MARTIN CAREY |
“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the 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, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so” (Genesis 1:14-15).
On April 8, we were treated to the amazing spectacle of a total eclipse of the sun. Sharon and I drove to Mason, Texas, to see the moon perfectly cover the sun’s light for 3 minutes and 47 seconds. If you weren’t in a place to see the sun totally eclipsed, you could watch it on your small screen and see the excited reactions of the crowds.
While millions of us celebrated the total eclipse, reactions to this event were varied. For some it was just another beautiful spectacle of nature and nothing more. In ancient times, eclipses were unexpected and terrifying. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that on May 28, 585 BC, the Lydians and Medes were engaged in a fierce battle. In the heat of battle that day, the sun became dark and disappeared. Thousands of warriors on both sides suddenly stopped fighting and gazed in fear at the darkened sun. Surely the gods were displeased with their battle and would send disaster upon them! That day they all laid down their weapons and made peace with each other. That story illustrates how eclipses were enormously significant for peoples around the world, and still are.
For many people today, eclipses of the sun and moon are a divinely-sent sign of the end times. Many Christians see signs in the heavens as a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Speculations are swirling around the internet about the symbolic meanings behind the places and the timing of this year’s solar eclipse. In fact, some influential Christian leaders have made strong statements, such as pastor John Hagee of Texas, well-known for his end-times predictions involving lunar and solar eclipses.
Some look at the two solar eclipse tracks of 2017 and 2024 that intersect near the center of the United States and perceive the Hebrew letter aleph. They point to several towns along the eclipse track named “Nineveh,” that wicked Assyrian city where God sent Jonah. Every eclipse is now analyzed as a potential divine sign. Many Christians now describe every lunar eclipse as a “blood moon,” suggesting that any eclipse is a fulfillment of Joel 2:31 and Acts 2:20.
Should We Celebrate?
If eclipses are signs of the soon-coming tribulations, should we be celebrating them? Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of the late Billy Graham, does not believe eclipses are a cause for celebration. She points to the many sins in America, such as millions of abortions, that are deserving of God’s wrath. Before the great American solar eclipse of 2017, she wrote,
“The celebratory nature regarding the eclipse brings to my mind the Babylonian King Belshazzar who threw a drunken feast the night the Medes and Persians crept under the city gate” (https://www.annegrahamlotz.org/2017/08/07/gods-judgment-coming-america/#.WYjSL-PwbMg.twitter).
Graham also wisely acknowledges that theories about the eclipses being signs of God’s coming judgment are conjectures, and that regardless of what they mean, we need to repent and share the gospel message.
Scriptures make it clear that human wickedness and rebellion against God will bring his eventual judgment, and this includes judgment on entire nations. Child sacrifice and idolatry were especially notorious among the national sins that brought God’s severest judgment in ancient times. Today those sins are especially celebrated—in modern forms—in the USA and around the world. We know from God’s word that His wrath is coming, and the Bible tells us that there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars when His final wrath is near. Revelation states that when the sixth seal is opened, “the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth” (Rev. 6:12-13).
Signs in the Heavens
Does this certainty of judgment mean that we should now be looking at every solar and lunar eclipse as a sign of the end?
Remember what kinds of people asked Jesus for a sign. He refused to show their sign, and instead, He directed them to the sign of the prophet Jonah, which of course, foreshadowed Jesus’ own death and resurrection. The gospel is the greatest of signs for a lost world.
How the can we know which celestial signs are significant?
In Matthew 24, Jesus gives some important clues on the order of events in the last days, immediately before His second coming:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:29-30).
Here in Jesus’ prophecy, the darkening of the sun and moon are specific events before He comes. Eclipses are recurring natural phenomena and have been taking place since the creation of the world, so not every eclipse can be a sign of the end. There are other signs in the Bible, however, such as the coming of the Man of Lawlessness in 2Thessalonians 2:3-4:
“For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessnessis revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
When that Man of Lawlessness is revealed, we will have a definite sign of the end. Jesus did not tell us to prepare for His coming by watching the sun and moon for signs, but to prepare by abiding in His word, trusting in Him, and bearing fruit (John 15:4-10). He warned us against a sleepy complacency, making clear that His coming will be unexpected, even by His followers, like a “thief in the night.” We cannot know the hour or time of His coming, as many self-proclaimed prophets have claimed. Predicting the date of Christ’s coming is a sign of a false prophet.
Celestial signs will direct our attention to God’s actions at the end of time, and they are often accompanied by other signs. At the crucifixion of Jesus, there was a darkening of the sun and a strong earthquake, which the apostle Peter pointed out as fulfillments of Joel 2:31. These supernatural signs in the earth and sky were foreshadowing the great Day of the Lord, when the nature will be “shaken” and disturbed out of its natural order on a larger scale. I personally expect that when these signs appear, they will be shocking and impossible to explain by our usual science.
What kind of celestial event is a sign of the end? Jesus gives us a clue in Matthew 24:13, where he says, “the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Eclipses of the sun or moon, by themselves, are not indications that the powers of the heavens are being shaken. In fact, they indicate that as long as we can see eclipses, we can know that the powers of the heavens are very much in order.
Reason for Celebration
Eclipses are marvelously significant to our understanding of how God works in His faithful providence over his creation. In 1915, Albert Einstein published his theory of general relativity, which brought a much more precise understanding of how gravity works in our universe. Please understand, though, that relativity theory does not imply that truth is relative. It actually establishes that physical laws apply universally, quite the opposite of relativism.
Einstein’s theory predicted that massive objects in space actually warped space itself, so that star light passing next to another star would be slightly bent, or deflected, from its original straight path. Many people were skeptical of this theory, so experimental evidence was needed.
That evidence was discovered by a science expedition in 1919. British astronomers Arthur Eddington and Frank Dyson watched a total eclipse of the sun on Principe, an island off the coast of Africa, and they took photos of starlight during the darkness of totality. They were able to measure the exact positions of the stars near the sun and found that they were out of position by a small but expected margin. This measurement was hugely significant evidence, not only revealing that general relativity is a real physical principle, but that the laws of physics applied consistently over the entire universe. As Christian physicist Jeff Zweerink points out, if the laws of physics don’t apply universally,
“We would not be able to do science and understand how far away are things, and how old are things, and how do they operate, how do galaxies form, and what are neutrons, stars, and black holes” (https://www.christianpost.com/news/total-solar-eclipse-gives-christians-opportunity-share-gospel-astrophysicist-says-194930/).
Studying eclipses opened a wide window to understanding the entire universe and its beautiful consistency and order. It is no coincidence that the sun and moon are nearly the exact same size in the sky. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, but the sun is also 400 times further away. So, the moon can cover the sun precisely and allow us to see and study the sun’s outer atmosphere and composition. As astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez points out, eclipses are rich evidence of God’s intelligent design. They allow us to study our star and understand all other stars, galaxies, and His whole cosmic creation (Gonzalez and Richards, The Privileged Planet, 2004). The first chapter in the book explains how eclipses are designed to show God’s handiwork, and how God places us in the solar system, and in the perfect spot in our Milky Way galaxy, allowing us to study the universe. I highly recommend the movie, “The Privileged Planet.”
Einstein was able to discover the secrets of physics only because of the reliability of the divine laws which govern nature. The basic laws of physics do not change, and there is ample experimental evidence to show that reliability. Faithful and reliable natural laws show the power and faithfulness of our creator, who “upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3).
The solar eclipse of April 8 was a spectacular demonstration of God’s original intent for the sun and moon. They are there to mark seasons, days, and years (Genesis 1:14-15), faithfully and without failure, for as long as God intends them to do so. The “fixed order” of the sun, moon, and stars are established by God and are a sign of His covenant faithfulness (Jeremiah 31:35-36). As the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” says:
“Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest;
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.”
This is why we can celebrate eclipses as God’s gracious and glorious demonstrations of His faithfulness to us. When we see the moon cover the sun, or the moon turn red in the earth’s shadow, we are reminded that His promises are true, everywhere and all the time. We can trust Him. †
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