April 25, 2024 - Good Morning! It's Thursday, April 25.
Did you see the solar eclipse a couple of weeks ago? It was pretty cloudy where I was - didn't see much. I'll just catch the next one... in 2044. I've got the date circled on my calendar!
It was interesting to go online and see some of the wild predictions about what was going to happen when the sun went dark - major power failures, runs on grocery stores, etc. I even read about one guy who said it was a sign of the second coming of Christ.
In 1066, Halley's Comet made its "once every 75 years" visit to earth, and a religious leader in England proclaimed it a sign of the end of the world. Astronomical events have always been seen as omens, harbingers, signs of things to come. Mark Twain was born in 1835 - a year of the comet - and throughout his life he predicted that he would die when the comet returned. Sure enough, in 1910 Halley's Comet came and went, and so did Mark Twain.
There was a Halley's Comet sighting very near the year that B.C. turned into A.D. And so, some astronomers (and some theologians) believe that the comet was the source for the "Star of Bethlehem". Who's to know? And what can we really know about the days to come, about the end of time, about the second coming of Christ? I'm reminded of the words of Christ Himself in Matthew 24:36 -
"About that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Halley's Comet is back in 2061. Circle your calendar!
And meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
