The first time Jesus tabernacled among men He was a tiny baby. In His second coming, He comes in glory.

The trumpet has called us home. The Messiah returns and sits on the throne. What’s next?

God’s passionate desire has always been to dwell or tabernacle with His people—and we celebrate that! This year, the Feast of Tabernacles is observed September 20 through sundown, September 27.

The children of Israel wondered if they could be forgiven by the Lord for worshipping the golden calf—until Moses came down from the mountain again, his face shining with God’s glory.  Atonement had been made. That was the first Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the month Tishri.

God had already declared His desire to tabernacle among them: “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it” (Exodus 25:8-9).

Now, overflowing with joy and thanksgiving, the nation gathered all the materials needed to build the tabernacle, which would house the ark of the covenant and God’s divine presence. Moses asked those with willing hearts to bring an offering; the people gave abundantly, beyond what was needed, until Moses had to ask them to stop (see Exodus 36:6–7).

Each year on Tabernacles, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the seventh full moon of the year, devout Jews build shelters outside their homes and worship the Lord in them for seven days. They do this to remember that God tabernacled among them in the wilderness. Leviticus 23:39-40 describes the feast: “Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a Sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath-rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.”

God intended this feast to help future generations, “know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:43).

The Feast of Tabernacles is also called “The Feast of the Nations” because the priests made atonement for the seventy nations, representing all the Gentiles in the world. They sacrificed seventy bulls, one for each nation. God never changes. He wants the whole world to be saved.

Passover saw the barley harvest in the spring. Pentecost ushered in the summer harvest of wheat. The fall feasts encompassed the fruit harvests of grapes, pomegranates, and olives. This is recorded in the book of Revelation: “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe” (14:18).

The book of Revelation is the fulfillment of the fall feasts. We cannot fully appreciate or understand Revelation without a knowledge of the fall feasts.

This harvest is both a time of judgment and of salvation. The tribulation described in the book of Revelation will be the greatest harvest of souls in history.

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” —Revelation 7:9-10

The Feast of Tabernacles is a dress rehearsal, anticipating and foreshadowing the day when the world can rejoice.

 “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” —Revelation 21:3-4

The first time Jesus tabernacled among men He was a tiny baby. In His second coming, He comes in glory.

“And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16).

We see in the feast a prophecy of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah on earth. Now His Kingdom begins. Glorious!

The feasts are not a law for Christians. We are not obligated to observe them. But oh what we are missing! If you are invited to the dress rehearsal of a special event, you might want to attend if the practice will help you participate in a more meaningful way.

When Jesus comes again, He is coming for His bride, the church. He is planning the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven (see Revelation 19:7–10). You don’t want to miss the dress rehearsal—especially if you are in the wedding party.

As we take time to consider the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, the Day of Atonement is even more relevant… 

Ten days after the joyous celebration of the Feast of Trumpets, the Jewish calendar declares a serious and humbling day. Here’s the story behind the Day of Atonement:

Moses came down from Mount Sinai, his arms wrapped around two large clay tablets. He’d spent forty days in God’s presence. Forty days on holy ground, receiving the Law, seeing the words miraculously inscribed on the tablets.

He must have been horrified to see the decadent, rebellious scene in the Hebrew camp. His people were dancing and worshiping a golden calf, indulging in food and drink. Furious, Moses threw the tablets down, smashing them into pieces. But in spite of his anger, Moses returned to the Lord to seek atonement for his people. He pleaded, “Forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written” (Exodus 32:32).

That dash between “forgive their sin” and “but if not” is a long pause, the like of which occurs nowhere else in Scripture. Understand what Moses was saying. He begged the Lord to forgive the people. But if not…

Moses’ willingness to be stricken from God’s book is a powerful foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus and the story behind the Day of Atonement. This day, also known as Yom Kippur, occurs ten days after the Feast of Trumpets. Kippur is from the Hebrew word kaphar, meaning “to cover.”

This is the most sacred and solemn day in the Jewish year.

We’ve learned that the seven ordained Feasts of the Lord (see Leviticus 23) are all fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Passover, for example, represented the forgiveness of sin, and Jesus became the ultimate Passover lamb, offering forgiveness to all humanity. But Passover was forgiveness for individual salvation, while the Day of Atonement was forgiveness for the nation, or national salvation.

Leviticus 23:27 declares, “The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.” (Leviticus 23:27)

The day was designated as a time of confession and self-denial.

The people fasted and repented while the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, first to make a sacrifice on his own behalf, and then on behalf of the nation (see Leviticus 16:1–34; 23:27). Today, the main focus of Yom Kippur centers around synagogue services, often decorated in white to symbolize purity and cleansing from transgression.1

The blood of bulls sacrificed on Yom Kippur covered sins. In contrast, the promised Messiah, Yeshua, took sins away forever: “He took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever” (Hebrews 9:12, nlt).

The Day of Atonement will be fulfilled by the second coming of Jesus the Messiah when He returns to establish His kingdom. It will be an emotional day for the Jewish people when they see their Messiah and know him for the first time:

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.…

In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. (Zechariah 12:10; 13:1)

According to Zechariah 14:4–5, on that day, the Lord’s feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and the mount will be split from east to west, creating a large valley. Half the mountain will move north, half south, and people will run through the valley as if fleeing an earthquake. “Thus the Lord my God will come” (verse 5). Christ will touch down on the Mount of Olives for all to see. This is the day that “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).

As we mark the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, may we continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).   

Please also join me in praying for our own nation, seeking God’s forgiveness of our own sins. May we humble ourselves before Him and ask for His grace and mercy over our beloved country.

The sound of a trumpet is a powerful and recurring symbol in Scripture. When the Lord instituted the Feast of Trumpets, He was letting us know — something powerful and important is ready to happen! 

I would love to have you celebrate this prophetic and joyous Feast with me this year.

Blessed are those who know the sound of the trumpet!

“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation’” (Leviticus 23:24).     

The Feast of Trumpets, also called Rosh Hashanah or Yom Teruah in Hebrew, is the first of the Fall Feasts of the Lord. Teruah, traditionally understood as the blowing of a ram’s horn, is also translated as joyful noise or sound, as in Psalm 89: “Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!” (verse 15).

A shofar is the ram’s horn trumpet of Israel.

I love what Zola Levitt, a Jewish believer who is now with the Lord, said concerning this feast:

“The trumpet was the signal for the field workers to come into the Temple. The High Priest actually stood on the southwestern parapet of the Temple and blew the trumpet so that it could be heard in the surrounding fields. At that instant, the faithful would stop harvesting, even if there were more crops to bring in, and leave immediately for the worship services.” 1

The Feast of Trumpets paints a beautiful picture of the rapture of the church: 

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words “(1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

When that trumpet or shofar sounds, the greatest miracle since Jesus rose from the dead will take place:  “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… the dead will be raised incorruptible… For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

On the seventh new moon of the year, in the month of Tishri, the Feast of Trumpets signals the end of the harvest for the last two thousand years. The trumpet sounds and the workers are called in to celebrate. “I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this’” (Revelation 4:1).

Why the Feast of Trumpets Is Unique

The Feast of Trumpets is the only Jewish celebration that occurs on the first day of the month, at the new moon, when the moon is dark except for a thin crescent. All other Jewish holidays occur later in their respective months when the moon is bright. In ancient Israel the new moon was normally celebrated by short trumpet blasts, but the New Moon of Tishri was celebrated by long trumpet blasts, signifying the uniqueness and sacredness of the seventh month.2

After the Diaspora, when Jews were scattered all over the world, Rosh Hashanah began to be celebrated over two days so that the Jews living in different time zones could be included. They began to call it “one long day.” The Feast of Trumpets became a mystery. No one could say the exact day or hour it began.

Blowing the Shofar

God instructed Moses to “make two silver trumpets for yourself…you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps” (Numbers 10:2). By Solomon’s time, 120 priests sounded silver trumpets in the temple (see 2 Chronicles 5:12).

But the shofar is the trumpet used for the Feast of Trumpets. The sound of the shofar carries memories for Jews of their origins and history.

When Abraham, in obedience to God, took his son Isaac to the top of Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice, an angel held him back. A ram caught in the bushes became the substitute offering. That is why a ram’s horn is a powerful reminder of Isaac’s deliverance and Abraham’s obedience—and how their story foreshadowed the sacrifice of our heavenly Father’s Son (see Genesis 22:10–14).

The ram’s horn has since trumpeted momentous Jewish events. From war to celebrations, from Joshua’s victory at Jericho to “proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants” in the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:10)— the same words inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

Perhaps one year very soon, on a Feast of Trumpets, the Lord will descend with a shout, blow the shofar of God, and take the church home in a glorious instant. And we will be spared as Isaac was!

The Next Event

The Feast of Trumpets foreshadows the next event to be fulfilled on the prophetic calendar. This feast tells us about the fulfillment of the ancient prophets’ visions surrounding the rapture of the church. The trumpet is poised, ready to herald the end of the summer harvest.

Rosh Hashanah, which in Hebrew means “head of the year,” is known by various Hebrew idioms in addition to the Feast of Trumpets: the Wedding of the Messiah, the Hidden Day, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the Day of the Awakening Blast, the Day of Judgment, and the Coronation of the Messiah. Even these alternate names for the observance tell us something about this feast and what it means. 

The Wedding Of Messiah

“Blow the trumpet in Jerusalem!… Call the people together.… Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room” (Joel 2:15–16, NLT). A royal wedding is announced by trumpets, and the wedding is blessed under the traditional canopy. 3

Marriages in ancient Israel were arranged by the parents, like Abraham did for his son, Isaac. Typically the bridegroom would go to the house of the bride-to-be and bring three things: the wedding contract, a skin of wine, and the bride price. If the father approved the bride price, the young man declared his vows of love, and a glass of wine was poured. If the woman said “yes” the betrothal contract became a legal document, a ketubah. Their status changed to “betrothed” and they were legally married, though the wedding ceremony was still some time away.

With transactions complete, the young bridegroom told his betrothed he was going away to build their bridal chamber. 

When the chamber was finished, he would return for her.

Who decides when the chamber is ready? The groom tells his bride that he does not know exactly when the wedding will begin. Only his father determines the day and hour (see Mark 13:32).

This is when the bride begins the wait for the day when her groom will come to capture her. She is confident of his return for two reasons: the vows he pledged and the price he paid. Meanwhile, she wears a veil to signify that she is taken.

She receives regular progress reports about her new home. The foundation is laid. The walls are up. The doors are hung. Now the roof! Her excitement grows. Any day her beloved will come. She gathers her closest friends, and they begin watching through the night, two by two, waiting to hear the shouts of young men as they race toward her father’s home (see Matthew 25:6–7). This gives her just minutes to wake up, ready to be “raptured” from her own home.

Traditionally the Jewish father waited until the middle of the night when his son was fast asleep and tired from all his hard work. I can picture the proud father gently shaking his son and whispering, “It’s time.” Time to claim his bride.

When Jesus told His disciples, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself” (John 14:3), He was giving the speech of a Jewish bridegroom. He paid the ultimate bride price. “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18–19).

He gave us our ketubah (our contract) through the promises in His Word, and He invites us to the most glorious wedding that will ever take place (Revelation 19:7–9). “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” (verse 9).

The Hidden Day

Because no one could know the exact day of Rosh Hashanah (remember, it was celebrated over a two-day period), it was also called the Hidden Day (Yom HaKeseh). The term keseh or keceh is derived from the Hebrew root kacah, which means “to conceal, cover, or hide.”

When Jesus said, “No one knows about that day or hour” (Matthew 24:36, niv), He meant the day of His return is unknown. But in another layer of meaning, to the Jewish mind, He was also using an idiom for Rosh Hashanah, the “hidden day.” 4

Four times in the New Testament we read, “I am coming as a thief.”

“I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you,” “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,” “the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (Revelation 16:15; 3:3; 2 Peter 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:2).

A thief does not arrive when you expect him. Instead, it’s indefinite, just like a Jewish wedding! An unexpected arrival at an unknown time.

Alfred Edersheim, a nineteenth-century Jewish believer, wrote many wonderful books connecting the Scriptures to their Jewish background. In one he explained why the high priest was called a thief in the night. Originally, God supernaturally ignited the holy fire on the temple altar. Afterward, at least two priests constantly minded the flame to make sure it never went out. The high priest would occasionally make rounds during the night to ensure the priests had not fallen asleep. If they did, God forbid, the high priest would take fire from the altar and light the sleeping priests’ garments; they would awaken with a fright, tearing their burning clothes off, exposing their nakedness. 5

Now read Jesus’ words: “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame” (Revelation 16:15).

We do not know the day or hour of His return, but we can hold fast and tend the flame of our faith, that it may never die. 

The Time of Jacob’s Trouble

Remember that Rosh Hashanah falls in the darkest part of the lunar cycle. The fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets sets the stage for the tribulation on earth, the Day of the Lord, when God’s wrath will be poured out on Israel’s enemies and the world will be brought to judgment.

Zephaniah and Amos described days of darkness and gloominess (Zephaniah 1:15; Amos 5:20). Further, the dark moon of Rosh Hashanah foretells Joel’s prophecy:

The sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood,

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

And it shall come to pass

That whoever calls on the name of the Lord

Shall be saved. (Joel 2:31–32)

Oh, the hope that last line gives! Judgment will bring redemption and a fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant when, as Paul prophesied, “All Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).

The Coronation of Messiah

The custom regarding new kings of Israel and Judah required that they be enthroned on the first day of Tishri, the seventh month—the Feast of Trumpets. This feast foreshadows the coronation of the Messiah. Daniel wrote, “I watched till thrones were put in place.… The court was seated, and the books were opened” (7:9–10). Judgment day had come, just as Rosh Hashanah warns. But look what follows:

One like the Son of Man,

Coming with the clouds of heaven!…

Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,

That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. (verses 13–14)

In Revelation 4:1–11, John described the ultimate coronation after judgment. He heard a voice “like a trumpet” just before he was taken up “in the Spirit” and brought before a throne illuminated by a rainbow of jewels and a crystal sea. The One who sat upon the throne shone like jasper and sardius. Four living creatures (with faces of a lion, ox, eagle, and man) and twenty-four elders fell before Him, worshiping, casting their crowns, and giving glory and honor and thanks, saying:

You are worthy, O Lord,

To receive glory and honor and power;

For You created all things,

And by Your will they exist and were created. (Revelation 4:11)

The Feast of Trumpets heralds the glorious commencement of the Kingdom of God on earth. 

It is a time to rejoice and celebrate!

All are welcome!

Maranatha Chapel, Monday, September 6, 7:00 pm

1. Zola Levitt, The Seven Feasts of Israel (Dallas, TX: Zola Levitt Ministries, 1979, 2012), 12.

2. See Marvin Rosenthal and Kevin Howard, The Feasts of the Lord (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 105.

3. James Strong, Abingdon’s Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1894, reprint, Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1986), 54, ref. 2646, from 2645, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary. The prophet Joel referred to a private room, which is the Hebrew word chuppah, or canopy.

4. See Edward Chumney, The Seven Festivals of the Messiah (Shippensburg, PA: Treasure House, 1994), 138–39.

5. See Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services as They Were at the Time of Jesus Christ (1874, reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1997).

We are in the middle of a very significant month!

Several years ago, our church began celebrating the fall feasts on the Jewish calendar:  the Feast of Trumpets, then ten days later, Feast of Atonement, followed by the joyous Feast of Tabernacles.

As Christians, we are not under a law nor obliged to observe any of these practices.  But some, like the seven Feasts of the Lord, ordained in Leviticus 23, are filled with prophetic meaning and revelations of Jesus the Messiah. To ignore them is to miss out on a significant part of God’s Word. 

“The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts,” says Leviticus 23:1-2. 

God’s appointed feasts.

The ancient Hebrews began their preparations for the fall holidays with a thirty day period of meditation and personal repentance during the month of Elul —which began last weekend, on this year’s calendar. Adding the ten days between Trumpets and Atonement, there is a forty day preparation for the national the day of Atonement 

Elul is actually an acronym in Hebrew for, “I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.”  Elul is a time for God’s people to return to their first love and to prepare for the call of the Trumpet and the Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles.  The significance of all this is causing me to rejoice in God’s meticulous plans for His people.  Moses spent forty days on the mountain receiving God’s Words.  Jesus spent forty days fasting in the wilderness, confronted by Satan.  Forty days is no coincidence.

I can’t wait to share with you what these Jewish holidays mean prophetically and even personally to the Body of Christ, as we celebrate the fall feasts, starting on September 6, 2021 with the Feast of Trumpets.

So many people right now, including me, need prayer and hope.

How wonderful that the heart of Elul is expressed in Psalm 27: “The Lord is my light and my salvation;
 whom shall I fear?
 The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?… One thing I have desired of the Lord,
that will I seek:
 that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”

Let us rejoice and seek the Lord together!

Beginning with Pharaoh in Egypt, God’s people have continually suffered under tyrants, governments, and persecution. But God always restores His people. He always delivers them. 

And the result of such persecution is always, “But the word of God continued to spread and flourish” (Acts 12:24).

The story of Esther is a beautiful example of God’s deliverance. The story begins with the unlikely destiny of a Jewish girl in the Persian empire, who became the queen.  

Anne Graham Lotz summed it up nicely: “Five centuries before Christ, a Persian official named Haman plotted to kill all the Jews living in Persia. When Queen Esther was asked by her Uncle Mordecai to intercede with King Xerxes on behalf of the Jews, she resisted in fear for her life. Mordecai famously replied, ‘Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?’ (Esther 4:14) As a result Queen Esther did intercede, the Jews were saved when they were allowed to defend themselves, Haman was defeated, and Purim was established as an annual time of feasting and celebration.”

Even though the book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention the name of God, the truth of God’s sovereignty and providence is clearly manifested and is part of the pattern intentionally established by the Lord.   

A pattern of deliverance. 

God prophesied to Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land, enslaved and abused for four hundred years (see Genesis 15:13). Hundreds of years later, a Pharaoh, determined to annihilate the promise of future generations of Hebrews, ordered the slaughter of all male babies born to Jewish mothers. Moses, the chosen deliverer, escaped because his mother hid him.

Matthew echoed the prophet Jeremiah: “Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more” (Jeremiah 31:15). In his gospel, Matthew recalls the same haunting lament in his description of Herod’s vengeful murder of Bethlehem’s male infants in the first century: “Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” (Matthew 2:18). Jesus escaped the slaughter when Mary and Joseph fled with Him to Egypt.

In Israel’s history, the pattern of deliverance is continually repeated: Moses, Joseph, Esther, Daniel. But the slaughter of innocents and the emergence of a deliverer from humble means form a picture whose layers grow deeper and richer as time moves us closer and closer to the return of the Messiah.

This year the Jewish holiday of Purim begins on Thursday, February 25, at sunset and goes through sunset on February 26. 

As we observe and celebrate with the Jewish people the miracle of Purim, let us cry out to the Lord! Much of the church world-wide is fasting and praying for 40 days, in anticipation of celebrating the Resurrection and the return of the Messiah!

Below is a link about an event that occurred on February 21 – and is continuing through the world. It is such a blessing to hear and join God’s people calling out to the Lord.

Hear us Lord, as we pray and cry, Maranatha!

World Jewish Prayer video – Click HERE

For written prayer – Click HERE

Perhaps the most significant celestial event in history—the Star of Bethlehem—is recurring in our lifetime—just in time for Christmas 2020!

On December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will be so closely aligned that they will appear as a "double planet," announced Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan. The double planet will be visible December 16-25. The last time such a close conjunction was visible from earth was in 1226, almost 800 years ago.

"Call 2020's conjunction a unique, holiday gift to the world,” says the  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.  Interestingly, the event is dubbed the "Christmas Star" or the "Star of Bethlehem." 1

“The skies proclaim the work of His hands,” the psalmist sang. “They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.  Yet their voice goes out into all the earth” (Psalm 19).

Celestial signs and events have always signaled messages about earthly events. 

God's first arrival to the earth in human form was an event to be heralded by a phenomenon never seen before.

Scientists, scholars, even theologians, have called the Star of Bethlehem a myth, a symbol, or a spiritual metaphor. But all that has changed.  With new historical knowledge and technology, we can create models of the universe as it existed 2000 years ago.  The Star and the famous wise men who followed it are proving to be real!

The ancient magi, or “wise men,” were often court astronomers. Such a dramatic cosmic event drew them to investigate.

"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him," they asked, arriving in Jerusalem (Matthew 2:2).

The wise men most likely saw Jupiter (known as the King planet) and Venus (known as the Mother planet) merge in the eastern sky, creating a super conjunction of planets. 

As one of the closest conjunctions ever to occur, it would have astounded the ancient world. What the magi saw from their home in Babylon was a super star shining in the west, directly toward Jerusalem. 2

The magi knew that a momentous event had been announced in the heavens—like the birth of a king.

As they traveled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, they would have seen the Jupiter-Venus pair moving from the east toward the south (the direction of Bethlehem) due to the earth’s rotation.

Looking directly over Bethlehem, they would have seen Jupiter, appearing to have stopped, stationary in the heavens, mid-bodied to the constellation Virgo the Virgin, shining directly down on Bethlehem. There they found Jesus and gave Him their gifts.

And now, we are about to see a similar celestial event.

Once again, the heavens are speaking.

“There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars,” we are told (Luke 21:25-28).

We’re about to see a great sign!

Like poetry written in the skies, the stars and heavenly bodies proclaim His glory, declare His intentions, cause us to look up and watch for His coming.

1. EcoWatch, Jupiter and Saturn Will Form ‘Double Planet’ This December for the First Time in 800 Years, December 4, 2020

2. The Star That Astonished the World, by Dr. Ernest Martin (1991), and The Star of Bethlehem website are excellent resources for more details.

Hey everyone, I’m heading to Florida with Vicki to do an interview at Calvary Chapel Gulf Breeze this Wednesday. I'm excited to see Pastor John Spencer and share about my newest book in the Elijah Chronicles series! Please be praying for our time there! 

If you didn't catch last Sunday's, message watch it online! We had the Jewish agency with us, and it was powerful to hear stories of Jewish people returning to their home. 

Talking about the year 2020, peace plans, and prophecy with my friend Daniel Goodwin! Check it out—this year is an exciting one!

Such an inspiring video and testimony! Highly recommend you guys check it out as well as The Chosen—a great new Bible-based series that inspired and moved this young girl. 

I was so blessed to be able to sit down with my friend Daniel Goodwin and chat about my new book, The Threshing Floor, how God is focusing in on Israel, and the coming of revival. Not only a great conversation but a great friend—thanks so much for having me, Dan! Check out the video below.

“This week we honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the great civil rights leader who gave us one of the most celebrated lines in modern English. Quoting an old spiritual, he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, and proclaimed to his listeners, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"...” Check our the rest of my article “What MLK’s Speech Means for Your Spiritual Freedom” on Charisma News via the link!

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