No doubt you’ve heard of the Blood
Moon prophecies that many are saying point to the imminent return of Christ, or
“something big about to happen” in the Middle East.
If not, here’s a quick overview: A
Blood Moon is simply a lunar eclipse where the moon appears red in color due to
the sunlight passing through Earth’s atmosphere and casting a red shadow on the
moon’s surface. The significance that many Christians are getting excited about
lately is that the Jewish Feasts of Passover and Tabernacles in 2014 and 2015
will coincide with a total of four Blood Moons. Some want us to see these lunar
events as signs that God is doing something new, or about to shake things up in
the Middle East.
Of course, these same people are
also wanting us to buy their book on the subject. People like John Hagee and
Mark Blitz, for example. But let’s examine their arguments and see if there’s
anything to this hype.
First of all, the argument in
favor of the legitimacy of these Blood Moon signs hinges on the supposition
that previous Blood Moon events have proven to be signs of historic
significance.
For example, they claim that there
were four blood moons at Passover and Tabernacles in 1492 which coincided with
the expulsion of Jews from Spain and the discovery of America by Columbus.
Then
they say that there were four blood moons in 1948 which was a sign of the
Israeli War of Independence, and that the four blood moons in 1967 was a sign
of Israel’s military action to repossess the Old City of Jerusalem.
Sounds convincing? Well…not
exactly.
First of all, the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar. That
means that their feasts and festivals always coincide with full moon events. It
also means that lunar eclipses – which only occur when the moon is full – are not
rare events in Jewish history. We’ll examine this in more detail later, but
first let’s examine those historic events in light of actual evidence.
The lunar eclipse in 1492 wasn’t a “sign” of the expulsion
of Jews from Spain. Why? Because the Tribunal
that expelled them was established November 1, 1478 which occurred 15 years
before the lunar eclipse. Hardly a sign or a warning is it? Plus, the Alhambra
Decree, which officially ordered of expulsion of Jews from Spain, was issued in
January 1492, which was about 15 months before the lunar eclipse that year.
The 1948 eclipse is also not a sign of the Israeli war of
independence. Why? Because that war began on May 15, 1948 and ended March 10,
1949. The first of the four lunar eclipses didn’t happen until just over a
month after the war ended. Why would God
give anyone a sign about something that had already taken place? That, by
definition, is not a sign from God.
The 1967 eclipse is not a sign of Israeli forces taking possession
of the Old City of Jerusalem. Why not? Because that took place on June 7, 1967
and the lunar eclipse took place 44 days before that day, and – most importantly
– it was not visible from Jerusalem. The next set of blood moons followed over the
next year and a half. Again, after the fact.
So, in what way are any of these “signs” of anything? It’s
like someone shouting “Look out for that car!” an hour after your car accident.
Most of these blood moon “signs” are not visible from Jerusalem, and/or occur
long after the events have already taken place.
Let’s be clear, nothing can truly be considered “a sign
from God” unless a prophet of God speaks a prophecy – in advance of the event –
and then the sign is given as a proof.
Keep in mind: No prophecy preceded any of these events
and no one gave these lunar eclipses and signs in advance as proofs. No one
predicted that the Jews would be expelled from Spain before it happened, for
example. So just because things happen we can’t run around looking for signs after
the fact. It doesn’t work that way.
Here’s another point: Tetrads (or the occurrence of four
consecutive lunar eclipses) are very common. They are not rare. They happen
very, very often, in fact. Over the last 4,000 years there have been numerous lunar
tetrads (or Blood Moons) on record, and between 1999 BC and today there have been
111 Blood Moons.
Do you know what significant events coincided with all of
those? Nothing. Because they happen all the time and are therefore not “signs”
of anything happening in the world.
It would be like pointing to the migration of Canada
Geese as a sign of some political shift in China. The two events are not related,
and one of those events (the migration of Canada Geese) happens every year
about the same time, regardless of what’s happening in Chinese politics.
Of the 55 Blood Moons that have occurred since the First
Century AD, there have been 7 which coincided with Jewish Holy Days, and none
of them were seen as signs of anything significant at the time.
To put everything in another perspective, here are some
very significant events in the history of the nation of Israel which DID NOT
coincide with any Blood Moon signs.
There were no Blood Moons during:
1446 BC (Israel
left Egypt in the Exodus)
1406 BC (Joshua
entered Canaan)
723 BC (Ten
northern tribes went into Assyrian Captivity)
587 BC (Judah
went into Babylonian captivity)
538 BC (Cyrus
proclaims the Jews could return to Canaan)
533 BC (Jews
began return from Babylon and arrived in Jerusalem)
1-2 BC (Jesus
was born)
33 AD (Jesus
was crucified) *Solar, but not lunar eclipse
70 AD (Jerusalem
and the Temple destroyed by Romans)
135 AD (Hadrian
renamed the city of Jerusalem, killed many Jews and expelled the rest)
1943 AD (Hitler
killed 6 million Jews during the Holocaust)
Put another way, here are four more examples
of when Tetrads (or a series of four Blood Moons) fell on all four Jewish feast days:
162 AD
795 AD
842 AD
860 AD
Guess what significant historic events
happened during these Blood Moons?
Wrong! Nothing happened. This is why authors like Hagee and Blitz totally ignore these, because they can't point to anything that seems to support their bogus theory.
THE LUNAR CALENDAR
Statistically, speaking, since Passover
and the Feast of Tabernacles always happen on full moons, and take place on the 15th
day of two different months within the year, there is a 1-in-6 chance that an
eclipse will occur in at least one of these festivals annually.
In the twentieth century, 37 of the 230
lunar eclipses fell on either Passover and Feast of Tabernacles, which is
mildly fascinating, but completely irrelevant to anyone interested in Biblical
prophecy.
So, in conclusion, don’t waste your
time – or your money – on anything related to this Blood Moon hoax. It’s
designed to stir up fear, and loosen your wallet. Nothing more.
Jesus will return, but as He told us, “No
man knows the day, or the hour, not even the angels in heaven, but my Father
only.” (Mt. 24:36)
Now, what if something significant DOES
happen between now and the end of these four Blood Moon signs that are still
forthcoming? Well, things happen all the time. My point is that if anything
does happen in the world, we cannot point to the Blood Moons as any sort of
prophetic sign.
Enjoy the lunar eclipse. Take good pictures.
Marvel at God’s creation. But don’t give in to the fear and the hype.
The Blood
Moons are not signs of anything other than the Glory of God as the Heavens
declare His majesty and pour fourth speech all day long.
-kg
**
NOTE: This article was informed from a variety of sources, including the blog of Steve Rudd, specifically his research found
HERE and the blog of
Richard Edmondson.
