NEW MOON REPORT
Nehemia Gordon from
Jerusalem, Israel compiled the following New Moon Reports for the months of
December 2010 and January 2011 and the beginnings of the Tenth and Eleventh
Biblical Months in the Biblical Year 5971.
December – “On
December 7, 2010 the new moon was sighted from Israel. The new moon was first sighted from Jerusalem
at 4:42pm by Devorah Gordon and then shortly thereafter by Nehemia Gordon, Yoel
Halevi, Miriam Fauth, Elana Fauth, and Agnes Blanchard. Photographs of the new moon sighted are posted at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nehemia-Gordon/371892568628
January – “On
Wednesday January 5, 2010 the new moon was sighted from Israel. The moon was sighted by three observers from
the Mount of Olives beginning at 17:13. The moon was also sighted by an
observer from Samaria at 17:24 and another observer from Aqaba, Jordan.”
“The next New Moon is
expected to be visible from Jerusalem near sunset on February 4, 2011 when the
moon will be 2.12% illuminated
and 15.12o above
the horizon at 5 minutes past sunset.
Here again is another late
newsletter. There was an attack on my
computer and someone tried to piggyback off of it. I pray that the problem is now solved. Everything seems to be working fine and I
completed five thorough scans for viruses and unwanted cookies and came up
clean. For a while I had to uninstall
Norton’s and reinstall it to get my computer to work for a short time. That problem seems to be fixed finally. I shut the computer off for a few days at a
time to make it inconvenient for someone to piggyback off from it. I think they finally gave up. I originally planned to finish and send this
newsletter to you around January 3rd. I am lost for words. Again, it seems that every month it is
something. I plan on starting the
February newsletter shortly after this one is finished.
I noticed that I forgot to
mention in the December newsletter that the Total Lunar eclipse that occurred
in December occurred on the Winter Solstice. I thought I included that
fact, but found that I didn’t. I thought
it to be interesting but did not see any astounding Biblical significance to
it. Though I suppose it created much
speculation. However, it is a rare
event. Astrologers would have much to
say about it since they make much to do about the solstices and equinoxes, but
in my observations to date, I can only speculate on a possible meaning. Your guess is as good as mine. Sun god worshippers make hay out of it and
most likely worship such events. Until
Yahweh gives me direct revelation on it, I will not speculate.
I did check all the eclipses
that occurred on the Winter Solstice since January 1, 1500 and found three
partial eclipses, a couple of penumbral eclipses (not really worth mentioning)
and one other Total eclipse that occurred on December 21, 1638. So a total eclipse on the Winter Solstice is
quite rare and most likely occurs every 350 to 400 years. To do an accurate frequency of such an event
I would need to go back to 4000 BC and check them all through the present. That will take some time. I spent a couple of hours checking all the
eclipses from 1500 until present using the Dance of the Planets astronomy
program, which is a great research tool for checking the frequency of celestial
events. It is the best program that I
have found for such research. It is a
DOS program that is still available from ARC Science Simulations. I believe it is now sold for $75.00. I paid over $200 for it in 1993. You can find it at the following website: http://www.arcscience.com/otherProducts/danceOfThePlanets.html
The picture below of the
Total Eclipse on December 20/21 was taken during the peak of the eclipse from
Cochranville, PA.
There were cloud issues
where I am so I could not view the eclipse.
I suppose that is the price I pay at times for living in the
Northwest. But I still like it here.
QUADRANTID METEOR SHOWER
The Quatrantid Meteor
Shower peaks every year on the evening of January 3/4. This year’s shower was predicted to be an
excellent show. The article below
concerning this shower is from Astronomy.com.
Hot flashes for a cold winter’s
night
“Observing prospects look excellent for
this year’s Quadrantid meteor shower, which peaks before dawn January 4, the
same morning as New Moon. The Quadrantids can produce up to 120 meteors per
hour under perfect conditions. With the Moon out of the sky, this has the
potential to be the finest shower of 2011.
The Quadrantids typically have a sharp
peak, with the number of meteors dropping by about half 6 hours from the peak.
Astronomers predict the maximum should occur around 1h UT January 4 (8 p.m. EST
January 3). This timing works out best for those in Europe, but observers
everywhere should keep an eye out.
The shower’s radiant lies in
the northern part of Boötes the Herdsman. The Quadrantids got their name from a
defunct constellation, Quadrans Muralis, which used to occupy this region.”
Again, cloud issues
prevented me from observing the meteor shower.
I did not hear of any reports from the United States of anything
spectacular. But they must have put on a
splendid display in Europe, and perhaps Israel.
Chart 543 shows the
radiant of the shower in the constellation Bootes. It is between the constellations Bootes
and Draco. It is named after the
constellation Quadrans Muralis, which is not one of the original 48
constellations. You will notice on the
chart a radiant for another meteor shower that takes place in June, which is
the June Bootids named after the constellation Bootes.
Chart 543 – Radiant of the Quadrantids Meteor Shower that peaks on
January 3/4 every year.
The main theme for the
constellation Bootes is He Cometh, referring to the coming of
Messiah both when he first came into the world and also to His second
appearing. It is a picture of a man or
the likeness of the Son of Man with a sickle in his hand. This is the picture given in Revelation 14:14
and 15.
“Then
I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of
Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple,
crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle
and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth
is ripe.’”
For more information on the
constellation Bootes see the February 2006 issue of Biblical
Astronomy where it was the feature constellation for that issue.
The constellation Draco,
above Bootes, represents the Dragon.
PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
A partial eclipse of the sun
took place on January 4, 2011. The moon
covered about 80 percent of the sun at the peak of the eclipse. The eclipse as a whole was visible from
Europe and northern Africa. It was also
visible from Israel where the moon covered about 60 percent of the sun at the
peak of the eclipse. You can see the
areas where the eclipse was visible from on the following link: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2011-Fig01.pdf
Chart 544 shows the
positions of the sun and the moon in the constellation Sagittarius at
the time of the eclipse on January 4, 2011.
The main theme of Sagittarius
is The Redeemer’s triumph. The
arrow in the bow is aimed at the heart of the scorpion (Scorpius), which
is another form of the dragon or part of the dragon’s (or serpent’s) seed.
Both the solar eclipse and
the meteor shower occurred on January 4, and both were most likely well seen
from Israel. Both constellations where
these events occurred portray Messiah’s second appearing and his war with the
adversary.
For a more Biblically
accurate picture of Sagittarius, see Michele Abraham’s drawing of the
constellation in the July 2006 issue of Biblical Astronomy.
JOSEPHUS’ ACCOUNT OF HEROD’S DEATH
I have received a number of
inquiries of late pertaining to the year that Messiah was born. I believe that the latest round of inquiries
stems from a recent teaching from J.R. Church who states that Jesus was born in
7 B.C according to certain conjunctions that took place in that year, and the
death of Herod occurred in 4 B.C. after an eclipse that is mentioned by
Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews.
The celestial events of 7
B.C through 6 B.C. include the massing of Jupiter, Mars and Saturn in the
constellation Pisces and the triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. I stated in my book and in the Biblical
Astronomy DVD Set that these signs were part of the signs that occurred
pointing to the birth of Messiah. These
particular events took place about three years before He was born. There were also great signs that occurred
shortly before and after His birth on September 11, 3 B.C.
There were also very similar
signs that took place about 3 years before Moses was born. There was a massing of Jupiter, Mars and
Saturn in Taurus, and also a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. I cover this in the Biblical Astronomy DVD
Set as well.
Richard Hinkley Allen writes
of the events that occurred in 7 B.C. in his book Star Names, and Their
Meanings (1899), p. 341 – Within their boundaries (Pisces) took place three
distinct conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn in the year 747 of Rome, - the year
to which for a long time was assigned Christ’s birth; these phenomena
strikingly agreeing in some of their details with Saint Matthew’s
account of the Star of Bethlehem…. It is noticeable that the Rabbis held the
tradition, recorded by Abrabanel in the 15th century, that a similar
conjunction took place three years previous to the birth of Moses, and they
anticipated another at their Messiah’s advent.
Both series of events
occurred three years before the birth of Moses and three years before the birth
of Yahshuah.
For more complete details on the birth of Moses with
star charts of the celestial events that took place three years before he was
born, see the article The Birth of Moses and the Exodus in the
March/April 2004 issue of Biblical Astronomy and the second DVD in the Biblical
Astronomy DVD Set. I believe that I
covered the events that occurred three years before the birth of Yahshuah on
the same DVD and I may have done an article on it many years ago, but I cannot
find it.
There is an eclipse mentioned
in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, XVII, vi, 4 that occurs shortly
before the death of Herod. Below is what
was written by Josephus.
4…“But Herod deprived this Matthias of the high priesthood, and burnt
the other Matthias, who had raised the sedition, with his companions, alive.
And that very night there was an eclipse of the moon. (8)
5. But now Herod's distemper greatly increased upon him after a severe
manner, and this by God's judgment upon him for his sins; for a fire glowed in
him slowly, which did not so much appear to the touch outwardly, as it
augmented his pains inwardly; for it brought upon him a vehement appetite to
eating, which he could not avoid to supply with one sort of food or other. His
entrails were also ex-ulcerated, and the chief violence of his pain lay on his
colon; an aqueous and transparent liquor also had settled itself about his
feet, and a like matter afflicted him at the bottom of his belly. Nay, further,
his privy-member was putrefied, and produced worms; and when he sat upright, he
had a difficulty of breathing, which was very loathsome, on account of the
stench of his breath, and the quickness of its returns; he had also convulsions
in all parts of his body, which increased his strength to an insufferable
degree.”
Many believe that this
eclipse occurred on March 13, 4 B.C.
They most likely get this from a footnote in Josephus’ account of the
eclipse, shown below. But this footnote came
from a commentator on the book many centuries after Josephus wrote of the
account. It did not come from
Josephus. The commentator was in error
on choosing this eclipse.
Footnote (8): “This eclipse of the moon (which is the only
eclipse of either of the luminaries mentioned by our Josephus in any of his
writings) is of the greatest consequence for the determination of the time for
the death of Herod and Antipater, and for the birth and entire chronology of
Jesus Christ. It happened March 13th, in the year of the Julian period 4710,
and the 4th year before the Christian era….”
The late Dr. Ernest
L. Martin shows in his book The Star that Astonished the World that
Herod died about four weeks after the total lunar eclipse, which occurred
around 1:00 a.m. (Jerusalem Time) on January 10, 1 B.C. He also shows the errors in calculating the
eclipse that occurred on March 13, 4 B.C. as being the correct eclipse
mentioned by Josephus.
Dr. Martin
dedicated a whole chapter on this subject.
The chapter in which this is covered is Chapter 13 – The Chronology
of Josephus. There is a free online
version of The Star of Bethlehem:
The Star that Astonished the World at the following link:
http://www.askelm.com/star/index.asp
You can also listen to an audio reading of the
chapter that is available on the same link (above). Or you can go directly to Chapter 13 in the
book using the following link:
http://www.askelm.com/star/star015.htm
There are other
things to consider in choosing the most likely candidate for the correct
eclipse. The eclipse that occurred on
March 13, 4 B.C. was a partial lunar eclipse in which the shadow of the earth
only covered about 25% of the moon’s surface at the peak of the eclipse. That eclipse started around 1:30 a.m.
Jerusalem Standard Time and peaked at 3:00 a.m. JST. It most likely was not noticeable to most of
the population. Chart 545 shows
the shadow of the earth (in red) at the peak of the eclipse. There would not have been a red shadow
projected onto the moon since it was a partial eclipse. You only have a blood red moon when it is a
total eclipse.
Chart 545 – Peak of the partial eclipse
at 3 a.m. JST as seen from Jerusalem on March 13, 4 B.C.
The eclipse that
took place on January 9/10, 1 B.C. started to take place before 11:00 p.m. on
January 9, and came to a peak around 1:00 a.m. on January 10. This eclipse was
a total blood red eclipse. Chart 546 shows
the total eclipse of January 10, 1 B.C.
Chart 546 – Peak of the total eclipse at 1 a.m. JST as
seen from Jerusalem on January 10, 1 BC
Many
certainly would have noticed this eclipse.
This blood red moon may have represented the innocent blood that was
spilt shortly before this (within a few weeks) by Herod when he ordered all the
children two years old and under to be slaughtered in Bethlehem and its
surrounding area. And also the killing
of the two rabbis ordered by Herod that evening.
Chronology
of Events
Mary
conceived Yahshuah in December 4 B.C. (Hanukkah)
Yahshuah
was born on September 11, 3 B.C. (Day of Trumpets)
Magi came
and found the young child Yahshuah in a house on December 25, 2 B.C. (Hanukkah
and two years from when Yahshuah was conceived.
Yahshuah was 1 year and 3 months old at this time and in his second year
after he came out of the womb.
Magi were
warned by an angel to return to their country by a different route, and Joseph
also warned to flee to Egypt with Mary and the child.
Herod
became gravely ill shortly after the eclipse that occurred on January 10, 1
B.C. (16 days after the Magi came to see Yahshuah). Most likely as punishment for slaying all the
children in Bethlehem and also to protect Yahshuah.
Herod died
on January 28th (Schebat 2) in 1 B.C.
Angel told
Joseph that Herod had died and that he could take his family back to
Israel. This most likely took place at
least one month after Joseph and his family escaped to Egypt.
If you do
not have access to the Internet, you can purchase The Star of Bethlehem: The
Star That Astonished the World from:
Associates for Scriptural Knowledge, P.O. Box 25000, Portland, OR 97298-0990 – Phone 503-292-4352. It sells or $18.95 US; $23.95 Canada; $28.95
other. You can contact them to see about
shipping costs.
