It appears that these two eclipses mark a giant "X marks the spot" on America. What does this mean? What might the God of Israel be saying to America?
The Bible tells us that God uses the sun, moon, and stars for "signs and seasons":
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years... Genesis 1:14
Related: Jonah, the Whale, the Assyrians, Christianity and Islam
In Bible prophecy, events with the sun represent God's dealings with gentile nations, and events with the moon represent God's dealings with Israel.
In 2017, the eclipse crossed over seven cities named Salem in America -- a warning to America concerning Jerusalem.
The second eclipse will cross over seven cities named Nineveh in America:
-Nineveh, Texas
-Nineveh, Missouri
-Nineveh, Indiana
-Nineveh, Ohio
-Nineveh, Pennsylvania
-Nineveh, Virginia
-Nineveh, New York
What IS the warning to America? Is God's judgment coming? What does America need to repent of? To decode this warning sign, we need to turn to the book of Jonah to understand Jonah's message to ancient Nineveh.
Jonah was spewed out by the great fish and he washed up on the shore. Then he was obedient to God and he went to Nineveh to proclaim a message of repentance:
And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" Jonah 3:4
Thus, a 40-day countdown began for the people of Nineveh to repent. Nineveh's guilt was concerning the Assyria's oppression against the Jewish people, taking them into captivity to Assyria and exiling them from their homeland, Israel.
Background on Nineveh
Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. In modern-day terms, ancient Nineveh is on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, close to the modern-day city of Mosul in Iraq.
In 721 B.C. Assyria swept down out of the north, captured the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and took the ten tribes into exile. The Assyrians then occupied the towns and villages of Northern Israel.
Archeological scholar, Donald Wiseman, former curator at the British Museum and leading expert on Assyrian culture, has speculated that a solar eclipse did occur over Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire.
Solar Eclipse Preceded Jonah's visit to Nineveh
What's not mentioned in the book of Jonah but is recorded in Assyria's historical record and is known to NASA and modern astronomers is that before Jonah's visit a solar eclipse occurred.
The first Assyrian eclipse was on June 24, 791 B.C., and covered 74% of the sun.
The second solar eclipse was on June 15, 763 B.C., and covered 98.7% of the sun.
According to the Assyrian writings cited by Wiseman, the Ninevites would see a solar eclipse as a precursor to God's judgment:
"the king will be deposed and killed, and a worthless fellow will seize the throne...rain from heaven will flood the land...the city walls will be destroyed."... At least once when there was a total solar eclipse, the Assyrians cried, "Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
Tom Hobson, chair of Biblical Studies at Morthland College, observes
The Assyrian nation was weak and in chaos in the decade around 760 BCE... They had one earthquake (one sign of divine wrath). There was a famine from 765-758 BCE. Assyria was losing battles and losing territory to its enemies. There were domestic riots....
(Does this sound like the current condition throughout Europe and the USA today?)
Now was a perfect time for a prophet from far away to arrive on the scene and command a response.
What was the result of Jonah's preaching? The ancient city, with up to 1.5 million people, repented!
So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. Jonah 3:5-10
Two Biblical Principles
1. The purpose of God bringing judgment upon the nations is to bring them to repentance! Repentance about what? We will come back to that!
2. God always precedes forthcoming judgment by sending warnings through the prophets.
He warns, He warns, He warns, and then He waits to see if there is repentance. He judges if there is no repentance. As we see in the story of Jonah, the LORD can change His mind about His planned judgment: IF there is a national repentance!
Application: What Does America Need to Repent of?
Joel chapter 3:1-3 prophecies to us when and how the tribulation period will begin. It deals with God's covenant He made with His people, the children of Israel. The God of Israel tells us clearly and directly WHY He judges the nations in Joel 3:1-2
"For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land. Joel 3:1-2
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