Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. (Revelation 12:1-2)

This Friday and Saturday, September 22-23, 2017, just after Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), an astronomical event will occur that could be the “great sign” in heaven described in Revelation 12:1-2. If so—and that is what I believe at this time—it is another sign (along with the Blood Moons) that we are not only in the “last days,” which Peter said included the Day of Pentecost approximately 2,000 years ago, but we are in the times described in Revelation—the last of the last days.

Before diving in, let’s briefly look at the phrase great sign in heaven. The Greek word for heaven used here is “ouranos,” which can mean the visible heavens, the atmosphere, the sky, the starry heavens or the spiritual heaven. In this context, the verse seems to be saying a sign or wonder (see Genesis 1:14) will appear in the sky or atmosphere since a sign in spiritual heaven would only be visible to those in heaven and not an effective sign to those for whom the Book of Revelation was written.

Now, I want to look at descriptions of this great sign in heaven and the upcoming astronomical event to see how they line up.

Revelation 12:1 says the sign in heaven will involve a woman, the sun, the moon, a garland or crown of 12 stars and the birth of a baby:

• Virgo (Latin for virgin), in this sign is an allusion to the virgin Mary, but represents the Jewish people from whom Jesus (the child mentioned in the sign) came.
• On September 22-23, the sun will be positioned near Virgo, so she will be concealed (or clothed) by the brightness of sunlight
• The moon will be positioned under Virgo’s “feet”
• The constellation Leo and its nine stars are above Virgo, which is not unusual, but three planets—Mercury, Mars and Venus—will be in Leo, forming a “crown” of 12 “stars” (the Greek word for stars included planets)
• On November 20, 2016, Jupiter, which is known as the king planet, appeared to enter the abdominal area of Virgo, and has been circling in the constellation’s “womb” for 42 weeks (the gestation period) before exiting this month

The action described in Revelation 12 covers the rebellion of satan (the great fiery red dragon) against God, and the devil’s feckless efforts to take out Jesus (before He conquered death) and later the Jewish people before going after Christians. But that’s a topic for another time.

I want to acknowledge that one of the potential issues with concluding the celestial events of September 2017 are the sign described in Revelation 12:1-2 is that there should be another astronomical event that depicts “another sign” in heaven: the great fiery red dragon described in Revelation 12:3. At this time, I’m not aware of another astronomical occurrence that would depict that sign, but I haven’t looked into it.

I also want to emphasize that the only thing I believe will happen this week is this astronomical event, which I think is the great sign described in Revelation 12:1-2. Nothing else has to happen—not the rapture or anything else. I believe the purpose of the sign is to let us know we’re in the times described in Revelation. And with that in mind, here’s a timely word from the prophet Joel:

And it will be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors whom the Lord calls (Joel 2:32)