In a and a, we have the rising of Israel;
In b and b, the light that is come upon her;
In c and c, the glory of the Lord; and
In d and d, the darkness of the world.
These facts are kindly supplied by Mr. E. W. Maunder, of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, who gives another example, as follows:—
In a.d. 586 there were two solar eclipses: on June 22 (Julian) the old and dying eclipse, and on July 22 (Julian) another (the new one). A Saros (viz., 18 years and 11 days) earlier there was only one, viz. on June 11 (Julian), a.d. 568, there being no eclipse on July 11 of that year.
The last appearance of this new eclipse, which first appeared on July 22, 586, was on August 28 (Greg.), 1848, so that it had a life history of 70 Sari, amounting to 1,262 years 36 days (after the Julian dates have been corrected to correspond to the Gregorian). Thus the eclipse that died, so to speak, on August 28 (Greg.), 1848, first appeared on July 22 (Julian) in a.d. 586. See an important article on Eclipses by Mr. E. W. Maunder in Knowledge, for October 1893, where other life-histories of eclipses are given, and the whole subject of eclipses clearly explained.
This date 636-7 is a great and important central date, whether we reckon backwards or forwards; whether we reckon them as Lunar, Zodiacal (360 days), or Solar (365 days) years.
(1.) If we take Lunar years (= 1222-1/2 Solar)—
(a.) reckoning backward, we get to 587 b.c., the very date of the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar.
(b.) reckoning forward, we get to 1860 a.d., the very date of the European intervention in the Lebanon, which has brought the Eastern Question into its present prominent position.
(2.) If we take Zodiacal years (= 1242 Solar)—
(a.) reckoning backward we get to 608 b.c., the date of the battle of Carchemish (2 Chron. xxxv. 20), when Babylon completed the conquest of Assyria, and became supreme; utterly shattering all the hope which Israel had in Egypt.