The Great Christ Comet (58 page)

Appendix 2

The Meteor Storm of 6 BC

In our treatment of Revelation 12:1–5, because our focus was on the cometary apparition, we passed quickly over verses 3–4a. However, these verses merit closer inspection. They read, “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great fire-colored
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dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.
2
His tail dragged/swept
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a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.”

Verses 3–4a should not be divorced from their subsequent context, which extends through to the end of the chapter and indeed all the way to the end of chapter 13. As we have already noted, these verses are clearly set apart from verses 1–2 not only by their content but also by the new introduction (“And another sign . . .”; v. 3). The events of verses 3ff. belong chronologically after those of verses 1–2 and, unlike them, are framed in terms of a great conflict of sovereignty. The celestial sign described in verses 3–4 belongs to the time after Virgo has begun “crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth” (v. 2) but before she has brought forth her child (v. 5).

Verse 4b locates the action of verses 3–4 in the latter stage of fetal expulsion, on the eve of the child's birth. One must remember that this celestial play was unfolding during brief windows of time in advance of the Sun's rising each morning. When therefore the dragon is said to stand before Virgo when she was “about to bring forth the child,” it almost certainly implies that the child was born on the following film frame, seen the next morning before dawn. If the birth occurred on October 20, 6 BC, the meteor storm would have taken place on October 19.

That what is described in verses 3–4 occurred while the celestial woman, playing the part of Israel, was giving birth is theologically significant. In the Hebrew Bible, Israel is envisioned as enduring labor pains in connection with the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2–3
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) and in connection with the establishment of the messianic kingdom on the earth at the end of the age (Hos. 13:13; Isa. 26:17–18; Mic. 4:10). Therefore the fact that verses 3–4 of Revelation 12 occur while the woman is giving birth provides a natural bridge between the events of 6 BC and the great tribulation immediately before the coming of the kingdom of God. As we shall see, verse 3 strongly alludes to Hebrew tradition regarding the world tyrant who persecutes the people of God dur
ing the great tribulation and is ultimately conquered by “one like a son of man,” namely the Messiah. We have already seen that Hydra (or the Serpent, in Bab­ylon) is in view here. This massive constellation is located alongside the zodiacal constellations of Virgo and Leo, to their south. It is no surprise that Hydra is presented as a serpentine dragon. However, it is unexpected that the celestial dragon is fire-colored and has seven heads, seven crowns, and ten horns (v. 3). In addition, we are astonished that Hydra with its tail throws to the earth one third of the stars (v. 4).

Since a sign is, of course, something that is seen with the eyes, it is important to ask what caused the constellation figure of Hydra to turn the color of fire, to look like it had seven heads and seven crowns, and ten horns on its heads, and to appear to throw countless stars toward the earth.

That a third of the stars seemed to be hurled to the earth can only refer to a great meteor storm.
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In the words of Pete Bias,

A meteor storm is one of the most amazing natural spectacles seen on Earth. An intense storm of meteors may fill all sections of the sky with fireworks. Hundreds of meteors per minute can sometimes be seen, often accompanied by beautifully bright flashes and bursting meteors that are so remarkable that people are frightened or awestruck. . . .

Of course, meteor storms are a very rare phenomenon.
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Indeed they are. In the entire twentieth century there was a grand total of four meteor storms—two Draconid storms—1933 and 1946—and two Leonid storms—1966 and 1999.
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It is therefore an immeasurable privilege to see one.

In Revelation 12 the emphasis is on the extent and source of the meteor storm. One third of the stars seem to be thrown from Hydra's tail. Modern meteor enthusiasts make records of the tracks of the meteors that they see during a given meteor shower. By extending all of the lines back and seeing where they converge, they can identify the radiant. During meteor storms, however, it is very easy to tell where the radiant is. In the wake of the Leonid meteor storm of November 13, 1833, many observers reported that the meteors were radiating from close to the star
γ
(Gamma) Leonis.
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Indeed it was the 1833 Leonid storm that prompted astronomers to realize that all meteor showers have radiants.
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With respect to the meteor storm that is described in Rev. 12:3–4 and that may be dated to 6 BC, attributing to Hydra's tail the dragging and throwing of such a huge swath of stars strongly suggests that the meteors seemed to radiate out from it.

Since the lowest part of the tail (
π
[Pi] Hydrae) rose above the horizon, so that Hydra could be regarded as standing, only at the conclusion of or after the meteor storm, the meteors probably radiated from the upper part of Hydra's tail, that is, from between
γ
(Gamma) Hydrae and the section of Hydra on which Corvus/the Raven perched. With one-third of the visible stars seeming to be thrown from the sky to the earth,
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observers could have quickly detected that they all seemed to issue from Hydra's tail (see
fig. 14.2
).

Meteor showers and storms are due to meteoroid streams, consisting of debris that has been expelled from comets (or asteroids), which cross Earth's orbital path when Earth is present.

In recent history there have been two meteoroid streams that have had a propensity to create meteor storms on Earth: the Draconids, related to the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner; and the Leonids, related to 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. Many impressive meteor storms of the past millennium were due to the Leonid meteoroid stream. Leonid meteor storms or heavy meteor showers occur in a cycle of 33.25 years, which is how long their parent comet takes to complete one revolution.

Mark Littmann helpfully pointed out in 1998 that every Leonid meteor storm from 902 to 1966 took place when the comet that had parented the meteoroid stream, Tempel-Tuttle, was no farther than 3 years from Earth. He suggested that the Leonid meteor storms were caused by a concentration of meteoroids within a one-eighth section of the meteoroid stream, orbiting in sync with the parent comet, with most of those meteoroids dragging behind it.
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