What Will Happen on September 23, 2017? Part 3

We are four days away from the Rapture!  According to Youtube erudite thinkers, the Rapture is to occur on Saturday, September 23, 2017.  No one is specific about the time, just the day.

In Part 1, we showed you how a rare cosmic situation will occur on September 23 – with the sun and Jupiter coming into constellation, Virgo, and the moon at her feet. We also mentioned how Mercury, Venus and Mars will come into the constellation, Leo just the right of Virgo, helping to form the crown of twelve stars on her head. All this according to Revelation 12:1-2, 5: “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.”

But what do astronomers tell us about the heavenly events that will occur on September 23, 2017?  

First, they tell us there is nothing particularly unusual about the sun appearing in the constellation Virgo. As we orbit the sun each year, the sun appears to move through the 12 constellations of the zodiac, spending about a month in each one.   The time the sun appears in Virgo is around the time of mid-September through late October.

Second, it is not unusual to find the moon near the feet of Virgo. The moon takes 27 1/3 days to orbit the earth with respect to the stars. Therefore, for a day or two each month, the moon appears near the feet of Virgo.  Therefore, for a day or two each September or October, the sun appears in Virgo with the moon at her feet, so this is not that remarkable.

So if this is so common, why are some people making a big deal out of it?

Because of the addition of Jupiter to the mix. Some people claim that this year Jupiter will be near what is supposed to be the womb of Virgo, so it represents the child that the woman is about to give birth to. Jupiter takes nearly 12 years to orbit the sun, so this is the period with which Jupiter moves through the zodiacal constellations, spending about a year in each one.   Therefore, the last time Jupiter was in Virgo was back in 2005.

Another reason for the popularity of September 23, concerns Youtube which started in February of 2005 -- at the time Jupiter was in Virgo.  Why wasn’t it a big deal then? Because Youtube was just getting started and was not as popular as it is now where people can post and say all kinds of things in order to get attention.

Next, Astronomers also point that it isn’t uncommon for the three planets (Venus, Mercury and Mars) to be in Virgo.  The event itself has happened many times over the past 6,000 years.  For example, Christopher M. Graney found four instances where similar conjunctions happened in the past thousand years, on September 14, 1056; September 5, 1293; September 6, 1483; and September 24, 1827.   Graney didn’t check for earlier dates, but certainly there were other examples in the previous 5,000 years. Therefore, the events of September 23, 2017, are not unique in history.

Finally, some are saying that the child that is born in Revelation 12:5 and is taken up to God and His throne represents the Rapture of the church. Therefore, the rapture will occur on September 23, 2017.

Are there some genuine concerns over these things?  Yes, and we will mention a few in Part 3

End of Part 2