A solar eclipse may seem like an odd occurrence, but it is no secret to God or the authors of the Bible. We know from Scripture that God uses signs and wonders in heaven to communicate with His people. That includes rare solar eclipses.
“From a biblical point of view, a solar eclipse is meant to be a sign from God,” says Pastor Mark Biltz who claims to have first noticed the four blood-moon pattern.
“In Genesis 1:14, God declared this to be so. It is a sign that is beyond man’s control, something he can’t manipulate,” Biltz told WND. “Solar eclipses become biblically and prophetically significant and relevant when man understands their timing according to the biblical calendar and where they happen. Then, we look for the patterns.”
Several end-times voices believe the coming total solar eclipse is a sign from God. A total solar eclipse took place on August 21, 2017 and was visible on both the East Coast and West Coast. This was a pretty big deal as one hadn't been visible from the continental United States in 37 years and one hadn't passed over the country since 1918, almost 100 years.
For a solar eclipse to take place at a particular time may not seem to be a big deal. There is a total solar eclipse visible somewhere around the globe about every 18 months. However, from any one location on Earth, total eclipses take place on average only once in several hundred years.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, blocking out a large chunk of the Sun’s rays. Day will turn into night across the United States on August 21. The moon will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun, casting a shadow on the United States that will track from Oregon to South Carolina.
In order to better to better understand if God is giving us sign or warning, we can turn to Scripture. There are passages through the Bible that talk about the sun being blacked out by darkness descending on the land. During the plagues of Egypt, God covered the land in darkness.
Exodus 10:21-23 says, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt – darkness that can be felt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand towards the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.”
Kind of sounds like a solar eclipse, right?
Then, during Jesus’ crucifixion, referenced in the New Testament, something very similar happened. Mark 15: 32-33 says, “’Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. ‘ Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him. Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”
We even see biblical prophecies about the Sun going dark. Revelation 6:12 says, “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.”
This isn’t the only passage that predicts this. We also see this in the book of Matthew and Mark, here foretelling of some sort of eclipse.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened.” (Matthew 24:29). Similar words are said in Mark 13:24.
Blitz believes that the total solar eclipse is a huge sign from God.
“As the sun is larger than the moon, the sun represents the nations of the world and the moon represents the nations of the world and the moon represents the nation of Israel, as their calendar months are based on the cycle of the moon while the nations of the world follow the sun for their calendar,” Biltz said. “When there is a total solar eclipse, it is a warning to a specific nation or nations depending on its path.”
Blitz ultimately suggests that such cataclysms may be in store for the United States, especially given the timing of the event.
“Now this August 21, 2017, we have a total solar eclipse going over the United States. This is again at the beginning of the month of repentance on the first of Elul! Could God be giving us warning that we need to repent or judgment will be coming on the United States? The timing couldn’t be clearer,” Blitz said.
Another solar eclipse will be visible in large portions of the nation just seven years later in 2024. When you chart the course of both solar eclipses on a map, you see that they form a giant “X” right over the center of the country. Could this too be significant?
According to the Washington Post, some believe that the two eclipses, one that traveled across the United States in 2017 and one that will take place in 2024 and will mark an X across the nation, could be the starting and ending signs bookmarking a seven-year period of awful tribulations that are in store for nonbelievers who are left behind on Earth when the rapture occurs. While we know from Scripture that there are many other things that are supposed to take place before the rapture occurs, could there be some other sort of significance?
In the Bible, Jesus said that there will be signs in the sun, and in the moon and in the stars just prior to His return, and many are speculating just what the solar eclipse on August 21 and in 2024 might mean, especially given this type of solar eclipse doesn’t happen very often and it will be so visible in large portions of the nation.
Do you think a solar eclipse is a warning from God?
