The Darkest Day

Joseph Herrin (12-20-2010)

Total Lunar Eclipse
(Click on any image for a larger picture)

Tomorrow, Tuesday December 21, will be a truly dark day. For those in the Northern Hemisphere of the earth it is the darkest day of the year. The Sun is absent from the sky for a greater period of time than any other. It is the winter solstice.

Added to this, a very rare coincidence is to be observed as there is a total lunar eclipse occurring tonight and into the morning. Symbolically, both the Sun and the Moon will be darkened. According to Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory, the last time a total lunar eclipse occurred in conjunction with the winter solstice was December 21, 1638. That was 372 years ago.
[Source: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/17dec_solsticeeclipse/]

Note: There are reports going around that the last convergence of a total lunar eclipse and winter solstice was in 1554. This is erroneous. For a complete listing of lunar eclipses, visit NASA’s website.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LEcatalog.html

If these two things were not rare enough, we must also add to the remarkable nature of this testimony by noting that there will also be a meteor shower appearing at the same time. Normally, the Ursid meteor shower would be largely unnoticed, for the light of a full moon would cast so much light as to make the meteors hard to discern. The Ursid meteor shower is only a fraction of some of the other reoccurring meteor showers, such as the Leonids and Geminids. One might expect to see a dozen meteors an hour originating from the direction of the pole star. With many out to watch the eclipse, and the sky being darkened due to the eclipse, the Ursid meteors should be observable by a large number of sky watchers.

There are many clues to discerning the meaning of this sign. To present this in a logical order, I want to first provide you with the details of the event set to occur tonight and tomorrow. Then I will discuss the symbols. Finally, I will share my understanding of the meaning of this heavenly pronouncement. Following is an account of this sign taken from Yahoo’s website. I invite you to read it carefully as the details provide the context for discerning this heavenly sign.

Note: I have removed much of the text of the Yahoo article below, and invite you to visit the link to read the brief article before continuing with the rest of this post.

Celebrate the Winter Solstice with a Total Lunar Eclipse and Ursid Meteor Shower
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben Sun Dec 19, 1:45 pm ET

...


It's not a common event that a total lunar eclipse coincides with Winter Solstice. The last time this happened, 372 years ago, Anne Hutchinson was being ousted from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for reading the Bible with other women, the Shogun was trouncing rebels and the Sultan was strangling Cyril of Constantinople. For our winter solstice, Ursid meteor shower and total lunar eclipse event, we will have front row seats. Enjoy this once in a quatercentenary (400-year) event.


Getting the Ursid meteor shower, (named Ursid because it emanates from the star Kochab in Ursa Minor, the Little Bear), is a special bonus. The Dec. 22 to 23 Ursid meteor shower is usually difficult to see because of the full moon around that time of month. The total lunar eclipse does double duty as it not only blots out the moonlight and makes the Ursids visible, an eclipse is pretty amazing to watch, too...


Another fascinating phenomenon about a total lunar eclipse is that the moon may appear deep orange or blood-red...

Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben, a 10-year veteran homeschooler...
[Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20101219/sc_ac/7435814_celebrate_the_winter_solstice_with_a_total_lunar_eclipse_and_ursid_meteor_shower]

Let me add some additional information that is needed to discern the heavenly sign. The location of an event in the heavens provides the context by which to understand it. The location is marked relative to the constellations. The website www.shadowandsubstance.com has some excellent resources on this event. Following is a graphic taken from the website showing the location of the lunar eclipse relative to the surrounding constellations.

This graphic is centered on mid-eclipse at 2:17am CST, Tuesday morning, on December 21st. The picture shows where the moon will be between the constellations of Taurus and Gemini at that time.

Attention seems to be drawn primarily to Taurus, as the moon begins in Taurus. The following is an image of the moon as it appears an hour after sunset CST.

Note that the moon is low in the constellation Taurus. As the eclipse continues the moon departs Taurus in darkness and re-emerges into light in Gemini.

Additionally, Ursa Minor, from whose direction the meteors will appear to be coming, is a minor constellation (a decan) of the constellation Cancer. Although Cancer is depicted as a crab today, ancient sources argue for its origin being the scarab. This is noted below.

Following is a summary of the details of this heavenly event.

●    It occurs on the date of the winter solstice when the sun is observed for its shortest duration in northern skies, and at its greatest angle of departure.
●    There is a total lunar eclipse visible across the Northern Hemisphere of the earth, being observed especially well over North America.
●    The lunar eclipse occurs rising through Taurus as it heads toward Gemini.
●    Concurrent with these events will be the Ursid meteor shower.

Portions of the following are copied from a previous post I did on heavenly signs.


Discerning the Heavenly Signs

Our Father is the One who established the stars in their courses, and Who formed the constellations that make up the heavenly testimony. Many Christians today have been conditioned to fear, or even despise, the witness of the heavens, associating their testimony with pagan astrology. Satan, however, has merely sought to corrupt that which Yahweh has established as a true witness.

If you have not read the previous post where I revealed the Scriptural basis for Christians to be attentive to heavenly signs, and to not fear them, I would recommend that you read it here:

http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/message-in-heavens.html

The Scriptures themselves name numerous constellations, and Yahweh ascribed four purposes to the stars of the heavens. The first, and foremost purpose is that they are given for signs.

Genesis 1:14-15
Then 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, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.

The Hebrew word rendered as “signs” is owth (pronounced oth). Strongs’ Concordance defines the word in the following manner.

owth; (in the sense of appearing); a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.:

There is a great sign taking place tonight and tomorrow, and those who desire to understand the times and know the will of the Father should look up and take note. They should ask, “What is the flag being raised?” “What is the meaning of the beacon that is shining forth?” “What omen, what prodigy (an amazing or unusual thing) is being forecast?”

The birth of Christ was announced with signs in the heavens. Wise men who understood the true testimony of the heavens, saw the star in the East that gave testimony that the king of the Jews had been born, the long promised Messiah. They acted upon this witness and were led faithfully to the Son of God that they might worship Him.

Yahshua testified that before His return there would be more “signs in sun and moon and stars.” The child of God should therefore not despise that testimony that Yahweh has established. They should seek to move past the fear of Satanic corruptions, while pressing in to discern Yahweh’s true testimony.

There are three books in my possession that have been very helpful in my own study of the heavenly testimony. They are as follows:

The Gospel in the Stars by Joseph A. Seiss
The Heavens Declare by William D. Banks
The Witness of the Stars by E. W. Bullinger

This last book can be read freely online.

http://philologos.org/__eb-tws/

All three of the authors cited above refer to the voluminous research conducted by Frances Rolleston. Her writing titled Mazzaroth, or the Constellations can also be accessed online.

http://philologos.org/__eb-mazzaroth/

To discern the meaning of a heavenly sign, one must understand the message contained in the heavens at the location which the sign occurs. The moon will be in the constellation Taurus when the eclipse occurs. Each of the twelve major constellations of the Zodiac (Hebrew Mazzaroth) are associated with a tribe of Israel. Taurus is associated with the tribe of Joseph.

Constellations and Tribes of Israel

The word Zodiac, according to some, means “animal sign.” Frances Rolleston differs with this origin of the word. She writes: “Those who derive zodiac from Zao, to live, as composed of living creatures, instead of from the primitive root Zoad, way, going on by steps, not only overlook the balance in Libra, but the vase for Aquarius, and the bow for Sagittarius...” Mrs. Rolleston contends that the word originally was intended to denote a way, or path followed by steps. The Hebrew word equivalent for Zodiac, is Mazzaroth. The word is recorded as having been spoken by God in the book of Job.

Job 38:31-33
Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Arcturus with her young? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?

Unfortunately, most Bible translators have very little education in the heavenly host and its ancient testimony. They have therefore rendered certain constellations according to their corrupted pagan forms, rather than the originals that Yahweh intended. It takes some study to delve back to the original testimony established by Yahweh. That the constellation Cancer is depicted as a Crab is unfortunate, for its more authentic original appears to be the scarab that begins life as a worm, then transforms into a winged beetle, following a metamorphosis similar to that of the caterpillar into a butterfly. Two of the decans (minor constellations) associated with Cancer are Ursa Minor and Ursa Major, the Lesser Bear, and the Greater Bear. These are also corruptions, for these constellations in antiquity were not featured as bears, but rather as sheepfolds, a fact to which the names of the stars in the constellations attest.

The Mazzaroth by Degrees

You will note that the graphic of the major signs above is arranged in the shape of a circle, or a wheel. This relates to the course of the Sun in the heavens. The sun travels along a circuit known as the ecliptic. The sum of degrees of any circle is 360. Since there are 12 major signs along the circle, each one is allotted 30 degrees.

Each major constellation has three minor constellations associated with it. These three minor constellations are all allotted ten degrees, by which they derive their name “decans.” Thus, each constellation actually has four constellations associated with it; a major constellation, and three minor constellations known as decans.

Following is a table listing the decans for each constellation, and the degrees they occupy in their respective groups.

Note that Ursa Minor (the lesser sheepfold), from whose direction the meteors will appear to come, is associated with the constellation Cancer. E.W. Bullinger writes the following concerning Cancer and its decans.

Sign of Cancer, Decans of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

With regard to the sign of CANCER, one thing is certain, that we have not got the original picture, or anything like it.


It does not agree with the names either of its three constellations which have come down to us, or of its stars.


In the ancient Denderah Zodiac it is represented as a Scarabaeus, or sacred beetle.* In the Zodiac of Esneh and in a Hindu Zodiac (400 BC) it is the same.


* The Scarabaeus, passing its early existence as a worm of the earth, and thence issuing as a winged denizen of heaven, was held sacred by the Egyptians as an emblem of the resurrection of the body...


The Denderah name is Klaria, or the cattle-folds, and in this name we have the key to the meaning of the sign, and to the subject of this chapter.


The Arabic name is Al Sartan, which means who holds or binds, and may be from the Hebrew to bind together (Gen 49:11). There is no ancient Hebrew word known for the crab. It was classed with many other unclean creatures, and would be included in the general term "vermin."


The Syriac, Sartano, means the same. The Greek name is Karkinos, which means holding or encircling, as does the Latin, Cancer, and hence is applied to the crab. In the word Khan, we have the traveller's rest or inn; while Ker or Cer is the Arabic for encircling. The ancient Akkadian name of the month is Su-kul-na, the seizer or possessor of seed.


The sign contains 83 stars, one of which is of the 3rd magnitude, and seven are of the 4th magnitude, and the remainder of inferior magnitudes.


In the centre of the Sign there is a remarkably bright cluster of stars, so bright that they can be sometimes seen with the naked eye. It looks like a comet, and is made up of a great multitude of stars. Modern astronomers have called it the Beehive. But its ancient name has come down to us as Praesepe, which means a multitude, offspring.


The brightest star, z (in the tail), is called Tegmine, holding. The star a (or a1 and a2), in the lower large claw, is called Acubene, which, in Hebrew and Arabic, means the sheltering or hiding-place. Another is named Ma'alaph (Arabic), assembled thousands; Al Himarein (Arabic), the kids or lambs...


Have we not here the gathering up of the teaching of this sign--


MESSIAH’S REDEEMED POSSESSION HELD FAST.


Here we come to the completion of His work. In CANCER we see it with reference to His redeemed, and in the next (the last) Sign, LEO, with reference to His enemies.


The three constellations develop the truth. What is now called Ursa Minor is the Lesser Flock; Ursa Major gives us The Sheepfold and the Sheep; while Argo, The Ship, shows the travelers and the pilgrims brought safely home--all conflict over.
[End Quote]

I will interject here that this heavenly sign is occurring at the time when I am completing work converting a school bus to a motorhome. The Father has referred to this vehicle I have been laboring on as “an ark.” This is a reference He has also given to numerous others who have been called to similar labors and preparations in this season.

The relationship to the ark and the Argo - The Ship which brings the travelers safely home, comes to mind as I ponder the message of the Father. The sheepfolds Ursa Major and Ursa Minor speak of the people of God held fast and secure. They are kept from wandering and protected from predators as long as they stay within the confines established by the Great Shepherd.

Joseph Seiss, in his book The Gospel in the Stars shares the following in relation to Ursa Minor.


The Greeks called Ursa Minor, if not both the bears, Arcas, or Arktos, a name which Harcourt derives from Arx, the stronghold of the saved.

Tonight as the sun and moon are darkened, the eyes of the world will be drawn to the skies. That light that would not normally be seen, that small remnant of heavenly lights emanating from the lesser sheepfold, will be observed. These will be observed as one looks toward the ark, the stronghold of the saved.

With this information in hand, we can examine the message in the rest of this heavenly sign.

First, the event is marked with a profound darkness. In the Northern Hemisphere the light of the Sun will be greatly diminished. At no other time is there greater darkness, for the earth has turned her face away from the Sun. This is a symbol of the hour, for mankind has turned away from the light of truth.

The Sun is symbolic of Christ. He is “the light of the world” (John 8:12, 9:5), and “the Sun of righteousness” (Malachi 4:2). Truly at this very moment we are observing America turning away from God to a greater degree than ever before. This week the President will sign into law the repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that barred military men and women from openly disclosing their preference for sexual intercourse with their own gender.

Lest the church should point an accusing finger at the abominations of the world, they should understand the symbolism of the moon being darkened. The moon is a type of the people of God. Even as the body of Christ has no glory of their own, but is to reflect the light of Christ, so too has the moon no radiance of its own. The moon reflects the glory of the Sun. This light is darkened during a lunar eclipse as the earth interposes itself between the sun and moon.

The body of Christ has also grown very dark in this hour. The light of Christ is no longer seen in those who profess to be disciples of Yahshua. The flesh has hindered their reflection of the light of Christ.

John 3:19-20
“And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

The words above describe not only the state of the world, but that of the church at this hour. Darkness pervades. The light of Christ is little seen upon this earth. All have turned away. Their faces have been turned to darkness.

II Timothy 3:1-5
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power...

What is symbolized by the location of the lunar eclipse as it passes from Taurus to Gemini? Taurus is an image of the now extinct reem, or aurochs. This was the giant wild ox that no man could tame. It was of this animal that Yahweh spoke to Job.

Job 39:9-12
"Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Or will he spend the night at your manger? Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes? Or will he harrow the valleys after you? Will you trust him because his strength is great and leave your labor to him? Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain, and gather it from your threshing floor?

Jacob, when blessing his son Joseph, speaks of this animal. The horns of the wild ox are compared to Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh.

Deuteronomy 33:17
As the first-born of his ox, majesty is his, and his horns are the horns of the wild ox; With them he shall push the peoples, all at once, to the ends of the earth. And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and those are the thousands of Manasseh.

Joseph Seiss writes:

I have already explained that the twelve zodiacal signs are arranged in three sets of four each, each set having a particular subject of its own in the grand evangelic history. In the first set were shown the seed of the woman in His own personal character and offices. In the second set we were shown the formation, career, and destiny of the church. And in the third set, upon which we now enter (with Taurus), we are shown the great judgment period and the completion of the whole mystery of God respecting our world and race...


Four of the zodiacal signs set forth the career of the church up to the time of its transfer to glory, when under the great power of the Lamb, the chained and exposed Andromeda is transformed into the enthroned Cassiopeia. But beyond that we still have four additional signs before all is complete. These begin and end with a scenes of judgment, and so relate to a great judgment period, which begins at the house of God by the reception of God’s ready and waiting saints to Himself in the heavenly regions.

This is the context of the heavenly signs taking place tonight and tomorrow. We are entering into a period of great judgment. The earth and the church have become darkened. Only a small remnant have remained in the place of safety, hidden with Christ. As darkness falls upon both the world and a worldly church these lights will become visible. They will be observed appearing from the ark of God’s presence to perform the will of the Father.

Commenting further on the significance of the constellation Taurus, Joseph Seiss writes of the Pleiades, the arrangement of seven stars found high up on the shoulder of the wild bull or aurochs.


Among the early nations there was a widespread idea connecting this Bull with the Deluge, and the Pleiades - the seven stars, the doves, the peculiar star cluster of “sweet influences” - with the ark of Noah and those saved by it in that great judgment.

We see that in all these signs; the darkening of the sun and moon; the meteors arising from Arktos; and the position of the lunar eclipse near the Pleiades in the shoulder of Taurus, that all point to the judgment of God upon the darkness of mankind. The ark is prominently figured in these testimonies.

Let me conclude by speaking of the moon re-emerging into the light in Gemini. Gemini is figured as twins, but from ancient times they have been symbolized as two joined together in union. This heavenly testimony speaks of the joining of Christ and His Bride. I will quote once more from Joseph Seiss.

In the Zodiac of Dendera the figure is that of a man walking hand in hand with a woman. The same are sometimes called Adam and Eve. But the male figure is not the literal first Adam, but the mystic second Adam, the same seed of the woman that appears everywhere in these celestial frescoes. The figure in the Egyptian sphere has an appendage which signifies “The Coming One” - The Messiah Prince. And having identified the masculine figure, there can be no difficulty in identifying the accompanying female figure. The Lamb has a bride, a wife, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, and destined for an everlasting union with Him in glory and dominion... Even the word Gemini in the Original Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac, whence it has come, does not run so much on the idea of two brought forth at the same birth, as upon the idea of something completed, as of a year come to the full, or as of a long betrothal brought to its consummation in perfected marriage. The old Coptic name of this sign, Pi Mahi, signifies the United, the Completely joined.

Thus we see in this heavenly sign a proclamation of things to come, but also things which must be passed through to arrive there. A time of gross darkness is upon the earth. Judgment has been proclaimed, and this judgment must begin at the house of God. This was signified recently in the great earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Hidden faults were exposed. Many houses were damaged and had to be demolished.

What saved Noah and his family in that great judgment when the earth was subjected to a flood? He heard God, and he obeyed. He was a righteous man, perfect in his generation. It is expedient that the people of God also pursue righteousness and humility in this age. Perhaps then they will be hidden in the day of Yahweh’s judgment.

The Father is giving both signs on the earth and signs in the heavens.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws  

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com  

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063