Blood Moons and the History of Israel
Have you noticed all the headlines about “Blood Moons” in the News lately? Everyone seems to be wondering when the next Blood Moon is?
It might help if we knew what a Blood Moon actually is, and why its getting so much attention. A Blood Moon is associated with a type of Lunar eclipse, but attention has been focused on the Moon turning to Blood ever since it was prophesied in the Book of Joel, as this prophet of God gave this Bible Blood Moon prophecy by divine revelation;
[Joel 2:28-32] v. 31…the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and terrible day of the Lord come.
This provides a foundation reference for Blood Moon Prophecies in the Bible. There are four blood moons scheduled in 2014 and 2015 that align with Hebrew holy days in the Spring and Fall of the next 2 years. This has been called a “Blood Moon Tetrad,” and has consistently been associated with key events related to Israel in history. The Four Blood Moons are certainly grabbing headlines lately, but we should also remember the Sun being mentioned, as turning into darkness, referring to a solar eclipse, in the first part of Joel’s prophecy. As we can see in the graphic above, the Total Solar Eclipse is central in the midst of four Blood Moons in 2014 and 2015! This should get our full and undivided attention, especially since Blood Moon Tetrads are very rarely associated with a Total Solar Eclipse in the last 2000 years, in view of the celestial signs on Holy Feast days of Israel’s calendar. The fact that Blood Moons are tied to Lunar Eclipses is not that big a deal in itself, but what has captured the public’s imagination is that these blood moons are happening on the feast & holy days of Israel’s sacred Calendar. Also, the fact that this is the final Blood Moon Tetrad occurring on Hebrew Feast and Holy days in the 21st Century has also caused people to sit up and take notice. As a result, the Blood Moon prophecies in the news have gotten a lot of attention recently.
According to NASA the dates for the Blood Moons in 2014 are as follows;
4/15/2014 Total Lunar Eclipse on the Hebrew Passover
4/29/2014 Annular Solar Eclipse
10/08/2014 Total Lunar Eclipse on the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles
10/23/2014 Partial Solar Eclipse
NASA also gives the following 2015 Blood Moon dates;
3/20/2015 Total Solar Eclipse on Nisan 1, Hebrew New Years Day
4/14/2015 Total Lunar Eclipse on Hebrew Passover
9/13/2015 Partial Solar Eclipse on Hebrew Rosh Hashanah
9/28/2015 Total Lunar Eclipse on the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles
The interest in Blood Moons has centered around their association with the Hebrew Calendar, since historically Israel has always counted the start of the months of their year based on the sighting of the New Moon, [read more]. Due to this, the naysayers will tell us that the Blood Moon prophecies “mean nothing,” which is what naysayers do… But it is hard to ignore the fact that Blood Moons have also been an indicator that something important was about to occur relating to Israel as a nation. For example in recent memory, there was a Blood Moon Tetrad in 1949-1950, which occurred when Israel was reborn as a Nation. There was another Blood Moon Tetrad in 1967-1968, marking their 6-day War with Egypt, when Israel regained control of Jerusalem. This was also the last time a Total Solar eclipse occurred during four Blood Moons on Hebrew
Feast days. The 1492 Blood Moon Tetrad, that occurred just prior to the 1967 Blood Moons, in this Blood Moon Tetrad series, was also key in Israel’s history, since it marked the Jews being expelled from Spain, during the Spanish Inquisition.
A primary key in understanding these Blood Moon prophecies in the Bible is not listening to the naysayers, but to what the truth of God’s Word reveals to us. One of these keys is found in the immediate context of Joel’s Blood Moon prophecy in [Joel 2:28-29];
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men will see visions, and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit...”
Here Joel’s Blood Moon prophecy refers to a time when God’s gift of holy spirit is available to all who believe, which was not the case in the Old Testament, but only became available on the Day of Pentecost following Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension to the Right Hand of the Heavenly Father. This opened up a new Spiritual Age; the Age of Grace when, as Jesus told us, the Comforter [Jn. 16:7] could not come unless and until Jesus left to be with the Father. The Comforter of course, is God’s gift of holy spirit, which is given to all who believe in their heart, and confess with their mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord, [Rom. 10:9-10]. As we link the holy Hebrew Feasts with key events related to the first coming Jesus Christ, we will start to notice a pattern developing. For example, Christ was crucified at the Spring Passover Feast the 14th of Nisan, 28 AD, buried during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the 15th of Nisan, resurrected at the Feast of First Fruits, on the 17th of Nisan.
The next important date where the Blood Moon prophecy appears in the Bible just happens to be on the Day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, in the third month following Jesus’ resurrection in 28 AD, when first, the 12 Apostles spoke in tongues, showing evidence of their new spiritual rebirth, followed on the same day by over 3000 new believers showing the same evidence. As the Apostle Peter addressed the Pentecost Temple crowd in Acts 2:14-ff, he quoted this Blood Moon prophecy from Joel 2! It is important to realize that this Blood Moon prophecy is uniquely associated with the Biblical Age of Grace, which Peter calls the “last days” [Acts 2:17], beginning in 28 AD, wherein we still reside today. It is critical that the Apostle Peter himself quotes this key prophecy in the opening fanfare of his Pentecost address, not only to the 3000 new believers and the rest of the crowd that day, but to all Christian believers since that day, who share in the spiritual gift that God continues to pour out upon his people. A few years later, the first Blood Moon Tetrad in the Age of Grace occurred in 32-33 AD. This started a series of at least 9 Blood Moon Tetrads over a 2000 year period from 32-33 AD to 2032-2033 AD!! Thus we should pay attention to what is happening with Israel in the news during the current Blood Moon signs, and when the next Blood Moon sign is set to occur, just as their appearance has held great import for Israel over the last 2000 years! As the graphic below depicts, Blood Moons/lunar eclipses have historically been a negative omen for Israel, usually indicative of the bloodshed associated with war, as the Talmud teaches. Solar eclipses on the other hand, have been held as bad omens for the Gentile nations.
The Angel’s Sword shown cutting across the Blood Red Moon, symbolizing Bloodshed associated with War!
These Blood Moon signs as Joel foretold, are to occur before that great and notable Day of the Lord, which is the Day Christ will return in triumphal victory over the evil darkness of this world, bringing the believers of his spiritual body-his Church with him in the final defeat of the enemy. This is the second phase of the Lord’s return, preceded by our Gathering together unto him [I Thess. 4:13-18, II Thess. 2:1]. We all anticipate this day as it is our Great Hope, the Hope of his return in ultimate deliverance from the shackles of this world, which will effectively wrap up the Age of Grace, as the Lord gathers his Church together, ushering in the Revelation
Administration. As we pay heed to the next Blood Moons and activities involving Israel, with unquenchable believing do his work, that Christ has called each believer to accomplish in his stead, until the dawning of that Great Day, we will truly show our love for the returning Lord! As the Gospel of Luke tells us;
Luke 21:24-28
24 “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars: and upon the earth distress of nations,with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for lo0king after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, lift up your heads for your redemption draws nigh.”
As the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, it was Almighty God Who originally set the order and significance of these blood moons, coordinated with the Feast days of the Hebrew Calendar, when He spun the celestial bodies in their orbits in the Sky, [read more]. He did all this as a means to shed the light of his spiritual knowledge concerning the appearances of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ on earth. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, we can discern the signs of the times in preparation for the victorious return of Christ for his saints.