Is the total solar eclipse viewed over North and Central America today, April 8th, 2024, a sign of the end times, or just a natural phenomena?
The Total Solar Eclipse
The world is making much ado about the total solar eclipse that is to take place today, April 8th, 2024. Massive amount of revenue is generated through these events, and viewer numbers go up substantially on prime time television. Many people have also set up webcams so people can view it from around the world.
Eclipses are among the most breathtaking sights and phenomenas. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves between the Earth and Sun, completely obscuring the Sun. During the total solar eclipse, one can see a portion of the Sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona, which is too faint to see unless the glaring light of the Sun is blocked. When the light of the Sun is totally blocked, darkness will occur for that period of time. Many people are travelling into the areas of the trajectory of the eclipse where it will be visualized the longest. In America, anywhere between 3 and 4 minutes, while Mexico over 4 minutes. Due to the danger to ones eyes, as the moon moves away from in front of the sun, and the sun from behind the moon, it is recommended as you gaze at the eastern sky to wear solar glasses to protect your eyes during the phases of the eclipse where it shows itself in the most significant fashion.
Whether you can view any solar eclipse depends on where you are in the world and how the Earth, Moon and Sun align. The path of totality is the area where a full eclipse can be viewed. Viewers outside this path will see a partial eclipse or even no eclipse. Total solar eclipses are visible every 400 years from any one place (source). This writer viewed a lengthy total eclipse in the Middle East roughly thirteen years ago. Though partial eclipses take place rather frequently, even every few months, complete, total eclipses are much more rare and can occur every year and half roughly, somewhere around the world, though the next one to cross North America is said to not occur for another 80 years or so, but not at the same location.
Today, April 8th, 2024, a total eclipse will be seen in North and Central America, portion of the South Pacific and into Greenland. Here is trajectory of the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, as it crosses North America.
The Total Eclipse is Not a Sign of the End Times
A total eclipse is a natural phenomena in the cosmos, but many people believe it to be an eschatological sign. It’s not. I believe it started occurring after God created the seasons, which began after the universal flood of Noah’s day (Gen 7), noted in Gen 8:22,
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
What gets people’s attention, I believe, is the weird or eerie astronomical nature of the eclipse. It’s obvious and odd but its not alone. When the Lord Jesus Christ was born, He provided a star, a sign in the sky for that event, and a guide for the wise men that came from the east.
Many people are writing and producing videos about the total eclipse as a sign of the end times. These are sign seekers, looking for means to rectify the signs in the Bible, or even validate the Bible. But the total solar eclipse today, April 8th 2024, is not a sign of the end times. It is not.
Making false prophecies can be lucrative. Want to become popular, grow a massive audience, and make tons of money? Just “prophecy” or predict events based off of astronomical or astrological symbols, place the label Christian on it, and before you know it, you’ll accrue all that and maybe more.
There are many false prophets and teachers who use natural phenomena’s to make a name for themselves, to make themselves out to be something great (like Simon the sorcerer in the Bible, Ac 8:9), as noted with John Hagee and the Blood Moons Tetrad, (and here concerning this eclipse, making false prophesies once again), and the false charismatic teacher and convicted felon Jim Staley of the ‘for-profit’ business Passion of Truth Ministries, who produced a viral video of his false prophecy. Troy Brewer, another false teacher and heretical grifter, produced a viral video of the solar eclipse “prophecy” explained. Except its false prophecy. Such people see signs everywhere, and make any natural phenomena into a “sign,” which they also do through the spiritualizing or allegoricalizing of Scripture, which is the interpretation methodology of false believers/teachers, something we expose here.
Except they’re not signs.
The phenomena of the total solar eclipse signifies nothing. The fact that it could be predicted, indicates God created astronomical bodies with mathematical precision. The entire universe is governed by laws of mathematical precision. Everything occurs exactly as it should, because God made everything and is always in control. Ships navigate by the movements of celestial bodies. This testifies already to the glory of God, eclipse or no eclipse.
Signs of the End Times
Beside the sign of near total apostasy indicating the last days of the last days (e.g. 2 Tim 3:1-13; 4:3-4; Matt 24:11-13; 2 Th 2:3), divine eschatological signs won’t occur until the Antichrist has been revealed (2 Th 2:3-10), and then during the Great Tribulation (Rev 6-18).
But all signs of the end times are related to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will reach maximum climax immediately preceding His return (Matt 24:29-31; Mk 13:24-27; Lk 21:25-28). Here is Matthews account:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt 24:29-31)
And Luke’s account:
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
Jesus says here that during the Great Tribulation (aka. Daniels 70th Week, the Time of Jacobs Trouble), which is a seven year period of time on earth and completes the 70th Week of Daniel, God will give astronomical signs.
Towards the end of the Great Tribulation, Christ will also release the seven seals, seven plaques and seven trumpets, some of which are astronomical, given in detail in Revelation 6 to 16. These are the signs of the end times.
Peter references these occurrences on the Day of Pentecost:
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:" (Ac 2:20)
Peter is referring to the prophecy recorded in Joel 2:31, which also says this is when “the great and terrible day of the LORD come(s).” These signs mark the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when He opens the seals of His judgment, at the end of the Great Tribulation. The surviving people on earth will know that Christ's second coming is right around the corner and that the time of salvation has drawn to an end.
As this most awful time ever on earth comes to its conclusion, the sun will be darkened, the moon won’t give any light, stars will fall from heaven, the powers of heaven shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, the Son of God. These are astronomical signs of the very end of the end times.
Jesus Says Sign Seekers are Evil, Thus Unregenerate
Many of the religious but unconverted folks in Israel, who followed Jesus around because of His miracles, also wanted astronomical signs from Him, but He said He wouldn’t give them. This is what Jesus had to say to those looking for signs, for whatsoever reason they may have, in Matt 12:39 (which He repeated in Matt 16:4),
“An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:”
The total solar eclipse is not a sign of the prophet Jonas! What was that sign of the prophet Jonas? The Lord Jesus Christ’ resurrection from the dead. As Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of man would be three days and night in the heart of the earth (Matt 12:40). And He was. On the third day, He resurrected to life. Besides this sign, He would give no more signs to that generation.
Sign seeking is the ways of the heathen, which are actually unbelievers though they may profess to be Christian. They are the religious unsaved folks everywhere in the world today.
In Jer 10:2 the LORD warns,
“Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”
Its Not Signs that Are Needed, but the Scriptures
The message of Jesus was that scripture was sufficient.
“But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it” (Lk 11:28).
Blessed or saved, the terms could be used interchangeably (though they are not exactly the same in meaning), are they that give heed to the Word of God and then keep it. Blessings come to those who believe God's words in the Bible, without having or seeing signs. Signs are not for them who believe, but that believe not (1 Cor 14:22), while its so-called "believers" that make a big deal over natural phenomena today. Believers don’t need signs. They believe, for faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom 10:17), not from signs.
Rom 10:17-18,
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."
God’s Word is very clear that it alone is sufficient and reliable to test everything by its truth. Experiences on the other hand are characteristically unreliable. The Bible is truth (Jn 17:17) and is sufficient for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). Saved people walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). God is pleased only by faith (Heb 11:6) and faith comes from God’s Word (Rom 10:17; Jn 20:30-31). Experiences (“sight”) and faith are mutually exclusive (2 Cor 5:7). Seeking signs and experiences is wicked and unfaithful. The Lord Jesus said that those seeking signs—tongues, healings, miracles, astronomical, etc—commit spiritual adultery, that is, they are unfaithful to God: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it” (Matt 12:39). Experiences and signs should be rejected as non-authoritative competition with the truths of God’s Word. The Bible is complete but extra-Biblical revelation is adding to the Bible (Rev 22:18). No more words are written into the Bible. Ju 1:3 is clear on this, declaring that “the faith . . . was once (forever) delivered (completed action) unto the saints” and Rev 22:18-19 guarantees a curse upon anyone who adds or takes away from Gods completed revelation, which is the 66 books from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. Even valid experiences by the apostles are less sure than the Word of God. Peter writes that his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration is less sure than the Word of God (2 Pet 1:12-16). The most incredible experiences still fall far short of the Bible. What greater experience could there not be than seeing someone resurrected from the dead? Surely it would be sufficient to save a soul. But that is not the case. It is not sufficient because experience (sight) does not produce faith; Gods Word alone does that. In the account given by the Lord Jesus of the rich man and Lazarus, after the rich man in hell implored Abraham to send Lazarus who was with Abraham to preach to his five living brothers, Abraham said to him,
“If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Lk 16:31).
The incorruptible Word of God alone is what generates faith and saves (1 Cor 1:21; Rom 10:17; 1 Pet 1:23-25). Our judgment will never be based on experience or signs but on the Word of God, as the Lord Jesus Christ makes clear:
“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jn 12:48).
Conclusion
Signs are actually for the Jews, which is why the Great Tribulation, especially the time immediately preceding Christ’s return, is loaded with signs.
“For the Jews require a sign.” (1 Cor. 1:22).
Before Jesus gave the scathing reproof of the adulterous generation of religious degenerates seeking after signs, this is what He said:
“And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” (Matt 16:3)
The total solar eclipse viewed today from certain areas of the world, is NOT a sign of the times. Its just a total, natural, solar eclipse, the Moon and Sun running its due course.
The signs of the times in the days of Jesus was that the King had come and the kingdom of God was nigh. But they were rejecting Him and the Kingdom, because of their own lusts and wilful unrepentance and unbelief. They didn’t want a boss to reign over them.
We are happy when natural phenomenon’s work as reminder to people about the future and even their own lives.
But the sign that people ought to give heed to is the fact that people are dying all around them and they are going to die as well. Man does not have innumerable opportunities for salvation. The door will close one day, as Proverbs 1:20-32 makes abundantly clear, illustrating a fearful position to those who reject God's reproof and drawing, and the fear of the Lord. It is already appointed unto man once to die:
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" (Heb 9:27),
And no man knows when that will occur (Pr 27:1, Jam 4:14), and our life is but a vapour.
The eclipse is not a sign, but Jesus said always to be ready. Be ready for His return. Give heed to what He said in Matt 24:44,
"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
When Christ returns in the near future, everything will burn with a fervent heat (2 Pet 3:10), annihilating everything, and God will create a new heaven and a new earth. Only those who repentantly believe in Jesus Christ will make it to the other side and a whole new and eternal and blessed era.
2 Cor 6:2,
"Behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation."
Will you be there or in the eternal lake of fire? Are you prepared to die? Please read here on how you can be saved from the wrath of God that is yet to come, and then an eternity in the fires of hell, to eternal salvation in Heaven with the God of glory who loved you, and gave Himself a living sacrifice for YOU.