The Strand Study Bible

LUKE LUKE 21:11 God is a God of His Word, and the heavens are God’s billboard ( Gen 1:14b ). Whenever something big is about to happen to Israel ( great signs shall there be from heaven ), God always gives them a sign (or, signal) in the heavens (Josh 10:12-14, II Ki 20:8-11 and Mt 2:2a ). Jesus promised the Jews that they would personally observe cosmic signs in the heavens during the last days before His return (Joel 2:28-32/Acts 2:16-21). The following cosmic signs in recent days and their prophetic significance have deeply stirred the Jewish Rabbis over in Jerusalem: 1. On April 27, 1993, two Jewish men discovered the Hale-Bopp comet, which only appears in our planetary system every 4200 years (the time right before the Flood – Gen 6-8/Lk 17:26). The Hale-Bopp comet was reported to be 50 times brighter than Halley’s comet. The comet was discovered on the 6th of lyar according to the Hebrew calendar. Forty-five years earlier, on the very same day, the British Mandate over Palestine ended. NOTE – Because the Jewish people, from the beginning (Gen 1:14), have been trained to watch the skies for signs (signals– Mt 2:1-10 and Lk 21:11), the Jewish Rabbis have been mesmerized by what they have been observing since the 1990’s. 2. On July 16-21, 1994 the planet Jupiter, the king planet (Mt 2:2), was bombarded by 21 fragments of a comet. 3. In 1996, on the 3,000th year of the anniversary of the city of Jerusalem (dating from the time David captured the city from the Jebusites - II Sam 5:1-10), there were three full lunar eclipses on three different feast days: (1) on the eve of Passover ; (2) during the Feast of Tabernacles ; and (3) during the Feast of Purim ( Esther 9:19 ). 4. On May 20, 1997, the Hale-Bopp comet entered Orion and had exited it by June 16. The comet was positioned in Orion during the Jewish Feast of Pentecost (June 11, 1997). NOTE – According to Jewish oral tradition, whenever a comet was seen passing through Orion, it was a sign that the earth would soon experience extreme devastation. 5. During the entire year of 1998, the Hale-Bopp comet was seen by the human eye, occurring on the 50th year anniversary of the rebirth of the nation of Israel (1948). NOTE – The last time Hale-Bopp appeared in our solar system was during the days of Noah. According to an ancient Jewish text, called the Seder Olam Rabbah , a comet is said to have appeared in the heavens at the time that Noah was building the ark. It appears that the cosmic sign of Noah’s day has again repeated itself in our generation. Interestingly enough, the year 1998 is the year 5758 on the Jewish calendar. The last two numbers on the Jewish calendar (58) spell Noah in Hebrew. How unique is that… the comet Noah witnessed in his day has reappeared in the very year of his name. Jesus said in Luke 17:26: And as it was in the days of Noe , so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 6. In December of 2008, a cosmic event took place in the heavens that has not occurred since c. 2 BC (right before the birth of Christ). It mesmerized both the Jewish and Islamic communities (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=qu 605brvzY). NOTE – This cosmic event was so unique in 2 BC that Caesar Augustus even had the “heavenly sign” stamped upon his Roman coins: 1693

7. From April, 2014 – October, 2015 there will be four blood moons: (1) Apr 15, 2014 ; (2) Oct 8, 2014 ; (3) Apr 4, 2015 ; and (4) Sept 28, 2015 , along with a solar eclipse on March 20, 2015. NOTE – The last time four blood moons occurred in one year on Jewish feast days (like it’s going to occur in 2014-2015) was: (1) in April of 1492 (when Spain gave the Jews 14 days to convert to Catholicism or be expelled, called the ‘Edict of E xpulsion’); (2) in May of 1948 (when the Jews, after almost 2,000 years, became a nation again); and (3) in June of 1967 (when Israel was attacked by the Arabs, yet won in six days, called ‘The Six Day War’). 21:19 In our persistence to live as Jesus would have us ( In your patience ), even in difficult times, when we can keep possessions of nothing else, then let us make that sure which may be made sure, and keep possession of our souls ( possess ye your souls ). 21:20 Jesus was referring to two separate (although much alike) events in these four verses (vs 20-24): (1) the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in AD 70 ; and (2) the tribulation days just prior to His return . 21:24 The times of the Gentiles began in 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, destroyed Jerusalem and occupied the city. Since then Jerusalem had been under the governmental control of Gentiles (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Muslims, etc.), that is, until June 7 th , 1967 when the Jews took back Jerusalem and the times of the Gentiles ended. According to verses 27- 32, we, who live in the 21 st century, are now witnessing the generation of Jews who will witness the return of Jesus.