The Messianic Jews opened the gathering with the blowing of the shophars (trumpets). This went out over a 250,000 watt sound system that was spread out over a mile-and-a-half. I was standing near the Washington Monument when the shophars were sounded, and could hear their blasts echoing throughout the city. It was quite the emotional moment, especially if God recognized this day to be the Day of Trumpets (Tishri 1), and the beginning of Jesus Christ's 2,000th year.

The popular Jewish Calendar has Tishri 1 falling on October 2. But the noon was in conjunction with the sun at sunset, October 1, and not illuminated. On the evening of October 2, the moon was 1% illuminated as seen from Jerusalem after sunset, but was very low on the horizon, and most likely not visible to the naked eye. The moon was 3% illuminated after sunset on October 3, and higher above the horizon. There is a very high probability that the first crescent was visible at this time and that the Feast or Day of Trumpets was from sunset October 3, to sunset October 4. That is if God chose these dates instead of September 3/4. It

is interesting that many Messianic Jews went to the hills surrounding Washington, D.C., and blew their shophars at sunset. They said that God commanded them to do so. Warming up for the BIG ONE (my comment).

VENUS AND MARS IN SPORPIO

First, I ask your forgiveness for not getting this information to you sooner. Most of the celestial events that are described in this newsletter will already have happened before you read about them. I hope to get back on schedule by November.

On October 12, Mars (Michael) was in conjunction with Antares (the wounding; or rival of Mars) in the constellation Scorpius (Chart 41 and Figure 3). The sign Scorpio portrays "The Redeemer's Conflict". The Hebrew name for this constellation is Akrab, which is the name of the scorpion, but also means the conflict, or war. The following is quoted from E. W. Bullinger's The Witness of the Stars, pp. 55-56.

"The scorpion is a deadly enemy (as we learn from Rev. 9), with poison in its sting, and all the names associated with the sign combine to set forth the malignant enmity which is "set" between the serpent and the woman's Seed.

That enmity is shown more fully in the written Word, where we see the attempt of the enemy (in Exod. 1) to destroy every male of the seed of Abraham, and how it was defeated.

We see his effort repeated when he used Athaliah to destroy "all the seed royal" (2 Kings 11), and how "the king's son" was rescued "from among" the slain.

We see his hand again instigating Haman, "the Jew's enemy," to compass the destruction of the whole nation, but defeated in his designs.

When the woman's Seed, the virgin's Son, was born, we are shown the same great enemy inciting Herod to slay all the babes in Bethlehem (Matt. 2), but again he is defeated.

In the wilderness of Judaea, and in the Garden of Gethsemane the great conflict is renewed. "This is your hour and the power of darkness," He said to His enemies.

The real wounding in the heel was received at the Cross. It was there the scorpion struck the woman's seed. He died, but was raised again from the dead "to destroy the works of the devil."

Is it not this the same enemy that we find making war with the remnant of the woman's seed in Rev. 12:17, and is finally destroyed in Rev. 20:9-10?

At the same time that Mars was in conjunction with Antares on October 12 at midnight Jerusalem Standard Time, Venus (Jesus Christ) was in the head of the Scorpion (Chart 41 and Figure 3). This is the head that is shown getting crushed by the left foot of the woman's seed. Mars is actually in the left foot of the woman's seed during this conjunction (Figure 3). Venus passed under and grazed the bottom of this foot on October 14 and 15. Mars was seen nearing conjunction with Antares after sunset on October 11, from Jerusalem, and Venus was seen burning brightly in the scorpion's head (if clear skies were prevailing). This was just after the end of the Day of Atonement in Israel according to the popular Jewish Calendar. It was still the Day of Atonement in the U.S. by the same calendar.

On October 27, Venus and Mars will be in conjunction near the foot of the woman's seed that is getting wounded (Chart 42 and Figure 3). The planets will be seen nearing conjunction after sunset, October 26, from Israel. The celestial events of October 12 and 27 show a unique portrayal of Genesis 3:15.

OTHER OCTOBER CELESTIAL EVENTS

Saturn was at opposition (closest approach to the earth for the year on October 9/10. The moon occulted (passed in front of) Saturn on October 15. The moon occulted the star Aldebaran (the leader or govenor) in the constellation Taurus on October 19.

An interesting event occurred over the Southwest U.S. on October 9, when Saturn was at opposition. A meteor streaked across the southwestern sky and exploded either in the sky or on the ground near El Paso, Texas. This meteor was most likely part of the Draconid meteor shower which occurred between October 6 and October 10. Meteor showers are named after the constellations they are seen radiating from as seen from Earth. The radiant of this particular shower was in the constellation Draco (the Dragon). The following is from an article in the Sky and Telescope weekly news bulletin:

"A DAZZLING DAYLIGHT FIREBALL The afternoon sky in the southwestern United States was briefly brighter on Thursday, October 9th, as skywatchers were startled by a daylight fireball. Robert Simpson at McDonald Observatory in Texas reports that the object was somewhere around magnitude -15 to -18 (brighter than the full Moon). The meteor appeared at 12:47 Mountain Daylight Time and only lasted a second, but a train persisted for about 10 minutes. Many people witnessed the event, and the meteor was captured on at least a half dozen video recordings, including a security camera that recorded the flash and sound of the exploding bolide. Infrasonic detectors at Los Alamos National Laboratory -- set up to listen for nuclear explosions -- also recorded the event. According to Los Alamos meteorologist Doug ReVelle, the object exploded with a force of 500 tons of TNT, implying that the infalling object was about 50 to 75 centimeters (20 to 30 inches) across. The train also seems to have been captured on a weather-radar image, which shows an east-west streak." The following is an eyewitness report e-mailed to me on October 9 from Glenn Talaue who lives near El Paso.

"At approximately 17:06 UT (Universal Time) this afternoon I was startled by the following... A loud boom, boom, and then BOOM. The first two were in the noise range of a sonic boom (shook the house windows). The loud one that followed was enough to shake my home's structure. These were followed by a series of sputter-like explosions that lasted for about the next 6-7 seconds. Going outside, I witnessed a large (probably 10 degrees in circumference) white smoke cloud at an elevation of about 6 to 7 thousand feet above me...direction was almost due east of me about 75 degrees above the horizon. Updated reports from witnesses claim to have seen a bright streak of light and then a very bright flash of light followed almost instantly by the noises...At this hour a large burn area has been reported 27 miles east and 20 miles north of the El Paso city limits and teams are headed in that direction to investigate. Earliest reports suggest that this was a meteor. Numerous reports suggest that there was falling debris visible as spark-like."

The following is from an update by Glenn Talaue later on October 9.

"Authorities throughout the city are now saying the cause of the huge blast that occurred just before 1:00 p.m. El Paso time was a meteor. A chopper for the El Paso Police Department has found the impact site which is located 27 miles east of El Paso and 20 miles north of a border patrol checkpoint. Police say the chopper crew is reporting that the scorched area is about an acre in size. The blast was heard throughout El Paso and surrounding areas as far as 100 miles away. Calls began flooding police lines with witnesses saying they saw a huge bright light and then heard a massive explosion followed by a cloud of white smoke. There have also been unconfirmed reports that debris were falling from the sky.

Experts speculate the only possible cause was a meteor, as surrounding military installations and airports report all aircraft in the region at that time have been accounted for. Authorities right now are not positive, but today's incident could have been a meteor shower that was predicted to happen sometime between October 6-10 above the skies of El Paso. A quick check of Internet sites this afternoon shows the shower may be associated with the periodic comet Giacobni-Zinner. The shower is predicted to be very slow in movement and generally has a yellowish coloring. Predictions of the meteor shower date back to as early as 1915 when astronomer Reverend M. Davidson observed that periodic comets might be capable of producing meteor showers. Davidson later calculated the distance of the meteors from Earth and actually predicted the meteors could pass near the earth on October 9th during specific years including 1926, 1952, 1972 and today. Today's Draconid meteor shower may also explain last year's meteor shower caught on videotape for the nation by NewsChannel Nine photographer Bob Thomas. That meteor shower hit October 6."

SEASON OF NOAH?

Damage from ferocious rain storms that hit Israel over the weekend of October 17-20 was estimated at tens of millions of shekels. Thirteen people were killed in the sudden flash floods and in related accidents. Beersheba residents were surrounded by mounds of ice as high as four feet from hailstones that covered the city streets. The city suffered severe damage, and power and telephone lines were cut off. Many areas of Israel were hit with a years worth of rain in one day. Hothouses in the Jordan Valley were severely damaged and crops were ruined. North of the Dead Sea, floods wiped out thousands dunams of crops. In Gaza, agricultural workers in the Gush Katiff area stated the rains were not a blessing. The hailstones, described as larger than eggs, destroyed hothouses and crops. (JERUSALEM POST and ISRAEL INTERNET NEWS SERVICE).