Great American Solar Eclipse

America watched a total solar eclipse in August 2017. And will watch another total solar eclipse April 8, 2024. It is predicted to be the largest mass viewing of an astronomical event in US history. I have seen more articles about the 2024 eclipse than I saw for the 2017 eclipse. So many people are travelling to see it that some locations worry they may run out of food that day. Delta Airlines [1] is even offering path-of-totality flights from Austin to Detroit.

Does the eclipse have any meaning? Is it a sign? Is it just a normal cycle in the heavens? I wrote a blog article in 2017 about that eclipse [2], and asked the same questions then.

Is this just an ordinary astronomical event? Or is it a sign from God Himself? Big deal or no?

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Let's look at some interesting facts about the eclipse, then come back to these questions.

• The 2017 eclipse crossed over seven cities named Salem in America
• The 2024 eclipse will occur on the last day of the Hebrew year.
• The 2024 eclipse will cross over seven cities named Nineveh in America 
• Some teach that there was an eclipse over Nineveh in the days of Jonah 
• The first US town to see the 2024 eclipse is Eagle Pass, Texas 
• The last Canadian town to see the 2024 eclipse is Economy, Nova Scotia 
• The 2017 and 2024 eclipses cross paths in southern Illinois, in "Little Egypt"
• A small planetary alignment (four planets) occurs April 4, 2024 
• The "devil comet" visible during the 2024 eclipse, closest at Passover  
• A blood moon lunar eclipse occurred Mar 25, 2024 (Purim) 
• The 2023 eclipse plus 2017 and 2024 eclipses form the Paleo Hebrew Aleph 
• The 2017 and 2024 eclipses form the Paleo Hebrew letter Tav

From Salem To Nineveh

Look at the names of the towns that the 2017 and 2024 eclipses pass through. In 2017, seven towns named Salem, in 2024 seven towns named Nineveh - Israel365News [3]. There are only seven towns named Nineveh in the US, yet this eclipse hits them all. Salem means peace, but the exact meaning of Nineveh is uncertain, it could mean "Habitation of Offspring" or "Habitation of Ninus", where Ninus is a powerful, historical figure - Abarim [4]. What is more relevant here is that the prophet Jonah warned Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days unless they repented.

Archeological scholar, Donald Wiseman, former curator at the British Museum and leading expert on Assyrian culture, has speculated that a solar eclipse did occur over Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire [3].

A solar eclipse during Jonah's warning to Nineveh would have encouraged people to believe him and repent. They did repent that time and were spared, but were destroyed a century or so later - GotQuestions [5]. If one accepts that these eclipses are warnings, it could mean 1) a warning that peace (Salem) will be removed - I would argue that the world is much less peaceful now than 2017. And 2) that destruction is imminent unless we repent (like Nineveh).

Immigration and Economy

Get Your Eagle Pass T-Shirt

The first US town to see the eclipse is Eagle Pass, Texas,[6] considered ground zero of the US illegal immigration crisis. The last town in Canada to see the eclipse is Economy, Nova Scotia [7]. Immigration and the economy are two big issues for voters in 2024. Coincidence?

Little Egypt

The two total eclipses overlap in an area of Illinois called Little Egypt [8]. John Badgley, a Baptist missionary called the area Land of Goshen in 1799. At one time, a famine in northern Illinois caused people to go to Little Egypt to buy food, and some settled there - Northern Illinois University [9]. Sound familiar? One way to look at this is maybe we are being told to look back at what happened in Egypt long ago. Pharaoh had a dream, interpreted by Joseph of seven fat years followed by seven lean years. The lean years did not begin in 2017, so if that is the point, the lean years could start this year. Maybe the point is to look to Israel's Exodus from Egypt, preceded by a plague of darkness.

2024 will see the rare occurrence of two cicada broods in Illinois, one in southern Illinois - Illinois Extension [10], though they are not expected to overlap to any significant extent - UConn [11] .

This year (2024) is a big year for periodical cicadas in Illinois, where Broods XIII and XIX will be emerging throughout much of the state at the same time. This is the first time this has happened since 1803 [10]

Little Egypt is also close to the New Madrid fault line, the site of the largest US earthquakes, which happened in 1811-1812. One of these quakes was powerful enough to make the Mississippi River flow backwards - Wiki(New Madrid) [12].

Coincidence?

More Signs In The Heavens

Devil Comet With Two "Horns"

 

Interesting astronomical events seem to be piling up in 2024. The "Devil Comet" [13], so called because it appears to have two horns will be visible during the eclipse. Remember, the eclipse is on the last day of the Hebrew year, the new year starts April 8 at sundown. The Devil Comet will pass closest to Earth on April 21, which is Passover. Also, a "Blood Moon" lunar eclipse occurred on March 25, the day after the Jewish holiday of Purim [7]. Don't forget the small planetary alignment on April 4 - some say it will be seven planets aligned - endoftheamericandream [14], but other sources say only four - starwalk.space [15]. Coincidence?

More Hebrew Connections

On Oct 14, 2023, the US witnessed an annular eclipse, also known as a ring of fire eclipse because the sun is still visible around the moon - Planetary [16]. Tracing the paths of these three solar eclipses gives a hint to anyone who reads Paleo Hebrew. Doesn't everyone? All three paths form a Paleo Hebrew letter Aleph. The 2017 and 2024 paths form the letter Tav. Aleph is the first letter of the alphabet, Tav is the last. One could interpret this as the first and the last, or the beginning and the end - LightOf Torah [17], Natsab [18] Coincidence?

Signs Or Coincidence?

I have read a number of interpretations of the eclipses, they cover a spectrum of opinions. Throughout history, many believe that eclipses in general are bad omens, they feared eclipses. Mark Biltz for example claims 

Solar eclipse to mark beginning of judgment upon America - WND [19]

But he also said

The 1967-1968 tetrad of blood moons was a seven-year warning of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Yom Kippur in 1973 was the very first day of the Jubilee cycle. And then the 2014-2015 Protective Edge incursion into Gaza and the Blood Moon that accompanied it were a seven-year warning before the October 7 war [19]

 

Maybe I'm being pedantic, but 1967-1973 is six years not seven, and 2014-2024 is ten years not seven. 

Lyn Melvin [20] is predicting the rapture on or before the eclipse, but I'm not persuaded that the Bible predicts a rapture.  

While some view them as warnings of judgment, others view them as predictable astronomical events and nothing to fear, which is one reason so many people are going to view the eclipse live.

Opinions vary within the Churches of God as well. Tom Kerry [21] teaches similar to Mark Biltz, while Bob Thiel [22] denounces it saying

Do not be like the pagans and read things into astronomical phenomena that people like Mark Biltz are pushing. [22]

Thiel does however acknowledge the judgment aspect of the times we live in.

the USA and many other lands are doing things to trigger God’s judgment [22]

Final Thoughts 

The Bible does say that the sun and moon were given for signs (Gen 1:14), that sounds like it includes eclipses. It also says "Joel 2:31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE the great and the terrible day of the LORD come." The heavenly signs of the very end times will be unmistakable, supernatural signs, not natural predictable events. But I can't help thinking the timing and location of these natural events, however predictable they may be, are still signs, not coincidences. One problem I see is that interpreting the signs is unclear, as seen in the spectrum of opinions above. I don't wish to read too much into these signs, nor do I wish to ignore or dismiss them as simply coincidence. As a nation and as individuals, it is time to repent and get right with God.

References

1. https://news.delta.com/eclipse-viewing-30000-feet-delta-offer-path-totality-flight

2. https://jlfreeman-1.blogspot.com/2017/08/total-solar-eclipse-apocalypse.html

3. https://israel365news.com/387837/the-great-american-eclipse-of-2024-jonah-and-nineveh-connecting-the-dots/

4. https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Nineveh.html

5. https://www.gotquestions.org/Nineveh-destroyed.html

6. https://www.chooseeaglepass.com/eclipse

7. https://www.wnd.com/2024/03/biblical-expert-warns-upcoming-blood-moons/

8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Illinois

9. https://www.lib.niu.edu/2004/ih071004.html

10. https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2024-02-22-cicadas-are-coming-periodical-cicadas-illinois-2024

11. https://cicadas.uconn.edu/

12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811%E2%80%931812_New_Madrid_earthquakes

13. https://www.astronomy.com/observing/a-comet-will-be-visible-during-the-2024-total-solar-eclipse/

14. https://endoftheamericandream.com/the-blood-moon-purim-eclipse-of-march-25th-will-happen-at-about-the-same-time-the-devil-comet-becomes-visible-to-the-naked-eye/

15. https://starwalk.space/en/news/what-is-planet-parade

16. https://www.planetary.org/articles/what-is-an-annular-solar-eclipse

17. https://thelightoftorah.org/deeper-scriptural-understanding/the-aleph-tav/

18. https://natsab.com/2022/02/18/the-alef-the-tav-eclipses-and-the-exodus/

19. https://www.wnd.com/2024/02/biblical-expert-solar-eclipse-mark-beginning-judgment-upon-america/

20. https://lynmelvin.blogspot.com/2024/03/rapture-days-of-darkness-sooner-than-we.html

21. https://www.thecogmi.org/video/eclipse24.htm

22. https://www.cogwriter.com/news/prophecy/biltz-judgment-of-usa-begins-with-solar-eclipse-april-8-2024-billinglesy-jesus-will-be-on-earth-in-2029/