There has been much talk this week about the “End of the world” as prophesied in Revelation chapter 12:
“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 brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron:
First, the passage in Revelation does not say that the world will end when these signs are visible but only that a new era will begin. It does predict a new ruler that will “rule the nations with a rod of iron”. It also describes a great conflict between the forces of Heaven and a “Red Dragon”, the devil.
What are the signs that many Christians say signal the advent of a new age?
It concerns the convergence of several things that seem to fit the pattern as interpreted by some Christians. First, the timing.
Sept. 23rd is the beginning of the “Feast of Trumpets” for Jews, a time that begins with a signal from trumpeters on a mountaintop of the first sighting of the “New Moon”. It is a time for “repentance” for the Jews. For Christians, the “Rapture” as described in I Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 16 through 17, seems to suggest that the event will happen during this feast.
“…For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds…”
What most of the recent excitement is about is the alignment of certain astronomical events that appear to describe the prophesy as written in Revelation Chapter Twelve.
Is it just a coincidence that during this month the constellation “Virgo the virgin” is so positioned that the sun is resting squarely on her shoulders and the new moon is positioned at her feet in the heavens?
There’s more.
The planet Jupiter, the king of all the planets, has, for the last 9 months, been positioned inside the “belly” of the constellation Virgo, but just this month is moving outside, as if the “woman” is giving birth. At the same time, there is the positioning of the three inner planets, Mercury, Mars, and Venus at her head along with 9 other “stars” of the constellation Leo, which is sometimes recognized as the sign of the “Lion of Judah”, forming a “crown” on her head. This is something that could be considered a very “rare” celestial event. So rare that it hasn’t happened in recorded memory.
Given that this is all happening around the time of the beginning of the “Feast of Trumpets”, and the occurrence within the last month of a total solar eclipse, followed by three epic hurricanes and several large earthquakes in the North American hemisphere, it can be understood if some would interpret this to be the “Signs and Wonders in the Heavens” that the Bible speaks of. The book of Genesis, chapter 1:14 does say that the Sun, moon, and stars are to be "signs".
The Bible doesn’t say that these “signs” will signal the “End of the world” but only that they are signs of the beginning of certain events that will lead to the time of “Tribulation”. With the world on the brink of conflict that we have not seen for some time and the possibility of disastrous consequences, people turn to any source that would seem to make sense of the chaos we all see happening around us.
Jesus said that we would not know when the end would come but to watch for the signs. We can all do that, but we can never be sure of anything until it happens.
