RARE CONJUNCTION OF PLANETS IS SET FOR MAY 2000

By J.R. Church

Some remarkable planetary conjunctions will occur this coming May 2000 as all five major planets. Along with the sun and moon, will be grouping together as they move into Taurus around May 4.

Venus, will be in conjunction with Jupiter and Saturn on May 17-18. All three of our brightest planets will be extremely close together as Venus has a conjunction with Jupiter on the morning of May 17 and with Saturn, only a few hours later, on May 18. Ten days later, on May 27, Jupiter and Saturn will have a conjunction. This is a remarkable series of events to occur in a single month!

Are these planetary alignments signs in the heavens? Jesus told of such signs in Luke 24: "Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:" "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven."

"But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name sake.

"And it shall turn to you for a testimony" (Luke 24:10-13) Jesus continued in verses 24-27: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

"Mens hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: For the powers of heaven shall be shaken". "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (Luke 24:25-27).

Is it possible that the events coming up in May are part of these signs of His Second Coming?

SIGNS OF HIS BIRTH

We are told that when Christ was born, Magi came from the east with tales of a star that appeared int he heavens--a star which they interpreted as a divine sign for the birth of the King of the Jew. This star has been the subject of speculation over the centuries. What was it? A comet? A conjunction of planets? A supernova? An angel?

Suggestions include a variety of celestial possibilities. for example, ther was triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C., similiar to the conjunction of those same two planets that caught the attention of the Egyptian astrologers about three years before the birth of Moses. According to Flavius Josephus, they reported to Pharaoh, "...about this time there would be a chilld born to the Isrealites, who, if he were reared, would bring the Egyptian dominion low, and would raise the Isrealites; that he would excel all men in virtue, and would obtain a glory that would be remembered through all ages." (Antiquities, book II, chapter IX, paragraph 2).

Another astronomical event took place in the second century B.C. that lasted nearly 400 years. A supernova appeared in the head of the child in the head of the child in the lap on of Coma, a side-real sidepiece to the constellation Virgo. It was so bright, it could be seen in the daytime, by the second centry A.D., it has almost faded away.

According to "The Star that Astonished the World", by Earnest L. Martin, Jupiter and Venus were in conjunction on July 17, 2 B.C.,--so close that they appeared as on bright light in the western evening sky. Modern astronomers have dubbed it, "The Christmas Star."

On the night of Rosh Hashanah, Sepember 11, 3 B.C., Jupiter was in conjunction with Rugulus, The the brightest star between the legs of Leo, the lion. It passed across the star, stopped around the first of December and began again on February 17, 2 B.C. It continued its backward trek 40 days, then turned around again and had a third conjunction with Regulus on May 8, 2 B.C.

The remarkable thing about this triple conjunction is that the dying Jacob gave a prophecy on his deathbed concerning the coming of the Messiah from the tribe of Judah -- to which he gave the signs of the celestial lion:

"Judah, thou are he whom they brethren shall praise: they had shall be in the neck of thine enemies; they father's children shall bow down before thee."

"Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he crouched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be" ( Genesis 49: 8-10).

The Hebrew word used for "his feet," reglaiv, is very close to the Latin, Regulus, the name of the star located precisely between the front feet of Leo the Lion. We get the word "regal" and "regulaiton" from Regulus. The Hebrew regel (foot) is so similar to the name of the star that we suspect a connection.

Regulus has been know down through the centuries as the "king star." Jacob said that the "scepter (a royal rod held in the hand of a king) shall not deprt from Judah...until Shiloh (A reference to the Messiah) come." Oddly enough, the scepter represented by Regulus is a sickle! Regulus is located a at the beginning of the handle iin a sickle that resided in the head of Leo! Is this sickle the royal scepter in Jacob's prophecy?

Jupiter was also connected with royalty. It was known as the royal planet or the king planet. Its movement may have held some special significance to the Magi as Jupiter, the king planet moved into its first of three conjunctions with Regulus, the king star, between the feet of Leo. Circling above Regulus, Jupiter seemed to draw a crown --as if to signify the arrival of the divine King.

Could Jocob's prophecy, about Shiloh coming when the scepter was between the feet of Leo, have seen its fulfillment in the conjunctions of Jupiter and Regulus? Could these events be the legenday Christmas Star calculated by the Magi? It is at least remarkable that Jupiter should move across Regulus on the very night of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year's Eve, 3 B.C. Even more remarkable is that the king planet should turn around and backtrack past Regulus for a second conjunction the following February, then return for a third conjunction on May 8, just a few week before the July 17 spectacular conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. That, by the way, also took place between the front and hind feet of Leo.

SINGS IN THE HEAVENS

If "signs in the heavens," announced the first advent of Christ, will these planets also declare the second advent of Christ? We do not know when Christ will return, but with the help of a computer and an astronomy program, we are able to observe the planets over the next few years and see some remarkable astronomical events. Let me make it clear that I am in no way advocating setting a date for the rapture of the return of Christ based upon astronomical observation. Furthermore, this should not be construed as in any way being related to astrology. I am simply showing the various conjunctions that are coming up and considering what they would have meant to the ancient astronomer in the days of the Bible.

According to The Witness of the Stars, by E.W. Bullinger, published in 1893, Taurus begins the story of the second coming of Christ. Bullinger writes, "In this third and last book, we come to the conluding portion of th heavenly revelation. Its subject is redemption completed, and consummated in triumph ... the glory that should follow. The sign in Chaldee is Tor; Greek, Tauros; Latin, Taurus. The Hebrew name was Shur (rua), which is from a root meaning both coming and ruling. It is a prophecy of Christ, the coming Judge, and Ruler, and Lord of all the earth."

Accoding to Bullinger, the twelve major constellations are divided into three sections of four apparitions. The first four, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius speak of the first advent of Christ. The next four, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces and Aries set forth the church age. The final four, Taurus , Gemini, Cancer and Leo depict the second advent of Christ. Interestingly enough, we will se Saturn entering Taurus this May. Seven years later, Saturn will be entering Leo moving through its conjunction with Regulus as the calendar approaches Rosh Hashanah, September 12, 2007. So, who is Saturn?

SATURN, THE GRIM REAPER

Over the next seven years, from 2000 to 2007, Saturn will travel through the constellation that tell the story of the wrath of God being poured out upon an unbelieving world. That would be Taurus, the coming Judge; Gemini, which in ancient zodiacs tells the story of the Bridegroom and his Bride; Cancer, the symbol of ressurection; and Leo, the lion pouncing on Hydra, a many-headed serpent. These consellations along with their sidereal sidepieces tell the story of the second advent of Jesus Christ.

Saturn was known in ancient mythologies as the reaper. He carried a sickle. From him have emerged legends of the grim reaper. He is connected with the prophetic symbols that deal with the harvest of the wicked. In Revelation 14, we are told about the use of the symbolic sickle:

"And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle".

"And another angel came out of the temple, cyring with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, "Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe." "And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped".

"And another angel came out from the altar; which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in they sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God."

"And the winepress was trodden with out the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs" ( Revelation 14: 14-20).

The Jews called Saturn Shabbatai after the Sabbath. Our modern name for Saturday is also derived from Saturn. It portrays the great Sabbath--the seventh millennium -- and the final judgments connected with it. Two sickles are given in Revelation 14. Could these be referring to Saturn and Regulus, each of which is associated with a sickle?

LEO'S SICKLE

Not only is Saturn always shown with a sickle, but Rugulus, the king star in Leo, is located at the beginning of the handle in a sickle that extends through the head of Leo. The point of the sickle protrudes from the lion's mouth. Could that sickle represent the sword in the mouth of Christ? Revelation 19:15 says, "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations." Furthermore, adjacent to Leo stands Bootes, a sidereal sidepiece in Virgo that tell us who Virgo's son represents. Bootes holds a sickle in his hand as well--expressing the fact that Christ will be the One who wields the sickle of God's judgment.

In the Rotunda ceiling at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeloes, California, a mural of Saturn, by Hugo Ballin, shows the grim reaper below the sickle in the mouth of Leo. Coming up around August 29, 2007, Saturn will be moving into a conjuntion with Regulus. It will be near it's conjunction as the calendar approaches Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year on September 12, 2007. Will Saturn's conjunction with Regulus complete the story that began on the night of Jupiter's conjunction with Regulus in 3 B.C.?

Obviously, we don't know the future. But it is at least interesting to see where the planets will be in the coming decade. Would it be appropriate at this point to say, "Keep looking up"?

Cindy