Eclipse: Sign or Sensationalism
What a time to take the news of the day in one hand and the Bible in the other and watch the unfolding of the great drama of the ages come together. This is an exciting and thrilling time to be alive.
Jesus said that in the days before His return there will be stunning signs on earth (see Matthew 24:4-28) and in the heavens (see Luke 21:25). Other biblical prophets predicted celestial signs in the heavens of Christ’s second advent. Based on these prophecies, a growing number of prophecy teachers today and modern day “prophets” maintain that an astronomical event in 2024 is a dramatic sign in the heavens that is about to change everything—that something very big is coming that will change the world forever. The specific astronomical sign they point to is the coming solar eclipse.
On April 8, 2024, millions of Americans will be able to see a rare celestial occurrence: a total solar eclipse. If you're in the center of the moon's shadow, known as the totality, the sky will go dark for a few minutes in the middle of the day.
There is all kinds of speculation on what this could mean. Some say that it is God, giving mankind one more time to repent. Others say this will lead to the rebirth of America. Still others say this could lead to the rapture of Christ’s church. Others say that it is the shadow of the coming Tribulation. All this is speculation. It is not a possible fulfillment of Joel 4:8 as some people claim.
It reminds me of the hype surrounding the four blood moons in 2015. Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries, was the first to discover the alleged blood moons prophecy. He appeared in numerous videos on the Internet and authored a book titled Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs. But John Hagee, with his worldwide television audience, popularized the view and took it mainstream. He believed that something dramatic, even world changing, was about to happen.
There have been many attempts in my lifetime to forecast the end and have increased with predictions such as John R. Gribbin and Stephen H. Plagemann’s The Jupiter Effect; Michael Drosnin’s The Bible Code, The Bible Code II: The Countdown, and The Bible Code III: Saving the World; the panic surrounding Y2K and the year 2000; renewed interest in the predictions of Nostradamus; and the end-of-the-world predictions surrounding December 21, 2012. Following mystic Mayan prophecies, predictions of the end of the world were all over the Internet in the years leading up to 2012. While many predicted the end of the world, some in the New Age movement heralded the dawning of a new day for mankind in December 2012—an age of Aquarius.
Nothing happened, which shouldn’t surprise us. Mark Hitchcock reminds us, “History is strewn with the bleached bones of prophecies and predictions that have failed the test of time.”[1]
There are actual biblical signs that foreshadow and set the stage for coming end times events, but these are largely ignored. Instead people are falling over each other to give their “revelation” and their followers eat it up. Many of these same teachers for example, say there is no significance to the activities surrounding the Red Heifers. I think that has far more significance than the coming eclipse.
I want to give a very brief definition and discussion of what prophetic signs of the times are to make sure we all know what we’re talking about and we are following the biblical signs.
Simply stated, prophetic signs of the times are current events that foreshadow future events predicted in the Bible. Signs of the times are like signs on the highway: they point toward or herald what’s ahead. They indicate what’s coming. Signs of the times are not fulfillments of prophecy per se but are events that indicate the future fulfillment of prophecy.
When it comes to understanding or discerning signs of the times, there are three basic approaches.
Approach #1: Skepticism
Many today believe it’s foolish and speculative to even consider signs of the times. They argue it’s a colossal waste of time and energy and an unnecessary distraction since no one knows the time of the Lord’s coming.
Skepticism seriously questions or even outright rejects any notion of signs of the end times.
Approach #2: Sensationalism
At the other end of the spectrum, some view almost everything as a stirring sign of the times. Hype brings notoriety. Sensationalism brings a tabloid kind of predictions.
For sensationalists, signs are everywhere and almost everything. In some circles, wild speculation is far too common and most often is not based on sound principles of biblical interpretation.
Let me give you an example. “At the very beginning of the 2017 eclipse, you see the city of Donald. And I thought, Donald, that's, you know, everybody knows who Donald is, especially back in 2017, right. There was only the Donald. Well, he just so happened to become the president of the United States at that time. He was 70 years old. It was 70 years from the UN decree to reestablish Israel. The city of Donald is actually part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area. And we know that Salem is another name for Jerusalem. And then December 6th, 2017, he announced that something no previous president officially declared while in office, and that is Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. And he opened the U.S. Embassy there in May 2018. So there you have a location. It's just...There.It can't be denied. The eclipse crossed it and these events took place. So you can't ignore that.”[2]
Here is another example. “There is a location as you get further towards the middle of the 2017 eclipse and that's Saint Joe. Now it didn't say Saint Joseph or Josephine or anything. It's just Saint Joe. Now some people may say this is a stretch and that's fine but you have Joe and Saint and Joe Biden became the president in 2021 and he's also catholic. So okay maybe it's a stretch but it's right next to Washington Defiance together, which had January 6 2021 so I know it you can say it's a stretch but it's there I didn’t make it up.”[3]
What does she think the 2024 eclipse is telling us?
“So, we'll go on to the crosshairs of the 2017 and 2024 eclipse. Now, there's a crossover point.
But what I'm going to focus on is you have the path of totality, right, where everyone in that path the umbral shadow sees 100% of the eclipse. Just as it moves away from the center of that umbral shadow, the duration is going to be shorter. So, what I was looking for was the location that was right on the crosshairs and the longest duration. And what I found, the closest town in the crosshairs on the exact astronomical map is Maconda, and that's Maconda, Illinois. Now I know some people say it's Carbondale, and Carbondale is a large city. It is still within the path of totality, but it isn't in the depth of the umbral shadow as Maconda is. And interestingly, The word Makanda in African origin means woman of strength, and in Sanskrit origin, which is an ancient language of India, is woman of power. And Kamala Harris has long identified as both black and East Indian. And at that point, right about that, That's when she became the vice president of the United States.
So not only is she the second African-American woman and the first South Asian American senator in history, but she is presently the vice president of the USA. And she is the most powerful woman.
And again, with Donald Trump and Kamala, it doesn't matter whether you like them or dislike them.You know, that has nothing to do with it. These are just the facts.[4]
“…Also interesting was with Maconda, I wanted to find out, well, okay, what else is special about Maconda? And I found out that the Black Vulture Festival occurs there, the annual Black Vulture Festival. And that was really interesting to me because, you know, they gather there. And if we look back, And what he was saying was he was pointing out towards the end the spiritual decay and spiritual deception that would be taking place. In Matthew 24, 28, he says, just as the gathering of vultures shows. A carcass is nearby. So these signs indicate the end is near.
So, you know, has America become a carcass? Well, personally, I think it has. I think it's a carcass. The vultures are circling above, waiting, just waiting to swoop down. That is how I see it.
And as we know, with a black vulture, You know, it says in Leviticus 11, 13, and these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds.
They shall not be eaten. They are the abomination, the eagle, the bearded vulture and the black vulture. And the eagle it's speaking of is not the American bald eagle. It's a type of vulture. So, but the black vulture.
And then, of course, in Revelation 8, 2, Babylon, the great is fallen, is fallen and has become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
So I think it's something that we need to take a look at. And the black vultures haven't been migrating there for very long. I think maybe it's 20 years. I could be wrong about that.
20:35
But the point is, is they are gathering there. And to me, you know, we're a carcass. I'm sorry, but that may not be make people very happy, but. Then also within that area is Giant City State Park, right there in the crossovers.”[5]
Those are Tribulation passages. Timing is important and you must look at the context. There are three rules of Bible study. Context, context, context.
Approach #3: Stage-Setting
The mediating view that I adopt is often called stage-setting. This view maintains that the events of the end times cannot occur in a vacuum. There has to be some buildup, setting of the stage, or paving the way before end-times events unfold. We look at future events predicted in the Bible, and when current events dramatically correspond to or strikingly point toward the biblical template, these stage-setting events serve as discernible signs of the times. We don’t read the Bible in light of the headlines, but we do read headlines in light of Bible prophecy. Using this guideline, we can track general trends in preparation for the end times.
Jesus Himself spoke of signs of the times. In Matthew 16:2-3 Jesus answers the request of the Pharisees and Sadducees for a sign from heaven: “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?”
We could say today that Jesus might say, “Do you know how to discern the appearance of the coming eclipse, but cannot discern the signs of the times.”
Jesus was speaking in these verses of the signs of His first coming as Israel’s Messiah. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah and chided the people in His day for failing to discern the signs of the times.
Later, Jesus shifts from the focus on His first coming and gives a long list of specific signs of His second coming (see Matthew 24:4-29). Luke 21:25 records the words of Jesus Himself saying that cosmic signs will portend His return to earth. Clearly, Jesus believed in signs of the times—signs for His first coming and signs of His return. Hebrews 10:24-25 also seems to support the notion of signs of the times: “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” The “day drawing near” in the context of the book of Hebrews is the day of the Lord’s coming. If we cannot see the day drawing near, then this verse makes no sense.
Signs of the times point toward the coming of Christ. Of course, no one knows how long the buildup or stage-setting will last until our Lord returns. It could be days, months, or years—maybe even many years.
One important distinction to keep in mind is that signs of the times relate to the second coming of Christ, not the Rapture.
While Hollywood and false prophets consistently miss the mark concerning the future, many signs that we see around us do point toward the end-times scenario laid out in Scripture. The Jewish people are back in their ancient homeland after a worldwide dispersion of almost two thousand years, just as Scripture predicted thousands of years ago. Peace in the Middle East is under constant negotiation, and the Middle East is center stage. Globalism and exponential advances in technology have provided the framework for the end-times global government and economy predicted in Revelation 13. Israel sits surrounded by a sea of enemies who would delight in its destruction. Russia and Iran have risen to prominence as predicted in Ezekiel 38–39, along with other Islamic nations that despise Israel.
Events in our world strikingly foreshadow the biblical predictions of the end of the age. We live in the times of the signs. End-times biblical prophecies will be fulfilled right on time on God’s calendar, just as hundreds of past prophecies have been fulfilled.
We are living in an unprecedented time in history. As believers, we should focus on the future as the Bible tells us about it. I hope there is repentance and revival in America, but we can’t tell that in any way is connected to the coming eclipse. Peter says that we have a more sure word of prophecy. He is referring to the Scriptures.
We also, should not stretch the Bible to say something it doesn’t mean. I keep hearing people quoting Psalm 19, as the basis for teaching about the solar eclipse. They say that looking at the heavens, is the format God gave us to view signs. What does that Scripture say?
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night declares knowledge. There is no speech and there are no words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4.
These verses are not saying you can take natural occurrences in the heavens and teach they are signs for whatever you want it to be. This Psalm is telling us there is a Creator God. We can look at the majesty and wonder of the heavens and say, “There must be a God and He made that.”
It leads people to have faith in Him. Paul says that God’s creation testifies to Him. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth through unrighteousness. For what may be known about God is clear to them since God has shown it to them. The invisible things about Him—His eternal power and deity—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world and are understood by the things that are made, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20.
What these Bible teachers are telling us that we have permission from God’s Word to look into the heavens for signs. That is true, but don’t take those verses about signs out of context and don’t sensationalize them with your own imagination. Don’t make them say something they are not saying. Keep them in their context.
What these teachers are doing is quoting Scriptures about events in the heavens are for signs. That is true. But then they put their own ideas of what these signs mean. And then they tell you that many of these events are spoken of in the Bible. That is deceptive. To me it is a bait and switch ploy.
What is also interesting to me is that the focus is on America where for next eclipse and where the 2017 eclipse was as well. The focus if the four blood moons was on America and was not even seen in Israel. No where in the Bible is America the focus of end time events. Keep your eye on Israel. That is where God’s time clock is. Most of the end time events take place there.
[1] Mark Hitchcock, Blood Moons Rising, Kindle Edition
[3] I.B.I.D.
[5] I.B.I.D.