We are now beginning to see the signs of the Bridegroom and the Bride, in the heavens. Just as the Star of Bethlehem appeared in the night sky to announce the Birth of Messiah, these signs are now appearing to announce the soon-to-occur, taking away of the Bride, and the Wedding of Messiah! What are these signs? Let’s look at this in detail.

In the Beginning, Elohim created the heaven and the earth. He then created the sun, moon, and stars:

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (Genesis 1:14)

In the above passage, we see that Yahuweh’s purposes for these heavenly lights are:

So we see the sun and moon are to be for Signs or Signals, and for Seasons.

Let us look further into the purposes of these Lights:

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:16-18)

Here we are given additional information and purposes for the lights. First, we see that Yahuweh also made the Stars. The Lights (and stars) are for the purpose of giving Light, [Hebrew ‘owr‘, Strong’s number <0215>] meaning “light or enlightenment” upon the earth, and for dividing, or separating the ‘Light’ [Hebrew ‘owr’, Strong’s number <0216>, meaning “daylight or instruction”] from “darkness” [Hebrew ‘cho-shek’, Strong’s number <02822>, meaning “darkness or obscurity,” from Hebrew ‘cha-shak’, <02821> meaning “to darken, to hide”].

Thus we see within the Hebrew meanings, that one purpose the stars, and the lights in the heavens, are given, is to separate enlightenment, from hiddenness and ignorance.

The Hebrew word for stars – Strongs number <03556> – is mentioned 37 times in Scripture. The number 37 in Scripture speaks of The Word of Yahuweh [See Numbers in Scripture in references below]. From this we have a hint that the stars may somehow portray the Word of Yahuweh — the Gospel [the Good News] of the Kingdom. This is exactly the case, for many have written of the entire Gospel account, as having been written by Yahuweh Himself, written in the stars, and portrayed in pictures that make up the 12 constellations.

We also see above in Genesis 1:17 and the word definitions, that the lights and stars are for giving light [enlightenment] upon the earth [man], and for dividing/separating light [enlightenment and instruction] from darkness [obscurity and hiddenness].

So the Word of Yahuweh — written in the sun, moon, and stars, for our instruction — is intended to give to man enlightenment and understanding, and to remove obscurity and hiddenness, regarding Yahuweh’s Word and His purposes.

Understanding of Prophetic Things

We see in the Scriptures many men of Yahuweh who, over the course of time, began to develop an understanding of prophetic things of Yahuweh. We see such people as Joseph and Daniel, who were given prophetic understanding of dreams and visions; we see Elijah, Elisha, and David, as well as many others, who had their eyes and ears opened, to see and understand the hidden messages of Yahuweh, and His purposes.

We see also Messiah Yahushua, whose life on earth reveals, that not only the Words He spoke — but all the events in His life, and even the actions He took — were prophetic, and full of meaning for us today.

Joseph and Daniel were two examples of men in the Bible who grew in their understanding of prophetic things. Joseph not only had prophetic dreams, but received the understanding of dreams of others. Later he was able to give the prophetic interpretations, that brought about Yahuweh’s purposes for preserving all of Israel.

Daniel likewise was a student of the Holy Scriptures, and of the prophetic things of Yahuweh. He was able to interpret the dreams of kings, which eventually brought about decrees that resulted in the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

The Star of Bethlehem

It is said by some today, that Daniel had a following of students, part of whose instruction was to understand the Gospel written in the stars. Apparently Daniel was able to instruct his students to look for certain celestial signs, that would mark the future birth of the King of Kings whom Yahuweh would bring to earth. Some have said the following verse alludes to a heavenly sign:

“there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel…” (Numbers 24:17b)

Since the days of Daniel the Prophet, many have studied the Scriptures, and have understood the fact that a Messiah was to come to Israel. On the day in which Yahushua, the promised Messiah was actually born, why were there so few that knew when He was prophesied to be born? Many knew the what of the Scriptures, but only a few Wise men from the East knew the when of Messiah’s birth. Why was that?

Apparently, those who came from the East were indeed descendants of the students of Daniel, as some have suggested. Despite being generations removed from Daniel, these Wise men continued to seek the Scriptures, and to study the heavens for signs of the coming Messiah. These men knew the exact time of His birth, for they saw the heavenly ‘signs’ foretold by the Scriptures. The Religious establishment, on the other hand, though they knew that Messiah would come, simply had no clue as to the timing.

Even so it is today. Many know that the Saviour will return. Some likewise have a general understanding that the time is drawing near. However, very few today are as the students of Daniel — who not only search the Scriptures, but also watch the signs in the Heavens!

For Signs and Seasons – For Us Today

What do the heavens tell us? First of all, we saw in Genesis 1:14 that the sun and moon are to be signs or signals. We also saw that they are for Seasons <04150> Heb. ‘mo-ed,’ meaning “an appointed time, season, Feast, or assembly;” from <03259> Heb. ya-ad meaning “to assemble, meet together, gather, or to betroth.”

These mo-edim — Yahuweh’s appointed times — are His appointments He has scheduled with His people. These appointments, also called “Feasts of the LORD” in Scripture, are described in Scripture as special meeting-times for Yahuweh to meet with His people. These Feasts of the LORD are said to be wedding rehearsals, intended for those that will participate in the wedding of the Bridegroom with His Bride.

Yahuweh has given His instructions to His people, and has written them in the Scriptures. Yahuweh has written the details of His Eternal Covenant, and sealed it with the Blood of His Son Yahushua. He has gone into great detail outlining the eternal [perpetual; everlasting] terms of His Covenant. Yahuweh has hidden these Instructions within the Scriptures, in order that His people would seek Him, and would find Him, and would also find His Instructions!

In His written Instructions, which men call the Bible, Yahuweh has given details of exactly when and how these special meetings with Him occur. He has keyed the timing of these Feasts to the beginning of each month, according to the Biblical Calendar. The Scriptural calendar is based on the start of each month [moon] at sundown, the first day of the new month commencing when the moon is first able to be sighted, having only a fraction of reflected light. Unless we use the ‘sign’ of the moon in the sky, we will be unable to keep Yahuweh’s appointments at their proper time.

Another important Bride characteristic is seen in Genesis 1:14, in the Strongs definition of the Hebrew word for Seasons <04150>. We saw that one of the meanings is “to betroth.” The missing piece of the puzzle can be seen in the following passage:

Let no man therefore judge you in … in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come… (Colossians 2:16-17)

It is the very participation in the Holy Convocation days of Yahuweh — called ‘My Sabbaths’ throughout the Scriptures — that enables us to understand things to come, moving them out from the shadows, and into the Light. The Feasts are the shadows that actually reveal to us the substance or reality of things that are yet future for us!

From the above Colossians 2 passage, we can see another Bride feature. As soon as a Believer [having been redeemed by the Blood of Messiah] begins to participate in Yahuweh’s Feasts or Sabbaths, or other Scriptural activities in which Father delights, a separation is begun. This undergoing of separation is a Bride characteristic, for it is no less than Yahuweh’s prophetic picture of separation, seen in the account of Gideon’s army. Here, we saw that Gideon’s soldiers were whittled down in number, from 32,000 to 300, in order to bring about Yahuweh’s purposes [See Gideon’s Army in references below].

We now understand more clearly that participation in the Feasts of Yahuweh is one major characteristic of the Bride involving signs or signals in the heavens. Indeed, we are told in Ezekiel 20:20 [and others] that the Believers’ participation in Yahuweh’s moedim is also a sign or signal to Yahuweh Himself — revealing those that are indeed among the Bride Company, and displaying for all to see, those who will participate in the wedding!

We will now look at some of the heavenly signs that are for the Bride.

Bride Signs in the Heavens

The Gospel account that Yahuweh wrote in the night sky has been described by many writers [See Witness of the Stars, by Bullinger on Links Page]. Since the creation, satan has attempted to corrupt the original meaning of the Gospel written in the heavens, and this corruption has led to the false religion of astrology. As we see in ancient Israel’s case, there was even a falling away from Yahuweh to worship the stars.

The distinguishing marks of a true Gospel account written in the heavens is that there is full agreement with that account written in the Scriptures. Just as the star of Bethlehem confirmed what was written in the Scriptures, and confirmed the timing of Yahuweh’s plan, in the same way the heavens speak today. Let the Reader therefore not confuse the false religion of astrology, with the true Gospel account, and its timing, as seen in the heavens.

What do the heavens tell us regarding the Bride? Let us look.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. (Psalms 19:1)

We are told in Psalms 19:1 that the heavens declare His Glory. But, notice the following verse:

I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. (Isaiah 46:13)

This phrase Israel My glory reveals a name of endearment that Yahuweh has given to His People, and to the Bride in particular. It is not the same Hebrew word used in Psalms 19:1, which is <03519> kabowd, but is similar in meaning. Thus far we may think from Psalms 19:1 that the Heavens declare Israel. But does it tell us that the Heavens declare His Bride? Thus far we do not have enough information. We will note in passing that the Isaiah 46 passage above is verse 13, which number has the meaning of love, thus flagging this verse as a possible Bride verse. We will now dig for more clues, as we look further at some of the signs in the heavens.

Bridegroom Signs in the Heavens: The Sun

According to Psalms 19,

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. (Psalms 19:4-5)

Here Yahuweh reveals the prophetic meaning of the Sun as a prophetic sign. The Sun speaks prophetically of the Bridegroom Himself. Any significant Bridegroom-sign in the heavens will involve a conjunction of the Sun with other heavenly bodies, to be read just as we read the hands of a clock.

Bridegroom Signs in the Heavens: The Planet Mercury

Mercury is known as the ‘messenger’ planet. Its meaning through antiquity is that of running, and of being the announcer, or messenger. All significant heavenly signs will involve a conjunction of Mercury, as the announcer or messenger signalling the particular event. Scripture implies that a messenger is the one who cries out, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh…” (Matthew 25:6).

Note that the passage in Psalms 19 seen above describes the race between the Sun, which is the Bridegroom, and another runner. That other runner can be seen prophetically as the Messenger, the Planet Mercury. The race is further described below. But before we look at the race, we will notice what the Finish Line of the race is, and what it represents. The Finish Line of the race can be clearly seen in the night sky — it is the Constellation Pisces.

The Constellation Pisces

How blind and deaf have we been, to have ignored the very words, and the very actions of Yahushua Messiah Himself! The words Yahushua spoke were not only prophetic — full of meaning for us today — but his words and actions together were prophetic in meaning. Notice the following verses:

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. (Matthew 14:19)

Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. (Luke 9:16)

In the above two passages we see a number of Bride-characteristics together in a tight pattern. First, we see that there are Five loaves. These are Barley loaves, as we are told in John 6:9. So immediately we have a clue that this passage has something to do with the Bride, for the firstfruit Barley speaks of the Bride, as does the number five.

Next, we see there are two fishes. The number two in Scripture speaks of division, so we perceive that the two fishes are somehow also related to the Bride separation. But there is more. Notice that next to the Scriptural mention of two fishes, we see immediately the phrase “looking up to heaven.” This pair of phrases appearing together, seems to be a prophetic event. We are now reminded of the signs in the Heavens, placed there by Father, as signs or signals of important events. We now recall that Pisces — one of the heavenly Constellations — is spoken of as a cluster of stars picturing two fishes.

The Constellation Pisces pictures two fishes, each held by a cord. These two restraining cords are joined at one common point at the bottom. One of the fish appears to swim upward, the other along the ecliptic, or path of the sun.

Pisces has been seen for thousands of years to represent Israel, and also the congregation of the One who is to come. Our earlier assessment of the Heavens declaring Israel is reinforced somewhat by this bit of knowledge. Historically, men have studied the Biblical accounts and the heavenly signs, and have likened the north-bound fish to those Believers whose lives are focused on seeking the Father, looking toward the ‘Sides of the North.’ These have speculated that the fish following the path of the sun speaks of those who do not seek the Father, but who follow characteristics of sun-worship.

The speculation goes on to say, that the Sun-bound fish may speak of the rest of the Believers, who unknowingly are Sun-Worshippers, for they continue to embrace Christmas and Easter, and worship on “Sun-Day,” which are all modern-day remnant practices of ancient Sun-Worship, though re-packaged and modernized to appeal to the deceived. The implication here is that the Sun-bound fish continues in the Sun-Worship attributes that characterise the modern faith of most professing, Born-Again Believers today, which faith is based on a mixture of Bible truths mixed with man-made doctrines, a mixture of Truth and Error.

We note here, that Pisces is one constellation, yet is split into two separate parts. Just as the one divided army of Gideon speaks of the Bride separation, in the same way this heavenly splitting into two parts reveals one congregation, split into two separate groups, in time and in purpose. Now let us again notice this same prophetic event, this time as a passage in Mark:

And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. (Mark 6:41)

Here we see the prophetic event, the mention of two fishes and looking up to heaven. But we then see another prophetic event within this passage — the words spoken by Yahushua, confirming to us that there will be a dividing of the two fishes, which is related to a division “among all the people.” This describes what we see in the constellation Pisces, which may indeed become as the face of a clock, to tell us the timing of these events. Now we need only to determine the hands of the clock, to learn how the timing may be seen.

The Strong Man Runs a Race

We saw that according to the Psalms 19:4-5 passage, the sun speaks prophetically of the Bridegroom. Mercury and the Sun together speak of the announcement of the Bridegroom: “Behold the Bridegroom is coming!” (Matt 25:6). Here we catch a glimpse of one facet of meaning of the race. Here we see the race is between the Sun, as the Bridegroom, and Mercury, as the Announcer or Messenger. The Finish Line is one side or another of the constellation Pisces, the Two Fishes.

A spectacular display of this race can be seen on a computer astronomy software such as Cybersky. As the sun approaches the constellation Pisces, on a given date, Mercury appears to “run a race” with the Sun. At the last minute the messenger forges ahead and reaches the goal only several hours ahead of the Bridegroom. The goal is the apparent line or cord holding the fish down, as if it were a ribbon to be cut, at the finish line of a race.

What can be seen is unusual, and is a highly significant ‘first sign’ given by the Bridegroom, to the Bride. On the Biblical 10th day of the first month, 2008, shortly before midnight, the messenger planet Mercury arrived at the finish line, and shortly thereafter the sun arrived at the finish line of the North-facing fish, appearing to cut the cord as with scissors. Exactly 7 years later, according to the Biblical calendar, the same conjunction is to occur with the cord of the sun-bound fish.

These heavenly events sound vaguely familiar to the end-time events we understand from the Scriptures. These conjunctions within the constellation Pisces are as the hands of a clock on the face of a clock, as they reveal the timing of particular events. All that remains is to determine the significance of what we see.

The Heavenly Message and its Significance

So what is the message spoken by the Gospel written in the Heavens? The Sun and Mercury have run the same race every 6 to 7 years in the general vicinity of Pisces. Likewise there have been many conjunctions of the Sun and Mercury. However, it is very rare that these conjunctions occur exactly at the cords holding the fish. Having fast-forwarded the computer program to note all conjunctions for the next 100 years, there are very few possibilities. One of these has occurred, and the other is very near to us now, even at the door.

We must ask ourselves, “What is the significance of this [dual] sign in the heavens for today?” It is clear that the heavenly signs were put there by Yahuweh not to create Truth, but only to confirm Truth Yahuweh has already spoken, though concealed in the Scriptures.

The significance may be seen in all the prophetic words, names, and numbers found in Scripture. All that is considered Truth must be based on Scripture. Anything we think we see, must be held loosely, not dogmatically, even as loose-fitting pieces of a great puzzle. We then move these pieces around to see if the pictures and the shapes match. We can not force the pieces to fit. We must allow the Holy Spirit to reveal His Truth to us, in His timing. Let’s now look at further signs.

The Eclipse of the Bride Moon

On February 21, 2008, the moon was fully covered in a Lunar eclipse, appearing next to Regulus on one side, and Saturn on the other. From the historical meanings of the stars and planets, this sign in the heavens may be telling us this is the time for the Bridegroom to present the fully-veiled Bride before the Father, to ask His approval for marriage.

This may also be a signal to the Bride, corresponding to the sign given to Jephthah’s daughter, who was given two months in which to bewail her virginity on this earth, and to bewail all that she had hoped and dreamed for herself on this earth. But as Jephthah’s daughter willingly gave up herself to the oath of the covenant, so does the Bride, for her heavenly Bridegroom.

We do not know what happened eventually to Jephthah’s daughter, except that she knew no man. But we can say with confidence there is no need to bewail what we will miss on earth, but only to reconcile ourselves, and prepare for the heavenly marriage.

This second sign of the covered Bride is given by the Bridegroom, both for the Bride’s understanding and preparation, and to confirm the first sign. We are told in Rev. 3:3 that those that watch, will not be punished by not knowing the hour of the Bridegroom’s return. Perhaps these two signs tell us the time is almost at hand, to hear the midnight cry: “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6).

The Timing of the Messenger, and of the Bridegroom’s Arrival

At the time of Messiah Yahushua’s birth, the wise men from the east saw the signs in the heavens, and knew from the Scriptures what was about to take place. Perhaps these signs were for them alone. We do not know. But they did not publicise the event, as Herod was to eventually bring disaster on that generation. Perhaps there is a Herod that would bring disaster on this generation too, at the time of the heavenly signs. So the Bride might do well to consider these signs in her heart, and to speak only in veiled terms of the day and hour of His return.