April 8 we will experience a total eclipse of the sun on a path crossing from Mexico to Texas to Maine and on to Nova Scotia. This is similar to the total solar eclipse in 2017 that crossed country from Oregon to South Carolina. I witnessed the one in 2017, but will miss this one, seeing only a partial eclipse in western Kansas. And there will be a third a few years from now. Three in the same area in such a short time period is very unusual. Also I have learned the 2017 path crossed over seven towns named “Salem”, short for “Jerusalem”. The one in April will cross over seven towns named “Nineveh”, forming the sign of the cross on the Earth with the path of the first eclipse. Furthermore, I have learned that someone researching past solar eclipses found there was one in the Middle East about the time of Jonah. Couple this with the fact that ancients at that time considered a solar eclipse a bad omen. So we have Jonah preaching repentance to the nation of Nineveh he hated and did not want to be there at a time when the residents of Nineveh might have seen a bad omen. All this together may have brought about their amazing repentance avoiding the destruction Jonah was prophesying.
It is quite possible a solar eclipse will be one of the signs of the end of the age. When Jesus spoke to his disciples about the signs of the end, he said, “Immediately after the distress of those days ” ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” (Matt 24:29-30) The words “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light” do describe a solar eclipse. But his prediction comes after many other tribulations where the world will hate Jesus’ followers because of His Name, we will be persecuted, ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ will be set up in Jerusalem, and many other things we have yet to see. So this coming eclipse can’t be the one to which He is referring even though there are miraculous signs with it, as mentioned above.
I have checked a table of coming total eclipses and the only two covering the Middle East are ones on August 2, 2027, and March 20, 2034. The first only 3 ¼ years from now, is too soon for Daniel’s seventieth seven week period of the antichrist. If Jesus’ statement refers to the end of Daniel’s seventieth week and the eclipse of March 20, 2034, is the one to which He is referring, Daniel’s seventieth week will start in three years. It appears that things could very well be deteriorated in three years to usher in the global reign of the antichrist. Dale Black thinks he is already here and establishing his power. I listened to a recording of someone promoting an investment service that will guide one through the coming radical days. He offered the opinion that Obama could get another term as president by being Biden’s vice-president and after the election something could happen to the aging Biden and Obama becomes president again to continue the destruction he started during his eight years that Hillary was supposed to finish, but God stepped in and prevented that from happening. Biden has helped but more needs to be done to destroy Christian America and its freedoms. If all this is true, the next four years could easily see the beginning of the reign of the antichrist and the beginning of the end, that will finally come with the solar eclipse of March 30, 2034, and Jesus’ return. I am not making a prophecy; it is just an observation of relevant facts. Take it whatever way seems right to you.
Earth’s moon is actually the result of many amazing miracles. First of all, the scientific evidence we have gathered suggests the Earth was struck a glancing blow by a Mars-sized object in its first few hundred million years. That impact fractured the object into pieces that eventually came together to form our moon. Its core sank into Earth’s core and gave it more iron and magnetic field strength, a key to protecting the Earth from deadly solar radiation. It also blasted away the opaque poisonous atmosphere like that around Venus giving it a translucent atmosphere of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor. Light could come through like on a cloudy day. After a few billion years microbial life in the ocean through photosynthesis transformed the atmosphere into one of nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor, making it transparent.
The impact also fractured the Earth’s solid crust enabling plate tectonics to cause the Earth to have continents amid oceans. The moon has also attracted asteroids away from Earth, offering it additional protection. Finally the moon is slowly drifting away from Earth a few centimeters a year. We happen to be here during the time the moon’s disk hides the sun’s photodisk but not the sun’s atmosphere and corona, enabling scientists to study the sun’s atmosphere during a solar eclipse and learn what is in it and what is happening in the sun. It would not have been possible several million years ago or several million years from now. Go back and read Genesis 1 with the idea of what you would have seen from the Earth’s surface during the first billion years and you will find it matches the current scientific understanding of the early Earth. Remember also that the Hebrew word “yom” translated as “day” could equally well be translated “eon”. It looks like God orchestrated a series of extremely well-timed events to make a planet, Earth, that could support intelligent life that could discover Him and appreciate His creation.
For many reasons our unique moon that is the fourth largest in the whole solar system is an amazing miracle. Whenever you want to see a miracle look up at the full moon and praise God, whose glory is seen in the Heavens. (Psalm 19:1)