Mbostrom2's Blog

November 25, 2011 will see the 4th eclipse of 2011 and will be a partial solar eclipse. This will be seen in Antarctica, southern New Zealand and South Africa.

• This is Cheshvan 28 on the Hebrew calendar. On this day in 1949 Israel reached a population of 1 million. In 1882 the population of Israel (size of New Jersey) was 289,000. Today the population is 7,746,000. Look what the Lord has done.

Three of the 2011 eclipses occured within 30 Days.

• June 1 (midnight-solar eclipse) This eclipse  was extremely unusual because it occured at midnight most northern nations that were having 24 hours of daylight. It began after midnight on June 2 and ended on before midnight on June 1.
• June 14-15 (full lunar eclipse- from blood red to total black) This eclipse caused quite a stir in the Middle East since Blood Moons and Black Lunar Eclipses have a meaning in different religious traditions. That day my blog nits were 1,541- an all time high for this fairly new site. This eclipse began on June 14 and ended on June 15.
• July 1 (partial solar eclipse) This was in the South Pole region, seen in the very southern nations.

December 10, 2011 will see the 2nd full lunar eclipse of 2011, a blood red moon.  This will be visible from Alaska, northern Canada, Australia, New Zealand, central Asia and eastern Asia. Viewers in most of North America and Hawaii will view the moon set still in eclipse, while those along the west coast of the United States and Canada will see the beginning of totality just as the moon disappears below the western horizon. The best view of the total lunar eclipse will be from central and eastern Asia. The eclipse will find the moon set between the horns of Taurus the Bull.

• This is Kislev 14 on the Hebrew calendar and  is considered to be Reuben’s birth date, the first son of Jacob.

On my blog site of 5/13/11, Solar and Lunar Eclipses of 2011 carries a full study of each eclipse and the Hebrew traditional teachings of the meanings of an eclipse to their nation.

All the blogs regarding solar or lunar eclipses can be found under the categories of Signs in the Heavens, Eclipses on the left side of my blog site. I encourge you to read about the June 2011 Midnight Eclipses . I have just reread that article myself and am in awe of the incredible times we live in.  May you worship the Creator as you look into the heavenlies, instead of worshiping the creation.

  A Partial Solar Eclipse July 1, 2011  will only be visible on the coast of the Antarctica.

There were 6 eclipses scheduled for 2011.

1. Partial solar eclipse January 4
2. Partial solar eclipse June 1
3. Total lunar eclipse June 15
4. Partial solar eclipse July 1
5. Partial solar eclipse November 25
6. Total lunar eclipse December 10

Three of the Six were within 30 days!!

• The second eclipse of 2011 began on June 2 after midnight and ended before midnight June 1st- affecting 2 days. It was seen on the northern part of the world and was a ‘midnight solar eclipse’.  Very unusual!
• The third eclipse of 2011 began before midnight June 15 and ended after midnight June 16- affecting 2 days. It was seen over the middle east. It went from being a total deep red moon to being a total black moon!
• The fourth eclipse of 2011 will begin 8:38 UT, which will be about 3:38am CDT.

The only part of the moon phase when a solar eclipse is possible is when there is no moon, when the moon is completely black. The only part of the moon phase when a lunar eclipse is possible is when there is a full moon. This month we saw 2 solar eclipses and 1 lunar eclipse. So, it takes 14 days from a total black moon to a full moon.

Genesis 1:14 records that God will use the sun and moon for SIGNS and seasons.  Just as the Star of Bethlehem was a sign of Jesus’ birth, there will be signs in the heavens before Jesus’ Second Coming. Other verses regarding the sun and moon being part of the signs of the His Second Coming are:

• Isaiah 13:10, For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
• Joel 2:31, The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
• Matthew 24:29, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and
  the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
• Mark 13:24, But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
• Luke 21:25, And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
• Acts 2:20, The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that
  great and notable day of the Lord come:
• Also 4 times in John’s Revelation: 6:12; 8:12; 12:21; 23:23
• Revelation 6:12, I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood.

One thing I like to do is connect what is happening in the world with the Hebrew calendar. July 1st fall on Sivan 29, 5771. On this date in 1312 BC, Moses sent 12 spies into the Promised Land. 40 days later they came back and 10 had an evil report, which the nation believed. This was Av 8, 1312. The next day was Av 9, which began a cycle of disastrous events for the nation. Two of the biggest disasters that happened on Av 9 (Tisha B’Av) were that both Solomon’s Temple ( 586 BC)  and Rebuilt Temple (70 AD) were destroyed on that very day.

These series of photos of the lunar eclipse are from Islamabad, Pakistan. The lunar eclise was seen over the Middle Eastern countries and I have seen beautiful photos coming from as far north as Belgrade, Serbia.

This eclipse was seen as a blood red moon, then changing to a complete black moon. I was watching it first over India but they got clouded out. The observatory in Israel was able to view the entire eclipse with few clouds.

In my June 8th blog on this eclipse I included what Rabbis have oberserved from historiy were happening on earth after a blood moon.  “If its face is red as blood, [it is a sign that] the sword is coming to the world; if it is like sack-cloth, the arrows of famine are coming to the world; if it resembles both, the sword and the arrows of famine are coming to the world.”

Today is Sivan 13, 5771 in Israel. Israel’s day begin at sundown and end at sundown each day, according to Genesis 1:5, “So the evening and the morning were the first day.”

In History, 63 years ago, 1948: 20 Jews were killed by a bombing of the Jewish Quarter in Cairo, Egypt. (In the coming months, more bombings in Cairo killed an additional 50 Jews.) In the period following Israel’s declaration of independence, anti-Jewish riots broke out across the Arab world. Jews were attacked and imprisoned, Jewish property was seized, and most of these centuries-old Jewish communities were forced to disband. In 1948, the Jewish population of Egypt was 75,000; it now numbers less.

How interesting that when the lunar eclipse is over both countries they are back in the news. Since the 1979 Treaty with Israel and Egypt, they have experienced relative peace and cooperation between the 2 countries. Today there is great unrest as amunition and weapons are smuggled openly between Eypt and Gaza. Below are some interesting headlines from Israel.

According to the Jerusalem Post:

Muslim Brotherhood Becomes Legitimate Political Party in Egypt;Plans to Run for Half of
Parliamentary Seats

The Muslim Brotherhood has been recognized as a legitimate political party, called the Freedom and Justice Party, by the official Egyptian news agency. The Muslim Brotherhood, outlawed since 1954, will now participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled to occur in September. The Muslim Brotherhood’s candidates, running as independents, won 20 percent of the Egyptian vote in the 2005 parliamentary election.

Egypt Arrests U.S.-Israeli Citizen on Charges of Inciting January 25 Protests and Riots

Egypt arrested a U.S. born Israeli this weekend on spy charges. Egyptian authorities allege Ilan Grapel arrived in Egypt just before protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak began, and that Grapel was present at the demonstrations every day, “inciting sedition, spreading rumors,” and committing acts of violence. Grapel’s mother, however, stated that he arrived in  Egypt in May.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman denied that Grapel is a spy, saying, “He has no connection to any intelligence apparatus, not in Israel, not in the US, and not on Mars.” As reported by Israel Today

Lebanon Under Hezbollah Control?

Lebanon’s new cabinet, appointed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, is composed primarily of Hezbollah representatives, and their allies. Nineteen of thirty positions are filled by Hezbollah members, or smaller parties aligned with that organization. One of the region’s few true democracies is now fully under the control of Islamist radicals. As reported by Israel Today

Israeli Security Forces Assault Temple Mount
Israeli security forces stormed Jerusalem’s Temple Mount on Friday after Muslims there began hurling stones at Jews praying at the Western Wall below. As reported by Israel Today.

www.jpost.com

www.israelnationalnews.com

NASA: first lunar eclipse of 2011 occurs at the Moon’s ascending node in southern Ophiuchus.

When I read NASA’s findings of where the Blood Moon over the Middle East would begin,  I went back to my study on the 12 constellations (fixed stars) and their associated decans that tell the story of Jesus from His first coming to His Second Coming.

O-PHI-U-CHUS pronouced of-e-yu’-kes, is the man grasping the serpent. This name is Hebrew and in Arabic is Afeichus, both mean ‘the serpent held’. This picture is actually 2 constellations, Ophiucus and Serpens.

Ophiuchus is seizing the serpent with his two hands and at the same time treading on the very heart of the scorpion, which is marked by the deep red star Antares (means wounding). The serpent’s mouth is trying to grasp the Crown. The contest since the Garden of Eden has always been for dominion, to be equal with God. E.W. Bullinger writes in his book Witness of the Stars, “Not only does he fail in the attempt, but is himself utterly defeated and trodden under foot.”

Marilyn Hickey wrote in her book Signs in the Heavens: Ophiuchus is the name of the man in the sequence of stars, and he is a ‘figure’ of Jesus. Here is the symbology: when Jesus was crucified, He endured satan’s sting of death by taking all the poison of our sin upon Himself. Jesus took our place and received upon Himself the sting which should have been upon us; He delivered us from sin’s poison. The apostle Paul boasted of Jesus’ triumph: “……Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

Here on earth the battle is over Jerusalem, which means ‘teaching of peace’. Jerusalem is mentioned by name 643 times in the Bible.  In Zechariah 12:2-3, the LORD tells us, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah [and] against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”

There are no less than 134 stars in these 2 constellations. How the understanding of the constellation came forth was a story told by the name of the brightest star beginning the story, then the meaning of the next and on down. There are two stars of the 2nd magnitude, fourteen of the 3rd and thirteen of the 4th. (the 1st magnitude star is brightest to the naked eye)

The darkest lunar eclipse in 100 years will be June 15, 2011 and will be seen over the Middle East countries that are in turmoil.  I was curious about what the Muslim views of Lunar eclipse so I did a study. (Islamic study is not my strongest area so please bear with me)

The Islamic holy book, the Koran (Quran) says in Fussilat 41:37, ” Allaah causes eclipses to happen to these two mighty signs, the sun and the moon, to teach His slaves and show them that these things are created and are subject to imperfections and changes just like any other created entities. Thus He shows them His perfect ability and that He alone is deserving of worship, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate yourselves not to the sun” nor to the moon, but prostrate yourselves

As they prostrate themselves they have a special prayer during the time of the eclipse. “The essence of this prayer lies in the fact that a Muslim seeks protection from his Creator (Allah), while offering this service from his spiritually-luminant soul (symbolised by the bright sun/moon) from becoming enwrapped in the spiritual-darkness (symbolised by the eclipsed sun/moon) of evilness, misconception and sinfulness.”

There is also a belief that the Mahdi will come during a double eclipse at the time of Ramadan, the month of Islam fasting during the day.  (2011 Ramadan will be August 1-30- NASA shows no expected eclipse). 

What is a Mahdi? I’m glad you asked. The Mahdi is believed to be Islam’s final prophet . Mahdi traslates ‘the rightly-guided one’.

• There are two divisions of Islam: Sunni & Shi’ite. (Iran is mostly Shi’ite)
• Many of Muslims are families that seem to be living a normal family life, but there is a large sect that is apocalyptic (anticipating the Last Days, End Times)
• Historian Timothy Furnish has written,”The major difference is that for Shi’ite is he (Mahdi) has already been here, and will return from hiding; for Sunnis he has yet to emerge into history: a comeback v. a coming out, if you will.”
• Shi’ites, for example, believe that their Twelfth Imam will reappear after a Ramadan double-eclipse.
• Many Shi’ite Iranians have a teaching called the Doctrine of the Twelvers: The belief is that eleven of the twelve leaders of Islam from the Shi’ite branch were poisoned or killed by the Sunni. The twelfth imam was the 12-year-old son of the eleventh imam. At age twelve, this young boy, destined to be chosen imam of the Shi’ite branch, disappeared off the street in this city and was never hear again. Since the grave of this 12^th was never discovered, tradition states the twelfth caliph has been supernaturally protected by God for the past 1,200 years. According to Islamic tradition, the Mahdi will be a military expert who will bring the world under control of Islamic law and justice. (They believe he will come forth when there is a double eclipse during the month of Ramadan that he is waiting for that sign from Allah)
• “At length, when the sight is dazed, and the moon is buried in darkness,
  and the sun and moon are joined together – the Day of That will Man say: ‘Where
  is the refuge?'” Qur’an, Sura 75:7-10. Allah gives a sign that Mahdi will be among us when a double eclipse occurs in the month of Ramadan.
• “It has been reported from Abu Ja’far that the event of the Mahdi’s appearance shall be attended by two clear signs which will carry with them the weight of ten strong signs. These are the solar and the lunar eclipses; and a similar sign has never happened ever since Adam came upon this planet.”
• November 9 & 28, 2003 there were double eclipses on Ramadan. From the readings I have found regarding this event, the Muslim writers say it never happened before on Ramadan and will not happen again for a long time. Therefore, many belief that the Mahdi is already here.

NOTE: January 27, 632 AD, there was a recorded solar eclipse when Mohammad’s son Ibrahim died.

My Summary: I don’t know what they are expecting or what prophecies they may be interpreting regarding next Wednesday’s blood moon over the Middle East. If anyone has any knowledge I would appreciate your comments.

In the middle of the night the thought came to me “midnight eclipses” and I got up to write it down and could not go back to sleep. (Seriously, I really don’t try to dream these things up, but when I get a clear thought like this I usually search it out.) I am not trying to read anything into this, only watching and logging.

• The first time ‘midnight’ is used in the Old Testament is in Exodus 11:4, “And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:”
• The first time ‘midnight’ is used in the New Testament is in Matthew 25:6, “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.“

According to Astronomy Israel, “Totality  begins at 10:22PM when all of the moon enters the earth’s full, umbral shadow. At 11:12PM the moon will be as deeply into the earth’s shadow as it will get at this eclipse and “greatest eclipse” begins, when the moon should reach its darkest. Totality ends just after midnight on Thursday, June 16, and the exit partial phase of the eclipse ends at 1:02AM IDT.

I thought it was interesting that both eclipses of June 2011 were at ‘midnight’ and both covered ‘two days’.

• The date on the Hebrew calendar will be Sivan 14, since their days are from sundown to sundown the eclipse will be one day.
• Another interesting thought from history comes from the only time Sivan is mentioned in the Bible, Esther 8:9, the longest verse in the Bible where Haman’s edict for destroying the Jewish people was overturned. Mordecai and Esther were fasting during Passover, so from Passover to Sivan 23 were the happenings of Esther’s 2 dinners, wicked Haman’s death and the hanging of Haman’s 10 sons.

NASA noted: “Four partial solar and two total lunar eclipses take place in 2011. This 4:2 combination of solar and lunar eclipses in a single year is rather rare with only six cases during the 21st Century (2011, 2029, 2047, 2065, 2076 and 2094).

NOTE: There is a huge difference between astrology and astronomy. Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies) and observing the cycles in the heavens. Astrology is witchcraft, where they believe the order of the stars lead them to a successful life or warn them of things coming.

In biblical times, watchmen were posted on the walls surrounding the city. They not only watched for an enemy approaching, they also recorded anything happening in the night sky. From historical events on earth during the same time that  unusual heavenly events were recorded, they observed a relationship pattern of occurences relating to  heaven and earth. (Israel’s calendar is linked with the cycles of the moon, but keeps with the solar cycle by their leap years).

When Jesus told His disciples what would be the signs of the end of the age in Mark 13, some of them involved signs in the heavens.  Mark 13 closes with Jesus commanding them to ‘watch’ 4 times. I consider myself to be a Watcher, and observe what is happening in the heavens relating to the Last Days. When unusual signs are seen in the heavens  I watch, pray and record.

Psalm 19:1, “The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. (2) Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. (3) [There is] no speech nor language [Where] their voice is not heard. ”

A lunar eclipse is when the moon passes behind the earth such that the earth blocks the sun’s rays from striking the moon (like a red sunset). This happens when the sun, earth and moon are lined up exactly or very close and always comes at the time of a full moon (middle of the lunar month).

Joel 2:31, “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.” (Acts 2:20, Rev 6:12)

There will be 2 total lunar eclipses (blood moons) in 2011. The first will be June 15 and the second December 10. This blood red lunar eclipse will be over all the nations that are in turmoil in the Middle East. This will be the darkest lunar eclipse in almost 100 years and will cover 2 days and will last 1 hour, 40 minutes & 12 seconds! It will be seen in East Africa, the entire Middle East (including Jerusalem), Central Asia, Western Australia and will mid eclipse in the Mauritius. (This will be USA 4:14pm EDT) North or South America will not witness this event.

Below are some interesting historical events that happened on earth when there were lunar eclipses.

• 1 BC- Only eclipse that Josephus recorded, at the time of the death of King Herod.
• Sept 27, 14 AD, death of Caesar Augustus
• April 3, 33 AD, possible time of the Crucifixion
• March 4, 71 AD, the plowing of Jerusalem with salt by the Romans
• January 28, 632 AD, (solar) visible over Medina, Arabia. This is the year Mohammad, the founder of Islam died.
• May 22, 1453, the fall of Constantinople to the Muslims
• March 1, 1504, called the Columbus eclipse, when Columbus and his men were being held captive and Columbus read in the almanac that there was to be a lunar eclipse that evening. He told the natives if they did not let them go, he would make the moon go away. They were released soon after.
• July 31, 1776, after America’s independence from Britain
• January 15, 1805, the Lewis & Clark expedition
• July 4, 1917, WWII and Balfour Declaration
• Passover, April 3, 1996- The 100th anniversary of Jerusalem
• September 26, 1996 following the blood moon renewed violence broke out between the Palestinians and the Israelis (due to the opening of a tourist tunnel near the Dome of the Rock), after many months of comparative peace.
• November 9, 2003 –  A large explosion rocked a Riyadh residential compound housing foreigners and Saudis a day after the United States warned of terrorist attacks in the kingdom which is battling a surge in Islamist violence.  Thousands of Saudi troops were deployed in the holy city of Mecca to provide additional security until Ramadan is over.
• February 21,  2008-Israeli PM Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi spoke in preparation for war with Hezbollah and Hamas, and both these terror organizations leaders were bold in their rhetoric against Israel in this time of great tension.
• 

Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes (139-163 AD) said, “Whenever the luminaries are in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel since they are inured to blows. This may be compared to a school teacher who comes to school with a strap in his hand. Who becomes apprehensive? He who is accustomed to be daily punished. Our Rabbis taught, ‘When the sun is in eclipse it is a bad omen for idolaters; when Lavanah (Moon) is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel, since Israel reckons by Lavanah (Moon) and idolaters by the sun. If it is in eclipse in the east, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the east; if in the west, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the west, if in the midst of heaven it is bad omen for the whole world. If its face is red as blood, [it is a sign that] the sword is coming to the world; if it is like sack-cloth, the arrows of famine are coming to the world; if it resembles both, the sword and the arrows of famine are coming to the world. If the eclipse is at sunset calamity will tarry in its coming; if at dawn, it hastens on its way, but some say the order is to be reversed. And there is no nation which is smitten that its G-ds are not smitten together with it, as it is said, And against all the G-ds of Egypt I will execute judgments. But when Israel fulfill the will of the Omnipresent, they need have no fear of all these [omens] as it is said, Thus saith the L-RD, ‘Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the nation are dismayed at them, the idolaters will be dismayed, but Israel will not be dismayed.”