Sign of the Fall of Satan
Did you know that our earth is about to have a close encounter with an asteroid? By close, I mean it will be nearer than our moon! When asteroid 99942 Apophis was first discovered, initial calculations indicated a probability of up to 2.7 percent that it would hit Earth. Since the big rock has a diameter of 370 meters, this was very concerning. The odds of impact have since dwindled, but Apophis will still get extremely close to the earth, coming closer than even some satellites orbiting the planet. At its closest approach, the asteroid comes to within about thirty-one thousand kilometers from earth’s surface. It will be the closest asteroid of its size in recorded history. On that date, it will be very bright and easily visible to the naked eye if one knows where to look. Even more intriguing? The close approach will be visible from Europe, Africa, and Western Asia, in other words, from the region where the Antichrist’s kingdom will be centered! Even more intriguing is that this harbinger of doom will arrive on a day that, at least in modern, Western culture, is associated with evil: April 13, 2029—Friday the Thirteenth.
But asteroids fly around all the time, and just because this one is going to come close to us on an auspicious day for superstitions is no reason to think that some great portend is indicated. There must be something more to qualify it as a heavenly sign from God. In Scripture, we are specifically told of four signs to look for in regard to specific events that will occur at the end. The fall of Satan to the earth is one such event.
- And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads…And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So, the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him…Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time…Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child…she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. (Revelation 12:3,7–9,12)
The Scriptures clearly connect the fall of the Great, Red Dragon, Satan, from heaven to the earth and the beginning of the 3.5-year, Great Tribulation period with a “sign” “in heaven”. Apophis is the Greek name of Apep, an enemy of the ancient Egyptian sun god Ra. He is the un-creator, an evil serpent that dwells in the eternal darkness and tries to swallow Ra during his nightly passage. Apep is held at bay by Set, the ancient Egyptian god of storms and the desert. This of course is all myth; but considering that the rise of the Antichrist comports exactly with the fall of Satan, the great dragon, from heaven and the starting of the 3.5-year period of tribulation, it is more than coincidental in my mind.
More compelling still is that the date this close approach of Apophis happens will be the day before the fourth day of Daniel officially begins on (Abib 1) April 14, 2029 (see option no. 2 in table 1, pg. 35 in my book)! Satan’s fall to the earth, illustrated with the fall of the Apophis asteroid to earth, will usher in the 1260 days of Great Tribulation sparked by the Abomination of Desolation just as prophesied. Such a heavenly sign is exactly what the world should expect to happen to signify Satan coming to earth, and thus, the Apophis asteroid’s close fly-by is a momentous occasion indeed.