The following are a list of ‘Signs of Times’ which suggest that we are in the season when we should be expecting Jesus to return soon.

• 1897 First Zionist Congress is catalyst for fulfillment of prophecy
• 1948 Israel re-established as a nation
• 1967 Jerusalem liberated
• We have just witnessed the largest influx of Muslims (aka invasion) into Western lands since Muhammed’s bloody conquests over 1200 years ago.
• Iran’s centrifuges are still spinning, producing the refined material needed for a nuclear bomb.
• In the last 2 years North Korea has successfully tested multiple nuclear weapons and is making rapid advancements with their new missile launch capabilities.
• Russia has invaded the Crimean Peninsula.
• In the name of Islam the worst religious persecution and murder of Christians in history has been underway in the Middle East for several years now.
• Global volcanic activity is very high lately.
• Powerful earthquakes over 6 and 7 on the Richter scale are frequent throughout the world lately.
• Two tsunamis have claimed the lives of over a quarter million people with a span of 6 1/4 years.  The first being the deadliest tsunami as well as one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.
  • Dec. 26, 2004
    • 9.3 quake
    • 100 foot high waves
    • 230,210 people killed/missing
  • Mar. 11, 2011
    • 9.0 quake
    • 33 foot high waves
    • 18,550 people confirmed to be killed/missing
• The institution of marriage has been assaulted and defiled by the promotion and acceptance of homosexuality, which is not just another sin, but described as an ‘abomination’ to God in Leviticus 18 and 20 which is part of the Torah, or the Law.
• Openly Homosexual priests are being ordained by more and more denominations
• Israel is surrounded by enemies who threaten to push all of the Jews into the sea.

But giving consideration to the possibility that the astronomical alignment of September 23, 2017, on the Feast of Trumpets, could be the Revelation 12 Sign of the Woman clothed with the sun is said to be foolishness by both secular astronomers and many mainline Christian prophecy teachers as well.
Really?  Doesn’t God say that He will use foolish things to confound the ‘wise’?

So far the strongest arguments offered to refute the Rev. 12 Sign are not very strong or convincing at all, and are easily shut down by those who have given serious consideration to the Revelation 12 Sign, weighing both pros and cons.

1.  It’s not rare because similar alignments have happened on these dates in the past:

Perhaps, but it’s a moot point that anything similar happened in the past IF it happened before Israel was re-established as a nation.  Similar reasoning is applied to why similar astronomical alignments before the time of Christ or John the Revelator are not worthy of being considered…they are simply irrelevant. Also, the previous alignments did not come close to matching the ‘tightness’ of the upcoming Revelation 12 Sign. Also, the probability that ALL of the elements of Revelation 12 would occur simultaneously, on the Feast of Trumpets, while the sun is setting is … astronomical, it truly has never happened before, and most importantly, it hasn’t happened since Israel was re-established.

Dates provided by skeptics include:

• September 24, 1827
  (Problem: Mercury and Venus are near her shoulder, only Mars is above her head near Leo. Also, Yom Teruah would have been on Sept. 22-23 according to http://www.hebcal.com )
• September  6, 1483
  (Problem: Mercury is near her shoulder, only Mars is above her head near Leo. Also, Yom Teruah would have been on Sept. 21-22 according to http://www.hebcal.com )
• September  5, 1293
  (This one is close; Venus, Mars and Mercury are aligned above her head near Leo, Jupiter is in her womb, clothed in the sun, moon at her feet…  but it happened 655 years before Israel was re-established. Also, Yom Teruah would have been on Sept. 10-11 according to http://www.hebcal.com
• September 14, 1056
  (Problem: Only Venus is above her head near Leo, but Mercury and Mars are near her head. Also, Yom Teruah would have been on Sept. 18-19 according to http://www.hebcal.com)

2. No on knows the day or the hour.

True.  And the consideration that the upcoming Sept. 23, 2017 alignment could be the actual Revelation 12 Sign does not violate the words of Jesus Himself.
a) the sign happens while the constellation Virgo dips beneath the horizon at sunset, which is the time on the Jewish calendar when the day changes from today to tomorrow.
b) there are multiple time zones around planet Earth, and there is even a 2 hour window of time each day when there are 3 different calendar days in effect.
c) Even though it would break the pattern of the moedim, the Rapture doesn’t have to happen on Feast of Trumpets, it could happen before or after.

3. It’s not rare.

Skeptics frequently point out the fact that one or two elements of the Great Sign occur quite frequently, downplaying the fact that ALL of the elements occurring simultaneously has only happened one time about 5,730 years ago, possibly something similar on September  5, 1293.  Once again, a moot point since these would have been before Israel was regathered.

4. Skeptics point out that not all star maps show Virgo as having 9 strars.  

Recognizing that there was an astronomical need to formally define the placement of all celestial objects in the entire sky, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) ratified and  recognized the 88 modern constellations in 1928.  In 1928 the IAU defined Virgo as having 9 major stars and 15 stars all together. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgo_(constellation)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Astronomical_Union

5. Astrology is forbidden.

Of course it is…one could argue that this is astronomy, not astrology which an attempt to determine personal details of one’s future by ‘reading’ the stars. Others might argue that for modern astrology to be considered a ‘perversion’, that there must be an unperverted version of the true science. Chuck Missler has said, “Astrology is an occult perversion of the true science of Astronomy” or “a perversion of God’s word written in the stars”.

6. Most commentators think that the male child in Revelation 12 was Jesus.

• The way Jesus left earth was not by ‘harpazo’ which is a verb that is applied to someone else. Jesus ‘ascended’ of His own free will, see ‘anabaino’ : Strong’s G305.
• Rev. 1 states that all of the Revelation is future, about ‘things to come’
• In context, the Great Sign of Rev. 12:1 has to do with the Tribulation, not the birth of Jesus.
• Knowledge and understanding has been ‘sealed’ until the End Times.

7. Nobody can see the Great Sign without using software like Stellarium.

The prophet Daniel stated that ‘knowledge will increase’. Also, the day on which the sign happens has two names in Hebrew…Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets) and Yom HaKeseh (the Hidden Day).  Perhaps this day was hidden for two reasons; the vision was ‘sealed’ and perhaps also because it’s a daytime sign, the woman is clothed “with the sun”.  So even if most people can’t see it, the alignment still happens, and would be visible with the naked eye by anyone on the International Space Station (ISS) .

8. Jesus can come at any moment.

In considering that He is the Creator of the Universe I suppose He could. However, He has established a pattern of fulfilling the moedim or His appointed times on the very day.

• Is there any verse in the Bible which says ‘Jesus will be killed on Passover’ ?… No.  But it happened.
• Is there any verse in the Bible which says, “Jesus’ body will be buried on Feast of Unleavened Bread” ?… No.  But it happened.
• Is there any verse in the Bible which says, “Jesus will rise from the dead on Feast of First Fruits”? … No.  But it happened as well.
• Is there any verse in the Bible which says, “The Holy Spirit will come down on Pentecost”? … Well, Jesus did allude to it when He told His disciples to ‘wait’ or stay in the city until they have been clothed with power from on high.

Here are a few examples of weak attempts by authors on major websites to refute the correlation of the astronomical alignment on Sept. 23, 2017 with a literal reading of Revelation 12

a) http://earthsky.org/human-world/biblical-signs-in-the-sky-september-23-2017
By Christopher M. Graney in ASTRONOMY ESSENTIALS | HUMAN WORLD | May 31, 2017
Originally printed at The Catholic Astronomer. Re-printed here with permission. http://www.vofoundation.org/blog/biblical-signs-sky-september-23-2017/

Graney said, “Bottom line: From the standpoint of astronomy, there’s nothing unique or unusual about the sun, moon and planets – or the constellation Virgo – on September 23, 2017,  despite claims on the Internet of a unique and significant celestial event, supposedly “mirroring” the Bible’s Book of Revelation. In the past 1,000 years, this same event has  happened at least four times already, in 1827, 1483, 1293, and 1056.”

b) https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/stars/what-will-happen-september-23-2017/
Dr. Danny R. Faulkner  on May 1, 2017 Answers in Genesis (AIG)

Faulker said, “Jupiter appears in the part of Virgo corresponding to her womb, along with the sun in Virgo and the moon at her feet for a day or two every 12 years or so. The last time this” happened was in 2005, so why was that event not heralded for its prophetic significance?” “Leo has more than nine stars. Where did the people touting this supposed fulfillment of prophecy get the idea that Leo has nine stars? … Since the claim that Leo has nine  stars is false, the assertion that the addition of the three planets brings the total number of stars in Leo to 12 is false too.”

“Some promoters of this supposed sign claim that the Hebrews associated Jupiter with the Messiah. Again, this is a conjectural assertion not supported by any facts.”

How convenient that Faulkner neglected to mention that the Hebrew name for Jupiter is Tzedek, the exact same word for ‘righteousness’.  According to Encylopedia Britannica, Melchizedek is an old Canaanite name meaning “My King Is [the god] Sedek” or “My King Is Righteousness” (the meaning of the similar Hebrew cognate).  Salem, of which he is said to be king, is most likely Jerusalem.

So I have to wonder…is Danny Faulkner too busy to conduct thorough research?  Did he feel rushed to finish his article? One can only speculate as to the reason for why he has drawn so many false conclusions in his article refuting the Revelation 12 Sign.