Space signs
The first verses of Genesis record God creating the heavens and the earth. He said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3). The purpose of this light is given in verse 14; “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Gen. 1:14). The heavens are God’s calendar. The Hebrew word for sign is “owth,” meaning a signal, warning or omen. The Hebrew word for season is “moade” meaning a divinely appointed time, a holy convocation – the Holy Days (Lev. 23:4). Thus, lights in the heavens are signs tied to coming events at divinely appointed times in God’s calendar – His Holy Days. They mark the redeeming mission of Jesus Christ in the meridian of time, and coming events prior to His last-days return. They witness His birth, sacrifice and Second Coming return. These events and more are recorded in the cyclical patterns of the lights above us, in the ordered movements of the sun, the moon, and the stars and how they intersect with the Holy Days. The fluid rhythm and beauty of the lights above us is sometimes called “the music of the spheres.” It is a glorious dance of light, set against a stage of stars. As “signs”, they are important as the Lord fulfills the prophecies of scripture through their sequence and timing, in connection with the symbolism of the Holy Days. They are mostly marked in His calendar by the sun and the moon, His two faithful witnesses.
Seven Heavenly Witnesses
Patterns in the lights above are for our instruction. Two thousand years ago heavenly signs pointed joyfully to His conception and birth at His first coming in mercy. These were creation signs tied to light and hope. Many of the last-days heavenly signs feature a removal of light and are thus ominous, suggesting judgment prior to the return of light again at His Second Coming. The purpose of this work is to help us understand what is coming - when and how - all in relation to heavenly signs and the redeeming mission of Jesus Christ. Judgment and cleansing come first followed by hope in the light of our Lord. What were the heavenly signs of His first coming? How can we better understand those of our day relating to His return?
God gave us seven heavenly witnesses that mark the timing and reveal the meaning of the most significant events in His mission, including those events involving us in the last days. These witnesses point to both His first and second coming. They are “the signs of the times,” those provided above us in the heavens, and those below on the earth (Dan. 6:27; Luke 21:25; Acts 2:19; D&C 29:14). Many are given out of love as a warning.
These witnesses are found in the following seven chapters. They climax with His Atonement in chapter 7. They include:
1. The Words of Watchmen, on towers
2. Judgment & Mercy for the Covenant People
3. The Three Sabbaths, tied to the concepts of rest, release, and return
4. The Seven Holy Days, memorializing His mission and providing the timing for His first and second coming
5. Greater Light Signs in conjunctions of select planets – signaling creation in connection with His first coming
6. Lesser Light Signs in eclipses of the sun or moon – signaling judgment prior to His later return
7. The Atonement of Jesus Christ – our source of hope
Our Invitation
We have been invited to the future wedding feast of the Bridegroom Jesus Christ. Some are excited about it, have accepted the invitation and are preparing themselves for the coming feast at His table. Others have made excuses for why they can’t come. A third group won’t come. They reject the invitation completely and the messengers bringing it. A fourth group, the poor, the maimed, the halt and blind are then sought out and brought into the feast. The wealthy, the prideful, the blind, and those lukewarm do not enter in. These four types of people are addressed in Matthew 22:2-10. Because God loves us, He has always sent messengers and messages multiple times and in multiple ways to His people. His warnings are given prior to coming judgment. This is one of the purposes for the heavenly signs. Being visual and readily available, they potentially reach all people, regardless of language, culture, or tradition. We have only to look up (Luke 21:28). He has invited every nation, kindred, tongue, and people to His feast. It is a wedding feast where we are the Bride, and He is the Bridegroom. To qualify for the feast, we have only to apply His Atonement in our lives. His grace is sufficient for all of us, after all we can do. And “all we can do” is to repent and turn back to God. That is the message of scripture and the signs, yet there is much more detail available.
Coming Judgments
King Belshazzar could not read God’s handwriting on the wall. Daniel had to interpret it for him. Judgment had come upon him as a thief in the night. It was a message that the king had been weighed and measured and found wanting. He would lose all that very night (Dan. 5). Animals read the signs of coming storms around them and seek shelter. Jeremiah stated, “Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord” (Jer. 8:7). Some can read the sky, but fail to discern more weighty matters, such as the return time of the Great Judge. Christ told leaders in His day, “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time” (Luke 12:56)? Amos asked, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). The agreement is key. It is the language God uses, His calendar.
To understand the heavenly visual signs placed before us - their message and timing - we must seek and have knowledge, of God’s heavenly calendar - and Him. The prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Isaiah added, “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge” (5:13). Both of these statements are applicable to our day. Modern man has a weak understanding of the heavens as God’s calendar. He told us that two of His most faithful witnesses, the sun and the moon, are signs for us in Genesis 1:14. World history is full of destruction, much of it tied to apathy and ignorance - the refusal to seek further light and knowledge. Saving knowledge is that which comes from knowing God and His ways, of reading and understanding the words and signs He has given us. They testify of Jesus Christ, our only hope in all that is in front of us. There is no other way. Fortunately, He is mighty to save, if we seek Him with all our hearts.
This book has been created to counteract ignorance of our Savior and His mission in connection with seven heavenly witnesses that God has provided. They reveal what is coming, as well as when, how, and why in reference to Christ’s first and second coming. More importantly, they reveal Him. A critical key in coming to know Him is the unique calendar He uses. Unlike our current Gregorian calendar, the Lord’s Biblical calendar utilizes both the sun and the moon as primary timepieces. If we are to understand the heavenly signs given for our own welfare we must do so on the Lord’s terms, utilizing His calendar, while paying close attention to patterns He has placed in them. This is why chapters on His unique calendar are part of this book (especially chap. 2). They address the Lord’s twelve Holy Days, beginning with the New Moon and New Year’s Day (chap. 2), His three Sabbaths (chap. 3), and His seven annual Divine Appointments with us (chap. 4). They precede discussion of the heavenly signs (greater-light conjunctions and lesser-light eclipses) that fall on them (chapters 5 and 6). They are part of an important lost puzzle that when finally put together reveals relevant content for us today. That content reveals the need for repentance, and a return to true worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, our redeemer. Daniel said, “there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets…[of] what shall be in the latter days” (Dan. 2:28).
Loving God and one another is central to our Savior’s mission. We know He loves us. The question is, do we love Him? Our Savior descended here to redeem us from hell, which is separation from Him and Father and Mother. Sin and death introduced into this world, brought about this separation. Through repentance, Christ releases us from sin, death, and hell in the Atonement and the Resurrection. A return is then possible. God’s special calendar memorializes His mission of redemption via twelve Holy Days. The first ones mark the creation of earth and the day He rested from His labors. Additional Holy Days thereafter mark those tied to His redemptive mission in the meridian of time. The final Holy Days mark His second coming return in the last days, our day.
It is a choice to love God – a choice between Him or the world, between blessing or cursing, life or death. We can have true worship or false worship. Given of God, Moses plainly taught these two different ways to Joshua that he might teach it to the children of Israel once they entered the Promised Land. It was called the “doctrine of the two ways.” Moses stated, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you, life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deut. 30:19). The path to death involves embracing “spiritual Egypt” or “Babylon,” the world. Scripture describes her as the great whore, rather than the virgin bride. Babylon is built on the traditions, false teachings, and the vain desires of men. Hereafter, many of these will have to be swept away if we are to have light and understanding, and thus return to true worship of the Living God.
Seven Heavenly Witnesses
Patterns in the lights above are for our instruction. Two thousand years ago heavenly signs pointed joyfully to His conception and birth at His first coming in mercy. These were creation signs tied to light and hope. Many of the last-days heavenly signs feature a removal of light and are thus ominous, suggesting judgment prior to the return of light again at His Second Coming. The purpose of this work is to help us understand what is coming - when and how - all in relation to heavenly signs and the redeeming mission of Jesus Christ. Judgment and cleansing come first followed by hope in the light of our Lord. What were the heavenly signs of His first coming? How can we better understand those of our day relating to His return?
God gave us seven heavenly witnesses that mark the timing and reveal the meaning of the most significant events in His mission, including those events involving us in the last days. These witnesses point to both His first and second coming. They are “the signs of the times,” those provided above us in the heavens, and those below on the earth (Dan. 6:27; Luke 21:25; Acts 2:19; D&C 29:14). Many are given out of love as a warning.
These witnesses are found in the following seven chapters. They climax with His Atonement in chapter 7. They include:
1. The Words of Watchmen, on towers
2. Judgment & Mercy for the Covenant People
3. The Three Sabbaths, tied to the concepts of rest, release, and return
4. The Seven Holy Days, memorializing His mission and providing the timing for His first and second coming
5. Greater Light Signs in conjunctions of select planets – signaling creation in connection with His first coming
6. Lesser Light Signs in eclipses of the sun or moon – signaling judgment prior to His later return
7. The Atonement of Jesus Christ – our source of hope
Our Invitation
We have been invited to the future wedding feast of the Bridegroom Jesus Christ. Some are excited about it, have accepted the invitation and are preparing themselves for the coming feast at His table. Others have made excuses for why they can’t come. A third group won’t come. They reject the invitation completely and the messengers bringing it. A fourth group, the poor, the maimed, the halt and blind are then sought out and brought into the feast. The wealthy, the prideful, the blind, and those lukewarm do not enter in. These four types of people are addressed in Matthew 22:2-10. Because God loves us, He has always sent messengers and messages multiple times and in multiple ways to His people. His warnings are given prior to coming judgment. This is one of the purposes for the heavenly signs. Being visual and readily available, they potentially reach all people, regardless of language, culture, or tradition. We have only to look up (Luke 21:28). He has invited every nation, kindred, tongue, and people to His feast. It is a wedding feast where we are the Bride, and He is the Bridegroom. To qualify for the feast, we have only to apply His Atonement in our lives. His grace is sufficient for all of us, after all we can do. And “all we can do” is to repent and turn back to God. That is the message of scripture and the signs, yet there is much more detail available.
Coming Judgments
King Belshazzar could not read God’s handwriting on the wall. Daniel had to interpret it for him. Judgment had come upon him as a thief in the night. It was a message that the king had been weighed and measured and found wanting. He would lose all that very night (Dan. 5). Animals read the signs of coming storms around them and seek shelter. Jeremiah stated, “Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord” (Jer. 8:7). Some can read the sky, but fail to discern more weighty matters, such as the return time of the Great Judge. Christ told leaders in His day, “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time” (Luke 12:56)? Amos asked, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). The agreement is key. It is the language God uses, His calendar.
To understand the heavenly visual signs placed before us - their message and timing - we must seek and have knowledge, of God’s heavenly calendar - and Him. The prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Isaiah added, “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge” (5:13). Both of these statements are applicable to our day. Modern man has a weak understanding of the heavens as God’s calendar. He told us that two of His most faithful witnesses, the sun and the moon, are signs for us in Genesis 1:14. World history is full of destruction, much of it tied to apathy and ignorance - the refusal to seek further light and knowledge. Saving knowledge is that which comes from knowing God and His ways, of reading and understanding the words and signs He has given us. They testify of Jesus Christ, our only hope in all that is in front of us. There is no other way. Fortunately, He is mighty to save, if we seek Him with all our hearts.
This book has been created to counteract ignorance of our Savior and His mission in connection with seven heavenly witnesses that God has provided. They reveal what is coming, as well as when, how, and why in reference to Christ’s first and second coming. More importantly, they reveal Him. A critical key in coming to know Him is the unique calendar He uses. Unlike our current Gregorian calendar, the Lord’s Biblical calendar utilizes both the sun and the moon as primary timepieces. If we are to understand the heavenly signs given for our own welfare we must do so on the Lord’s terms, utilizing His calendar, while paying close attention to patterns He has placed in them. This is why chapters on His unique calendar are part of this book (especially chap. 2). They address the Lord’s twelve Holy Days, beginning with the New Moon and New Year’s Day (chap. 2), His three Sabbaths (chap. 3), and His seven annual Divine Appointments with us (chap. 4). They precede discussion of the heavenly signs (greater-light conjunctions and lesser-light eclipses) that fall on them (chapters 5 and 6). They are part of an important lost puzzle that when finally put together reveals relevant content for us today. That content reveals the need for repentance, and a return to true worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, our redeemer. Daniel said, “there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets…[of] what shall be in the latter days” (Dan. 2:28).
Loving God and one another is central to our Savior’s mission. We know He loves us. The question is, do we love Him? Our Savior descended here to redeem us from hell, which is separation from Him and Father and Mother. Sin and death introduced into this world, brought about this separation. Through repentance, Christ releases us from sin, death, and hell in the Atonement and the Resurrection. A return is then possible. God’s special calendar memorializes His mission of redemption via twelve Holy Days. The first ones mark the creation of earth and the day He rested from His labors. Additional Holy Days thereafter mark those tied to His redemptive mission in the meridian of time. The final Holy Days mark His second coming return in the last days, our day.
It is a choice to love God – a choice between Him or the world, between blessing or cursing, life or death. We can have true worship or false worship. Given of God, Moses plainly taught these two different ways to Joshua that he might teach it to the children of Israel once they entered the Promised Land. It was called the “doctrine of the two ways.” Moses stated, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you, life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deut. 30:19). The path to death involves embracing “spiritual Egypt” or “Babylon,” the world. Scripture describes her as the great whore, rather than the virgin bride. Babylon is built on the traditions, false teachings, and the vain desires of men. Hereafter, many of these will have to be swept away if we are to have light and understanding, and thus return to true worship of the Living God.