Bible TimeFulfillment: July 3, 2005: Deep Impact
On July 3, 2005, NASA stuck a probe into the side of a comet. The timing was near sunrise in Jerusalem. The event was a replay of Doubting Thomas sticking his hand in the side of Jesus. Both found what they did not expect.
Background
NASA is an occasional source of fulfillment headlines. This particular time it was a pair of probes sent off earlier in the year to strike a comet, Tempel 1, and watch the results.
NASA has a theoretical model for comets. NASA claims that comets are primordial "snow balls" not much changed since the creation of the solar system. The Deep Impact probe was able to confirm this model, or supply data for something different.
There were 2 key instruments on the probe, the first a camera for recording the impact event. The other, a spectrometer, for recording the molecular composition of the materials ejected.
A primordial snowball, if the model was correct, would have a simple spectra. A chunk of a rock from a blown up planet would have a spectra much more complex. Which would it be? The equipment would reveal.
(The solar system, as we know it, was probably trashed at the time of Noah's flood, so a comet made out of materials from a blown up planet is interesting to those who follow the Bible, it would be debree left over from the era of Noah's flood. Though not essential, it would be especially interesting if it was wet, which many comets are thought to be. Water, though, is also formed by an interaction with comets and the solar wind.)
Timing
The time line stories that mattered the night between July 3 and 4, 2005, was the story a week after Jesus' resurrection. Thomas had not yet seen Jesus and did not believe that Jesus was alive. Thomas is famous for doubting, so we call him Doubting Thomas.
The story opens and explains Thomas' doubt.
40 John 20:24
40 John 20:24-25 24ܬܐܘܡܐ ܕܝܢ ܚܕ ܡܢ ܬܪܥܤܪܬܐ ܗܘ ܕܡܬܐܡܪ ܬܐܡܐ ܠܐ ܗܘܐ ܬܡܢ ܗܘܐ ܥܡܗܘܢ ܟܕ ܐܬܐ ܝܫܘܥ ܀ 25ܘܐܡܪܝܢ ܠܗ ܬܠܡܝܕܐ ܚܙܝܢ ܠܡܪܢ ܗܘ ܕܝܢ ܐܡܪ ܠܗܘܢ ܐܠܐ ܚܙܐ ܐܢܐ ܒܐܝܕܘܗܝ ܕܘܟܝܬܐ ܕܨܨܐ ܘܪܡܐ ܐܢܐ ܒܗܝܢ ܨܒܥܬܝ ܘܡܘܫܛ ܐܢܐ ܐܝܕܝ ܒܕܦܢܗ ܠܐ ܡܗܝܡܢ ܐܢܐ ܀ (SYP)
40 John 20:24-25 24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.(KJV)
40 John 20:24-25 24But Thomas, 1 of the 12, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.(KJV/NC)
40 John 20:24-25 24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. (ASV)
40 John 20:24-25 24¶ But Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called the Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came. 25And the disciples said to him, We have seen our Lord. He said to them, Unless I see in his hands the marks of the nails, and put my fingers in them, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. (LAM)
40 John 20:24-25 24Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe."(RSV)
40 John 20:24-25 24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."(NIV)
40 John 20:24-25 24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn't with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore said to him, 'We have seen the Lord!'(WEB)
40 John 20:24-25 24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn't with them when Yeshua came. 25The other disciples therefore said to him, 'We have seen the Lord!'(WEB/HNV)
40 John 20:24-25 24But Thomas, 1 of the 12, who is called the Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came. 25And the disciples said to him, We have seen our Lord. He said to them, Unless I see in his hands the marks of the nails, and put my fingers in them, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. (BRB)
The synonym for Thomas, is "Didymus" or when translated, "twin."
It is important to note for this fulfillment that the Deep Impact probe was a pair of probes, 2, a twin, with one standing back to watch and the other plunging into the side of the comet.
Like so many other fulfillments, the name of the person in the Bible has something to do with the headline fulfillment.
Of course, so too, does the name of NASA's mission. Deep Impact is what Thomas did in Jesus' side.
And, of course, the name of the comet itself. Jesus' body is the "number 1 temple" if you get the way the Bible describes these things.
Anyway, Jesus appeared and showed him the hole in his side. The following is the entire account.
40 John 20:26
40 John 20:26-29
40 John 20:26-29
40 John 20:26-29
40 John 20:26-29
40 John 20:26-29
40 John 20:26-29
40 John 20:26-29
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."(NIV)
40 John 20:26-29
28Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!'
29Jesus said to him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.'(WEB)
40 John 20:26-29
28Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!'
29Yeshua said to him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.'(WEB/HNV)
40 John 20:26-29
The exact time of day for this story is not given. A casual read would suggest 8 days from the dinner meeting on the Sunday of Jesus' resurrection. Fulfillment came at sunrise, in Jerusalem, on that same 8th day. This is not out of bounds for the original story.
This should be obvious that this is a prophetic match. Stick your finger here, says Jesus. Stick your probe here.
NASA politely complied, at exactly the correct time.
Timing in History
We are, of course, replaying history at 1 day to the year. The days of the New Testament are days now, again, as I've described above, but those days were also years in history and those years in history still run through normal day-for-a-year ratios.
In this case the interesting year was 310 AD. Constantine was emperor of Rome in 310. This was 1 of 2 times when he had a celestial vision. The more famous, when he converted to Christianity, was 2 years later. In this case he was in Gaul, modern Spain, and Constantine along with his entire army saw a halo phenomena surrounding the sun. He would change Roman coinage to mark the auspicious occasion.
That event in the summer of 310 AD aligns with the timing of NASA's probe as close as can be charted. This event is so interesting it has replayed in history before, though it probably made little sense to Constantine, nor his army.
More Fulfillment
As I write this it is now nearly 3 weeks after the impact. NASA has gone stone cold silent on what their $333 Million mission actually saw.
The Deep Impact web site has withdrawn even some of the initial photographic evidence and they've begun to weave a story that the main camera was "out of focus." NASA has withheld the 4500 or so frames of video recorded by their machines. NASA is also ignoring their spectrometer, the main tool for explaining the materials that ejected at the impact.
There have been several scientists on the fringes of the NASA network that have made informal comments about the complexity of what they found. One of the most interesting involved a comparison to beach sand. But, NASA itself has remained stone silent.
By law NASA must remain silent only when they find life. The legislation that authorized NASA in 1960 allowed for the search for life but prevented NASA from publicizing any life actually found for fear it would upset the social order.
Silence, in this case, means their spectra found chemistry related to life. NASA found life, like Thomas found life.
NASA's silence is in part important to this story. Jesus' last line in the prophetic parable is being fulfilled by NASA's ongoing silence.
40 John 20:29
40 John 20:29 29ܐܡܪ ܠܗ ܝܫܘܥ ܗܫܐ ܕܚܙܝܬܢܝ ܗܝܡܢܬ ܛܘܒܝܗܘܢ ܠܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܠܐ ܚܙܐܘܢܝ ܘܗܝܡܢܘ ܀ (SYP)
40 John 20:29 29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.(KJV)
40 John 20:29 29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.(KJV/NC)
40 John 20:29 29Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. (ASV)
40 John 20:29 29Jesus said to him, Now you believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen me, and have believed. (LAM)
40 John 20:29 29Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."(RSV)
40 John 20:29 29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."(NIV)
40 John 20:29 29Jesus said to him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.'(WEB)
40 John 20:29 29Yeshua said to him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.'(WEB/HNV)
40 John 20:29 29Jesus said to him, Now you believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen me, and have believed. (BRB)
NASA is not allowing anyone else to see. They are Thomas, they are the doubters that God exists. They have seen something that proves otherwise and in NASA's case they cannot publish. The rest of us must believe, even without seeing.
I will continue to monitor those who monitor NASA, but I'm not expecting any further releases on what they saw with their probe.
A fine fulfillment, though.
Phil Stone
July 21, 2005, 10:00 PM Pacific Time
Update
After I first posted this article, NASA changed the Deep Impact site. They have posted a revision of a photo of when the probe first struck the side of the comet.
This is not so unusual, except the caption: "First Contact."
The expression "First Contact" is a technical term used mostly in fictional literature, including the Star Trek Series, to mark the time when humans first make contact with alien life. "Star Trek -- First Contact" was even the name of a movie. There are over 370 different books at Amazon that use this expression in their titles.
Government organization don't joke. NASA is playing to the theme of having found some sort of life, which of course, by law, they are prevented from disclosing.
Until they change it, the "first contact" photo is here
Also, my primary source for monitoring NASA is Richard Hoagland. He is posting nearly every day on Deep Impact. You can visit is blog here
Phil Stone
Updated July 22, 2005, 11:30 AM Pacific Time
http://www.bibletime.com/news/log/2005/07/21/DeepImpact/
Revision 1.1 on 2007-10-18 at 05:25:21 GMT
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