Comet ISON in 2013: Nibiru Doomsday or Omen of Christ’s Return?
When is a comet not just
a comet, but a divine warning sign like Jesus spoke of coming in the end times?
If you do not know how to answer that, Comet "ISON" may test you with
fear and anxiety in 2013. Doomsday watchers are already predicting that Comet
ISON is Planet X, Nibiru, Wormwood, or a gravitational earthquake/deep impact
threat.
Alternatively, some
predict it will make a spectacular daytime visible sign in the sky one month
before Christ’s return. Is Comet ISON a good or bad sign, Nibiru, Wormwood or a
fulfillment of some other Bible prophecy?
Find out how to tell when a comet is
just a comet and what must come before Wormwood and other things Jesus warned
about come upon us.
By Tim McHyde
Comet ISON:
“Comet of the Century?”
.
If you have not heard
much about the odd-named Comet "ISON" yet, you may become quite sick
of the updates on it. Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) could become one of only ten comets in history to be
visible during the daytime due to its size and trajectory.
 |
Ephemeris of Comet ISON; closest approach
to the sun on November 28th, 2013
|
Unlike much more common asteroids, comets are not
made of metal or rock but of ice, dust and rocky material. The vaporization of
the comet's dusty ice by the Sun is what gives comets their characteristic
bright tails (or "long hair" as the word comet
or kometes means in Greek.)
Celestial Signs
in Bible Prophecy
.
As you can easily
imagine, this comet is ripe for speculation. Comets already are viewed with
suspicion, concern and fear among normal people due to their bright ominous
appearance in the sky.
.
Bible believers have extra reason to watch heavenly
signs like comets because of what Bible prophecy says about celestial signs in
the end times in general and specifically before Jesus' Second Coming:
"And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth,
blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness,
and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD
come." Joel
2:30-31
“25 Then there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and
there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring sea
and waves. 26 People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that
are coming on the world, because the celestial powers will be shaken.” Luke
21:25-26 (HCSB)
“10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from
heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the
springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the
waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had
been made bitter.” Rev 8:10-11
(ESV)
“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.” Mt 24:30
Based on the last verse
and the fact that Comet ISON is expected to be at its brightest just one month
before Christmas, 2013, one prophecy website has already suggested the
following meaning of Comet ISON:
Could this comet be the
“sign” or “portent” of the glorious coming of the Messiah? This comet, if it
lives up to its billing, certainly could point to the glorious soon coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven!
It does not help that the
much-hyped four blood moons of 2014 and 2015 are happening so soon after Comet
ISON passes. This will no doubt give some extra reason to speculate that this
comet is a special sign or harbinger. (Although one thing is for sure already:
Jesus cannot come back in 2013.)
.
Multiple
Doomsday Scenarios
.
2012's Mayan Calendar
doomsday speculation really does not compare to the doomsday potential of a
real celestial event like Comet ISON. You really could not ask for a much
better source of doomsday scenarios. There are several aspects to this event
that are ripe for speculation. It would not surprise me if doomsday
watchers obsess over the following points:
- Since the city where
Russian astronomers discovered it, Kislovodsk, means "sour
water" and as quoted above Revelation talks about a star named
Wormwood for making "waters bitter" people will be claiming that
this comet is the prophesied Wormwood deathstar of Revelation.(Nevermind
that bitter and sour are not the same!)
- The comet may
be fragmented by the sun as it whips a scant 1.1 million miles above
its surface in November, 2013. A fragmented comet multiplies the number of
threats and ads unpredictability. Doomers may have a field day speculating
about this.
- If it survives
skimming the sun intact, Comet ISON's expected path will take
it within 37 million miles of earth in January 2014. Anytime a
comet gets even remotely close to earth, all kinds of outrageous claims
about the threat of its gravity on earth are made (trigger volcanoes and
earthquakes).
- Since earth is
expected to pass through the tail of the comet on January 14-15,
2014, a meteor shower may result on those days.
You get the idea. We went
through this just two years ago when Comet Elenin was passing. As expected,
real scientists proved reliable then while the conspiracy
theorists/pseudo-scientists making outrageous claims did not. This is something
to keep in mind when you hear the claims about Comet ISON and any future comet.
.
Warning Others
From Bible Prophecy?
.
Nevertheless, as the
verses quoted above describe, one day there will be a global
catastrophe caused by space objects and preceded by heavenly signs. Science already
tells us that Comet ISON is not bringing doomsday this time, but how do we know
for sure in this case that a comet is just a comet and not a
doomsday warning from God? Thankfully, when you consider the Bible on
this topic, the answer that emerges is very simple to comprehend and prove for
yourself.
.
What some Christians
typically do when they read of events like Comet ISON, is they scour the Bible
for anything that even remotely matches it. When they find something resembling
the event, they go about warning others of what they have found. They figure it
is "better to be safe than sorry" or sometimes they even consider
themselves to be "watchmen" like Ezekiel (Eze 3:17; 33:2) obligated to warn people or face severe personal consequences with God.
.
However, the Bible is too
general, too open to interpretation and too ambiguous to deliver a clear
warning and make people accountable to it as a real prophet like Ezekiel can do
(Elijah, Two Witnesses, 144,000). All the division and confusion about how to
interpret the Bible among even Spirit-lead believers should make that evident.
.
That is why God spoke to
Ezekiel with a clear, specific warning for him to deliver to a specific
audience who would readily understand it. Ezekiel did not warn people
"just in case" there was a threat or just in case God wanted him to.
He heard the exact message straight from God and that he was appointed by God
himself to warn people about it.
.
In other words, if Comet
ISON were a sign or judgment from God, a known established prophet (like
Ezekiel was) would be sent to warn us clearly, in plenty of time ahead of time.
We would not be left to be confusingly warned by the doubtful conclusions of
fellow Bible students who don't even agree with each other.
.
In contrast to what Bible
students do, God's prophet would be sharing the word of God he received
directly, with signs and wonders to authenticate that he was sent by God so we
do not have to trust his mere opinion.
.
Bible Prophecy
Is Not Our Real Warning
.
You may be wondering
what, then, are the Bible's prophecies for anyway, if not to warn us or to at
least quote at each other?
.
As Revelation
1:1-3 says, God gave us
such revelation to show his servants what is going to happen in the end times
and to "bless" us. But we should not mistake this "showing"
with a true warning. Those prophecies were given over two thousand years
ago to a general audience. They could not have been a warning to most readers
as evidenced by the fact that they died long before the events spoken of ever
happened.
.
The prophecies instead
help God's servants to understand God's plan and to discern the truth. For
those of us alive when God sends a prophet to warn us that the prophecy of
Wormwood is imminent, we can use them to see if what the prophet is saying is
reliable or not, judging from whether it conforms to prior revelation of God (Acts
17:11=Isa 8:20).
.
Why Comet ISON
Not Wormwood
.
Aside from the fact that
no prophet is here to authoritatively warn us about Wormwood, another reason
Comet ISON cannot be Wormwood is that there are a few prerequisite milestones
that precede Wormwood.
.
Revelation 14 lays
out a helpfully simple roadmap of three angel messages.
.
First comes a message of
repentance going out to the world (Rev 14:6-7). This precedes the fall of Babylon and the announcement of the same (Rev 14:8), which in turn precedes the announcement of the Great Tribulation/Mark
of the Beast (Rev 14:9-11).
.
Since Wormwood (6th seal
- 4th trumpet) immediately precedes and sets the stage for the Great
Tribulation
.
Although Comet ISON
cannot possibly be Wormwood (or any other prophesied end time threat) without a
real prophet to certify this, I personally don't mind people saying it is. I
have seen too many times how the spread of misinformation about Bible prophecy
leads to people getting interested in the subject so they study it for
themselves for the first time. (This includes myself when I was introduced to
Planet X misinformation in 2002 which lead to my understanding of Wormwood).
.
Speaking from personal
experience and from the testimonies of many readers of my book, it's thrilling
to understand the Wormwood prophecy now, ahead of time. It breaks open the book
of Revelation which in turn greatly illuminates the rest of the Bible in a very
satisfying way, even if it is not the final or authoritative warning of
Wormwood yet.
.
Conclusion
.
If you thought that the
2012 Mayan calendar debacle would silence doomsday "nutters" for a
while, you may be disappointed. Only a year later Comet ISON is providing yet
another set of tricky doomsday scenarios. Unlike the Mayan calendar apocalypse,
these are based on a real celestial event, one that is historically considered
ominous. This makes it harder to ignore or debunk than the Mayan calendar
speculation was.
.
Nevetheless, from what
reputable scientific sources like NASA tell us, we can trust that Comet ISON
poses no threat to earth. At its closest approach to earth, it will still be
almost half the distance from the earth to the sun, a vast gulf. It will pass
uneventfully into deep space, never to be seen again. This leaves no chance for
it to be the fabled Nibiru/Planet X doomsday object.
.
Further, from what the
Bible tells us, we can also be sure that Comet ISON is not Wormwood or even a
warning sign from God. God would already be warning us through his prophets
ahead of time if this object was meant to mean something or was part of end
time prophecy from which we needed protection.
In this case, as in all
so far, a comet is just a comet.
Related Posts:
What Does Wormwood Mean When Used In Revelation? 
10th
Planet Xena 2003 UB313: Planet X Wormwood Redeemed? 
Nibiru, Planet X, Nemesis, The Destroyer, Wormwood,
Hercolubus, Comet Typhon
If you liked
this article, you will LOVE my book, Know the
Future, a comprehensive, literal explanation of end time
prophecy read by over 21,000 people since 2005.
It explains more on prophecy than all this site's
articles combined and is up-to-date in its 8th edition, in both softcover and
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Tim
McHyde is the founder of EscapeAllTheseThings .com and a blogger on Bible
prophecy since 1999. http://www.escapeallthesethings.com/comet-ison-nibiru.htm
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