Editor - Robert Scott Wadsworth <> P.O. Box 5772, Oregon City, OR 97045-8272

CELESTIAL ALIGNMENT OF MAY 5, 2000

Throughout the last year, I have received many questions concerning the planetary alignment that is to occur on May 5, 2000. Supposedly, the Moon, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are to be in direct alignment (in a straight line), which is not the case. Chart 36 shows the alignment on May 24 at 2:28 a.m. Israel Standard Time. I chose this particular time as the moon, sun, and earth are in direct alignment. This is about as close as all bodies considered come to being in direct alignment. The planets are moving in a clockwise direction around the sun, and the moon is moving in a counterclockwise direction around the earth from this vantage point. I drew a line from the earth through the sun to the orbital path of Saturn to show how close or far off the actual alignment of the planets is. The line extending from the orbital path of Mercury is the 0 degree longitude line. Some have written or suggested that such an alignment will cause the earth to topple on its axis, or that the gravitational force caused by the alignment will cause great earthquakes. This is HIGHLY unlikely. The laws of physics does not allow this. I did the calculations to provide scientific proof using Newton's law of gravitation. The equation is: F=G(M₁M₂/r²). F is the gravitational force in Newtons (1 newton is equal to the force needed to accelerate 1 kilogram by 1 meter per second); G is the gravitational constant which equals 6.672 x 10^-11M³/Kg.sec² (cubic meters divided by kilograms per second), M₁ is the mass (in kilograms) of first object (ex. Earth), M₂ is the mass of the second object (ex. Moon), and r is the distance (in meters) between the two objects (r² being the square of the distance: if the distance between the two objects is 10 meters, then you would divide the multiple factor of the two masses by 100). I did all of the calculations for the sun, moon, and all of the planets under consideration for this particular day and time. The gravitational force that the sun will exert on Earth on May 4/5, 2000 will be approximately 3.48 x 10²² Newtons. The gravitational force that the moon will exert on Earth will be approximately 2.13 x 10²⁰ Newtons. The total gravitational force that all of the five planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury) combined will exert on Earth will be 1.06 x 10¹⁸ Newtons. The x 10^x are powers of ten (ex. 1.2 x 10⁶ = 1.2 million, 1.2 x 10⁹ = 1.2 billion, 1.2 x 10¹² = 1.2 trillion). The total gravitational force of the sun and moon on Earth at this particular time is over 33,000 times greater than the combined force of all five planets. The earth is constantly subject to forces of this magnitude. There is far from enough excessive gravitational force to send the earth toppling on its axis, even if the planets were in direct alignment. To say that this minuscule difference in gravitational force would topple the earth is analogous to saying that a small fly striking the helmet of Bruce Smith of the Buffalo Bills as he is rushing in for a tackle would knock him on his butt. HIGHLY unlikely.

Though this particular alignment will most likely not topple the earth (physically), it is a rare and interesting alignment nonetheless. There was an alignment of this nature around the time of the birth of Abraham in the constellation Aquarius (see "A Voice Crying in the Heavens" Pg. 38 and Charts 11-14). The planets, sun, and moon were in close alignment in early February, 1953 B.C. The charts in the book do not show this. Another such alignment (excluding Saturn) occurred around the time of the birth of Jesus Christ on August 28/29, 2 B.C., in the constellation Leo. At this time, Venus was between the earth and the sun at a distance of 26.8 million miles from the earth versus 157.5 million miles, which is the distance that Venus will be from the earth on May 4/5, 2000. The gravitational force of

Venus alone on the earth in the August, 2 B.C. alignment was approximately 1.03 x 10¹⁸ Newtons, which is very close to the combined gravitational force for all of the planets on May 4/5, 2000, which will be approximately 1.06 x 10¹⁸ Newtons. The total gravitational force exerted on the earth was greater in the 2 B.C. alignment than will be in the May, 2000 alignment. The earth did not topple at that time, nor are there any written records of massive, high magnitude, earthquakes occurring at that time. However, a very important event took place less than a year before the 2 B.C. alignment - the birth of the Messiah.

Chart 36 shows the earth view of the sun, moon, and planets during the May 4/5 alignment. The moon here is in direct conjunction with the sun and in the head of Cetus (the beast from the sea), and Mars is very near conjunction with the Pleiades (the congregation of the Judge).

THE SACRED CALENDAR

Enclosed with this newsletter is an article from "The Sacred Calendar of the God of Israel" by the Stewarton Bible School, Scotland. This article is a brief overview of why there is a one month difference from the popular Jewish calendar and the Sacred Calendar in 1997. According to the Sacred Calendar, the Passover in 1997 was on March 24, and Pentecost on May 13. The Feast of Trumpets in 1997 will be on September 3, Day of Atonement on September 12, and Feast of Tabernacles on September 17. It was on March 24 (Israel time) that the last lunar eclipse occurred, and the comet Hale-Bopp was very near its closest approach to the earth. It will be between sunset September 16 and sunset September 17 that the next, and last in a series of lunar eclipses will occur. This will be on the Feast of Tabernacles. I will be sending another article from "The Sacred Calendar of the God of Israel" in the upcoming July newsletter, which discusses in greater detail how errors crept into the Jewish calendar over the past centuries.

The website address for the Stewarton Bible School is in the upper right corner of the article.

UPCOMING DATE OF IMPORTANCE

An upcoming date that may prove to be of great importance, and at least very interesting, is September 11/12, 1997. If the September 11, 3 B.C. date is the correct date for the birth of Jesus Christ, then September 11, 1997 (Gregorian Calendar) will be Jesus Christ's 2,000th birthday according to Judean reckoning, or the beginning of his 2,000th year. (See pg. 62 in "A Voice Crying in the Heavens" and the September, 1996, issue of Biblical Astronomy.) There are differences of opinion on whether Jesus Christ was born on the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, or Feast of Tabernacles. At any rate, if 3 B.C. is the correct year for the Lord's birth, then his 2,000th year begins somewhere between September 3 and September 17 according to the Sacred Calendar. September 12 (between sunset September 11, and sunset September 12) is the Day of Atonement. In a Jubile year, the Day of Atonement is the first day of the Jubile year. Lev. 25:8-10 (KJV) - And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you: and ye shall return every man unto his possession and ye shall return every man unto his family.

Israel claimed its independence on May 14, 1948 (Pentecost was May 15 on the Sacred Calendar). Forty-nine years later was May 14, 1997 (Pentecost was May 13 - Sacred Calendar). 1997 is the beginning of Israel's 50th year as a nation in recent history. September 12 may be the first day of the first jubile since Israel once again became a nation.

In order to receive the July issue of Biblical Astronomy on time, please resubscribe by June 25. The 1997/98 subscription rate is $20.00. I look forward to serving you information pertaining to the end times.