There will be great signs from heaven.

Teacher, they asked, ‘when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?’
He replied: ‘Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, "I am he," and, "The time is near." Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.’ Then he said to them: ’Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes (Google: Recent earthquakes), famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events(e.g. lunar eclipse, solar eclipse)
and great signs from heaven’.
(Lk 21,7-11)

The newly discovered megastructures in the universe / Reports 2024-01-11

On Jan. 11 of this year (2024), at exactly 3:15 p.m., Alexia Lopez, an aspiring doctoral candidate in astronomy at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom, could not believe her eyes when, while analyzing the light from distant quasars-entirely by chance, she says-she came across an incredible structure in the cosmos: a near-perfect, large ring of galaxies and galaxy clusters 9 billion light-years away and 1.3 billion light-years in diameter:

"It’s really surreal. I do have to pinch myself, because I made these discoveries accidentally, they were serendipitous discoveries. But it is a big thing and I can’t believe that I’m talking about it, I don’t believe that it’s me "Neither of these two ultra-large structures is easy to explain in our current understanding of the universe" she said. "And their ultra-large sizes, distinctive shapes, and cosmological proximity must surely be telling us something important – but what exactly?" said Alexia Lopez.

But this was not the first time it had found itself in such a situation. Three years ago, she discovered an almost symmetrical giant galaxy arc (Giant Arc) in the constellation "Bear guardian" (Bootes), also 9.3 billion light years away – i.e. very close in cosmological terms. The "Big Ring" that has now been discovered is therefore the second celestial formation that scientists would have described as completely impossible just a few years ago. These are the two largest structures in the universe discovered to date.

Newly discovered largest structures in the universe puzzle experts

These megastructures are actually larger than the cosmological principle (standard model of the universe) would allow.
(Scientific YouTube video: Something is wrong in the universe!)

"The more we find, the more we have to deal with the fact that our standard model may need to be reconsidered," said Lopez.
 (Scientific YouTube video: Huge Galaxy Ring Discovery Challenges Thinking On Universe.)

And that brings us to the answer to the question of what such a topic has to do with a biblical-Christian website. (Mt 24:29;)

The significance for end-time exegesis.

On a biblical-Christian website, you would naturally expect an answer from God in such a case. But an answer to what? Of course, it can only be the answer to a global question, a question that concerns all of humanity. So let’s go further and examine the current living situation of people to see to what extent we could seek answers to questions here. From an international perspective, we are of course currently facing a number of dangerous crises, and I am not referring to Putin’s war against Ukraine.

When it comes to questions about the future of humanity, I like to turn to the biblical book of Revelation. This work is indeed "a book with seven seals" – which is where this well-known term for mysterious writings comes from – but it contains these seven seals as individual chapters, so to speak, and if you are interested and can read carefully, it is by no means as "mysterious" as is often said.

So in this revelation we have – almost chronologically ordered – an overview of the events on earth in the last days of this planet and thus statements about the future of humanity. There – but also in other books of the Bible – a great tribulation is prophesied in these last days "as it has never been on earth before and as it will never be again".

It is therefore a difficult time and it is indeed worth taking a closer look at these statements, as this revelation claims to be a direct statement from the one and only living God, who created all of this – the universe, the earth and mankind – according to biblical Christian belief and must therefore know best what is coming, how things will continue and how best to behave in this time of tribulation.

The first seal – the rider on the white horse: the first Antichrist?

In the Bible, these end time begins with the rider on the white horse. John prophesies the arrival of a rider on a white horse who has a bow and has been given a crown.

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Rev 6,1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" 6,2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. Rev 6,1-2;

A bow and a crown

Here, at Immanuel.at, it is assumed that this rider on the white horse is the first Antichrist. (The reason why there will be two Antichrists has been substantiated with biblical evidence, not least in Discourse 86). This rider on the white horse was therefore given a bow and a crown. And "he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest". However, this does not necessarily mean that this bow is a war bow and that the rider on the white horse will wage war.

(See also Discourse86: "The first and the second Antichrist.)

If the first horseman went out "as a conqueror bent on conquest" – which is also indicated by the crown – this does indeed mean that he will fight any "battles" and always win. But these could also be battles of words and political disputes.

To come back to these cosmic formations, the "Giant Arc" and the "Big Ring": a closer look reveals that this last discovery, the "Big Ring", took place on January 11. That is 5 days after the day of the "Epiphany", which is celebrated worldwide in Christianity on January 6. Two thousand years ago around this time, these three had also discovered a particularly bright star in the sky and followed it to Bethlehem. At that time, God gave people a sign and announced that his Son had been born, who would rule the world in the Millennium.

Now the Antichrist is the "son" of Satan, to whom the devil will ultimately hand over all his power and strength and even his throne (the throne of the ruler of the world Rev 13:2;). And here we can draw a certain comparison between these biblical statements (horsemen with a bow) and these cosmic formations. It could therefore be a sign of the birth of this first Antichrist. After all, he is born as a human being, then killed by the Son of God when Jesus returns for the rapture, and resurrected by Satan as a demon. So if we are talking about the birth of this human being, we would probably still have 20-30 years.

We therefore have a possible biblical correlation both for the time of the discovery – "Epiphany" – and for the content of the sign – "Rider on a white horse with a bow", which is confirmed in particular by the uniqueness and unprecedented nature of this cosmic discovery.

To summarize, in my opinion there are too many "gigantisms" in these giant cosmic structures for this to actually be a coincidence.

From the perspective of science:

o both megastructures are located at a distance of 9 and 9.3 billion light years from Earth,^¹))

o these structures are the largest formations ever encountered in the universe, the diameter of the Great Ring: 1.3 billion light years,

o according to the standard model of the universe, which is accepted worldwide in science, such an agglomeration of matter should not even exist,

o this "cosmic principle" of science, the standard model, must therefore be reconsidered,

o also the geometric shape of these two objects (symmetrical arc and almost perfect circle) are unique and pose a puzzle for astronomy.

o A recent study (Seoul, South Korea) challenges what is probably the most fundamental assumption of modern cosmology: the accelerated expansion of the universe. According to this study, new data suggests that the expansion of the universe is no longer accelerating, but has already begun to slow down.

From the perspective of the Bible:

o These two cosmic formations were discovered by chance when researchers were studying the light from distant quasars. These people have no idea of the existence of this prophecy in the Bible, let alone what it means, they have probably never held a Bible in their hands in their lives.

o There has already been a similar event: two thousand years ago, a wandering, brightly shining star announced the birth of the Son of God.

o The time of this accidental discovery of the "Great Ring" is almost congruent with that of around two thousand years ago.

o The image of these formations can be linked to the prophecy of the rider with the bow on the white horse (Re 6:2) and thus to the first Antichrist.

o Just as the birth of the peace-loving Son of God was announced then, the birth(??) of the brutal son of the adversary is being announced now.

o So, from a biblical perspective, there is no doubt: these mega-formations are the "great signs from heaven" that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, prophesied to us in Luke 21:11 for the end times.

And so it is not the case that "this ‘cosmic principle’ of science, the standard model must therefore be reconsidered". What needs to be reconsidered is science’s view of this one and only living Creator God and his abilities and capacities. It was obviously this Creator God who put together these unimaginably large megastructures of giant galaxies as "(truly) great signs from heaven".

A bow and a crown

The First Two Horsemen of the Apocalypse
	The first seal, the first horseman. I looked, and behold, a white hors. Rev 6,1 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." 6,2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. [Rev 6,1-2]	The second seal, the second horseman. And another, a red horse, went out. Rev 6,3 When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." 6,4 And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slaughter one another; and a great sword was given to him. [Rev 6,3-4]
	The third seal, a black horse – famine. When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius (a day’s food for a day’s wages), and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine." [Rev 6,5-6] You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. "And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. [Mt 24,4-8]
The first and the second of the four apocalyptic horsemen? 1The 2,1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2,2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us – whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter – asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 2,3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 2,4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 2The 2,1-4;

If the above assessments are correct, then we can assume that US President Donald Trump’s decisions will always be successful, despite his erratic behavior. Similar to the current scandal in the Oval Office, in which Trump kicked President Zelenskyj out of the Oval Office, Trump will continue to not care what is right and what is wrong, what is right or what is wrong.

He will do what he wants and what suits him and everyone will dance to his tune – the "victory wreath" is always safe for him. What is still missing here in reality to match the biblical picture, however, is the religious component. However, it is to be feared that the influence of American evangelicals should not be underestimated, especially with Trump.

They are religious dreamers and naive enough to interpret the "rider on the white horse" as Jesus Christ and Donald Trump as the returned Son of God. And then the picture would be coherent again and Trump would advance from "deal maker" to the biblical figure of the religious anti-Christian leader and world ruler.

Paul says of this rider on the white horse in 2The 2,9-11 and 1-4:

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us – whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter – asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Foto:KURIER- Wien

Notes

^¹)The light year is a length measure and corresponds to the distance that light – at a speed of approx. 300,000 km per second – covers in one year.