When I was writing my book, The Fourth Day: Why the Bible is Historically Accurate (2006, ISBN 9781430310624), I was trying to show that dating of Old Testament history as described in the Bible was different than what was being proposed by secular historians. I was looking for astronomical evidence in the Old Testament that would be useful in dating the events of the Babylonian Captivity of Judah. I was able to find such a description in Jeremiah 15:9, “She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day…”. How did I decide this was a description of the sky? I had to ask this question: what kind of woman has her own sun? Certainly no flesh and blood person, but suppose this verse was metaphorically speaking of a woman in the sky, the constellation Virgo. If “the sun is gone down while it is yet day”, couldn’t this be the description of a solar eclipse? I was able to find a solar eclipse that occurred over Israel on August 14, 393 B.C. that fits this verse very well. This was an annular eclipse where Virgo was located in the middle of the sky with seven bodies (sun and moon with five planets) forming a line to Virgo’s “womb”. Doesn’t this fit Jeremiah’s description of the woman who has “born seven” in this verse? I believe there was another description of this solar eclipse in another verse, Jeremiah 6:4-5: “Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! For the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.” This verse describes the events of Nebuchadnezzar’s as they move into to Israel to destroy Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple. Many theologians interpret this verse as saying that Nebuchadnezzar’s forces have waited too long to invade during the day so they wait to invade during the night. Why didn’t they just wait to invade during the next day? It is certainly easier for them to fight during the day. I think something else is happening here. What is interesting in this verse is the overreaction of Nebuchadnezzar’s forces to the sun going down: “Woe to us!”. Suppose this wasn’t an overreaction? If this verse is a description of a solar eclipse their response makes perfect sense. The Babylonians worshipped the celestial bodies so a solar eclipse could very well be a good reason to alter a military invasion: it could be a sign these gods were unhappy with what you were doing. Thales of Miletus tells the account of a war between Lydia and Media in which a solar eclipse occurred very near the same period of history; the two armies ceased all fighting and signed a peace treaty because they feared they had angered the celestial gods. It appears that the Babylonian’s interpretation of the solar eclipse was that the celestial gods didn’t want them to invade during the day but rather at night (when a solar eclipse could not occur). Also notice what the Babylonians don’t say; they don’t say that it became dark in the middle of the day. If it did this would be evidence of full solar eclipse but since this was an annular eclipse that wouldn’t happen. The eclipse would occur but it wouldn’t go completely dark. The Babylonians do mention something that happens in any solar eclipse (including an annular eclipse). Note that they say that the “shadows of the evening were stretched out”, (literally the shadows were distorted). Even an annular solar eclipse causes strange appearances in shadows; they can appear to race along the ground and take on distorted outlines. Since I was able to find this solar eclipse in the book of Jeremiah I then wondered if there were other astronomical descriptions in the Bible. I then found two others in the book of Revelations in the twelfth chapter. Let’s look at the first astronomical description; consider Revelation 12:3-4: “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven…” If this describes another solar eclipse when do I look for it? I believe that there are 7,000 years that will pass from the first day of creation to the last day of the millennial kingdom of Christ. The events of the tribulational period happen 1,000 years before the end of the millennial period, or 6,000 years after the first day of creation. I showed in my book The Fourth Day: Why the Bible is Historically Accurate that 4,000 years elapsed from the first day of creation until the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Since Christ was crucified about 31 A.D. then we should expect the tribulational period to occur very near 2031 A.D. I was able to find a solar eclipse that appears to be a good fit for the Revelation 12:3-4 verses that will take place over Israel on August 2, 2027 A.D. The constellation Hydra (the water serpent) will have its head in the center of the sky located just below the constellation Cancer. Seven bodies (sun, moon and five planets) will be spread across the sky along the elliptic line through the constellation Cancer from east to west. These seven bodies could represent the seven heads of the dragon in these verses. The constellation Hydra is the largest of all the constellations so it could be considered “great” like the dragon is described in Rev. 12:3. The other astronomical description is described in Rev. 12:1: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” I believe this is a description of the sky in Israel at sunset on August 5, 2027 A.D. The constellation Virgo will be seen on the western horizon at sunset (standing on her head) and a new moon (slightly crescent moon) will be located by Virgo’s head. Since this will happen at sunset the sky will be “clothed in the sun” and since Virgo is standing on its head the moon will be located below its feet in the sky. The fascinating aspect of this discovery is that these astronomical signs are separated by a period of three days. The context of the reading of Revelation chapter 12 certainly causes the reader to believe these events would be very close to one another in time.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 23:57:52 +0000
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