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Biblical Astronomy of the Phi Ratio in the Temple/Tabernacle of Israel [Part 1]

Biblical Astronomy of the Phi Ratio in the Temple/Tabernacle of Israel

The Infinite and Eternal perfect wisdom of the Almighty is illustrated for mankind perhaps most beautifully on earth in the sacred Architectural principles governing the structure and dimensions of the Temple and Tabernacle of Israel. The manner in which the Creator set the symbolic mathematical and geometric structure of Israel’s Temple and Tabernacle to portray the order of His Creation, is a key element of this present study. A prime example of this includes the application of the Phi ratio in God’s Creation.

This study endeavors to illustrate aspects of the application of the Phi ratio in the Temple and Tabernacle by the Almighty, and how Christ embodies these principles at the pinnacle of Creation. It is important to realize at the outset that as we study these appearances of the Phi ratio in the Word of God, their application as seen in Scripture far out weighs any application in Greek philosophy or history, or any human application of these principles for that matter, because the perspective of the All-powerful Omniscient Creator of Heaven and Earth, has purposes far beyond those of mortal man, as the Prophet Isaiah tells us.

Isa. 55:7-11
⁷Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. ⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. ⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. ¹⁰For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: ¹¹So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

The Science of God is not science for the sake of science itself, but as we study the application of scientific principles from the Hand of God, we can see how the Works of His Hands are manifested from His Spoken and Written Word. Many hold that the Bible is not a book of Science, yet where the Scriptures speak on Science and the Laws of Nature, they embody the inerrant perfect wisdom of God. Judaism practiced in Israel of the Old Testament had many feasts and sacrifices ordained in Scripture. These symbolic Old Testament sacrifices practiced in the Temple and Tabernacle were not just rituals without internal meaning, but ceremonies having true spiritual import. In this context, the Passover Lamb was a symbolic type of Christ, who embodied not only the benefits of the Old Covenant, but also the blessings of the New Testament, even those beyond in the third Heaven and Earth. The symbolism of the Temple and Tabernacle of Israel also provides a very strong case for the Intelligent Design principles utilized by God, in His temporal, physical and spiritual order of the Heavens and Earth.

As the old order of Aaron’s priesthood was fulfilled in Jesus as the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, God reveals His perfect society, with Christ Jesus as the Head of his Body-the Church. Since Jesus Christ is the perfect man, he embodies an inclusive relevance for the entire body, soul and spirit of man, [I Thess. 5:23]. Only the fool chooses to ignore the inherent harmonies found throughout the Natural World, portraying these truths from the Spiritual World. A goal of this study is to help the reader grasp the potency of the Godly symbolism in Israel’s Tabernacle and Temple. As our study progresses we will note an emphasis on divine celestial order, revealed at a time long before like knowledge was asserted by the ancient Greeks, Babylonians or Egyptians. However, since the Creator was truly the source of the divine design of the Temple and Tabernacle, then we may expect to find unique symmetrical functions in their geometric order, related to kingdoms of life on multiple levels of God’s Creation. When we look to the witness of God’s Word we find these harmonies in their primary and divine context, as opposed to how these principles were applied later in mysticism, secular science, or cosmology. A basic pattern that emerges involves the plans for Israel’s Temple and Tabernacle as divine architectural expressions the gospel of the coming redeemer, written in the stars, serving as a sacred architectural fulcrum between the witness of the stars and God’s written Word. As we will see the divine patterns in the celestial structure are reflected on earthly levels in ultimately as they are embodied in Christ. Let’s begin by looking at a key application of the Phi ratio regarding the blueprints of the Temple and Tabernacle.

Ground-plan of the Tabernacle of Israel

In Exodus 25:8 God commands Moses to make a sanctuary for Him.

⁸“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. ⁹Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

It is noteworthy that when we examine the mathematical and geometric pattern God refers to here, it emerges from the sacred measures that Moses got from God by revelation, corresponding to the geometric canon called the Phi ratio or divine proportion. The God-given architectural plan for both the Tabernacle and Temple was designed to embody the framework of the celestial structure of Creation in miniature, on the earthly plane. This view is supported in the following quote from Nigel Pinnock, who details some key elements in the pattern given by God to Moses and David:

The Tabernacle stood inside a court whose geometry was a double square [1 x 2 rectangle], 100 cubits long by 50 cubits wide. Inside the double square enclosure was a triple square 30 cubits long and 10 cubits wide. Its walls were constructed of wooden planks 1.5 cubits wide and 10 cubits high, held in line by strong horizontal bars of wood. The whole structure was covered with skins sewn together in strips 30 cubits long by 4 cubits wide. The Tabernacle was placed in the court towards the west, but with its entrance oriented east-wards, so that according to Josephus: “when the Sun arose it might send its first rays upon it.” The interior of the Tabernacle was divided into two compartments, a scheme which was copied later in the Temple…..The outer compartment called the Holy Place, was a double square 20 by 10 cubits, whilst the inner compartment, the Holy of Holies, comprised a single square. As the height of the Tabernacle’s ceiling was also 10 cubits, the Holy of Holies enclosure was thus a perfect cube (containing the Ark of the Covenant)….The Altar of Sacrifice was the outer equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant. It stood at the center of the outer of the two squares of the enclosure… This altar represented one of the two poles at the center of two squares-each upon its own center of polarity… The dimensions of the Temple, like the Tabernacle before it, were precisely detailed: [I Chron. 28, II Chron. 3]. A triple square double the size of the Tabernacle, and the walls of the Temple were hewn stone lined inside with wood overlaid with gold. The interior comprised a double square rectangular holy place, and a single square Holy of Holies. The interior was 20 cubits high, making the Holy of Holies again, a cubic enclosure. At the very center of the Holy of Holies stood the Ark of the Covenant which formerly had occupied the central point of the of the Tabernacle… The actual entrance to the Temple was 5 cubits in width, and opened from a porch which comprised two squares of 10 x 10 cubits. It was this porch which supported the two pillars….Jachin and Boaz. 1

An example of the geometry for the 1 x 2 golden rectangle referred to above is seen below.

Plate 1. The Golden Ratio Rectangle

Here is a simple way to draw and understand a rectangle using the Golden Ratio:

Draw a square (of size “1”)
Place a dot half way along one side
Draw a line from that point to an opposite corner (it will be √5/2 in length)
Turn that line so that it runs along the square’s side

Then you can extend the square to be a rectangle with the Golden Ratio. This rectangle above shows us a simple formula for the Golden Ratio.

When one side is 1, the other side is:

The square root of 5 is approximately 2.236068, so the Golden Ratio is approximately (1+2.236068)/2 = 3.236068/2 = 1.618034. This is an easy way to calculate phi and related geometry we find in blueprints of the Temple and Tabernacle.

This is a key topic in our study of Biblical Astronomy principles evident in other studies on our [www.try-god.com] website, like The Calendar of the Biblical Patriarchs. This study points out among many other things that the cycles of the Sun and Moon are correlated via the phi ratio [1.618] in the 50-year Jubilee cycle, because there are 618 full moons every 50 solar years. This not only exhibits another phi relation in our solar system, but also links this divine knowledge to the Hebrew calendar as commanded in Levitcus 25. So, God has designed the phi ratio in our solar system, even as He has all the other phi/Fibonacci/ Lucas relations, throughout the Natural World, exhibiting the Creator’s symmetrical Intelligent Design across multi-levels of His Creation. The preponderance of the phi ratio through the Four Kingdoms of Life, is an awesome testimony to the Creator’s Temporal Order. This phi ratio, is arrived at by a scale invariant comparison. The relationship that becomes evident in this comparison is divine, because it is found throughout all levels of the Natural World, including the micro to the macro. In this comparison of the divine proportion, the whole is to the larger as the larger is to the smaller. This relationship is seen in Plate 1 above as the linear Phi ratio divided into the square root of 5/2 and 1/2. As we observe the appearance of the Phi ratio in the Temple and Tabernacle, we also find the examples of the two altars within the courts of the Temple/ Tabernacle pattern as a whole.

These ground plans of the Tabernacle and Temple of Israel depict the heavenly image of eastern access to God’s presence, via the High Priest’s annual ministry behind the veil, in the holiest of all. The pattern of access from the east mentioned above, holds true not only for Solomon’s Temple of the Old Testament, but also remained for the later Temple referred to in Ezekiel 43:1-5. The two celestial poles of the ecliptic / Equator are mirrored terrestrially in the physical counterparts of their altars, in both the holy of holies and the holy place. As Pinnock states, regarding the brazen altar of burnt offering:” This altar represented one of the two poles at the center of two squares -each upon its own center of polarity….”2

This terrestrial arrangement mirrors the Venn Diagram at the North Astronomical pole, [Figure A.]. These two altars illustrate the bipolar structure of the heavens, seen not only in the galactic poles of the two great celestial circles of the ecliptic and the Equator in northern skies, but also in their reflection in the Earth’s magnetic and geographic bipolar system. The interplay between these galactic poles exhibits a precession of the poles, where the pole star receded from Thuban of Draco, to Polaris of Ursa Minor, over the last five thousand years, [as seen above in the banner for this study]. This embodies the shift of spiritual power from the dragon at the North pole to Cepheus the enthroned human king, [Christ at God’s right Hand] with the North Star Polaris under his feet [Eph. 1:19-22] in this precession of spiritual power. Within the common space shared between the poles of these two circles moving in opposite directions, lies the astronomical vesica or Venn Diagram of the North Pole. [Fig. A]

This quote above from Pennick gives us an indication of how the original principles of “sacred geometry” are preserved in the dimensions and measures of the Tabernacle and Temple and the corresponding elements of their walls, furniture, columns, curtains, altars, orientation, and architecture. This divine celestial plan modeled in the Hebrew Temple and Tabernacle, is the foundation of the “sacred geometry” adopted by Freemasons and others before them, who have tainted these truths in the defiled context of mysticism, divorced from their authentic roots in Judaism and the Astronomy of the Biblical Patriarchs. This study endeavors to return the roots of Astronomy to its genuine origins, dispensing with the corrupt astrological influence and heathen mythology of various ancient cultures and secret societies. Figure A illustrates the double square rectangle, based on the phi ratio, that provides key aspects of both the “pattern of the Tabernacle” and Temple of Israel. [Heb. 8:5, Exod. 25:9, 40]

Figure A. The Northern Astronomical Vesica

This view powerfully depicts how the Temple and Tabernacle symbolized God’s celestial design of the heavens, seen in their two altars, mirroring the two poles of the ecliptic and the Celestial Equator. This also agrees with many of the principles seen in the pattern of God’s Intelligent Design inherent in His Creation. Since this God given “pattern of the Tabernacle” is constructed upon the phi ratio also known as the “divine proportion” or the golden section we find definitive Biblical evidence that this universally recognized standard of measure is truly divine in origin, since the dimensions of these sacred architectural structures were given by revelation from God to Moses and King David. By prioritizing a godly view of this evidence, it allows us to catch new glimpses of glories long hidden from the astrologers and empiricists, whose practices for too long have clouded the inherent grandeur of the Creator’s sacred architecture.

Figure B. The Plans of the Hebrew Temple and Tabernacle

Figure A above shows another view of the precession of the poles from the perspective of the interlocking wheels of the ecliptic and Equator, with the fish shaped lozenge of the vesica between them. This “vessel of the fish” is formed from the lozenge of these two inter-locking circles, the center of each located on the perimeter of the other. Archimedes called the formula associated with this, the “Measure of the fish,” and it is also linked to John’s Gospel record in [Jn. 21:11], where the disciples caught 153 fish following Jesus’ directions. Its import to math and geometry was found in the ratio of its height to its length [153:265], and that it represented the nearest whole number approximation of the square root of three, along with controlling ratios of equilateral triangles.³

The dynamic celestial equator, the second circle secular in nature, relates to both the civil calendar year and the earthly Equator as it is mirrored above into the heavens. The movement of this equatorial pole around the static pole of the ecliptic is what is known as the precession of the poles. The intersection points of the ecliptic and the Celestial Equator are called the equinoctial points, which we know as the Spring and Fall equinoxes, the days when the length of daylight is equal to the dark of night. The altar in the Holy of Holies, keeping the Ark of the Covenant is represented in the sacred pole of the ecliptic, around which the equatorial pole moves, both wheels, inter-locked in the form of a Venn Diagram, depicting God’s personal presence among His people.

Figure C. The Ark of the Covenant

Exodus 25:10“Have them make an ark^[b] of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.^[c] ¹¹Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. ¹²Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. ¹³Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. ¹⁵The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. ¹⁶Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you. ¹⁷“Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

In Exodus 25:10, God commands Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant, in which to hold His Covenant with the Israel, the Ten Commandments.

The measures of this Ark in the ratio of 2.5 to 1.5 is 1.666…, is a close rendition of phi (1.618). The Ark of the Covenant is thus constructed using the Golden Section, or Divine Proportion, and compares to the dimensions of Noah’s Ark [Gen. 6:15] also built in the same proportion as ten Arks of the Covenant along side each other. The measures of Noah’s Ark; 50 x 30 cubits, in breadth and height also a ratio of 5 to 3, or 1.666, is again the same approximation of the Phi ratio as the Ark of the Covenant. The ratio evident in both of these examples include numbers of the Fibonacci Series [1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…] where the two previous numbers in the series added together equal the third number. As this number series progresses, the higher numbers in the series converge in increasing levels of accuracy to the value of Phi 1.61803399… Thus the numbers 3 and 5 represent lower numbers in the series having a more general approximation to Phi. It is also notable that the phi ratio as seen in [Ex. 25:10], also appears in the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid.

Once Israel became centered in Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant moved from the Tabernacle to the Temple because the Ark represented not only the personal presence of God among His people-Israel, but it was also an ordained location where God met and talked to His people [Ex. 25:22]. The truth that the Holy of the Holies was where God manifested His infinite, All powerful presence in Shekinah Glory, in a way that His people could comprehend, finds its pinnacle in Christ, who declared God on the level of the senses more fully than any ever or will ever be done. Here we find another reason why God would utilize the Phi ratio to open the way of access for His people through Christ-into His Presence. Idea of the location where God presented Himself to His people, like Mt. Sinai was corrupted in heathen religions to the concept of an Axis Mundi, or “center of the Earth,” where devotees communed with idol gods of world religions, like the Oracle at Delphi. But with the Creator’s blueprint of the two altars of the Ark of the Covenant and the brazen altar of burnt offering centered in the Holy Place and the Holy of the Holies, mirrored at the North pole in the two celestial poles of the ecliptic and Equator, reflecting also the terrestrial and magnetic poles of the Earth, we find this pattern verified on three levels on earth and in the heavens. The celestial poles set the temporal standard on Earth as the terrestrial poles mirror their counterparts in the heavens. The two altars in the Temple/Tabernacle reflect the spiritual poles where the Almighty has made a way for man to meet and commune with his Maker. Lets now take a closer look at the outer Altar of burnt Offerings.

Figure D. Altar of Burnt Offerings

In Exodus 27:1-2, And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be four-square: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. ²And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

As we can see the Altar of Burnt Offerings that God commanded Moses to build is based on a variation of the same numbers of 5 x 3 in the Fibonacci Series: an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.” It was the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ the pinnacle and perfection of Humanity, as the head of his spiritual body embodying all the ideals and sacrificial offerings in the Temple and Tabernacle in human form. When Christ laid down his life, his one time sacrifice paid the price for all humanity, and as the perfect High Priest Jesus embodied the atonement not only for Israel, but all mankind. In John 2:19 Jesus says to “destroy this temple,” while he stood in Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem.

In effect Jesus’ contrasted the physical Temple wherein he stood, to his own physical body, the embodiment of the true temple. Jesus Christ, the 2nd Adam, is the consummate archetype, the finished model, and “chief cornerstone” not only for the nation of Israel as the Passover lamb and High Priest, but also for the Church of his spiritual Body, beginning at Pentecost after his resurrection and ascension. As the paragon of humanity, Jesus illustrated the highest standards of living spiritual principles in the prophetic illustrations of his life and ministry. Certainly, God did not record the symbolic dimensions of the design of the Tabernacle or the Jerusalem Temple, wherein Jesus stood when he spoke the words of John 2:19, without purpose. This perspective of John 2:19, depicts a prophecy of Jesus Christ in the Jerusalem Temple, representing this temple of stone and the bride of Israel in his physical body, that he laid down for Israel and all mankind in his crucifixion at Golgotha. Thus the plans of the Temple and Tabernacle are blueprints that Christ fulfilled in his ministry to Israel and all mankind. As we note the Phi Ratios in the structure of the human body, so we can see their pinnacle in Christ the head of the nation of Israel and the Church of Christian believers.

Thus it is with heightened interest that we point out the following ratios of the Phi proportion in the human body. Below we have two versions of Vitruvian Man, the first in Figure E, depicting the 17 various examples of Phi ratios in the human body. The Second in Figure F, shows the ideal man in relation to red and blue squares of the golden rectangle ground plans of the Temple and Tabernacle. The Third in Figure G depicts added examples of the Phi Ratio in the Human body.

Figure E. Vitruvian Man a.

Figure F. Vitruvian Man b.

Figure G. Human Body 4

The human head forms a golden rectangle;.
The mouth and nose are each placed at golden sections of the distance between the eyes and the bottom of the chin.
Whole body height / head to fingertips = Phi;
Top of head to fingertips / head to navel and elbows = Phi;
Top of head to navel and elbows / head to pectorals and inside top of arms = Phi;
Top of head to navel and elbows / width of shoulders = Phi;
Top of head to navel and elbows / length of forearm = Phi;
Top of head to navel and elbows / length of shinbone = Phi;
Top of head to pectorals / top of head to base of skull = Phi;
Top of head to pectorals / width of abdomen = Phi;
Length of Forearm / length of hand = Phi;

length of finger knuckles/length of hand=phi

This display shows the Intelligent Design of the human body by the Hand of the Almighty Creator in His Omniscient Wisdom. All these aspects of the Phi Ratio in the design of the human body work together to make the some greater than its parts, so that we can see why many consider the human body the pinnacle of Creation. God made the human body to house human life, in body, soul and spirit, first in Adam and Eve, and ultimately the only begotten Son of God-Jesus Christ. This brings us to the design of the genetic code of human Life, DNA, which is the Creator’s signature as the Life-Giver [John 5:6, 17:3] as seen in the Four Kingdoms of Life on Earth.

DNA [the following research is found on Wikipedia and is suggested for further study]

Each cycle of the DNA molecule measures 34 angstoms long by 21 angstroms wide. 34 and 21 are Fibonacci numbers. The ratio of 34/21 is a more accurate approximation of phi, since it is further into the Fibonacci series than the previous examples of 3 and 5. Jean-claude Perez suggested there is a strong link between DNA and golden ratio in 1991,^[1] then later in 1997 in his book l’ADN décrypté^[2]. His work shows that relative proportions of nucleotides within coding DNA sequences like genes or RNA strings are governed by specific Fibonacci and Lucas number sets. This discovery was validated particularly on all known HIV and SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) retroviruses whole genomes with Professor Luc Montagnier (the discoverer of HIV virus) which called the discovery a “DNA supracode” ^[3].

DNA supracode is revealed by computing sets called “resonances” within any DNA sequence: specific nucleotide clusters like FFF (Fibonacci Fibonacci Fibonacci), LLL (Lucas Lucas Lucas), FFL (Fibonacci Fibonacci Lucas) or LFF (Lucas Fibonacci Fibonacci). An example of elementary FFF resonance: 144 contiguous TCAG bases contain exactly 55 bases T and 89 bases A or C or G. This kind of screening is processed along the DNA sequence, for all possible Fibonacci/Lucas combinations, and for all possible values (example here 144 89 and 55 are 3 consecutive Fibonacci numbers). Then there appear many “resonances”. For example, in HIV whole genome, long of about 9000 bases, there are more than 50,000 significant Fibonacci/Lucas resonances. The longer resonances (several hundred resonances) are overlapping about 2/3 of the whole HIV genome (6765 bases which is a Fibonacci number). 4

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Biblical Astronomy of the Phi Ratio in the Temple/Tabernacle of Israel which is coming this way soon!

Footnotes

1. Sacred Geometry, Nigel Pennick ppg. 58-62.
2. The City of Revelation, John Michel
3. The Star that Astonished the World, Earnest Martin p. 58
4. Wikipedia on the Phi ratio in the Human Body and DNA.

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The Celestial Prelude and the Birth and Return of Jesus Christ

Biblical Astronomy of the Birth and Return of Christ

God marked the holy season of the birth of His only begotten son Jesus, from before the foundations of the world, according to His eternal omniscient foreknowledge, in concert with the celestial cycles He installed as He ordered the heavens in Creation. In this way His handiwork would show forth praise and worship of His wisdom, exhibited in the eternal purpose of His plan of the ages. As the Creator and God of the Heavens and Earth, our Heavenly Father saw fit to mark mankind’s long awaited deliverance, prophesied in the circle of the stars, marked by a 25,920 year celestial cycle recognizing the Sun’s retrograde motion through the zodiac at the vernal point, initiating the Age of Pisces in the precession of the equinoxes. He also marked the celestial signs leading up to, and surrounding the birth of the Christ, the embodiment of the Morning Star, with a unique series of triple planetary unions, involving a triple conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn. The first of these is seen below in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction in Pisces, May 29th, 7 BC.1

This realization is a primary element in understanding the Biblical Astronomy of the Celestial Prelude of signs revealing the Birth of Christ.[read more] The other dates of this Jupiter-Saturn triple conjunction in Pisces are Oct. 1st and December 5th. These conjunctions are many times confused for the actual signs marking Christ’s birth, but they do not fit the pattern of celestial signs laid out in Rev. 12 below. As we will see however they are critical in setting the format for the Magi to identify the actual signs of Christ’s birth that occurred in 3-2 BC.

Rev. 12:1-2
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: ²And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

In the prophecy of the “Great Wonder” in Rev. 12:1, the feet of the woman, Virgo are found at the intersection of the ecliptic and the Celestial Equator, also known as the autumnal equinox, one of the so-called four “pillars of heaven,” or 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 their 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 Lord’s Feasts and Holy days on Israel’s Calendar. It is interesting to note 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, close to Spica in Virgo. This gives a clue to the heavenly signs marking the 2nd coming of Christ, as we would expect them to follow the blueprint of signs marking Jesus’ Birth, within the added context of the Blood Moon Tetrads on the Lord’s Feasts. In this light, there were not only Blood Moon lunar eclipses taking place around the heavenly signs marking the birth of Christ in 3-2 BC, but the 12 Characteristics of the Celestial Prelude are also evident as the signs that helped the Magi identify the heavenly signs leading to the Great Wonder in Heaven, [Rev. 12].

Figure 2. Virgo at sunset Sept. 11th 3 BC seen from Jerusalem.

God also marked the coronation of His only begotten Son in the heavens with a triple conjunction of the King planet Jupiter with the King star Regulus in Leo during 3-2 BC, based on Jupiter’s retrograde motion. Thus, his birth on the key day of Tishri 1 in Hebrew timekeeping was foreordained by God, to fit the pattern of 7 primary Hebrew Feast and holy days of their sacred calendar, since before the foundations of the world. This critical date on the calendar of Israel perfectly synchronizes to mark Jesus’ birthday on Hebrew New Years Day, Tishri 1.

To help us grasp the critical importance of the feast of Tishri 1, the 7th month, we turn to 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 Rams Horns was also part of the coronation ceremony of these Judean Kings.” ²

Thus the start of Jesus’ reign as King of Kings is marked on his birthday of Tishri 1, the “Day of Trumpets.” The significance of the King’s Coronation tied to Rosh Hashannah, New Years Day and the head of Israel’s calendar, is that Jesus as the King of Kings presides over all temporal, civil and sacred matters as the King-High Priest of Israel. Thus it is fitting that a majority of Blood Moons would occur near this area in Virgo, symbolizing Israel, near its brightest star Spica-Al Zemach, marking the only begotten Son and offspring of God the Father. 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.

As the Magi were able to identify the Star of Bethlehem based on the the 12 traits of the Celestial Prelude surrounding the triple conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn in 7 BC, so we can see their basis in the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad leading to the the repeat of the Rev. 12 signs on Sept. 23rd 2017. These twelve stellar pointers provided by the Hand of the Heavenly Father left no doubt as to the time of year, the specific day and even the time of day for the Magi to recognize the time frame of the birth of the only begotten Son of God. These details of the Celestial Prelude are unique to the Try-God.com and blog sites since we have detailed this account of the celestial setting marking the birth of Christ, it is fitting that we reconstruct the specifics of the solar and lunar eclipses leading up to the birth of Christ, for comparison with the modern Blood Moon Tetrads for end-times insight. The 12 characteristics of the Celestial Prelude are listed below:

12 Characteristics of the Celestial Prelude

• Jupiter was clearly marked as “his star.”
• Jupiter was involved in a triple planetary Conjunction.
• Jupiter was involved in a series of planetary conjunctions.
• Jupiter’s retrograde motion would play a key role.
• Jupiter’s triple union was followed by a massing of planets.
• This massing of planets was followed by a Mars Conjunction.
• The Jupiter-Mars Conjunction was followed by a series of lunar occultations, and total “Blood Moon” lunar eclipses.
• This series of conjunctions would last about two years.
• The annual twenty days when the Sun is in Virgo would be a key.
• The September 15th alignment of Jupiter, Saturn the Earth and Sun in 7 BC that occurred in the evening at sunset, directed the Magi’s attention to the end of the 20-day period when Virgo was “clothed with the Sun.”
• The lunar eclipse on September 15th of 5 BC established that the Magi should be watchful of lunar activity during this time. This framed the 42 minute period between Sunset and Moon-set on the only day of the year when Virgo “was clothed with the Sun with the Moon under her feet.”
• The September 15th Heliacal Rising of Jupiter and Saturn foreshadowed the Heliacal Setting of the star Spica, between the setting Sun and Moon in Virgo, identifying a key 30-minute period when the birth of Christ took place.

Starting on the 1st trait of this list, the Star of Bethlehem [Jupiter] the King Planet that the Magi followed to Jerusalem and the birth of Christ, it is Jupiter again that is birthed from Virgo’s Womb on Sept. 9th 2017, after spending 42 weeks-the normal time of human gestation in her womb due to Jupiter’s retrograde motion. This speaks to the 2nd and 4th traits that Jupiter’s Retrograde motion would be a key as it was for the Magi in identifying the triple planetary conjunction of Jupiter-Regulus beginning 3 days after the birth of Christ-the 2nd trait of the Celestial Prelude.

The third trait refers to a Jupiter’s involvement in a series of Planetary Conjunctions. We find this manifested at the birth of Christ in a dazzling Jupiter-Venus conjunction in Leo on June 17th of 2 BC. It was two Jupiter-Venus conjunctions that actually bracketed the great majority of heavenly signs marking the birth of Christ in 3 and 1 BC. The 1st Jupiter-Venus Conjunction marking the birth of Christ took place on August 31st 3 BC, in Leo with the last one occurring on August 21st 1 BC, in Virgo. Here we find an interesting variation on a Celestial Sphinx sign highlighting planetary conjunctions of Jupiter-Venus, that took place during the first fulfillment the Rev. 12:1-2 prophecy relating to the sufferings of Christ in his ministry as the Passover Lamb. This alerts us that we should look for similar Celestial Sphinx signs as a precursor to the Lord’s Second Coming. The fact that there were also two Venus-Mars conjunctions framing the central Jupiter-Venus union between March 31st, and Dec. 9th, 2 BC, marking the birth of Christ, sets a precedent that we find in like fashion leading up to the Lord’s glorious Second Coming. This refers to the sixth trait of the Celestial Prelude. In this light, it is with great interest that we noted two Venus-Mars unions in 2015, that 3 Jupiter-Venus unions occurred in Leo, followed by Jupiter-Venus unions in Virgo in both 2016 and 2017. The initial Triple conjunction of Jupiter-Venus starting on July 1st, 2015 was all over the newscasts, and current events, being compared to the brilliant June 17th Jupiter-Venus planetary conjunction in 2 BC, 9 months after the birth of Christ. This is one of many indicators of the popularity of the Blood Moons in the public eye, as Blood Moon mania grabbed the headlines of many major media outlets. The resemblance of these current heavenly signs, to the birth signs of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, were noted in detail as public “end times awareness” shot off the charts.

The following dates witnessed Jupiter-Venus conjunctions in Leo in the Hebrew Jubilee year of 2015-2016:

June 30th, 2015
August 25th, 2015
October 26th, 2015

The following dates saw Jupiter-Venus conjunctions in Virgo in 2016-with only Nov. 2017 remaining:

July 27th, 2016
Feb. 26th, 2017
Nov. 13th, 2017

The Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015 was foreshadowed by lunar eclipses leading to the birth of Christ, which we find in the 7th trait of the Celestial Prelude. The Jupiter-Saturn triple Conjunctions in 7 BC, highlighted by a planetary alignment on Sept. 15th 7 BC, initiated a pattern of heavenly signs that reappeared in September of 5 BC with a pair of eclipses. This embodies the 10th trait of the Celestial Prelude. On 9-5-5 BC there was a partial Solar eclipse, with a Total Lunar eclipse following 10 days later on 9-15-5 BC. These heavenly signs exactly 2 years apart, enlightened the Magi that they should be on the lookout for heavenly signs marking the birth of Christ, in the next 2-year period in September of 3 BC– the 8th trait of the Celestial Prelude. Since September marked Hebrew New Year’s Holy day, of Rosh Hashanah starting the seventh month of Tishri, on September 11th, the Magi would have been on notice with their eyes riveted to the heavens for the signs denoting the coming of the prophesied King of the Jews. As stated in the 11th trait of the Celestial Prelude, the lunar activity in 5 BC tipped off the Magi to be watchful of lunar activity during this time, two years later in 3 BC. This framed the 42-minute period between Sunset and Moon-set on the only day of the year when Virgo “was clothed with the Sun with the Moon under her feet,” [Rev. 12:1]. This period in mid-September towards the end of the annual 20-day time-frame when the “Sun was clothing Virgo,” was also marked by the first of 3 unions of Jupiter and Regulus in 3-2 BC, three days after the birth of Christ. [Gen. 49:9-10]

Relating to this, 2015 saw some eye-popping heavenly signs taking place between the Partial Solar Eclipse on the Feast of Trumpets and the final Super Blood Moon on the Tabernacle Feast of Sept. 28th, 2015. On Sept. 17th the Sun appears in Virgo 20 days clothing the stellar woman symbolizing Israel with the Moon at her feet as seen in [Rev. 12]. This is the ninth trait of the Celestial Prelude. With all that we have seen regarding the ministry of Christ as it embodies in the 7 feasts of Israel emphasized in the Blood Moon Tetrad, as we combine the narrative of the birth signs of Jesus Christ from [Rev. 12], relating the story of his victorious Second Coming, the dual significance of the prophecy in [Rev. 12] becomes apparent.

August 29th 2015 [Venus-Mars]
Sept. 13th 2015 [Partial Solar Eclipse-Rosh Hashanah]
Sept. 17th 2015 [Sun clothing Virgo with the Moon at her feet]
Sept. 17th 2015 [Mercury-Spica in Virgo]
Sept. 23rd, 2015 [Hebrew Jubilee Year opens on the Day of Atonement]
Sept. 28th 2015 [Final Super Blood Moon, Feast of Trumpets]

September 17th, 2015 was a key date above since it marked not only the Rev. 12 sign of the Sun clothing Virgo with the Moon at her feet, but also the first of two Mercury-Spica conjunctions in Virgo, the 2nd one on October 29th. The September 23rd sign from Rev. 12, takes place two years before the Great Wonder of Rev. 12 rewinds in the heavens on Sept. 23rd, 2017, just as at the birth of Christ-the 8th trait of the Celestial Prelude. This was emphasized with the two Mercury-Spica unions in Virgo, within a 6-week period. As Mercury-Gabriel, the messenger arch-angel announces the apparent nearness of the Lord Jesus Christ, returning FOR his Saints. The setting star Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, displays the birth time of the Promised Seed–Jesus Christ in his four-fold ministry as King, Son of Man, Servant and Son of God, as seen in the Four Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

There was also a 1 degree Triangular massing of Jupiter-Venus, and Mars in Leo on October 28th, 2015, which is preceded earlier in the month with a planetary alignment with Regulus in Leo, [see Figure 1 below]. This is significant first because it refers to the planetary massing of the 5th trait of the Celestial Prelude, but also due to the resemblance again of the Rev. 12 heavenly sign, with the Woman–Virgo crowned with 12 stars, consisting of the 9 fixed stars in Leo, combined with the planets Jupiter, Venus and Mars, forming the Crown of 12 stars over Virgo’s head. This alignment sets the stage for the Feast of Tabernacles week, marked by the Super Blood Moon of Sept. 28th. A very similar planetary alignment will be seen again in Sept. 2017, [Figure 2.] involving the same players except Mercury will replace Jupiter in Leo, since Jupiter will be birthed in Virgo. This serves as key celestial foreshadowing 2 years prior to this birthing of Jupiter in Virgo, the rewind of the Rev. 12:1-2 wonder in heaven, 12th trait of the Celestial Prelude.

Figure 1. Planetary Alignment in Leo, October 3rd, 2015. 3

As there were 3 Jupiter-Venus Conjunctions marking the Rev. 12 birth signs of Christ in 3-2 BC, so this triple alignment of Jupiter-Mars, & Venus in Leo with Regulus, reflects a similar spiritual light in the context of the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014–2015. In fact the Rev. 12 heavenly sign: the [Sun clothing Virgo with the Crescent Moon at her feet] on September 17th, 2015 is announced by Mercury-Gabriel located alongside Virgo’s womb, united with Spica/Al Zimach on this day, 2 years ahead of the rewind of the Great Wonder in Heaven, on Sept. 23rd 2017, seen below.

Figure 2. Rev.12 Sign [Sun clothing Virgo with the Moon at her feet]. 4

As we have seen with both sets of heavenly signs surrounding the Birth of Christ and seemingly marking his victorious Return, the King Planet Jupiter as the Star of the Messiah, and Venus-the Bright and Morning Star are highly prominent in marking and bracketing the key signs in the dual-purpose of Revelation 12, with both the birth and return of Christ.

Another key with the final Super Blood Moon is that it takes place after the Hebrew 50-year Jubilee opened on the Day of Atonement on Sept. 23rd, 2015. This is noteworthy since the Super Blood Moon was the first Blood Moon of the 2014-2015 Tetrad that was visible in Jerusalem, as the city of God was liberated by Israel for the first time in nearly 2000 years in the preceding Jubilee year of 1967, also marked by the previous Blood Moon Tetrad of 1967-68.

As the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad of the end days are centered between the saddest days on the Hebrew Calendar, the days of Av in 2010-11 and 2018-19, they commemorate the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple on two key occasions in their history, one of which we have highlighted below, with the 69-70 AD solar and lunar eclipses, marking the Roman Destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. It is also noteworthy that the triple conjunctions of Jupiter-Regulus marking Christ’s birth, synchronize here since the next one did not recur till 69/70AD, leading directly to the Roman’s destroying of the Jerusalem Temple prophesied by Christ. By putting these birth signs of Christ together with the Temple’s destruction, it recalls Jesus’ words in [Jn 2:19-20] where the Temple’s destruction referred to the “temple of his body.” Since Jesus Christ spiritually embodied the replacement of the Temple for both Messianic and Gentile Christians communing with the Heavenly Father in the Age of Grace, the Jerusalem Temple on the Mount will not be seen again until the daily sacrifices return prior to Jesus’ 2nd Coming. The eclipses marking the Roman’s destruction of the Temple correlate to solar and lunar eclipses during the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015 leading to the rewind of the Great Wonder of Rev. 12:1-2, as seen in the chart below. These Solar and Lunar eclipses surrounding the Rev. 12 Sign took place on the following Hebrew Feast and Holy days:

10-18-69 Partial Lunar Eclipse on the Feast of Tabernacles.
3-30-70 Total Solar Eclipse on Nisan 1. [as seen 3-20-2015]
4-14-70 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse at Passover. [like 2014 Passover Blood Moon]
9-23-70 Annular Solar Eclipse on Rosh Hashanah.
[1947 years before 9-23-2017]

These solar and lunar eclipses marking the Roman destruction of the Jerusalem Temple not only link to the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, but based on the recognition of ripe Barley in Israel in spring of 2016 two more Lunar Eclipse events were added after the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015. Although the two added Lunar Eclipses on Hebrew Feast and Holy Days after the 4 Blood Moons do make a highly unique event including 6 Lunar Eclipses from 2014-2016, the added 2016 events do not qualify as “Blood Moons.” That being said, all 6 of these qualify as Lunar Eclipses in 3 consecutive years on Hebrew Feast days, from 2014-2016! As we consider the import of these Penumbral Lunar Eclipses in 2016, we must point out the parallel to the Penumbral Lunar Eclipses of 70 AD marking the Romans destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem seen below.

The following summary from our Biblical Blood Moon Calendar post, shows the 70 AD Roman Temple Destruction as Jesus Prophesied.

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

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 Penumbral Lunar Passover Eclipse 3/23/2016

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

Its interesting to note with a ripe Barley determination made in time for the Total Solar Eclipse on March 9th, 2016 it also falls on Nisan 1, even as above with the total solar eclipse on 3/30/70 AD. The ripe Barley also provides the link to the other Hebrew feasts in 2016. This link with the Solar and Lunar eclipses between 70 AD and 2016 is truly remarkable as a follow up to the correlation of 2014, as there are no Blood Moons among either set of Hebrew feasts! The fascinating parallel here is that these Solar and Lunar signs marked the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD, while today we are looking for the return of a Third Jerusalem Temple as the next logical step to fulfill Biblical Prophecy following up to Israel’s reclamation of Jerusalem marked by the 1967-68′ Blood Moon Tetrad, in the 6-day War with Egypt.

As this rewind of heavenly signs marking Christ Jesus’ first appearance on earth occur in the context of the latest Blood Moon Tetrad, the celestial warnings of the Second Coming are undeniable to those with eyes to see and ears to hear. All these heavenly signs seem to point towards the September 23rd, 2017 date, when we will witness the returning heavenly signs of 9/11/3 BC marking the birth of Christ. These returning signs from [Rev. 12:1-2], will replay in a climax of these celestial announcements even as the Magi witnessed and shared the Joy of the Lord’s first Advent. What an awesome privilege we have to share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Are you ready?

Footnotes

1. Jupiter-Saturn conjunction graphic from Starry Nite Pro Software.
2. The Temple, Alfred Edershiem
3. Sky and Telescope Magazine Graphic 10-3-2015 sign in Leo
4. Stellarium Software graphic of 9-23-17 Sign in Virgo

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Lunar Eclipses and the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ

History of Biblical Astronomy

Lunar Eclipses and the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ

In this February 2017 blog post, we are featuring notable lunar eclipse activity on Feb. 10-11 in Leo, near Regulus, and Feb. 26th, in Pisces. On the eve of February 10-11, 2017, the full moon falls under the penumbral shadow of planet Earth. This penumbral lunar eclipse will be best seen from Northern Europe and Africa. Only a two hours following this lunar eclipse, Comet 45P makes it closest approach to Earth, about 7.4 million miles away according to NASA.1 We covered this comet back in our November 2016 blog, which has been visible after sunset the past couple of months. In the graphic below the comet’s path is traced through Hercules Feb. 9th-11th, Corona the Northern Crown Feb. 12th, and Bootes on Valentine’s Day.

Figure 1. Path of Comet 45P [Sky and Telescope; Feb. 2017] 2
A Longer, Deeper Arc
About two weeks later the New Moon will eclipse the sun in an annular solar eclipse on February 26th. This event is highlighted by a narrow ring of sunlight surrounding the perimeter of the New Moon, primarily visible in southern South America, and South Africa.

Later this Summer an August 7th, a partial lunar eclipse will be seen from the eastern hemisphere. Then a much anticipated total solar eclipse over the United States on August 21st will take place. In light of the significance of this solar and lunar eclipse activity in 2017, it is key to realize it’s links to Biblical prophecy. This may seem like a redundant statement considering the amount of published material posted on this blog about the Blood Moon Tetrads, however there is a big assumption many have made here which should not be overlooked. Most recent Blood Moon literature has focused on end-times prophecy due to Joel’s Prophecy [Joel 2:28-32]. People have assumed that his prophecies applied only to 20th-21st century end-times, especially where Joel refers to the “Sun turning to darkness and the Moon turning to Blood,” while ignoring the context of his prophecy which refers to God “pouring out His spirit on all flesh.”

Image result for day of pentecost images

As the Apostle Peter quoted this prophecy from Joel in Acts 2:16-21, from his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, or the Birthday of the Church in 28 AD, he specifically refers to the events of this awesome day as the fulfilling of Joel’s prophecy with the words “this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel,” [Acts 2:16]. The 12 Apostles spoke in tongues for the first time in history, even as the rest of the 3000+ believers did-exhibiting the signal that they were born again, re-establishing the holy spirit connection with the Heavenly Father that was lost in the Garden of Eden. Through the finished work of the Messiah, and the salvation wholeness provided by the perfect sacrifice of the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the believers of the First Century Church and all those since have been rescued from the enemy.

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. As Passover is embodied in Jesus Christ, it 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, marked the Passover feasts of both these years in the last Blood Moon Tetrad that will not be seen 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 Joel predicted [Joel 2:28-31], opening a new spiritual administration, the Age of Grace. Jesus 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, in 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 the remnant of believers are resurrected. God’s Word describes this as the harvest at the end of the world.³ [Matt. 13:38-39]

But this was not the only part of Joel’s prophecy that was fulfilled. The references to the heavenly signs of the Sun and Moon were also fulfilled-since they were quoted by Peter in Acts 2, but the question is when? I believe the subtle error many have fallen into in all the Blood Moon media hype we have witnessed over the past few years, is related to the fact that people have only viewed Joel’s references to the Sun and Moon in a modern end-time context, instead of realizing the possibility of a dual fulfillment of these verses. This means that these heavenly signs at the start of the Age of Grace, seen here in the days of Christ’s suffering leading to the day of Pentecost, would be confirmed at the end of this age, which we are seeing in our day. This is the focus of February’s blog post. Obviously, our Biblical Blood Moon Calendar provides a historical context for the Blood Moon Tetrads, but this is separate from Joel’s Biblical prophetic context. So where do we look for the fulfillment of these heavenly signs in the local time frame of Peter’s Sermon on the day of Pentecost? One place to start is the events of Christ’s crucifixion where he finished the work to complete the salvation of humanity in the previous feasts of Unleavened Bread and Passover.

Luke 23:44-47 NIV
⁴⁴It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,⁴⁵for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. ⁴⁷The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

These events were also prophesied in Amos 8:

Amos 8:8-10 NIV

⁸“Will not the land tremble for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.

⁹“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.

¹⁰I will turn your religious festivals into
mourning and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave
your heads. I will make that time like
mourning for an only son and the
end of it like a bitter day.

Image result for earthquake images @ Christ's crucifixion

This prophecy in Amos 8 is interesting because it includes four key elements present in the Crucifixion Darkness Gospel records. Verse 8 refers to the land trembling-or an earthquake, verse 9 states; the sun would darken at noon and darken the earth during daylight. Verse 10 refers to religious festivals-like Passover which Jesus fulfilled as the Passover Lamb sacrifice, and the end of the verse tells of mourning for an only Son-another reference to the death of Christ. These details confirm the fulfillment of this Messianic prophecy from Amos, during Christ’s crucifixion events at Golgotha in 28 AD.

The scope of Christ’s Crucifixion is world wide and universal for without Christ, all the world sits in darkness. He took all our sins to the cross making atonement for our forgiveness, and reconciliation to the Father. The darkness marking Christ’s crucifixion reinforced and symbolized the impact of the crucifixion, as the sins of men were cast upon the only begotten, sinless Son of God. Since the Son of God embodies the Sun as the light of the world, even as the Sun itself was darkened for three hours. So we see the stain and shadow of sin obscuring the Light of the World for three hours, on the day of Christ’s death. Matthew’s gospel provides more details.

Matthew 27: 45-46 NIV
⁴⁵From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

In Matt. 27:45 above Joel’s Prophecy concerning the “Sun turning to darkness” would very well have been fulfilled here. All the requirements are fulfilled even though the cause for the darkness remains a mystery, perhaps beyond the ken of human science to explain. As was referenced in a previous blog, the cause for this darkness is often assumed to be the result of a Solar eclipse. In fact, the NEB, Moffat’s 20th Century New Testament, uses this term.4 Here many have all fallen into an obvious error. The Crucifixion at Passover, required a Full Moon, yet there cannot be an eclipse of the Sun at a Full Moon. Furthermore, the darkness is said to have continued for three hours, but the maximum time a Solar eclipse will last is about 7.5 minutes. Whatever the cause of the mysterious darkness, it certainly was not a Solar eclipse. Man always wants to discount the super-natural by providing scientific explanations whether they fit or not, as this example shows, further illustrated below.

Image result for https://blood moon over crucifixion images

This could also be the case with the Moon turning to blood as we will see presently. Whatever obstructed the sunlight from Earth’s view, whether irregular conditions of the atmosphere or supernatural causes may also have caused a Blood Red Moon. Thus any need to link Christ’s crucifixion date with a potential Blood Moon lunar eclipse evaporates. More on this later, first though lets take a closer look at the earthquake that took place.

Matt. 27:50-54
⁵⁰And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. ⁵¹At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵²and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. ⁵⁴When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Only Matthew includes the earthquake [Amos 8:8] at the time the Veil in the Temple was rent; while Mark and Luke don’t cite the earthquake, or graves opening and the raising of the dead from their tombs, [Matt. 27:52 -53]. We know from Scripture [I Thess. 4:15-17, I Cor. 15:51-52] that God has resurrected no one to eternal life yet—except Christ. There is also uncertainty concerning the veracity of these two verses in [Matt. 27:52-53] due to numerous instances this section of [Matt. 27] is omitted by the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers, when they quoted [Matt. 27], casting a long shadow of doubt on these verses. However, if included it could only fit with God’s Word [I Cor. 15:22-23] if those raised from the grave were like Lazarus, to live out their natural lives thereafter. Those raised could not precede Christ in resurrection as the first fruits from the dead.

Figure 2. The Temple and Golgotha

Image result for https://jerusalem temple crucifixion images

The timing of the opening of the Holy of Holies with the death of Jesus the High Priest points to the way of access back to the Almighty being opened not only for Israel, but ultimately all mankind resulting from the spiritual rebirth that Jesus made available. As far as physical and scientific evidence for the earthquake at the crucifixion of Christ goes, the following link records a widespread earthquake around Jerusalem in the year 31. Geological evidence is centered on this year with an accuracy of +/-5 years, covering 26-36 AD. This reference that the force of this earthquake was “sufficiently energetic to deform the sediments at Ein Gedi but not energetic enough to produce a still extant and extra-biblical historical record,” shows the geological evidence narrowing the earthquake activity between the years 26-36, but it is not possible to pinpoint an earthquake at the crucifixion of Christ using this geological data alone. Thus we are more dependent upon historical and Scriptural accounts to narrow down the accuracy of the accuracy of this record. 5

In support of this while analyzing earthquake activity in the region, geologist Jefferson Williams of Supersonic Geophysical and colleagues Markus Schwab and Achim Brauer of the German Research Center for Geo-sciences studied three cores from the beach of the Ein Gedi Spa adjacent to the Dead Sea. Varves, which are annual layers of deposition in the sediments, reveal that at least two major earthquakes affected the core: a widespread earthquake in 31 BC, and a seismic event that happened sometime between the years 26 and 36. The latter period occurred during “the years when Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea and when the earthquake of the Gospel of Matthew is historically constrained.” Although its not possible to prove which day an earthquake took place during this time from geological data alone, it seems possible using a combination of historical, geologic and scriptural data could disprove a 33 AD crucifixion date, while supporting a 28 AD date.

There has been a sway current of opinion in support of the April 3rd, 33 AD crucifixion date, I believe for at least two key reasons. First because of the Blood Moon that occurs here that could explain the “moon turning to blood” from Joel’s prophecy. Next because this fits in the time frame of Pilate’s rule from 26-36, and can conform to some of the other evidence and clues agreeing with a traditional 3+ year ministry of Christ. Part 2 of this study will show conclusively that the length of Christ’s ministry was 70 weeks-fitting into “the acceptable year of the Lord” [singular] that Jesus referenced when he opened his ministry in Luke 4, at his home Synagogue in Nazareth. The following Biblical evidence disproves any possibility of a 33 crucifixion date.

A key sticking point to the accurate determination of the day Jesus was crucified always seems to start with the proper understanding of the weekly Sabbaths versus a High Sabbath. This is precisely why scholars have landed on “Good Friday,” which cannot be true because it contradicts the 3 days and 3 nights that Jesus was in the heart of the earth [Matt. 12:40]. There is no possible way to squeeze 3 full days and nights in the time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday Morning! The key to avoid the error of those holding the crucifixion on “Good Friday,” is in separating the ANNUAL feast days, that were also Sabbath days, called HIGH holy days, from the weekly Sabbaths. These High Holy days also took precedence over the weekly Sabbaths, which is the origin of the tradition of a Friday crucifixion, because those holding to this idea have considered only a weekly Sabbath during Passover week. But, God’s Word shows a clear distinction in John 19:31 that this particular Sabbath/Annual feast day was Not a Weekly Sabbath day. In other words this particular Sabbath day-called a High Day, was the Feast of the first day of Unleavened Bread, Not the weekly Sabbath. John 19:31 also says that the Scribes and Pharisees did not want to crucify Jesus on this particular SABBATH day during a High Feast day of Unleavened Bread, where no manual labor was permitted.

John 19:31
³¹The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Figure 3. Jesus’ 3 Days and Nights in the Tomb

The chart above shows that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, Nisan 14 when the Passover Lamb was normally chosen for sacrifice by the priests. Three days and nights later Jesus arose on Saturday the normal Sabbath day in Hebrew reckoning, not Sun-day when the heathens worshiped the Sun-god. Also according to the US Naval Observatory the only years between 26-36 AD where Passover fell on a Wednesday, was in the years 28 and 31. 7

The first Passover Jesus attended, in [Jn. 2:13-23] where he cleansed the temple the first time, is separate from the following year of his crucifixion. Obviously this “acceptable year of the Lord,” is 5 years short of the traditional dating of Christ’s crucifixion, prior to the Blood Moon Tetrad of 32-33 AD. Again scholars have stressed the crucifixion in 33 due to fitting with the Blood Moon that satisfies Joel’s Prophecy, but this approach of using the Blood Moon Tetrad to set the crucifixion day of Christ is not consistent with the truth of the Scripture narrative on this subject. Thus with all these historical and Biblical time markers in agreement established on Biblical truth, a strong case is presented against traditional crucifixion dates in 32-33, with a 3-year ministry of Jesus Christ.

Part 2 of this study will show the Biblical keys verifying the 70 weeks of the “Acceptable year of the Lord,” exploding the myth of the ministry of Jesus Christ in excess of 3 years.

Footnotes

1. Approach to Earth of Comet 45P, NASA
2. Sky and Telescope Feb. 10th 2017, Path of Comet 45P/H-M-P [Picture credit]
3. Previous blog post
4. Moffat’s 20th Century New Testament [Matt. 27:45-46]
5. [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00206814.2011.639996]
6. Beyondtoday.tv [picture credit] Figure 3.
7. US Naval Observatory [http://www.judaismvschristianity.com/passover_dates.htm]

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Biblical Astronomy of the 2016-17 Comets and the Blood Moon Tetrads

2016-17 Comets and the Blood Moon Tetrads

There has been some noteworthy Comet activity in the heavens during 2016, going into 2017, relating to our previous November 2016 blog. We noted significant events in the Nov. 14th Super Moon post, which was the largest Super-Moon since the 1948 Super-Moon, preceding the Blood Moon Tetrad of 1949-50. We should also realize that other heavenly signs like Comets were prominent during this time, with Israel re-forming as a nation-state for the first time in nearly 2000 years.

The 1948 Comet-called the “Eclipse Comet” was a spectacular sight approaching the Sun during the first week of November with a total solar eclipse. This eclipse occurred after Sukkot week at sundown Nov. 1st, leading into the 8th month- Rosh Chodesh Chesvan. It was first noticed as a brilliant object about 2 degrees southwest of the Sun during the total solar eclipse on November 1st, mag. about -2, with a 20 degree tail. Its southwest path through Hydra during November and December as a 2nd magnitude object with a tail up to 30 degrees long, was visible mainly in the Southern and low Northern latitudes. This 1948 Eclipse Comet appeared near the eclipsed sun as if the Sun was holding a sword. With its position passing through Hydra-the Serpent destroyed, this sword was raised against the serpent-enemy persecuting Israel. As a prelude to the 1949-50 Blood Moon Tetrad, this Eclipse Comet brought attention to the luni-solar Eclipse Tetrads that would also take place in 1967-68 marking Israel’s re-taking of Jerusalem, along with the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015.

The Comet theme is not only consistent with the message of our previous November blog post on the Comets in Perseus, but also throughout 2016 going forward into 2017. Our December blog post will summarize the Comet activity through the year and give us a preview of Comet activity we can expect going into the New Year. The first Comet we will look at in Fig. 1 below is known as Catalina.

Figure 1. Path of Comet Catalina

Comet Catalina [C/2013 US10] is an Oort Cloud Comet that became visible to the naked eye around November 24th 2015, after coming to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 15 November, just after the conclusion of the 2014-215 Blood Moon Tetrad. In Figure 2 below we can see Venus just prior to its Lunar Occultation.

Comet Catalina was discovered in 2013 by the Catalina Sky Survey, near Tucson, Arizona. The Comet was joined in an a dazzling celestial triad including the waning Crescent Moon and Venus in December 2015.

Figure 2. Venus on the Edge of the Moon.

Venus was seen just to the left- above the Moon, so bright in the sky it was visible to the naked eye in daylight. Around 12:30 p.m., the brilliant light of Venus the bright and Morning Star was covered by the Moon in an occultation, reemerging on from the lunar dark side a few hours later.

Comet Catalina is seen below in Fig. 3 moving northward through Virgo near Spica.

Looking southeast to left of the brightest planet Venus, about an hour before sunrise, Venus the bright and Morning Star, was near the star Spica in the constellation Virgo, very easy to see, out-shining the Comet like a laser beam.

Above Venus is the the-dimmer red planet Mars–Michael signifying the presence of the Warrior Arch-Angel. Also higher up in Virgo-is Jupiter the King Planet, forming a December Planetary Alignment as Jupiter heads towards Virgo’s womb, in the late Summer and Fall of 2017.

Figure 3. Virgo Planetary Alignment with Comet Catalina

On the Morning of Dec. 7th the comet paired with Venus and the waning crescent Moon as seen from the Central US, in Virgo close to her womb. This seems to foreshadow Jupiter’s 2017 “gestation period” in Virgo’s womb. As Catalina passed north at about 1° per day, it left Virgo into Boötes on Christmas Eve, on a beeline for Arcturus on New Year’s Day, 2016-marking the New Year in a solar conjunction as the comet glided 1/2 degree southwest of the Sun, preparing us for a year of unique Comet activity. The Constellation Böötes represents the work of the Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd, laboring to enter into in the promised land resting place (H4496 menuchah, Ps. 23:2, Isa. 28:10,12; Num. 11:33) between the sheepfolds, opening the way as he leads his flocks.

Aratus’ name for Bootes is Arctophylax, ie. the guardian of Arctos, the flock of the greater fold, called today the great bear. This aligns with the name of the brightest star in Böötes, Arcturus, which was probably the name of this sign in antiquity [Job 9:9], providing a conclusive link with the celestial shepherd and his flocks. It is intriguing to see Draco the dragon depicted below, as winding his way down between these two flocks in the northern skies, with the lower coils of his tail under the star Thuban, the archaic pole star.

After the comet came closest to Earth at 66.9 million miles, on Jan. 12, 2016, the Comet swept just 1° north of the star Alkaid, at the tip of the Big Dipper’s handle, on January 14–15. Two days later it sped by the double star Mizar in the handle’s bend, as a magnitude 5 object. [see Fig. 1] After a fairly slow start in Virgo, the comet raced across the sky, becoming a circumpolar object in Ursa Major by mid-January. Then around Jan. 21st Comet Catalina crossed into Draco cutting thru the dragon’s Tail near the North Pole. Sky & Telescope

Figure 4. Comet Panstarrs in Pisces.

A few months after Catalina faded out of naked eye visibility, Comet C/2013X1 (PanSTARRS) stepped onto the stellar stage. Figure 4 above shows Comet PanStarrs moving through Pisces in mid-March near the Pegasus Square. It was seen with the Crescent Moon during this time, with a minimum Earth distance of about 1/2 AU through June 2016. This New Crescent Moon was significant this year as it followed a Total Solar Eclipse 3 days prior on March 9th, 2016 that was also Nisan 1 on the Hebrew Calendar. This was the first of four luni-solar eclipses on Hebrew feast and holy days in 2016, as a follow-up to the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-15. The second of these Eclipses was a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on Passover 3/23/2016, that was also Nisan 14, the very day of Christ’s crucifixion in 28 AD. It is noteworthy first that the four luni-solar eclipses in 2016 mirror luni-solar eclipses marking the Romans destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem in 70 AD. Secondly, Comet Panstarrs in Pisces represents Israel-the Redeemed.

Other comets capturing our interest this month into 2017 include 45P/ Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova in January of 2017, depicted in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova in Capricorn.

This Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova should brighten quickly from mid-December into early January as it moves across Capricorn low in the southwestern sky at dusk. Capricorn the Goat calls attention to the perfect Sacrifice of Jesus Christ as he laid down his life for our sins, once and for all, enshrined at Passover. As we head towards the Spring of 2017, another Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak in March 2017, will attract our attention. These are the Comets with a greater potential of being visible to the naked eye in 2017, with the possibility of being close to Earth during these times.

Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak may also reach naked-eye visibility (magnitude +6) in Ursa Major in early April 2017. The comet has a history of outbursts. When Comet 41P/T-G-K passes closest to Earth (0.14 AU) in late March, it rushes across the circumpolar constellations Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Draco. The comet’s path in April and May takes it across the Tail and in front of the Head of the Dragon Draco @ the North Pole. Like Comet Catalina it cuts thru the dragon’s tail, but Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresakalso also slices through the neck of the dragon removing its Head. This appears a precursor of the Great Dragon’s coming destruction as described in Revelation with five names:

Rev. 12:9 “⁹The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who deceives the whole world.

All this circumpolar Comet activity going into 2017 is indicative of the disasters that will be inflicted against the Dragon and his minions, in the coming judgment of the world.

Figure 6. Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak

A point of interest here is that one of the namesakes of this comet [Giacobini] was also linked with the parent comet the spawned the meteor shower leading up to the birth of Christ on Sept. 11th, 3 BC. The excerpt below is from my study [www.try-god.com] the Introduction to the Jupiter-Regulus Conjunctions.

“R.H. Allen adds that; “the conclusion of the verse [Rev. 12:4] “did cast them to the earth,” would show a possible reference to meteors.”⁶ This is the earliest reference in print I have found that ties a potential Meteor shower to this section of Revelation 12. This Meteor shower that originates from the tail of Draco, the cast down dragon, is linked to its parent comet, known today as the Giacobini-Zinner Comet. Traditionally comets have been viewed as omens of disaster, perhaps another ironic twist from the Heavenly Father to mark the fall of the archaic morning star with a celestial sign pointing out the dragon’s own disastrous end. As we noted with the previous Comet Catalina, the lunar Occultation of Venus was also apparent leading to Christ’s birth from September 9th to the 12th. The Eta-Draconid Meteor Showers, with their radiant in Draco, the Dragon cast down. The Moon was mid-body with the Sun in Virgo occulting the planet Venus, starting at 11:50 PM.”6

To add to this heightened show of recent comets, according to scientific data regarding incoming Oort cloud comets, they appear to be originating from one localized point of the Oort cloud. This indicates not random influence, but an unidentified specific object, as the cause of comets or asteroids potentially being knocked from their Oort cloud orbits and sent on altered trajectories towards the Earth.

On November 8th, 2016, Earth had a close encounter with a sizable asteroid. The asteroid, designated 2005 YU55, shot by Earth at a distance of about 200,000 miles, just this side of the lunar orbit. Obviously, asteroids have come this close to the Earth before, but not 400 meters in diameter since 1976, and these scientists tell us its likely not to happen again until 2028. Its interesting to note that the “fly-by” traffic in our part of the inner solar system started getting heavier around September 2015, at the conclusion of the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad.

In summary something may have disturbed an area of the Oort cloud recently, sending a stream of first time comets and asteroids hurtling in our direction that are now starting to arrive. What could have knocked these Oort cloud objects out of their orbits? Perhaps a distant planet from the outer solar system like the mysterious Planet X/Nibiru. We have also heard rumors of a red-brown dwarf star headed our way, or is it a star like Nemesis passing very close to, or even, breaching our solar system? Whatever form it takes it resembles what John described in Rev. 8:8-12.

Rev. 8:8-12
⁸The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— ¹¹the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

¹²The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

This is only part of the wrath that will be visited upon the inhabitants of the earth, during this quickly approaching judgment. The Christian believers as members of the spiritual body of Christ will already be seated with Christ in heaven during this time, so if you want to enjoy the eternal abundant blessings of Christ, with God the Father, you must come to him to receive your inheritance. [Romans 10:9-10]

God Bless!