Chapter 19 Biblical Signs in the Heavens
Contents
'I will show wonders in heaven above'
Acts 2: 19
'Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but the power of God. Howbeit we speak ... the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory ... for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God' (1 Corinthians 2:5-10).
No one will question that we are having to deal with 'the deep things of God' when we touch the mysteries of time in the Bible, and these things have certainly been hidden - deeply hidden - right down the course of this age. We accept that it has been 'the glory of God to conceal a thing,' as Solomon declares in Proverbs 25: 2, but if he says 'It is the honour of kings to search out a matter' does this not also imply that it is for the glory of God to do so? And if 'the Spirit' does the searching, will not the truth inevitably be recovered?
We are saying this for a reason. Before the truth can be fully revealed concerning time at the Cross of Jesus, much has to be appreciated about the significance of the two occasions recorded in the Bible when God interfered with the ordered course of time; firstly by bringing the earth's revolution to a standstill for 'about a whole day' (Joshua 10: 13) and then by causing the sun's shadow to return 'ten steps backward' on the 'steps' of Ahaz (Isaiah 38: 8) (For further details see Chapter 21.
These 'steps' - they were not 'degrees' - recorded an hour each on this ancient kind of sundial which was formed, it would appear, by a curved stairway; and that miracle, or 'sign', incidentally had a most vital meaning in relation to Israel's chronological history, as well as to the actual ten hours of the Sufferings and Crucifixion of Christ and the blotting out of sin. (It is most significant to note that the space between these two great celestial signs in the Old Testament was, inclusively, 888 years - the number of the Name of Jesus - that is, from 1600-1599 BC to 712-711 BC.)
Before this, however, we must consider the 'wonder' to which Peter referred on the day of Pentecost and which took place while the body of Jesus lay in the grave. This was when, following the darkening of the sun at Calvary, the moon was 'turned into blood' (see Joel 2:31) for two whole days. The prophet Joel had predicted these signs, for the three hours of darkness spoke eloquently of the Jews putting out 'the Light of the world' by rejecting their Messiah's three years of ministry, between the Passovers of AD 30 and 33 - and the following two days looked on to the bloodstained history of the dispersion over the 2,000 years that lay ahead.
God's Great Change in Time
Over six centuries before, when the Most High God had wrested the Kingdom from Judah and handed it to the Gentiles under Nebuchadnezzar, the prophet Daniel had addressed God in these terms: 'Blessed be the Name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are His: And He changeth the times and seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things ...' (Daniel 2: 20-22).
But now at last the King of kings had come and laid down His life to accomplish the atonement, and the sun was darkened. The crime of all the ages had been perpetrated and the centuries ahead would be stained with the blood, not alone of the dispersed of Israel, but also of countless millions of the true children of God who would be done to death on account of their faith since the beginning of our era.
Due consideration of these facts will prepare us to learn that during the two whole days (May 2nd and 3rd AD 33) while the Son of God was absent from His body, as it lay swathed in grave-clothes in the tomb, the moon was, in fact, 'turned into blood' - that is, it became 'dead' and ceased to record time for those 48 hours. In other words, although it was still to be seen as a full moon in the heavens, it did not begin to wane until the day of the resurrection opened. It was also almost certainly observed to be blood-red in aspect.
This is a fact which the absolute accuracy of the Bible's chronology has established and with God it was a necessity for this cessation to take place in the recording of lunar time, in order to make possible the perfect fulfilment of the law to do with the 'feasts' of the Lord and also the great release of 'the year of Jubilee' which must needs have its primary fulfilment at the resurrection of Christ.
It is with reverence that we must approach the examination of these matters, so vital to our redemption, which God has allowed to remain concealed down the whole course of our age but which now, as it closes, He would have His children to look into. Before doing this, however, all will be interested to consider a proof that the moon has actually 'lost' two days in its recording since the beginning of the Christian era.
The Inception of the Calendar of Julius Caesar at a Visible New Moon Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (Art. Calendarium) will confirm that Julius Caesar caused the first day of his reformed calendar to begin on the day of the new moon, following the winter solstice in December 46 BC. It says:
'Accordingly, it is found that the mean new moon occurred at Rome on the 1st of January, 45 BC at 6h 16m pm.' In this way alone can be explained the phrase used by Macrobius: Annum Civilem Caesar, habitis ad lunam dimensionibus constitutum, edicto palam proposito publicavit.
This could be translated:
'After the edict had been publicly proposed, Caesar proclaimed the State year which had been established after calculations had been taken according to the moon.' The essence of this quotation was that the new solar year Caesar was inaugurating was advertised to commence 'at the new moon' (ad lunam) and this was because the Romans had become accustomed for centuries to commence their years at the moon's phasis, that is, the first appearance of the crescent in the sky.
It will be seen at once that if the actual conjunction of the moon did not occur until late on January 1st 45 BC, the new moon could not possibly have been observed at the earliest until the evening of January 2nd, which would have entirely defeated Caesar's object in planning that the people should see the crescent on the day his great new calendar was to commence.
The author of the above article, in common with others who consult lunar astronomical tables, of course had no knowledge of the action of the Almighty in arresting the moon's revolution for the two days of Christ's entombment in AD 33. Consequently, he could only assess the moon's age as it would have been in 45 BC, if the 'wonder' we are speaking of had not occurred in AD 33. But as we know from the Bible's chronology that the moon was new on December 30th, and would have first appeared as a thin crescent in the night of the 31st or, at the latest, in the evening of January 1st, we can see that Caesar's objective was attained, and that a visible new moon did mark the opening day of this great new solar calendar before the watching eyes of all the Roman populace.
It seemed necessary to give this supporting evidence as, until the massive array of chronological facts relating to the death and resurrection of Christ can be more fully apprehended, natural incredulity with many might weigh too heavily in the balance when we have to speak of such a 'wonder' as this, to which the Bible only refers in veiled terms in Joel 2: 31 and Acts 2: 20.
The Reason for the Veiling of this 'Wonder in Heaven Above'
There is a reason for everything God does, and it is not difficult to understand why the Bible had to shroud the truth about this lunar phenomenon, so that we have had to wait until the end of the age before it could even be discerned. This is because, as already mentioned, these two complete days of Christ's death themselves provided the pattern of the 2,000 lunar years to follow - during which the divine calendar of Israel (which is governed by the moon) would be at a stand-still. As all know, God did not 'cast off' (Romans 11:1 {RV})
His ancient people (the Jews) for ever, but only for the 'two days' or 2,000 years of Hosea 6:2 - so that He might 'visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His Name' (Acts 15: 14). Now, as we have seen in earlier pages, 'the times of the Gentiles' are over, Jerusalem is not 'trodden down of the Gentiles' (Luke 21:24 {RSV}), as it was during the Dispersion, and the Holy Ghost is bearing a mighty witness through the earth that 'the coming of the Lord draweth nigh' (James 5:8).
Why then was the moon turned 'into blood' - which signifies death? It was to reveal that after 'the sun' had been 'turned into darkness' , when the Jews by rejecting their Messiah had put out the 'Light of the World', there would be a lapse of a full 2,000 years of 'death' for the people of Israel, 'before the great and terrible day of the Lord' (Joel 2:31) would come, with its desolating judgements, to usher in the Kingdom for which both Israel and the world have waited. And because the intervening Church age is called 'the dispensation of the mystery' (Ephesians 3:9 lit. Gk.), which was veiled, or 'hid in God', in previous ages, God saw to it that the duration of this age also was veiled until such time as it pleased Him to bring this to light.
But there were even more wonderful reasons why God should hold time at a standstill between the death and resurrection of His Son, and these will appear as the plan of our redemption is studied and unfolded.
It will be realised that the Bible is concerned with just one aspect of world affairs, and this is related to the history of the 'Seed' of the Woman (see Genesis 3: 15). That history can now be seen to be the perfectly-timed record of the struggle between Light and Darkness - actually, between Life and Death - and as the days become rapidly darker in the world, so is God allowing the light of His Word to be increased and to beam more fully than ever before upon the Person and the Work of His Beloved Son, 'Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the ages' (Hebrews 1:2 {Young's Literal}).
Chapter 20 The Pattern of Events 1933-1948