Eclipse Devotional

6 You have rejected me,” declares the  Lord . “You keep on backsliding. So I will reach out and destroy you; I am tired of holding back. 7 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the city gates of the land. I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people, for they have not changed their ways. 8 I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. At midday I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men; suddenly I will bring down on them anguish and terror. 9 The mother of seven will grow faint and breathe her last. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. I will put the survivors to the sword before their enemies,” (Jeremiah 15:6-9) Thoughts:  There was an eclipse in Jeremiah's day- September 30, 610 BC.  After this very visible sign disaster after disaster came on the land and people. The next year (609), the good King Josiah died when he fought agains...

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12) Thoughts: What does Psalm 139 say about the eclipse- nothing but then everything.  It does not mention an eclipse per se, but it does mention God's reaction to light and darkness.  We are limited in what we see.  He is unlimited.  We are limited to see in the light- or with some light producing goggles (that use infrared or other light).  God was before light and sees beyond it.  The darkness does not hold se...

3 Jonah obeyed the word of the  Lord  and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.  4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”  5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.  7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.  9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not peri...

9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign  Lord , “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day. 11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign  Lord , “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the  Lord . 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the  Lord , but they will not find it.  (Amos 8:9) Thoughts: Amos prophesied between 840-800 BC and the eclipse he foretold came about 763 BC.  The eclipse was prophesied as a wake up sign.  It was a sign that people don't need more parties, but need and hunger for real mea...

7 When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. 8 All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you; I will bring darkness over your land, (Ezekiel 32:7,8) Thoughts: Ezekiel is prophesying against Egypt to say that it will fall, and when it falls the sun, moon, and stars will grow dark.  This is in part because the King of Judah had made alliances with Egypt and against Babylon, but the Egyptians did not come to rescue the people of Israel when they were invaded.  Just as darkness came over the whole land during the plagues, so the Lord brings darkness again at this point of Egypt's weakness.  Darkness on the land when there should not be darkness (midday), is sometimes a sign of God's displeasure.     Matthew Henry wisely says of this passage- "great oppressors are, in God's account no better than birds of prey.  Those who admire t...

  2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.  (Malachi 4:2) 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79) Thoughts: "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" quotes Malachi 4:2 when he calls Jesus the "sun of righteousness." For those who revere God and his holy name the sun of righteousness will rise, bringing healing and causing the darkness to flee. The sun rising on the darkness shows what is right and true- whereas darkness represents groping around with no meaning, stumbling and lostness.  But when dawn comes, there is hope, healing, and strength.  The rising sun gives hope to those who are living in darkness.  Jesus is the rising sun here.  He gives hope and life to us.      The eclipse is a mid-day symbol that d...

5 Commit your way to the  Lord ; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the  Lord and wait patiently for him; (Psalm 37:5-7) Thoughts: When you are in darkness and cannot see your way, commit your way to the Lord.  It is okay to not see  how  the sun will shine again.  But believe  that  it will because you have committed your way to the Lord, and God will make you shine like the sun coming up out of the darkness.  Your reward is coming- believe it.  Believe that God can bless- turning the darkness back into light. God vindicates us.  This is the story of Jesus.  He was crucified on the cross unjustly, but God vindicated his teaching, his power, his being in the resurrection.  God vindicates us as well if we commit our way to the Lord.     An eclipse is a reminder that God can bri...