The SIGN is a Celestial Object

1. TORAH LIGHT MINISTRIESP.O. BOX 2500Oroville WA 98844Dr. Stan ChesterLesson #3: The “Sign” and Messiah Jesus The SIGN is a Celestial Object

2. I. The “Sign” at the Birth of Messiah Jesus Matthew 2:1-2 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." (NKJ)

3. The SIGN is a Celestial Object A. This “Star” announced the birth of Messiah Jesus B. The ‘wise men’ were godly men, not astrologers

4. The SIGN is a Celestial Object C. They were astronomers and they knew the LORD D. The Bible does not say that the birth of Messiah would be announced by a star “Sign”

5. The SIGN is a Celestial Object E. So how did they know that this new object in the heavens was the “Sign” of Messiah’s birth? F. The Holy Spirit of GOD told all of them

6. The SIGN is a Celestial Object G. No one would travel over a thousand miles, bringing gifts, on a whim H. They knew their Bible and knew Messiah would come; the LORD let them know that He HAD come

7. Wise Men

8. The SIGN is a Celestial Object J. The “Star” was a sign from GOD

9. The SIGN is a Celestial Object Matthew 2:7-9 7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also." 9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. (NKJ)

10. The SIGN is a Celestial Object Bethlehem

11. The SIGN is a Celestial Object K. Two key points 1. The “Star”, which was the Sign of the Son of Man, appeared 2. It came and stood over Bethlehem 3. It appearedandstood

12. The SIGN is a Celestial Object L. Stars, like our sun, do not ‘appear’. 1. As the earth changes its position in reference to the stars, as it orbits the sun, they seem to wheel around the heavens

13. The SIGN is a Celestial Object Stars in the sky

14. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 2. So, on an equally cloudless night, all the same stars would be visible as on any other night 3. Only their position in the heavens would change

15. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 4. The objects in the sky that visibly change position WHILE they are being observed are: planets, comets, meteors, asteroids, and modern man-made things like space satellites

16. Satellite 0

17. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 5. Therefore since the “Sign” appeared, it was moving, coming into view, it could not have been a star light years away from the Solar System

18. The SIGN is a Celestial Object M. Stars, like our sun, do not ‘stand still’; they orbit the Milky Way Galaxy 1. The earth orbits the sun and follows it through space and from our perspective, the stars move 2. The only space objects that can appear to ‘stand still’ are planets in our solar system in a retrograde movement

19. Retrograde Movement

20. Mars

21. Sequence of events 1. It takes Mars 1.88 years to make a complete orbit around the Sun. 2. This means that Earth circles the sun almost twice while Mars is orbiting the Sun once. 3. At point #1 Earth is catching up to Mars and the distance between the two planets is decreasing. On Earth, Mars would appear to be coming straight at you, at thousands of MPH due to relative motion. 4. At point #2 the Earth and Mars are directly opposite in a straight line from the Sun and the relative motion is zero. Mars appears to stand still. 5. At point #3 the Earth passes Mars and the distance between the two begins to widen. 6. On Earth, Mars will appear to back up, as we pass in orbit. That is called retrograde motion.

22. The SIGN is a Celestial Object I. The SIGN at His birth – cont N. The planets that are visible to the naked eye do ‘appear’ and then ‘disappear.’ 1. They also seem to ‘stand still’ with retrograde motion 2. However, these planets appear and disappear on a regular basis

23. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 3. These movements were known and charted by the ancient astronomers 4. They had even worked out timetables for solar and lunar eclipses

24. Solar Eclipse

25. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 5. The SIGN was NOT a planet from our solar system 6. Something that occurs on a common, regular, known, basis cannot by definition be a SIGN of the extraordinary

26. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 7. What the wise men saw was something new – not part of the known heavens 8. They asked the LORD what it was and He told them that it was the SIGN of the birth of King Messiah (this is the only way they could know)

27. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 8. (This is the only way they could know that the prophecy of Balaam was being fulfilled.) Numbers 24:17 "I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall rise out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of Seth.

28. The SIGN is a Celestial Object P. This small planet, called the SIGN, had to enter into our solar system in order to be seen in the light of the Sun reflecting on it 1. It had to pass very close to the earth, closer than any of the planets of our solar system, in order to make it appear to stand still over one area - Bethlehem

29. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 2. On this pass it did not come close enough to the Earth to cause any destruction – for it was a time of great joy and peace on earth

30. II. The SIGN announced the first coming of the LORD and it will also announce the second coming of Messiah Jesus The SIGN is a Celestial Object

31. The SIGN is a Celestial Object Matthew 24:29-31 29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

32. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn; then shall they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

33. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 31 "And He will send His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

34. The SIGN is a Celestial Object A. After the 7 Tribulation Trumpets, but before the 7 Vials of the Wrath of GOD, the SIGN will appear to announce the Rapture

35. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 1. The day or the hour of the Rapture will not be known; however we will know the ‘times and seasons’ just like the Godly wise men

36. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 1Thessalonians 5:1-4 1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

37. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 2. But when the SIGN appears it means that the coming of the LORD is near

38. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 3. The godly, like the wise men, will know that the SIGN means that Messiah Jesus will soon appear;

39. The SIGN is a Celestial Object 4. The ungodly will only fear the approach of an object from space that appears on a collision course with earth

40. The SIGN is a Celestial Object III. Has the ‘SIGN’, this Celestial Object, this small planet, ever visited the earth in the past? A. Yes – First, when Satan sinned

41. B. GOD is perfect and only creates perfect beings and perfect things. The SIGN is a Celestial Object

42. C. Lucifer, the anointed, covering cherub was perfect when GOD created him The SIGN is a Celestial Object

43. The SIGN is a celestial object Ezekiel 28:14-15 14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery (living) stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you.

44. Cherubim covering the Ark High Priest in Holy of Holies

45. The SIGN is a Celestial Object D. All of creation was perfect when GOD created the universe E. Sin entered creation when Lucifer and other created spirit being rebelled against the kingship of GOD

46. Isaiah 14:12-13 12) "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened mankind! 13) For you said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of the congregation on the sides of the north;

47. The SIGN is a Celestial Object F. When sin entered the universe, time, chaos and decay began G. The stars ‘died’, began to decay; some went super nova, some burned out and others became black holes as the battles raged through out the Universe

48. Super Nova

49. The SIGN is a Celestial Object H. Chaos struck our solar system and the earth BECAME without form and void: HOW? The SIGN came by the earth and destroyed the original creation

50. Chaos