STAND FIRM: April 8 Eclipse - How Should It Be Interpreted (Part 1)
How should we biblically and prophetically interpret the second of the “x” Total Eclipses that passes over the US on April 8?
I don’t know, but many YouTubers and that guy at your work seem to know. That’s why I’m writing about it. I really don’t want to write this or even wade into this discussion, but I just keep seeing what I believe are biblical interpretative errors in how this eclipse is being addressed.
Nearly all the viral videos proclaiming this eclipse is prophetically significant present supporting evidence that was arrived at in a faulty approach to Bible prophecy. But on the other side of the argument, all I’ve heard speak against those viral videos have completely dismissed the eclipse, which I believe is an error as well — much less of an error, but an error still. I’ve not heard anyone suggest the truth could be found in the middle, as it usually always is found. In this case, “the middle” might be stretching it though. Because of this, I’m leaning on my conviction to rightly divide the Word — including Bible prophecy, the prophetic narrative clearly given in Scripture and what I’ve learned in my journey over the past 10 years in understanding Bible prophecy to wade in.
First, the approach used to state this eclipse coupled with the one seven years ago are a sign from God of judgment on our nation is faulty. If we must dig and dig through hidden details, zoom in and zoom in on a map or do some Einstein-like calculations to prove something is a prophetic sign, then that which we are trying to prove is not a sign. Prophecy will be clearly and obviously fulfilled. God doesn’t need our help or calculus skills to help Him fulfill His Word. When Bible prophecy is fulfilled, it will leave us with no doubts. If there is any stretching to make a prophecy fit something, then we’re barking up the wrong tree.
I’ve seen this with the April 8eclipse. Some have concluded it is a sign because it passes seven small towns called Ninevah. Now God is such a master author of this life He does work in details like that, but they’re icing on the cake, not details for us to use ahead of them to assume prophecy. This hasn’t been done with only Ninevah, but others have pointed out all the Egyptianish named locations in which the path passes. Some have argued that since the “x” of the two eclipses is over Carbondale, Ill. and because the atomic numbers of carbon are 6-6-6, this must point to the end. Again, God doesn’t need us to do secret calculations to figure out prophecy. Many other minor details are being used to explain that the eclipse is prophetically significant, but any time there has to be a “code breaker” that has the “secret key” to a prophetic matter — run!
Second, while I’m on the subject of Ninevah, another angle those videos have used is the eclipse is the “sign of Jonah.” Jesus is recorded using this phrase in Matthew 12, Mark 8 and John 14. I believe Jesus clarifies it even more so in John 2 when the “Sign of Jonah” is connected to the account of the bronze serpent in the wilderness. The Bible is clear that the sign of Jonah is the resurrection after three days and, I would add, the giving of oneself as Jonah allowed the men to throw him overboard and as Jesus gave Himself on the cross to save us.
Third, many verses that tell of an end-time eclipse are quoted in those viral videos. The verses given do talk about the sun turning dark, which likely could be an eclipse, and there are many of those passages, like Matt. 24:29, Mark 13:24, Joel 2:31, Amos 8:9, Zech. 14:6, Acts 2:20 and Rev. 6:12. As you can see, the sun going dark is mentioned many times, but each of these references tell of the same event and they’re all in the same context of other end-time events. Matthew 24 lays out the timing of this possible final eclipse, along with very clear and obvious other signs that must happen first. The April 8 eclipse cannot be that eclipse because those other signs haven’t happened and likely won’t in the two weeks between now and then.
It would seem that I don’t see any biblical basis for this eclipse to be a prophetic sign and that would be nearly correct. I definitely don’t see this eclipse fulfilling any foretold biblical event, but there is a sliver of room within the prophetic story in Scripture and some biblical principles that keep me from dismissing the possibility completely. In this case, I don’t think the truth is exactly in the middle, but I’m still keeping a “12.7% possibility” that there is some significance to this eclipse. That number is given in jest, but hopefully it describes how I’m viewing this. I will write in more detail next week, but for starters, we must recognize what the Lord declared in Gen. 1:14 (ESV): “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 (or appointed times) and for days and years.”
In this passage, the Lord proclaims that the sun and moon are signs. God speaks through them. Along those lines, the Jewish Talmud, which is a set of ancient teachings and commentaries on the first five books of the Bible, states that eclipses are signs or bad omens for the world and/or Gentile nations. The Talmud isn’t Scripture, but it does reveal ancient Jewish thought. Other ancient cultures viewed eclipses as the same, and we shouldn’t write them off as just not knowing science. It’s easy to say that science proves eclipses are just the natural order of things, but if we do that we would be saying the same about rainbows, which were declared by God to be a sign. In the case of the rainbow, we see how God uses the natural order to still speak as a sign to us.
I reached my word count a couple of paragraphs back, so I will finish this discussion in my next article. You just will need to read your Trumpet quickly to get that one in before the eclipse!
— Jake is a state missionary and would love to share about the work in Northwest Arkansas and encourage your church to stand firm. (standfirmministries.com)
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Jake McCandless
Jake McCandless authors a weekly column titled, Stand Firm and Live Epic, through which he seeks to encourage the modern church to not just survive, but thrive in current times. He also addresses many end-times topics.
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