NEW MOON REPORT
Roy Hoffman of the Israeli New Moon Society from Jerusalem Israel compiled the following New
Moon reports for the months of December 2004 and January 2005 and the
beginnings of the 10th and 11th months of the corrected
Hebrew Calendar.
December 2004 - The New Moon was clearly
seen from Israel
last night, Monday 13th December 2004.
From Jerusalem it was seen by
Devorah and Nehemia Gordon at 16:49
(this was probably not the first moment of visibility) and from Petach Tikva at
16:26 by Ruth Pories and 16:27 by Miriam Kaatz .
January 2005 - The Moon was clearly seen from Israel tonight (Tuesday 11th January
2005). I was with a group
of students from the Maale Adumim Yeshiva High School. The Moon was first seen with the naked eye against
a clear sky by me at 17:06, Shlomi Avinoam, David Delaroza and Matania Iliz at
17:10, Jonathan Hazeh at 17:13, Rina Hoffman at 17:17, Neria Fris at 17:18 and
Jonathan Hoffman at 17:19 (T 11°C, RH 91%, P 974 mbar). Yoseph Rothstien from
Romema, Jerusalem saw the Moon at 17:17 with binoculars only. However, he has poor
eyesight. The Moon was seen from Petach Tikva by Benjamin Pories at 17:05 and Miriam Kaatz at 17:06 (T 13°C, RH 83%), from Noqdim by Bruce Brill at 17:15 and from Netanya by Shmuel Ni at 17:20.
The next new moon, which will begin the 12th
month on the Hebrew calendar is expected to be seen
from Jerusalem, Israel near sunset on February
10, 2005, though there is a very slight possibility that it will be visible to
the naked eye near sunset on February 9.
The two-day Jewish feast of Purim will most likely be from sunset
February 23 to sunset February 25.
COMET MACHHOLZ SHINES ON
Comet Machholz put on a wonderful show from late
December through mid-January and is expected to be a naked eye object through
the end of January and perhaps into February.
I had three clear nights in a row (almost unheard of
this time of the year in Oregon) to get a glimpse at the
comet - the nights of January 2-4. I
viewed the comet outside my place of residence in Oregon City where there is light
pollution. Even though I could not spot
the comet with the naked eye, I got a wonderful view of it in my
binoculars. The comet should have been
an easy naked eye object where there are dark skies, such as in the desert or
in the country far away for city lights.
In my binoculars, the comet appeared as a large fuzz ball.
The below picture of the comet was photographed by
Stephan Seip of Oberjach, Germany when it was beside the
Pleiades on January 7.
The tail of the comet split into two tails with the
main one passing through the Pleiades.
This is indeed a very unique picture and celestial event. Chart 384 shows the position of the
comet in the constellation Taurus with its tail passing through the Pleiades
on January 7, as viewed from Jerusalem.
Comet Machholz reached a peak brightness of magnitude 3.5
when it came to its closest approach to earth on January 6, at a distance of
about 33 million miles. The stars of the
Pleiades are about 400 light years away (1 light year equals approximately 6
trillion miles).
As mentioned in previous newsletters, the star
cluster Pleiades represents the congregation of the Judge
who is coming to judge all the earth – that Judge being none other than
the Messiah Yahshua or Jesus. The Pleiades
also represent the seven stars that are the seven angels of the seven
congregations of Revelation 1:16, 20. The text of chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation
is what is written to these angels.
According to E.W. Bullinger in his Companion
Bible, Appendix 120, these angels are men who are a constant minister of
the Synagogue, to pray, preach, have charge of the law and appoint its
readers. They are overseers. In the Hebrew they are called Sheliach
(or mal’ak) hazzibbor or Tzibbur. See the June
2003 issue of Biblical Astronomy, which provides much more detail on the seven angels
and the seven congregations.
From ancient times,
the tails of comets have been seen to represent swords. Throughout the scriptures, a sword
figuratively represents judgment and also represents the word of God by which
we are judged.
Ephesians 6:17 (KJV) –
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God:
Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) –
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
It is written in I Peter that
judgment must begin with the house of God.
I Peter 4:17 (KJV) –
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if
it first begin at us,
what shall the end be on them that obey not the gospel of God?
The seven congregations of
Revelation 1-3 are of the household of God.
Yahshua is the judge and he who has a sharp
sword with two edges as seen in Revelation 2:12.
Revelation 2:12 (KJV) –
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; ‘These things saith He Which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
The tail of Comet Machholz is a wonderful portrayal
of the sword of Messiah discerning and judging the congregations. Those who repent and overcome are given great
rewards as mentioned in chapters 2 and 3 in Revelation.
Chart 385 shows the path of Comet Machholz from January 1, to February 3, 2005. After the
“sword” passes through the Pleiades, the comet moves northward into the
constellation Perseus or Peretz, the breaker. This constellation represents Messiah
delivering the chained woman who is in bondage with his sword. The chained and bound woman is represented by
the constellation Andromeda, which in the Hebrew is called Sirra, the
chained. This woman becomes the
bride after her deliverance. The
delivered woman as the bride is represented by the constellation Cassiopeia.
Chart 385 – Path of Comet Machholz from
January 1 to February 3, 2003
These constellations along with others in their
close proximity, are portrayals or pictures of Biblical events found in the 19th
chapter of Revelation - the delivered woman; the wedding supper of the Lamb;
and the Lamb with his sword destroying the beast, the false prophet and their
armies.
The events from Revelation 1
to Revelation 19 will take place in a time frame of at least three and a half
years. If these events are now beginning
to unfold, or are reserved for a later date, we may soon know.
CONJUNCION OF MARS AND ANTARES
The planet Adom (Mars or Ares – here
representing Michael) came into conjunction with the star Antares, the
rival of Ares or Mars in the constellation Scorpius on January 9, 2005.
Ares is the ancient Roman name for the planet Mars. Antares
literally means rival of Mars, in this case, the rival of Michael. Antares
in the ancient Arabic means the wounding. The scorpion is the enemy of
the woman's seed and of the Messiah. It is Michael the warrior angel along with
his hosts who goes to war against this enemy. The Hebrew name for the
constellation Scorpius is Akrab, which means the conflict,
or war.
Chart 386 – Conjunction of Mars and
Antares on January 9, 2005 as seen from Jerusalem
CONJUNCTION OF VENUS AND MERCURY
The planets Nogah (Venus) and Catab
(Mercury) came into a very close conjunction with one another on January
12/13. Nogah is the bright and
morning Star and Catab represents the Archangel Gabriel.
Chart 387 shows the positions of the planets in the upper part
of the bow in the constellation Sagittarius as seen from Jerusalem in the early morning of January 13, 2005. The Hebrew
name of Sagittarius is Kesith, which means the Archer. This figure represents the twofold nature
of Messiah as the suffering servant who becomes the conqueror. The picture in this chart from the Starry
Night astronomy program is a bit off.
The arrow should be pointed at the scorpion’s heart, the star Antares.
Chart 387 – Conjunction of Venus and
Mercury on January 13, 2005 as seen from Jerusalem
The following is from E.W. Bullinger’s The
Witness of the Stars, p. 64 concerning this constellation.
“In the ancient Zodiac of Denderah he is called (as
in Coptic) Pi-maere, i.e. graciousness, beauty of the appearing or
coming forth. The characters under the
hind foot read Knem, which means He conquers.
This is He who shall come forth like as an arrow
from the bow, ‘full of grace,’ but ‘conquering and to conquer.’
In all the pictures he is similarly represented, and
the arrow in his bow is aimed directly at the heart of the Scrorpion.
Thus Aratus sang of Cheiron:
‘Midst golden stars he
stands refulgent now,
And thrusts the scorpion
with his bended bow.’
In this Archer we see a faint reflection of Him who
shall presently come forth, all gracious, all wise, all powerful; whose arrows
shall be ‘sharp in the heart of the Kings enemies.’ (Ps. 45:5)”
This is indeed a unique picture, with the very close
conjunction of the bright and morning Star (Yahshua) and Gabriel
in the bow of the Archer whose arrow is pointed at the star Antares, which
is the heart of the scorpion, with Michael being close to conjunction
with that same star at the same time.
Comet Machholz entered the constellation Perseus just
two days before this conjunction. The
comet will exit Perseus and enter Cassiopeia on January 27. As mentioned
earlier, Perseus (Peretz) is another portrayal of Messiah waging war
against the adversary. Though this may
or may not be the final conflict, it appears that the adversary is about to get
a major headache in the near future. We
may know more of what this means in the coming days, weeks or months.
The following is an illustration and excerpt from an
article released by Sky & Telescope news on December 28 concerning
the near miss from Asteroid 2004 MN4 in the year 2029.
Earth Safe from Asteroid 2004 MN4
By
David Tytell
Despite
the hype, near-Earth asteroid 2004 MN4 is yet another false alarm. S&T illustration by
Steven Simpson.
December 28, 2004 | “Throughout the Christmas holiday weekend, the
astronomical community was abuzz over the most significant impact threat to
Earth yet found. As late as Monday morning, the near-Earth asteroid 2004 MN4
was given a 1-in-38 chance (2.7 percent) of hitting us 25 years from now — on April 13, 2029, to be exact. But thanks to prediscovery
observations, astronomers can now say with total confidence that the asteroid
will miss our home planet.
The object was first spotted
back in June 2004 but was subsequently lost. It was rediscovered a few weeks
ago, giving astronomers a 180-day long orbital arc from which to deduce the
asteroid's path. Those calculations put a potential intersection with Earth
well within 2004 MN4's orbital error.
The most common scale used to
measure asteroid risk is the "Torino Scale." This 10-point gauge assesses both
the impact threat level and the potential damage caused by a given impactor.
Due to a history of "Chicken Little-style" news stories about
potential asteroid threats that were quickly proven false, Sky &
Telescope vowed last year never to report on any events below a Torino
rating of 2 (S&T: January 2004, page 8). Since the Torino scale debuted in 1999, no
object has risen above a score of one. But over the Christmas weekend, 2004 MN4
rose to level 4 due to the greater than 1 percent chance of impact and the
potential for regional (rather than localized) devastation if the body were to
strike Earth.
Fortunately, Jeff Larsen and
Anne Descour found images of the faint asteroid in images taken on March 15, 2004 at the 0.9-meter Spacewatch Telescope on Kitt Peak, Arizona. With this longer time
baseline, astronomers could refine the calculations of 2004 MN4's orbit, which
in turn allowed them to determine with certainty that it will miss Earth in
2029.
"An Earth impact on April 13, 2029 can now be ruled out," wrote Don Yeomans, Steve
Chesley, and Paul Chodas (NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) in a statement issued
Monday afternoon. The asteroid, which has an orbital period of 323 days, might
strike Earth sometime in the distant future, but our home planet is safe for a
long time to come — at least from this object.”
If an asteroid ½ to 1 mile in
diameter were to strike the earth it would cause a major catastrophe such as is
mentioned in Revelation 8:8 and 9.
If the asteroid were to fall in
the ocean, it would cause major tidal waves up to 1 mile high, which would
cause utter devastation hundreds of miles inland from shore. Hundreds of millions could die from such a
Tsunami. There would be millions more on
the casualty list from other effects of such an impact.
The recent Tsunami disaster in Asia that killed nearly 200,000
people was an event that saddened us all.
It is one of the worst natural disasters in recent history. That is, natural to the way the earth is now
after the fall of Adam when the adversary got legal rights over the earth. He legally holds those rights for a period of
time, which is soon coming to an end.
Until that time, he has dominion over the earth and all people who are
not in Messiah. Those who are in Messiah
(Yahshua or Jesus Christ), or born again, are no longer under his dominion and
have power over him through Yahshua.
There were many miracles that
occurred during the Tsunami. One that
occurred was written about on the front page of the Washington Post according
to the report that I heard on Fox News.
If any of you have that issue would you please send me a copy of it. It concerns a
Christian believer who is an overseer of an orphanage in one of the areas that
the Tsunami struck. He was on a boat
with a number of orphans when the tidal wave stuck. He saw the large wave heading straight for
their boat and jumped up and put his outstretched hands toward the wave and
commanded it to stop in the name of Jesus Christ. Miraculously the wave disintegrated before it
struck them.
Without Yahshua there is no
hope or salvation, since those without Him are under the rule of the god of
this world. With Him, there is abounding
hope and salvation. Those who are in Him
are no longer under the rule of the god of this world. Plus, they have tools and weapons to fight
the adversary with and to claim victory in all situations through Yahshua
(Jesus). Keep this in your mind and
heart, for we may soon be headed into some heavy spiritual warfare. Prayer is powerful. When we pray, we invite the Almighty to come
into the situation at hand. He comes to
us by prayer upon our invitation. That
is the way He set things up. It is then
that he fights with us or gives us knowledge and wisdom. With Him, all things are possible. That is most likely why the Apostle Paul said
to pray often and to pray without ceasing.
Yahweh watch
over you!
