Category: Solar Eclipses

Purim Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd, 2016

As a follow-up to our initial March blog post regarding “The Blood Moon Bombshell of 2016?“, we have noted that since the Barley Harvest in Israel was NOT found to be Aviv Barley, or ripe, that the extra 13th Month of Second Adar was added to the Hebrew Calendar. This puts the Passover on April 22nd of 2016, instead of aligning with the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd, but this eclipse now lines up with the Feast of Purim in 2016.

The key heavenly signs in March of 2016 began with a Total Solar Eclipse on March 9th. However, had the Barley harvest been ripe, the March 9th New Moon/Total Solar Eclipse, would have made March 9th-align with Nisan 1, followed only 2 weeks later by a Nisan 14 Passover Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd! Even though we won’t have a Blood Moon Sextet 2014-2016, we will still have a fifth Lunar Eclipse falling on the key Hebrew Feast Day of Purim. This is no small matter because it follows the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, giving us the first ever Blood Moon Quintet of 2014-2016! Purim on the Hebrew calendar also occurs before the Transit of Mercury, May 9th 2016.

What is unique about this Jubilee Year of 2016 is that Purim is on March 23, the exact time a Lunar Eclipse occurs, although its a Penumbral eclipse, so not all the lunar surface will be eclipsed. It falls 120 days after the Super Blood Moon of September 28, 2015. Specifically, Purim begins on the Hebrew Calendar on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016 continuing through Thursday night, March 24^th. It will also be the first full Moon after the Spring Equinox. There is some confusion about the numerics and operation of the Jubilee Cycle. Jubilee Years are based on the Shemitah Years occurring every 7th year. Seven Shemitahs (7×7=49 years is Shemitah of Shemitah’s).  The year following the 7th Shemitah is a Jubilee. The Jubilee Year follows the 7th Shemitah becoming the 50th year. However, if the Shemitah cycle continues every 7 years, then the next Jubilee year becomes the first of the next Shemitah cycle, where the next Jubilee follows 49 years after the first. However, if you start the next Shemitah cycle after the Jubilee then you have Jubilee years occurring every 50 years, but, this breaks the 7 year cycle. Bible scholars remain in disagreement as to which version is right. There is a method based on a 49 year cycle that keeps the 7 year cycle intact, which makes the most sense.
It is this method that we are using to calculate the current Jubilee cycle which is being witnessed this year 5776 on the Hebrew Calendar.

As a result of the lack of Aviv Barley this month in Israel, the Nisan 14 Passover did not fall on March 23rd aligning with the Penumbral Lunar eclipse, [Levi. 23:5]. However, this potential correlation with Nisan 14, still holds in the Christian world linked with the commemoration of Easter celebrations this weekend!

The great majority of traditional Christendom celebrates Easter weekend from “Good Friday” to Easter Sunday morning, yet [Matt. 12:40] tells us:

⁴⁰ For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

This refers to 3/24 hour periods which does not match the time period from Good Friday to Easter Sunday! Also, Sunday was not the Sabbath on the Hebrew Calendar, only on pagan calendars. Saturday was however the Sabbath in Israel and when we back-track 3 days from Nisan 17, the weekly Sabbath will link with Jesus’ resurrection. Nisan 14 ties to the Crucifixion of Jesus, on Passover “Good Wednesday” in 28 AD. This gives us the proper date and timing that lines up with the Biblical record of three days and nights in the heart of the earth. As a result, we have a dual correlation of both Hebrew/Christian Holy days of Purim and Christ’s Crucifixion marked on Nisan 14, with a fifth Lunar Eclipse event in 2014-2016! Can we find significance for this in God’s Word? The Epistle of Ephesians is enlightening on this subject;

Ephesians 2:10-17
¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. ¹¹ Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; ¹² That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; ¹⁵ Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; ¹⁶ And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: ¹⁷ And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Jesus as the Prince of Peace has provided peace to both the Jews and Gentles in His spiritual body of the Church. He has removed the obstacles of the Law and the Temple ordinances between Israel and Christian believers, unifying us in one new spiritual man, his spiritual body, nailing those obstacles in the Law, to the Cross.

Ephesians 3:3-6 

³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words, ⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ). ⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

This revolutionary accomplishment of Jesus Christ resulting from his crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, taking the sins of mankind upon him and unifying the Jews and Gentiles in one spiritual Body in Christ, is called a “mystery” or a secret of the Heavenly Father which was not revealed until the writings of the Church epistles by the Apostle Paul. Clearly, Christ is the unifying force for all humanity at every level of life, Body, Soul, and Spirit. [I Thess. 5:23] This monumental work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is emphasized by the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse aligning with both Purim for Israel and the Crucifixion of Christ leading to Easter and Resurrection weekend in Christianity! Is the Heavenly Father working to get our attention, to prepare us for our soon coming reality where Christians and Jews will be united in one spiritual body in Christ, at the right Hand of God? This will certainly be the result of the victorious Return of the our Lord Jesus Christ.

Purim is a story of both deliverance and a sudden destruction. Purim is a Hebrew holiday and has been incorporated much like Hanukkah into the list of Feasts that have been added to the 7 major Feasts of Jehovah. Can we find elements of Christ’s work foreshadowed in the Feast of Purim?

The meaningof the Feast of Purim is disclosed only in the Bible’s book of Esther. The beginning of the Book of Esther starts off with a 6-month feast of the King. As Purim amazingly aligns with a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse, when we consider the context of Hebrew Calendar and the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015  what is the message we can glean from a fifth lunar eclipse, 2 days following the Spring Equinox? The record of the history and origin of the Feast of Purim in the Book of Esther, is significant today for a number of reasons. Even as the evil Haman was bent on his genocidal plan against the Jews in the ancient Persian World Empire, so today there is a group of Islamic and other Nations conspiring to “wipe Israel off the map.” Purim is prophetic as it relates to the deliverance of God’s People from those enemies that seek to destroy the heritage of the Almighty, and Redeemer’s bl0od-line. The Biblical record of Esther not only shows the history and inception of the Feast of Purim, but also shares the elements of how the Heavenly Father saved His people, exhibiting His undying Love for Israel. God Saved His people not only so they could enjoy their lives, but also so He could bring them back to the Promised Land of Israel and the Holy city of Jerusalem. We can see this long-standing purpose of God because after nearly 2000 years of being dispersed among the Gentile Nations, in 1948-50 Israel was reformed as a nation-state, also marked by a Blood Moon Tetrad, and the Jews have been returning to their homeland ever since. But there is another over-riding purpose found in Esther, and that is the preservation of the Christ-line. Numerous times in history the enemy attempted to wipe the Hebrew Race from the face of the Earth because he knew it would bear man’s Redeemer. During the birth of Moses, the Egyptians killed the male Hebrew infants for this purpose. During the time of the Christ’s birth, Herod also had the male infants murdered around Bethlehem, for the same reason.

So we see the efforts of Haman to exterminate the nation of Israel along these lines. The setting for Esther was ancient Persia-modern-day Iran. Even as Daniel who also served under this 2^nd world Empire following Babylon from their capital city of Susa, Queen Esther, decided to stand up for the nation of Israel against Haman’s evil plot, she received favor from her King and Husband Xerxes I. Esther enjoyed the favor of the King’s Sceptre when she risked her life by entering the conference of the King. It is Interesting to note that; Biblically “a Sceptre can also be symbolic of a person!” In Numbers, we read;

(Numbers 24:17)”I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Seth.”

That Sceptre embodied the prophesied return of the Promised Seed, who came first over 1,900 years ago and by his sacrifice, provided redemption for all mankind. All who believe in Him, and follow Him, have a pathway back to God, who alone is able to deliver them from bloodthirsty hatred of the modern Haman’s. Our website study on the General Sign of the Celestial Prelude covers the significance of this Numbers 24 record regarding the Sceptre, in the context of the heavenly signs surrounding the birth of Christ. The heavenly birth signs for Christ are set to rewind in 2017, with a prominent role for Jupiter, the King Planet and Royal Sceptre of the King of Kings.

The following dates, show Jupiter-Venus conjunctions in Virgo in 2016-2017:

July 27th, 2016
Aug. 26-27th, 2016  [Jupiter enters Virgo]
Feb. 26th, 2017
Sept. 23rd, 2017 [Virgo clothed with the Sun/Moon @ feet]-Rev. 12:1-2 
Nov. 13th, 2017

The two brightest planets – Venus and Jupiter – teamed up to provide the closest planetary conjunction of 2014, and it has been the closest Venus- Jupiter conjunction during the Blood Moon Quintet of 2014-2016, until August 27, 2016, when Jupiter enters Virgo to be “birthed” in 2017.

God is teaching us through His Hebrew Calendar providing focused attention on His final plan of redemption with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. God first instituted the Biblical Calendar of annual Festivals through Moses (Levi. 23), which included the yearly counting of days and weeks, so that His people might rehearse the 50 days between His Passover, death and resurrection, and Pentecost with the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally these end-time events leading up to the Jubilee and Day of the LORD. He also gave us the signs of the Sun, Moon and Stars in Biblical Astronomy, relating to His Feasts and Holy days so that we would be ready and forewarned of the times wherein we reside.

As Iran, at that time was the world superpower, so too does Iran now seek to recapture their previous position over Israel once again. Amalek was one preventing the Jews from passing through his land on their Exodus to the Promised Land under Moses. Haman’s bloodline came from Amalek’s, the traditional enemies of the Israel. This parallel bloodline has and continues to contest God’s people for the inheritance of the Promised Land-the city of Jerusalem and coming Temple on the Mount. The conspiracy in the time of Esther was that a descendant of Amalek-Haman plotted to trick the King, Xerxes I or Ahasuerus to murder all the Jews and rid the empire of them as Amalek desried.

This conspiracy is alive and well in modern Iran who is already a major partner with Russia comprising a confederacy of Muslim nations that will attack Israel during the first Gog-Magog invasion. This plot was revealed to Mordecai, a relative of Esther who raised her. At the Queen’s own peril, Esther interceded on behalf of God’s People. Because of their sacrificial and selfless acts, God worked in Esther and Mordecai to overt a genocide. The Christian genocide currently being waged by the modern Haman’s in the Muslim world primarily, will one day see a sudden destruction come upon them. Even as the effect of Haman’s plot was exercised upon his own head and all his family, the modern nations plotting against Israel, and the Church body of Christ will experience a similar more awesome destruction.

With this week’s Penumbral Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse on the Feast of Purim, taking place during a Hebrew Jubilee Year, it should get our attention for the following reasons.

One can not help, but be struck by the unique and very rare occurrence of the Tetrad of four Blood Moons during the Shemitah of Shemitah’s, and now the Jubilee comes with yet another Lunar eclipse on Purim, forming a Quintet of Blood Moons on Hebrew Holidays from 2014-2016. This is not the first Lunar Eclipse to fall on Purim. According to our Biblical Blood Moon Calendar, back on March 4th of 71 AD, soon after the Romans had destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, prophesied  by Jesus Christ, a Partial Lunar Eclipse took place. This marked the removal of God from His Temple in stages, and the dispersion of the Jews among the Gentile Nations. With this fifth Blood Moon on Purim, we may be witnessing an indicator of God’s gradual return in stages to a New Temple on the Mount, the natural outcome of forming of the State of Israel, and the Restoration of Jerusalem to Israel’s control, both marked by Blood Moon Tetrads in 1949-50 and 1967-68.   

Let’s stay vigilant as we continue to watch the skies for the heavenly signs that align with Scripture to tell us what time it is…

Footnotes

1. “Blood Moon Bombshell of 2016?” [blog.try-god.org] March 2016
2. Ephesians 2:10-17 KJV
3. Ephesians 3:3-6 KJV
4. Numbers 24:17  KJV
5. “The General Sign of the Celestial Prelude” [www.try-god.com]
6. Biblical Blood Moon Calendar [blog.try-god.org] Aug. 2014

Biblical Astronomy of the Venus-Saturn Conjunctions of 2016

Back in November 0f 2015, I posted an article summarizing the heavenly signs framing the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2015 between two conjunctions of Venus and Mars. The first of these planetary conjunctions was February 21-22, followed by the second on Nov. 3rd, 2015. These two Venus -Mars conjunctions of 2015 effectively frame the crescendo of the Blood Moon Tetrad in 2015, while introducing the opening of the 50-Year Hebrew Jubilee
/Shemitah. The Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015 is the first and only Tetrad to mark both the feasts and holy days of Israel along with the Shemitah/Jubilee cycle. The Year of Jubilee began on September 23, 2015, the Day of Atonement, and it ends on October 2, 2016. God told Israel to set aside yet another year of rest after seven Shemitah cycles; as a special Sabbath after every 49 years. This is the 50th cycle called the Jubilee. Just as there are 50 days between Passover and Pentecost, so there are 50 years between Hebrew Jubilees. Not only is this a time for Israel to allow the land rest, but debts are also forgiven and slaves are freed. (Leviticus 25: 33-49)

Since Joel’s Blood Moon Prophecy from [Joel 2] focuses our attention on these Hebrew Feasts and holy days with this series of Blood Moon Tetrads, we should do our best to understand the fuller message contained in His warning, as a mandate from heaven.

Joel 2:30 ³⁰ And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

God tells us here, He is The One showing the wonders in heaven and earth! Its not by chance or natural coincidence that these Blood Moons took place on Hebrew feast and holy days, it is by the design of the Hand of the Almighty, Who spun the stars and planets in their courses with precision at Creation. The series of Blood Moon Lunar and Solar Eclipses during the Age of Grace is an example of these kind of heavenly wonders God is displaying for our benefit and warning. The prophecy in verse 31 below is one that got the most media attention, but we cannot understand it fully without the context of God’s Word in Joel 2. This verse provides more information for us narrowing the time frame of these solar and lunar signs to before the Great and terrible Day of the Lord comes! The “Last days” technically include the entire Age of Grace, but we are now in the end times since Israel has been reformed as a nation, for the first time in over 2000 years, marked also by the Blood Moon Tetrad of 1948-1949! Nineteen years later, the next Blood Moon Tetrad in this modern series took place in 1967-68, not only marking the return of control of Jerusalem to Israel for the first time in nearly 2000 years, but also the previous Hebrew 50-Year Jubilee. However with the completion of this Blood Moon Tetrad, we have crossed a prophetic marker in the Creator’s Timeline, where the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ FOR his Saints can occur at any time. With this in mind, we turn our attention to the heavenly signs of 2016 and beyond.

Joel 2:31-32

³¹ The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. ³² And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

But whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered, and those that heed these dire warnings from the Hand of God will share in the glory of the Lord… This reminded us some similar heavenly signs with Venus and Mars bracketing the birth of Christ. Between the March 31st, 2 BC Venus-Mars–Saturn triangular massing in Taurus and the Venus-Mars union in Scorpius on 12-9–2, are key heavenly signs marking Christ’s birth
enlightened the heavens. As the Venus-Mars conjunctions of 2015 bracket the crescendo of the Blood Moon Tetrad in the Sabbatical year of 2015, we see Venus-the bright and Morning Star unified with Mars-Michael, the Warrior Archangel, in their battle against the forces of darkness. Even as the Dragon attempted to take out the promised seed of Israel, Jesus Christ at his birth, so the persecution of Israel has continued, as this end time series of Blood Moon Tetrads has witnessed over the last 200 centuries, especially since the rebirth of the state of Israel marked by the modern Blood Moon Tetrad of 1948-1949. Ever since the prophecy of the Promised Seed first took place in [Gen. 3:14-15] spiritual warfare has been waged [Rev. 12:7] between the Serpent’s forces of darkness and the Promised Seed of the Woman, coming to points of crisis as we can see in the dual fulfillment of [Rev. 12:1-4].

It is noteworthy that this first Venus-Mars conjunction, March 31st bracketed the heavenly signs surrounding the birth of Christ included Saturn. As we noted, the signs of the 2015 Blood Moon Tetrad were bracketed by two Venus-Mars conjunctions, and now we see the heavenly signs of 2016 being bracketed by two more Venus-Saturn conjunctions! The first of these Venus-Saturn conjunctions, also in Scorpius takes place Jan. 9th, 2016 followed by the 2nd on Oct. 30th, 2016. We need also to keep in mind the Venus-Saturn Conjunction on June 12th of 3 BC in Taurus leading up to the heavenly signs surrounding the Birth of Christ on Sept. 11th of 3 BC. As we continue to correlate the current signs in the heavens in light of the signs marking Christ’s birth, we can uncover the needed understanding that God has made available for us. In effect we have a continuation in greater detail of the signs marking the birth of Christ appearing again in the end times Blood Moon Tetrad leading to Christ’s victorious Return. [Rev. 12].

The Planet Saturn

Saturn’s Ring Cycle

Another point of comparison between the end time series of Blood Moon Tetrads, and the heavenly signs surrounding the birth of Christ we want to highlight here involves Saturn’s 13-year ring cycle. As we know, Saturn is best known for its remarkable set of rings. Due to Saturn’s tilt and Earth’s changing orbital position, the aspect of Saturn’s Rings tilt in relation to the Earth, changing over time. Saturn’s Rings tilt out of view when they are edge-on seen from Earth. This is known as Saturn’s “ring plane crossing.” Saturn’s Rings greatly impact its brightness, from Earth’s view. About every 13-15 years, Saturn is dimmest when its Rings are edgewise-from Earth’s line-of-sight, seen only as a thin line in telescopes – sometimes invisible.  The Earth last passed through Saturn’s Ring Plane in Sept. 2009, but Saturn’s Rings will not be open again to full view for maximum light reflection on Saturn’s surface till 2017. This tells us a little about the symbolism of Saturn’s Rings, since they reflect light on Satan’s planet, they represent the 1/3 of angels [Rev. 12:4] that he deceived and took down with him, in his failed coup attempt in heaven. Thus Saturn’s Ring cycle fluctuates between reflecting maximum brightness on their master planet, to invisibility from Earth’s view, depending upon the deceiver’s need in the situation. [II Cor. 11:13-15]

During the time surrounding Christ’s Birth, it is interesting that Saturn’s 13-year ring cycle (in 7BC) began on September 14th, 7 BC, as part of the Celestial Prelude, when the Sun was also aligned with the Earth. Since this was the last day before the start of the two-year period, encompassing the Sept. 15th, 7-5 BC signs of the Celestial Prelude. This gives us a stellar corroboration of the notion that the initial signs of the Celestial Prelude refer to Lucifer in the 1st heaven and earth, in his first estate as the bright and morning star. Before the fall of Lucifer, [Isa. 14:12] he led the choral groups of angels in praise of the Heavenly Father. He was second only to the Almighty at this point, which we find symbolized in this first in the union of Venus-the Bright and Morning Star with Saturn-the planet of Satan. Secondly, we see this with the first Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction of May 27th, 7 BC as set alone, outside of the two-year period, from September 15th, 7 BC to September 15th, 5 BC. This was one aspect of the heavenly signs noticed by the Magi that alerted them to look for another two-year period which would reveal the signs surrounding the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, marked by the first of three Jupiter-Regulus Conjunctions starting Sept. 14th in 3-2 BC. In our end time signs of the Blood Moon Tetrad, we also have seen a specific two year period marked in the Sept. 17th, 2015 [Sun clothing Virgo with the Moon at her feet] looking towards the Sept. 17th, 2017 
 As the last day prior to the two-year period bracketing the Celestial Prelude, the significance of this day tells us of Lucifer’s successor, the rising Morning Star-Jesus, was already prophesied, prior to Satan’s overthrow of the world-order, [Eph.1:4]. It’s as if the former days of Lucifer’s brightness and splendor never existed in the eyes of God.

Job 3:4-5

4 Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. 5 Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

Since Saturn began to reach its peak brightness on September 14th, 7 BC, culminating on December 6th 1 BC, we find the peak of Saturn’s cycle of brightness running concurrent with, not only the signs of the Celestial Prelude, but most of the heavenly signs surrounding Christ’s birth as well. This verse in Job makes some other notable connections with the shadow of death.

The Celestial Prelude of 7 BC to 5 BC

Intriguingly, these connections both carry reference to the darkening of daylight, first seen in cloud covering, and second with the blackness of the day which ominously resembles a total Solar eclipse. One aspect of the spiritual significance of these celestial realities is seen in the apparent period of midday darkness on April 28th, 28 AD, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. There is no indication of an eclipse on this day, but the shadow of death probably stained this day more than any other in history, and the blackness of this day was certainly evident spiritually in the death of Jesus. This was turned completely around three days later, however when Christ arose as the “first fruits from the dead.” Thus, the brightness of Lucifer’s day was certainly turned into darkness the moment he turned away from God, The original and eternal Source of Light.

In this light it is noteworthy that the next major heavenly sign taking place following this Venus-Saturn conjunction on Jan. 9th, 2016, is a Partial Solar eclipse occurring 2 months later, on March 9th, 2016. This is followed in short order with a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse only 2 weeks later, three days after the Spring Equinox on March 20th, 2015. This is followed up in late Summer with an Annular Solar Eclipse on Sept. 1st, with another Penumbral Lunar Eclipse only 15 days later, on Sept. 16th, 2016!

With these heavenly signs kicking off the New Year in 2016, we can expect an interesting ride as everyday brings us closer in our approach the Christ’s Victorious Return.

For those on Facebook interested in Biblical Astronomy, you can leave comments on this and other posts on our new Facebook Group page [www.facebook.com/groups/bibleastronomy]