"And There Will Be Signs in the Sun, Moon, and Stars..." ~Luke 21:25

A lot of people think God's heavenly signs before the Apocalypse are eclipses, since the Bible spells out "the sun will be like sackcloth and the moon will not give its light." (Isa. 13:10, Eze. 32:7, Matt. 24:29, Rev. 6:12).  And I agree with that. 

But I also believe there can be other signs in the heavens we may miss or DISmiss.

Such as the sun ramping up it's 11 year solar cycle at the same time earthquakes, strange weather, animal die-offs, and uprisings in the Middle East are going on.  Are the X-Class flares (the largest the sun produces, by the way) meant to get our attention?  We had an X-Class flare headed our way in February, and now another one just today.  But the sun goes through its cycles, so perhaps there's nothing to see here.

Interestingly enough, on March 19th, we're going to have what the media is calling an "Extreme SuperMoon".  What does that mean?  It means the moon is going to be HUGE in the sky on that day, as it will be approximately 225,000 miles from Earth, the closest it gets.

http://www.businessinsider.com/extreme-supermoon-2011-3

Some people believe it might ramp up the craziness of weather and earthquakes and volcanic activity and ocean tides.  Others believe it might not be as bad as everyone is making it out to be.  Only time will tell.

And remember last year when Jupiter lost one of its atmosphere bands?

 That was weird.

What about the possibility of Betelgeuse in the Orion constellation about to go supernova this year or next?  Or Comet Elenin that's supposed to do a very close drive-by of Earth in Sept/Oct.? 

Perhaps all these things are coincidence.  Unless something major and obvious happens in the skies, I guess we won't know for sure.  We always have eclipses, how can we know for sure that such-and-such eclipse is The One Christ and the prophets spoke of...?  Perhaps because it happens at the very same time as the other signs? 

These phenomena is by no means "proof" of Jesus' coming, however it is indeed compelling for those of us who are looking up.

~~Becka

Ultra Orthodox Jews Looking for the Messiah?

Here's an interesting link I've found.  I don't know much about the Ultra Orthodox Lithuanian Jews, admittedly.  But one of their prominent rabbis has suggested the Arab unrest is a sign of Messiah's coming.

Quote:

"People have come to me and said that it's 'Gog and Magog'. (Ezekiel 38) We cannot know. But it's probable that any unrest that God creates shows that the Messiah is coming, and that we must begin to prepare for it and become stronger."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4032909,00.html

Remember, Jews don't believe Jesus was their Messiah.  They are still looking for him.  If some of the super-religious Jews believe the Messiah is coming, should Christians take note as well?

~~Becka

I Think This Qualifies as "Earthquakes in Diverse Places"

This poster on YouTube is making videos of recent earthquake activity, and this is today's video for March 9th, 2011. He's using a free program called "Earthquake 3D" that is downloadable off the Internet and powered by the USGS. This program allows you to turn up and down the Richter Scale, depending on what size quake you want to see, and it shows you up to the past 7 days of activity.

The sheer amount of earthquakes, *large* earthquakes, is unreal. True, they happen every day. But not. Like. This.

Matthew 24: 4-8:
^"4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains."

As one who's given birth five times, I think I'm qualified to tell you that birth pains start as short and annoying twinges, building in intensity until they are hard, swift, and one right after another, taking your breath away. If this *ISN'T* the birth pangs Christ spoke about getting worse, then how bad do the "pangs" have to get before they capture our attention?

~~Becka