Late tomorrow afternoon, October 23, there will be a partial solar eclipse visible over western North America.

            The orbit of the Moon is tilted, so the Moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun no more than twice a year. Since the Moon and the Sun are both roughly the same size in the sky, about one half of a degree, the Moon can completely cover the Sun at these times and a solar eclipse will occur. During a solar eclipse, the Moon blocks out the light of the sun, creating a darkness at mid day. This darkness is reminiscent of the Darkness of the Sun before the Day of the Lord in Scripture (See Joel 2:31 and Amos 5:20) and God’s judgment. On the Jewish feast calendar, the only feast which can occur during the first day of the lunar month is Trumpets, which is generally understood to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. Thus, the solar eclipse is associated with Feast of Trumpets and the Return of Christ.

Because the movement of the Sun and Moon follow regular cycles, solar eclipses also follow regular cycle. The ancients identified a “Saros” cycle in which eclipses repeat every 18.03 years over a 1262 year period. Interestingly, the Saros cycle closely matches 1260 year time period in Revelation 11:12 and the related 1260 year historical period from the building of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple site to the establishment of modern Israel. Another cycle, the 28.94 years “Inex” cycle, follows history from Abraham to the destruction of Jerusalem over 1505 years, and an “Inex” cycle of 666 years covers the period from the captivity of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 597 BC to its destruction by Rome in 70 AD.

There is also a 2084 year cycle following solar eclipses on the Feast of Trumpets from 2089 BC during Abraham’s life until when Christ was born in 5BC. Looking forward, this 2084 year eclipse cycle generates eclipses on Trumpets in 2080, 2099, 2118, and 2137. We can only wonder what will happen then.

Tomorrow, the partial eclipse will occur because the Moon blocks only a portion of the Sun. Even a partially blocked the Sun can hurt your eyes, so look only through a safe solar filter such as welder’s glass.

Nobody knows when Christ will return, but if you listen closely, you can hear the horns warming up for that special Feast of Trumpets.