William Franklin "Billy" Graham turned 99 years old today.  This Protestant evangelist is known for massive Evangelical crusades and a career that has reached perhaps more than 100 million people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Along with his wife and children, the Graham family has collectively shared the Gospel with multitudes and been stalwart defenders of conservative Christian values.

The age of 99 is quite significant in the Bible being the age when God transformed Abram into Abraham and established His eternal covenant with him:

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.'  Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 'Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.  I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.  And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.  And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.'

I believe this is just one more small sign that we are nearing the culmination of prophetic events pertaining to Jesus' return.  The Gentiles from every nation have now heard the Gospel.  The time of the Jews is coming.  God will fulfill His eternal promises to them.




The next event on my radar is the upcoming Jupiter-Venus conjunction on November 13th.  It seems to continue the celestial story of Revelation 12.  I suppose it's just a sign of things to come, but it is very interesting nonetheless and we would all do well to be especially watchful as the Fall 2017 window comes to a close.

The Great Sign of Revelation 12:1-2 (or perhaps more technically, Rev. 12:1-2a) was fulfilled on September 23rd to 24th.  Based on my understanding of the sequence of events in this chapter, the next event to be fulfilled is the rapture of the Church rather than the Sign of the Dragon.

Jupiter was "born" on either September 9th or October 13th depending on which set of stars you consider to be the boundary of Virgo's womb.  The next "sign" we might expect to see is the catching up of the male child to God's Throne and November 13th is a good candidate - at least for the male child (the Church) being joined to the Head (Christ).  I want to emphasize that I only see this as a possible sign, and like I've always said, signs and the events themselves don't necessarily happen at the same time.

In short, Venus represents Christ (Rev. 22:16) and Jupiter represents the Body of Christ (Jesus Incarnate + the Church).

We've all focused a lot on Revelation 2:26-27 as direct evidence the male child of Revelation 12:5 can be interpreted as the Church, but someone recently pointed to the very next verse:

26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star.

Jesus is the morning star (Rev. 22:16), so the ultimate promise to the Church which will inherit the rod of iron is that they would receive Christ Himself.  The Body being joined to the Head.  When does the Church receive the morning star?  At the rapture:

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.

The fact that the Body and Head come together shortly after Jupiter's September or October birth is quite interesting.  That's exactly what we would expect to happen if Revelation 12:5 and Revelation 2:28 played out in the heavens subsequent to the Revelation 12:1-2 fulfillment.

Furthermore, there are four other bits of evidence that add weight to the significance of this conjunction and the possibility it is portraying the male child's rapture:

1. Jupiter (the male child) leaves Virgo (the woman, Israel), around the same time Mars (war) enters Virgo.  This is the exact order of events prophesied to occur in relation to the Tribulation.  The Church is raptured and then Israel enters into a period of war and tribulation.

2. In October, after Jupiter is birthed, the planet moves from being visible in the evening sky to being visible in the morning sky.  The child transitions from a child of darkness to a child of light.  We are called "children of the light and children of the day" (1 Thess. 5:5) in the same passage of Scripture where the rapture is revealed and described.

3. Considering that Venus represents the Glorified Christ, once we are also glorified, we the Body will be joined to the Head and we will be with Christ forever.  We will never be separated from Him again.  Since we will be glorified, united with Christ, and given co-rulership with Christ, there would seem to be a transition and transfer of sorts.  For this reason, it might be better to look only to Venus after the November 13th conjunction.

For the entire Tribulation to end on Yom Kippur 2024, the Tribulation could commence no later than November 19, 2017, seven days (inclusive) after the conjunction.  This pattern fits the "days of Noah" mold where Noah and his family entered the ark seven days before judgment fell.

And guess what happens just as November 19th comes to a close and November 20th begins?  Venus has entered Libra, the Altar - the Throne Room of God.  The male child appears before God's Throne, united with the Head.

I have to be so careful here because I've learned that many are quick to jump on you, label, and accuse (falsely).  The dates here in #3 are factual in regards to the astronomical events, but I'm only speculating in regards to the timing of the Tribulation.  It is simply a nice fit that has caught my attention.

4. Lastly, WatchForTheDay has found some interesting numbers that all point to November 13th: