This coming Monday we will witness a rare celestial event: a full eclipse of the sun. While in ancient times skilled astronomers paid much attention to such events, modern technology allows us today to know its exact path minute per minute. As such, people from around the world are coming to the United States to get front row seats for the formidable celestial play.
Locals also have seen the signs of the skies. Hoping to gather earthly wealth from these heavenly events, many have converted their properties into temporary campgrounds. City officials do not miss their clue either. Expecting an unprecedented influx of people creating monster traffic jams, in some places, the National Guard has been deployed and fire engines scattered in key places. It is good that people prepare for such things. It reminds me of something Jesus said to farmers of his days. In an attempt to awaken them to their contemporary social and political situation He said to them,, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. (Mat 16:2-3) Farmers and herders in the days of Jesus knew how to read the sky and take appropriate decisions concerning their fields and flocks. But at the same time, Jesus hoped that the people would read the events of their days and see the proverbial “handwriting on the wall.” Genesis 1 tells us that the heavenly bodies have been given to us for signs (Gen 1:14). A sign usually carries a message that may invoke a particular action. Such an eclipse was visible in Jerusalem at the moment of the death of Jesus There is a particularity to this eclipse: it will be only visible from the United States, and it will cross it from West to East. So if sign it is, it is a logical to assume that it is a sign for the United States, not for anyone else. The hard part now is to define what is its message. From times unmemorable solar eclipses have been seen as omens of warning. Many feel very free to share their conclusions generated by their own political preferences or religious opinion, and there seem to be no-one to arbitrate the flow of assumptions. Very often, we only understand these things long after the fact, but one thing is certain, Someone is telling us something!
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