Posts Tagged ‘biblical astronomy’

SpaceWeather.com has an very interesting video of the planet Mars in ‘retrograde’. I looked up the meaning of retrograde in Webster 1828 dictionary and the 2nd meaning is, ‘In astronomy, apparently moving backward and contrary to the succession of the signs, as a planet.

The video shows Mars being stationary, coming to a stop September 9, 2020, they going backwards, and closest to the planet Earth on October 6. Mars is then in opposition on October 13 and then again stops November 14 before it goes back on course for 2021. Very interesting indeed!

Graphic Artist Larry Koehn of SpaceWeather.com comments, “Basically, Earth is lapping Mars in a two-way race around the sun. Our planet is faster, so Mars seems to go backwards during the weeks of closest approach.” (italics and bold are mine)

Since I like to connect heavenly signs with Biblical Astronomy (not the witchcraft of astrology), I will bring out the meaning of these signs. Psalm 147:4 tells us, “He (God) counts the stars and calls them all by name.” Isaiah 40:26, “Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.”

Ma’adim, ‘the Red One’ is what the Roman’s renamed Mars after their Roman god of War. This is where the term ‘martial arts’ comes from. This is known as the ‘planet of war’ since historically when it is clearly seen, war breaks out on the Earth. During this present transition of Mars being so close to the earth, you can ‘eyeball’ (without telescope) this red wandering star/planet before dawn each morning looking South.

Mars’ pass-by near the earth in was written in Gulliver’s Travel by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) as he described the 2 moons in Mars. This was discovered to be true in 1877 by a new telescope at the US Naval Observatory.

Pisces – The Fishes

What really interested me was the Constellation Mars chose to give a magnificent night sky viewing experience this Fall. PISCES. The sign of Pisces means ‘the fishes’, and describes the connection of the Church and Israel, the “One New Man”. (Eph 2:15)

God named this constellation Dagim, ‘the fishes’, which is closely connected with the multitudes, as in Genesis 48:16, when Jacob was blessing Manasseh and Ephraim. The number 2 in Scripture represents ‘multiplication’.

But the sign of Pisces before the Church began was always been interpreted as the nation of Israel. Why two fish? Maybe because while they were strangers here on this earth, Abraham knew there was a heavenly city, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10) Verse 14 of that Chapter in Hebrews said, ‘These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

The same for the Church, I Peter 2:11 (NLT) tells us, “Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners and aliens here.” We may live on this earth, but we are not of this earth! We are divinely tied to Heaven! Strangers are those without a home and pilgrims are those who are journeying home. Just like Father Abraham, we are looking forward to that heavenly city!

Abarbanel, a Jewish commentator, writing on Daniel, affirms that the Sign Pisces always refers to the people of Israel. He gives five reasons for this belief, and also affirms that a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn always betokens a crisis in the affairs of Israel. Because such a conjunction took place in his day (about 1480 AD), he looked for the coming of Messiah. (Witness of the Stars, E.W. Bullinger, pg 96-97)

The two fish are tied by a cord which is called “al Risha”, in Arabic meaning ‘a common bond’. This is also called “The Band” and is a separate constellation. The ancient Egyptian name for this cord is U-or, which means “He cometh”. Aries, the Ram, is seen with his paws on this band, as though about to loosen the bands and set the captives free, and to fast bind their great oppressor!! Hosea 11:4, “I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was with them as those who take the yoke from their neck.”

The common bond that connects the Church and Israel is the making of ‘one new man’ but connecting the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. One is pointing to the North Polar star and the other is on the line of the ecliptic, the path of the Sun.

What is a Blue Moon? It is the 2nd full moon in one (solar) month.  That year would have 13 full moons instead of the usual 12. 7 times in 19 years there are 13 instead of 12 and 2015 will have 13. The last time this happened was 2012. The full moons of July were the 2nd and the 31st.  The second full moon of the month is called a Blue Moon. Below is a photo from Space.com of that brilliant full moon of July 31.

blue-moon-july31-washington-dc-nasa-2

When someone says “Once in a blue moon” they are saying it is absurd,  may not  or rarely happens.

The color will not actually be blue unless there has been a volcanic eruption, fires or other gases in the atmosphere. The color would only change during unusual sky conditions. When I was in Minnesota in July I observed the Sun being fire red from the smoke of the forest fires in Canada. I have had several people message me about seeing this past moon being brilliant red and the news last night showed it to be orange. The brilliant colors of the moon are not from a lunar eclipse, but rather effects of smoke in the atmosphere from states away.

There are 20 active fires in the following states. Alaska (1), California (8), Montana (3), New Mexico (2), Oregon (2), Washington (3) and Wyoming (1). Only 3 of these fires are contained.

Click this link for stories of people who have experienced sighting an actual full moon in a blue color: http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/bluemoonstories.html

 

Historically comets have come before wars, seen as bad omens of deaths of kings or noble men or a warning of forthcoming danger. See my blog of 9/25/11 Significant Comets Connection to Historic Events.

Comet ISON was discovered by September 21, 2012 by 2 Russian Astronomers, Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok. Since they were using a telescope that belonged to International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) the comet was named after the network and not by their names (i.e., Halleys Comet found by Edmond Halley).

Comet ISON could be the brightest comet in history, time will tell.  We will see what happens as it approaches the sun November 28, 2013.

The significance I see is that it is expected to be the brightest comet in history and it will be in our viewing during the first of the tetrad Blood Moon over Passover of 2014.

When the signs are in the heavenlies over God’s appointed festivals (Feasts of the Lord) it is calling us to attention, watch. Luke 2:25, “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; (28) Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” (Also Daniel 6:26-27; Joel 2:31; Isaiah 34:2-5)[my comment- look up, WATCH the heavenly signs]

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

The next Blue Moon is scheduled for August 31, 2012.

The last was December 31, 2009. I wrote a blog on that year June 1, 2011 and called it 2009- When the Heavenly Birth Pains Began. https://mbostrom2.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/2009-when-the-heavenly-birth-pains-began/

What is a Blue Moon? It is the 2nd full moon in one (solar) month.  That year would have 13 full moons instead of the usual 12. The first moon this month was August 1st so 2012 will have 13 full moons. Below is a really cool photo of an airliner leaving Orlando during the first full moon this month.

When someone says “Once in a blue moon” they are saying it is absurd,  may not  or rarely happens.

The color will not actually be blue unless there has been a volcanic eruption, fires or other gases in the atmosphere. The color would only change during unusual sky conditions. The Associated Press reports this week that 220 counties in the United States are in severe drought conditions and many are experiencing out of control fires. For these areas, the moon may actually look blue August 31st.

Click this link for stories of people who have experienced sighting an actual full moon in a blue color: http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/bluemoonstories.html

The next Blue moon is scheduled to happen July 31, 2015. This is significant to me because 2014 and 2015 will have back-to-back blood red moons on Passover and Tabernacles both years. This is called a Tetrad. In history, there have only been 3 times this has happened on these lunar mid-month Feast of the Lord days. There will not be another Tetrad on Passover and Tabernacles in this century following 2015 according to NASA’s computers.

  • 1493 and 1494- After the Jews were expelled from Spain and the Spanish Inquisition
  • 1949 and 1950- After Israel became a nation and immediately went into the War of Independence
  • 1967 and 1968- After the Six Day War when Jerusalem came back into the hands of the Jewish Nation of Israel

All 3 had to do with the Jews and followed wars. Question, will there be a war involving Israel before 2014? Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, Psalm 122:6.

Newsweek magazine of 1998 had an article of Hale Bopp Comet and explained comes as ‘frozen dirt balls’. It reads, “This comet was last seen in these parts 4200 years ago (before Abraham of 2213 BC).Comets are big frozen dirtballs, an estimated 100 billion of them were created at the same time as the sun and the planets. Most of their days comets float anonymously in a halo called an ort cloud, a backwoods of space way past Pluto. But once in a while gravitational jolts from passing stars send a comet hurdling from the kingdom of ice into a trip around the sun. Comets are of the wandering children of the solar system. They were present at the creation some 4 billion years ago and living in the cold storage in the outer solar system they haven’t changed much.”

Job 38:22,”Have you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail(23) Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war?” 

Comets are often seen as a bad omen, appearing years before a major war or natural disaster.  A few examples are of a comet was sited before the Exodus, the first Passover and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.  In Natural History, Pliny wrote that it was a “terrible comet…(that) was twisted like a coil, and it was very grim to behold.” Exodus 9:19 records  “So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.” The Jewish Talmud records ‘stones fell in Egypt and were very hot.’ Joesphesus wrote about a  heavenly appearance resembling a sword in the sky before the destruction of the Temple.

October 2011  Astronomy magazine carried an interesting article on comets. The first paragraph caught my attention, “..This makes them an object of popular fascination and has led to their common association as omens of significant events on Earth. (The destruction of Jerusalem by Roman Emperor Titus and the Norman conquest of England are two famous examples)”  [please remember astronomy is a science, astrology is witchcraft]

Below are come significant comets of our era and the coinciding historic events on earth. Genesis 1:14 tells us the the heavenly lights are God’s signposts, for signs for seasons. Comets have no light in themselves, but only reflect the Sun.  If you are on a journey you will see the signs closer together and larger as you near your destination. So it is with the destination God has ordained for the time of the end.

Hale Bopp Comet

  • First seen when Noah was building the Ark, so called the Noahic Comet
  • In July 1995, this comet was discovered by American amateur astronomers Alan Hale and Tom Bopp. The giant size was remarkable, 25-100 miles across, making it the largest comet ever discovered.
  • The first discovery in our atmosphere was the 6th of Iyar, the 45th anniversary of the rebirth of Israel as a nation
  • The closest pass to earth was March 23, 1997 on the Jewish Festival of Purim, when there was also a partial lunar eclipse
  • Hale Bopp Comet was a sign in the last decade of the last century of the last day before the millennium last day. (As in the days of Noah- Mt 24:37; Luke 17:26)

Kohoutek Comet

  • August 9, 1974 (Av 9- Tish B’Av) this comet was seen in our solar system
  • All nine leaders of the Common Market fell during this comet’s passing
  • President Nixon departed from office of President of the United States during this comet’s passing

Halley’s Comet

  • One of the first comets named discovered by Sir Edmund Halley. In 1705 he wrote an article stating this comet sighted in 1456, 1531, 1607 and 1682 and predicted it would return in 1758. He died in 1742 so did not live to see this sighting.
  • 12 BC when Herod was expending the Temple platform
  • 66 AD,  4 years before the destruction of the Temple
  • 1910, 4 years prior to WWI
  • 1986, 4 years prior to the Persian Gulf War

Three Significant Eclipse Comets

  • May 17, 1882, a comet called Comet Wells was viewed in Egypt during a total solar eclise (This is the year the Russian Jews began to make aliyah)
  • May 20, 1947, this comet known as The Southern Comet was visible during a total solar eclipse (1 year before Israel became a nation)
  • November 1, 1948, The Eclipse Comet (the year Israel became a nation)

Shoemaker-Levy-9 Comet

  • Dicovered by Eugene & Carolyn Shoemaker & David Levy March 24, 1994  (9th comet discovery as a team)
  • First comet to be seen orbiting a planet, orbiting Jupiter rather than the Sun like other comets
  • Nicknamed the String of Pearls, broke into 21 fragments resembling pearls

Hyakutake Comet

  • This comet is estimated to be seen every 40,000 years
  • Discovered in January 30, 1996 by Yuji Kyakutake of Japan.
  • Passover 1996 comet Hykutake makes the closest encounter with the earth, one year later Hale Bopp Comet makes the same point on Passover 1997
  • It seemed to hang over Jerusalem as it passed over on Passover 1996 and was seen as a pale green in color from the gases being given off by it.

Elenin Comet

  • Expected to be closest to the earth during Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets) September 29, 2011.