Many prophecy analysts say the 9/23/17 alignment of the sun, moon, planets and stars is the Great Sign of Revelation chapter 12. I do NOT think so; I think the astronomical clues and end times signs in December 2019 are much more important. Pastor Steve Cioccolanti does think 9/23/17 is significant. Since he’s an intelligent pastor and all-around cool guy with a huge following and many insightful videos, let’s consider his point of view:
Pastor Steve Cioccolanti (of Discover Ministries) suggests: “The Revelation 12 Celestial Woman in Labor Pain is the most detailed astronomical sign recorded in the entire Bible, and may be the greatest sign in the sky since Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. It’s likely to be fulfilled in 2017. This video [below] explores in depth the meaning and timing of this sign. What does the Bible say the “woman in birth pangs” alludes to in terms of end time events?” (I will get back to Steve Cioccolanti’s comments and videos further down in this post.)
As I asked in a previous post: “Are we living in the END TIMES? Is the great TRIBULATION as described in the Book of Revelation playing out before our eyes? When is the Rapture?”
“September 23. On that date, according to various Internet sources, the heavens themselves will be a tableau of Revelation 12 in the Bible:
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth … She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
[FWIW, images are from the astronomical software Stellarium* and excerpts are from an article found here: http://earthsky.org/human-world/biblical-signs-in-the-sky-september-23-2017]
On September 23, 2017 the sun will be in the zodiac constellation Virgo — “a woman clothed with the sun”. The moon will be at the feet of Virgo — “with the moon under her feet”. The ‘nine’ stars of the zodiac constellation Leo, plus three planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars), will be at the head of Virgo — “on her head a crown of 12 stars”. The planet Jupiter will be in the center of Virgo, and, as the weeks pass after September 23, Jupiter will exit Virgo to the east, past her feet, so to speak — “She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth”. Jupiter is the largest of the planets, the “king” of the planets, so to speak — “She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod”.
The idea that the great sign described at the beginning of Revelation Chapter 12 will be fulfilled on September 23, 2017 is several years old. But while I DO believe that astronomical signs are crucially important in timing end times prophecy – how relevant is this particular alignment? Some people suggest it hasn’t happened for 7,000 years…
I say something very similar happens (almost) every two years, and that the alignment on 9/23/17 is an INTENTIONAL distraction from the following occurrence in 2019 which is FAR MORE SIGNIFICANT. Everybody will get excited for this one, and then feel silly about their expectations and ignore the next one.
September 23, 2017 is not a Jewish holiday. October 14, 2019 is the Feast of Tabernacles – Sukkot – when the Messiah is believed to eventually come to Tabernacle with us. This could be the astronomical clue for the Second Coming. The “Great Sign of Revelation” in which the Virgin astronomically gives birth to a Son is fulfilled on that date as well. And most importantly, 75 days later the Sun, Moon, and planets finish a week-long astronomical enactment of an ancient Jewish wedding ceremony in the sky.
Not only do all major steps of a wedding (is it Christ taking His bride?) occur in order, including the 8 minute part where the groom gives the bride the ring lining up with a total eclipse visible from Jerusalem showing “the diamond ring effect” (everyone saw the same thing in photos of the August eclipse over America) – but the 12/26/19 eclipse also fulfills Isaiah 13:10 “the sun will be dark when it rises” because the total eclipse will be seen exactly at sunrise over Jerusalem – while we celebrate Christmas!
Even Pastor Cioccolanti indirectly notes the end times significance of the 12/26/19 eclipse at sunrise (the sun being dark when it rises over Jerusalem) in this screenshot from the 27:40 mark of his video below:
And the 75 day spread between the end of the wedding and the Great Sign matches the end of Daniel’s periods of 1260, 1290, and 1335 days – assuming the last 30 and 45 days are reserved for judgment and wrath, between 10/14/19 and 12/28/19. Oh, the week-long wedding in the sky also takes place during Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, also very symbolic.
I detail the astronomical matches to end times prophecy for many pages in my previous book, End Times and 2019. Do not be deceived or disheartened by all the hype about 9/23/17 only to ignore the infinitely more significant astronomical signs in late 2019.
As another article commented: “First, in one year, thanks to the Earth’s annual orbit, the sun travels the entirety of the ecliptic, and thus passes through every one of the 12 constellations of the zodiac. The sun is in Virgo every September.
Second, in one month the moon goes through its cycle of phases, and travels the entirety of the ecliptic, and thus passes through every constellation of the zodiac—all owed to the period of the moon’s orbit being one month. Therefore there is always a day or two every year when the sun is in Virgo and the moon is just to the east of Virgo (just past the “feet”).
So, the celestial “woman clothed with the sun with the moon at her feet” is as common in September as is the U.S. holiday of Labor Day.”
“But what of the crown of 12 “stars,” comprised of three planets and the nine stars of Leo? The response to this question is another question — why nine stars in Leo? There are many more than nine stars in Leo. Those nine are just brighter ones that are often depicted as comprising the general outline or shape of the constellation. But in fact there are scads of stars in Leo and surrounding the “head” of Virgo.
And not all depictions of Leo show those nine as its outline. Some show the outline of Leo as consisting of 10 stars, for example. That would give Virgo a crown of 13 stars here!
…Bottom line: From the standpoint of astronomy, there’s nothing unique or unusual about the sun, moon and planets – or the constellation Virgo – on September 23, 2017, despite claims on the Internet of a unique and significant celestial event, supposedly “mirroring” the Bible’s Book of Revelation. In the past 1,000 years, this same event has happened at least four times already…”
Very similar astronomical alignments occur almost every two years. Don’t lose your mind over the 2017 alignment with Leo and Virgo only to ignore the much more relevant matches to end times prophecies described in End Times and 2019.
But if you’re still interested in a video on the 9/23/17 alignment/sign:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSqPiR2EK2s&w=1501&h=764]
Everything so far would not convince me that Steve Cioccolanti’s take on the 9/23/17 alignment is right – because he thinks it’s a BIG sign, and very significant – as he explains in the video below:
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