The “Great American Eclipse” is a scant two weeks away and I have been pondering it a bit.  This morning, I shot a quick two texts to my good friend and co-author, Al McCarn.

I asked, “Did an eclipse happen over Nineveh just before Jonah arrived?”  and, “Did Jonah arrive on the first day of Elul?”

He answered almost immediately with three links I will share in a minute.

Multiple people have asked my thoughts on this event, so I’d like to share a few thoughts and a few links…

Genesis 1 tells us,

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be ^[s]lights in the ^[t]expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for ^[u]lights in the ^[v]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two ^[w]great lights, the greater ^[x]light ^[y]to govern the day, and the lesser ^[z]light ^[aa]to govern the night; He made the stars also. ¹⁷ God placed them in the ^[ab]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and ^[ac]to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

Notice the created lights or luminaries of the sun, moon and stars are for 1) signs, 2) seasons, 3) days and 4) years.  Most people understand the third and fourth functions of the sun and moon. Day, night.  Easy peasy, right?

Reading the passage in English makes most assume they understand the second, ‘seasons’ but in fact, the Hebrew does not refer to Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall.  Rather, the term refers to appointed times that are severally introduced in Scripture, but best summed up in Leviticus 23.  Those ‘appointed times,’ or ‘moed,’ are Pesach (Passover), Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot (Pentecost), Yom Teruah (Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Atonement) and Sukkot (Tabernacles), all Feasts of the Lord.  However, this use is not the subject of this post.

It is the first use that we will briefly consider today.  That use is ‘signs’ or ‘oth’ as in ‘signal, beacon, banner, omen,’ etc…  The heavens are an incredibly designed complex group of moving parts that tell a story, send warnings and reveal exact timings.  The Creator of Heaven and Earth who knows all and has an exact plan already set forth in time and space has written the very details into the sky.  While it would take volumes to build that out and demonstrate examples, the simple fact is that not a single celestial event is wasted and all have some significance in revealing the Heavenly plan, though some signs are much more obvious than other.

Over the course of the last several years we have had a rather rare sequence of Blood Moons that fell on consecutive Pesachs and Sukkots the subject of multiple posts on this blog.  More recently, we have looked at the impending fulfillment of Revelation 12:1-2 in the sky.

Now, the total solar eclipse that completely crosses the Continental United States on August 21, 2017 has become a hot topic and there is question of its significance.  Before passing judgment of what I believe the significance may be, let us review the facts and attendant details:

• Total transcontinental solar eclipse occurs August 21, 2017
• It occurs on the eve of Elul 1 and begins the 40 days of repentance before Yom Kippur
• The track completely crosses the US
• First transcontinental total solar eclipse in the US in 99 years
• 2550 days later (1260 + 1290) a second transcontinental eclipse occurs
• Second eclipse occurs on eve of Rosh Chodesh for Nissan 1, 5785, days before Passover
• Tracks of the two eclipses form a giant X over the US….

http://www.endtimepilgrim.org/asi17-24.jpg

Interesting series of facts and imagery, no?

This eclipse occurs on the eve of Elul 1, which traditionally begins the significant 40 day period of repentance before Yom Kippur, prompting my question to Al about Jonah.  The message Jonah spoke to Nineveh was, “40 days more and Nineveh will be destroyed.”  Judgment and destruction is connected with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, therefore, it would make sense that Jonah’s message would be supported with the universal sign from heaven of impending judgment, a total solar eclipse.

Interestingly, NASA records that just such an event occurred on June 15, 763 BC with a total solar eclipse over Nineveh during the reign of  King Ashur-Dan III, a contemporary of Jonah, as this article from WorldNetDaily recounts.   June 15th would fall weeks before Elul 1 and the 40 day period of repentance.  Were the Ninevites prepared for Jonah’s message?  Jonah ministered exactly during this timeframe, even leaving the city at the end of the 40 day period and building a sukkah (sukkot, tabernacles, ?? anyone?) to observe the city from.

This is interesting timing and imagery tied to the Jonah story that may have bearing on today and the sequence of events setting up both in the sky, in Washington and the state of the world.  My greatest concern is that the whole event has sparked a massive party atmosphere in the United States.  Yes, it is rare, and yes, it passes directly over my house in South Carolina, and yes, I am interested in viewing this event, but, does it portent judgment and are we repenting?  Personally, I think not.  In fact, I believe America is celebrating her debauchery as much as we are celebrating the impending omen of judgment.

To bring the lesson closer to home, this morning I watched a terrific teaching video by Steve Moutria of Torahfamily.org titled Where are the Weeping Prophets?

I HIGHLY recommend investing 30 minutes for this very important message from the Father concerning how we are reaching out to others and how we should be reaching out.  Steve encapsulates in a captivating manner some of the very stumbling blocks that we are and have that prevent others from hearing our message.

I do not know for sure what the significance of the upcoming eclipse is, but I do know that there is an openness among people and a significant move of the Father going on.  Are we helpers or hindrances?  Are we prepared to stand in the gap or will we run ‘from a single woman…?’  (Steve explains…)

Now is the time to begin preparing our hearts for Elul and serious repentance on our own behalf and that of our nation.  Ours, and their future may depend on it!!

Shabbat shalom!