Winter In History And Prophecy

The English word winter originated from an old Anglo-Saxon word which meant windy and wet. Winter, and the other seasons, are the result of the earth being inclined approximately 23½ degrees to the plane of its orbit around the sun. On December 21 the most direct rays of the sun are over the so-called Tropic of Capricorn at 23½ degrees latitude in the southern hemisphere, thereby causing winter in the northern hemisphere, while on June 21 the most direct rays of the sun are over the so-called Tropic of Cancer at 23½ degrees latitude in the northern hemisphere, thereby causing winter in the southern hemisphere.

"Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: Thou hast made summer and winter"

Winter weather varies tremendously around the world, and the land of Israel itself has a surprising variety of climatic regions, but from the standpoint of Jerusalem, the meaning of that old Anglo-Saxon word for winter, windy and wet, applies generally well. The December to January daily high for Jerusalem averages 55 degrees Fahrenheit / 13 degrees Celsius, and the daily low averages 43 degrees Fahrenheit / 6 degrees Celsius. Most of Jerusalem's rainfall occurs from November to March, with the peak period from the last half of December to the end of February. Snow, although not a common sight in Jerusalem, can occur.

Winter is mentioned in both Bible History and Prophecy:

"^74:16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. ^74:17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter [see Christ The Creator]" (Psalm 74:16-17 KJV)

"^8:20 And Noah [see Was Noah Sinless?] builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ^8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done [see The Floods Brought By Christ]. ^8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:20-22 KJV)

Christ's warning "pray ye that your flight be not in the winter" in the same reference to "the abomination of desolation" is interesting in that the origin of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah (see Christ's Hanukkah; listen also to our Sermon Hanukkah In Prophecy) was directly the result of the original abomination of desolation that will be ultimately repeated and fulfilled at Christ's return. Hanukkah is in winter and so was Christ's "pray ye that your flight be not in the winter" (see Abomination of Desolation - Where?).

"^24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand: ^24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains [see the Fact Finder question below]: ^24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: ^24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. ^24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! ^24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: ^24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24:15-21 KJV)

Fact Finder: How long will the "end time" last? How long will the "abomination of desolation" last?
See How Long Will 'The End Time' Last?

This Day In History, December 21

68: Vespasian, a Roman general, entered Rome and was proclaimed emperor by the Senate.

1620: 103 English "Pilgrims" of the Mayflower made landfall in their "New England."

1898: Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium.

1910: 2,500,000 plague victims were reported in the An-Hul province of China.

1946: An earthquake and tidal wave killed hundreds of people in Japan.

1948: Ireland declared itself a republic, rather than a dominion, and withdrew from the British Commonwealth.

1958: Charles de Gaulle was elected the first president of the France's Fifth Republic.

1967: Louis Washkansky, the first human heart transplant patient, died 18 days after the operation by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa.

1975: Terrorists of the "Arm of the Arab Revolution" led by "Carlos the Jackal" raided the OPEC headquarters in Vienna and held 11 oil ministers and their staff hostage.

1986: 500,000 Chinese students gathered in Shanghai's People's Square calling for democratic reforms, including freedom of the press.

1988: Pan-Am flight 103, a Boeing 747, was blown up by on-board bomb over Lockerbie, Scotland; 259 passengers and crew, and 11 other people on the ground killed.

1993: President Boris Yeltsin abruptly abolished the former KGB security police, saying the huge force Russian citizens feared for decades was "incapable of being reformed."