Solar eclipse on Tuesday, April 29, 2014

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Did you know there is going to be a solar eclipse on Tuesday? (Tweet that!) Normally I post on Tuesdays, but I'm posting this on Monday, a day early, so if you're interested you'll know about this solar eclipse in time to enjoy it on Tuesday. Plus those who receive this blog by e-mail get it a day later, so they'll receive it on Tuesday, hopefully in time to enjoy the solar eclipse.)

Although no one here in the United States will get to view this eclipse live...except via television or the internet. (Tweet that!)

Honestly, the only reason I knew there was even going to be a solar eclipse was because I noticed that dark circle on my very special calendar and realized it was a dark circle with a tiny sun peeking out from behind it. That sent me looking for more information.

I'll tell you about my very special calendar in minute.

First, though, let me tell you what I've found out about this eclipse.

We won't be able to see this solar eclipse here in the United States. Here is an "Interactive Solar Eclipse Guide."

However if you're reading this somewhere on the other side of the world from where I am in the United States, you have a much better chance of seeing it live. If you're in Australia you'll get a wonderful view Tuesday afternoon (your local time).

PLEASE REMEMBER TO NEVER LOOK AT A SOLAR ECLIPSE DIRECTLY WITH YOUR EYES. Even with some or most of the sun blocked out, looking at it directly can still damage your eyes. You can look directly at a lunar eclipse like we did the morning of April 15th, but don't do that with a solar eclipse!

The article, Who Will See the Suns 'Ring of Fire' in Next Weeks Solar Eclipse? (with video), gives a lot of great information including the times to see it in Australia. From this article I learned:

• After a lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse of a similar nature often follows. (That's no coincidence.)
• While a total eclipse covers the sun completely, an annular eclipse means the moon is more distant in its orbit and so appears smaller and therefore does not completely cover the sun. This creates the "ring of fire" appearance as the sun shows all around the moon as it passes by.
• Antarctica is the only continent where the annular eclipse, the "ring of fire," will be entirely visible.

I found a lot of really cool information explaining solar eclipses in the article on Wikipedia: Solar eclipse. From this article I learned:

• The Earth's orbit and the Moon's orbit are not in the same plane. If they were, there would be a total solar eclipse every month. But since they are not, this results "in at least two, and up to five, solar eclipses occurring each year, no more than two of which can be total eclipses" (Wikipedia: Solar eclipse).
• "Total solar eclipses are rare at any particular location because totality exists only along a narrow path on Earth's surface traced by the Moon's shadow or umbra" (same article). (So that's what that word, umbra, means.)
• A solar eclipse can last over two hours, however the "total phase" a total solar eclipse can only last up to 7 1/2 minutes for any one location.

Interestingly the Wikipedia article notes that "in some ancient and modern cultures, solar eclipses have been attributed to supernatural causes or regarded as bad omens. A total solar eclipse can be frightening to people who are unaware of its astronomical explanation..." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well just because there is an astronomical explanation doesn't mean it can't be a perfectly timed message from God. After all, God knew of this solar eclipse (and every solar eclipse) before He created the sun, moon, and earth, before He created time, and before He created the people on this earth. How do we know that He didn't arrange everything in minute detail so that there would be a solar eclipse at this time?! Scientific explanation doesn't mean it can't be of God; all science is of God. (Tweet that!)

Now all this talk about Tuesday's solar eclipse begs the question that this blog deals with: Does this have anything to do with Bible prophecy?

I have not found anything relating this solar eclipse directly to some spiritually or prophetically significant event. But since we seem to be in a season of increased lunar and solar eclipses, I didn't want to ignore it and let it pass without a mention. Maybe someone else knows something I don't and could leave a comment to let us know. Or possibly we'll discover a connection to prophecy somewhere down the road. If so, we'll be glad we took note of it today. Either way, it's important that we take note of solar eclipses because there is a coming solar eclipse that I do believe is spiritually and prophetically important.

That one will occur next year on March 20, 2015. I plan to post more about the prophetic significance of this and other solar eclipses that occur centered within the tetrad (four) of lunar eclipses occurring on major Feasts of the LORD. We'll probably get to that discussion sometime this summer. Right now I have other discussion lined up for the coming weeks up to and through Pentecost.

However with the March 20, 2015 solar eclipse coming in our future, less than eleven months away now, I think it's good to learn about solar eclipses so we'll have that knowledge when the time comes. (Tweet that!)

The very special calendar I referred to above is one I got from El Shaddai Ministries and it's very special because it not only shows the usual months and days we use here in the United States, it is also a Jewish calendar. That means if you're interested in being aware of the dates of the seven Feasts of the LORD which we talked about a couple weeks ago before the lunar eclipse of April 15th, then this calendar has all that information side by side with our western calendar so it's easy to view and keep up with. In addition, since the calendar was created by the man who first brought the tetrad of lunar eclipses on major Jewish Feast days to everyone else's attention, that is Mark Biltz, it also notes those lunar eclipses on the days they occur--the Jewish Feast days--as well as many other important Jewish holidays. Furthermore, it includes a wealth of information about the Feasts of the LORD, other Jewish holidays, and important events in the history of Israel. I love this calendar. I think anyone who wants to study these important topics would love it too.

The 2013-2014 version is a 16-month calendar which started with September 2013, so the drawback is that it is now partly used. However all the information included is still relevant and instructive. They also offer a 2014-2015 version which I suppose doesn't start until September 2014.

I'm telling you all this in case you want to get one for yourself. You can find both of them on the same link here:

• 16-month ESM Blood Moon & Eclipse Calendar 2013-2014. 
• 16-month ESM Blood Moon & Eclipse Calendar 2014-2015. 

If you look in the El Shaddai Ministry Store, they also have this calendar bundled with the study of the Feasts of the LORD, which I highly recommend. That study is where I learned most of what I know and share about the Feasts of the LORD.

I hope you enjoy these resources and learning about solar eclipses. If or when you purchase from El Shaddai Ministry, would you please tell them you saw it here and that I sent you?* Thanks.

My next post is scheduled for Thursday...barring my discovery of any other eclipses before then!

*I do not receive any affiliate commissions from your purchase at El Shaddai Ministries.

Why Did God Give Us Prophecies? Part 2

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There is another reason God gave us prophecies. That is so we could identify The Anointed One. (Tweet that!)

The Anointed One is the Bible's term for "the one" person God was referring to. (Tweet that!)

This term, "the Anointed One," has become know by other words today: (Tweet that!)

• Messiah (Hebrew)
• Christ (Greek)

This Anointed One is the person God promised to send. This was the person all the prophecies pointed to. The One who would fulfill all the prophecies. (See Acts 10:36-43.)

That is how he--the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah--was to be identified. (Tweet that!)

The religious leaders in Jesus' time were supposed to recognize the Messiah when he came. But they did not believe Jesus was the Messiah.

They didn't look hard enough. Jesus accused them of willfully refusing to see (John 9).

But if they, the religious leaders of Jesus' time, had really looked into the prophecies and then investigated whether or not Jesus fulfilled them, they would have discovered he fulfilled them. All of them. Perfectly. (Tweet that!)

Some high-powered Jews did believe Jesus was the Messiah. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were two (John 19:38-39).

But in one of the biggest ironies in human history, most of the Jewish leaders who were trained to recognize Messiah and lead the people in knowing him did not recognize Jesus was the Messiah.

This is another reason why God gave us prophecies: so we could see when one person fulfilled them. And when we saw The One who did, we would know he was the Christ, the Messiah. (Tweet that!)


If you missed Part 1, find it here: Why Did God Give Us Prophecies?

Why Did God Give Us Prophecies? Part 1

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Since we are talking about prophecies in the Bible and them coming true or being fulfilled, it's only fair that we ask why would God give us prophecies? (Tweet that!) I can think of at least three reasons why God would give us prophecies. (Tweet that!)

This is God's prophet Isaiah speaking in Isaiah 48:3-6:

I foretold the former things long ago, 

    my mouth announced them and I made them known; 

    then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

For I knew how stubborn you were;

    your neck muscles were iron,

    your forehead was bronze.

Therefore I told you these things long ago;

    before they happened I announced them to you

so that you could not say,

    'My images brought them about;

    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'

You have heard these things; look at them all.

    Will you not admit them? 

From now on I will tell you of new things, 

    of hidden things unknown to you...

These verses tell us at least two reasons why God gives us prophecies:

• To tell us what will happen. This also means that He knows what will happen before it does. (Tweet that!) Because God is eternal, He is outside of time and He is able to see the end from the beginning.

• Secondly, God tells what will happen in advance so that when we see it happening, we know it is Him doing it. (Tweet that!) For those of us who believe in Him, we know He is doing these things, or at least is allowing them to happen. We know God is still in complete control of everything happening on the earth. For those who do not know or believe in God, God, in His mercy, is bringing them evidence that He is real, that He is involved in human history taking place on the earth, and that He wants them to believe that He is real and truly exists.

 A third reason is...

• ...so that we, those of us who believe in Him, will not be afraid—even when we see these things taking place right before our very eyes. (Tweet that!) Knowing God forecast everything that is happening means that we do not need to be afraid but can trust Him with our very lives and every detail of them.

Jesus said in John 14:27-29:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 

You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.

Jesus told us before it happened so that:

1. We will have peace, we will not let our hearts be troubled, and we will not be afraid.
2. And also so that when it happens we will believe.

What about you? Do you believe? If yes, do you feel fear creeping in? How can you refocus on Jesus and chase fear away?

If you do not believe, why not? What would it take for you to believe? Are Bible prophecies predicted and then fulfilled enough to convince you? Or are you one who will never believe, no matter what? If that's you, why?

More Bible Prophecies Fulfilled to Come...

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We have just taken a whirlwind forty days for Lent on this new blog.

Now, with Easter over, let's slow the pace a bit (so I can catch my breath and keep up).

I plan to now post three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

If you'd like to receive these posts via e-mail, please use the box in the upper right to sign up for e-mail delivery. You will receive each the day after it posts.

We will continue to talk about Bible prophecies fulfilled.

• We will talk about Bible prophecies that have already been fulfilled in the past, because it strengthens our faith to see how God has kept His Word in the past. (Tweet that!)

• We will also look at what is happening in our world today and how prophecies might be being fulfilled right before our very eyes. (Tweet that!)

• We will also look at how world events might be shaping up to fulfill Bible prophecies in the future, prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled. (Tweet that!)

I hope you will find these coming posts every bit as interesting as the 40 Lenten posts we explored through Lent to Easter. There is a lot more great information coming, so please continue to come back. And bring a friend!

You can also find notice and links of these blog posts on:

• my Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/DianneButtsAuthor 
• my Twitter: @DianneEButts http://twitter.com/DianneEButts
• my Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/dianneebutts/

If you have enjoyed these 40 Days of Lent posts leading up to Easter, then you would probably also enjoy my books. The newest, the third and final book in the "Prophecies Fulfilled" series, just released last week. It's called Prophecies Fulfilled in the Life of Jesus and you'll want to get it now because it explores the seven Feasts of the LORD as well as the three more coming lunar eclipses and the solar eclipse next March 20^th, 2015, which we haven't even talked about here yet.  (Tweet that!)

You'll enjoy and be awed and amazed by these events much more if you have the background information on them provided in my book.

For more information on the entire "Prophecies Fulfilled" series, click the tab at the top of this blog. Thank you for your time and interest!

On Thursday we'll look at why God gives us prophecies. What do you think are some reasons God would tell us what He is going to do in advance? (Tweet that!)

Hallelujah! Jesus is Risen from the Dead on the Feast of Firstfruits

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The Feast of Firstfruits occurs within the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which we touched on yesterday. It is a one-day Feast and occurs on Nisan 16.

The Feast of Firstfruits celebrates the first, early spring harvest.

Jesus was raised from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits. (Tweet that!)

He is the first of the great harvest of souls from the earth! Hallelujah! Jesus is risen! (Tweet that!)

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him" (1 Corinthians 15:20-23,NIV 2011). (Tweet that!)

Do you belong to him? If not, or if you're not sure, why not make that happen today? To do so, simply tell Jesus--either out loud or in silent prayer. He can hear you--that you trust that he paid for all your sins, that you will follow him and obey his ways, and you want him to be your Savior forever more.

Then record this important decision and event somewhere, like the inside cover of your Bible.

If you have done this, then you belong to him and will be part of the harvest of souls to heaven when he comes! (Tweet that!)

✟   Jesus was raised from the grave on First Fruits, and so He fulfills the Feast of Firstfruits as the first fruit of the great and coming harvest of souls. (Tweet that!)

Here's another interesting thought:

Jesus raised from the dead "very early the morning" of the third day. We do not know exactly what the time was.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, (Luke 24:1-3.) 

See also Mark 16:1-6, John 20:1-2, and Matthew 28:1.

Peter tells us, in 2 Peter 3:8:

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 

See also Psalm 90:4.

We are currently in the year 2014. We are now living in the third millennium since Jesus walked the earth. So if a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day, we are now living in the very early morning of the third day. (Tweet that!)

Jesus is coming again. He will come again to fulfill all the prophecies of his second coming.

Don't be surprised if he comes very early during this millennium day.

Happy Easter!

Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed!

(I will see you again for the next post on Tuesday.)

Jesus fulfills the Feast of Unleavened Bread

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During the first Passover back in the days of Moses, about 1500 years before Jesus walked the earth, God instructed the Israelites to make bread without yeast. This was because Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was going to release the Israelites from slavery and let them go so quickly they would not have time to let their bread rise.

In Scripture, yeast, or any kind of leavening that makes bread rise, most often became associated with sin.

Jesus told his disciples to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:5-12, Mark 8:14-21, Luke 12:1).

An exception, however, is a parable Jesus told where yeast was not sin but was compared to the kingdom of God, found in both Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21.

Jesus was without sin. This is why he is associated with bread without yeast. (Tweet that!)

The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins the day following Passover, which is always Nisan 14 on the Jewish calendar. The Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts for seven days, from Nisan 15 to 21.

Jesus, the only son of God who was without sin, lay in the grave on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Tweet that!)

✟   Jesus, our Passover Lamb, was without sin or defect (yeast) and so he fulfills the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Tweet that!)

Tomorrow for Easter, in a rare Sunday post, we will discuss how Jesus fulfilled the prophecy pictured in the third Feast of the LORD. (Tweet that!)

If you would like to learn more about how Jesus fulfills the seven Feasts of the LORD, you would enjoy my new book, just released this week, Prophecies Fulfilled in the Life of Jesus. (Tweet that!) The last seven chapters in the book discuss the historical as well as the prophetic significance of the seven Feasts of the LORD. For more on the discussion of Jesus fulfilling the Feast of Unleavened Bread, see chapter 37.

Jesus was Sacrificed on Passover

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Luke 22:14-15 tells us:

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer."

While I was growing up, I got the idea that the Last Supper which Jesus enjoyed with his disciples was the Seder meal, which is the Passover ceremonial meal. (Tweet that!) Furthermore, Mark 14:12 tells us:

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"

But now I believe the Last Supper actually was not the Passover Seder but rather the dinner meal the evening before Passover. (Tweet that!) In the Mark quote above, the disciples ask where to go to prepare for Passover, but they could have prepared for the Passover Seder and never got to have it with Jesus.

There is another possible timeline that works better: that Jesus did not eat the Passover Seder because he was actually crucified on Passover and was hanging on the cross instead of enjoying the Passover meal. (Tweet that!) 

In light of God's prophetic calendar and the meaning of the seven Feasts of the LORD, this only makes sense.

Jesus was our Passover Lamb. He had to be sacrificed on Passover to fulfill the prophecy pictured in Passover. (Tweet that!)

And in doing so, another prophecy was fulfilled.

"For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7b, NIV).

✟   Jesus was slain on Passover and so fulfills all the symbolism of the Feast of Passover. 

In the next two days we will discuss how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies pictured in two more Feasts of the LORD. If you missed the April 11 post about these Feasts, you can find it here: The Prophetic Significance of the Feasts of the LORD (Tweet that!) 

If you enjoy this blog and would like to learn more about how Jesus fulfills the seven Feasts of the LORD, you would enjoy my new book just released this week, Prophecies Fulfilled in the Life of Jesus. The last seven chapters in the book discuss the historical as well as the prophetic significance of the seven Feasts of the LORD. For more on the discussion of Jesus fulfilling the Passover, see chapter 36.