And Jesus said, "There will be ... fearful events and great signs from heaven"; Luke 21:11. "...for the heavenly bodies will be shaken"; Luke 21:26.
Yet, what event in all the heavens could so unmistakably announce the coming of the judgment of God on ALL nations?
As it says in 2 Peter 3:10; "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare."
And again in Isaiah 24:18-21; "The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake....In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below." And Isaiah 13:13; "Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger."
Yet what could make the heavenly bodies shake? What could cause the whole world to tremble? The only thing in the heavens are stars. And the only power they have is to explode.
Thus, I predict that at the end of this age a nearby star will go supernova. And it will appear as if the floodgates of the heavens are opened. And it will appear as if the heavens will disappear with a roar. And it will cause all the neighboring stars to appear to tremble. And it will cause a world wide cataclysmic earthquake which will destroy all the cities of man.
Jesus tells us what the Sign of the Son of Man will look like just before His return. Matthew 24:29-31, "Immediately after the distress of those day (which will itself be unequaled in the history of man - Mt_24:22),
The sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
"At that time the Sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
So whatever the Sign of His Coming is, it will be a spectacular event that all the nations of the earth will see. So it won't be an atmospheric event like a tornado or a hurricane (but these might happen as well). For this would give no cause for alarm for those on the other side of the planet (and they might gloat). But it will be a celestial event that all nations can see. So it won't last for only an hour or two. For then the other side of the world won't be able to see. So it must be an event that will at least last for a number of days so that all the nation of the earth may see.
And it will be an event in the heavens that has much power and gives off a great light (...with power and great glory). But it will not come from the sun or the moon. For their light will be darkened (perhaps by comparison). But it won't be an eclipse or some other type of conjunctions of planets. For an eclipse is no cause for alarm, and they don't last long enough for the other side of the earth to see. But the event that will come will cause all the nations of earth to mourn and to seek refuge in caves and in holes in the ground on the day of His wrath (Rev_6:15-16). It will be an event that will spell certain doom for the entire planet. So it won't be the threat of an asteroid or a comet strike. For these do not effect as much the other side of the world. Furthermore, it will not be an event for which we can predict the day or the hour (such as predicting the path of a comet of asteroid). Instead it will be an event that we cannot predict (Mt_24:36). For it will come "like a thief in the night" (2_Peter_3:10).
We are told that this event will appear to send out "clouds". And we are told that it will appear like a loud trumpet blast from heaven that will send out messages (angels) in all directions (four winds) from the place of origin to furthest reaches of heaven (to gather His elect). I thinks this describes a circular, cloud-like, shock wave that will appear to emanate from a supernova and look like the heavens disappearing with a roar or like a loud trumpet blast sending out messages or like the sky rolling up like a scroll.
I don't know the exact mechanism that will cause the great earthquake, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. The earthquake might be caused by gravity waves. Or perhaps the supernova might cause material from the sun to be blown our way (causing the sun to be darkened). Or perhaps there is a yet unknown chain reaction that might result in the interstellar matter. Supernovae give off a burst of neutrinos. And I've heard recently that neutrinos have been discovered to have mass. That would mean that they travel slower than light. Could the blast of radiation cause a sufficiently dense wave of solar wind material to move in our direction?
But whatever the event, we are told that the elements will be destroyed by heat. The only thing that can destroy (or even change) the elements of nature are nuclear forces. Fire is only a change in chemical bonding between elements which release energy in the process, but it requires nuclear interactions to actually change one element to another. Thus, whatever the event, it must involve nuclear reactions as is the case with a star going supernova.
Are there any nearby stars that might go supernova
So how does this fit in the overall timing of these predictions?