With the surge in growth of “Messianic Christianity” comes another eclipse myth. It is a good thing that gentiles and Jews are being joined together as “one new man” in their savior (Ephesians 2:14-15). As we discover new revelations through our Hebrew roots it is like the Apostle Paul said: “life from the dead”.

But we must be vigilant to throw away the traditions of men.

While the Talmud is highly revered amongst Jewish people it is not a divinely inspired text. Rather it is a collection of writings and teachings of various Rabbis who lived after the destruction of the second Temple in 70 A.D. up to the Arab conquest in the seventh century.  Its teaching on eclipses is a mixture of parables, hearsay and speculation:

“Our Rabbis taught, When the sun is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for the whole world. This may be illustrated by a parable. To what can this be compared? To a human being who made a banquet for his servants and put up for them a lamp. When he became wroth with them he said to his servant, ‘Take away the lamp from them, and let them sit in the dark’.

It was taught: R. Meir said, Whenever the luminaries are in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel since they are inured to blows. This may be compared to a school teacher who comes to school with a strap in his hand. Who becomes apprehensive? He who is accustomed to be daily punished.

Our Rabbis taught, When the sun is in eclipse it is a bad omen for idolaters; when the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel, since Israel reckons by the moon and idolaters by the sun.”

Sukkah 29a

It might seem plausible for God to warn Israel through signs in the moon since the timing of major feast days on the Hebrew calendar are determined by the phases of the moon. But the Hebrew calendar is not a purely lunar calendar like the Islamic calendar. It is a solar corrected lunar calendar, so that Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot coincide with the proper agricultural seasons. It wouldn’t make sense to celebrate Shavout (the “festival of first fruits”) in December.

So are lunar eclipses signs to the Muslims who follow a purely lunar calendar? No, of course not.

Lunar eclipses are signs of judgment coming to the region that can view them – not just Israel. Alexander the Great died beneath a lunar eclipse as did Abraham Lincoln. Neither of them were in Israel at the time of their death.

As we read on, we find that the understanding of heavenly signs in the Talmud gets further confused:

“Our Rabbis taught, When the sun is in eclipse it is a bad omen for idolaters; when the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel, since Israel reckons by the moon and idolaters by the sun. If it is in eclipse in the east, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the east; if in the west, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the west; if in the midst of heaven it is bad omen for the whole world. If its face is red as blood, [it is a sign that] the sword is coming to the world; if it is like sack-cloth, the arrows of famine are coming to the world; if it resembles both, the sword and the arrows of famine are coming to the world. If the eclipse is at sunset calamity will tarry in its coming; if at dawn, it hastens on its way: but some say the order is to be reversed.”

Let’s go through this point by point. First, it is unclear whether this passage is specifically referring to solar or lunar eclipses or both. This matters because solar and lunar eclipses signal the location of coming judgment in very different ways. The judgment of a lunar eclipse can fall anywhere the eclipse is observed from and only there. The judgment of a solar eclipse begins in the shadow of totality, but it can spread to the entire world. This was the case with “Spanish” flu which began beneath the shadow of a solar eclipse that crossed the United States, but spread to the entire world. Finally, we notice that the Rabbi goes on to state “but some say the order is to be reversed” This alone should be enough to warn us that the Talmud is not authority on heavenly signs.