Regarding Steve Mullin's (16 Apr 2005) speculation of the 17th Day of the 2nd month being a day to watch for the rapture.By analogy this makes perfect sense:
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7:11
Talk about your rainy season. April showers bring May flowers and Mayflowers bring Pilgrims. And God has greatly blessed America from its Pilgrim heritage. And the children of the promise, Rachel, namely Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, camped to the west of the rest of the children of Israel. Likewise the Pilgrims went to the west to form a new compact, a new covenant, a new nation.
We are told that the rapture will be like in the days of Noah:
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. Luke 17:26, see also Matthew 24:37
Determining the 17th day of the 2nd month as close as we can to how Noah would have determined it would then be extremely important. We just can't pass this off as being February 17th.
Now it is believed that before the flood there were no seasons, hence no tilt of the earth, hence no vernal equinox where the sun passes the equator. Yet the earth would have still followed it's elliptical orbit around the sun and there would be a point analogous to our vernal equinox which may have been used. All we know is that after the flood many ancient cultures used the vernal equinox as the start of their year. And we know the vernal equinox this year was:
3/20/2005 12:34:48 UT - Spring Equinox
Now the next question is, how long is a month. The word "month" comes to us from the word "moon", the time it takes one moon to return to the same degree of illumination from the sun. Today, this can vary from 29.3 days to 29.8 days. So to get to the 1st day of the second month we add 29.3 - 29.8 days which brings us to:
4/18/2005 19:46:48 UT - 4/19/2005 7:46:48 UT
To get to the start of the 2nd day one would add 1 day. To get to the start of the 17th day one would add 16 days, which would be:
4/4/2005 19:46:48 UT - 4/5/2005 7:46:48 UT
And to get to the end of the 17th day one would add 1 day which would be:
4/5/2005 19:46:48 UT - 4/6/2005 7:46:48 UT
So this narrows the time down to from 4/4/2005 19:46:48 to 4/6/2005 7:46:48 which completely covers the day, 4/5/2005. But can we do better?
From:
http://www.astrostar.com/MoonPhases.htm
One can find from full moon to full moon following the 2005 vernal equinox being:
3/25/2005 20:59 to 4/24/2005 10:07
This works out to a lunar month length of 29.547222.
Adding this to the vernal equinox and then adding 16 days for the start of the 17th day and then another day for the end gives the following range:
5/5/2005 1:42:48 - 5/6/2005 1:42:48 UT
This is all except 1 hour and 43 minutes within the day of 5/5/2005 UT.
Out of curiosity, let us see how much through this time period is 5/5/2005 21:41:02 per:
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/mar2005/tedp330.htm
To an accuracy of less than 2 minutes (106 seconds to be exact), this is exactly 5/6ths (20 hours out of 24). What is significant about 5/6ths? The date (5/5/5) represents 5 for grace in innumerable ways. This number preceeds the number 6 which stands for satan & his influence (see "The Arithmetic of God" scribed by Don Kistler) as in 666 and antichrist.
While there is much speculation as to the antichrist and the tribulation this poster believes the Bible reveals 10 years of tribulation (see Revelation 2:10, the only verse in scripture the word "tribulation" is linked with a number). For those that want to fit this into an eschatology this could be looked at as first a 7 year tribulation. At the end of these 7 years the antichrist will be gladly accepted as the Messiah. This will be followed by 3 1/2 years to duplicate the real Messiah, Jesus Christ's, ministry. However this 3 1/2 years will be cut short out of God's mercy by the glory of the True Messiah appearing on the Mount of Olives. I personally think the 10 year total could be more around 10 3/8th which could put the start of the tribulation as early as this July. However, we are supposed to be watching for His return for His Bride, not the start of this tribulation. Time will tell. Pray without ceasing.
Shalom-
Ted Porter
www.endofage.com