Signs in the Heavens, Part 4

Signs in the heavens! God made the stars for signs:

Genesis 1:14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years

He used the stars to announce the birth of the Messiah (previous post):

Matthew 2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

He will use the stars again to announce when Jesus' second coming is approaching:

Luke 21:25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;

Even "great signs" in heaven:

Luke 21:11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

Now, granted, some of those signs we expect (at least I do) to be huge and major - something that causes the kings of the earth to hide themselves in caves. The next verse after Luke 21:25 above is

Luke 21:26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

So, yeah - huge, major, unmistakeable things are going to happen. But, leading up to that are signs we can see right now with modern technology. The current blood moon tetrad with the accompanying eclipses being in perfect symmetry is one sign like that. Another such sign is something that will play out in the sky in a couple years - something that has never happened before and will not happen again.

How many times have you read these verses?

Revelation 12:1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.

Did you take them literally? I didn't. I've read those verses at least a couple dozen times and took them to be speaking figuratively of Jesus' birth - and of course, they are. They are also perfectly literal. We take the passage from Luke literally -

Luke 21:11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

Why don't we take Revelation 12:1 literally, when it uses the same words?

Revelation 12: 1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 

In the Greek, from Luke 21:11 - great (μέγας megas) signs (σημεῖον sēmeion) shall there be (ἔσομαι esomai) from (ἀπό apo) heaven (οὐρανός ouranos). From Revelation 12:1 - there appeared a great (μέγας megas) sign (σημεῖον sēmeion) in (ἐν en) heaven (οὐρανός ouranos). 

In my last post, I talked about (thanks to the folks at Bethlehemstar.net), what was likely the sign in the heavens that announced Jesus' birth - Jupiter in triple conjunction with Regulus from the constellation of Leo and then in the most amazing conjunction with Venus nine months later.  Normal people, looking up at the night sky wouldn't have seen anything unusual, unless they happened to have seen the perfect Jupiter-Venus conjunction during the probably two hours that it was brightest. 

Something similar is coming up. All of us - looking into the night sky - are not going to see anything amazing unless we really understand what's happening there. As Daniel 12:4 says, knowledge has been increased, and thanks to technology, we can see that sign now. 

OK - here is the constellation Virgo. I will not take the space here, but I believe like Seiss and others who believed that the constellations were all originally to tell the Gospel story. (a post on that is coming soon) Virgo, of course, is the Virgin:

You can kind of see her, right? Interestingly (that upcoming post), every culture and language calls this constellation "the virgin."  Yet, without those lines, this is what she looks like:

Do you still see a virgin? Do you even see a constellation? Well, anyway, that's a tiny preview of a future post.

Now, every Autumn, the sun "clothes" Virgo (click on the picture for a bigger image):

The moon is often at her feet, but according to others, smarter than I am, it's only precisely at her feet WHILE she's clothed with the sun every 19 years.

The constellation "Leo" is at her head in the sky. Leo has 9 stars, but the verses call for her to have a crown of 12 stars. Approximately once every eight years, Mars, Venus and Mercury come into position so that these "wandering stars" make up a total of 12. (the times they do this is kind of irregular, but it's on an average of once per 8 years).

Jupiter is the King planet and associated with Messiah. Even in the corrupted version of the stars, Jupiter is "king of the gods" in both Roman and Greek mythology. Jupiter enters the "womb" of Virgo relatively often, but it is only every 83 years that its retrograde motion "keeps" it in her womb (that trapezoid of 4 stars in the Virgo constellation) for the length of a normal pregnancy. On November 20, 2016, Jupiter will enter the womb of Virgo. Because of retrograde motion, it will stay there until September 23, 2017 - a total of 41 weeks.

On that same day - September 23, 2017 - Virgo will be clothed with the sun, with the moon at her feet and a crown of 12 stars at her head. This is the first time this has happened -that all those things happen together - in at least 6,000 years, and it will not happen again for at least 1,000 years. That's as much as this fellow checked it. 

Here's the direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXxVwpcXV0U

Once Jupiter leaves the womb of Virgo, it continues and enters the constellation of Libra (the scales). As this site says 

Libra was depicted as a set of scales. Libra represented the condition of the human race after the fall of Adam. “Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting” (Dan. 5:27). The sign of Libra has been associated with justice and order throughout the centuries. For that reason, the symbol has often been used on buildings housing courts of law and justice.

In other words, Jupiter, the king planet - representing Messiah - enters Libra, representing law and justice. For a year, Jupiter's retrograde motion keeps it inside Libra, until September 10, 2018, when it comes to the very top of the scales - exactly at the Feast of Trumpets. This is a picture, in the sky, of Messiah taking control of law and justice. Sitting on the throne, ruling, some would say.

This person explains that. I don't think I agree with his take on the serpent/dragon. I'm still expecting that to be a comet or something, but who knows?

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-ccQPOl5U0

Now, one person has calculated (I have no way of checking) that ALL of that - the signs in Virgo, fully describing Revelation 12:1-2 and then Jupiter staying in Libra until it comes to the very tip (and there is even more to it that I will not go into, involving Saturn) - will not happen again for 1.97 trillion years. If someone has the skills to look into that wants to comment on that, feel free.

Here is another person who comments on the first part of the sign - the stuff that happens in Virgo (there are plenty more videos and websites discussing this, if it interests you): 

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBijLdYXMFw

OK - to summarize. We are currently in the midst of the 8th set of biblical blood moons and in a time period (2010 to 2019) of eclipses that are perfectly symmetrical. That has never happened before. (See Part 2 of this series)

On September 23, 2017, Revelation 12:1-2 and at least some aspect of Revelation 12:5 for the year after that, will play out in the sky above us in a way that has not happened for at least 6,000 years and will not again for at least 1,000 years (and perhaps as much as 1.97 trillion, but it was checked with Stellarium for sure for 1,000 years).

If you accept that Revelation 12 is a mid trib sign, (that would be way too long to defend here, but I can in a future post if there is interest) when you subtract 1260 days from, you come to three days before the first of the blood moons in the current tetrad.

Now - these are SIGNS, not the actual events. What do signs do? They tell of something coming up. The sign for your exit comes BEFORE the exit - otherwise, you'd never exit in time.

What does this mean? We can argue, but to me, it would appear that these signs are warning of the start of  that period of time that God says in Luke 21 to be careful about: 

Luke 21:34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.

"Watch. Watch. Watch," Jesus said over and over. If you are ready, there is not reason to fear. In fact, rejoice!

Luke 21:28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near

How soon? How much advance warning are we getting? No idea. They may very well play out at the same time they appear, as they did when Jesus was born. The advance warning is hearing about it now, thanks to technology. In any case, it would appear that that time period that the prophets all spoke of is very, very close.  The last blood moon of the current tetrad is THIS September.

 Wow - and I just wrote that last bit so casually. It's still weird to me to study things and even accept them on some level as being probably true (Scripture always being true - but my interpretation of it or how I think it might play out being up to question) and yet disassociate myself from it. It's one thing to be interested in prophecy and quite another to think of it actually coming true in front of me. 

Am I right in what all this means? Maybe. Maybe not. My interpretation of this may be off. However, the fact that this is playing out over our heads over the next 2-1/2 years is perfectly factual. And, WHATEVER it means, it has never happened before. What I just wrote in these posts, if I truly believe it (and it's certainly true - the only question is, does it mean what it seems to?) SHOULD impact me. As Peter says, "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives." 

 

Signs in the Heavens - Part 3

Onward with our "Signs in the Heavens."

First, let's backtrack just a second. Just to make very, very clear - this is NOT astrology. Astrology, by definition is "the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world." If you think the stars are influencing you, you are basically worshiping the creation instead of the Creator.

God DOES use the heavens for His purposes, though. Besides giving light to the earth, that's exactly why He made the stars to begin with:

Genesis 1:14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.

 That word "sign" is 'owth in Hebrew. It means, just like you'd think, "sign, signal, a distinguishing mark, a banner, remembrance, a miraculous sign, an omen, a warning."

It's the same word used here:

Genesis 4:15 And the Lord said to him, “Therefore,^[a] whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

Genesis 9:13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

God uses the stars for signs. In fact, the Bible records a time He did exactly that:

Wise Men from the East

Matthew 2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
⁵ So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

⁶ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”^[a]

⁷ Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

⁹ When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. ¹¹ And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
¹² Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

These "wise men" were, of course, the Magi, and chances are, we are all guilty of thinking about them like the stories we've heard more than the Bible actually says. We know a bit about them from Matthew, here, but also from Daniel. They were from Babylon (and then Persia). It's from their name that we get the word "magician." They were certainly not a biblical bunch -although that probably changed for a time when Daniel was made leader over them after he interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream about the statue:

Daniel 2:48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

So, some things to remember. Daniel knew the Torah, the books of Moses, very well. He also had prophecies of his own that he recorded. He knew of the coming Messiah, and he knew the Messiah was important not just for his own people, but for all the world. He certainly would have communicated the importance of that to this group of people he was in charge of. I imagine he spoke often of this coming "King of the Jews" during his lifetime. He knew from this prophecy that a literal star was expected:

Numbers 24:17“I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near;
A Star shall come out of Jacob;
A Scepter shall rise out of Israel. . .

He knew from his own prophecies when that would take place. He may even have been alive when the "go" for that countdown began, but even if he wasn't, the Magi would have been watching for it and making record of it:

Daniel 9:25 “Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street^[c] shall be built again, and the wall,^[d]
Even in troublesome times.

So, they knew to watch for a star, and they knew about when it would appear. We think of the "Star of  Bethlehem" as being this big, blazing thing moving through the sky like a spaceship, but remember, Herod didn't even know when this "star" had appeared. He (and Jerusalem through him) didn't get upset until the whole thing was explained to him.

Among other things, the Magi were astronomers. They didn't have telescopes, but they kept track of the stars and planets (which they called "wandering stars.") I won't defend it here (watch for a post on it soon, though), but the constellations and names of the stars tell the story of Messiah. Daniel would have known this, and through him, the Magi would certainly of known in what part of the sky to watch for that special star.

Now, the rest of this is primarily from the study posted at http://www.bethlehemstar.net/ (with my own flavoring, because of course, I can't help myself from doing that) They give a very good, very plausible, biblical presentation, and honestly, I think they're on to something.

The constellation "Leo" is the king constellation - the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Within that constellation is the star "Regulus", known as the king star. Regal is from the same word. It has been known as the king star from antiquity. Jupiter is the king planet. Even in the corrupted version, Jupiter was the "king of the gods" in both Roman and Greek mythology.

So, the Magi certainly kept track of  Regulus and Jupiter. In September of 3 BC, Jupiter did something remarkable. It makes a relatively close pass by Regulus every 12 years. To our eyes on earth, Jupiter does not have a smooth forward motion through the sky. That's because the earth moves more quickly around the sun than Jupiter does. When the earth "passes" Jupiter (like a car passing another car in the fast lane), to us, it appears that Jupiter goes backward in the sky - just like it seems like the car we're passing on the highway is going backward. That's called "retrograde motion."

Well, in September of 3 BC, Jupiter had a conjunction (very close, according to our eyes) with Regulus - THREE times. The Magi must have been very excited to see that and probably kept very careful track of Jupiter, night after night. Was the star they had been watching for coming soon?

Nine months later, in June of 2 BC, they were rewarded when Jupiter made a conjunction with Venus that no one had seen before or since. Jupiter came so close to Venus that they appeared to be one star, but each with its full brightness. This would have been the brightest "star" they had ever seen in the heavens.

The following chart is from the site http://www.bogan.ca/astro/occultations/occltlst.htm and shows the times that Venus and Jupiter have had a close conjunction. That "elongation from the sun" is how close this is from the sun so that you could actually see it. As you can see, all of them are pretty close to the sun, except the one in 2 BC.

It would be spectacularly bright - but the thing is, just like eclipses last only a short time, this would have lasted only about 2 hours - not weeks. 

Year	Date/U.TIme	Elongation from the Sun	Venus, Jupiter Diameters Geocentric Separation	Comments
2 BC	17 Jun 17:53 UT	45oW	26",32",28"	Very Large Elongation Occurs over Middle East
1210	17 Sep 10:35 UT	7oW	10",31", 0"	Too Close to the Sun Central occultation
1570	5 Feb 7:47 UT	25oW	11",31",18"	Occurred over South Atlantic, Argentina No Historic Record
1818	3 Jan 21:51 UT	16oW	10",30",12"	Occurred over Far East No History Record Over Unpopulate Area
2065	22 Nov 12:47 UT	8oW	10",29",14"	Too Close to the Sun
2123	14 Sep 15:26 UT	16oE	10",29", 6"	Occurs over the Pacific Ocean

All the other Venus occultations of Jupiter have similar restrictions

When the Magi saw that star, they knew that was what they'd been looking for, and so they set off to find the "King of the Jews" that had been born. We're not talking three guys on camels, though - we're talking an entourage - with lots of people, including guards capable of fighting.

But, if they followed the star west - and the Venus/Jupiter conjunction had only lasted a couple hours, what were they following? They were following Jupiter as it moved westward through the sky. When they came to Jerusalem, they lost sight of it for a time - but when they left Jerusalem, they were filled with joy to see it ahead of them, exactly above the road to Bethlehem. So, what did it mean when it "stopped" over Bethlehem? It went into retrograde motion again, and did literally stop.

Here are a couple of articles on the Magi:
     Who were the Magi? By Chuck Missler
     Who were the Magi? Grace to You from John MacArthur

Be sure and check out the written study at www.bethlehemstar.net. There's also this video on the same subject, by the same folks:

Here's the direct link, in case you can't see that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff-Gp194XUU

So, what's the point of all this? That God DOES use the stars as signs, and that He is about to use the same part of the sky as a sign again.  To keep this from being terribly long, I'll continue in one last post.

Signs in the Heavens, Part 2

So, the X-flare of November 4, 2003 obviously was not a sign of the world ending in 2010, even if it was the largest flare ever recorded, saturating the instruments for eleven minutes - and after there had already been ten X-flares over the previous two weeks (making that one the eleventh) - AND it falling on the 10th of Cheshvan, the same day that God told Noah to come into the ark because the world would be destroyed in seven days.

It was obviously a sign - but what did it mean? This is speculation and NOT "God says," but I think it was pointing us to the time period that Paul Grevas showed us with this chart (the picture will get bigger if you click on it):

I already wrote a blog post on this, which you can read here: The chart you have to see . So, please go read that before reading the rest of this post. The rest of this will assume that you know the terminology, etc. from there.

If this interests you, I strongly encourage you to spend some time on Paul Grevas's website. Not only does he explain his charts, but he has a great ongoing blog where he tracks what's going on in the world.

If you look at this chart carefully, you'll see that the first full lunar eclipse (blood moon) was seven years after that solar flare.  There was another thing that pointed to this time period - also highly unusual. On August 1, 2008, July 22, 2009 and July 11 of 2010, there were total eclipses of the sun. While that's not unusual, what WAS unusual is that each of those dates was the 1st of Av on the Hebrew calendar.  There is a Rabbinic teaching that solar eclipses are a bad sign for the world. On Chabad.org, in the "Ask a Rabbi" section, it says this, found here:

The Talmud tells us that a solar eclipse is a bad omen for the entire world, which runs according to the solar calendar, and a lunar eclipse is considered a bad sign for the Jewish nation, who calculate the duration of months according to the cycles of the moon.1 Thus the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory, points out that eclipses should be opportunities to increase in prayer and introspection—as opposed to prompting joyous blessings.2 In fact, there are those who have the custom to fast after seeing a lunar eclipse, because it is a sign that we really could and should be doing better. 

Don't misunderstand. The Talmud is not the Bible. However, it is something that many Orthodox Jews take seriously, and the "Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory" (Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson), they consider "the most phenomenal Jewish personality of modern times."  (worth looking up if you've never heard of him. Some even thought he was the Messiah) The month of Av is the most solemn month of the Jewish calendar - and the 1st of Av is right in the middle of the three weeks of mourning between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av, Tishah B-Av. (If you're not familiar with the 9th of Av in Jewish history, here is just a little: What happened on the 9th of Av). Here is a tiny bit from the Hebrew 4 Christians website:

The Month of Av - חדש אב   On the Biblical calendar, the fifth month of the year (counting from Nisan) is called Av (אָב) in Jewish tradition. The month of Av is traditionally regarded as the most tragic in the Jewish calendar. On the first day of this month, Aaron (the first High Priest of Israel) died (Num. 33:38), and later both of the Holy Temples were destroyed on the ninth of Av.

The ninth of Av (i.e., Tishah B'Av) is the lowest point of a three week period of mourning that began with the fast of the 17th of Tammuz (undertaken to recall the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonians before the First Temple was destroyed). During this period, weddings and parties are forbidden. It is a time for solemn reflection and mourning for Israel.  The Temple itself was destroyed three weeks later, on the Ninth of Av.

So, to have three total solar eclipses fall on the 1st of Av, three years in a row, was basically shouting to the Jews, "Pay attention! Something is coming!" The last one was in the summer of 2010. The first blood moon of  Paul Grevas' chart was that December. 

I hope you read my previous blog post about that 2010 to 2019 time period, but even if you did, let me say again - to have the lunar and solar eclipses perfectly symmetrical like that - has never happened before. Please, go to Bloodmoonscoming.com and really study those charts until you understand the significance of that.

Now, to give credit where it is due, the first person who really researched the blood moon tetrads was Mark Blitz. You can find info on him and his ministry online. You'll find things praising him and you'll find things saying that he is a false prophet and worse. You'll also find plenty of stuff saying that this is all meaningless.

You have to separate the message from the messenger. I can quote God's word to you and know absolutely that I am 100% correct. However, as soon as I start adding my own interpretation, I am not. Absolutely, these are signs. How in the world could they not be? However, is our interpretation of them correct? Maybe not. 

People have trouble with signs. If they can't immediately understand what it means, they dismiss it and call it unbiblical, meaningless, whatever. I do not claim to understand it, either, but I am going on record, officially, in declaring that what Paul Grevas discovered and outlined in his charts is absolutely "signs in the sun and the moon." That solar flare of November 4, 2003 - absolutely a sign. Those three total solar eclipses on the 1st of Av? A sign. Now, do they all mean what I think they may mean? That's the question.

One more thing. A "sign" comes before the event. On the highway, the sign before your exit comes before your exit - otherwise, you won't see your exit in time.

Before I can really go into what I think this Blood Moon Tetrad (the eighth one that falls on biblical feast days - eight being the number of new beginning) is pointing to, I have to talk about another sign in the heavens. The timing of that one may influence the interpretation of this one. So, stay tuned.

Signs in the Heavens - Part 1

I'm going to break this up into several blog posts - otherwise it will get much too long.

Back in 2003 - on the 4th of November, there was an enormous X-flare. A solar flare is a huge burst of energy from the sun. Magnetic energy builds up, and sometimes explodes outward from the sun's surface. Radiation is emitted - everything from radio waves to x-rays and gamma rays. There are different size designations, depending on how big the eruption was. Here is how they are explained at spaceweather.com:

A solar flare is an explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in twisted magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released. Flares produce a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to x-rays and gamma-rays.

Scientists classify solar flares according to their x-ray brightness in the wavelength range 1 to 8 Angstroms. There are 3 categories: X-class flares are big; they are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares are medium-sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth.

Now, on November 4, 2003, Sunspot 486 was at the very, very right edge of the sun - about to rotate completely out of view.  (Image from Spaceweather.com)

To our view, it had been traveling across the surface of the sun since October 23, 2003.  It released an X-5 flare as it came into view on the far left edge.That was the 3rd X-flare since October 19. The first two had come from Sunspot 484. Below, you can see them both (Image from Spaceweather.com, Credit: Bob Sandy of Roanoke County, Virginia):

This is what Spaceweather.com had to say about Sunspots 484 and 486 on October 24, 2003:

Astronomers can't remember the last time this happened: two Jupiter-sized sunspots crossing the face of the sun at the same time. Sunspots 484 and 486 are intense sources of solar activity (more on this below) and big enough to see with the unaided eye--but never look directly at the sun. Use safe solar observing methods instead.

OK - so on October 24, 2003, we had had three X-flares from two enormous sunspots. On October 26, each spot released an X-1 flare. Now we're up to five. On October 28, 486 released an X-17 solar flare. That is huge - lots of energy, lots of radiation. Now we're up to six. On October 29, 486 released an X-11 flare, and the geomagnetic storm on earth from the previous flares is called 'severe.' Now we're at seven. On October 30, 486 released an X-10 flare. Now we're at eight - and these flares are considered huge. On November 1, this is what Spaceweather had to say:

SUNSPOT 486: The source of all this solar activity is giant sunspot 486. This week it unleashed two of the most powerful solar flares ever recorded and hurled massive CMEs toward Earth. More such eruptions are possible in the days ahead.

On November 2, 486 released an X-8 flare. Now we're at nine. On November 3, 486 released an X-3 flare. Now we're at ten X-level flares. You need to understand how unheard of that is.

On November 4, 2003, that same sunspot, 486, released a flare so large that it couldn't be properly measured. It literally saturated their measuring instruments for eleven minutes. This was the eleventh X-level flare, and it saturated the instruments for eleven minutes. After some controversy in trying to determine what level it had been, some scientists still insist it had to have been an X-45 or even X-48. (some unwilling to go any higher than X-28) As you can see in my first picture, this happened at the last moment before 486 rotated out of view.

Had that flare been earth-directed, it would have done more than knock out our electric grid for who knows how long. It would have fried everything on that side of the earth that wasn't in a protected location. If that's not a "sign in the sun," (Luke 21:25) I don't know what is. It doesn't stop there, though. The flare happened on November 4, 2003 at 1950 Universal Time. That puts it at 9:50 p.m. in Jerusalem, making the date the 10th of Cheshvan, the eighth month. Does that date ring a bell?

The Great Flood

Genesis 7:7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. ² You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; ³ also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” ⁵ And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. ⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.

⁷ So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, ⁹ two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. ¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. ¹² And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

Remember, this was before God changed the calendar and made Nisan the first month. So, what Genesis is calling the second month is what is now considered (biblically) the eighth month.  That means that the day God told Noah to come into the ark because the world-ending flood was going to start in seven days was the 10th of Cheshvan. Whoa.

So, absolutely, that flare was a sign from God. How in the world could it not be? It was the eleventh X-flare and saturated the instruments for eleven minutes (11 being the biblical number for judgment, which I will defend if anyone wants that). And, if that wasn't clear enough, it happened on the 10th of Cheshvan, the same day that God warned Noah that He was going to destroy the world in seven days.

So, obviously, the world didn't end in 2010. So, what did the sign mean? I may be wrong, but I think I know what it was pointing to. So, stay tuned for tomorrow's post.

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If you'd like to read the day-by-day play of all this, go to Spaceweather.com and run through the archives.

Here is also an article regarding the official upgrade in size (which doesn't appear on the archives):

BBC News - Sun's massive explosion upgraded

Friend at the Edge of Eternity

Today, I found something I had written 15 years ago. Reading it again brought it all back. I'd like to share it with you here. The names have been changed.

Friend at the Edge of Eternity

Jenny entered my life with a plop. "I’m bored!" she said, as she plopped onto the edge of my bed in the first hour of the first day of our freshman year of college.

"I’m bored!" Plop! I left my door open, and the scene repeated itself every afternoon at 4:00 when she returned to the dorm from classes.

Over time, I discovered that her boredom linked directly to her loneliness. She had grown up in a tightly bonded family of eight. Alone for the first time, she didn’t know what to do with herself. Put her with other people, however, and she glowed.

Jenny and I and a couple of others from our dorm formed a little group of friends that hung together all through college. When I married after my sophomore year and moved off campus, Jenny and the rest of the group grabbed an apartment two houses down. We rendezvoused every Friday for Pizza Hut Pizza and then beer at Ella’s. I stood and laughed along, not drinking beer, but not minding that they did. I even created an "All roads lead to Ella’s" button that Jenny wore proudly for years.

Jenny always showed up neat and trim, with oxford shirts, clean blue jeans, loafers and a smile. No longer bored, she seemed impervious to pain of any kind. Maybe, like me, she kept sadness in a compartment no one could see. We complained plenty about professors, textbooks and finals, but deep feelings were never part of the picture. Small talk and laughter ruled.

I struggled through my final college years. My grades soared while my life fell apart. My marriage had become a sham. I sought spirituality in all the wrong places. Every new day held less reason to get up. And I shared none of it with anyone.

Surprisingly, Jenny first saw through me. She helped me laugh after my divorce and while I groped for level ground under my feet again. I was on the three-changed-majors-I’ll-be-in-college-forever plan, so after Jenny graduated, we laughed long distance. I visited her when she worked in a VA hospital tucked into Iowa cornfields and bicycled with her along Lake Superior when she moved to Northern Wisconsin. After I re-married and she finally settled down in Madison, we followed the same pattern: We wrote. We called. We laughed.

Eventually, the Lord of the universe found me and called me out of my spiritual infancy. I wanted to think about Him! Read about Him! Talk about Him!

But not to Jenny. That was far too scary. I had changed, but my relationship with Jenny hadn’t. Years and years of companionship and laughter still hadn’t pried open the door to deeper things. We seldom talked about anything important, let alone Jesus.

Five (20, now) years ago, I woke up trembling from the remnants of a nightmare. I dreamed Jenny had killed herself and gone to hell. That image seared itself into my brain, so at 2:00 a.m., I called her.

"Jenny, I’m so glad you’re there! Are you all right?" I was so upset my voice shook and blood actually started coming out my nose. "I dreamed you died!"

Even though I left out the hell part, she still thought I was nuts. Later, I gathered my courage and wrote to her about the whole dream. I told her about Jesus, and I waited for a reply. None came. When Christmas approached, I sent her a "Merry Christmas – I miss you" card and eventually got a "Hi, how are you?" card back.

We settled into a Christmas and birthday card friendship, pretending things were the same as always. Then, with no warning, I received a form in the mail. Jenny wanted to adopt a baby Chinese girl and had given my name as a reference. Glancing through the numerous sheets, I found question after question I had no way to answer. We had never connected at that level. Yet the biggest question in my mind wasn’t even on the form. Where was she at with God? One thing was certain. I could not be any kind of reference without finding out.
I gathered up my courage and called her. Maybe we could get together on Saturday? We slipped easily into our old ways, laughing about nothing in particular, having a pleasant conversation, and planned a date to meet. So far, so good. I prayed, prayed, prayed! I implored God to give her an open heart and me the right words. "Please Lord," I begged. "Call her so loudly she can’t ignore You!"

Two days later a scathing letter smoked into my mailbox: If I didn’t know her well enough to answer the questions without meeting with her, I had no business being a reference!

How unlike Jenny! I could only conclude that Satan knew my plan and had put a stop to it. Now what? I could give up and write back saying, "No, no, you misunderstood!" We could go back to the way we were. We could talk and laugh. And someday, maybe I could stand next to her grave, knowing that instead of heaven, she was in hell. Forever.

I wrote back, pouring my soul into a gospel message I prayed she’d understand. I closed the door on superficial friendship, and my heart constricted with finality. I pleaded with her to answer, even just to yell at me. And I slowly slipped the letter into the dark, watching the mailbox swallow it, feeling like it was also swallowing me.

Will I ever hear from her again in this world? Will I see her in the next? I cling to Romans 8:30, Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Please, Lord, call her loudly.




The events written about here happened twenty years ago. That little Chinese girl is a young woman - probably in college somewhere. I don't know what happened with my dear friend. I never heard from her again. Was it worth it? I know at the time, it was what God wanted me to do. I hope we'll see each other in God's kingdom one day. I hope she understands that what I did, I did out of love for her. Sometime, over the years, I fell out of the habit of praying for her. I'm glad I found this today - if for no other reason than to begin praying for her again.