This is the Classical Astronomy Update, an email newsletter especially for Christian homeschool families (though everyone is welcome!) Please feel free to share this with any interested friends. Hello Friends,
At the time of this writing, my hometown Cleveland Indians have just won 21 consecutive games, an AL record and making sports history. If anything, Cleveland sports victories could be
considered a sign of the End Times!
I've enjoyed preparing this free email newsletter since 1996, which has been dedicated especially to Christian homeschoolers since 2002. But I need to say that there is one thing that I really dislike about being in the position to comment and inform about astronomy for a
Christian readership. For some reason, astronomy is a lightning rod for every wacky theory and half-baked theology. And I dislike responding to a never-ending stream of astronomical nonsense.
Here's an excerpt from the Introduction of our Signs & Seasons homeschool astronomy curriculum:
The subject of astronomy is often surrounded by controversy. Some Christians have bound up their understanding of astronomy with astrology, pagan influences, origins, calendar disputes, “The Gospel in the Stars,” geocentrism, and flat-earth theories. However, these topics can become lengthy tangents that draw
away from the main lesson.... Rather, we simply seek to explain traditional skycraft from Biblical and classical sources, as it was commonly known from antiquity through the early nineteenth century.
Other scientific fields such as chemistry and physics are not plagued by controversial nonsense as is astronomy. I believe this is because astronomy is poorly understood by most people in
today's culture. And since it is an ancient science, there is a lot of "mystique" that surrounds astronomy, which feeds the tendency toward wacky theorizing. But in my experience, when you're is standing under the sky with knowledge and understanding, you can really see that the Sun, Moon and stars are simply a normal part of our everyday lives, useful aspects of God's creation visible from your own backyard, with nothing mystical about them.
This newsletter debunked the so-called "Blood Moon" fiasco of 2014 and 2015. After several years down the line, it's now abundantly evident that this tetrad of total lunar eclipses was not a "sign" of
any apocalyptic events. Yet the originator of this "theory," Mark Biltz, continues to make such predictions. After selling millions of books about his discredited "prophecy," he's still out there with a new book and still trying to draw attention to new "signs in the heavens," including the so-called "Revelation 12 sign."
Friends, I ask you to be wise as serpents and
harmless as doves (Mt. 10:16). I encourage you to prove all things, hold fast that which is good (1 Thess. 5:21) But I especially implore you to be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive (Eph. 4:14), especially where astronomical matters are concerned.
It is absolutely imperative that all Christians learn to think critically about theological innovations and not believe everything they hear, and learn to distinguish between normal, commonplace natural phenomena and supernatural "signs" that the LORD might use to herald His second coming and the culmination of all human history. Otherwise, we will continue to appear as fools in the eyes of the mocking world and thereby bring scorn and ridicule down onto the
name of Jesus.
The So-Called Revelation 12 Sign
There is a pop eschatology doctrine currently circulating of "signs in the heavens" in fulfillment of
Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation:
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. (Rev. 12:1-2)
Mark
Biltz and other proponents of this teaching contend that this passage is fulfilled on September 23, 2017 by an alignment of the Sun, Moon and planets in the constellation Virgo. These proponents give assurance that this alignment has not occurred for 7000 years, and is thus prophetically significant. However, this "theory" is so wrong on so many levels, as will be explained.
In this article, Biltz explains that he calls this "Biblical Astronomy" and that is not astrology. However, this approach to the subject is neither "Biblical" nor "astronomy." Astrology operates under the premise that planets and constellations each have some
certain meaning, and that a special combined meaning results when one or more planets cluster up in a certain constellation. This is EXACTLY the method applied by Mark Biltz and these others. Astrology has been long-since tested by science and discarded as superstitious nonsense. Meanwhile, Classical Astronomy is grounded in observation of the sky, and has been used down through for practical purposes such as timekeeping and navigation.
Moreover, the Blitz method is not Biblical. As we've seen with the "Bible code" and other notions than have come and gone over the years, there are extra-biblical teaching that presume to support Scripture through sources outside of Scripture alone. Such "winds of doctrine" tend to blow especially through churches and movements that rely heavily on personal revelation and/or
tradition. However, if we build our theology upon the Reformer's foundation of "Sola Scritura," it becomes apparent that their is no support in the Holy Bible for any astronomical supplement to Scripture.
The Rev. 12 "sign" draws heavily from the so-called "Gospel in the Stars" (GIS). This is a teaching first devised in the 19th century by Frances Rolleston, a Hebrew
scholar. Miss Rolleston compared traditional Arabic star names written in an 8th century work of Moslem astrology with the corresponding cognate words in Hebrew found in the Old Testament. Then she cherry-picked verses that included these words and concocted a very elaborate narrative.
The GIS teaching purports that the traditional constellations, especially the zodiac, are
encoded with a prehistoric prophecy that foretold of the coming of Jesus. It is alleged that this stellar prophecy was known and understood in antedeluvian times, before Noah's flood. This prophetic "Gospel in the Stars" stood in the place of Scripture for millennia until the actual giving of the written Word by Moses and the other authors of Scripture.
In the GIS teaching, the
constellation Virgo is associated with the Virgin Mary and the birth of Jesus. The constellation Leo is taken to signify the Lion of Judah. There are a couple constellations that might be considered to also fit with this narrative, but there are other constellations such as Scorpius that are "shoe-horned" into the purported narrative.
There are more problems with GIS than can be
explored right here. Suffice to say that GIS is very divisive among Christians for reasons that are obvious to many. Adherents and opponents of this teaching trade insults over whether or not this extra-biblical doctrine is true.
In contrast, the purpose of this newsletter and our curriculum has
been to explain the straightforward realities of astronomy from a Biblical perspective, and not to bog down with going off on theological tangents. Thus, I've not been interested in wasting time debunking this teaching.
But at the very least, it's sufficient to point out the very simple fact that there is no evidence whatsoever of the GIS teaching either in Scripture itself or in any
Jewish or Christian historical sources. It would appear that GIS appeared fully-formed in history through the writings of Frances Rolleston and her acolytes. This lack of Biblical and historical evidence suggests that the "Gospel in the Stars" is a reverse-engineered product of questionable 19th century scholarship, and not an actual long-lost antedeluvian prophecy of Christ encoded in the stars.
Thus, rather than being "Biblical Astronomy," the teachings of Rolleston, as further construed by Biltz and others, are instead a type of "prophetic astrology," at best an unnecessary supplement to Scripture, or at worst, a distraction from Biblical truth, which amounts to nothing more than a deception.
Commonplace Astronomical
Realities
Readers of Signs & Seasons and others who are familiar with simple backyard astronomy know that there is a constellation visible in the evening sky of spring and
summer called Virgo. There is another constellation immediately to the west called Leo. These constellations are always there, all the time. Every year as the Earth circles in its orbit, the Sun appears to be lined up with the constellation Leo. This constellation simply denotes the position of the Sun during the latter part of the month of August. This was visibly confirmed during the August eclipse last month when the blackened Sun was seen by
millions of eclipse observers appearing a mere one degree away from the star Regulus in Leo.
After being visible in the evening sky for the entire summer, the constellation Virgo disappears into the sunset and coincides with the position of the Sun during the latter part of the month of September. Virgo is the natural, annual location of the Sun at this time. This
is a commonplace fact of life for anyone who would care to learn enough astronomy to confirm for themselves.
There is a particular spot in the constellation Virgo in which the ecliptic, the annular path of the Sun, intersects the celestial equator, which is a circle that defines the midpoint between the north and south celestial poles. This point of intersection in
the sky is called the autumnal equinox. Each year, the Sun reaches this point on or about September 23. This date itself is also called the autumnal equinox, and is the first day of fall over the northern hemisphere. On this date, the daylight and the nighttime are equally 12 hours. After this date, the days are shorter than the nights for the lands north of the Earth's Equator.
These are physical facts that occur each year on the same date with reliable accuracy, due to well-understood physical processes. These facts can be confirmed from ordinary daily experience. Moreover, these facts had been known and understood for centuries by common people including farmers and sailors. However, the chain was broken over the years and such information is not commonly known in today's high-tech world. Signs & Seasons was written to help restore such commonplace astronomy understanding to our generation.
Anyway, the "Rev. 12" proponents see much significance in this annual alignment on September 23, which in 2017 includes other very commonplace alignments of celestial bodies. The waxing
crescent Moon is in Libra near Virgo, and the planets Mercury, Venus and Mars are nearby in Leo. But again, there is nothing unusual about any of this, certainly nothing that should suggest any sort of "sign in the heavens" unless perhaps we choose to concoct an interpretation in view of some sort of prophetic astrology.
The annual equinoctial
position of the Sun on September 23 is now being construed as a woman clothed with the sun. There is absolutely nothing whatsoever remarkable about this so-called "sign." It happens every year on the first day of fall.
Every year, the Jewish feast of Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year, begins on the evening during the first appearance of the waxing crescent Moon around
the autumnal equinox. This is the "first day of the seventh month" (Tishrei) as defined in Lev. 23:23-32. Each year, this Moon phase occurs somewhere in or to the east of Virgo, and there is nothing whatsoever remarkable about this annual event. In Biblical times, the first sighting of the evening Moon would be accompanied by the blowing of trumpets (the shofar) to announce that the new year had begun. Thus, the Jewish New Year is "The Festival of Trumpets."
According to Jewish sources, in 2017, Rosh Hashanah occurs at sunset on Wednesday, September 20 and ends at sunset on Friday, September 22, the day before the equinox. So on September 23, the waxing crescent Moon will be at a position in the sky beyond the time of the feast, somewhere below the "feet" of the stars of Virgo among the stars of Libra. The Rev. 12 groupies contend
that this annual event, which occurs in 2017 AFTER the Jewish new year, satisfies the prophetic sign of the moon under her feet.
Proponents of GIS and the Rev. 12 sign cite this verse as validation for their celestial interpretations:
And God said, Let there be
lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: - Gen. 1:14
However, it is evident that commonplace "signs" in the Sun and Moon such as first sighting of the crescent Moon of fall can be used to herald important
feasts such as the start of the new year at Rosh Hashanah. Such "signs" are eminently useful and not at all mystical. Consider that the Ancient Israelites were a bronze age culture whose science was only rudimentary. Giving such signs for calendar purposes demonstrates the LORD's provision for His people.
The Rev. 12 crowd is all excited because the planet Jupiter
has been moving around in Virgo in 2017, stating that this fulfills the passage that she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. It is purported that Jupiter is a "kingly" planet and corresponds to the fetal Christ in the womb of the virgin. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that this is UTTERLY the root of astrology! Throughout all paganism, Jupiter is the king of the false gods, and this planet has been widely associated with the
ruling god of the pagan pantheon since Ancient Babylon. Anyone presuming to construe this as any sort of Biblical sign is on very thin ice indeed!
Moreover, Jupiter aligns with Virgo every 12 years, and there is absolutely nothing special about this alignment. In fact, this newsletter has been chronicling the monthly passages of the Moon with Jupiter throughout 2017. There
are 12 zodiac constellations and Jupiter passes through a different one each year in a recurring 12 year cycle. Jupiter passed through Virgo in 2005 and 1993, and Rosh Hashanah in those years would have been very similar to this year. Further, Jupiter would have passed through Virgo about 150 times since the first century and there is nothing in this mere fact to suggest that the LORD is speaking an end times message through this very normal, typical alignment in
2017.
Various versions of the "Rev. 12" theory make a big deal about the star pattern of Virgo, and presume that certain stars correspond to certain features of female reproductive anatomy such that the movement of Jupiter corresponds to childbirth. However, there has never been an established pattern for drawing any of the constellations throughout history. Different astronomy
illustrators use different "connect the dot" patterns to depict this and all other constellations. It is completely arbitrary to associate the positions and patterns of the stars of Virgo to specific female anatomical features.
The Rev. 12 hoax completely breaks down on the excerpt, upon her head a crown of twelve stars. For some strange reason, the proponents of this
hoax contend that Leo normally has nine stars, and the passing of the planets Mercury, Venus and Mars through Leo bring the total of "stars" to twelve. However, this is completely bogus and even laughable.
As with Virgo and the other constellations, the "connect the dot" pattern of Leo is different depending on who is drawing it. There is no established consensus of how to
draw Leo, and has never been throughout all history. In Signs & Seasons and elsewhere, I typically include seven stars. This is simply what I see in the sky,
and I wish to present a very simple and easy-to-spot pattern to novice readers. Some astronomy sources do depict nine stars including the "sickle" or "backwards question mark" asterism of Leo. But other sources include eleven. In his astronomy books, H.A. Rey, the creator of "Curious George," includes 16 stars. But the simple fact is that there are 14 stars in Leo of magnitude 4.0 or brighter, readily visible under a dark sky, which could be connected with constellation
lines. There are dozens more stars in the area of Leo that are visible to the human eye. But there are thousands of faint, invisible stars that are within the established boundaries of Leo. The proponents of Rev, 12 are totally cherry-picking the number nine, completely arbitrarily to suit their teaching.
(Below: first
image - Leo as drawn by Sky & Telescope magazine; second image - H.A. Rey's depiction of Leo) But even if we grant that Leo has nine stars, the "prophetic sign" still does not hang together with the addition of the three planets. It was well understood in the time of the New Testament that the "planets"
were not "stars" (from the Greek word "asteron" used in Revelation 12). As explained many times in this newsletter, there is scriptural evidence that the Apostle Paul was well-versed in Greek astronomy, having quoted the Greek astronomer Aratus when at Mars Hill in Athens (Acts 17). One would believe that, if the LORD intended to reveal a specific truth to John the Revelator, that He would have shown John "stars" if He meant stars and "planets" if he meant
planets.
The Rev. 12 hoax is merely a cobbled together collection of arbitrary, cherry-picked elements that don't hold together astronomically or Biblically. This "sign" is composed of common, frequently occurring
alignments in the sky, which just so happen to coincide in 2017. This "prophecy" preys on the naiveté and inexperience with sky observation of most people in today's culture. No one with any sky observing experience, at present or in times past, would have fallen for this.
It's also stated that this alignment has not occurred for 7000 years. But this is also a bogus
contention. At any given time, any particular alignment of the Sun, Moon and stars and planets is likely unique and will not recur anytime within millennia. Again, nothing remarkable here, but it sounds impressive to the uninformed. But the fact is, there have been other similar clusterings of the Sun, Moon and these planets in and around Virgo. As shown in this article at the EarthSky site, such similar alignments occurred on: September 14, 1056; September 5, 1293; September 6, 1483; and September 24, 1827. So the contention about 7000 years is either a lie or revealing of ignorance on the part of the proponents.
There is another
huge hole in the "Rev. 12 sign" eschatology. The chapter actually mentions TWO signs in heaven, the second being the dragon with seven heads and ten horns. But this second "sign" totally fails to fit with the current alignment of the Sun, Moon and planets. There is a constellation called Draco the Dragon in the far northern sky, in between the Big and Little Dippers, far from Virgo. But this constellation is there all the the time and this celestial dragon only
has one head and no apparent horns. These facts are very inconvenient for those peddling the Rev. 12 "sign."
Moreover, there is no explanation given of how the rest of Revelation 12 fits into this "sign." This chapter includes other descriptions of events between the woman and the dragon, including the
war in heaven between Michael and the dragon (i.e., that old serpent, called the Devil and satan), and how the woman is given wings to escape the dragon, and how a flood is cast out of the serpent's mouth at the woman. It should be clear to anyone reading that this is a highly symbolic passage of Bible prophecy and not a literal description of an actual "sign in the heavens."
The websites and individuals promulgating this hoax tie in various other aspects with the the failed "Blood Moon" eschatology and the 2017 and 2024 American total solar eclipses. Since total solar eclipses happen somewhere in the world every 18 months, I find it vain and foolish that this crowd of American eschatologists only consider American eclipses to be prophetically significant,
and none others, as if the USA were the focal point of all human history.
For example, since the paths of these eclipses cross over the Mississippi, it is contended that God intends to pour out His wrath and "X out" America. However, one could just as easily observe that that the "X" shape of the paths could be construed as the Greek letter "chi" which is the first letter of Christ
(Χριστός) and has traditionally been used as an abbreviation for Christ (e.g., "Xmas" and "Xian"). So instead of looking for negative, evil signs, perhaps the criss-cross eclipse paths could be read positively as a sign of the historical LORD's blessing over America, or perhaps the hope that Christian revival might spread over our land.
Nonetheless, it is even more naive to construe eclipses or any such celestial events as supernatural signs. Eclipses and planetary alignments are well-understood and predicted long in advance through celestial mechanics, the science of the clockwork of the heavenly bodies. Otherwise, we could look up such "signs" well in advance and discern the LORD's perfect timing through science. For example, we know that total solar
eclipses are also due in 2044, 2045 and 2052. What can we do now to prepare for such "signs." Besides, contemporary pop eschatologists should always be reminded that Jesus specifically taught us that of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only (Mt. 24:36).
Other, even wackier versions of the Rev. 12 hoax mix it up with
wingnut conspiracy theories like the Planet X/Nibiru hoax. This marvel of modern stupidity has enjoyed a life of its own, and never seems to go away. Let's not forget that Nibiru was part of the Mayan calendar hoax in 2012 that contended that the Earth would be destroyed by this alleged rogue planet. But it's five years later and somehow this imaginary "planet" has not only failed to end our lives, but has eluded telescopes. Any such wandering body would be visible in
personally-owned amateur telescopes like mine and might even be visible to the unaided eye, if it were really out there, which it is not. Meanwhile, a recent distant passage of the Earth and the asteroid Florence was widely reported in the media, including pictures of this very small celestial body that passed a wide distance from the Earth. If this small body is easily observed and reported, where is the enormous Planet X hiding all this time?
Even if any of these purported "signs in the heavens" were true, the LORD used a true prophet of Israel to clearly teach the following:
Thus saith the Lord, Learn
not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. - Jer. 10:2
Friends, there's a lot more I could write, but I hope that this is enough. I will briefly note that Bible commentators of Revelation from Victorinius to the Venerable Bede to Matthew Henry to modern commentators have offered their interpretation of this
chapter. Most construe the "woman" of Rev. 12 as signifying the church, and the 12 stars as the Apostles and/or the 12 tribes of Israel. This hoax is not the first time in 2000 years that someone has studied this chapter and offered an interprepation. Feel free to google and do your own research on this subject.
Christians who are committed to rational and
Biblically-grounded thinking should be encouraged to not fret. We can trust that September 23 will dawn like any other day. But those who are determined to persist in this folly will be undeterred. They will quote to me that there shall come in the last days scoffers.... (2 Pet. 3:3). But let it be clearly understood that I'm not scoffing at Scripture or its assurances, but only at these foolish interpretations of the Scripture, which come and go with great
regularity.
If I shared anything in this newsletter which is false or deceptive, I hereby repent and apologize in advance for steering anyone wrong. If Jesus returns on September 23, trust that I will give an account to Him in person. But if September 24 comes and go like any other day, to no avail, will the Rev. 12 hoaxsters will repent of their error? Or will they just
make excuses as usual, like they always do, and find new ways to talk around their error and persist in their folly? The test of a false prophet is clearly indicated in Deuteronomy 18:21-22.
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I intend to take another long break from this newsletter to continue work on the eclipse ebook series. If I do not write again in 2017, I wish you all in advance a blessed Christmas season and a safe and prosperous New Year.
For more information about topics from Classical Astronomy discussed in this newsletter, please check out a homeschool astronomy curriculum (but popular with adult readers too!)
Visit our archive of previous editions of the Classical Astronomy Update newsletters, going back to 2007.
*****
Til next time, God bless and clear skies,
- jay
The
Ryan Family Cleveland, Ohio, USA
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? - Psalm 8:3-4, a Psalm of
David
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