For the last several weeks leading up to tomorrow’s solar eclipse, I have repeatedly seen a post on social media that gives evidence for why the eclipse is a warning of God’s judgment upon the United States.

To be honest, I haven’t read the whole post (nor do I care to), and knowing the Internet, there are likely several versions along the same lines. But the basic idea seems to be that the paths of this and last year’s eclipses write an aleph and taw (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet) in Paleo-Hebrew script across the country. Those paths then pass over several cities named Salem and Nineveh. So, the message of the eclipse from the Lord who is the first and the last is to repent of our wickedness as Nineveh at Jonah’s message.

The primary issue with this sort of “message” is not fundamentally about how accurate it is but what it is. Looking to astronomical events for signs and messages is a form of omen interpretation, which God explicitly forbids. Consider Deuteronomy 18:9-14:

When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things in an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.

God did not forbid these things because they were purely scams, although that is probably often the case.

Neither did He forbid them because they were altogether inaccurate. While tempting both Eve and Jesus, Satan used God’s own words in order to give an air of truth to his lie. Through occultic practices, demonic forces may also use bits of truth to strengthen their deceit.

Instead, God ultimately forbid these practices because they turn people away from faith and reliance upon God alone. As August Konkel writes about the passage above:

The practice of divination in Israel is dangerous because it is a means of exercising supernatural power. The Egyptian magicians were able to duplicate the signs Moses gave (Ex. 7:8-11). Israel is not to rely upon such powers. Their loyalty is to be with Yahweh exclusively (Deut. 18:13). Consulting with the spirits of the dead is also a denial of trust in God by seeking guidance from some other authority.

ESV Expository Commentary: Deuteronomy-Ruth, 186

The same is true of seeking omens from the heavens or anywhere else. We do not need God to speak special messages to us through an eclipse because He has already spoken to us through His Son and in His Word. Neither do we need the path of the sun to tell us to repent; Scripture speaks that clearly enough. Indeed, a thoughtful reading of Romans 1 shows that we do not look for warnings of God’s judgment at all because we already are under His judgment.

Instead, let us remind ourselves that “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). So, if you have a chance to view the eclipse tomorrow, instead of trying to figure out what it might be an omen of, give glory to God by being glad and rejoicing in the natural wonders that He has made.