SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS; COSMIC COINCIDENCE OR DIVINE DECREE?

An article from SVM Winter 2013

 

Mid-February 2013 has been a busy place in the heavens above our earth. Astronomy shows us we can expect more signs for several years to come. These unusual events are in plain sight for millions of people to watch. The Bible certainly talks about “signs in the heavens”. Are the signs we are seeing related to the Bible? If so, how? This article will study both the signs and the Bible, and show you what you need to know. We start with the events of a little more than one day:

Date & Time	Event
14th, 8:00 pm   Cienfuegos, Central Cuba	Cuba’s state television and other national media gave eye-witness accounts of people who saw a bright fireball in the sky which disappeared in a loud explosion. Houses were shaken, but no damage was reported. However, three purported photos of this event all proved false— they all had more sunlight than Cuba has at 8:00 P.M., and one was clearly a copy of a Russian meteor photo, below. (It is sad that people will falsify information about something this important—see the subtitle “Repent”, below.)
14th, 10:20 pm   Chelyabinsk, Siberia (a city of one million people)	This rock, about 55 feet in diameter, weighed 10 to 20 tons and came zooming into the atmosphere between 30,000 to 46,000 miles per hour. It was captured by numerous cameras in cars and buildings. At times, it was much brighter than the sun, causing cameras—not designed for these conditions—to go completely white. It produced a sonic boom that blew out many thousands of windows and damaged some buildings. Over 1200 people were treated for injuries, but at this writing, there were no deaths. Most of the meteor was apparently vaporized in the air, with the remains crashing through the ice of a small lake.   This is the largest meteor to strike our planet since the Tunguska, Siberia, meteor in June or July of 1908. Although the Tunguska meteor appeared to explode in air, rather than hitting the ground, the force of its explosion flattened 830 square miles of trees and had the explosive force of a 30 megaton bomb. Had it come down over a city, destruction would have been similar to a nuclear attack.
15th, 2:24 pm   2 Earth-widths away from us	An asteroid known as 2012 DA14 passed only 17,000 miles away from our Earth! As space distances go, this is very close! It missed us by a distance of about twice the Earth’s diameter—closer to the Earth than the communications satellites that we use so much. 2012 DA14 was discovered Feb 23, 2012—and its close encounter was correctly calculated back then. Existing technology would have allowed us to send a spacecraft to meet it. But since it is going 17,000mph in a direction that we do not want to go—the expense is not worth the value.   This asteroid 2012 DA14 is estimated to measure 100 to 200 feet across and weigh between 40,000 and 100,000 tons. Even so, it was not visible from the earth without the aid of a telescope. For its size, it has come closer to earth than any other asteroid, and neither it nor any other known similar sized asteroid is expected to come as close to earth again for the next 100 years. That appears fortunate, as this size of the asteroid would have the destructive power of the Tunguska meteor—able to devastate one of the states of the U.S.A. or an entire small country.   However, there is no guarantee. 2012 DA14 was discovered by amateur astronomers in Spain who happened to be looking in the right place at the right time. There certainly could be same-sized or bigger asteroids headed our way that we have not yet been able to find. Life in space can also be complicated. Its close encounter with Earth greatly changed DA14’s orbit—from 366 days (almost like earth) to 317 days. It is difficult enough to look for asteroids with orbits that might be on a collision course with Earth’s orbit, but it is unreasonable to expect even a massive government agency to be able to calculate the interaction of every asteroid with every planet and other asteroid to see if a near encounter might alter an orbit somewhere and send a formerly harmless piece of rock careening toward earth.
15th, 7:30 pm Florida east coast	Thousands of eastward-looking people in Florida were treated to a flashing sporadic meteor show. As the meteor entered the atmosphere, it alternated between bright and dim. This is a rare event that some people “might see once or twice in their life”. Amanda Meyer happened to have a video camera on and in the right direction—kindly posting it to YouTube. This meteor was in no way dangerous, but it attracted the attention of many in an already meteor-intense day.
15th, 10:45 pm West coast of California	Thousands more saw a bright streaking meteor off the west coast of California—with reports as far north as Seattle. This was another harmless meteor that disintegrated in the atmosphere, but took long enough that several viewers were able to aim their video recorders and post its dying day on YouTube.
All times are in Eastern Standard Time. Numerous Internet sources were used—first-hand accounts when possible.

What Do These Meteors Mean?

What are the chances of a once-in-a-life-time meteor striking the earth on the same day as known history’s closest asteroid fly-by, along with three other prominent meteors as well? While there is no precise way to calculate it, the answer is “extremely low,” maybe odds of less than 1 in a trillion.

Our initial reaction might be “Earth is passing through a meteor field,” but this writer could not find any scientists that agree with that. Indeed, the Siberian Meteor and 2012 DA14 were headed in opposite directions. The U.S.A. east and west-coast meteors were of different types. A website that accepts public meteor sighting reports from all over the world, http://thelatestworldwidemeteorreports.blogspot.com/, recorded only 29, 25, 53, 25 and 54 meteors for February 13 through 16. The average number of meteors reported is 25 per day, so the values above are between normal and twice normal. During “meteor showers,” the site reports hundreds of meteors per day.

The bottom line is this: A lot of very improbable things happened on the same day for no apparent scientific or mathematical cause.

This is the same situation we have with life itself: When a person needs a new cell phone, they do not look around outside just to see if one has evolved somewhere. We all know that complex things do not occur by themselves, but must be intelligently created. But we could look around outside and find 20 million unique living species, all more complicated than a cell phone and all composed of fully functioning systems. The probability of these living things coming into existence on their own, even over the space of billions of years, is much lower than finding a cell phone that evolved itself into existence.

When we find unexplained highly improbable events, the answer is almost always “purpose”—the purpose of someone with the power to bring the improbable event. The only rational explanation for life and meteors is that the Creator God has the power to bring about these unlikely events as He wishes. It is not cosmic coincidence; it is His divine decree.

Some people will say, “I agree that life is so complex that a God must have created it, but there is really no way we can know who that God is or what He expects of us. The answer to this question is amazingly simple. If God was smart enough to make 20 million unique species, and bring powerful meteors to earth to get everyone’s attention without killing anybody, would not He be smart enough to make sure His information was the most available on the planet? With over six billion copies in print, far more than any other book, we can rest assured that the Bible is His book for mankind. Which Bible translation? Not a significant problem. This writer would be happy to teach God’s basic truth from any serious Bible translation.

What Does the Bible Say about Signs in the Heavens?

The very first chapter of the Bible shows us one of God’s stated purposes for making heavenly bodies was for signs to mankind.

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 [note: appointed times] and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night – and the stars (Genesis 1:14-16, ESV).

The Hebrew for “signs” here is used frequently throughout the Bible for both miraculous signs and some humanly created signs. It is something that people are to take note of and take action upon. The word for “seasons” is the same word for the annual biblical Feast days, found in Leviticus 23 and elsewhere. Of course, it is the regular, predictable motion of the earth and moon that gives us days, years, and months. And it is the unusual events of these bodies (eclipses, solar flares, etc.) that are for signs. The stars were also for signs. The Hebrew “meaning” of “stars” includes planets, comets and meteors—it was not easy to tell the difference between these things before the invention of the telescope

The Bible gives many examples of “signs” in the heavens: The rainbow was given as a sign that the earth would never again be destroyed by water. (Genesis 9:13-15). Many of the plagues God brought upon Egypt through Moses came out of the heavens (Exodus 9 – 10), but God also gave the Israelites manna from heaven (Exodus 16:4). The sun and moon stood still for about a whole day so Joshua could finish his war (Joshua 10:12-13). The sun went backward 10 degrees on Hezekiah’s sundial (2 Kings 20:9-11), which was known to the heads of state in educated Babylon (2 Chronicles 32:31). Finally, notice the statement about heavenly signs that was sent to the known world by Darius the Great, King of Persia:

Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions? (Daniel 6:25-27).

Daniel is certainly an important figure in regard to biblical prophecy. He was given some of the most detailed prophecies about kingdoms with lots of signs, days, weeks, years, beasts and other symbols that prophecy students analyze and process. But was it his knowledge of those things that delivered him from death? No! It was his faith in God. This is a most vital key to understanding heavenly signs and prophecy in general. We will see it over and over: It is not an understanding of the signs and when events will come to pass that produces deliverance; it is faith in God and revelation from God that produces deliverance!

Daniel worked as a ruler (Daniel 6:2) in a corrupt government—much like we have today. However, when he was told by the government that he could not pray, upon penalty of death, he was not afraid of them. He could have gone through his dreams and visions, interpreted words and symbols, found something that added up to the number of years he had lived in Babylon and interpret that as a divine message to leave Babylon. But God was not telling him to leave and he knew it. Daniel openly prayed to God in spite of the new government laws—so they threw him into the lion’s den. Daniel was trusting in the “delivery and rescue” aspects of God at that moment, not his “signs and wonders”.

Christ, our Savior, told us there would be signs in heaven before His return:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:29-31).

The signs discussed here may well be eclipses of the sun and moon, which naturally causes them to be darkened, and meteors and comets striking the earth—again the Greek word for “star” would include all of the other lights in the sky—they were not able to make a technical distinction between stars, planets, comets, etc. at that time. They could also be fulfilled by supernatural events—we just don’t know. But we do know that whenever those signs come, be glad to see him. We need to have faith that God will rescue each person, often individually, just like Daniel was rescued individually. Numerous verses teach us we will not know when He returns, but the end of Matthew 24 and all of Matthew 25 are lessons about what we need to be doing to be ready for Christ when he returns. Briefly:

“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods” (Matthew 24:45-47).

If we expect to reign with Christ and help him teach the world at his return, we need to be using whatever limited power we have to teach His truth to the world now. We may be persecuted for doing it—even before the heavenly signs come:

“And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore, settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist” (Luke 21:11- 15).

These verses show believers will be persecuted before heavenly signs come, but says there is no reason to worry about it. We can trust God to give us what we need when we need it. When the signs come, we will be ready. This is what the Apostles did.

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Acts 2:17-21, citing Joel 2:30-31).

We will note here that Matthew states “the moon will not give her light” and Luke says “the moon [turns] into blood”. A lunar eclipse will always greatly diminish the light of the moon, but often will cause it to turn “blood red”—caused by the refraction of longer wave length red light (the same basic reason the sky is red at dawn and dusk). “Blood and fire and vapor of smoke” would certainly fit meteors. Something else could cause these signs as well.

The apostles saw the heavenly signs as a warning of Christ’s coming, but they knew they would be saved by “calling upon the name of the Lord” and doing those things He taught (1 John 2:3- 4). They also understood that some believers have the ability to prophecy about present events so they would know how to save themselves. For example, the prophecy of Agabus saved Judea from a famine (Acts 11:28-29). “Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues” (Acts 14:39). There are numerous other New Testament verses where people were guided by prophecy, dreams or the speaking of the Holy Spirit. God has not forgotten how to do this, we just need to ask and ask for His benefit, not for ours (James 4:2-3; 1 John 5:14).

Lastly, in the Book of Revelation, we see similar mentions of heavenly signs:

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 (Revelation 6:12).

Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night (Revelation 8:12).

There is much more that we could say about these heavenly signs and the events surrounding them, but we will continue our much more important message.

Repent and Trust God!

In our desire to obtain understanding about the second coming of Christ, we can learn a lot from the one who prepared the way for the first coming of Christ: John the Baptist. Christ said “among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John” (Luke 7:28). John was the son of Zacharias, the priest (Luke 1:5-13). He would have learned the Scriptures since he was a child. When asked who he was, “He said: ‘I am “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the LORD,’”’ as the prophet Isaiah said” (John 1:23 citing Isaiah 40:3).

What did John teach in preparation for the Messiah to return? Did he explain the “seventy weeks” prophecy of Daniel 9, showing that Christ appeared at the right time to be the Messiah? Did he expound the timeframe of Jesus ‘ministry, and the earthquakes and heavenly signs that would surround the end of it? If he did, the Bible does not record it. The scribes, the Bible teachers of the day, said that the Messiah could not come because Elijah had to come first (Matthew 17:10; Mark 9:11). Did John counter their teaching by explaining that he was the prophesied Elijah? No, he did not know he fulfilled the Elijah ministry (John 1:21), but Christ did (Matthew 17:12-13). Finally, it was not by interpreting prophecy that John understood when Christ would begin His ministry, but by a direct revelation of the Holy Spirit (John 1:29-34). Look at John’s message

Then he [John] said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:7-9).

Repentance was the theme of his message. He told them that their ancestry, no matter how good, would not save them. Today, an individual’s church affiliation will not save him. It is bearing fruit that counts. What are some of those fruits?

So the people asked Him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And He said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” Likewise, the soldiers asked Him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So He said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages…. And with many other exhortations He preached to the people (Luke 3:10-14, 18).

He teaches them to help the poor— people who really don’t have a tunic. (This is different than giving to a charity business that might keep most of the money or give it to con artists who are experts in asking for tunics— we need to be involved.) John does not tell people working for the possibly corrupt governments and military to quit their jobs, but to do them honestly. Indeed, some governments, both then and now, do not pay certain law enforcement people enough for a good living because they expect them to get money on the side from dishonest enforcement. John said that it should not be so. Today, there are many believers who work in governments and businesses that do corrupt and sinful things. What should we do?

Did John the Baptist live by what he preached? Yes. He must have helped the poor with anything extra he had— his clothes and food were very basic (Matthew 3:4). When it came to telling the truth, John declared the sins of the rulers and their wives, which eventually landed him in prison and later caused him to be beheaded (Luke 3:19-20; Mark 6:16-29).

Today, we need to live by what we preach. Are we using our resources to help the poor and preach the gospel? Or are we consumed with materialism like the rest of the world? Are we preaching the peace of God in the millennium, but not living in peace with our families, church and friends now? Do we pray when we have struggles, or do we turn to pills, alcohol or food? Are our family relationships pure and holy or do we fall prey to pornography and soap-operas? Do our church groups picture the just and peaceful millennial rule of Christ, or are they filled with leaders contending for money, power and secret sins? Do they answer matters without hearing both sides, in a way that is politically expedient? When tribulation and heavenly signs arrive, is the Body of Christ ready to preach the Gospel and show unbelievers God’s way in spite of the suffering that is upon the world? Or will we have our prophecy charts out and be trying to escape the troubles just like everyone else?

The church needs to be ready. When the meteors roared through Russia, some people thought it was the end of the world. They were scared. They were remorseful. They were, at least for a short time, ready for a round of repentance. Of course, secular leaders were quick to assure them that this is simply a “cosmic coincidence”— nothing to do with any sort of God. So what is the church doing today? Many people are stocking food, water and other supplies for tough times ahead. Is anyone stocking Bibles or Gospel tracts?

It is not over. There are more signs and more to learn.

Are More Signs in the Heavens Coming?

The short answer is “yes.” We read about the meteors above, but there are solar storms, comets and eclipses on the way— significant ones. Here are some that this writer and his friend, Jeffrey Caldwell have found from various sources:

 

Date	Sign in the Heavens
Now	As this issues goes to press a very large sunspot has formed on our sun—about six “earth widths” across. (see photo) This is as large as they normally get. This type of spot often ejects huge solar flares, which expel lots of charged particles producing beautiful Northern lights. They can also knock out satellites and power grids. There is usually only a brief warning with these—we must trust God and wait and see. More info: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/fastgrowing-sunspot.html
Mar-April 2013	The Comet PANSTARRS is already in the sights of telescopes and will probably become visible with the unaided eye when it is close to the sun. It will be best seen in the northern hemisphere, a little after sunset. PANSTARRS may never have been in our solar system before and is not likely to be back for at least another 100,000 years. More info: http://earthsky.org/space/comet-panstarrs-possibly-visible-to-eye-in-march-2013
Nov– Dec 2013	Comet Ison is named after Russia’s International Scientific Optical Network’s 40cm telescope that discovered it. Because it will pass so close to the sun, it may become the brightest comet of the century—even brighter than the moon. On the other hand, the heating and gravitational effects may cause it to break apart, diminishing its brilliance. But if it holds together, it will brighten the night sky near sunrise/sunset and even be visible during the day time—especially if one uses a device to block out the sun. More info: http://www.cinemablend.com/pop/Comet-ISON-May-Visible-Daylight-2013-50858.html
Apr 15, 2014	A total lunar eclipse on the First Day of Unleavened Bread. This causes the moon to be blood red—from light rays refracted around the earth. The same principle that causes red skies at sunrise and sunset. More info for the rest of the entries in this table:http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/lunar.html http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/solar.html
Oct 8, 2014	A total lunar eclipse on the First Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, complete with blood  red moon, as above.
Mar 20, 2015	A total solar eclipse on the First Day of the biblical year (or the last day of the previous year according to some calendar reckonings). The sun will be completely darkened by the moon passing in front of it. At least part of the eclipse will be seen from northern Africa, Europe, northern Asia, Iceland and Greenland. It will be visible from the Nation of Israel.
Apr 4, 2015	A total lunar eclipse on the First Day of Unleavened Bread, a second year in a row with a blood red moon. This one will only last about five minutes, compared to the hour length of the other three. But if the skies are clear, it will be visible.
Sept 28, 2015	A total lunar eclipse on the First Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, again with a blood-red moon.
Mar 9, 2016	An annular solar eclipse on the First Day of the biblical year. One can still see the sun around the edges of the moon. This eclipse will be at least partly seen from southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific (including Hawaii).
Sept 1, 2016	An annular solar eclipse—on the Feast of Trumpets by some observations of the biblical calendar. This eclipse will be at least partly visible from Africa and the Indian Ocean. The country of Israel is on the edge of its visibility.

From this writer’s study of the NASA eclipse data, there has never been such a concentration of eclipses on biblical Feast Days since the time of Christ. Even after reading about all of these forecasts of science, we must realize that our Father is capable and willing to change them, as He did with the 48-hour day in Joshua’s time and the turning back of the shadow on Hezekiah’s sun dial by 10 degrees. If He does choose to alter the known orbits of heavenly bodies, it will certainly grab the attention of the scientific world! But who can know what God will do? These signs could be simply small precursor signs to great miraculous signs yet unknown.

All of these will fulfill the purpose of heavenly signs. They are things that people cannot ignore. We all see the heavenly bodies, and we know that they are beyond mankind’s total control. Sure, there are plans to change the course of big asteroids that might collide with earth, but if God wants to bring one here, it will come in spite of what mankind does. And when the sun gets dark, or the moon goes red, these are signs that no-one can ignore.

Not a Package Tour

This article was written in the hope that everyone will not fear the heavenly signs or the future, but start now to repent of their own sins, live a righteous life, and confidently trust God to take care of them. A secondary purpose is helping people avoid the snares of the thousands of prophecy teachings, books and videos available today. Many of them go into great detail, representing thousands of hours of work on the part of their authors. They relate hundreds of scriptures to past and future world events, including heavenly signs. Most seem very well thought out, very logical. They are all different. Only one, but probably none, of them can be right.

There is generally quite a bit of pressure, from others as well as ourselves, to either accept the whole prophetic package as “inspired” or “not”. Indeed, being a member of some churches requires that one accept their particular prophetic scenario.

These prophetic packages might remind one of package tours available from travel agents: A customer reviews the package, and if it is agreeable, pays the single price and goes wherever the tour goes, accepting the travel, lodging, food, sightseeing and entertainment that comes along. Sometimes, the actual tour is very much like what was promised, but other times, it is very different—and disappointing. How does one find out before one goes? By talking with people who have taken the same travel agents package tours in the past!

When we study someone’s prophetic package, do we rely on how good it looks and sounds, or do we look to see how accurate the prophetic interpreter has been in the past? This writer has done some research on prophetic teachers and talked with many others who have done the same. He does not know of anyone’s 20-year-old prophecy book or video that one can obtain and find all of the author’s prophetic interpretations have come to pass. Writers of prophetic packages seem to all either have a bad track record or no track record.

Indeed, the teaching of the New Testament and the purpose of God is not to put forth hundreds of prophetic packages and see which believers find the “right one” so that they can know what is happening and go to all the “good places” during the troubled times. If such a thing were available, Satan, his demons and their human followers would have the information as well. Rather, the teaching of the New Testament is each believer is being prepared to reign with Christ and needs to personally develop the faith to trust God in times of trial. Indeed, we might think about whether there is a completed prophecy package detailing the return of Christ available in heaven right now as this is one of the very few secrets that the Father has kept from the Son:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).

And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:7).

The truth of the matter is that all prophecy is fulfilled based upon whether or not people repent. God will still fulfill His prophecies, but He may choose to do it in different ways, based upon what billions of people may or may not decide to do. We realize this could get very complicated, but that is why He is God and we are not: Notice the principle, an example of penalties delayed, and an example of past penalties delivered:

“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to

destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it” (Jeremiah 18:7-10).

“See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house” (1 Kings 21:29).

“That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matthew 23:35-36).

Yes, God has a lot of flexibility in prophecy. He can fulfill it in a literal number of days, or a day for a year, or some other way. The Bible prophesies blood-red moons to come. But what will that represent? Will it be the blood of mankind about to be spilled as nations go to war? Or will it be multitudes of people accepting the blood of Christ for their sins? We could ask the same questions about many other symbols.

We can know for sure that the signs in the heavens are not a cosmic coincidence, but the divine decrees of our Father in heaven. We do not need to know exactly what they mean in advance, but we do need to be ready in the way that the Bible instructs:

Do not be afraid of the signs.

Repent of our personal sins and ask Christ to make us clean.

Help those less fortunate than ourselves.

Trust God to speak directly to us for deliverance from tribulation

Teach others all of the above.

May our Father in heaven bless your future! May you be encouraged by and ready for His signs along the way!