Harvest Christian Fellowship Pastor Greg Laurie addressed online speculation that Monday’s (April 8) total solar eclipse is a sign of the end times.
Monday’s eclipse will be only the second total solar eclipse that has been visible to Americans in the 21st century, the last being in 2017.
According to NASA, a “solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth. When the Moon completely blocks the Sun, it is called a total solar eclipse…the sky will darken, as if it were dawn or dusk.”
“There’s a lot of excitement about this solar eclipse that will be happening and some are even suggesting that it is a sign from heaven that judgment is coming specifically on the nation of America,” Laurie said.
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Laurie called eclipses, which occur every 18 months, amazing events. But “they’re not as rare as some people would suggest,” he said.
In Jesus’ description of the end times in Matthew 24, Jesus speaks of a time when the “sun will be darkened,” Laurie said. “Is that speaking of what is going to happen tomorrow in the solar eclipse?”
“The answer is no, it is not,” he continued. “Because that is a specific reference to what will happen and what we call the Great Tribulation period.”
The pastor then gave what he described as a “flyover” of end times events, saying that he believes the next event Christians will experience in the “prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church.”
Next, Laurie said, will be the emergence of the Antichrist, who becomes a world leader during the “Great Tribulation period that lasts for seven years.” During that period, an event will take place called the Abomination of Desolation, where the Jewish temple will be rebuilt and the altar desecrated, Laurie added. Christ then will return for a 1,000-year reign.
“Yes, it’s true that the sun will not give its light, but that’s talking about the events of the tribulation period that have not started yet,” Laurie said.
Is the Solar Eclipse tomorrow a sign of coming judgment on the earth? My answer here- pic.twitter.com/xPfpZ0na9L
— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) April 7, 2024
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