May 2002
Editor – Robert Scott Wadsworth <> P.O. Box
2272, Oregon City, OR 97045
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Phone (503) 655-7430 <> e-mail – starguy1@comcast.net <> Website – www.atlbible.org/astronomy.htm
Nehemia Gordon from
Jerusalem Israel compiled the following New Moon Report for the month of April
2002 and for the beginning of the 2nd month on the Hebrew calendar.
“Observers
across Israel looked for the moon on Sunday April 14, 2002. Due to cloudy conditions the moon was not
sighted even though it was ‘potentially visible’ according to modern
astronomical criteria. On the previous
evening (Saturday April 13, 2002) there were clear conditions but the moon was
not visible nor was it ‘potentially visible’ from Israel. This makes the evening of Sunday April 14,
2002 (the 31st evening since the previous sighting) New Moon Day by
default.”
Photographs
taken during the April 14 observation, which include Michael Rood and Nehemia
Gordon blowing the shofar from Jerusalem, ushering in the 2nd month,
can be viewed at: http://photos.yahoo.com/karaite_korner
The
next new moon is expected to be visible from Jerusalem near sunset on May 13,
which will start the 3rd month on the Hebrew calendar.
The
postal version of the March/April newsletter was finished and sent out on March
20, in time for those who keep up with the feast days to know when
Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread occurred according to the Biblically
corrected calendar. Due to illness that
befell Bo Reahard, who is the Webmaster of the Biblical Astronomy
website, the online version of the newsletter did not get posted until early
April. Bo is doing much better now, but
please keep him in your prayers.
Without Bo Reahard, the Biblical Astronomy website would most likely not
exist, at least not in its present form.
I owe him many thanks and much gratitude to say the least.
This coming July will be the
beginning of the seventh year for the Biblical Astronomy newsletter and
website. Which reminds me, we are
nearing the end of another subscription year.
For those who wish to subscribe to the postal version of Biblical
Astronomy for the July 2002 to June 2003 subscription year, please send a
check or money order for $20.00 (Domestic), $25.00 (Canada), and $30.00
(Overseas) to the address in the heading of this newsletter. For those who get the newsletter online,
donations are welcome. In 1996, there
were nearly 400 subscribers to the postal version of the newsletter. There were 45 subscribers last year. Most are now getting the newsletter from the
website, which is free. But I still
need funds to cover various costs to keep this ministry going. I am in the red by about $400.00 each year,
which comes out of my own pocket, or my wife’s paycheck. It would help me out a
great deal if I could at least break even.
So any donations would be most appreciated. Thank you.
Now on to some amazing events.
Before getting into the
celestial events that will be occurring in early May 2002, I am going to take
you to the autumn of 1995, since I believe that certain celestial events that
occurred then have great pertinence to the upcoming events. It was in November 1995, that certain
celestial events occurred which included a triple conjunction of the planet
Mars (Michael) with the star Antares (the wounding – of
the enemy) in the constellation Scorpio (Akrab – the conflict or war);
the massing of the planets Jupiter (Tzedek – the Lord our
Righteousness), Venus (the bright and morning star) and Mars in the
eastern foot of Ophiuchus (the woman’s seed struggling with the serpent);
and the very close conjunction of Venus and Mars over the eastern heel of
Ophiuchus on November 22, 1995. I wrote
of this in my book A Voice Crying in the Heavens, second edition (pub.
1997), pp. 95-103. If you have the
book, I suggest that you read these pages.
The newsletters are meant to be addendum to the book, and you can better
understand the events written of in the newsletters, if you read the main work
first. If you do not have the book, one
can be obtained for $20.00, which includes shipping priority mail, from the
address given in the heading in this newsletter.
In
the second paragraph on page 95 I wrote:
“One event that occurs during the tribulation period is the casting out of the
‘great dragon’ from heaven into the earth (Rev. 12:7-17),
from which he furiously pursues after the woman (Israel)… Before the dragon is cast down, there is war
in heaven between Michael and his angels, and the dragon and his angels. Though there had been much conflict
throughout the ages between Michael and the Devil, this is the final one to
take place in heaven. How long this
particular conflict lasts, I do not know, though celestial events which
occurred in November 1995, may have portrayed its beginning.”
The
celestial events of interest that took place in November 1995, ended with a
very close conjunction of Venus and Mars over the heel of Ophiuchus on November
22, which is shown in the illustration below.
Here it appears that Venus
and Mars are over the toes of the foot.
The astronomy program used here has the foot placed in the wrong
direction. Most illustrations have the
foot pointing in the opposite direction (see illustrations of Ophiuchus in E.W.
Ballinger’s The Witness of the Stars and also in my book A Voice
Crying in the Heavens. According to the names of the stars in the heel, the
heel belongs on the left, and the front of the foot on the right. The planet
Mars in the above illustration is actually located very close to Venus, it is
the bump on top of Venus, if you can see it.
The mark next to Mars is a corner pointer, pointing in the direction of
the planet.
There
is a certain alignment that goes through the planisphere that I discovered, or
became aware of, about 9 years ago when I first started writing of the then
upcoming events between 1995 and 2002.
I noticed that if one takes a straight edge and places it on the
planisphere between the heel that is getting wounded (by the scorpion) of
Ophiuchus, and the heel of Orion that is coming down on the serpent’s head
(this is portrayed as a hare in modern planispheres), that the straight edge
passes through the heal of Hercules that is coming down on the dragons head,
and also passes through the Celestial North Pole. This means that all three of these heels are in perfect alignment
all the way across the heavens. The
heal of Ophiuchus that is getting
wounded by the enemy, the heel of Hercules that is wounding the enemy’s head
(in the casting down of the dragon), and the heel of Orion that is also
wounding the enemy in the head, are all in perfect alignment and in
conjunction.
Chart
261 shows the planisphere (copied from the back cover of A Voice Crying
in the Heavens) and a straight line through the heels of the
above-mentioned constellations. The
names used for these constellations are the names from Greek mythology. But these constellations existed long before
Greek mythology. They represent the
seed of the woman in His (Jesus) and their (Israel) struggle against the
serpent and the serpent’s seed as first prophesied in Genesis 3:15 and
ends in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 12 specifically mentions the woman and the
woman’s seed, and also the remnant of her seed)
The
Messiah was wounded in the heel at the crucifixion 1,974 years ago. There has been an age in place since which
allows for all who believe in and accept Jesus Christ, Yahshuah Ha Mashiach, as
their Messiah, to be saved from the wrath of God which is to fall on all
unbelievers. The great tribulation
written of in Revelation takes place toward or at the end of that age. The war in heaven takes place first, and
starts where the Messiah left off. Sort
of like, “Hey, remember me, the one who was wounded in the heel?” This war in heaven ends with the casting
down of the dragon to the earth, a wound to his head, but not the final wound.
As
written earlier, the celestial events, which portrayed the beginning of this
war in November 1995, may well have portrayed the actual event as it was
happening. The scriptures do not say
how long this particular war lasts. But
there are celestial events coming up in early May which portray the end of this
war, with the casting down of the dragon.
These events end with another very close conjunction between Venus and
Mars, which are also in conjunction with the heel of Orion that is wounding the
enemy’s head. This conjunction occurs
180 degrees from the conjunction of 1995, going through the heavens west to
east and south to north. And there have been many very rare and awesome signs
in the constellations in between, from 1995 to present, especially the events
that took place between the Passover of 1996 and the Passover of 2000. These are written of in the book A Voice
Crying in the Heavens.
The
great tribulation was strongly portrayed between the autumn of 1996 and the
spring of 2000. This was the greatest
portrayal of this prophecy in Biblical history. There will not be another portrayal like this for at least 5,000
years, and maybe even not by then. I
believe that those particular celestial events occurred as a sign that the
great tribulation is to occur soon or very soon after. I believe that those signs are either
followed by a 40-year period before the great tribulation (to begin or end in
the year 2040), or that those
signs are followed by a two-year
period before the great tribulation begins in the spring of 2002. We will know if the later is correct within
a few weeks.
ANOTHER NAKED EYE BRIGHT COMET ON ITS WAY IN FOR THE SHOW
The following article is a special report from Joe Rao to
Space.com, which was posted on April 3, 2002.
“Second New Comet,
Utsunomiya, May Be Visible in Late April - On March 18,
just as newly found comet Ikeya-Zhang was making its closest approach to the
Sun and wowing observers around the Northern Hemisphere, yet another Japanese
observer discovered another new comet. This second comet has an outside chance
of also becoming visible to the unaided eye later this month. The
International Astronomical Union reported on March 20 the discovery by Syogo
Utsunomiya of a comet in twilight. Utsunomiya made his find using 25x150
binoculars. He initially described the comet as a tenth magnitude glow in the
constellation Pegasus. Several
days later, a preliminary orbit for the newly named comet Utsunomiya indicated
it would reach perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, on April 23 at a
distance of approximately 43 million miles (69 million kilometers). At that
time, the comet could reach magnitude 5.5, theoretically making it bright
enough to be glimpsed with the unaided eye. Magnitude
is the standard by which astronomers measure the apparent brightness of objects
in the sky. The lower the number, the brighter the object. Negative magnitudes
are reserved for the most brilliant objects. The brightest star is Sirius
(-1.4). The faintest stars visible under dark skies, in rural areas, are around
+6. Comet Ikeya-Zhang, discovered by
Kaoru Ikeya of Japan and Daqing Zhang of China on Feb. 1, has been sighted with
the unaided eye by observers around the world and is estimated to have achieved
magnitude 3.3. So will there be two
naked-eye comets (Ikeya-Zhang and Utsunomiya) visible in late April?
Observers will likely have to wait and see. "At
perihelion, comet Utsunomiya’s elongation from the Sun will be only 20
degrees," says Charles Morris of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, California. Such
a placement would put the comet uncomfortably close to the bright solar glare,
leaving Morris to infer that this newest comet "will be difficult, if not
impossible to observe when at its brightest." Either way, Utsunomiya should be visible in binoculars and
small telescopes through much of April.”
As of April 18, the
magnitude of this comet is 4.2 and rapidly brightening. The peak brightness of the comet from the above article was
expected to be 5.5 at its closest approach to the sun on April 23. At this time, there are still 5 days
remaining before the comet reaches perihelion, and it is already close to 4
times brighter than its expected peak.
Comet Utsunomiya may reach the brightness of Comet Ikeya-Zhang or even
be brighter. Chart 262
shows the path of Comet Utsunomiya from April 10, 2002 to May 31, 2002. Comet Utsunomiya entered the constellation
Andromeda (Israel in affliction and bondage) as Comet Ikeya-Zhang was
leaving Andromeda. Comet Utsunomiya was
in the same coordinate in Andromeda on April 17, 2002 that Comet Ikeya-Zhang
was in on March 27, 2002, the infamous date of the Passover Massacre in
Israel. It is at this coordinate where
the paths of the two comets crossed each other. Comet Utsunomiya will be in the head
of Taurus (Messiah, the coming Judge of all the earth) during the week
of planetary massings and conjunctions, which also take place in the head of
Taurus from May 3 to May 10, 2002. Chart
263 shows the tail of Comet Utsunomiya above Mercury (Gabriel) on
May 3, 2002. Mercury will nearly occult
the comet at that time. This is a very
rare event in itself, that a planet and a comet should be seen in such close
proximity. The comet is actually much
further from the earth than Mercury will be at that time, but they appear close
to each other as seen from the earth.
The below animation shows how the comet may appear through a telescope
viewing from the eastern United States about an hour after sunset on May
3. The field of view is 2.8
degrees. You may be able to pick out
the comet above Mercury using binoculars.
Sort of brings to mind
Gabriel blowing the trumpet to start the show.
Mars-Saturn Conjunction – The planets Mars (Michael
the warrior angel) and Saturn (Satan) will come into conjunction on
May 4. As a reminder, these planets are
not the physical beings of Michael and Satan, but represent them in celestial
portrayals, as it is for the other bright planets. The illustration below shows the positions of Mars and Saturn in
Taurus during the conjunction as seen from Jerusalem about an hour after sunset
on May 4.
Massing of Venus, Mars, and Saturn – The closest triangular
equidistant massing of Venus, Mars and Saturn will take place on the evening of
May 6, 2002. Chart 264 shows the
ecliptic view of this event, with Venus and Mars above and flanking
Saturn. Chart 265 shows the
local view from Jerusalem, looking toward the west-northwest. There is an
interesting factor on the celestial coordinates of Venus and Saturn during this
event. If my dates on the fall of Adam
and the crucifixion of the Messiah are correct, then, both Saturn and Venus are
in the same Right Ascension coordinates on May 6, 2002 that they were in during
the fall of Adam. The celestial
coordinates move through the constellations through time due to the precessional
movement of the earth. At the fall of
Adam, these particular coordinates were in the constellation of Leo. See A Voice Crying in the Heavens, second
edition, pp. 151-154. Furthermore, Venus was also in this
very same Right Ascension coordinate when the crucifixion of the Messiah took
place. This coordinate at that time was
in the constellation Gemini. Saturn at
that time was in the head of Taurus, but not in the same coordinate as it was
at the Fall of Adam, and will be on May 6, 2002.
Venus-Saturn Conjunction and the Dragon Cast
Down From Heaven – Chart 266 shows the positions of Venus and Saturn as they go into conjunction in
the head of Taurus as seen looking toward the west-northwest from Jerusalem an
hour after sunset on May 7, 2002. Comet
Utsunomiya will be in the “bull’s eye” at that time. Chart 267 shows
Comet Ikeya-Zhang between the heal of the seed of the woman and the head of the
Dragon as seen looking toward the northeast from Jerusalem on May 7, 2002. If both comets are bright enough to be seen
with the naked eye on the evening of May 7, remains to be seen. There is a possibility that they may have an
outburst and become significantly brighter as happened to Comet C/2000 WM1 on
January 29, 2002. But what is really
amazing here is the position of Comet Ikeya-Zhang on May 7. This area between the heel of the woman’s
seed and the dragon’s head is in the line drawn through the alignment of the
heels as shown on Chart 261. This
line is drawn from the heel of Ophiuchus, where the planetary events of
November 1995 took place at the beginning of the war in heaven, through the
heel of Hercules and the head of the dragon seen here during this event on May
7, and then on to the heel of Orion which is about to crush the serpent’s head
on the other side of the heavens in which the line passes through another very
close conjunction of the planets Venus and Mars (above and in conjunction with
this heel of Orion), on May 10, 2002.
But of course it could be just a coincidence that these two very
recently discovered comets just happen to come into play at this juncture and
are going to be in these interesting, to say the least, positions at this
particular time. Draco
is seen plunging head first toward the earth.
There are six representations of the Devil in the heavens. Draco is the one that represents the old
serpent, or the Devil, cast down from Heaven.
Venus-Mars Conjunction – Chart 268 shows the positions of
Venus and Mars between the horns of Taurus when they come into a very close
conjunction on May 10, 2002. May 10
falls nine days before Pentecost and one day after the “Day of Ascension.”
1,260 Day Factor – In the year 2005 the Feast of Trumpets or the
first day of Ethanim (Tishri) can fall on either September 6 or October 6
according to when the New Moon will be visible from Jerusalem. The correct month will be determined on
whether the barley crops become Abib around March 12, or later in March or
early April that year. If the Feast of
Trumpets falls on October 6, 2005 then there are 1,260 days between:
April
25, 2002 and October 6, 2005 (Feast of Trumpets)
May 4,
2002 and October 15, 2005 (Day of Atonement)
May 9,
2002 and October 20, 2005 (First day of Booths)
According to Revelation 12, it appears that the 1,260-day tribulation
to Israel will begin at, or shortly after, the casting down of the dragon. The abomination of desolation will most
likely be at the beginning of this 1,260-day period. There are various hypotheses that show the interpretation of
Daniel 9 in various scenarios, which lean toward only a 3.5-year period for the
tribulation instead of 7 years as many have come to understand. I have covered some of these hypotheses in
earlier newsletters.
I do not disregard the differing opinions, but keep them both in
mind. Here I am looking at the possibility
of the great tribulation starting with either the first half of the 7 years
being fulfilled at a much earlier time in history, or, of Daniel 9 referring to
another time all together than the tribulation period of Revelation. Daniel wrote those scriptures in the midst
of the “week of millenniums,” where 1,000 years is as a day. The writings of Daniel are dated around the
Biblical Year 3500, which was approximately 2,500 years ago. The 3.5 millennium before the writings of
Daniel were the former 3.5 days of the “week of millenniums”, and the 3.5
millennium that follow are referred to as the latter days. When Daniel is referring to the latter days,
he may be referring to all the times in history that would follow his writing,
or the last 3.5 days in the “week of millenniums.” The “abomination that maketh desolate” in Daniel 11 and 12 may be
referring to something else or a different time period for their fulfillment in
prophecy than “for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate”
of Daniel 9 does. Well, this is
something to ponder anyway.
In any event, it is the abomination
of desolation mentioned in the book of Daniel that is a sure sign that the
tribulation has begun. This is the sign
Jesus speaks of in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14. When this occurs, and if we are here when it does, I do not
believe we will need to stand around speculating on what it is. It should be clear to all who are in the
Messiah exactly what this abomination is when it occurs. If this is going to occur in the next few
weeks, we will soon see. Speaking for
myself, I am spiritually at Defcon 4, and will be there at least until May 10.
Other
Celestial Factors to Consider - The illustration below shows the position of Saturn (Satan) in the
constellation Taurus during the birth of Jesus Christ.
September 11, 3 BC
The
next illustration shows the position of Saturn in Taurus on the day that Jesus
ascended into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father.
June 10, 28 AD
Compare the positions of Saturn in
the above illustrations to the position of Saturn on May 10, 2002 as shown on Chart
268. It seems that every time the
Devil is dealt a spiritual blow, Saturn is in the head of Taurus.
There is also the factor of the
30-year cycle of Saturn concerning its brightness and how the rings are
exposed. I did an article in the
November 1998 issue on this factor and what happened at certain periods in
history during this cycle. I do not
have room to write of it here again. It will be worth your while to dig it up
and read it again, or you can get it off the Biblical Astronomy website
if you do not have the issue. Saturn
will be at its brightest magnitude when it reaches opposition in the year 2002,
and the rings will be exposed to their greatest extent in the late spring of
2002.
Planetary Alignment and Bright Crescent Moon on May 14 – Chart 269 shows the position of a
bright crescent moon between Venus and Mars as seen from Jerusalem on May 14,
2002. This is a nice configuration of
the two planets and the moon along with Saturn and Mercury. As mentioned earlier in this newsletter, the
first crescent light of the New Moon should be visible from Jerusalem near
sunset on May 13. If it is not visible
because of haze or clouds, then the crescent moon on the evening of May 14 will
mark the first day of the month. May 14
is also the solar calendar date for the 54th anniversary of
independence for the modern nation of Israel.
Through all of the above
celestial events in May, Jupiter will be seen burning brightly in the
constellation Gemini, which is just a little higher in the sky above Taurus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
