Sermon Central
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Eclipse Of The Son
Contributed by Jerry Shirley on Apr 5, 2024 (message contributor)
Summary: The Bible has a lot to say about signs in the sky, especially when considered in combination of other signs like Israel. Includes link to PowerPoint visuals.
Eclipse of the Son
*Free editable Word and PowerPoint of this sermon: https://www.gracenotessermons.com/sermons/eclipse-of-the-son/
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The God of creation who said, “Let there be light” on the first day, is Himself, the light. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. [1 Jn. 1:5]
James calls Him the Father of lights, and yet He didn’t create the sun and moon until day 4. It was then that He ‘appointed’ them to take over the job of shining and reflecting light. And they have never stopped doing their job. But when this world has ended, they will be retired, and Jesus will be the light of heaven.
The sun is precisely 400 times larger than the moon, and it is precisely 400 times further away, which makes them appear to us to be precisely the same apparent size. [what a coincidence!] God, with mathematical perfection, makes tomorrow’s eclipse possible, where we can see things we never get to see, like mountainous ridges on the edges of the moon, and the sun’s corona, a crown to the glory of God. Not to mention the ‘diamond ring’ effect just as the sun begins to peek back out.
It’s no surprise that many cultures have worshiped the sun. The Bible forbids this, and yet God says it will reveal clues about the end of the world.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations…
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Critics and skeptics scoff and say we’re making too much of this by calling it a sign of the times.
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
[eclipses have always happened…true! But you combine heavenly signs with more major prophecies such as what is going on in Israel and suddenly you realize why Jesus said for us to look up!]
For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…
Notice the spelling of this reference to Jesus. And He arose! But those who don’t believe in v. 1 will be burned, but the Christians in v. 2 will be blessed. The same sun which melts the ice hardens the clay.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered…
Luke 23:44-45 – the crucifixion
“the sun was darkened”
ekleipo = eclipsed = to fail, to give out, to die out
Was there a solar eclipse while Jesus hung on the cross? No.
It was Passover, which is always at full moon, which can only be seen when the moon is on the far side of the earth, opposite the sun. An eclipse happens at ‘new moon’, when the moon is on the sun’s side. For this reason, we won’t see the moon in the sky until we see its shadow pass in front of the sun. You don’t see the moon moving toward the sun before an eclipse. It isn’t visible. No wonder the ancient Aztecs, Hindus, and other primitive peoples freaked out when suddenly a disc moved across the sun and the sky went dark. “The gods must be angry with us!”
But when the sky went dark at the crucifixion, the moon would have been in the opposing sky. Visible? Possibly. That is, unless God literally turned off the sun. And maybe He did. When you are the Creator of the universe, and the Creator of the laws of the universe, you can do what you want when you want.
