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The Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-166 BC and the Abomination Desolation-Part 2.

Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipses framing the 2300 days of Daniel 8.

I am excited to follow up on our June 21st blog post with Part 2. The impetus for this started with a question from one of my colleagues, from Australia on my Facebook Group, the Biblical Astronomy Fellowship. Michael Toms who brings the thunder from down under, posed the following question relating to Part 1 of this study;

“I am trying to find what Saros cycle these Tetrad cycles belong to. As seen on the NASA eclipse page: [https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaroscat.html ]. The periodicity and recurrence of lunar (and solar) eclipses is governed by the Saros cycle, a period of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours). When two eclipses are separated by a period of one Saros, they share similar geometry. The two eclipses occur at the same node with the Moon at nearly the same distance from Earth and at the same time of year. Thus, the Saros is useful for organizing eclipses into families or series. Each series typically lasts 12 to 15 centuries and contains 70 or more lunar eclipses. NASA.”1

This got me thinking, so I looked into the 168-66 BC Blood Moon Tetrad and found that there were indeed some consecutive Saros cycles seen during this 2300 day period. According to Jon Nessle, the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14 occur “if we count backwards 2300 days from the Temple cleansing in 164 BC, it brings us to the month of Av on the Hebrew Calendar in 170 BC.”2 The date was the 26th of AV, 170 BC or 78 Lunar months prior to the cleansing of the Temple on the 25th of Kislev 12/16/164 BC. A few of the consecutive Saros cycles involved in this Blood Moon Tetrad include:

The Dec. 1st Partial Solar Eclipse in 167 BC included in this study is in Saros [49], along with the April 21st, Partial Lunar Eclipse in 164 BC in Saros [48]. and both dates fall within the 2300 days referenced in this post.

Also, the May 28th, 166 BC Annular Solar Eclipse included in Part 1, is in Saros [54] while the Oct. 14th, 164 BC Partial Lunar Eclipse is in Saros [53].3

Then I noticed a third pair of consecutive dates; the Annular Solar Eclipse on Jan. 22, 168 BC is in Saros [72] while the Dec. 6th, 166 Partial Lunar Eclipse is in Saros [71]. All these dates are within the 2300 days from the prophecy in Daniel 8 below. This was only the tip of the iceberg as we find in the Timeline below.

Since Antiochus was a “type” of the Anti-Christ, this qualifies as a “preliminary fulfillment” of this prophecy, yet to be completed by the end-times anti-Christ. We can see how Antiochus IV fulfills the prophecies of Daniel 8 as follows;

Dan. 8:11-14
11 Yea, he magnified {himself} even to the prince of the host [To God Almighty or the Jewish High Priest] and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the Sanctuary was cast down. [Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Temple] 12 And an host was given {him} against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down truth to the ground; and it practiced [transacted business], and prospered. 13 Then I heard one saint (angel) speaking, and another saint (angel) said unto that certain {saint} which spake, How long {will be} the vision {concerning} the daily {sacrifice}, and the transgression of desolation, [reference to the “Abomination of Desolation”] to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? 14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; [Exactly 78 Lunar Months*] then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. [Time span includes all the parts of verse 13] {insertions by Jon Nessle in red} 4

*A numerical note on the 2300 days equaling 78 lunar months is that (78=6 x 13), 6 as the number of man destitute of God multiplied by the number of rebellion or apostasy.5 These are fitting links since Antiochus IV was a type of the end times Anti-Christ and he instigated this version of the Abomination Desolation. Also the relation between lunar months and this Blood Moon Tetrad marking key dates as the Temple and host were being trodden underfoot during the 2300 days is intriguing.

What this Saros structure surrounding the 168-66 Blood Moon Tetrad began to suggest to me, resembles the structure around the 2014-15 Blood Moon Tetrad that we have documented in previous blog posts. The following excerpt is from my Jan. 15th, 2018 article depicting a structure of solar and lunar eclipses around our most recent Blood Moon Tetrad in 2014-15. As we will see, this relates directly to Blood Moons of 2018, another which occurs this month and early in 2019.

The Jan. 31st, 2018 Blood Moon was visible in Israel as it rose over Jerusalem. It was the first of three consecutive Blood Moons visible in Israel this year. The second occurs on July 27/28, 2018, having this century‘s longest totality during a Total Lunar Eclipse. Totality will last for 1 hour 42 minutes. The 3rd Blood Moon is on Jan. 20-21, 2019. This Blood Moon lunar triple of 2018-2019 is 7 years after the lunar triple of 2010-2011 Blood Moons also visible in Israel. As seen below, these two sets of Blood Moon Lunar triples framed the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad, marking Hebrew Feast and holy days in 2014-15. The Chart in Figure 1. below also shows us layers of Total Solar Eclipses, for instance solar eclipses located out-side each lunar triple.

Figure 1. 2014-2015 Biblical Tetrad 6

The 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad was centered between the saddest days on the Hebrew Calendar, “the Days of Av” marked by two lunar triples framing this Tetrad between 2010-11 and 2018-19. These Lunar triples or triads are Blood Moon lunar eclipses that do not fall on Hebrew Feast or holy days, bracketing the Blood Moon Tetrad that did. Also the 2nd Blood Moon of each lunar triple was visible over Jerusalem. These lunar triples recall the Jerusalem Temple being destroyed on at least two key occasions in history, in Hebrew Sabbath years of 586-587 BC and 69-70 AD. The Jubilee calendar also marks 27-28 AD a Jubilee year, denoting the year Jesus opens his ministry to Israel, as seen in [Isa. 61:1ff & Lk. 4:18-19].

The 2010-2011 Lunar triple dates prior to the Blood Moon Tetrad and Eclipses of 2016 are seen below:

12/21/2010
6/15/2011
12/10/2011

The 2018-2019 Lunar triple dates after the Blood Moon Tetrad and eclipses of 2016 are next:

1/31/2018
7/27/2018
1/21/2019

Further observations linking the Total Solar Eclipse of Aug. 21^st 2017 to the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-15, and the eclipses of 2016 are seen in the fact that each Lunar triple framing this Tetrad is itself framed by a series of Total Solar eclipses! This Total Solar Eclipse series is related to the “Days of Av” as a set of 4 Total Solar Eclipses, all on the 1^st of Av. The first bracket framing the Lunar triple is actually the 3rd total solar eclipse in a set of 3 total solar eclipses on the 1st of Av, as seen above in Figure 1.

As we have documented in previous blog posts on June 24^th and August of 2017, the Aug. 21^stTotal Solar Eclipse initiated the 40-day Season of Repentance leading to Yom Kippur 2017. However, when viewed in the celestial framework of this series of Total Solar Eclipses bracketing the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad, a clear picture of the relationship between these solar eclipses and the Blood Moon Tetrad becomes apparent.

The Chart below in Figure 2 reflects both series of Partial and Total Solar Eclipses framing the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015.

Figure 2. Lunar Triads and Solar Eclipses framing the Blood Moon Tetrad 7

As we note the order of these Solar and Lunar eclipses, we find 4 Partial Solar Eclipses between each Lunar Triple. All the solar eclipses on either side of the Lunar Tetrad are spaced equi-distant from the center date [Jan. 5th, 2015] of the Blood Moon Tetrad. For example, we find this in 2 solar eclipses nearest to the center date of the Blood Moon Tetrad, Oct. 23, 2014, and Mar. 20, 2015, are the same distance on either side of this central date [Jan. 5, 2015] of the Lunar Tetrad. The dates for these Partial Solar Eclipses before the Blood Moon Tetrad are listed below:

The Partial Solar Eclipse dates before the Blood Moon tetrad:

1/4/2011
6/1/2011
7/1/2011
11/25/2011

Partial Solar Eclipse Dates with the Second Lunar Triple:

2/15/2018
7/13/2018
8/11/2018
1/6/2019

These 2018 Partial Solar Eclipse dates include two this summer, one this month on July 13th and one August 11th. The Partial Solar Eclipse on July 13th is only 2 weeks before to the Total Lunar Eclipse on 7/27/2018, which is the middle eclipse of the 2018-19 Lunar triple after the 2014-15 Blood Moon Tetrad. The Total Solar Eclipse series brackets both the Blood Moon Tetrad and both sets of Lunar triples. With this in mind lets take a closer look at the eclipse activity surrounding the Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-66.

Figure 3. The Partial Solar Eclipse of July 2018. 8

Related Tetrad and Saros Eclipse Pairs

Solar and Lunar Eclipses come in pairs – a Lunar Eclipse always occurs two weeks before or after a Solar Eclipse. Since my initial focus in the last blog post was documenting the Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-166, I did not include all surrounding eclipse activity outside the 2300 day period. As we consider the Saros cycle data, we are looking for both matching and consecutive Saros cycles, matching belonging to the same Saros cycle, and consecutive refers to adjacent Saroi in their numbered series. As we view the matching and consecutive Saros cycles around this Tetrad, certain eclipse pairs stand out. For example, the Dec. 1st, 167 Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [49], included in the Tetrad calls our attention to another Partial Lunar Eclipse on March 10th, 171 BC, also in Saros [49] but outside the 2300 days. The next eclipse in the Tetrad, after Dec. 1st 167; the May 28th, Annular Solar Eclipse in 166, is in Saros [54]. This recalls another Partial Lunar Eclipse on Sept. 3rd, 171, also in Saros [54] outside the 2300 days.9 Thus it appears we have a Saros pairing here of 49 and 54 emerging from consecutive eclipses within the 2300 days, pointing to eclipses framing this period.

As we consider this further, more related eclipses come to light. In the two Partial Lunar eclipses outside the 2300 days, uncovered in the Saros pairing above, we find two more related Solar eclipses that are tightly paired in 171 BC. Pairing with the Mar. 10th, 171 BC Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [49], we have the Mar. 24th, Total Solar Eclipse also in Spring of 171, 2 weeks later. The Second Eclipse on Sept. 18th, an Annual Solar in the Fall of 171, pairs with the Partial Lunar Eclipse two weeks earlier on Sept. 3rd, 171, in Saros [54].10 Thus we find a bracket being built around the Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-166, of two Partial Lunar Eclipses tightly paired with a Total and Annular Solar Eclipse in 171 BC.

As we continue to observe the structure of Solar and Lunar eclipses around this Blood Moon Tetrad, we find another Saros pair of matching Eclipses. The next eclipse following the May 28th Annular Solar Eclipse of Saros [54] in 166, was the Nov. 20th, 166 BC Annular Solar Eclipse in Saros [59]. This is matched with the next Feb. 27th Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse, also in Saros [59], in 170 BC. Amazingly, the next Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse took place on Aug. 23rd, 170, in Saros [64].11 This gives us consecutive Eclipses, the last two being Total Blood Moon Lunar eclipses in 170 BC, the same year marking the inception of the 2300 days on the 26th of Av. To summarize what we have, lets look at these eclipse dates color-coded on the Time-line to matching and/or consecutive Saros cycles below.

Saros Cycles of 171-163 Eclipses and the Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-66 BC. 12

171 BC
March 10th Partial Lunar Eclipse in Saros [49]

March 24th Total Solar Eclipse in Saros [75]

Sept. 3rd Partial Lunar Eclipse in Saros [54]

Sept. 18th Annular Solar Eclipse in Saros [80]

170 BC
Feb. 13th Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [47]

Feb. 27th Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Saros [59]

Aug. 8th Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [52]

Aug. 23rd Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Saros [64]

Start of 2300 days on 26th of Av 170 BC

169 BC
Feb. 2nd Hybrid Solar Eclipse in Saros [57]

Feb. 16th Partial Lunar Eclipse in Saros [69]

July 28th Total Solar Eclipse in Saros [62]

Aug. 13th Partial Lunar Eclipse in Saros [74]

168 BC
Jan. 7th Lunar Eclipse in Saros [41]

Jan. 22nd Annular Solar Eclipse in Saros [67]

July 2nd Penumbral Lunar Eclipse in Saros [46]

July 17th Total Solar Eclipse in Saros [72]

Dec. 27th Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Saros [51] Tetrad #1

167 BC
Jan. 10th Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [77]

June 7th Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [44] ending this Saros cycle

June 21st Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Saros [56] Tetrad #2

July 7th Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [82]

Dec. 1st Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [49]

Dec. 16th Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Saros [61] Tetrad #3

166 BC
May 28th Annular Solar Eclipse in Saros [54] Feast of Weeks 5-27

June 11th Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Saros [66] Tetrad #4

Nov. 20th Annular Solar Eclipse in Saros [59]

Dec. 6th Partial Lunar Eclipse in Saros [71]

164 BC
April 21st Partial Lunar Eclipse in Saros [48] 4-10 Passover, 4/11-17 Unleavened Bread

May 5th Annular Solar Eclipse in Saros [74]

Oct. 14th Partial Lunar Eclipse in Saros [53] Tabernacle Feast 10/5-11/Octave 10-12

Oct. 29th Total Solar Eclipse in Saros [79]

12/16/164; sanctuary cleansed; Kislev 25-End of 2300 days [1st Hanukkah]

163 BC
March 26th Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [46]

April 10th Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Saros [58]

April 24th Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [84] April 28th was Passover

Sept. 19th Partial Solar Eclipse in Saros [51]

Oct. 3rd Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Saros [63] Teshuvah leading to 10-9 Rosh Hash/Trumpets

What does this timeline reveal regarding the solar and lunar eclipses surrounding this Blood Moon Tetrad? First, unlike the Tetrads in the AD era, this one is not noted because the eclipses fall on Hebrew Feast days, but because it marks the 2300 days prophesied by Daniel. We also find two Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipses framing this Blood Moon Tetrad in 170 BC. These eclipses complete their framing of the Blood Moon Tetrad pairing with consecutive Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipses in 163 BC, seen in the Saros series numbers of each eclipse. The Spring and Fall seasons of 163 BC do witness general alignments with Hebrew Feast and Holy days.13 The Partial Solar Eclipse on April 24th took place only 4 days before Passover on April 28th. Also the Oct. 3rd Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse framing this Blood Moon Tetrad occurred in Teshuvah, the Season of Repentance, leading to New Years Day only 6 days later on Oct. 9, and the Feast of Trumpets. If we look further, in 166 BC we find the Annular Solar Eclipse on May 28th during Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, that began the day before on May 27th.14 This Solar Eclipse is placed in a key position between the 3rd and 4th Blood Moons of this Tetrad. We also find that the Saros series of consecutive eclipses framing this Blood Moon Tetrad are composed of eclipses making up the Tetrad itself. This shows how the Saros series are inter-related to both the eclipses of the Tetrad, and to those bracketing the Tetrad, especially since there are related pairs of Total Blood Moon Lunar Eclipses on both sides of the Tetrad. To appreciate the Creator’s order of solar and lunar eclipses, we should begin with an overview of the Creator’s temporal order as laid out on the Fourth Day of Creation, in [Gen. 1:14-16].

Genesis 1:14-16
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: [15] And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. [16] And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also.

This reference from Genesis reveals the relationship between the cycles of the Sun and Moon, and the light which these two great lights shed upon the earth. The purpose of the Sun, like other stars, is to give light upon the earth, the nature of which is a three-fold light. First, it is physical light in a literal sense because the stars with the Sun, Moon and planets illuminate the earth. Secondly, as we have seen in the study the astronomical cycles, their earth commensurate model is numerically founded on mathematical constants like Phi, Pi and base 60 Space-Time standard of the precession of the equinoxes. Earth life is dependent upon the light of the Sun for its energy and growth. Thus, it is a powerful symbol for spiritual light or enlightenment. Light and Life go hand in hand, [John 1:3-5, Gen. 1:3-5]. As the Sun passes through its 365.2224- day, annual course it “dwells” in each of the 12 houses of its “civil year” of the zodiac for one month. The Sun moves in its circuit at a rate of 12 miles a second or 43,200 miles per hour, with its train of planets in our solar system between the boundary lines of the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Intriguingly, the sun’s orbital speed is 1/10th of half its perimeter in miles [864,000], as a multiple of the unity of Space-Time according to the base 60 precessional standard of measurement, the ruling master cycle all Space-Time. The base 60 number system also breaks down into the base numbers of 6 x 10. This exhibits the relation between the civil [lunar], and sacred [solar] years of the Hebrew calendar, in context of precession. Fittingly, 6 and 10 also provide the basis for the golden section ratio also known as phi: 1.618 (10 by 6.18, or 100 by 61.8…). In addition to unifying the structure of the human body, the musical scale, planetary orbits, biological growth cycles and the Hebrew Calendar, this phi ratio proves to be the key element in the correlation of the eclipse cycle with the solar year.

This is an important aspect of Natural Law, which is established in the luni-solar cycles found at the basis of time periods prophesied in Daniel and Revelation. A major scientific theme in support of this, is found in Symmetry, which is evident everywhere in Nature. Symmetry is the basis of the structure of microcosmic matter, the macrocosm of the firmament and of the world of mathematics. Symmetry is latent in God’s created temporal order, ruled by the regular cycles of the Sun, Moon and Stars, day after day and year after year.

Thirdly, the stars, planets, Sun and Moon illuminate the earth with spiritual light: the eternal light of the witness of God’s Word, which is a primary topic of our study. The principles of how these two great lights rule over the day and night, marking out days, months and years, are preserved in the luni-solar Hebrew calendar, unified according to the phi ratio, in symphony with the 50-year cycle of the Hebrew Jubilee. This phi ratio, also known as the divine proportion, is another central aspect of the Symmetry in God’s creation. It is the unification of these three celestial cycles via God’s created temporal order that exerts the powerful influence as a “mandate from heaven,” over the cultures of the world. Symmetry witnesses to beauty in God’s Creation, from the divine mind of the Creator. We can also see the dominion of God’s light over the kingdoms of life on planet Earth, depicted for example, in the principle of photosynthesis, governing a myriad growth cycles of biological life forms on earth. We witness the foundations of this order in the Plant Kingdom for example, in Genesis 1.

Gen. 1:11-13
¹¹And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed [zera H2233], and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. ¹²And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

The Spiral Mirabilis Phi Pattern as seen in the Plant Kingdom and the Heavens

The word for “seed” is used four times in these two verses detailing the Third Day of Creation. In the cycles of life that God instituted in the Plant Kingdom, the cycle of the fruit tree is archetypal. The fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, generates a flower which transforms into the type of fruit dictated by the kind of fruit tree in question. This fruit contains its seed in itself, which falls to the ground and grows into another fruit tree. Thus we find the cycle of the tree of life, to flower, to fruit, to seed, returning to the tree once again. The pattern of Life in Creation from the Hand of the Creator lies at the foundation principles of Natural Law ruling our world. We also find the ubiquity of the phi ratio ruling over the many growth cycles of the Plant Kingdom. This pattern of the seed [zera-*H2233] seen in the 12-fold symmetry of the Chlorophyll molecule, the life giver that transforms sunlight into organic substance, is also mirrored in the heavens, in the 12-fold structure of the zodiac, telling of the coming promised seed of Israel-Jesus Christ, who not only brings spiritual light to the world, seen already in Gen. 1:14-16., but through the transforming power of the holy spirit vitalizes our spiritual relationship with the Heavenly Father through the salvation Christ brought to humanity. Jeremiah also speaks

Jer. 31:35-36
³⁵Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: ³⁶If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.

In Jer. 31:35 the root of the word “ordinances” [chaqaq] 16, used of the light of the celestial ordinances of the Sun by day, and the Moon and stars by night, [Gen.1:14-18]. The ordinances of God’s covenant with the seed of Abraham were first set in the Natural laws that rule creation, before they were ever recorded in written form. Later these laws, as they applied to God’s covenant with Israel, were written with the finger of God in the rock of His holy mountain and entrusted to Moses the Lawgiver, [Ex. 24:12, 31:18, 32:16]. This verifies the relation between God’s celestial witness with His Word written in the Scriptures, [Gen. 1, Ps. 19]. We can see a close link between God’s stellar witness of His ordinances fulfilled in His covenant with the seed of Israel in verse 36 above. This promised seed was consummated in the Lord Jesus Christ. This record in Jeremiah relates that the celestial witness contained in God’s covenant with Day and Night, has not ceased since the first day of Creation [Gen. 1:4-5], re-ordered in the 2nd Heaven and Earth. There is no one who can halt these celestial cycles and seasons set in motion by God’s Hand, thus the surety of the return of His only begotten Son, the promised seed is inevitable! As we note the numbers linked to the prophecies related to the Lord’s return in Daniel and Revelation, we not only find the fulfillment of these prophecies in Revelation, but also the consummation of time periods finding their completion in solar and lunar cycles.

According to Daniel’s Prophecy above [8:11-14] spoken related to Days, we have shown both from history and astronomically how the Jerusalem Temple was trodden underfoot by the Gentiles, for 2300 days, in this case by Antiochus IV. However, a fascinating thing happens when we view this cycle as 2300 years. In reference to the Saros, also called historically, the Metonic Cycle, W.F.A Ellison tells us that “the Metonic cycle is the lowest common multiple of the lunar month and the solar year.”17 This quote alone gets our attention, but he continues with even more intriguing truths. Ellison goes on to say; “it is only an approximate multiple. There are other common multiples of the same two periods [solar & lunar], much longer but far more exact.”18 He points out that the Swiss Astronomer De Cheseaux, in the mid-18th Century found, in his study of principle time periods in Revelation and Daniel, that the numbers 1260 [315 x 4], 2300 and their difference 1040, without exception proved to be cycles of the Sun and Moon, and 1040 was a triple cycle being a common multiple of the Solar Day, lunar month and the year.”20 Thus we can see a conversion basis for Solar and Lunar cycles with the calendar year via this lens of temporal periods linked to Biblical prophecy.

Rev. Grattan Guinness expanded on the work of De Cheseaux in comparing the Saros or Metonic cycle to a 23oo year cycle, noting that 2300 years was not only an expanded Saros, but was the primary natural cycle for the correction of the Metonic cycle. The 2300 year cycle is 33 times as exact as the Metonic and is the natural basis for a calendar correctly adjusted to solar and lunar revolutions.”21

Guinness is an important historical source on this subject, first due to his unique view of the relationship of solar and lunar cycles to these periods of Biblical prophecy. Secondly, he also recognizes Antiochus IV relative to the prophecies of Daniel, from this unique perspective based on solar and lunar cycles! Guinness relates this to us in his own words, in the next 7-8 paragraphs:

Figure 4. The Greek Kingdom 333-31 BC 22

“In the year 553 B.C., the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, and about fifteen years before his subjugation by Darius the Mede, there was granted to Daniel a third great symbolic vision, that of the ram and the he-goat, affording a fuller glance than the previous one, at the history of the second and third of the four great monarchies.

Given as it was at a time when the Babylonian Empire and Captivity were both rapidly drawing to a close, this vision naturally unfolds God’s providence with regard to Israel and Palestine, under the MEDO-PERSIAN and GRECIAN empires. The symbols shown to Daniel prefigured their history with graphic accuracy: the successive rise of the two horns of the ram, fore-showing the sway of the two dynasties, which were afterwards merged in the great MEDO-PERSIAN monarchy; the he-goat from the west,-with his rapid course, great strength, wide dominion, and notable horn, abruptly broken, and replaced by four notable horns, prefiguring to the life, the character, the course of conquest, and subsequent history of the Macedonian or Greek empire of Alexander the Great, as well as its fourfold division consequent on his premature death.

This “little horn” is evidently a fellow to the “little horn” of the previous vision, only it rises, not amid the 10 kingdoms of the Roman earth, but from one of the four branches of Alexander’s Greek Empire. These four were, the SYRIAN kingdom of the Seleucidae, the MACEDONIAN kingdom of Cassander, the EGYPTIAN kingdom of Ptolemy, and the kingdom of Lysimachus, which included THRACE, BITHYNIA, and other parts of Asia. It was from the kingdom of Ptolemy, that this little horn arose. The direction of the early conquests of this singular power, are distinctly given, “toward the south, toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.” The main features of his conduct, as described in the vision, are his self-exaltation against the Prince of princes, his persecution of the saints, his taking away the daily sacrifice, and defiling the sanctuary, and his casting down the truth to the ground.

UNTO TWO THOUSAND AND THREE HUNDRED DAYS, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”

Now, as this question was asked and answered before the close of the Captivity in Babylon, and when therefore the daily sacrifice and the sanctuary were not in existence, it is clear that this prediction of a second destruction; supposes a prior restoration, [587-86 BC by Nebuchadnezzar].

This predicted period of 2300 years, commences, therefore, at some point in the time of the restored national existence, and ritual worship of the Jews, and includes the entire period of their subsequent dispersion, and of the desolation of the sanctuary: An important later starting point is the era of the Seleucid, or of the founder of the Syrian dynasty which included Antiochus Epiphanes, the first of the three powers referred to in the prophecy, as defiling the sanctuary and causing the daily sacrifice to cease. Reckoned lunar years from the Seleucid era (and it should be remembered that the long Mohammedan period of desolation which it includes is measured by lunar years) it terminates in A.D. 1919-20, Or just 75 years later on, than when reckoned in solar years from the decree of Artaxerxes. Thus reckoned in solar and in lunar years from these two most important starting points, it terminates first at the commencement and then at the close of the last 75 years of the great “seven times” of prophecy. [2520 yrs]

*The Mohammedan power is, we think, unquestionably the main fulfillment of this symbol; but it is almost equally clear that it had a precursive fulfillment, on a smaller scale, in the person and history of ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES. His career accords so closely with almost every feature of the prediction, as to leave little room for doubt that it was intended by the Holy Spirit, as one subject of the prophecy. For 17 centuries all expositors, Jewish and Christian, held that the prophecy referred to Antiochus. The Books of Maccabees record his career with great detail, and trace in it, as does Josephus, the fulfillment of the predictions of this little horn. But Antiochus never waxed “exceeding great,” though he took away the daily sacrifice; and he lived too near the time when the prophecy was given, to be the full and proper fulfillment of it.

* “The Moslem Dome of the Rock Mosque occupied the site, replacing the Temple of Jupiter in 691 AD.”

AS THIS ERA OF THE SELEUCID , LONG USED BY THE JEWS THEMSELVES, AND STILL EMPLOYED BY THE NESTORIANS AND OTHER EASTERN NATIONS, IS DATED FROM THE GREAT FOUNDER OF THE DYNASTY OF THE PRECURSORY “LITTLE HORN,” it is not an unsuitable point of departure. The period of 2300 years measured from it, and reckoned in lunar years, rules out in A.D. 1919-20, seventy-five years later than its first termination in 1844, and the same year as the main measurement of the Times of the Gentiles, dated from Nebuchadnezzar’s overthrow of Jehoiakim, B.C. 602.

B.C 312, 2300 LUNAR YEARS FROM THE ERA OF THE SELEUCID, A.D. 1919-20.

Daniel could neither have known that 2300 years (Chap. viii.) was a soli-lunar cycle, nor could he have selected by chance the exact number of years in that cycle, as the period of the restored temple and subsequent desolation of the sanctuary. Such coincidences are not the work of chance.

In the last chapter of Daniel the angel intimates to the prophet in answer to his chronological inquiries, that while the scattering of the power of the holy people, should terminate at the end of the second half of the 2520 years, yet there should be additions of thirty and forty-five years, before the era of blessedness would arrive. (Dan. 12:11-13.) In other words, to the long period of 2520 years Scripture adds a brief period of seventy-five years, and as we see below, astronomy does the same. The difference between 2520 true lunar and the same number of true solar years is seventy-five years. Thus the seventy-five years added in the prophecy is exactly equal to the epact of the whole 2520 year period.” If 2520 lunar, and the same number of solar years begin together, the former will run out 75 years before the latter. The 75 years added to the “Times of the Gentiles” are equal to the epact of that great dispensational [2520 year] period.”23

Thus what we have shown in the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2300 days, Guinness has applied also in a 2300 lunar year prophecy including the epact of Solar and lunar cycles as seen below.

Figure 5. Daniel 12:11-12 24

In reference to the graphic above, Guinness also observed that if we multiply 1260 by 2 we get 2520, the lowest common multiple of the first 10 digits; the numbers 1-10 will all divide it without remainder. As a result it is the first in the entire series of numbers, that is exactly divisible by all the first ten numerals.25 If we add 75 years to the 1260, we get the 1335 years of [Dan 12:11-12] expressed in Days. As the graphic states, 75 years is exactly the difference between 2520 lunar years and the same number of solar years. This depicts the conversion rate of Solar and Lunar cycles with the calendar year mentioned earlier according to these cycles seen in Biblical Prophecy.

The 11-day gap between the solar and lunar years expands to a period of 7 months over the 19-year lunar saros. During this 19-year period there are 235 full moons in the Metonic Cycle. If we divide 235 by 19, we get 12 7/19, [12.368] full Moons, synodic, or lunar months of 29.53 days per month. There are 13.368 sidereal months or [very close to the 1335 days above] 12.368 synodic months, the time it takes the Moon to return to the same point in the sky against the backdrop of the stars, in each year.²⁶This shows the relation between the Moon and the Stars on an annual basis.

Jon Nessle says about 1260 days in [Dan. 12:11-12] “We know this must be referring to another fulfillment of this prophecy because there is a time span which is different from Daniel 8. Here it is 1290 days, there it is 2300. So this reference appears to be still in the future in the Book of Revelation period, just before the Great Tribulation, [Matt. 24:21].”27

Putting this into perspective, I think it fitting that we quote from the final chapter of Witness of the Stars, by E.W Bullinger, on his discussion of the Saros: Bullinger shows the period of Jerusalem under the Gentiles in two 1260 years cycles totaling 2520 years.28 He depicts the domain of Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece as 594 years, and the Roman dominion of Jerusalem at 666 years; totaling 1260 years. Both of these periods are calculated in eclipse cycles. The second 1260 year period consists to the Mohammedan conquest of Jerusalem that began in 636-37 AD.29

“Saros cycles breakdown into two cycles, one of 666 years and the other of 594 years totaling 1260 years. We know that 1260 years is a soli-lunar cycle, so exact that its epact or difference in only 6 hours. Bullinger notes not only these aspects of the 1260 year period but also its double-2520 years. Bullinger believed that these 1260 year periods would foreshadow a 1260 day period in the end-times when the final Abomination of Desolation was to be fulfilled, [2 Thess. 2:1-3]. 30

As we include the conversion rate of Solar and Lunar cycles with the calendar year according to these cycles seen in Biblical Prophecy, from Daniel and Revelation, we gain a panoramic view of Biblical history and an incisive view of end-times prophecy, related to the activities of the Anti-Christ and his final desolation of the Temple at Jerusalem. It is interesting that the Hanukkah Feast marks the dedication of the Temple after its defilement. Yet this Temple has been razed to the ground since 70 AD, and only makes sense in view of the coming 3rd Temple to Jerusalem. This of course is an important precursor to the tribulation and the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Caleb was part of the company of Spies, sent to inspect the Promised Land, he was one of only two that brought back a positive report. As a result He did not perish during the 40 years in the wilderness, and was allowed to share in the rewards of the Promised Land God had set aside for him.

As we recall the 30 years added to the 1260 years making 1290, we also have 45 more years added in Dan. 12:12 to 1290, making 1335 years, carrying us 75 years beyond the 2nd 1260 year period aligning with eclipse cycles, referring to the Times of the Gentiles, looking forward to the eternal age of full blessedness.

We find a related 45 years with Caleb’s inheritance leading to his rest in the Promised Land of Canaan. As Joshua reminds us, Caleb, when appealing to Joshua to give him the promised possession, said, “The Lord hath kept me alive these forty and five years, ever since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, and now I am this day fourscore and five years old. Now therefore give me this mountain whereof the Lord spake in that day. And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh, Hebron for an inheritance, and the land had rest from war. ” (Josh 14:10-13).

As believer’s look forward to the Hope of Christ’s Return, we also must maintain our positive mind-set, not looking upon the size of the dogs that oppose us in this fight, but considering the size of Christ in our hearts that always carries us to victory in every situation. As we do, we are assured of our entrance into the abundant rewards the Almighty has set aside for us in Christ, for all Eternity…

Every bad day always contains the seeds of a Good Day if we let it…

Agape’

Rene’

PS. I am blessed to recognize our 4th anniversary of the Biblical Astronomy Fellowship Blog this month! Our audience continues to grow not only in the US but around the globe! I find this edition a fitting blog to commemorate this anniversary related to a Blood Moon Tetrad in prophecy and history, which was a key purpose for the Blog, and a reason for its inception. I’m very blessed and thankful for all the new friends we are adding to our audience, along with our website @ [www.try-god.com].

God Bless!!

Footnotes

1. NASA eclipse page. [https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaroscat.html ]
2. “Analysis of Prophecies in Daniel.” [ppg. 15-16.] Jon Nessle
3. NASA eclipse page. [https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaroscat.html ]
4. “Analysis of Prophecies in Daniel.” [ppg. 15-16.] Jon Nessle
5. Number in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger
6. [www.bloodmoonscoming.com] Graphic 3B “Like No Other”
7. Fearful Symmetry Pt. II graphic, Alexander Lawrence
8. Graphic credit to Michael Toms
9. NASA eclipse page. [https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaroscat.html ]
10. IBID
11. IBID
12. IBID
13. Hebrew Calendar Feast dates 168-163 BC [http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=167%20bc]
14. IBID
15. Strong’s Concordance, [zera H2233], James Strong
16. IBID [Chaqaq- H2708]
17. Irish Astronomical Journal of June 1953, Vol. 2, No. 6 ‘The Mystic Numbers: Daniel and the Apocalypse” p. 155
18. IBID
19. IBID p. 156
20. IBID
21. IBID ppg. 156-157
22. Picture Credit, www.bible .ca [Steve Rudd]
23. GUINNESS on SOLI-LUNAR CYCLES, THE APPROACHING END OF THE AGE VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF HISTORY, PROPHECY, AND SCIENCE by H. GRATTAN GUINNESS (1879), SECTION III [https://creationconcept.info/GUINNESS.html]

24. Graphic credit to Michael Toms
25. Irish Astronomical Journal of June 1953, Vol. 2, No. 6 ‘The Mystic Numbers: Daniel and the Apocalypse” p. 157
26. www.Try-god.com/the-calendar-of-the-biblical-patriarchs.php
27. “The Abomination of Desolation and other Prophetic Terms of Biblical Eschatology”, Jon Nessle
28. Witness of the Stars, E.W Bullinger, [p.181-2]
29. IBID p. 189
30. IBID [ppg. 190-2]

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The Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-166 BC and the Abomination of Desolation

The Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse Tetrad and the Destruction of the Jerusalem Temple

The solar and lunar eclipses in the Blood Moon Tetrads during the formation of the state of Israel in 1949-50, to the reclamation of Jerusalem by Israel, marked by the 1967-68 Blood Moon Tetrad, to the recent 2014-15 Blood Moon Tetrad, all exhibit how God speaks to His people via His Word, Spoken, written and incarnate, confirmed by these heavenly signs. As in the 1949-50 and 1967-68 Tetrads, the Blood Moons have indicated war in Israel was is the case historically in 168-66 BC.

As we have seen with previous Blood Moon Lunar and Solar Eclipses marking the defiling of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD [Table 2.], these are noteworthy and instructive concerning current and future events. The subject of this study concerns a relevant aspect of Biblical Prophecy relating to events of the end-times that we can see coming together before our eyes.

In end-time prophecy, Daniel 8 is a key section of Scripture. Scholars are agreed in Daniel 8 that the goat’s first horn (the horn that was broken) is Alexander the Great, and the four horns arising afterwards are four generals who divided his empire, from which Antiochus IV arose. The symbols of the ram and he-goat, in Daniel 8 are the kings of Persia and Greece.

Antiochus’ IV took the title “Epiphanes” (God Manifest) when he took the Seleucid throne in 175 BC. Antiochus’ IV efforts to Hellenize the kingdoms he conquered had an effect on other cultures besides Israel. Their various pagan idols or “stars” were cut down by Antiochus IV to establish Hellenized religious observances throughout his kingdom, [Dan. 8:10]. Although the books of the Apocrypha hold little Scriptural value in the Canon of God’s Word, the Books of the Maccabees are valuable concerning the historical record of this time period. These records from Maccabees show the nature of the conflict Antiochus IV engaged with Israel, his unbridled ego and events surrounding the Temple at Jerusalem.

Figure 1.

Bust of Antiochus IV at the Altes Museum in Berlin. 1

1 Macc. 1:7-10 [175 B. C. 137th Seleucid year; Antiochus IV begins his reign]

⁷ Alexander had reigned twelve years when he died. ⁸ Each of his officers established himself in his own region. ⁹ All assumed crowns after his death, they and their heirs after them for many years, bringing increasing evils on the world. ¹⁰ From these there grew a wicked offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the 107th year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

Daniel 8:1-22 reveals the times of Daniel, with a promise that God would bring an end to Israel’s oppression. Antiochus VI Epiphanes, took the Seleucid throne of Syria in 175 BC. In 167 BC that there was a revolt in Jerusalem, where he sent troops to suppress, halting the daily Temple sacrifices [Dan. 8:11] and polluting it, 167-164 BC. His attempt to blot out Judaism ultimately led to a reaction, led by Judas Maccabee and his cohorts, who won a series of dynamic military victories over the Seleucids to reclaim and purify the Temple three years later.

As a forerunner of the end-times Anti-Christ, Antiochus IV seemed successful in promoting his secular agenda. Circumcision and Sabbath-observance were being extinguished. Greek paganism under him, attempted to eliminate the true worship of Almighty God. But God chose Israel to bring the Messiah into the world, and He chose Jerusalem, for the location of His earthly Temple, as the place where the true Lamb of God would offer his life for all Mankind. The temple, the people of Israel, and Jerusalem were to be preserved together until the glorious arrival of Jesus Christ. Once the Messiah came to fulfill his ministry, the Temple would be razed in A.D. 70, as Jesus prophesied in [Matt. 24], but in 164 BC the temple had to be cleansed for God to fulfill His plan. A new aspect of this study compares the solar and lunar eclipses marking the 70 AD temple destruction with the Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-166 BC. Adding the Biblical Astronomy of the Solar and Blood Moon Lunar eclipse data provides a level of scientific verification to the historical data of this period previously not seen. Much of what was prophesied by Daniel has came to pass, but the complete story has not yet been fulfilled. This certainly puts a heightened focus on the current events leading to the Third Jerusalem Temple.

To accomplish this required the faithful of Israel to stand against Antiochus‘ IV political and military pressure. Among the resistance was the priest Mattathias, who fled Jerusalem to the mountains with his sons. Others joined them, and they began raids removing pagan altars. When Mattathias neared death, he appointed his son Judas Maccabeus as the rebel captain, whose power and influence grew in their battles against pagan enemies. Judas’ men fasted and believed God to defeat the armies Antiochus sent against them, and God aided their righteous efforts, so that in under 3 years the brave warriors of Israel prevailed.

Figure 2.

The Triumph of Judas Maccabeus, Rubens 2.

Antiochus VI Epiphanes, plundered the Jerusalem Temple in 169 BC and desecrated it in late 167 BC by commanding that sacrifices be made to Zeus on an altar built for him. Finally, Judas and his men reached Jerusalem. Upon seeing the desolation, the profaned altar, the gates burned, they made a great lamentation, rending their clothes and casting ashes on their heads. In only three days, 80,000+ were lost in a massacre of young and old, with many of these meeting a violent death, and a similar number sold into slavery, [2 Macc. 5:11-14]. They proceeded to cleanse the entire area, built a new clean altar, made new holy vessels, and put the lampstand, table, and altar of incense into their rightful places. On the 25th of Kislev, in the year 164 BC, when the Temple was rededicated they celebrated its cleansing and dedicated it anew to the living God, with great rejoicing. No pagan tyrant will ever be able to withstand Almighty God. This event is celebrated in the annual Hanukkah festival. As Jon Nessle suggests: “if we count back 2300 days from 164 BC, it brings us to the month of Av on the Hebrew Calendar in 170 BC.”3

Was the Sanctuary trodden underfoot for 2300 days by Antiochus IV? This is a feasible thesis, and a purpose of this study is to investigate whether the Biblical Astronomy supports it, which we consider below. Antiochus wished to conquer Egypt, but he had to stabilize his empire first, including Israel. His plan was to consolidate its cultural and religious aspects. During his return from the military campaign in Egypt via Jerusalem, Antiochus left a swath of destruction burning many houses, killing and enslaving tens of thousands of Jews and attacking the Jerusalem Temple, the center of life in Israel. The Syrian soldiers robbed the temple treasures and on 15 Kislev, 167 BC Antiochus IV, illustrating why he took the title “Epiphanes” (God Manifest), erecting a statue of the Greek god Zeus etched with his own face in the central altar of the Jerusalem Temple, (1 Macc. 1:54). Then on 25 Kislev, 167 BC he desecrated the most holy place in the temple while destroying the holy scrolls.

As Rev. Nessle states regarding the 2300 days: “In my analysis of the prophecies of Daniel, I showed that this time span very well could be the entire time span that the sanctuary was trodden under-foot by the army of Antiochus IV. We know from Maccabees that the end point of the “desecration of the Temple was on Kislev 25, or Dec. 16th, in 164 BC.”4 This initiated the Hanukkah festival when the Temple was rededicated, due to the desecration of the abomination by Antiochus IV, as a forerunner of the end-times Anti-Christ.

The prophecy in Daniel 8 is in two parts, “the first section covers the Persian Empire up through the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes whose desecration of the Temple was the first mention in Daniel of the Abomination that took place in the Temple.”5

Figure 3. Jerusalem Temple model-70 AD.

“A prominent feature is that it gives a time span of 2300 days. This is exactly 78 Lunar months. When one compares with the Book of Maccabees, the time span does not fit the total length of time the Temple was actually desecrated. In (2 Macc. 1:54-59) Antiochus set up the abomination; the 15th of Kislev and sacrificed on 25th of Kislev [12/6/167 BC]. The Temple was cleansed three years later [2 Macc. 4:52, 25th of Chisleu 12/16/164). But there is more. The phrase “trodden underfoot,” is also included. History records that the Temple was rededicated on the 25th of Kislev in 164 which was the inception of the Jewish Feast of Hanukkah. If we consult Parker and Dubberstein’s ancient Jewish calendar, we can see that the years 170 and 167 had Intercalary 13th months (II Adar) in them. So counting back 78 months from the Temple cleansing and the end of the abomination desolation, brings us to the end of the 5th month Av, in 170 AD. Antiochus IV fought the Egyptians in the Battle of Mt. Kasios in early November in 170 AD. Parker and Dubberstein tell us that would have been in the middle of the 8th month. The beginning of the 2300 days was the 26th of Av (the month Av is always 30 days long). This date would have been 80 days before the battle. The [orbis.stanford.edu] website calculates that a Roman Legion would take about 50 days to travel 300 miles from Damascus to the Battle site of Pelusium via Jerusalem (at speed of Ox Carts). So it is not implausible at all that the Sanctuary was “trodden underfoot” by advanced elements from Antiochus in the Summer of 170.”6

Since Antiochus is a type of the Anti-Christ, this qualifies as a “preliminary fulfillment” of this prophecy, yet to be completed by the end-times anti-Christ. We can see however how Antiochus IV fulfills the prophecies of Daniel 8;

13 Then I heard one saint (angel) speaking, and another saint (angel) said unto that certain {saint} which spake, How long {shall be} the vision {concerning} the daily {sacrifice}, and the transgression of desolation, [reference to the “Abomination of Desolation”] to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? 14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; [Exactly 78 Lunar Months*] then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. [Time span includes all the parts of verse 13] {insertions by Jon Nessle in red} 7

*A numerical note on the 2300 days equaling 78 lunar months is that (78=6 x 13), 6 as the number of man destitute of God multiplied by the number of rebellion or apostasy.8 These are fitting links since Antiochus IV was a type of the end times Anti-Christ and he instigated this version of the Abomination Desolation. Also the relation between lunar months and this Blood Moon Tetrad marking key dates as the Temple was being trodden underfoot during the 2300 days is notable. Other elements of the history of these events are recorded in the Book of Maccabees and in our timeline below.

This explanation says that the entire temple defilement lasted 2300 days, or six years plus 110 days, about 6 1/3 years from 170-164 BC, not a complete 7 year period as is many times assumed.

Table 1. Book of Maccabees 9

1 Mac 1:10 175 BC. 137th Seleucid year; Antiochus begins reign

1 Mac 1:10-15 *171 BC. desolating covenant to worship Greek gods

26th of month AV, 170 BC- 78 Lunar months prior to the cleansing of the Temple in 164.

Antiochus fought the Egyptians in the Battle of Mt. Kasios early November/mid-8th month 170 BC. [Seleucid year 143]

1 Mac 1:20-28 169 BC; plunders Jerusalem temple

1 Mac 1:54-59 15th of Kislev, 167 BC; set up abomination 25th of Kislev 12/6/167, then sacrificed abomination of desolation in the Seleucid year 145

2 Mac 6:1, 2 “compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their fathers and cease to live by the laws of God. Also polluted the Jerusalem temple calling it the temple of the Olympian Zeus.”

1 Mac 4:42-58 25th of Chisleu 12/16/164; sanctuary cleansed; Antiochus died in Seleucid year 148. 10

2 Mac 10:1-8 Sanctuary purified

1 Macc. 1:20-28
²⁰ After his conquest of Egypt, in the year 143, Antiochus turned around and advanced on Israel and Jerusalem in massive strength. ²¹ Insolently breaking into the sanctuary, he removed the golden altar and the lampstand for the light with all its fittings. ²² Together with the table for the shewbread offering, the cups, the golden censers, the veil, the crowns, and the golden decoration on the front of the Temple, which he stripped of everything. ²³ He made off with the silver and gold and precious vessels; he discovered the secret treasures and seized them. ²⁴ and, removing all these, he went back to his own country, having shed much blood and uttered words of extreme arrogance. ²⁸The earth quaked because of its inhabitants and the whole House of Jacob was clothed with shame.

Key points of this record of Antiochus plundering and defiling the Jerusalem Temple in the 2300 days from 170-164 BC, are highlighted in the general celestial markings of the Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-166 BC. We will find added meaning as we compare this Blood Moon Tetrad to the the Solar and Lunar eclipses surrounding the Temple destruction in 70 AD.

Figure 4. Blood Moon over Jerusalem

The Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-166 BC.

The Solar and Lunar eclipse activity during this period from 168 BC to 166 BC is noteworthy around the desolation and plundering of the Temple at Jerusalem by Antiochus IV. Although there may have been other eclipse activity during this 3 year period, the focus of this study is the Blood Moon Tetrad and Solar eclipses starting in mid-168 BC. This Tetrad includes 3 Total Lunar Eclipses in 167-166 BC. Notably the Solar and Blood Moon lunar eclipses are paired in tight intervals starting with the first Total Lunar Eclipse of this Blood Moon Tetrad. 11

Total Solar Eclipse
On July 5th there was a Mercury-Regulus conjunction in Leo. On July 17th 168 BC, there was a Total Solar Eclipse with Sun and Moon in Cancer. Later in July of 168, a Jupiter-Mercury-Regulus Alignment occurred in Leo. These opening signs in Leo are similar to the opening signs of the 2016 Solar and lunar eclipses on Hebrew Feasts and Holy Days. [see Table 2 below].

Total Lunar eclipse
The first Total Lunar Eclipse of this Blood Moon Tetrad occurs on Dec. 27th, 168 BC, after the Winter solstice. The Blood Moon and Neptune were in Scorpius, with the Scorpion signifying the war Antiochus IV was bringing to Israel. The Sun was in Capricorn, with Saturn in Libra. Mars was unified with Leo the Lion, while Jupiter was in Virgo showcasing the signs of the Celestial Sphinx. Venus the Bright and Morning Star was in Sagittarius, whose arrows were aimed at Antares the heart of the Scorpion-enemy.

Partial Solar Eclipse
About 2 weeks after the first Blood Moon and opening the New Year on Jan. 10th, 167 BC, there was another Solar Eclipse with the Sun and Venus in Capricorn, close to the border of Aquarius. Mercury was in Sagittarius. Mars-Micheal was in Leo with Jupiter in Virgo, depicting the signs of the Celestial Sphinx, as seen at the birth of Christ. This was the first of 4 luni-solar eclipse pairs in this Tetrad.

Partial Solar Eclipse
Opening the Summer season on June 7th of 167 BC, was another Solar Eclipse, two weeks prior to the Summer Solstice Total Lunar Eclipse. Sun was in Gemini, with Mercury. Jupiter was near Mars in Virgo. Venus was in Cancer with Saturn in Libra. If we take into account the next solar eclipse a month later we can see the Second Blood Moon of this Tetrad bracketed tightly between these two Solar Eclipses.

Total Lunar eclipse
The 2nd Blood Moon of the Tetrad, was a Total Lunar Eclipse, June 21st, 167 BC, at the Summer Solstice. The Sun was in Gemini, and Saturn in Libra. Mercury and Venus in Leo, with a Jupiter-Mars union in Virgo again emphasizing the Celestial Sphinx. Mercury-Gabriel was heralding the Bright and Morning Star in Leo the Lion of the tribe of Judah, while the King Planet Jupiter was unified with Mars-the Warrior Archangel standing against the forces of Antiochus IV.

Partial Solar Eclipse
The following month on July 7th, 167 BC there was another Solar Eclipse, forming a pair of solar eclipses bracketing this Blood Moon. In July of 167 BC, the Sun was in Cancer, with Saturn in Libra. Mercury and Venus were in Leo, with Jupiter and Mars in Virgo again marking the Celestial Sphinx.

Partial Solar Eclipse
On Dec. 1st there was another key Solar Eclipse, which gets our attention 1st because it occurred only 5 days after Antiochus set up the abomination on Nov. 26th, or the 15th of Kislev, sacrificed 10 days later on 25th of Kislev or 12/6/167 BC. Venus and Mars were in Capricorn as the righteous sacrifice opposed to Antiochus’ abomination. The Sun was in the Bow of Sagittarius with arrow aimed at the heart of the Scorpion enemy. Mercury was near Neptune in Ophiuchus showing the ongoing conflict between the Serpent bearer and Scorpius. Saturn was in Libra. Then only 10 days later the 3rd Total Lunar Eclipse of this Blood Moon Tetrad followed.

Total Lunar eclipse.
167 BC closes out with a Third pair of Eclipses in December. followed by the 3rd Blood Moon of this Tetrad, with a Total Lunar Eclipse on Dec. 16th. On Dec. 14th, 167 BC, the Blood Moon and Jupiter were at Virgo’s Feet, moving towards Scorpio. The Sun in Sagittarius, Mars and Venus in Capricorn, and Saturn in Libra. This sign in mid-Dec. 167 BC with the Moon at Virgo’s Feet, recalls the Rev. 12 sign, at the birth of Christ. It is notable that this Blood Moon on Dec. 16th foreshadows the cleansing of the Temple and the initiation of Hannukah, 3 years later on Dec. 16th, 164 BC, or the 25th of Chislev. This is verified in 1 Macc. 4:54 below where “the altar was dedicated, at the same time of year and on the same day when the Gentiles had originally profaned it.”

Annular Solar Eclipse
The year 166 BC also witnessed eclipse activity starting the 28th of May with a Partial Solar Eclipse. The Sun and Mercury are in Gemini, with Mars and Venus in the Bull of Taurus. Saturn is in Libra, with Jupiter is at Virgo’s feet. Here we see a 4th pair of tightly packed eclipses wrapping up this Blood Moon Tetrad.

Total Lunar eclipse
This was followed the next month by the final Blood Moon of this Tetrad, in a Total Lunar Eclipse on June 11th, with the Moon in Aries less than two weeks from the Summer Solstice. The Sun is still in Gemini, with Mars and Venus in the Bull of Taurus. Mercury has now moved into Cancer.

Annular Solar Eclipse
Later on Nov. 20th, 166 BC there was a Annular Solar Eclipse, framing the final Blood Moon of the Tetrad. The Sun, Moon and Neptune were in Ophiuchus. Jupiter was in Libra, with a Mercury-Saturn union in Scorpio. Venus in the Bow of Sagittarius. Mars was in Virgo protecting Israel.

Partial Lunar Eclipse
Finally on Dec. 6th there was a Partial Lunar Eclipse closing out 166 BC, with the Moon grazing by Jupiter in Libra. Jupiter is at Scorpio’s border joining Saturn in Scorpio, with Mercury and Neptune in Ophiuchus. The Sun and Venus were in Sagittarius. This was 1 year to the day after the sacrifice of the Abomination Desolation on 25th of Kislev or 12/6/167 BC. 12

1 Macc. 1:37-57 documents the year 168 BC that witnessed the plundering of Jerusalem, and the halting of sanctuary services, not to mention the abomination desolation under the decree of Antiochus IV.

1 Macc. 1:54-57

⁵⁴ On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year 145 the king built an appalling abomination on top of the altar of burnt offering; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah. ⁵⁶ Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. ⁵⁷ Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practicing the Law, the king’s decree sentenced him to death.

1 Macc. 4:49-59

⁴⁹ They made new sacred vessels, and brought the lamp-stand, the altar of incense, and the table into the Temple. ⁵⁰ They burned incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lamp-stand, and these shone inside the Temple. ⁵¹ They placed the loaves on the table and hung the curtains and completed all the tasks they had undertaken. ⁵² On the twenty-fifth of the ninth month, Chislev, in the year 148 they rose at dawn ⁵³ and offered a lawful sacrifice on the new altar of burnt offering which they had made.

⁵⁴ The altar was dedicated, to the sound of hymns, zithers, lyres and cymbals, at the same time of year and on the same day on which the Gentiles had originally profaned it.

⁵⁵ The whole people fell prostrate in adoration and then praised Heaven who had granted them success.

⁵⁶ For eight days they celebrated the Dedication of the altar, joyfully offering burnt offerings, communion and thanksgiving sacrifices. ⁵⁸ There was no end to the rejoicing among the people, since the disgrace inflicted by the Gentiles had been effaced. ⁵⁹ Judas, with his brothers and the whole assembly of Israel, made it a law that the days of the Dedication of the altar should be celebrated yearly at the proper season, for eight days beginning on the twenty-fifth of the month of Chislev, with rejoicing and gladness; [164 BC]

Thus was fulfilled that which was spoken by Daniel, “then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (8:14). This began the Feast of Hanukkah (meaning “dedication”), that Israel celebrated in Jesus’ day (John 10:22-23) and every December until today. (1 Macc. 1-6 and 2 Macc. 3-10.)

After three years of struggle, the Greek armies retreated from Jerusalem, and the Maccabees entered the Holy Temple which the Greeks had defiled, reconsecrated it to God, and began again the Temple service. Among other things, they wanted to relight the olive oil candlestick (Exodus 25), but could only find one day’s supply of undefiled oil – and it would take eight days to make and bring more oil. Miraculously, the Menorah stayed lit for 8 days (Talmud, Shabbat 21b), allowing enough time for new oil to be prepared and brought. The significance of the miracle is that it demonstrated that the Hand of God was present. The faithful were overjoyed, because the Hand of God meant everything to them. This
is what Hanukkah represents: remaining close to God; and the rejection of Hellenization. The priests instituted the festival of Hanukkah to honor the miracle. This became known as the festival of lights, and the purpose for lighting the Hanukkah-Menorahs. This Hanukkah-Menorah, is a special version of the original seven-branched Menorah, with eight candles, commemorating the miracle of the oil lasting eight days, and the ninth to hold the central candle used to light the others. The military victory would not be celebrated if not for the miracle of the oil.

Roman Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Over the last 2000 years the history of Blood Moon Tetrads starting in Peter’s Sermon opening the

Age of Grace, [Acts 2:20] has seen a steady progression of Bible Prophecy related to Israel, being

progressively fulfilled. This includes prophecies of the Jerusalem Temple’s Destruction spoken by

Jesus, marked with Blood Moons fulfilled in 70 AD. We witnessed the dispersion of the Jews around the world, as we have seen the Jews return to a reformed State of Israel in 1948-1950, marked by a Blood Moon Tetrad. In 1967-68 we saw the 6-day war with Egypt, when Jerusalem was first reclaimed under Israel’s control, since 70 AD, also marked by a Blood Moon Tetrad, all leading to the next logical step of prophecies to re-build a Third Jerusalem Temple. A chart of the Blood Moon Tetrads over the last 2000+ years is available in our blog post @ Biblical Blood Moon Calendar. The following summary from this link, shows the 70 AD Roman Temple Destruction as Jesus Prophesied, alongside the 2016 Solar and Lunar Eclipses.

Table 2.
Solar & Lunar Eclipses from 69-71 AD. 2016 Solar & Lunar Eclipses omitting Adar 2:

Jupiter-Regulus Conjunction 10/15/69 in Leo

Partial Lunar Sukkot 10/18/69

Total Solar Nisan 1 3/30/70 Total Solar Eclipse 3/9/2016 on Nisan 1

Penum lunar Passover 4/14/70 Penum Lunar Eclipse-Passover 3/23/2016/Nisan 14

Rev. 12 Sign of the Woman 8/27/70

Annular Solar Rosh Hash 9/23/70 Annular Solar Eclipse 9/3/2016/Trumpets Feast

Penum lunar Sukkot 10/08/70 Penum Lunar Eclipse 9/16/Sukkot/9-16 to 9/23/16

Partial Lunar Purim 3/4/71

These dates may look familiar to those following my Biblical Astronomy Blog [blog.try-god.org], as the first 2 Total Solar Eclipses of 2016 form the continuation of Solar and Lunar signs on Hebrew Feast and Holy days after the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-15. Due to a lack of consensus on the appearance of Aviv Barley in Israel, the alignment of these solar eclipses with Hebrew Feast and holy days went mostly unnoticed in 2016. But they are key as they represent a direct link to the Aug. 21^st, 2017 Pan-American Total Solar eclipse. An intriguing detail about the 2nd Blood Moon of each lunar triple bracketing the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad is that it was visible over Jerusalem. This provides a direct link with Blood Moon Tetrad to the razing of the Jerusalem Temple in the Hebrew Sabbath years of 586-587 BC and 69-70 AD. Nebuchadnezzar burnt the Temple in 587-586 BC [2 Chron. 36:17-20], and in 69-70 AD, Titus and his Roman legions burnt the Temple. In both cases Jerusalem lay desolate for the next 50 years on the Jubilee Calendar. 13

With the solar and lunar eclipses marking the 69-70 AD destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, 70 AD was the last year Jerusalem was under control of Israel until the Blood Moon Tetrad of 1967-68. These Luni–Solar Eclipses of 2016 mirror exactly the 69-70 AD solar and lunar eclipses on holy days and Hebrew feasts. Its also noteworthy that the triple union of Jupiter-Regulus marking the birth of Christ, is linked to the Temple destruction in Jerusalem foretold by Christ [Matt. 24:2], since the next Jupiter-Regulus conjunction did not recur till Oct. 15th, 69 AD. 14

By putting these birth signs of Christ together with the physical Temple being destroyed, it recalls Jesus’ words in [Jn. 2:19-20] where Jesus links the Temple’s destruction, wherein he was standing when he said “destroy this temple,” with the “temple of his body.” Christ embodied the Temple in two aspects; first as the Bride of Israel when he spoke this prophecy, and later in the Church of Gentile Christians communing with the Heavenly Father spiritually after the Day of Pentecost in the Age
of Grace, [Eph. 2:11-22]. Since Jesus superseded the physical Temple in his Spiritual body of the Church, the Jerusalem Temple on the Mount will not be seen again until its daily sacrifices are restored prior to Jesus’ 2nd Coming. The 69-70 AD solar and lunar eclipses marking the Roman’s destruction
of the Temple are reflected in the solar and lunar eclipses of 2016, leading to the 2017 rewind of the Great Wonder of Rev. 12:1-2. Amazingly, another version of this Rev. 12 celestial wonder takes place on August 27th, in 70 AD, in between the 4/14/70 Passover Lunar Eclipse, and the 9/23/70 Rosh Hashanah Solar Eclipse! Wow, that (9/23 date) sure keeps popping up…

Figure 5. The Rev. 12 sign on August 27th, 70 AD: With a Jupiter-Venus union. 15

The woman has a crown of twelve stars, with Jupiter and Venus in such close union they appear to merge into one star just as they did in 2 BC, except this time in the lower rear paw of Leo. The Sun is clothing Virgo and the Moon near her feet. The planets Jupiter and Venus are also aligned with Mercury-Gabriel and the King Star Regulus in Leo. What is extraordinary with this version of the Rev. 12 Sign is that it occurs in the center of the solar and lunar eclipses falling on Hebrew Feast and holy days as they also marked the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD.

Just as these signs of the Celestial Sphinx are evident in the Blood Moon Tetrads of 168-166 BC with Antiochus, and 70 AD in Titus’ destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, by types of the Anti-Christ, they were also present not only at the birth of Christ, on Sept. 11th 3, BC, but also the Rev. 12 signs on 9/23/17. This of course supports our thesis of the Celestial Prelude. The reader can refer to previous studies on the Celestial Sphinx and the Celestial Prelude to gain added context for these subjects.

As we can see these celestial signs of the end-times lighting up the sky, we are encouraged and rejoice in the Hope of our quickly returning Lord Jesus Christ.

God Bless!

Footnotes

1. “Bust of Antiochus IV” [https://everipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Museum/].
2. The Triumph of Judas Maccabeus [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens]
3. “Analysis of Prophecies in Daniel.” [ppg. 15-16.] Jon Nessle
4. The Abomination of Desolation and other Prophetic terms of Biblical Eschatology. Jon Nessle.
5. “Analysis of Prophecies in Daniel.” [p. 15-16] Nessle
6. IBID
7. Ibid p.14
8. Number in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger
9. 1 & 2 Books of Maccabees
10. The sources of the dates above are a small representation which agree with Matthew Henry* and Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown. The Scofield Reference Bible, (Congregational), 1909; The New Bible Commentary, (Presbyterian influence), Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1953; The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Moody Press, 1962; The Ryrie Study Bible, Moody Press, 1986.

11. Dates for Solar and Total Lunar Eclipse data are From NASA [https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcat5/SE-0199–0100.html]

12. Planetary union and zodiac data are from Starry Night Pro Software program.
13. Number in Scripture, ppg. 237-38, E.W. Bullinger
14. http://www.777thsabbath.com/page97.html
15. Stellarium Astronomical Software on Aug. 27th, 70 AD

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The Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-166 BC and the Abomination of Desolation

The Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse Tetrad and the Destruction of the Jerusalem Temple

Figure 1.

Bust of Antiochus IV at the Altes Museum in Berlin. 1

1 Macc. 1:7-10 [175 B. C. 137th Seleucid year; Antiochus IV begins his reign]

Figure 2.

The Triumph of Judas Maccabeus, Rubens 2.

Figure 3. Jerusalem Temple model-70 AD.

*A numerical note on the 2300 days equaling 78 lunar months is that (78=6 x 13), 6 as the number of man destitute of God multiplied by the number of rebellion or apostasy.8 These are fitting links since Antiochus IV was a type of the end times Anti-Christ and he instigated this version of the Abomination Desolation. Also the relation between lunar months and this Blood Moon Tetrad marking key dates as the Temple was being trodden underfoot during the 2300 days is notable. Other elements of the history of these events are recorded in the Book of Maccabees and in our timeline below.

Table 1. Book of Maccabees 9

1 Mac 1:10 175 BC. 137th Seleucid year; Antiochus begins reign

1 Mac 1:10-15 *171 BC. desolating covenant to worship Greek gods

26th of month AV, 170 BC- 78 Lunar months prior to the cleansing of the Temple in 164.

Antiochus fought the Egyptians in the Battle of Mt. Kasios early November/mid-8th month 170 BC. [Seleucid year 143]

1 Mac 1:20-28 169 BC; plunders Jerusalem temple

1 Mac 1:54-59 15th of Kislev, 167 BC; set up abomination 25th of Kislev 12/6/167, then sacrificed abomination of desolation in the Seleucid year 145

1 Mac 4:42-58 25th of Chisleu 12/16/164; sanctuary cleansed; Antiochus died in Seleucid year 148. 10

2 Mac 10:1-8 Sanctuary purified

Figure 4. Blood Moon over Jerusalem

The Blood Moon Tetrad of 168-166 BC.

Partial Solar Eclipse
On July 5th there was a Mercury-Regulus conjunction in Leo. On July 17th 168 BC, there was a Partial Solar Eclipse with Sun and Moon in Cancer. Later in July of 168, a Jupiter-Mercury-Regulus Alignment occurred in Leo. These opening signs in Leo are similar to the opening signs of the 2016 Solar and lunar eclipses on Hebrew Feasts and Holy Days. [see Table 2 below].

Solar Eclipse
About 2 weeks after the first Blood Moon and opening the New Year on Jan. 10th, 167 BC, there was another Solar Eclipse with the Sun and Venus in Capricorn, close to the border of Aquarius. Mercury was in Sagittarius. Mars-Micheal was in Leo with Jupiter in Virgo, depicting the signs of the Celestial Sphinx, as seen at the birth of Christ. This was the first of 4 luni-solar eclipse pairs in this Tetrad.

Solar Eclipse
Opening the Summer season on June 7th of 167 BC, was another Solar Eclipse, two weeks prior to the Summer Solstice Total Lunar Eclipse. Sun was in Gemini, with Mercury. Jupiter was near Mars in Virgo. Venus was in Cancer with Saturn in Libra. If we take into account the next solar eclipse a month later we can see the Second Blood Moon of this Tetrad bracketed tightly between these two Solar Eclipses.

Solar Eclipse
The following month on July 7th, 167 BC there was another Solar Eclipse, forming a pair of solar eclipses bracketing this Blood Moon. In July of 167 BC, the Sun was in Cancer, with Saturn in Libra. Mercury and Venus were in Leo, with Jupiter and Mars in Virgo again marking the Celestial Sphinx.

Solar Eclipse
On Dec. 1st there was another key Solar Eclipse, which gets our attention 1st because it occurred only 5 days before Antiochus set up the abomination on Nov. 26th, or the 15th of Kislev, sacrificed 10 days later on 25th of Kislev or 12/6/167 BC. Venus and Mars were in Capricorn as the righteous sacrifice opposed to Antiochus’ abomination. The Sun was in the Bow of Sagittarius with arrow aimed at the heart of the Scorpion enemy. Mercury was near Neptune in Ophiuchus showing the ongoing conflict between the Serpent bearer and the Scorpius. Saturn was in Libra. Then only 10 days later the 3rd Total Lunar Eclipse of this Blood Moon Tetrad followed.

Partial Solar Eclipse
The year 166 BC also witnessed eclipse activity starting the 28th of May with a Partial Solar Eclipse. The Sun and Mercury are in Gemini, with Mars and Venus in the Bull of Taurus. Saturn is in Libra, with Jupiter is at Virgo’s feet. Here we see a 4th pair of tightly packed eclipses wrapping up this Blood Moon Tetrad.

Partial Solar Eclipse
Later on Nov. 20th, 166 BC there was a Partial Solar Eclipse, framing the final Blood Moon of the Tetrad. The Sun, Moon and Neptune were in Ophiuchus. Jupiter was in Libra, with a Mercury-Saturn union in Scorpio. Venus in the Bow of Sagittarius. Mars was in Virgo protecting Israel.

1 Macc. 1:54-57

1 Macc. 4:49-59

⁵⁴ The altar was dedicated, to the sound of hymns, zithers, lyres and cymbals, at the same time of year and on the same day on which the Gentiles had originally profaned it.

⁵⁵ The whole people fell prostrate in adoration and then praised Heaven who had granted them success.

Over the last 2000 years the history of Blood Moon Tetrads starting in Peter’s Sermon opening the

Age of Grace, [Acts 2:20] has seen a steady progression of Bible Prophecy related to Israel, being

progressively fulfilled. This includes prophecies of the Jerusalem Temple’s Destruction spoken by

Table 2.
Solar & Lunar Eclipses from 69-71 AD. 2016 Solar & Lunar Eclipses omitting Adar 2:

Jupiter-Regulus Conjunction 10/15/69 in Leo

Partial Lunar Sukkot 10/18/69

Total Solar Nisan 1 3/30/70 Total Solar Eclipse 3/9/2016 on Nisan 1

Penum lunar Passover 4/14/70 Penum Lunar Eclipse-Passover 3/23/2016/Nisan 14

Rev. 12 Sign of the Woman 8/27/70

Annular Solar Rosh Hash 9/23/70 Annular Solar Eclipse 9/3/2016/Trumpets Feast

Penum lunar Sukkot 10/08/70 Penum Lunar Eclipse 9/16/Sukkot/9-16 to 9/23/16

Partial Lunar Purim 3/4/71

Figure 5. The Rev. 12 sign on August 27th, 70 AD: With a Jupiter-Venus union. 15

As we can see these celestial signs of the end-times lighting up the sky, we are encouraged and rejoice in the Hope of our quickly returning Lord Jesus Christ.

God Bless!

Footnotes

1. “Bust of Antiochus IV” [https://everipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Museum/].
2. The Triumph of Judas Maccabeus [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens]
3. “Analysis of Prophecies in Daniel.” [ppg. 15-16.] Jon Nessle
4. The Abomination of Desolation and other Prophetic terms of Biblical Eschatology. Jon Nessle.
5. “Analysis of Prophecies in Daniel.” [p. 15-16] Nessle
6. IBID
7. Ibid p.14
8. Number in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger
9. 1 & 2 Books of Maccabees
10. The sources of the dates above are a small representation which agree with Matthew Henry* and Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown. The Scofield Reference Bible, (Congregational), 1909; The New Bible Commentary, (Presbyterian influence), Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1953; The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Moody Press, 1962; The Ryrie Study Bible, Moody Press, 1986.

11. Dates for Solar and Total Lunar Eclipse data are From NASA [https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcat5/SE-0199–0100.html]

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The Birth of Christ on Tishri 1, with the New Moon

The Birth of Christ on Tishri 1, with the New Moon

Ps. 104:19a “He appointed the moon for seasons.”

During this time of year when we see the first full Moon following the Spring Equinox, we thankfully recognize the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, following his loving perfect sacrifice for all Mankind. The famous Messianic prophecy from Isaiah tells us:

Isa. 9:6-7 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, the mighty god, the everlasting father, the prince [sar] of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with Justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.

When Jesus was raised from the dead he brought Peace among many other benefits, as he completed God’s plan of Salvation. Jesus Christ is the Prince [Sar–H8269] of Peace. Christ is the only one who has ever brought true peace to the world, and without the birth of Christ peace is not possible. In light of our study of the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, leading to the recapitulation of the Rev. 12 sign on 9-23-17, we see how the Blood Moons focus on the Lord’s feasts and heavenly signs employed by the Creator, foretelling the victorious Return of Christ-the Prince of Peace. Before believers can truly claim the eternal peace that God has set aside for His Children, we must vanquish our adversaries once and for all, by laying hold on the victory that our Prince of Peace has secured in the spiritual warfare raging through the ages. The Blood Moons symbolize this war being fought on physical and spiritual battlefields against the princes of the darkness of this world. [Eph. 6:12]

The Babylonian word “Sar” is doubtlessly related to the Hebrew word [sar *H8269] of the same spelling, meaning; “prince, captain, chief, ruler, leader, head.”1 The word has retained this meaning even in modern usage, as in the Tsar of all the Russias. As a testimony to what may have been based on the first human language, “Aesar” is a word for “God” in both, Icelandic and Irish, “Osar” in Egypt as “Osiris” was the prince. The English word “sir,” and the Roman “Ceasar” are also traceable to this root. In Isaiah 9:6, a great prophecy of the promised seed, its applied to the Christ as Sar-Shalom; the Prince of Peace, who will bring peace to all Creation [Eph. 2:11-18], as a result of his glorious return, marked by the prophetic Blood Moons. It is also used of Prince Moses in Exodus 2:16.

According to Hislop, The Chaldean version of this word; “Zer,” meaning “to encompass” gives us not only the idea of the mathematical concept in English for: “Zero signified by a circle among the Chaldeans,” but also Zero; “the seed.” Further, it relates to the Hebrew word zera [*H2233] used in reference to Jesus Christ the promised seed in Genesis 3:15. Thus the Chaldean word for the “woman’s promised seed” was “Zero-ashta,” also the basis of the name Zoroaster.2 Notably, in Zoroastrian prophetic writings- the Zend-Avesta, predicted the return of Zoroaster, the savior who renewed all existence in preparation for the Last Judgment. References to the woman’s promised seed here relate to a blog study [The Celestial Prelude and the Biblical Astronomy of the Birth of Christ] and our Try-God.com study; “The Stars OverBethlehem.”

Hislop goes on to say: “As he who by the Chaldeans was regarded as the great Seed was looked upon as the Sun incarnate, [Mal. 4:2] and as the emblem of the Sun was a circle, the hieroglyphic relation between zero; “the circle,” and zero; “the seed” was easily established.”³

Another view of the meaning of the Hebrew word for prince; “sar,” is Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace and Creation embodies “the sum of creation,“ [Isa. 9:6]. Rosh Hashanah on Tishri 1, was the “head” of the Hebrew calendar as New Year’s day and Jesus’ birthday, the first day of the 50-year cycle of Hebrew Jubilees. Isaiah’s birth prophecy of Christ, followed the basic temporal pattern of the holy days and feasts of Israel’s sacred calendar, set up by the Heavenly Father from the beginning. A central theme our Blood Moon studies on this blog, includes how the Hebrew Feasts and Holy days form the basis of the temporal and stellar patterns, upon which God structured heavenly signs for both advents of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ on the Earth.

Christ as The Risen Prince of Creation

In the prophecy of the “Great Wonder” in Rev. 12:1, the feet of the woman, Virgo are found at the crossroads of the ecliptic and e Celestial Equator, known as the autumnal equinox, one of the so-called four “pillars of heaven,” the four Cardinal points. This celestial point was generally marked on the Hebrew calendar during the Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot, that occurred later during Tishri, the 7th Month of the Hebrew year. With the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, the end-time emphasis on the Lord’s Feasts has been brought home to us in no uncertain terms with multiple Blood Moons marking the Feasts and Holy days on Israel’s Calendar. It is interesting to realize that a great majority of Blood Moons that occurred in the current Age of Grace, over the last 2000 years are usually found near this part of the sky, near Spica in Virgo. This gives a clue to the heavenly signs marking the potential return of Christ, as the modern solar and lunar eclipses resemble the pattern of signs in 3-2 BC, marking Jesus’ Birth. First we must grasp the importance of the Feast of Trumpets on Tishri 1, the sacred seventh month, as it is revealed in the following reference from Alfred Edersheim:

“Just as age was reckoned from Tishri 1 to Tishri 1, so were the regnal years of Judean Kings. The blowing of trumpets of Ram’s Horns was also part of the coronation ceremony of these Judean Kings.” ⁴

Thus Jesus’ prophesied reign as King of Kings was marked on his birthday of Tishri 1, the “Day of Trumpets.” The significance of the King’s Coronation tied to Rosh Hashannah, New Years Day and the head of Israel’s calendar, in one aspect is that Jesus as the King of Kings presides over all temporal, civil and sacred matters as the King-High Priest of Israel. God also marked this coronation in the heavens with the triple conjunction of the King planet Jupiter with the King star Regulus in Leo during 3-2 BC, based on Jupiter’s retrograde motion. His birth on this key day in the Hebrew calendar was foreordained by God, to fit the pattern of 7 primary Hebrew Feast and holy days, before the foundations of the world. The New Moon of Tishri 1, the seventh month is the only New Moon of the year that was sanctified by God as a feast day. This critical date on the calendar of Israel is perfectly synchronized to mark Jesus’ birthday on New Years Day, Tishri 1, 3 BC. Thus it is fitting that the solar and lunar eclipses occurred near this area in Virgo, symbolizing Israel, close to Spica-Al Zemach, marking the only begotten Son and offspring of God the Father.

Spica is not only significant for marking the four-fold ministry of Christ as King, Servant, Son of Man and Son of God, as seen in the four Gospels, but also because the meaning of the star Spica-Al Zemach is the seed of corn pictured in Virgo’s hand. This provides another agricultural reference related to the harvests of the Hebrew Calendar, as Christ himself the first-fruits from the dead, Jesus is the crown of God’s spiritual harvest, being resurrected at the 1st harvest during the feast of Unleavened Bread. At the very time of offering the first-fruits according to Leviticus 23:10-11, Jesus Christ furnished himself as the first-fruits from the dead, the first in a long line of believers who will conquer death. Even as Christ embodies the agricultural aspects of the 7 Feasts of the Lord, and their relation to the harvest of certain crops, so we find this theme running through the rest of the Lord’s Feasts. In the structure of the Lord’s seven O.T. Feasts, the Hebrew Calendar focused on three of these sacred feasts, all commemorating the celebration of key crop harvests.

The first harvest was celebrated in Nisan during the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the barley harvest, when a sheaf of barley was brought to the Priest for the wave offering of the first-fruits of the harvest. This was the first day the Hebrews began counting the 7 weeks toward Pentecost. The 2nd harvest was the wheat harvest at Pentecost, 50 days later. The third harvest was the Feast of Tabernacles in the middle of the 7th month. This final harvest of the year included the grape harvest, ending the agricultural year before winter. As these three feasts of the Lord were celebrated during three separate harvests, they also celebrated three great events in the history of Israel. First, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrated Israel’s Exodus from the bondage of Egypt. The second, Pentecost was recognized by Hebrews to mark the time God first revealed the Law to Israel at Mount Sinai. The third, the Feast of Tabernacles was a 7-day feast commemorating God’s watchful care of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness forty years. [Levi. 23] 5

We can see the wisdom in understanding the dual significance of the Revelation 12 prophecy, as it not only applies to Jesus’ first appearance with his birth and sufferings, but also his victorious return in Glory. Almighty God has mirrored the heavenly signs marking the birth of Jesus Christ, 2000 years later in the Lunar light of the Blood Moon Tetrads and Israel’s gathering as a nation, to set the stage for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since the beginning of all months on the Hebrew Calendar were considered holy; [Num. 28:11-15] it is important to distinguish the first day of the 7th month from the other months according to God’s Word. The sighting of the first sliver of the New Moons initiating the beginning of their months, were linked to regular weekly Sabbath days, but only the New Moon of the 7th Month was a holy convocation.

Offerings at the Feast of Trumpets

Num. 29:1-6
29 ‘And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets. ²You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish. ³Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, ⁴and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; ⁵Also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, to make atonement for you; ⁶Besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

We find a distinction not only in the New Moons of the year versus the seventh month, but also in the sacrificial offerings commanded by the Lord added for the 7th month, to the regular offerings of the weekly Sabbaths, in verse 6 above. Even though the trumpets were blown over the offerings of the weekly sabbaths, [Num. 10:10, 28:14] not one of these was the High Holy Day of Trumpets. Also in 1 Samuel, David refers to this special festival and yearly sacrifice to excuse himself from dining with Saul.

1 Sam. 20:4-5
4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. 6“If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’

The Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah marks the start of ten days of repentance before God. As one of seven sacred Feasts in Israel appointed by the LORD, it is one of the 3 feasts that take place in the Fall. The Feast of Trumpets always began on the first day, at the New Moon of the seventh month. One aspect in the celestial relationship to these feasts is seen clearly in connection with the Book of Ruth. This short story in the OT Bible record holds great insight for our understanding of the Lord’s Feasts, as they relate to the 1st and second advents of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth was a Gentile woman, of the Moabites, who by God’s Grace and Mercy was included in the Royal genealogy of King David. Ruth 2:11-12 tells of Boaz’ high regard of Ruth and her reward, for her trust under the Hand of the God of Israel. Ruth came to Bethlehem with Naomi, at the start of the Barley harvest [Ruth 1:22 to 2:22], and gleaned in the fields of Boaz till the end of the Barley and Wheat harvests, [Ruth 2:23]. After this she obeys Naomi’s instruction to go to Boaz, activating her right of the eastern custom called kinsman redeemer. Since Boaz was part of Naomi’s family, and both Ruth and Naomi’s husbands had died, it became Boaz’ right to take Ruth in marriage, if a closer kinsman didn’t activate this right ahead of him. Ruth 3:9 shows how Ruth presented herself to Boaz and how he covered her with his cloak, signifying his acceptance and protection of her in their resulting impending marriage.

As we consider the skies during this time of year in Israel, its instructive to realize Virgo’s position during this harvest season. When viewed historically, we find astronomers as early as Caesius, linking Virgo with Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz.⁶Annually we can see Virgo’s position mirroring the harvest seasons as follows; Virgo arises in the East during the Barley harvest and Wave Offering, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Figure 1. Virgo at Sunset on September 11th 3 BC, marking Christ’s Birth.

Virgo is at zenith, the highest point in the sky in the early evening at the start of the Wheat harvest, during the Pentecost Feast. Finally, Virgo is setting in the early evening western skies of the latter harvest, during the Feast of Tabernacles. As we find in the graphic above, this matches Virgo’s position on the eve of September 11th, in 3 BC!6⁴ We should be reminded that this was the period when the Sun was clothing Virgo, giving us a beautiful link to Boaz spreading his cloak over Ruth, as a figurative sign of his acceptance and protection of her. Since Boaz was part of the royal genealogy leading to Christ, the Sun of Righteousness and the light of the world, enlightening Virgo is truly a beautiful celestial figure aligning with this Scriptural truth. It also embodies the Bridegroom [Ps. 19:5], as Christ, clothing his Bride-Israel, a figure of the marriage supper of the Lamb, all seen in Boaz redeeming his kinswoman Ruth! This Marriage Supper of the Lamb will occur during the Feast of Tabernacles, while the latter harvest relates to the 14th day of this seventh month of Tishri.

The Feast of Trumpets commemorated the end of the agricultural and festival year. Also, the Day of Atonement fell on the tenth day of the month, and Sukkot or Tabernacles began on the 15th day, with the Full Moon, while the blowing of trumpets on first day of the month occurred at the New Moon as seen in Fig. 1. above, with the birth of Christ, on Tishri 1. This could not be a “full new moon” because we have two separate feasts taking place, first the Feast of Trumpets at the New Moon starting a time of preparation for the Day of Atonement. Secondly, The week of the Feast of Tabernacles, starts with the Full Moon in the middle of the 7th Month. the holiest month on the Hebrew Calendar. The first sliver of the New Moon was sighted at the feet of Virgo marking Rosh Hashanah the first Day of the New Year on the Hebrew Calendar, framing the time of Christ’s birth between Sunset and Moon-set on Tishri 1.

^{Lev 23:26-28 NASB

*}The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,“On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD.” You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God.

The Day of Atonement, Tishri 10, was a special Sabbath, and the holiest day in the OT calendar year. The only day of the year our Heavenly Father came down to be with man, in the Holy of Holies within the Temple at Jerusalem. On this day our Heavenly Father annually covered the sins of Israel, making them holy for another year, as they awaited the promised Messiah. Each year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest symbolically placed the sins of Israel upon a goat, which was turned loose in the wilderness. This scapegoat would die as atonement for the sins Israel had committed that year, leaving these sins in the desolate wilderness where he died. The sins of the world would be put on Jesus’ shoulders, as he physically died upon the cross, a one-time sacrifice for the sins mankind would commit. [Levi. 16:10, 21-22]

God’s plan of redemption was structured around these feasts illustrating future events in Bible prophecy, related to how these feasts are fulfilled in the ministry of Christ as Prophet, Priest and King. The feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread shows the resurrection of Christ as first-fruits from the dead, [I Cor. 15:20-23]. The wheat harvest on the Feast of Pentecost illustrates the giving of the holy spirit on the Day of Pentecost, when the apostles and believers initially spoke in tongues. The Feast of Tabernacles depicts the resurrection of the just and unjust, in the harvest at the end of the world.7

Presets Blowing their Trumpets on the Feast Day

Calculating the New Moon of the seventh month, or Tishri, is of critical importance to the observance of the Lord’s feasts, as the proclamation of Tishri 1 declares the New Year or head of the calendar. The month of Tishri is the first month of the New Year, setting the standard for calculating the other feasts and holy days of the year. The truth of Jesus being born on Tishri 1, our Sept. 11th of 3 BC and the astronomical signs marking his birth take on added importance in this light. Also the idea of Virgo’s position in the sky during the harvest season correlating with the record in Ruth and coinciding with the wonder of Rev.12, verifies the context of this record. We see evidence of this in Isaiah’s prophecy in [Isa. 62:2] that holds a reference to the same Hebrew word for “new” [H2319] Moon, but it refers to the “new name” the Lord would give him. The adjective of this word, reveals the meaning of newness:

Isa. 62:2
“And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new [H2319] name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.”

The word translated “new moon” in Hebrew is the noun [chõdesh H2320] from H2318 to renew, or as a verb shows an action of renewing or restoring. This usage as a noun, [H2320] refers specifically to a New Moon or to the month which it begins.8

2 Chron. 15:8
When Asa heard the prophecy of Obed he put away the idols from the land, and renewed [chãdash‘ H2318] the altar of the LORD.“

This brings to mind the feast of dedication when the temple and altar were restored after being defiled by the Romans. This New Moon on the first day of the seventh month, called the Feast of Trumpets was also distinct from the “full Moon” of the 7th month. Ps. 81:3 refers to a full moon festival [keh’seh H3677]. This Full Moon was the 15th day of the 7th month, starting the Feast of Tabernacles. The Hebrew word for “full moon” is a different word [keh’seh H3677] than for the New Moon, used only in Prov. 7:20 and Psalm 81. The “full Moon” is omitted in the KJV of Ps. 81:3 but included in the NKJV below.

Psalm 81:3-5
³Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day. ⁴For this is a statute for Israel, A law of the God of Jacob. ⁵This He established in Joseph as a testimony, When He went throughout the land of Egypt, Where I heard a language I did not understand.

These verses declare that when God brought Israel out of Egypt, He ordained a “testimony” [eduth’ H5715], meaning a decree or code of law concerning a New Moon [chodesh H2320], a reference to sighting of the new thin crescent Moon, that was to be observed as a “solemn feast day.” [Ps. 81:3] This law of God recorded in Psalm 81, is a song of Asaph–the chief musician among those who blew the trumpets in declaration of the New Moon. Asaph also declares that God issued this law at the time of the Exodus, that became the foundation of the Hebrew Calendar.

There were 7 weeks of counting, that linked Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread with Pentecost. At the time of the first Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, Israel left the bondage of Egypt. A major transition point during the Exodus was the giving of the Law at Sinai, to which Pentecost became linked. The last Passover embodied in Jesus Christ. symbolizes not only Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, but the Church’s Exodus from death and bondage to the OT Law. The Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, conspicuously marks the Passover feasts of both these years in the last Blood Moon Tetrad that will not take place again on Hebrew feasts or holy days, for the next 500 years!! Christ’s redeeming work led to Pentecost in 28 AD, when the new birth first became available, and the gift of holy spirit was poured out as prophesied by Joel [Joel 2:28-31], starting a new spiritual administration, the Age of Grace. Christ was resurrected at the first harvest during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as the first-fruits from the dead. At Pentecost in 28 AD, the believers were made a harvest, manifesting the first-fruits of the holy spirit as they spoke in tongues for the first time; [Rom. 8:23]. Believer’s in the Age of Grace having the first-fruits of the spirit, meet Christ in the air in his victorious return for his Saints, gathering us together, [I Thess. 4:14-17]. Christians during the current end times are warned by a series of Blood Moon Tetrads, among other heavenly signs, leading to the last days prior to our gathering together unto the Lord. The final, and complete harvest will be at the return of Christ with his Saints, when the enemies of God are vanquished, and remaining believers are resurrected. God’s Word describes this as the harvest at the end of the world.9 [Matt. 13:38-39]

On September 11, 3 BC or (-2) as calculated in Stellarium, we see the waxing sliver of a New Moon (which signals the beginning of the Fall Feasts) under the feet of Virgo, who is now “clothed with the sun” shining brightly near her belly.

Figure 2. Virgo and Leo on Sept. 11th 3 BC in Stellarium.10

The command to blow the trumpets “at the New Moon [`chõdesh H2320]” in Ps. 81:3 refers to the sanctification of the day as Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpets. “At” is from the Hebrew preposition beth, used mark the exact time the horn was to be blown-at the first sighting of the New Moon. Psalm 81:3 states that trumpets are also to be blown “at the Full Moon [keh’seh H3677],” although this command was omitted by the King James translators. Again we have clear textual evidence showing the distinction between the Full Moon and the New Moon, as there are separate Hebrew words for each event. “At” is also the Hebrew preposition beth, used in a temporal sense to mark the exact time the horn is to be blown–at the occurrence of the Full Moon. The blowing of trumpets thus applies to both the sanctification of Tishri 1, and Tishri 15, the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The commands for the “new moon” and the “full moon” in Psalm 81:3 make it absolutely clear that this verse refers to these festivals of the seventh month. No other month of the year has both a New Moon and Full Moon that were sanctified by God as annual High Holy days.

The Feast of Trumpets

Levi. 23:24-25

²³Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’”

The 7th month was Tishri, and the first day of this month was a holy convocation-a special feast day. This day was recognized above the regular weekly Sabbaths that coincided with the other New Moons of their calendar. The [`chõdesh H2320], or new crescent Moon, of Ps. 81:3 is the only New Moon God commands to be observed as an annual High Holy day. It is the only New Moon commanded to be observed by God, as there were no assemblies commanded for any other New Moon. The Tishri 1 New Moon also sets the calendar for all the remaining holy days in the year, as verses 4 and 5 of Psalm 81 testify. The word “statute” in verse 4 is rendered from the noun [chõq-H2706], meaning in this context “a law of a religious festival”.11 The word “law” in verse 4 is from the noun [mishpãt’ H4941], meaning “a case or cause presented for judgment”.12

The Hebrew Calendar has an ancient history that can be traced through Scripture to the time of Moses in the 15th century BC. Moses was given divine instructions for a luni-solar calendar that calculated the annual feast seasons by both the New Moons (lunar year) and the harvest seasons (solar year). The Hebrew Calendar is based on the lunar year, which is about eleven days short of the solar year. This difference accumulates each year until an another month [Adar] is added to correct it. Via the practice of inter-calation, the Hebrew Calendar keeps the months of the year synchronized with their climatic seasons, ensuring that the holy days are observed at their appointed times during the harvest cycle. The first month of the year began with the Spring feast at the barley harvest and was designated as the Aviv [“green ears”- Deut. 16]. Centuries later, the original name of this month-Aviv, was replaced by the Akkadian name Nisan. The name Nisan was adopted in Israel along with other Akkadian* names for these months, during the Babylonian captivity.

Deuteronomy 16:1 as a command to observe the new moon of Abib: “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.”

The Hebrew Calendar has both sacred and civil aspects as the calendar year based on Tishri 1 to Tishri 1 was different than the calendar based in Nisan. The Nisan calendar is for Sacred timekeeping called “Rosh Hodashim,” while the Tishri Civil calendar of course is Rosh Hashanah. The Civil calendar tracks the Sabbatical year and the 7-year cycles leading to the Jubilee.

Upon examining the Hebrew text, we find that this verse does not support the observance of the New Moon of the 1st month. Instead, this is a command to observe the festivals of the month of Abib or Nisan, not the New Moon starting the month of Nisan. The word “observe” in this verse translated from [shãmar’ 8104] means “to celebrate a festival” (Brown Driver Briggs, H&E OT Lexicon, p. 1036).12 This Hebrew verb does not denote observation of the New Moon of the first month, nor is it a command to keep a festival on the day of the New Moon. The New Moon of the first month is not a festival, or annual Sabbath, as the New Moon of the 7th month [Lev. 23:24-25].

As Moses’ words to the children of Israel reveal, the time that God established as the beginning of the year is “the month Abib” (Ex. 12:2). In commanding that the time of the Abib be recognized as the first month, God perpetually linked the beginning of the year with the spring harvest cycle. The Hebrew text clearly contradicts those who claim that the new moon of the first month determining the appointed feasts of God. The perfect coordination of the luni-solar celestial cycles with the Lord’s Feasts as we have seen in the Blood Moon Tetrads during the Age of Grace, shows the undeniable witness of the Creator’s Hand behind these events, according to His perfect foreknowledge.

Footnotes

1. Strong’s Concordance is the source for all Hebrew and Greek words unless otherwise noted [note on H8269], James Strong
2. The Two Babylon’s, Alexander Hislop
3. IBID
4. The Temple, Alfred Edersheim
5. IBID
6. Star Names their Lore and Meaning, R.A. Allen, p.461
7. Jesus Christ our Passover, American Christian Press, ppg. 407-408
8. Brown Driver Briggs, on root of [chõdesh H2320]
9. Jesus Christ our Passover, American Christian Press, p. 409
10. Stellarium astronomical software
11. (Brown Driver Briggs, p. 349)
12. (Ibid., p. 1048)
13. General reference [http://www.cbcg.org/franklin/cal_of_christ_part1_revised.pdf]

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