The April 8, 2024 eclipse and Nineveh,
To my “non-church” friends: This post is directed to my church family but you might find it interesting.
On April 8, 2024, part of the U.S. will witness a full solar eclipse. (order your eclipse glasses now!). Did you know that 8 cities/towns named “Nineveh” are in the path of the eclipse? Two of those Nineveh’s will be within the totality zone.
This convergence has sparked speculation that something big is prophesied to happen on that date. The premise is based upon the fact that that prophet Jonah preached repentance in Nineveh resulting in the entire city repenting from their evil ways. The city of Nineveh was large enough for a 3 day walk to get across it so this would have been a huge deal.
Astronomers have determined that ancient Nineveh would have experienced a total eclipse during Jonah’s lifetime so it’s reasonably plausible that an eclipse could have given extra credence to Jonah’s message.
In Matthew and Luke, “the sign of Jonah” is referenced so some scholars surmise that the eclipse could have been that sign. I tend to think that Jonah’s sign was the 3 days he spent in the belly of the fish, before being “resurrected” to life when the fish spit him out. This is what Matthew records.
On the other hand, there’s no way the people of Nineveh would have known about the fish story but they certainly would have known about the eclipse.
I don’t know which is more reasonable.
Here’s what I do know:
Jonah didn’t want to preach to Nineveh but God had compassion on them, saying “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” (Jonah 4:11)
Does that sound familiar to our current age? Isn’t this especially true in the U.S. of A?
Perhaps this eclipse over the cities of Nineveh can at least serve as a reminder that “we, the people,” includes us, the believers in Jesus Christ and it’s we, the people have been negligent in controlling the raging grass fire that is our government. Perhaps we need to repent of our negligence. Perhaps we need to humble ourselves, then pray to our Lord and Redeemer that He will heal our land.
Eclipse or no eclipse, it doesn’t take much of a prophet to see what’s coming if we don’t do something.