Easter Moon of Hope
At this writing, America, indeed the whole world, are in the grip of a plague, a global pandemic brought on by the “Novel Coronavirus”. It hit us close to home. Yesterday, March 25, 2020, we spoke with our youngest daughter, a chaplain at Mount Sinai West hospital in NYC. She was overwhelmed; that day their head nurse died from COVID-19, 23 patients are in the ICU, and there is a critical shortage of PPE supplies – ventilators, masks, gowns, etc.
Figure 1. Novel Coronavirus (credit Wikipedia)
As the world awaits relief from the terror of this virus, I am reminded of three stories in the Bible when God provided deliverance from a life-threatening “virus” menacing his people – freedom from slavery in Egypt (Moses), freedom from sin and death (Jesus), freedom for Jerusalem (Joshua). Each story takes place during a unique astronomical alignment, around the 15th day of Nissan according to the Hebrew (lunar) Calendar, when the sun and the full moon are in opposition.
Figure 2. Paschal Moon (credit PhotoShelter)
Figure 2 is a westward-looking photo of the full moon, moments before it sets below the horizon. At the same instant, opposite the moon to the east, the sun is rising; this is evident from the sunlight shining toward the peaks from the east. This event (called opposition) occurs each lunar month, 14 days after a new moon. On a clear day one could scan the horizons and observe the sun rise from the east just as the full moon was setting to the west; both are visible together for about four minutes.
Figure 3. Passover (credit WordPress.com)
It was the 15th of Nissan in Egypt around 1440 BC. (first story, deliverance from slavery in Egypt). The sun and full moon were in opposition (a good omen); a history-changing event was about to take place; it was a Passover Moon.
Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every first-born son in Egypt will die.” (Exodus Chapter 11)
God then told Moses to instruct all the Israelites to slaughter a year-old male lamb (or goat) without blemish at twilight on the 14th day of the month, apply the blood to the door-frames of their houses, and roast the lamb for dinner. The “Death Angel” of the Lord would ‘pass over’ the homes sprinkled with blood. Their journey from captivity to the Promised Land would begin the next day.
FYI – The Egyptians were worshiping their most powerful god of that month, Aries, (Amun-Ra) the ram-god. Aries was at the peak of his power on the 15th of Nissan. God broke his power; he was shamed and rendered powerless as the Israelites ate roasted lamb in sight of the Egyptians in celebration of their first Passover – a Seder Feast – while death came to each first-born Egyptian male.
Also displayed in Figure 3 is Jesus, the Lamb of God, our Passover (second story, deliverance from sin and death). Christ is the fulfillment of the original Passover, delivering the world from the plague of sin. On the 15th of Nissan – an Easter Moon when the sunrise and full-moonset were in opposition - Jesus ate the Passover with his disciples, saying that he eagerly desired to eat this Passover with them before he suffered and that he would not eat it again until the kingdom of God comes. (Luke 22, 7-16). Christians celebrate Easter to commemorate our deliverance from the bondage of sin and death; Jews continue to celebrate the Feast of Passover during that same season.
But Jesus went a step further by instituting our sacrament of communion. The cup of the Lord’s Supper is the third cup of the Passover Seder, the Cup of Redemption. The bread of the Lord’s Supper is the Afikomen (Greek for “I came”). It is the matzo (bread) that is broken, hidden, found, bought for a price, and then eaten to end the meal.
Figure 4. Joshua at the Cave Makkedah (credit Pinterest)
Our third story takes place (see Joshua Chapter 10) in the Promised Land around 1400 BC, 41 years after God delivered his people from bondage in Egypt. “Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it … and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel.” He was very alarmed and solicited the help of four other kings to fight Israel. “Then the five kings of the Amorites – the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon – joined forces, took up positions against Gibeon, and attacked it.” The Gibeonites sent word to Joshua who was camped in Gilgal for help; he then marshaled his army, marched to Gibeon, and prayed.
Israel fought many battles. The reason this story is of such interest is because of what the Lord did at the request (prayer) of Joshua:
“O sun, stand still over Gibeon,
O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.
So, the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
Till the nation avenged itself on its enemies.”
Today Jerusalem is the center of three of the world’s most significant religions – Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. But, when Joshua entered the Promised Land, Jerusalem was in control of a pagan king, Adoni-Zedek. God had great plans for Jerusalem, so he fought for Joshua to capture it. Figure 4 depicts the end of the battle when the five kings were captured and put into the Cave Makkedah.
Of course, there is plenty of intrigue around this story. Did God “literally” stop the moon and sun, or was this poetic, figurative language? Was Joshua asking for just a few more hours of sunlight to buy extra time to win the battle? The passage explicitly notes that the sun is over Gibeon and the moon over the Valley of Aijalon. A quick look at any bible atlas places Gibeon to the east, so Joshua’s request comes at sunrise, not sunset. Some who defend a strictly literal position suggest that the miracle was God putting earth’s rotation on pause, but the literal text states “the sun stood still, and the moon stopped”. Note, the text gives us a clue that the sun and full moon must have been in opposition – a Joshua Moon - the 14th day of the month, a good omen for Israel, a bad omen for Israel’s enemies. Maybe faith and fear played a role in the battle’s outcome.
Perhaps God will mercifully answer our prayers and turn the tide on this global COVID-19 pandemic by this Easter – a Coronavirus Moon?
Viruses and God’s Good Designs
Article by Hugh Ross – March 30, 2020 - Reasons To Believe
“Why would an all-powerful and all-loving God create a world in which viruses exist?” Why stop there? What about tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis? The answer is, without these, human life on Earth would be impossible! Our Creator provides the world multiple benefits with these seemingly “evil” things; for a variety of reasons, sometimes humans become ‘collateral damage’.
Viruses do serve a purpose. Without viruses, bacteria would multiply and within a relatively short time period, occupy every niche and cranny on Earth’s surface; the planet would become a giant bacterial slime ball, consuming all the resources essential for higher life. Viruses break up bacteria at just the right rate and location to support advanced life.
Wind carries viruses and fragments of bacteria caused by viruses into the upper atmosphere. These then become “seeds” or nuclei around which ice crystals form; liquid water attaches to the ice crystals and the earth is watered by rain and snow. Without this process, there would be perpetual severe drought, making advanced life nearly impossible to form or sustain.
Via precipitation, the viruses and bacterial fragments, which are carbonaceous (carbon) substances, are returned to the oceans, become food for ocean creatures, and eventually accumulate on ocean floors. “They then play a crucial role in Earth’s carbon cycle. Thanks to viruses we have the carbon cycle running at the rate we need and the amounts of atmospheric greenhouse gases that are optimal for our existence and our civilization.”
While we all pray for God to help get this (coronavirus) under control, let us not forget to thank him for the blessings viruses play in our lives.
