Christ seen in Rev12 will also mark his victorious return, and we have documented how the heavenly signs in the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad and the signs leading up to the 2017 fall equinox, established this truth. However, the 2017 alignment was not alone as a possible marker for Christ’s Return. The next alignment of this type is coming in 2028, when dates for Rosh Hashanah may match the sky picture of signs as described in Rev. 12. In 2017 Matson showed a key relationship between the Christ Angle of the Great Pyramid and the Rosh Hashanah date starting-sundown on Sept. 20th-21st, 2017, two days before the Feast of Trumpets on 9-23-2017. As Matson said, “this was the first year from when he marked Rosh Hashanah coming immediately after Sept20th—the time Al Nitak hits the meridian precisely at dawnand also when Regulus hits the Christ angle.”25 Thus, the Christ angle not only bisects Bethlehem as a prophecy of Christ’s birth, but it also bisects Regulus as in 2017, at this point in time again in 2028, as a potential time of his Return.

The Sept. 20th alignment of Venus-Regulus related to the Great Pyramid, is seen in Fig. 4 below.

Figure 4. Great Pyramid Passage Alignments on Rosh Hashanah 2017. 26

Signs of the End – The Oracle in Stone

Here the passages of the Great Pyramid according to the Christ Angle, map out the signs of the
Celestial Sphinx, as Regulus and Venus are aligned in Leo the Lion, while Jupiter is in Virgo.

The first clincher here is that on Rosh Hashanah-2017Venus the bright and Morning Star is in
conjunction with Regulus at dawn, aligned with the Christ Angle, visible above the horizon. Second, below the horizon is Jupiter–called the “scepter” in [Num. 24:17], as King planet of the Jews, is positioned equi-distant via the Christ angle to Regulus & Venus above the horizon. The dawn VenusRegulus union reminds us of the testimony of the Apostle Peter;

2 Peter 1:19-21
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark placeuntil the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

In Fig. 5 below the Christ angle in the Ascending Passage of the Great Pyramid is aligned with the Venus-Regulus union in Leo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The key note here is the star Regulus, the brightest star on the ecliptic, is located at the heart of Leo, and when this glorious dawn of the sixth administration breaks, the Morning Star Jesus Christ arises in our hearts, enlightening us for eternal glory, as we are raptured with Christ to God’s own right hand, forever. The 2nd part of this Pyramid alignment on Rosh Hashanah, when Al Nitak hits the meridian precisely at dawn,  extending through the Pyramid’s apex, to the star Al Nitak on Orion’s Belt. The apex and chief cornerstone of the Great Pyramid itself is also the subject of numerous messianic prophecies [Ps. 118: 22] where the stone rejected by the builders has become head of the corner, or the chief cornerstone. This 5th cornerstone of the Great Pyramid sits atop the superstructure of the Great Pyramid, unifying the four cornerstones at the Pyramid’s base, into the spiritual body of Christ’s Church, [Eph. 2:20]. This would activate the celestial image of the Great Pyramid, to unify the capstone with the body of the Great Pyramid, as a prophecy of Christ’s return FOR his saints.

The Almighty has provided many examples from History and Nature, not to mention countless Biblical miracles confirming His Prophetic Word, in the dual witness of Biblical Archaeo-Astronomy, of the Great Pyramid providing excellent depictions of this verse with Venus the Morning Star aligned in the King Star Regulus at dawn on Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 21st, 2017, according to the measures of the Great Pyramid’s Ascending/ Descending passages, [Fig. 5 below]. If indeed these heavenly signs are pointing to The Dawn of The Day of the Lord’s Return FOR his Saints in 2028, then it will truly be the dawn of a New Day and Age of Everlasting Righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Figure 5. The Great Pyramid’s Ascending Passage alignment with the Venus-Regulus union in Leo, 9-20-2017.  27

This view of the prophecy of the Great Pyramid in its Ascending and Descending Passage angles agrees with what Scriptures say about the witness of the Great Pyramid in Isaiah 19:19-20. What is evident from this graphic [Fig. 4] is the key role of the planets Jupiter and Venus in marking the Birth and 2nd Coming of the Lord. Historically, ancient Pyramid researchers have made key observations concerning the dimensions and symbolism of the only ancient world wonder still intact. Scholars from Herodotus to Agatharchides oCnidus in the 2nd Cent. BC, emphasized mathematical and geometric principles governing the building and conception of the Pyramid complex on the Giza Plateau, as opposed to their specific measures. A modern scholar, Livio Stechini in analyzing the past work of Pyramid researchers, has focused on the meridian triangle of the Great Pyramid, which provided precise values of both the Pi and Phi ratios, in the four triangular faces of the Great Pyramid. Agatharchides found dimensions for two of the meridian sections of the Pyramid based on Pi, with the other 2 triangle sections based on Phi.28 As we may recall from our High School Geometry class, Pi resolved the circle’s relationship between its diameter and circumference. In Sacred Geometry, a spiritual view of geometric principles is held, where the Circle symbolizes the Eternal Creator [Elohim], while the Diameter embodies God as Jehovah in relationship with His Creation. Jehovah is seen reaching out to humanity in His only begotten Son, where Jesus as the diameter line, links the centerpoint; [Mancreation] to the Creator seen as the eternal Circle, outside of Creation. So Christ is the perfect mediator between God and Man, [I Tim. 2:5].

Rosh ha-Shanah on Tishri 1, was the “head” of the Judean calendar as New Year’s day and Jesus’ birth-day, the first day of the 50year Hebrew cycle of Jubilees. This set a foundational temporal pattern of the seasons, holidays and feasts of Israel’s sacred calendar.

During the “Great Wonder” of Rev. 12:1, the feet of the woman, Virgo fall at the intersection of the ecliptic and the Celestial Equator, which is also known as the autumnal equinox, one of the so-called four pillars of heaven,” the four Cardinal Directions of the horizon. This celestial point was generally marked on the Hebrew calendar by the Feast of Tabernacles, which occurred later during this Sabbath of Months. V.P. Wierwille refers to the significance of Tishri 1 the seventh month, with the following:

 “Just as age was reckoned from Tishri 1 to Tishri 1, so were the regnal years of Judean Kings. The blowing of trumpets of Rams Horns was also part of the coronation ceremony of these Judean Kings.” 29

We find added evidence for this in the star cycle of Sirius, as a symbol embodying a dual-nature of the Morning Star. Its fallen archaic nature is seen in Lucifer, the first Morning Star [Isa. 14:12], while the risen nature is seen in Christ [Rev. 22:16]. This becomes more intriguing when we look at aspects of the stellar mythos of the star cycles of Sirius A & B, of the African tribe called the Dogon.

The Dogon celestial mythology says the cycle of SiriusB,” a White Dwarf companion star in joint orbit with SiriusA“, is a 50-year cycle, a fact verified by modern astronomers. Thus, it is instructive to see how half the fifty-year cycle of Sirius B exhibits the luni-solar kinship inherent in the 50-year cycle of Hebrew Jubilees, according to the golden section, or phi ratio. This key to the celestial coordination of the luni-solar cycle, along with the star cycle of Sirius as the three main calendars referred to in Gen. 1:14-16. Since the sidereal Sirius year, or Sothic Calendar as the Greeks called it, requires a highly advanced knowledge of the heavens, capable of selecting the lone star in the sky that dictates a year-365¼ days long, we find more support for these advanced astronomical practices about 1000+ years prior to Abraham, in ancient Egypt.

Although the historical correlation of the 50-year Jubilee and the 50-year Sothic cycle is unsettled, we have seen the Jubilee cycle is central to the timing of Christ’s birth, and stands out in the celestial events making up the great wonder of Rev. 12. According to Schwaller de Lubicz, who broke down the 50-year Sothic cycle into two 25 year cycles: says a twenty-five year cycle corresponds to 309 lunations. The calculations are:

25 x 365 = 9125 days, and
9125 = 29.5307 days per lunation in 309 lunations

This in itself reveals extremely accurate observations. Modern Astronomy reckons the lunation as 29.53059 days, a difference of about a second. But Schwaller de Lubicz notes the intriguing equivalence of twenty-five years to 309 lunar months. 309 = (Ø -1 x 1000 and its choice as the number determining the cycle cannot have been accidental.                                   2

Ø – 1 x 1000.)=618.  A double cycle comprising 50 years; expresses the Golden Section. 30 
            2

Thus the inception of Jesus’ reign as King of Kings is marked on his birthday of Tishri 1, the “Day of Trumpets.” The significance of the king’s coronation tied to Rosh Hashannah, New Year’s Day and the head of Israel’s calendar, is that Christ is the King of Kings presiding over all temporal, civil and sacred matters as the King-High Priest of Israel. Thus, his birth on this key day of the calendar was foreordained by God, from before the foundations of the world. An example of this coronation tradition in the kingdom of Israel can be seen in II Kings 11:

2 Kings 11:12-14
And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king. [13] And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the Lord. [14] And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.

The figure Polysyndetyn is evident in 2 Kings above as seen with the use of manyands” separating the steps of the king’s coronation, starting with bringing forth the king’s son in v. 12, and concluding with the blowing of trumpets, and Athalia tearing her clothes and crying Treason as the 13th step of rebellion in v.14, resulting in her death.

The chronological alignment that we are recognizing with regards to the regnal years of Judean kings,  calculated from New Years Day, Rosh ha-Shanah on the Hebrew Calendar, from Tishri 1 to Tishri 1, that coincides with the birthday of Jesus Christ is established in a celestial coronation ceremony of the promised seed, with the triple planetary union of Jupiter-Regulus following Christ’s birth in  BC. In the Book of Kings, Jesus is the King’s son, in the Red Thread title, that unveils each book in God’s Word according to the ministry of Christ. These steps recorded in the king’s coronation here in II Kings 11:12-14, start with the king being brought forth, the ninth of which is “the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was.” Verse 13 above notes that the coronation ceremony took place in the Temple of the Lord, which is logical since the king was ordained and anointed of God. Below we find the celestial rendition of Christ’s Coronation, with the first of 3 unions of Jupiter, the King planet and Regulus the king star, in 3-2 BC. In Fig. 6 below, the path of Jupiter from Sept. 3 BC to Nov. 2 BC is depicted as Jupiter crowns Regulus. This involves the coordination of the luni-solar, planetary and star cycles all synched in honor of the prophesied appearance of the promised seed, God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the King of kings.

Fig. 6. The Triple conjunction of Jupiter and Regulus on Sept. 14th 3 BC. 31

In the Astronomy of the Birth of Christ, we also found a series of at least 7 lunar occultations of Regulus, signifying the serpent’s efforts to obstruct the purposes of God in the time of Christ’s birth. There is evidence that these lunar activities marked the workings of the serpent’s seed in bringing about death and destruction. This dark lunar symbolism relates to the Moon’s eclipse cycle resulting in the recurrent lapse of the Sun’s life-giving light. In the final analysis however, persecution by the adversary does not directly hinder the movement of God’s Word, it only will ultimately assist in its abundant dispersion.

II Chronicles 23:3-11 shows us this record in greater detail.
3 Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them,“Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord has said of the sons of DavidThis is what you shall do: One-third of you entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be keeping watch over the doors one-third shall be at the king’s house; and one-third at the Gate of the Foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LordBut let no one come into the house of the Lord except the priests and those of the Levites who serve. They may go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the LordAnd the Levites shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed the divisions. And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God. 10 Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king11 And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on himgave him the [a]Testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “Long live the king!”

Death of Athaliah

12 Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord13 When she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, also the singers with musical instruments, and those who led in praise. So Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Treason! Treason!

2Kgs. 23:3, the king stood by a pillar at the Temple’s entrance in the 13 steps of his coronation. As Ezek17:14, tells us, if the king kept God’s Covenant, the kingdom would stand, explaining why the coronation ceremony was held in the Temple where God’s name dwelt.

2 Chronicles 23:13-15
[13] And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason. 14 And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not kill her in the house of the Lord.”
15 So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance of the Horse Gate into the king’s house, and they killed her there.

The Trumpets that accompanied the King’s coronation ceremony on Rosh Hashanah in v.13 above, are very appropriate to the pomp and circumstance of the occasion. There has been conjecture as to the meaning of this pillar or column [H5982-ammud=Judg. 16:25-26, I Kgs. 7:2, pillar of cloud, Ex. 33:9-10, and the pillar of fire in Ex. 13:22. Also used of pillars of heaven in Job 26:11 and pillars of the earth, Job 9:6-7. Job here mentions the earthly pillars in the same breath as the sun not giving its light, along with the stars being sealed up. The earth’s seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall, located at the equinoxes and solstices, are called the earthly pillars. [2.] a Platform or scaffold; where the King stood by his pillar2 Kgs. 11:14, 23:3.

The record in 2 Chron. 23 puts this “pillar at the entering in,” and if the entrance of the temple is meant, it refers to the Temple’s large pillars of brass called Jachin and Boaz. This agrees with the New Bible Dictionary which states: “The entrance to Solomon’s Temple was flanked by 2 huge bronze pillars of key significance, [I Kgs 7:15-22]. They were thought to indicate the divine presence as the pillars of fire and cloud in Ex. 33:9, Deut. 31:15. It was apparently by one of these that the king stood on ceremonial occasions, [2 Kings 23:3, 2 Chron. 23:13].”32

 In II Chron. 34:31, King Josiah stood in his place (H5977omed) and made a covenant before the Lord to keep His commandments. The word translated “place” has the same Hebrew root [H5975amad] as the wordpillar” above.

1 Kings 7:21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.

Thus, as the kings of Israel stood in their place, by their pillar in the temple during the king’s
coronation ceremony, so the coronation of the King of kings, seen in the stellar heralding of his birth, was also marked by one of the four celestial pillars of heaven. At this center point in history, near the autumnal equinox, with the Moon at the feet of Virgo, with the setting of the star Spica-Al Zemach, the moments of the birth of Jesus Christ were framed in the heavens. This was followed 3 days later by the first union of a triple planetary coronation with first
Jupiter-Regulus Conjunction in Leo.

Fig. 7. The Scene at Sunset on 9-11-3BC with the Sun in Virgo with the Moon at her Feet.33

jupiter-regulus

This graphic marks the scene described in Rev. 12 with “the woman [Virgo] clothed with the sun, and the Moon at her feet. The Moon also happens to mark the autumnal equinox, with the crossing of the Celestial Equator and the Ecliptic or path of the Sun. This picture represents the view from Jerusalem on Sept. 11th, 3, BC, at sunset at 6:18pm, and moonset at 7:39pm, as the Sun and Moon frame the setting of the Star Spica which marked the birth time of the Messiah Jesus Christ. 34

This reference to the Feasts of Tabernacles and Passover in the pillar’s chapiters dividing the year in half according to the sacred calendar, remind us of the relation of the luni-solar year that is evident in the cycle of Jubilees. The Feast of Tabernacles was the third of the great annual feasts of the Hebrew sacred calendar, beginning on the fifteenth of the month, which was the height of the full Moon. It determined the start, and closed the annual sacred cycle of the Sabbatical year and the agricultural year, while also marking the change of seasons. Coming during the seventh or most sacred month with its Moon at full strength, shows us another stamp of seven in the temporal order of this feast. Edersheim comments on the significance of the number seven in his book The Temple, where he states:

“What the seventh day, or sabbath was to the week, the seventh month seems to have been to the year.” 35

Thus it would follow that, as Pentecost was to Passover in that it followed it by fifty days (7×7+1), so the Jubilee followed in yearsLeviticus 25:8 relates the “seven Sabbaths of years” to the 50th year of the Jubilee, which fell on the Day of Atonement, or the tenth day of the holiest 7th month of Tishri. In the same way that liberty was proclaimed in the Jubilee, throughout all the land and to all its inhabitants [Levi. 25:10], so Jesus set at liberty them that were bruised, while proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord at the opening of his ministry. This is interesting when we observe that there are thirty Jubilees that bring us from the Exodus to the opening of Christ’s ministry, when opening the scroll to Isa. 61:2, he certified the “acceptable year of the Lord” in a 7-fold prophecy, (Lk. 4:18-21).36 This fits neatly with the truth that in fulfilling the O.T. Law as the embodiment of the Passover male lamb of the first year [Exod. 12:5), Jesus was in the first year of his manhood according to Hebrew reckoning, beginning at 30 years old. During this specific period of 70 weeks; [Dan. 9:24] decreed by God as the period to fulfill this Messianic redemption wherein he ministered to Israel, he was crucified, resurrected, & ascended, exploding the myth that his ministry lasted till he was thirty-three.

In summary, the January Blog of 2023 has illustrated how the potential eclipse of Joshua’s Long Day relates to the luni-solar cycle through the eclipse cycle and even the lunar occultations of Regulus,
to highlight Biblical Astronomy keys of the coronation of the King of kings. Behind it all, we find
God’s mighty Hand guiding us in our search for Biblical truth, continuing to inspire us as we uncover invaluable nuggets along our ultimate path to being seated in Christ at God’s right hand, according to His eternal purposes.

God Bless!

Rene’

 

Footnotes

1. January 2017 Hebrew Journal Beyt Mikra by physicist Ḥezi YitzḥakBible scholar
Daniel Weinstaub
, and archeologist Uzi Avner.
2. IBID.
3. Plate 1. Picture Credit, (courtesy of the NASA website)
4. January 2017 Hebrew Journal Beyt Mikra by physicist Ḥezi YitzḥakBible scholar
Daniel Weinstaub
, and archeologist Uzi Avner.
5. IBID.
6. Gesenius HebrewChaldee Lexicon- H5975:amad.
7. IBID, 5976amad.
8. January 2017 Hebrew Journal Beyt Mikra by physicist Ḥezi YitzḥakBible scholar
Daniel Weinstaub
, and archeologist Uzi Avner.
9. IBID.
10. IBID.
11. Gesenius HebrewChaldee Lexicon- 5977-omed.

12. IBID, H5982-ammud.
13. A History of Pi, p. 16, Petr Beckmann.
14. Secrets of the Great Pyramid,  Peter Thompkins, p. 263
15. Fig. 2, picture credit. Solomon’s Temple with Brass Pillars at the Entrance.
 [alaymanlooksattheword.blogspot.com]
16. Figure 3. picture credit from Bing images; Pi Ratio in the Great Pyramid of Giza.
17. Strong’s Concordance; H8269-saros, James Strong.
18. Sun, Moon and Earth. Robin Heath, p.28
19. The Two Babylons Hislop, p. 59
20. IBID Hislop, p. 18
21. IBID.
22. Serpent in the Sky J..A. West, p. 94.
23. http://watchfortheday.org/signsoftheend/giza2024.html
24. IBID.
25. IBID.
26. IBID, Signs of the End – The Oracle in Stone.
27. Fig. 5 Picture credit. [endtimesforecaster.blogspot.com]
28. Secrets of the Great Pyramid,  Peter Thompkins, p. 374-375.
29. Jesus Christ our Promised Seed, American Christian Press, VP Weirwille
30 Serpent in the Sky J..A. West, ppg. 94-95.
31. Fig. 6 picture credit, Jesus Christ our Promised Seed, p. 61, American Christian Press.
32. New Bible Dictionary, ppg. 544-545, Tyndale House Publishers.
33. Fig. 7 picture credit, Jesus Christ our Promised Seed, p. 70-71, American Christian Press.
34. IBID, p. 70.
35. The Temple.  Alfred Edersheim
36. IBID

 

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Blog Summary of the birth of Christ and the Celestial Prelude.

Birth of Jesus Christ
Biblical Astronomy of the Birth of Christ


Merry Christmas 2022 Everyone as we recognize the true Reason for the Season!

Free christmas garland clipart the cliparts - Clipartix

During the Holiday Season we always do our best to acknowledge the truth behind the idea of the “Star of Bethlehem,” and its biblical and astronomical significance. This subject represents the roots of the Try-God website and blog research, found in the articles posted on Try-god.com going back 20 years to the early 2000’s. This month we are first posting a recent article linked to the 2020 union of Jupiter and Saturn as it relates to the history of the star of Bethlehem. Secondly, we will repost a number of our studies from the last two decades, regarding the “Birth of Christ” topic, and what I’ve referred to as “The Celestial Prelude” pertaining to the celestial signs preceding Christ’s Birth, that set the foundation for the Magi to recognize these heavenly signs, as they came to pass.

Below is an article that appeared in Astronomy Magazine on Friday, December 18, 2020, that generally aligns with my approach to the Star of Bethlehem. This will serve as an introduction to some of my blog post research that follows, on various aspects of this subject. In fact, the last of my links listed below deals with the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Dec. 2020, which is the subject of this article from
Astronomy Magazine, below.

 The Star of Bethlehem: Can science explain what it really was?

For centuries, scholars have suggested the Star of Bethlehem may have actually been a “great conjunction” of bright planets. 1
RELATED TOPICS: STARS | JUPITER | SATURN
ASYSB011001
“Could the Star of Bethlehem have been caused by a “great conjunction” of the bright planets Venus and Jupiter? On June 17, 2 B.C., the planets had come so close they would have almost appeared as one object, similar to the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 2020.  Ron Miller/Astronomy magazine

On December 21, 2020 Jupiter and Saturn will come together in a “Great Conjunction” unlike any seen in nearly 800 years. The two planets will appear so close together in Earth’s night sky on winter solstice that they’ll almost look like a single object.

That’s prompted some to dub the sight a “Christmas Star,” and others to wonder about a similar sounding celestial event that coincided with the biblical first Christmas: the Star of Bethlehem. But did such a cosmic sight ever really exist? And if so, what does astronomical science tell us about what could have caused it?

Interestingly, there’s some evidence that a pair of planetary conjunctions — not unlike the coming Great Conjunction — happened around the historically accepted time frame for the birth of Christ. That could potentially explain the Star of Bethlehem. But, of course, not everyone agrees with the idea.

1024pxMagi__1_
The three wise men, or Magi, arrived after Jesus’ birth carrying gold, frankincense and myrrh, as captured in this Byzantine mosaic created in 565 A.D.  Wikimedia Commons

The Star of Bethlehem

The story of the Star of Bethlehem appears only in the Book of Matthew. The gospel tells us that a bright star appeared in the eastern sky when Jesus was born, famously seen by a group of wise men. These biblical “Magi,” sometimes called kings, now adorn nativity scenes around the world.

The Bible describes how these wise men saw the new star as a sign of the birth of the King of the Jews, so they set out for Jerusalem to worship him. Once they arrive, they inquire about baby Jesus with Herod, the region’s ruler appointed by Rome. “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage,” Matthew tells us.

But Herod is worried by the idea. He and his own wise men supposedly seek to discover Jesus’ birthplace. Eventually, they call on the wise men to ask when the star appeared. And thanks to Micah’s prophesy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, Herod sends the trio to Bethlehem to search for Jesus. (Supposedly, Herod also ultimately kills the infants of Bethlehem in an attempt to snuff out Jesus.)

According to Matthew, “When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

622785main_6313004758_30e7fc70e6_o_full
Supernova RCW 86, the oldest known supernova in recorded history, was seen by Chinese astronomers in 185 A.D.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO & ESA; Infared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B. Williams (NCSU)

Evidence for the Star of Bethlehem

For centuries, astronomers have looked to the historical record in search of evidence for what could explain this Star of Bethlehem. Scholars have been discussing potential causes since at least the 13th century. Perhaps it was a supernova, a comet, a solar flare or an alignment of planets. Or, alternatively, maybe it never happened at all. The truth is, science will likely never know the truth.

But let’s entertain the idea that it was a real celestial event. What are some science-backed explanations that could explain the Star of Bethlehem?

Well, the story is relatively vague, but it does give us some clues.

Some things are easily ruled out. For example, the Star of Bethlehem couldn’t have been a meteor — a chunk of space rock that brightly burns up in Earth’s atmosphere — which would’ve appeared and faded in an instant. There’s no way three wise men could have tracked a meteor for weeks.

It’s also unlikely that a supernova — the explosive death of a star, which drastically increases its brightness for days, weeks or months — could explain the Star of Bethlehem. Supernovae, or “guest stars” have been consistently witnessed and recorded going back thousands of years. So if one had happened, other cultures likely would have taken note.

And even if it somehow escaped the written historical record, astronomers have observed remnants of many other ancient supernovae. And by estimating their peak brightness, researchers have even tied some remnants to events seen on Earth in the past. Yet telescopes haven’t found any evidence for a supernova remnant that sync up with the timing of the Star of Bethlehem. In fact, the only supernova that was visible from Earth around the time of Christ’s birth actually happened in the year 185 A.D. and was recorded by Chinese astronomers.

Giotto__Scrovegni__18__Adoration_of_the_Magi
Italian painter Giotto di Bondone witnessed Halley’s Comet when it appeared in 1301 A.D. Then, he painted the Star of Bethlehem as a comet burning bright above Jesus in the manger.  Wikimedia Commons

A Christmas Comet?

In the past, some interested astronomers have also suggested the Star of Bethlehem was a comet passing near Earth. These icy bodies from the distant solar system often shine quite brightly when they venture into the inner solar system and are heated by the Sun. They’re also known for sometimes visibly lingering in the sky for weeks or months at a time. And like supernovae, we also have historical records from other cultures regarding comets.

Sure enough, in the year 5 B.C., Chinese astronomers noted the appearance of a “Broom Star” that many researchers have interpreted as a comet. Like supernovae, Chinese scholars noted many historic comets, and even recorded a number of times that meteor impacts killed people.

In the 1970s, researchers caught onto the timing coincidence of this Chinese “Broom Star,” and a string of papers started popping up in scientific journals debating the idea, among other inspirations. All the back and forth culminated in a 1977 story in The New York Times written by legendary science journalist Walter Sullivan that suggested it could have been a comet, conjunction, nova or simply myth. Clearly, no consensus opinion has emerged in the decades since, either.

So, could a comet have been the Star of Bethlehem? There’s no way to rule it out, but there is one obvious reason to doubt it.

Keep in mind that people in the ancient world typically saw comets as symbols of pending doom — an evil omen of bad things about to happen. So, if a comet suddenly started shining brightly in the night sky, it’s hard to imagine three wise men would interpret it as a sign that their savior had finally been born.

Screen_Shot_20201216_at_7.36.14_PM

A triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred in 7 B.C. At first glance, these illustrations look the same, but compare the positions of the planets with the background stars. On May 29, Jupiter passed Saturn (both moving right to left) for the first time. Jupiter passed Saturn again September 30 with both moving to the right (west). Finally, the planets resumed eastward motion, and Jupiter passed Saturn for the third time December 5.

Astronomy/Roen Kelly

Ancient great conjunction

What about a mash-up of planets like the upcoming Great Conjunction of 2020? Could that explain the Star of Bethlehem?

When you rewind the motion of the planets — something that’s easy to do with observing software these days — you can see that several interesting conjunctions played out in the years around the life of Jesus. (A planetary conjunction happens when two planets make a close approach to each other in Earth’s night sky. The two objects aren’t actually near each other, though, they just look that way from our vantage point.)

In the year 7 B.C., Jupiter and Saturn had three conjunctions in the same constellation, Pisces. Because the planets move in their orbits at different speeds, and are located at different distances, sometimes they appear to pass one another in the night sky. They can also appear to hold still or move backward in the sky, which astronomers call retrograde motion. This trick is like passing a slower car on the highway. As you get close to the other vehicle, it seems to hold still beside you. Then, as you pull away, it drops backward. The same thing happens as Earth zips around the Sun much faster than the outer planets.

However, Jupiter is closer to the Sun than Saturn, so it also appears to move faster in our night sky.

So, if Jupiter and Saturn had three close conjunctions in a relatively brief period of time, it’s easy to imagine that ancient astronomers — really, astrologers — would have taken note. And they also likely would have ascribed some meaning to the event.

These same astrologers wouldn’t have had to wait long for an even more striking planetary encounter. Four years later, in the summer of 3 B.C., Jupiter and Venus met in an event that would have looked much like the upcoming Christmas Star,” also referred to as the Great Conjunction of December 2020.

On the morning of August 12 in 3 B.C., Jupiter and Venus would’ve sat just 1/10th a degree apart in the dawn sky. That’s one-fifth the diameter of the Full Moon. (The December 2020 conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn will have an identical separation, albeit in the evening sky.) That wasn’t the end of the show, either. Venus and Jupiter continued their dance over most of the next year before finally appearing to merge into a single star in June.

skyhandangles
Though not perfect, your hand (with your arm fully outstretched) is a great tool for estimating angles in the night sky.  [The Conversation]

The idea that a conjunction between bright planets could explain the Star of Bethlehem isn’t new. A note in the Annals of the Abbey of Worcester from 1285 A.D. points out an alignment of Jupiter and Saturn that happened at the time of Jesus’ birth. And Johannes Kepler himself touched on the idea in the 17th century.

Myth or reality?

Since then, many enthusiastic astronomers — and eager amateurs — have also pointed to other celestial positions playing out around the same time as further evidence that ancient astrologers would’ve found meaning in these events. Bright stars and planets were moving through important constellations. Still others have suggested that the Star of Bethlehem might not have been one celestial event at all. Instead, taken together, the combined effect of years of these astronomical events may have led the Magi to see signs a new king had been born.

But could any of these things have really caused the Star of Bethlehem?

With this part of the article in Astronomy Magazine, we will be able to see to a great extent how our evidence supports the position of “a Celestial Prelude” that allowed the Magi to recognize the series of celestial signs that led them to the Star that marked the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will start with the links for the Dec. 14th, 2014 blog post on Jesus Christ’ birth date; Parts 1 & 2, attended by the May 16th, 2015 study on the Blood Moon Tetrad and the Celestial Prelude. This is followed by our study on the Jupiter-Venus triple union marking the birth of Christ in 3-2BC. Our next installment pertains to evidence for the Coma Super-
nova leading up to and following Christ’s birth, explaining how a supernova witnessed by 2 of the most renown ancient astronomers, Hipparcus and Ptolemy, has a key bearing on the birth of Christ. The reader will note that our position is based on a more exhaustive view of the history of JupiterSaturn conjunction cycles, and their impact on biblical events related to Jerusalem & the history of the Biblical Patriarchs, bringing many details to light, heretofore unseen or realized.

December 14th Birth date of Jesus Christ [Pt. 1]

 December 25th Birth date of Jesus Christ [Pt. 2]

 May 16th Blood Moon Tetrad and the Celestial Prelude

July 26th Jupiter-Venus triple conjunction and Regulus with the Birth and Return of Christ

November 20th New Evidence of the Coma Supernova and the Birth of Christ.

Oct. 20th The Biblical Astronomy of the Birth and Return of Jesus Christ and the Dual Fulfillment of Revelation 12, [Part 1]

Nov. 15th The Biblical Astronomy of the Christmas Day Signs in 2 BC and 2017

 Sept. 10th Comet Giacobini-Zinner and the Birth and Return of Jesus Christ.

 November 1st  The Celestial Prelude and the Blood Moons of 5 BC, [Part 1].

 Dec. 17th, The Jupiter-Saturn Timeline, The Celestial Prelude and The Coma Supernova.

With this selection of research posts, we trust that the reader is presented with enough evidence from scientific astronomy, not astrology which is forbidden in Scripture, as to the true nature of the Star of Bethlehem, not only in prophecy that was fulfilled, but also with verifiable scientific evidence. This allows the Scriptural narrative of the Bethlehem star to be separated from mythology to truth of Scripture. I welcome any questions and feedback!

As we abide vigilant in the Hope of Christ’s Return, may we all enjoy the riches of God’s Blessings in the abundant life He has called us to, rejoicing in the truth with our brothers and sisters in the Church of the spiritual body of Christ!!

God Bless,

Rene’

 

Footnotes

1. Astronomy Magazine on Friday, December 18, 2020; The Star of Bethlehem: Can science explain what it really was? This reprint is an excerpt of the article by Eric Betz.

2. The links supplied to conclude this month’s blog are all from the archives of previous blog posts [@blog.try-god.org], or my website studies [@try-god.com]

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The Biblical Astronomy of the Miracle of Joshua’s Long Day

The Biblical Astronomy of the Miracle of Joshua’s Long Day

In Jon Nessle’s current OT History class, we have learned of key errors linked to the dating of the conventional chronologies, of history, and the assumptions that accompany their popularized time placement, that have caused no end of confusion for archaeology, Bible historians, and students. We will see how Courville’s redating of Bible History has provided much-needed answers to the numerous problems linked to the conventional chronology. We will also note some modern historians and Bible Archaeologists that not only agree with Courville’s redating, but provided key evidences in support of it. The following quotes from Courville provide the context of this position along with the benefits that come with their acceptance. This provides an important backdrop for the subject of this month’s blog, an astronomical event known as Joshua’s Long Day. The focus of this study is an alternative timeline to the conventional chronology, along with some existing and newer research connected to Joshua’s Long Day. The first reference from Courville addresses certain cultural innovations that the Hebrews brought in their invasion and conquest of Palestine, led by Joshua.

“The pottery of the period is exceptionally fine… At Megiddo there is a complicated succession of building periods …. Early in the sequence comes a very fine town wall… and is a most impressive example of the town walls of this period. This phase can be taken as representative of the fully developed culture of Canaanite [sic] Palestine, a culture of prosperous city-states. Against the background of the revised chronology, the ancient Hebrews were far from being a cipher culturally. It was the Hebrews who introduced the use of bronze into Palestine; it was the Hebrews who introduced the use of the fast wheel in making pottery; it was the Hebrews who introduced the high level of culture to be observed in Palestine at the beginning of Middle Bronze and which was never exceeded; it was the Hebrews who introduced the use of drainage systems and the use of cisterns as a means of preserving water from the rainy season; it was the Hebrews who introduced improvements in the architecture of dwellings and defense walls; it was very probably the Hebrews who introduced the technique for obtaining iron from its ores in quantity. These and other contributions to the culture of Middle Bronze Age in Palestine should be credited to the Hebrews and not to their pagan
contemporaries, the Canaanites or the Amorites. However, all this is true only if it is possible to erect a satisfactory chronological structure of the ancient world on the foundations laid by a redating of the end of Early Bronze to c. 1400 B.C., some 600 years later than dates currently attributed to this change of culture. This is an exceedingly large IF. While it has already been shown that a number of large problems in archaeology are provided solutions by this alteration, this is only a start. It must also be shown that every significant synchronism which has been used to support the conventional structure is either ill-founded or else, that it continues to hold for
the revised structure; it must be shown that the almost infinite bits of information gleaned archaeologically can be rationally interpreted against this revised background; it must be shown that all of the chronologies of other ancient nations can be revised as necessary to fit into this revised scheme; it must be shown that the various methods of dating that have been used in arriving at the presently accepted structure are not valid, including the so-called astronomical dating methods.”

“And finally, it must be explained why most scholars in the field for the last half-century and more have fallen into the same errors of fallacious reasoning without being able to recognize the nature of their mistakes which have led them to the currently accepted views. Not only is this possible, it can be done with the continued elimination of numerous added difficulties characterizing the conventional structure and with the appearance of a number of noteworthy synchronisms that have not been previously recognized. The writer does not ask the reader to accept these claims per se. He only asks that the reader follow carefully and critically the developments outlined in the subsequent chapters of this work, evaluating for them the evidence which are presented in support of a revised chronology of Egypt which agrees with Bible chronology and with Bible history without an appreciable flaw.” [HEBREW CULTURE p. 113-114 THE EXODUS PROBLEM] 1

At this point, we are content to note that the same shift in dating at the end of Early Bronze which provides solutions to anomalies at Jericho, and at Ai, as well as providing a ready solution to the enigmas of Hittite chronology, also provides the proper setting for the events of the Exodus, the Conquest of Joshua, and the era of the Judges. A major issue with the Conventional Chronology where the history of ancient Egypt is concerned, is the lack of precise evidence to delineate epochal divisions between Stone, Bronze & Iron ages, to mark the transitions between these epochs. Courville is one of the very few who has aligned the layers of the archaeological digs starting in Jericho, as documented by Kenyon, from the end of the Jews 40-year wilderness wandering after the Exodus, with Joshua’s conquest and displacement of the Canaanites, Amorites, et al. in Palestine.

On the basis of the multiplicity of synchronisms indicating that the Conquest should properly be set at the end of Earlv Bronze IV, it was concluded that the Exodus occurred at the point of the fall of the Old Kingdom, approximately marked by the end of Dynasty VI. This point is marked by a similar eclipse of power in Egypt which lasted for a pluralitv of centuries. [3] On the basis of the demands of the redating of the end of Early Bronze, it was necessary to recognize both these periods as one and the same2

The identification of the line of Pharaoh’s just before the Hyksos kings, puts us in the proper position to reveal the pharaoh of the Oppression, which provides confirmation of this general structure. Thus, it will be possible also to show clearly the identity of the Pharaoh of the Oppression who carried out an extensive building program in brick in the eastern Delta region where the Israelites lived. A famine inscription appears, dated almost exactly at the point required by Old Testament Chronology relative to the Exodus, dated c. 1445 B.C., with a multiple of confirming evidences for the proposed setting of the Exodus. This scenario put forward by Courville in THE EXODUS PROBLEM, is the setting of my Nov. 2022 blog, that handles details of Joshua’s Conquest, to agree with the Scriptural and historical account of events as seen in Joshua 10. 3

Joshua 10:1-6
1 Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it—as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king—and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among themthat they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mightyTherefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.” Therefore the five kings of the Amoritesthe king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachishand the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon and made war against it. And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.”

This Biblical record begins in verse 1 by recounting how “Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it—as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king—and
how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them.” This is in general agreement with Courville’s redating of the conventional chronology, to a time when Joshua was conquering the cities of Jericho, and Ai, as we find in the following reference from Courville.

XII. “Other Peoples Migrated out of Palestine at the End of Early Bronze age, in line with Scripture, as it was not alone the Hittites who were to be displaced by the incoming Israelites. If the proposed redating of the Conquest is correct, then there should be evidence of the settlement of other peoples in areas outside Palestine that previously had resided within this territory. The Phoenicians who settled along the northern coast of the Mediterranean refer to themselves as the Canaanites, [60] people also displaced from Palestine by the Israelites. The Mitannians appear to be a remnant of one branch of the Hurrians who similarly dwelt in Palestine previously. [61] The Amorites were in the Palestine area from the time of Abraham. They were displaced at the time of the Conquest, and appear in the area north of Palestine as the Amurru, a name associated with the Amorites. [62]
A consistent picture results from the recognition that Early Bronze represents the era just prior to the conquest of Joshua and the following transition period is that of the Conquest itself.”  [p. 98 THE EXODUS PROBLEM.] 4

As this Biblical record agrees with Courville’s redating of Joshua’s Conquest at the End of Early Bronze age, confirmed by the displacement of the men of JerichoAi, and the Amorites, many other thorny historical problems associated with the Conventional Chronology find solutions also.

Joshua 10:7-11 
So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valorAnd the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your handnot a man of them shall stand before you.” 9 Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. 10 So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon,
and struck them down as far as Azekeh and Makkedah.
 11 And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down large hail-stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they diedThere were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.  

This was a singular battle in world military history because as verse 11 above recounts; it was  the Lord who cast down large hailstones from heaven on the fleeing Amorites. The Lord of Hosts was fighting from Heaven for Israel against their enemies in Palestine, and the large hail-stones God sent raining down in a meteor shower on them, killed more of the enemy than the Israelites themselves. This harmonizes with Josh. 10:8 above, which says “I [God] have delivered them into your hand,” but this miracle, that recalls the signs from heaven akin to the destruction of Sodom and Gommorah, [Gen. 18:17-32] to a lesser degree, was only an astronomical foretaste of what was in store for these enemies of God’s people.

Joshua 10:12-15 12 Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of IsraelSun, stand still over GibeonAnd Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood stillAnd the moon stoppedTill the people had revenge upon their enemiesIs this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day14 And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel15 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

The locations of Gibeon, Beth Horon and the Valley of AijalonAzekah and Makkedah as Joshua pursued the Amorites, are shown in figure 1. 5

Map of ancient Canaan showing the route taken by the Israelites, starting at Gilgal, according to Joshua 10:9–10.

This Map of ancient Canaan shows the route taken by the Israelites, starting at Gilgal, then to the great slaughter @ Gibeon, to pursue them unto Beth Horon, where the large hail-stones started falling, then Aijalon over which the Moon stood, [Josh. 10:12], then unto Azekah and Makkedah according to Joshua 10:9–11. The book of Joshua continues in the Old Testament, after an all-night march from Gilgal, the Israelites attacked the Amorites at Gibeon, and then pursued them to Azekah and then to Makkedah (fig. 1). As evidence from historical geography shows the locations of these sites: Gibeon was about 10 km northwest of Jerusalem, Azekah about 30 km southwest of Gibeon, and Makkedah about 20 km south of Azekah. 6

Prior research into this topic by Humphreys and Waddington aids the conventional chronology of astronomy, with related data in the fields of Egyptology and Hebrew studiesSo how did these two physicists proceed in their research regarding an event that’s only obliquely referred to in an ancient Bible text? Their multidisciplinary task according to them, required a foray into ancient Hebrew, a rethinking of Egypt’s royal history, and some complex calculations about the Earth’s rotation. Their inquiry began with the translation of the Hebrew word dôm,” from Joshua 10. In English versions of the Bible, it’s usually translated as “stopped,” as in the sunstopped moving.” When discussing the word with Alan Millard, a professor of Hebrew and ancient Semitic languages, Humphreys pondered whether it could actually mean the sun stopped shining”—that may suggest an eclipse. In order to date the eclipse, the Cambridge researchers included a new eclipse code” which examined variations in the Earth’s rotation over time. 7

Earlier researchers also only looked at total eclipses, failing to consider that the text may refer to an annular eclipse, in which the moon passes directly in front of the sun, but is too far away to cover the disc completely, they said. From their calculations, the Cambridge researchers found that the only annular eclipse visible from Canaan between 1500 and 1050 BC was on Oct. 30, 1207 BC, in the afternoon.

Historical evidence from the Merneptah Stele, a text from the reign of the Pharaoh Merneptah, shows that the Israelites were in Canaan between 1500 and 1050 BC. This large granite block held in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo says that it was carved in the 5th year of Merneptah’s reign and mentions a campaign in Canaan in which he defeated the people of Israel. If correct, it enables academics to date the reigns of Ramesses the Great and his son Merneptah, to within a year.

Figure 2. The Merneptah Stele. 

The Merneptah Stele (ca. 1208 BC) is a 10-foot tall, granite victory monument, which names Israel as a nation in Canaan.

The most famous, and arguably the most important discovery related to Moses and the Exodus is the Merneptah Stele. In ca. 1208 B.C. Pharaoh Merneptah erected a 10-foot tall victory monument (called a stele) in a temple at Thebes to boast of his claims of victory in both Libya and Canaan. It was discovered in 1896 by Sir Flinders Petrie. On it, Merneptah boasts, “Israel is wasted, its seed is not; And Hurru (Canaan) is become a widow because of Egypt.”9

Most scholars agree that this is the oldest definitive reference to Israel as a nation outside of the Bible, and certainly the clearest Egyptian reference to Israel. It is also important because it points towards an early date for the Exodus (ca. 1446 B.C. agreeing with Courville) and not the late date that some scholars hold to (ca. 1270 B.C.). It is doubtful that there would be enough time from 1270 B.C. to 1208 B.C. to account for the Exodus, the 40 years of wandering in the desert, the seven-year conquest of Canaan, the settlement of the tribes in their territories, and the establishment of a national presence in the land, all before Merneptah claims to have conquered them. Merneptah’s Canaanite campaign instead likely dates to the time of the Judges, when the nation of Israel was already settled in Canaan. The Merneptah Stele is evidence that the Exodus from Egypt, led by Moses, took place in the 15th century BC, as the biblical data indicates. 10

The later dates from mainstream Egyptologists for the reign of Ramesses II are c. 1279–1213 BC, with his son Merneptah reigning from c. 1213–1203 BC (Shaw 2003Horning et al. 2006Kitchen 2013). These dates are subject to some uncertainty, with the latest possible dates for Ramesses II being 1270–1204 BC, and for Merneptah 1204–1194 BC (Kitchen 2013). Some other researchers, most notably Rohl (1995), have proposed an alternative chronology for ancient Egypt in which these dates are advanced by several hundred years. Their “New Chronology” has achieved widespread publicity alongside widespread criticism from mainstream Egyptologists. In this “New Chronology,” the 5th year of Merneptah is 867 BC. 11

Changes to Egyptian history that Humphreys suggests pertain to the ruling period of each pharaoh, including Merneptah, during whose reign the Merneptah Stele was carved. Merneptah was the son of Rameses the Great, one of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs, and there’s been considerable debate over the years about when Rameses was in power. With the combination of a date from the solar eclipse, and the carving of the Stele, Humphreys and Waddington have proposed years for the pharaohs’ reigns that narrow their reigns down to plus or minus one year. They argue Rameses the Great ruled from 1276 to 1210 BC, while Merneptah was in power from 1210 to 1200 BC.

Prof. Humphreys added: “Solar eclipses are often used as a fixed point to date events in the ancient worldEclipses have also shaped human events, says Duncan Steel, author of Eclipse: The Celestial Phenomenon That Changed the Course of History. “Historically, they have been pivotal in deciding battles,” including the 585 BC eclipse that stopped a battle between the Medes and the Lydians. The Greek philosopher Thales had predicted the eclipse, and when darkness did fall, the warring sides viewed it as an omen and hurried to come to a peaceful agreement. 12

The Bible puts the Israelites in Canaan from the beginning of the Conquest through the destruction of the Temple in about 586-5 BC, so this gives a span of many centuries for a potential conflict between Egypt and Israel. Why choose the first year of that span as the date, when Merneptah’s reference on the stele must have occurred? A primary reason to link Merneptah’s stele with Israel’s conquest of Canaan seems to be first based on tradition, that the Exodus occurred during the reign of Ramesses II. Second, that the Merneptah Stele is the consensus among Egyptologists and historians as the oldest reference to Israel in the history of ancient Egypt, providing an anchor point for their thesis, with this eclipse linked to it. Thus the conclusions of their research are grounded, assuming the conquest happened congruently with Merneptah, as proof that Merneptah reigned during the time of the conquest in 1207 BC, near the possible Joshua eclipse date of the same year. Also if the idea of an exclusive annular eclipse is correct, as the only eclipse candidate to suffice in the situation, eliminating the possibility of other partial eclipses, it would seemingly strengthen their position.

Previous claims of the earliest recorded eclipse include images carved into stone cairns at Loughcrew in Co Meath, Ireland, over 5,000 years ago, while Greek astronomer Ptolemy claimed that the first recorded eclipse was observed by the Babylonians in March 721 BC. The results are published in the Royal Astronomical Society Journal of Astronomy & Geophysics. 13

Were Humphrey’s & Waddington the first to propose an eclipse interpretation for Joshua’s Long Day? In fact, another linguist named Robert Wilson came to the same conclusion of an eclipse interpretation of Joshua 10, nearly 100 years earlier. And while previous scientists had attempted to find solar eclipses for that period and failed, they’d never thought to look for an annular eclipse, which occurs when the moon only partially covers the sun, leaving a ring of light visible at the edges. “That convinced me that ‘eclipse’ was the right translation,” Humphreys says.

Humphreys looked to the giant stone inscription on the Merneptah Stele, as corroboration that the Israelites really were in Canaan during the time of a supposed eclipse. He referenced the Egyptian text believed to be the earliest textual reference to Israel, specifically its final few lines of hieroglyphics that refer to a battle with the Israelites in Canaan, correlated to the Old Testament.

If these words are describing a real observation, then a major astronomical event was being reported (“There has been no day like it, before or since”, Joshua 10:14), but what does the text mean? The Hebrew word dôm means to be silent, dumb or still. The term amad is a broader word meaning to stop or stand. Modern English translations of this passage, such as the NRSV quoted above, have all followed the King James Authorized Version (of 1611), and assumed that the Hebrew text means the Sun and Moon stopped moving. However, a plausible alternative meaning is that the Sun and Moon stopped doing what they normally do: they stopped shining. In other words, the text is referring to a solar eclipsewhen the Sun stops shining. As a solar eclipse can only occur with the Moon directly between the Earth and the Sun, the Moon itself is not visible and so it is not reflecting sunlight to the Earthlike the Sun, it has “stopped shining” as well. 14

As the first person to suggest that Joshua 10:12–14 was referring to a solar eclipse, the linguist Robert Wilson (1918), who over 100 years ago gave the following translation:

Be eclipsed, O sun, in Gibeon, And the moon in the valley of Aijalon! And the sun was eclipsed and the moon turned back, while the nation was avenged on its enemies.

Wilson claimed that in Babylonian cuneiform texts there are words with the same root as the Hebrew dôm that are used in Babylonian astronomical tablets in connection with eclipses, meaning “to be dark”. However, at that time, 100 years ago, it was not deemed possible to investigate this further because of the laborious nature of the calculations required15 (Russell 1918).

As we check the Hebrew words used in Joshua 10:1213, from the same Hebrew root as dôm, they  generally agree with the Babylonian meaningto be dark.” The related Hebrew words included from Strong’s Concordance [H1820, H1826 and H1724]. H1820– “damah= to cease, rest, silenced, be quiet, make an end, destroyed, laid waste, desolate, cut off, to perish.” The Hebrew verb refers to violent ends, seen in Isa. 15:1, Jer. 14:17, Hos. 4:56. All 3 of these references include the word “night [H3915] with the darkness linked to it, as in Gen. 1:5 where God divided the day from the night, and Gen. 1:14, where the heavenly lights of the firmament divide the day from the night, for signs, seasons, days and years. See also [Ps. 19:2, Ex. 13:21-22]. Solar and Lunar eclipses surely qualify as key heavenly signs, in the Creator’s celestial order, so this favors a Scriptural view of an eclipse interpretation for Josh. 10:12-1416

Sawyer (1972) followed up the suggestion of Wilson (1918) that Joshua 10:12–14 refers to a solar eclipse and considered the dates of all total solar eclipses visible from Gibeon between 1500 and 1050 BC (giving generous limits to the possible dates of the entry of Joshua into Canaan). He found that there were only two such eclipses, on 19 Aug. 1157 BC and on 30 Sept. 1131 BC. However, both these dates are significantly later than the latest date that Humphreys and Waddington calculations allow for Joshua to have entered Canaan, as the latest possible date for the fifth year of Merneptah, 1200/ 1199 BC, using the Merneptah Stele as their anchor for this claimHistorians and Bible scholars in agreement with their calculations have therefore, to date ruled out a solar eclipse interpretation of Joshua 10:12–14. 17 

However, as we will see below, there are other eclipses visible from Gibeon between 1500 and 1050 BC, within these “generous limits” for the possible dates of the entry of Joshua into Canaan, but much earlier, c1400 BC than 1207 BC, which we will discuss presently.

People in the ancient world did not distinguish between total and annular solar eclipses. It is not until as late as 1292AD, that we find a separate expression in the Chinese eclipse records to describe an annular eclipse; both of the annular eclipses of 7 August 198 BC and 27 July AD 306, were recorded by the Chinese as being total. Thus they revisited the solar eclipse interpretation of Josh. 10:1214 to see if there was an annular eclipse visible in the same time frame as was used by Sawyer. [18]

The calculations of the Cambridge researchers found the only annular eclipse visible from Gibeon between 1500 and 1050 BC (using the same limits to the possible dates of entry of Joshua into Canaan as did Sawyer [1972]) was on 30 October 1207 BC, in the afternoon. The calculated track of the annular eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC is shown below in figure 2, which passed directly over the land of Canaan. 19

Figure 2. The path of the Annular Solar Eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC. 20

The path of the annular solar eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC, over-shadowed the land of Canaan in the afternoon. The shadow left the Earth’s surface at sunset over modern-day Iraq. The map is centered on Azekah, which is marked by a circle. 21

Solar eclipse of 1207 BC

 Because the eclipse occurred in the afternoon, it was probably seen from near Azekah, from where the annular eclipse would have started at 15:27 (local apparent time as given by a sundial), with annularity occurring between 16:48 and 16:53. The Sun would still have been partially eclipsed at sunset, which occurred at 17:38. During annularity, 86% of the solar disc’s area was covered by the Moon. 22

An interesting feature of the Joshua text is the observation that not only did the Sun stop (shining) but the Moon also stopped (shining). As the Moon is in conjunction at the time of a solar eclipse it is effectively absent from the sky for a couple of days (it has “stopped shining”). As the Israelites used an observationally based lunar calendar they would have been well aware of this monthly period of lunar invisibility and so could have timed their surprise night-time attack at Gibeon to take advantage of the lack of natural night-time illumination at this time.

After reporting that the Sun stopped (shining), the book of Joshua states further that “The Sun did not hurry to set for about a whole day” (Joshua 10:13, NRSV), which has given rise to the term “Joshua’s Long Day.” What did the writer mean? Figure 3 shows the level of illumination on the ground at Azekah during the annular eclipse and Figure 4 shows the appearance of the Sun as viewed from Azekah at three-minute intervals. 23

Figure 3. The level of illumination on the ground at Azekah during the annular eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC, as a function of the local apparent time as given by a sundial. The thin line shows the normal illumination in the absence of an eclipse. The red line gives the illumination during the eclipse, showing the double-dusk effect. 24

Figure 4. The appearance of the Sun viewed from Azekah on 30 October 1207 BC, at three-minute intervals. The Sun was still partially eclipsed at sunset. 25

All ancient civilizations would have been accustomed to the Sun going down in the afternoon, leading to daylight turning into dusk, and then turning into night. However, on this occasion, in the afternoon the light from the Sun on Canaan started decreasing from its normal level at about 15:30 until at about 16:50, it was approximately ten times less intense than normal, and dusk set in (notice that figure 3 is plotted on a logarithmic scale to match the approximate response of the human visual system). However, by around 17:10 the level of illumination would have been somewhat restored before dusk fell againand then the Sun finally set at about 17:38. What the Israelites would have witnessed was a double dusk. 26

In attempting to describe this double dusk it is only natural that the Israelites would have done so in terms of their normal experience of the diurnal cycle. Although aware that on this occasion the time interval between the two dusks was less than the normal day, the book of Joshua records “about a whole day” (NRSV) for this period of time. In fact, the Hebrew text here is “like a whole day”, the preposition like also means as, and so the phrase can mean “as on a whole day” (Millard, private communication). 27

The appearance of the annular eclipse of 30 Oct. 1207 BC we are considering is shown in figure 4. Both before and after annularity, the eclipse takes on the appearance of a crescent, mimicking the form [crescent] of the Moon around both the end and beginning of a lunar month.

What Humphrey’s and Waddington have failed to mention in their proposed annular eclipse of Oct. 1207 BC, as seen in Figure 4 above, is that their thesis rests upon the exclusivity of an annular eclipse, separate from a solar eclipse. However, with annularity occurring only between 16:48 and 16:53 pm, briefly for 5 min, the rest of this event falls into the category of a Partial Lunar eclipse, as the Crescent Moon covers increasing parts of the Sun for 81 min. leading up to annularity from the eastafter which the Moon uncovers the Sun for 45 added minutes till dusk, as the Sun would still have been partially eclipsed at sunset, which occurred at 17:38. So for the entire eclipse period of 131 minutes duration of this annular solar eclipse, it was a Partial Lunar eclipse for 126 minutes.

The article by Humphreys and Waddington prompted rabbinic scholar Eli Gurevich to contact David Rohl with this idea of a partial eclipse fitting the requirements just as much as an annular eclipse. He referenced the NASA eclipse tables, which show partial eclipses typically crossing Canaan several times in every decade. Remarkably, a total eclipse passed just north of Canaan on July 141405 BC
(one year needs to be added to the NASA numbers to arrive at the correct BC date). This lines up perfectly with a common early date proposed for the Exodus of 1446 BC, with the Conquest starting in 1405 BC. 28

Figure 5. Total Solar Eclipse North of Canaan on July 14th, 1405. 29

The solar eclipse of 1405 BC with the blue band showing the zone of totality. 

A Total Solar Eclipse most likely is better suited to fit the Biblical context of Joshua 10, more than an annular eclipse because the darkness experienced in a total solar eclipse is greater than the annular eclipse, especially if both the Sun and Moon stood still during totality. This would have increased the shock and awe on the Amorites, not only making them easier prey for the attacking Israelites, but also agreeing with details of the Biblical text. In the comparison of the Hebrew text with the Babylonian cuneiform above, we looked at the Hebrew word H1820damah, a prime root for the related Hebrew word H1826damam, meaning to be dumb, astonished, put to silence, or to stop, stand still. If the eclipse stood still, stopping in its tracks during totality, the Israelites were allotted the extra time needed to complete the destruction of the Amorites, that Joshua had prayed for [Josh. 10:12] during this Long Day. 30

According to some critics, Humphrey’s and Waddington paper is a watered-down analysis of the Biblical account that is a consistent pattern for Colin Humphreys. He wrote a book on the Exodus that attempts to explain its occurrences as having been fulfilled by natural events rather than outright miracles, that he seems to discount here. Critics also call into question, how and why the paper Humphrey’s published in October 2017 with W. Graeme Waddington, is practically identical to, but did not credit a January 2017 published work by three Israelis: physicist Ḥezi Yitzḥak, Bible scholar Daniel Weinstaub, and archeologist Uzi Avner, in  Hebrew journal Beyt Mikra requires further clarification. Despite the fact that this Israeli journal is in Hebrew, does Humphreys claim independent inspiration for his thesis? 31

Critics also point out an even bigger problem, that Joshua’s long day couldn’t possibly have taken place in 1207 BC, according to the biblical account, since 1 Kings 6:1 states that building the First Temple began 480 years after the Exodus. It is evident that Joshua’s battle occurred soon after the 40 years of the Exodus. Advancing the date of 1207 BC, an additional 440 years into the future puts the building of the First Temple at 767 BC, which is 200 yrs after the traditionally accepted date of 970 BC. Historians have encountered difficulties in accounting for the detailed Biblical history of Israel in Canaan, listing each Judge and King, with the lack of time to compress every event in the books of Joshua, JudgesRuth, and Samuel to fit between the 237 odd years from 1207 BC to 970 BC.

Added reasons to question the designation of the eclipse of 1207 BC as the only candidate to date the conquest, are the 20 factors from archaeology and the Bible that demonstrate that Ramesses II just does not fit with as the pharaoh of the Exodus. Some of these are highlighted in the documentary film and more are found in the book, both with the title Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus. The Biblical example from I Kings 6:1 above, also includes the fact that 1 Kings 6:1 has the Exodus occurring in the 480th year before Solomon began building the Temple, which puts it in the 1400s BC not the 1200s. Many attempt to dismiss this verse as merely being figurative of an abbreviated period, but a reference from Jephthah, of Israel’s judgessupports a more literal interpretation of the 1 Kings 6:1 chronology. It puts Israel already in the land for 300 years, long before the time that the House of David ascended to the throne and began to reign. 32

“While Israel lived 300 years in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why didn’t you take them back at that time?”

– Judges 11:26 (ESV)

Speaking of this history, Courville says “the critical area of the structure is that from Jephthah to Saul. Jephthah stated that 300 years had elapsed from the conquest of Heshbon under Joshua to his own day. 25 Since the figure is a round number, it is evident that the figure was intended to be only approximate. It is here assumed that the actual period was closer to 290 years and this figure is here used in setting up the tentative chronology of [Figure 1]. On the late end of the 480-year period, we must allow 3 years in the reign of Solomon, 40 years for David, and 40 years for Saul. With the 40 years between the Exodus and the Conquest, 413 of the 480 years are accounted for. This leaves 67 years for the period from the victory over the Ammonites by Jephthah to the reign of Saul.” 33

In a new publication by Egyptologists and Biblical scholars Manfred Görg, Peter van der Veen and Christoffer Theis suggest that there may be an even earlier reference to Israel in Egyptian records. Manfred Görg discovered a broken statue pedestal containing hieroglyphic name-rings in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin and, after studying it with colleagues Peter van der Veen and Christoffer Theis, they suggest that one of the name-rings should be read as “Israel.” Not all scholars agree with their reading because of slight differences in spelling, but Görg, van der Veen and Theis offer strong arguments, including supportive parallels in the Merneptah Stele itself. This newly rediscovered inscription is dated to around 1400 B.C.—about 200 years earlier than the Merneptah Stele. If Görg, van der Veen and Theis are right, their discovery will shed important light on the beginnings of ancient Israel. 34

Figure 6. The Berlin Pedestal. 35

Berlin Pedestal

The Berlin Pedestal from the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. It has three name rings; the one on the far right has been reconstructed to read, “Ishrael.” Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain. Reconstructed Drawing: Peter van der Veen, Christoffer Theis, and Manfred Gorg, “Israel in Canaan (Long) Before Pharaoh Merenptah? A Fresh Look at Berlin Statue Pedestal Relief 21687.” Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2.4 (2010), 21.

The Berlin Pedestal is an Egyptian inscription housed in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin that almost certainly refers to Israel as a nation in Canaan. The inscription has three name rings, two of which clearly read “Ashkelon” and “Canaan,” and a third that has been reconstructed to read, “Ishrael.”43  In a recent re-examination of the inscription, Peter van der Veen, Christoffer Theis, and Manfred Gorg noted that names Ashkelon and Canaan largely were written consonantally and better reflecting examples from the reigns of Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep II (15th cent. BC), than those from the times of Rameses II and Merenptah (13th cent. BC).44 While the inscription reads “Ishrael” instead of “Israel,” there is no other candidate near Canaan and Ashkelon, other than biblical Israel. It may be that the “sh” spelling is an older way Egyptians spelled Israel, or perhaps borrowed from the cuneiform version.45 If this interpretation is correct, it would indicate that the Israelites had migrated to Canaan sometime in the middle of the second millennium BC,46 exactly at the time the Bible says they did.

Figure 7. Granodiorite head of the 19th Dynasty pharaoh, Amenhotep. 36

Evidence for Amenhotep II as the Pharaoh of the Exodus

This granodiorite head of the 19th Dynasty pharaoh, Amenhotep, was once part of a sphinx. It is currently housed in the State Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich, Germany. Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Numerous scholars have identified Amenhotep II as the Pharaoh of the Exodus31; he was reigning in 1446 BC when the Israelites left Egypt. Amenhotep II is known to have spent considerable time in the delta region, likely in the 18th-Dynasty palace at Avaris where he would have met with Moses. According to Egyptologist, Charles Aling, Amenhotep II was born and raised in this area [the Nile delta region], built there, had estates there, and in all probability resided there at times, at least in his early regonal years.”32 Interestingly, (and in keeping with the 10th plague – the death of the first-born), Amenhotep II was not the firstborn son of his predecessor, Thutmose III, nor was his successor, Thutmose IV his firstborn son, as implied by the Dream Stele on the Great Sphinx.33 

Another piece of evidence for identifying Amenhotep II as the pharaoh of the Exodus is found by comparing the military campaigns of Amenhotep II and those of his father. While Thutmose III led 17 known military campaigns into the Levant, Amenhotep II led only two or three.34

 Thutmose III boasted of having taken 5903 captives on his first campaign, while Amenhotep II claims to have taken 2214 captives on his first. However, Amenhotep II’s final campaign in the ninth year of his reign (ca. 1446 BC) appears to have been a hasty and limited excursion into Palestine to take 101,128 captives. One plausible explanation for this campaign and its dramatic number of captives is that he was seeking to replace a large portion of his slave labor base that had just left Egypt. Moreover, Amenhotep II never took another campaign into Canaan, and the 18th dynasty began to decline in power. 37

In fact, there is strong evidence that the Bible shows the Judges period covered many centuries (not the 150 years allotted by the Ramesses Exodus Theory), that dictates the Exodus be pushed out 2 centuries before a 1207 BC dating of the Conquest. Additionally, The Bible has Moses being born around the time of the building of the city Rameses (Exodus chap. 1), which is the main basis of the Ramesses Exodus Theory. But the conquest happens 120 years later, after Moses’ death. For a 1207 BC Conquest that would mean the city of Ramesses was being built around 1327 BC, 27 years before Ramesses was born in Humphreys’ system. The Bible says in two places that the pharaoh who sought Moses’ life (40 years after Moses’ birth) died before the Exodus (when Moses was 80). Therefore the builder of the store city of Rameses could not possibly also be the pharaoh of the Exodus. 38

Now in Midian the Lord told Moses, “Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”

– Exodus 4:19 (ESV)

Then there is the archaeological evidence that shows no sign of massive numbers of Semites in Goshen during his reign, no sign of a collapse of Egypt as would be expected at the time of Exodus, and no pattern matching the Conquest of Canaan after his reign. That is why mainstream scholars are so skeptical of the Exodus account. These are just a few of the evidences that show that Ramesses was not the pharaoh of the Exodus and that Merneptah was not the pharaoh at the time of the conquest. When does the conquest account speak of a confrontation with Egypt anyway? For the Humphreys model to be factual, Egypt would have to have defeated Israel at a time when the Bible has the Israelites conquering city after city on their way to controlling most of Canaan. Nothing in this scenario adds up. 39

It is plausible that the Book of Joshua was describing a solar eclipse, but even if one agrees, there is no reason to confine this event to an annular eclipse strictly in 1207 BC. It has been shown that other total or partial eclipses over Canaan in the 1400s BC fit these data just as well, matching the Bible’s own context and timeline much better. Furthermore, evidence of an eclipse in Canaan in 1207 BC (whether or not it is related to the Israelites’ Conquest) gives no reason to connect that event to the reign of Merneptah, who in no other way (except by tradition) is connected to the Exodus or Conquest time period.

As Habakkuk memorably recounts the language of Joshua 10:12-13

Habakkuk 3:8-15

8 Were you angry with the rivers, LordWas your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?
You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrowsYou split the earth with rivers;
10  the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows,
    at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.
13 You came out to deliver your peopleto save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickednessyou stripped him from head to foot.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.


This month’s blog study favors an eclipse interpretation of Joshua 10:10-13, with the best candidate  being the Total Solar Eclipse North of Canaan on July 14th, 1405, for the extended celestial sign of Joshua’s Long Day. This shows the lengths the Heavenly Father went to, in answer to Joshua’s prayer when he spoke to the Lord, in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. Joshua had the great example of Moses to follow, from the Believer’s Hall of Fame in Heb. 11:23-30. As Jon Nessle has encouraged us, we would do well to follow Moses example by working and believing his acts of faith. What will God do for you?!! 

If God be for you, who can be against you?

Agape’

Rene’


Footnotes

1. THE EXODUS PROBLEM and its Ramifications p. 113-114, Donovan Courville.
2. IBID, p. 121.
3. IBID, p.
4. IBID, p. 98
5. Colin Humphreys, Graeme Waddington, Astronomy & Geophysics, Volume 58, Issue 5, October 2017, Pages 5.39–5.42, https://doi.org/10.1093/astrogeo/atx178
6. (Notley & Rainey, 2014)
7. 
Colin Humphreys and Graeme Waddington. ‘Solar eclipse of 1207 BC helps to date pharaohs.’ Astronomy & Geophysics (2017). DOI: 10.1093/astrogeo/atx178.
8. Photo: Todd Bolen, BiblePlaces.com https://www.bibleplaces.com/2014/01/artifact-of-month-merneptah-stela/
Patterns of Evidence. [Picture credit]
9.
Digging for Truth.
10. Patterns of Evidence
11Kitchen 2013, Rohl 1995.
12Colin Humphreys and Graeme Waddington. ‘Solar eclipse of 1207 BC helps to date pharaohs.’ Astronomy & Geophysics (2017). DOI: 10.1093/astrogeo/atx178.
13. IBID
14. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/oldest-recorded-solar-eclipse-helps-date-the-egyptian-pharaohs.
15. IBID
16Strong’s Concordance [H1820], James Strong.
17. Sawyer (1972), (Walton 1994).
18. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/oldest-recorded-solar-eclipse-helps-date-the-egyptian-pharaohs.
19. IBID
20. IBID, Figure 2. picture credit.
21. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/oldest-recorded-solar-eclipse-helps-date-the-egyptian-pharaohs.
22. IBID
23. IBID
24. IBID, Figure 3. picture credit.
25. IBID, Figure 4. picture credit.
26. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/oldest-recorded-solar-eclipse-helps-date-the-egyptian-pharaohs.
27. IBID,
28. https://www.patternsofevidence.com/2017/11/10/is-this-solar-eclipse-really-joshuas-miracle/
29. IBID, Figure 5 Picture Credit, (courtesy of the NASA website)
30Strong’s Concordance [H1826], James Strong.
31.  Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus
32. IBID, https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/does-the-merneptah-stele-contain-the-first-mention-of-israel/
33. THE EXODUS PROBLEM and its Ramifications p. 12, Donovan Courville.
34. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/does-the-merneptah-stele-contain-the-first-mention-of-israel/
35. Figure 6, picture credit. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2.4 (2010), 21.
36. Figure 7 picture credit, Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
37. https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/09/24/top-ten-discoveries-related-to-moses-and-the-exodus/
38. IBID
39. IBID

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