Biblical Astronomy

March/April 2008

 

Editor – Robert Scott Wadsworth <> P.O. Box 2272, Oregon City, OR 97045

Phone (503) 655-7430 <> e-mail – starguy1@comcast.net <> Website – www.biblicalastronomy.com

 

 


BARLEY REPORT

 

Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem Israel compiled the following Barley Report on March 7, 2008.

 

Aviv Not Found, Thirteenth Month to Begin after Shabbat

 

“On Tuesday March 4, Wednesday March 5, and Thursday March 6, 2008 an international team crisscrossed the Land of Israel searching for Aviv Barley. We examined barley from the Negev in the south all the way to the border of Lebanon in the north and from the Jordan Valley in the east to the Coastal Plain in the west. Most of the barley we found, including the barley in the Northern Negev, was no further than the "cotton" stage also referred to as the "flowering" stage. In the Jordan Valley we found small amounts of barley in the "worm" stage,
also referred to as the "soft dough" stage. We did not find any barley in the Aviv stage anywhere in Israel and therefore we must wait until after the Thirteenth Month before beginning the new Biblical Year. The Thirteenth Month will begin with the expected sighting of the New Moon from Israel on Saturday night March 8, 2008. The holiday of Chag HaMatzot will run from April 21 at sunset through April 28 at sunset.

 

For the dates of the other biblical appointed times please see:  http://www.karaite-korner.org/holiday_dates.shtml                       

 

This year's Aviv Search was truly an international effort with participants from Israel, the United States, England, and South Africa. The Karaite searchers were joined by adherents of several different faiths and persuasions including members of "Yahweh's Philadelphia Truth Congregation" and "Hoshana Rabbah Messianic Discipleship Resources".

 

Ruthanne Koch, a Certified Crop Advisor from Colorado participated along with her husband Bernie, her brother Erich Draht, and his wife Gloria. Other participants included Ferenc Illesy, Rivkah Michaeli, Avi Ben Mordechai, Johan Schutte, Glen Cain, Tracey Cain, Frank King, Eileen King, Sharon King, Nathan Lawrence, Sandi Lawrence, Linda Lampkin, and Richard Bay. I want to thank American Karaites Yochanan Labombarbe and Sean Reuland for making the trip over to Israel to do the Aviv Search and Devorah Gordon for helping make the Aviv Search a
success. Finally, I want to thank everyone who supported the Aviv Search both financially and in other ways.”

 

NEW MOON REPORT

 

Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem, Israel compiled the following New Moon Report for the month of March and the beginning of the Thirteenth Month of the Biblical Calendar.

 

“On Saturday March 8, 2008 observers across Israel looked for the New Moon but it was not sighted due to heavy cloud coverage.  Had there been no clouds the moon would have been visible and according to the potential visibility March 9 is New Moon Day.”

 

The next new moon is expected to be visible from Jerusalem near sunset on April 7, 2008 when it will be easily visible with 3% illumination.  It will be 19o above the horizon at 5 minutes after sunset.  That new moon will be the New Moon of the Aviv and the beginning of the first day of the First Month on the Biblical Calendar.

 

Chart 458 shows the position of the moon when it will be seen from Jerusalem on April 7, 2008 at 7:26 pm in the sign Aries.  This is an ecliptic view.

 


Chart 458 – Position of the New Moon of the Aviv in Aries as seen from Jerusalem on April 7

 

The new moon is seen here in or near the mouth of the Lamb.  I used the ecliptic view here instead of the local view with the horizon so that you could see where the sun is in Pisces at the time of the new moon as well as the positions of the planets Venus (Nogah) and Mercury (Catab) at that time. The two planets are in the morning sky; the moon is in the evening sky. The sun and the two planets are in and in conjunction with the band and fish that represents the House of Judah.  Pisces represents the nation of Israel.  The fish on the left represents the House of Ephraim or House of Israel (the ten northern tribes of the old kingdom).  Venus represents the Bright and Morning Star and Mercury the messenger or announcing angel Gabriel.

 

Venus and Mercury will come into a close conjunction a few weeks earlier in the Sign Aquarius (Deli) on March 23/24, 2008.  Chart 459 shows the positions of Venus and Mercury in the water flow of Aquarius at the time of the conjunction as seen from Jerusalem on March 24.  Mercury is the small dot just below Venus.  The mark next to the label for Mercury is a pointer.  The water flow represents God’s blessing being poured forth for and on His people.  See the feature article on Aquarius in the January 2008 issue of Biblical Astronomy for more information on the Biblical meaning of that constellation.

 

Chart 459 – Venus/Mercury conjunction in Aquarius on March 24, 2008 as seen from Jerusalem

 


The Vernal Equinox this year will occur on March 20th at 1:48 am EDT.

 

I missed putting some pertinent information in the February newsletter.  I didn’t notice that it was missing until after I sent it out.  I will be including that information later in this newsletter as well as some updates on the February 20, 2008 eclipse.  I was multi-tasking and was up for a few days without sleep trying to get the newsletter out so that the postal subscribers would get it before the eclipse.   I should have rested and put it off for a day.  I seem to get burned out a lot faster since I reached 60.  From now on I will stop and go to bed if I find myself falling asleep as I am typing and concentrate on one task at a time.  I apologize for any inconvenience.  Please forgive me.

           

LYRID METEOR SHOWER (April Showers)

 

The Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks every year on April 22/23 except for leap years when it peaks on April 21/22 between late evening and early morning.  This year, April 21/22 will be Passover/First Day of Unleavened Bread according to the Biblical Calendar. 

 

The Lyrid is not normally a real active shower such as the Perseids and Leonids.  The shower usually has a rate of 10 to 20 meteors per hour, but every now and then it puts on a good show.  The following excerpt if from an online Sky & Telescope article on the Lyrids by Roger W. Sinnott.

 

“The Lyrid meteor shower has been observed for more than 2,000 years; Chinese records say "stars fell like rain" during the shower of 687 BC. But in recent times the Lyrids have generally been weak. They have a brief maximum that lasts for less than a day, and even then only 10 to 20 Lyrids per hour may appear.

 

But there have been some remarkable exceptions. In 1982 the rate unexpectedly reached 90 for a single hour, and 180 to 300 for a few minutes. A brief outburst of 100 per hour was also seen in 1922. And on April 20, 1803, residents of Richmond, Virginia, upon being rousted out of bed by a fire bell, were startled to see great numbers of meteors in all parts of the sky. "This unpredictability always makes the Lyrids a shower to watch, since we cannot say when the next unusual return may occur," note Alistair McBeath and Rainer Arlt of the International Meteor Organization.

 

The chart below shows the radiant of the shower near Lyra, the harp.

 

 

 Lyra is a decan constellation of the Sign Sagittarius.  It mainly represents praise prepared for the conqueror (see the August 2006 issue of Biblical Astronomy for more on its Biblical meaning).           

 

Another decan constellation to Sagittarius is Draco, the dragon being cast to the earth (see the September/October 2006 newsletter).  There is rejoicing in the heavens when the Dragon is cast out (Rev. 12:7-11) and Lyra portrays that event as well.

 

As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter, when Biblical events unfold on Earth, Zedek (Jupiter) is always in the main Sign that portrays such an event.  Zedek will be in Sagittarius during the Spring Feasts this year.  Sagittarius portrays not only a bowman on a white horse going forth to conquer, but also the casting down of the Dragon to the earth with its decan constellation Draco.  This event most likely occurs just before or at the beginning of the 1,260 days or 42 months of the Great Tribulation.  Zedek will be in Aries, which with all of its decan constellations portrays the events of Revelation 19:6 thru 20:3 during the Fall Feasts of 2011.  I believe the 1,260 days will end on the Day of Trumpets at any given year when this event unfolds.  At that time the two witnesses along with others who belong to Y’shua and are on the earth at that time, will be taken up and gathered to Y’shua.  After that the wrath of God is poured forth on His enemies for three weeks.  On the Last Great Day, the Twenty Second Day of the Seventh Biblical Month, Messiah will come with His saints and defeat the beast and the armies of the beast.

 

There are 1,260 days between April 17, 2008 (Aviv 10) and September 29, 2011 (Day of Trumpets).  If the events of Revelation 12 and 13 occur during this particular 12-year cycle of Zedek we will soon know.  There have been a number of unique and rare signs over the past 15 months.  I will give a recap of them later in this newsletter.

 

SATURN AT OPPOSITION

 

This report was to be in last month’s newsletter.  On February 24, 2008 the planet Saturn reached opposition (its closest approach to the earth for the year and its brightest magnitude).  This occurred 4 days after the total lunar eclipse.  Last year Saturn reached opposition on February 10, 2007, three weeks before another red total lunar eclipse that was visible from Jerusalem on Purim.  That eclipse also occurred in Arieh (the Lion).  Saturn was also in Arieh at that time as it was this year. 

 

The two eclipses are very similar and both occurred either on Purim or 12 hours before Purim.  Both occurred in Arieh along with Saturn, which was shining brightly.

 

The chart below shows the position of Saturn at its time of opposition on February 24, 2008 in the constellation Leo (Arieh).

 

 

The chart below shows the position of the moon during the total eclipse of March 3/4 2007.  See Chart 456 in the February 2008 newsletter for the position of the moon and Saturn during the eclipse on February 20, 2008.

 

 

Much of the following is from the February 2007 newsletter.

 

Arieh represents the Lion of the Tribe of Judah or Messiah, or the Tribe of Judah.  Saturn represents Satan.  The Lion is making war with the water serpent Hydra, or a beast from the sea.  The Lion crushes the serpent’s head.   In ancient times, Hydra had seven heads. 

 

A Blood Red Eclipse represents the atoning blood of Messiah and also blood and war on His enemies.  Considering the signs in the Sign Scorpio from December 2006 thru February 2007,  this most likely represents Messiah making war on His enemies.   

 

These two red eclipses occurred on, or on the eve of Purim, which commemorates the time that the people of Judah who lived in the land of Persia during captivity were to be destroyed by Haman’s deceitfulness, but instead, the armies that came up against the Jews in the land if Persia were destroyed.  Read the book of Esther for all the info.  It is far more accurate and detailed than the movie “One Night With The King.”  At any rate, there was war against the enemies of Yahweh’s people at that time, and those enemies were destroyed.  Haman was hanged. 

 

I believe these Blood Red Eclipses on Purim 2007 and Purim 2008 represent blood and war against the enemies of Yahweh’s people with the enemy being utterly destroyed.  Whether this starts to take place at this time remains to be seen, but the heavenly signs are strong, as you will understand as you read on.  (See the February 2007 newsletter to read on).

 

The eclipse on February 20, 2008 was also in the Lion of Judah.  The moon passed conjunction with the star Regulus at the beginning of the eclipse.  Regulus is the King star of the Lion and also the King star of all the stars in the heavens from antiquity.  Regulus represents the King of Judah and the King of the Universe.  The planet Saturn (Satan) was in the Lion during this eclipse as it was in 2007.                           

 

Below is a chart that shows the Moon, Regulus and Saturn at the time of the eclipse as seen from the mid-west U.S. on February 20, 2008

 

 

As seen from the United States the eclipsed moon was red.  Viewed from Oregon City, Oregon, it had a slight reddish tinge.  It appeared more reddish in color the further east in the U.S. it was viewed from.  I saw it live from Oregon City and also viewed it live on Fox News, which was broadcast from the eastern U.S.  I predicted that it would be gray.  I was wrong.  It’s back to the drawing board for me.   It was most likely even redder as seen from Greenland and Iceland.

 

Below is a striking photograph of last month’s eclipse taken from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

 

The Moon glows orange as it is seen above the Dome of the Rock ...

 

Here the red moon is seen as though to strike or fall on the Dome of the Rock.

 

As I mentioned earlier, a red eclipse can represent the atoning blood of Messiah, which to those who are in Messiah, protects them from the wrath of God, but to those who are against Messiah, this blood becomes a curse and the wrath of God will fall upon them.

 

This becomes particularly interesting in light of the fact what occurred six days before the eclipse.  On Friday February 15, 2008 there was a 5.3 magnitude earthquake that shook Israel.  The following article concerning this earthquake and the damage it did to the Temple Mount was written by Ezra HaLevi and published by Arutz-Sheva news on February 17, 2008.

 

Earthquake Damages Temple Mount and Shechem

 

“(IsraelNN.com) An earthquake shook Israel at 12:37 PM Friday. The only damage reported in Israel was on the Temple Mount and near Shechem (Nablus).

 

The earthquake measured 5.3 on the Richter scale; its epicenter was located in northeastern Lebanon. Earlier last week an earthquake measuring 4.1 was felt in northern Israel, also originating from Lebanon, near its northern city of Tyre.

 

A large hole opened up on the Temple Mount during Friday's earthquake (click here for pictures), which was soon covered by officials from the Wakf Islamic Authority that administers the mosques built atop Judaism’s holiest site.

 

The only other reported damage in the Holy Land was incurred between Palestinian Authority-controlled Shechem (Nablus) and Jenin, where an old home collapsed, blocking the main road to the village of Khufin. The village is not far from the site of the Biblical Joseph’s Tomb, which was set ablaze by Muslim vandals last week.

 

At least five people were injured and two homes were destroyed in southern Lebanon as a result of Friday’s quake.

 

Wakf Officials Blame Israel

 

Wakf officials tried to blame Israel for the 6-foot by 5-foot hole, which is about three feet deep, claiming it was caused by Israel, which it accuses of tunneling beneath the Temple Mount. They demanded an end to all Israeli excavations in the area.

 

Though several excavation projects are taking place around the Western Wall Plaza, none of them entail tunneling past the wall itself and beneath the mount. The Wakf’s official position is that there was never a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount and has gone to great efforts to erase archaeological evidence of Judaism’s historical ties to the site.

 

Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz issued a statement rejecting the Muslim claims. "These are mendacious reports without a grain of truth," he said, adding that work in the Temple Mount compound would be contrary to Jewish law. “Such claims are a desecration and cause hatred and incitement for no reason whatsoever,” Rabbi Rabinowitz said. He stressed that work on the Rambam (Mughrabi) Gate ramp to the Temple Mount is vital for the safety of those who visit the Western Wall and called on the authorities to finish the work speedily.”

 

Below are the photos of the damage the earthquake did on the Temple Mount not far from the Dome of the Rock.  Is this a sign from Yahweh to his enemies to get off his Holy Mount?  Will the Dome soon come tumbling down?

 

 

 

 

So besides signs in the heavens, we seem to have signs in the earth as well.  The following is a list of celestial events starting in December 2006 and ending with the Lyrid Meteor Shower in April.


 

December 8-11, 2006 – Planets Jupiter (Zedek) – represents Yahweh or Yahshua); Mars (Adom) – represents the archangel Michael; and Mercury (Catab) – represents the archangel Gabriel, mass in a close grouping in the head of Scorpius (Akrab).  Also at this time recently discovered Comet McNaught was in Scorpius but not shining very brightly.  The scorpion represents the enemy or the serpent’s seed.  Its Hebrew name Akrab means conflict or war.  This constellation portrays the war between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed.  See the feature article on Scorpius in the June 2006 newsletter as well as the info in the December 2006 newsletter.

 

January 2007 – Comet McNaught greatly increased in brightness to become the brightest comet in decades.  It reached a peak brightness of –5.2 around January 12, about 2.5 times brighter than the planet Venus.  This comet was a rare hippeus (horse) comet.  It appeared as the white mane of a horse.  It did so when it was at its brightest in the constellation Sagittarius, the bowman on the white horse.  See the January 2008 newsletter for the update and picture of this horse comet.

 

February 2007 – On February 4, 2007 a rare naked eye nova occurred in Scorpius.  This is another rare sign in the Scorpion.  Saturn reached opposition on February 10.  It was in the constellation Leo (Arieh) at the time of opposition.

 

March 2007 – There was a total eclipse of the moon seen from Israel, Europe, Africa, and over half of the United States on the evening/early morning of March 3/4.  This moon appeared red in color and occurred on Purim on the Biblical calendar.  The moon was in Leo (Arieh) the Lion of the Tribe of Judah at the time of the eclipse.

 

June 2007 – Jupiter reached opposition while in the constellation Scorpius on June 5, 2007.  Jupiter had been going through some interesting atmospheric changes since April of that year.  See the June 2007 newsletter for more info.

 

August 2007 – Venus and Saturn came into conjunction in Leo on August 9, 2007.  There was a total eclipse of the moon that appeared orange-red in color that occurred on August 28, 2007.  This eclipse was seen throughout the United States but not from Israel.  Up until the eclipse of February 20, 2008 this eclipse was the best eclipse that I have ever viewed.  This eclipse occurred in the constellation Aquarius.

 

September 2007 – On September 1, 2007 the Aurigid meteor shower put on a rare great show.  The radiant of this shower is in the bosom of Auriga the Great Shepherd.  The particles of this shower came from a comet that passed the earth 2,000 years ago when the Great Shepherd was walking on Earth.

 

October 2007 – On October 24, 2007 the very faint Comet Holmes (25,000 times fainter than the faintest star to the naked eye) went into outburst and within 36 hours increased one million fold in brightness.  It became a 3.0 magnitude comet and is still a faint naked eye object.  It blazed a trail through the constellation Perseus when it was at its brightest and came into a very close rendezvous with the star Algol (evil spirit) in Rosh Satan (the head of Satan) on January 22, 2008.  See the November and December 2007 newsletters for more info.

 

February 2008 – Jupiter and Venus came into a very close conjunction on February 1, 2008 in the constellation Sagittarius.  On February 20/21 there was a total eclipse of the moon seen over 5 continents.  The color of this eclipse appeared from a light red, orange, orange red and red, depending on where it was viewed from.  This eclipse occurred in the constellation Leo 12 hours before the beginning of Purim Jerusalem Local Time.  Saturn was shining brightly near the eclipse and reached opposition four days later on February 24, 2008.  The planets Venus and Mercury came into conjunction in the constellation Capricornus on February 24/25, 2008.

 

March 2008 – Venus and Mercury come into conjunction in Aquarius on March 24, 2008.

 

April 2008 – Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks on the evening/morning of April 21/22 (Passover/First Day of Unleavened Bread).  Jupiter is in the sign Sagittarius.

 

 

Below are the projected dates (in raw data form) for the first days of the months for Biblical calendar for the coming year.  The dates are near sunset when the moon is expected to be visible from Jerusalem.  I have the percent of illumination of the moon to the closest whole number, and the degrees above the horizon also to the closest whole number (not broken down to fractions).  These calculations are for the moon at 5 minutes after sunset.   The dates are from sunset of the first date on the left of the slash to sunset of the second date to the right of the slash.  Where there are borderline situations I have also listed a secondary possible date.

 

2008

 

First Month -        April 7/8                 3% illuminated, 19 degrees above the horizon.

 

Second Month -    May 6/7                  2% ill., 15 deg. ah

 

Third Month -     June 4/5                 1% ill., 10 deg. ah      (possibly June 5/6)

 

Fourth Month -   July 4/5                  3% ill., 15 deg. ah

 

Fifth Month -       August 2/3             2% ill., 7 deg. ah

 

Sixth Month -        September 1/2        4% ill., 7 deg. ah

 

Seventh Month -  October 1/2            5% ill., 8 deg. ah

 

Eighth Month -    Oct 31/Nov.1         6% ill., 12deg. ah       (possibly October 30/31)

 

Ninth Month -      November 29/30    3% ill., 10 deg. ah      (possibly November 11/12)

 

Tenth Month -     December 29/30    4% ill., 16 deg. ah      (possibly December 28/29)

 

 

2009

 

Eleventh Month – January 27/28        1% ill., 11 deg. ah     

 

Twelfth Month -  February 26/27      2% ill., 16 deg. ah

 

First Month –       March 27/28            1% ill., 10 deg. ah    

 

 

Feast Dates for 2008

 

Passover/Feast of Unleavened bread – sunset April 21 to sunset April 28.

 

Pentecost (Shavuot) – sunset June 14, to sunset June 15.

 

Day of Trumpets or Shouting (Yom Teruah or Yom Zicron) – October 1/2.

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) – October 10/11.

First Day of Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) – October 15/16.

Last Great Day (Shemini Atzeret) – October 22/23.

 

Feast of Dedication or Feast of Lights (Hanukkah) – will most likely start at sunset on December 23 and end at sunset on December 31, 2008.