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For centuries, one particular day has signified repentance for God’s people. It had deep meaning for Jonah, Moses and Jesus Christ.
And this year, Aug. 21 – the first of Elul on the biblical calendar – contains a critical message for American Christians, as it will be the date of a total solar eclipse that will traverse the entire United States.
A coincidence? Not likely, contended pastor Mark Biltz in a recent appearance on the “The Jim Bakker Show.”
“We are about to enter the month of Elul,” Biltz said. “And it just so happens that Elul was the month of repentance. It was on Elul 1 that Jonah left for 40 days to tell Nineveh to repent. It was on Elul 1 that Moses went up to Mt. Sinai after the sin of the Golden Calf, trying to make atonement while Israel was repenting for that. It was on Elul 1 Jesus went out into the wilderness for 40 days, coming out on Yom Kippur. Elul 1 starts the month of repentance and to have the solar eclipse happening at this time, it is of huge significance!”
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Biltz, the discoverer of the “Blood Moons” phenomenon and the author of the new book “God’s Day Timer,” said he believes the solar eclipse falling on the first day of the month of repentance has meaning for believers.
“I believe this is a warning, that we need to take the lead!” he said. “As believers, God is telling us this starts first with us. And we need to repent.
“We, as the church, have 40 days to really repent, just like Abraham. He was interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah, trying to find 10 righteous men among them. I don’t know how many righteous [men] are needed for America.”
According to Jewish tradition, Biltz explained, because Gentiles go by the sun for their calendar, a solar eclipse represents judgment coming upon a non-Jewish nation, whereas a lunar eclipse, because Jews use a lunar calendar, represents judgment coming upon Israel.
And one of the best-known solar eclipses in history had a terrible message for the West.
“One thing I will mention, most people don’t mention it now, World War I started in August of 1914 and there was a total solar eclipse over Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire,” Biltz said. “And what happens? You have this total solar eclipse, the beginning of World War I, the Ottoman Empire is destroyed. It even went over Nineveh, the same place as where Jonah was.”
The date of that eclipse? The same as the upcoming one – Aug. 21.
Biltz explained God often “prepares the ground” before judgment and the opportunity for repentance.
“Most people don’t even know the story of Jonah except from the Bible,” he said. “God was preparing the ground before Jonah went. Did you know there was a plague? They found these cuneiform tablets talking about Syrian history, and they said there was a major plague three years before Jonah came. That was followed by a civil war: Maybe they were blaming each other for the plague in Nineveh. That was followed by another plague. And NASA records this, one of the most famous eclipses in all history, called the Bur-Sagle eclipse. It happened, this total solar eclipse over Nineveh, a month before Jonah came.
“Jonah comes and he says repent. Well, that’s why they were so willing to repent! They’ve already suffered from a major plague, a civil war, another plague, a total solar eclipse over Nineveh. Now obviously, they didn’t receive judgment because they repented. It didn’t happen for a while. I never set dates or anything. But what I do say is look at events that happen on God’s calendar so you know if it’s God who is speaking or not and then hopefully we repent and judgment is stayed.”
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Biltz referenced 1 Chronicles 12:32, which speaks of the children of Issachar, “those who had an understanding of the times.”
“They were on God’s calendar,” Biltz said. “So my question to all of you is what time is it? Do we know what time it is right now?”
Biltz will explain the “signs of the times” to help believers know “what time it is” on the 2017 Alaska Cruise, beginning Sept 8. He will teach on the biblical feasts and the biblical calendar. WND Founder Joseph Farah will also be a featured speaker.
When Biltz returns, it will be just in time for another “sign in the sky.”
“In Luke 21:25, Jesus says there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars,” Biltz told Bakker. “And what do we have? We have solar eclipses, lunar eclipses and the Revelation 12 sign in the heavens!”
Revelation 12 speaks of a “great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”
Biltz argues this refers to an astronomical development that will take place on Sept. 23.
In a separate interview, Biltz explained the sign: “The woman clothed with the sun is the constellation Virgo and represents the nation of Israel. The 12 stars represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Interestingly, the constellation Leo, the Lion, which is above Virgo, is made up of nine stars. The Lion represents specifically the tribe of Judah. It just so happens this year during the Days of Awe, three planets will join the constellation Leo making up 12 stars. Virgo will be clothed with the sun, and the moon will be under her feet, fulfilling this sign to precise detail!”
Biltz will be interviewed about this further astonishing development for the television show “The Sign,” which examines the remarkable astronomical arrangement. “The Sign” will air on AUDIENCE network on Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
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But what does it all mean? As Biltz told Bakker, everything that is happening isn’t so much a message to the world as to God’s church.
“God wants His church to repent,” he said. “Just like you’re (Bakker) talking about. I saw this in the news the other day, I thought this was fascinating, Google this, they say the exact path of the solar eclipse across the United States voted 95 percent for Trump. And the fascinating thing for me is, God is not interested so much in wanting the heathen to repent as He is in wanting the church to repent. Judgment always begins with the House of God.”