The earth continues to experience awe-inspiring meteorological and astronomical events as a coronal mass ejection erupted from the sun on Apr. 21.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) described the event as a “billion tons of plasma ejected from the sun,” that made its way to earth Sunday afternoon into Monday morning.
A geomagnetic storm (GMS) was created by this occurrence, and was given a “severe” four out of five rating on NOAA’s space weather G-scale. According to this scale, High Frequency radio and navigation are the most at risk services during the GMS.
The NOAA scale describes the effects as the following:
- HF Radio: HF radio communication blackout on most of the sunlit side of Earth for one to two hours. HF radio contact lost during this time.
- Navigation: Outages of low-frequency navigation signals cause increased error in positioning for one to two hours. Minor disruptions of satellite navigation possible on the sunlit side of Earth.
This GMS occurrence allowed for the Northern Lights to be viewed across the United States as far south as Alabama and California.
“This increased activity from the sun is consistent with the current state and timing of the solar cycle,” said Rob Steenburgh, NOAA space scientist. “Energetic events like solar flares and coronal mass ejections have become more frequent in the past year, and especially in the past month, and we expect activity to continue ramping up to the peak next year.”
For Christians who believe that the return of Jesus is marked by an increase of wonderous signs in the “heavens,” the news of an increasing solar activity brings with it a sense of anticipation and expectancy.
As solar activity continues, there are other scientifically curious events occurring on the earth as well.
İstanbul’un üzerinden 7 kilometre kalınlığında bir bulut geçti. Bu esnada 5 dakikada güneş yok oldu, gündüz geceye döndü. Bazı insanlar kıyamet yorumu yaptı. İşte o anlar… pic.twitter.com/BmJlbSMX5U
— Hava Forum (@HavaForum) April 18, 2023
The cloud cover was so thick and dense that it appeared as though night descended upon the city in the middle of the day.
“A cloud seven kilometers thick passed over İstanbul. In the meantime, the sun disappeared in five minutes, and the day turned into night. Some people commented on the apocalypse,” the Turkish meteorological forum Hava Forum tweeted.
The Bible has references to signs and wonders taking place in the sky, sun, moon, stars and heavens throughout both the Old and New Testaments.
In the books of Matthew and Luke, there are specific references to these astronomical occurrences in conjunction with the return of Jesus Christ:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days, ‘the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” (Matt. 24:29-30).
“There will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men fainting from fear and expectation of what is coming on the inhabited earth. For the powers of heaven will be shaken,” (Luke 21:25-26).
While there is still much prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before Jesus returns for His bride, there are other verses and prophetic signs of the coming persecution and tribulation that Jesus’ followers will suffer in His name:
“Then He said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Great earthquakes will occur in various places, and there will be famines and pestilence. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven,” (Luke 21:10-11).
This certainly sounds like the world humanity lives in today.
While no one will ever know the hour or the day of Jesus’ return, His followers are commanded to stay vigilant until that time and keep watch for the events the Bible foretells accompany His return.
Meanwhile, as signs and wonders take place in the space surrounding earth, humans can enjoy the beautiful events that come with them, such as the aurora borealis that was able to be seen around the world with this recent heavenly occurrence. {eoa}
James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.
