The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 11:23 AM

FAITH: Great American Solar Eclipse Has Deep Prophetic Implications

In some areas of the country, the darkness will last more than two minutes and 30 seconds.

Such wonders of nature largely were feared in older civilizations, and even while the mechanics of orbits crossing can be observed and predicted, they still make many people think of God today.

What do YOU think? Are eclipses signs from God? Sound off in today’s WND poll!

Pastor Mark Biltz, the man who discovered the “Blood Moons” phenomenon and a Christian who urges careful attention to heavenly signs, suggests there may be something more to the eclipse.

Such as a direct warning to the United States.

“From a biblical point of view, a solar eclipse is meant as a sign from God,” Biltz told WND. “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. 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.

“As the sun is larger than the moon, the sun 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. When there is a total solar eclipse, it is a warning to a specific nation or nations depending on its path.”

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Biltz, author of the new book “God’s Day Timer,” suggests God often uses celestial signs to send direct messages to the nations.

He will discuss his studies and discoveries this fall on the WND Cruise to Alaska Sept. 8-15. He also will talk about his other areas of expertise, including the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith.

Biltz said: “Just look at the biblical pattern. Many know the story of Jonah and Nineveh from the Bible, but not the historical background events as to what had already transpired, and why they repented. In 765 B.C., a plague broke out in Nineveh where even the king was not able to go out to war, as was custom. This was followed by a civil war and then another plague!

“An archaeological find of cuneiform tablets was found in the 19th century describing events in Nineveh. A famous eclipse mentioned in the tablets was known as the Bur-Sagale eclipse, which is verified by NASA as occurring on June 15, 763 BC. The path of totality was right over Nineveh. God had declared the sun and the moon were for signs, and now the Ninevites saw the wrath of God coming even before Jonah arrived a couple months later. When Jonah arrived, they were ripe for repentance.”

Blogger Emmett O’Regan of Unveilingtheapocalypse praised Biltz for highlighting details about the historic links between events of the heavens and happenings on earth.

“I think he has made an important contribution to my discoveries, in that he highlights the importance of the timing of the eclipse on 21st August 2017 in relation to the 1st Elul, which marks a 40-day countdown to Yom Kippur,” O’Regan wrote WND.

He explained he has been writing on the topic since 2013 and wrote in 2016 about the connections.

“The path of totality of the Bur-Sagle Eclipse, which is one of the most famous solar eclipses in ancient history, occurred just north of Nineveh on 14th June, 763 BC during the reign of King Ashur-Dan III of Assyria, and was recorded for posterity in the Assyrian Eponym Canon – a series of cuneiform tablets discovered in the 19th century,” he wrote then. “We know that the Prophet Jonah was a contemporary of King Ashur-Dan III because of a brief mention of him in the Second Book of Kings, which places his prophetic ministry during the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel.”

He explained then, “Given the fact that this solar eclipse was one of the most noteworthy events to [have] occurred during the reign of Ashur-Dan III, it has prompted many theologians to suggest that the occurrence of the Bur-Sagle eclipse was the primary reason why the Ninevites were so keen to repent upon hearing Jonah’s message of doom – a curious reaction which is left unexplained in the book of Jonah itself.”

He continued, “the Assyrian chronicles inform us that a plague had broken out in the city of Nineveh just a few years before the eclipse 765 BC, which was soon followed by an internal revolt which began during the very same year that the eclipse occurred – a series of events which would undoubtl3edly have been attributed to the wrath of the gods.”

The circumstances left the Ninevites, he explained, “only too eager to listen.”

Biltz argued signs of this kind also occurred during the modern era just before cataclysmic events.

“Now fast-forward to another solar eclipse on August 21, but this time in 1914,” he said. “This is the first day of the month of Elul, which begins the month of repentance in ‘God’s Day Timer.’ The first of Elul is when Jonah began prophesying for 40 days. Just before the eclipse, we see on June 28th, 1914, through the month of August, the events of World War 1 begin! The path of totality of the eclipse was over Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire or Middle East, including Nineveh again. This was foretelling the destruction of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.”

Biltz suggests such cataclysms may be in store for the United States, especially given the timing of the event.

“Now, this Aug 21, 2017, we have a total solar eclipse going over the United States,” he noted. “This is again at the beginning the month of repentance on the first of Elul! Could God be giving us a warning that we need to repent or judgment will be coming to the United States? The timing couldn’t be clearer!

“We also find seven years later there will be another total solar eclipse running from south to the northeast across the United States on April 8, 2024, with St. Louis in the crosshairs between the two eclipses. April 8 is significant because it is the anniversary of the dedication of Moses tabernacle, when God reasserted Himself into the affairs of men with His glory coming to earth. It just so happens it was also the day Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu died.”

Biltz says such celestial signs should always be viewed as part of a larger pattern. He has identified another astronomical pattern that will emerge just after the solar eclipse this year.

“Another very significant sign in the heavens is happening right after this year’s total solar eclipse on the first of Elul, beginning the month of repentance,” he noted. “A month later, we find during the Days of Awe from Rosh Hashanah on Tishri 1 and Yom Kippur on Tishri 10, there will be a confirmation of celestial events as described in the Book of Revelation. Revelation 12: 1-2 reads: ‘A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth.’

“The woman clothed with the sun is the constellation Virgo and represents the nation of Israel. The 12 stars represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Interestingly, the constellation Leo, the Lion, which is above Virgo, is made up of nine stars. The Lion represents specifically the tribe of Judah. It just so happens this year during the Days of Awe, three planets will join the constellation Leo making up 12 stars. Virgo will be clothed with the sun, and the moon will be under her feet, fulfilling this sign to precise detail!”

Biltz believes these are signs God is reinserting Himself into human history as prophecy becomes fulfilled as never before. Therefore, Biltz says, it is especially important for Christians to “learn from history” and lead a movement for repentance.

“I recommend believers unite in fasting and praying for our nation,” he said. “This eclipse is just before the month of Elul, which is known as the month of repentance before the Fall Feasts. We find this begins at the same time Jesus, Yeshua, went into the wilderness for 40 days after being immersed by John, coming out just before Yom Kippur.

“This begins the same time Moses went back up the mount to make atonement for the sin of the golden calf, coming down on Yom Kippur.

“This is the same time frame Jonah went to Nineveh telling them to repent before judgment would fall on Yom Kippur! So according to ‘God’s Day Timer,’ the United States has 40 days to repent by Yom Kippur, as judgment will be meted out over the following year either for bad or good.”