Signs in the Heavens

​Are we drawing closer to the end of time? I do not have the answer to this question but believe that one must contemplate this with all the signs that are appearing in nature. Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Other verses that speak similarly include Joel 2:10, 30 and 31. "Before them (the Lord's army) the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine...I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." 
 
On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will take place that will start in Mexico and then enter America at Eagle Pass, Texas, travel through 13 states to the northeast where it will exit the United States in Maine and move into Canada. About seven years ago there was another total solar eclipse that traveled across America from Salem, Oregon in the west to Fort Sumpter, South Carolina in the east. The unique part of the eclipse path was that it went over seven towns named Salem. It took place on August 4, 2017, and created a stir since there had not been a total eclipse over America since 1776. When we consider that the number seven represents completion and perfection, was God trying to make a point through the seven cities named Salem? Perhaps. Salem means peace, and Jesus is the Prince of Peace. America is meant to be an advocate for Israel, and Scripture instructs us to "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May those who love you be secure.' (Psalm 122:6)
 
The eclipse that will occur on Monday, April 8, presents us with another interesting phenomenon. In its path from Texas to Maine are seven cities named Nineveh. In Biblical days, God saw the wickedness of the city of Nineveh and sent the reluctant prophet, Jonah, to warn the people of His impending judgment. Jonah proclaimed, "'Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.' The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth." (Jonah 3:4, 5) They repented and "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He relented and did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened." (Jonah 3:10)
 
It is interesting to me that the date of Monday’s eclipse falls directly in the middle of Purim (a time of judgment) and Passover (a time of release). As we look further into the details of the two eclipses, we see how they crisscross. The "X" falls over a city named Carbondale, Illinois, whose original name was Little Egypt. The very center of the "X" is over a State Park whose entrance and exit road is named Salem Road. There are some interesting parts of the Passover story that seem to apply to this convergence. God judged the Egyptians because they would not set the children of Israel free. He sent ten plagues, the ninth one being darkness for three days and night. After this, the final plague was death of the firstborn which brought about the release of the Israelites.
 
We are a people always looking for a sign from God, just as the pharisees did in Matthew 12. Jesus said to them, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here." (Matthew 12:40, 41) Monday, April 8, at sunset, is the beginning of the month of Nisan, the first month on the Hebrew calendar. It is a time of redemption, release, and new life. The Passover occurred this month. Could there be a connection between this coming Passover and the moon passing between the sun and the earth that calls our nation to repentance and release? Since our nation has departed from God, could this be a sign calling us to repent as the Ninevites did so that He can bring us peace as highlighted in the first eclipse? I believe so. Let us pray to that end.