On the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites,
“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.”
And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in midheaven, and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. Joshua 10:12-13 NRSVue
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Acts 2: 19-21 NRSVue
We're trying to figure out where to experience the solar eclipse taking place on April 8th, less than a month away. We're ready with our eclipse glasses but where to go? We reserved tickets for a big shindig at Fort Henry in Kingston and the excitement of a "congregation" might be fun. We.re also pondering getting out in our canoe or kayaks for a totally different experience that might have more of a sense of the holy.
Is the eclipse a big deal? We have family coming up from the United States to get into the path because this is a once in a lifetime event, unless we're willing to chase subsequent eclipses around the planet.
There has long been a connection between cosmic events and "signs and portents", both good and bad in different religions. In the Hebrew scriptures there is what some astronomers suggest is the earliest recorded solar eclipse, although they point our that Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, didn't make the sun stand still.
According to the Acts of the Apostles the disciple Peter preached a barn-burner of a sermon on the day of Pentecost and connected the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with what sure sounds like an eclipse with perhaps a volcanic eruption thrown in for good measure.
We do live in a much more scientific age with a greater appreciation of natural processes and the patterns of our solar system. At the same time we're up for wonders in the heavens, and that's the way it should be.
Here is a description of the possibilities for that Joshua eclipse from Oxford Academic:
Humphreys and Waddington's paper identifies a solar eclipse on 30 October 1207 BC based on an interpretation of a passage in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 10:12–13, New Revised Standard Version of The Bible). This would be the earliest recorded solar eclipse. However, another solar eclipse possibility has been proposed that is also based on the Book of Joshua and the immediately preceding verses in Deuteronomy (Manetsch & Osborn 2011). Their work led to a possible reference to the solar eclipse of 1 March 1399 BC. The 192-year difference between the two putative eclipse reports means they are incompatible; both cannot be correct if the biblical account in Joshua is accurate.
2 comments:
I haven't got my eclipse glasses yet, but I plan to. I attended a presentation at the Picton Library a few weeks ago by the Belleville RASC. I expected to be one of maybe four or five nerds who showed up, however there were over a hundred and they clearly weren't expecting such a large turnout. Talk about standing room only(literally).
I've recently become more interested in astronomy and am looking at getting a decent telescope this summer. We live in an ideal location where there is little artificial lighting.
In the meantime, if we get our dock back in the water in time, that's where we plan to observe the eclipse. If not, I'll seek out somewhere quiet in the County.
Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies!
I thought you might be equating the eclipsed seasons for the Habs and the Steelers with the April 8th "signs and portents" Roger. That's great that so many people showed up in for the event in Picton. Your place sounds perfect for some viewing. Please remember to put the dock out before you head out for it in the dark.
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