Today we will finish up this two part series on the blood moons and look at exactly what should we do with this information. So first let’s just review what is being said.
Bible prophecy refers to the fact that God will use the sun and the moon to signal people on the earth that He is getting ready to bring judgment. In these descriptions we see evidence that eclipses and or atmospheric disturbances will cause the sun to be dark and the moon to appear blood red.
In looking at the scientific data of when eclipses have happened in the past and will happen in the future, a pattern has emerged. It is rare for four total lunar eclipses, called tetrads, to happen in a row (54 times in 2,000 years or less than 3 times per century). But it is even rarer for these “tetrads” to land on the biblical feast days (7 times in 2,000 years or 1 every 300 years). The last two tetrads that landed on biblical feast days happened within 19 years of each other in 1949 and 1967. Both these dates happen to be significant events in the life of modern Israel and the next one will begin in April 2014. Is something significant on the horizon? Is God signaling believers that He is about to make a change in the status quo? It sure seems that way. On top of all this is the fact that there will be a solar eclipse as the religious New Year begins. Here are the dates:
2014 Apr 14 Passover—Total Lunar Eclipse
2014 Oct 08 Tabernacles—Total Lunar Eclipse
2015 Mar 20 Religious New Year—Solar Eclipse
2015 Apr 04 Passover—Total Lunar Eclipse
2015 Sep 28 Tabernacles—Total Lunar Eclipse
In Luke 21:24-28, Jesus warned His disciples to be alert and recognize the prophetic times. He also gives a rough outline of the events leading up to His second coming. They are: Israel defeated and led captive into all the nations, The Times of the Gentiles, Signs in the heavens and on the earth, The Second coming. Now it is a no brainer that the first two have happened. Israel was destroyed along with the temple of the Lord. They were scattered to the nations as God’s grace turned towards the Gentiles. This times of the Gentiles will continue until it is fulfilled. Thus as the times of the Gentiles come to a close, God gives signals in the heavens and on the earth that He is getting ready to come back. So how will we know when the Times of the Gentiles is over?
In Romans 11:11-12, 25-28 we are told that during this time of the Gentiles Israel as a whole would be blind to salvation and the true messiah. However, when the full number of Gentiles has been brought in then God will turn back to Israel and draw them to a salvation experience. Thus, as the times of the Gentiles draws to a close, so the time of Israel’s national salvation is drawing near. God’s turning back to Israel is not a rejection of the church. Rather, it is an emphatic exclamation point on God’s heart for the lost. Israel rejects the messiah and God’s riches are given to the Gentiles. But even more riches will be given to the Gentiles through the drawing of Israel back to God. Israel’s salvation will be proof that what God did in sending His Gospels to the Gentiles was indeed righteous. So a dark time of tribulation detailed in the book of Revelation will come upon the unbelieving world and in this dark time Israel will come to see its sin and turn in repentance to Jesus. This is spoken of in Zechariah 12:10. Here the prophet says that Israel will look upon the one whom they pierced and a spirit of grace and repentance will be poured out upon them. They will mourn over what they did to Jesus Christ the Firstborn of the Sons of God.
Now in Luke 21:36 Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray that they would be counted worthy to escape this time of Great Tribulation. The key is not to be so fascinated with blood moons, the nation of Israel, or weather anomalies that we lose sight of the other things we should be doing. We should be praying for ourselves, for each other as believers, and for the salvation of the lost around us. We should also be an active witness of the salvation of Jesus to those who are lost. The blood moons should only add another signal to us from our Lord to be even more confident in our prayers and in our witness. It should cause us to separate ourselves even more from the temptations and seductions of this age.
So let me encourage you, these dates are not important in and of themselves. Historically it has been either before, in the middle or after the tetrads that something has happened. These are not predictions of the rapture or the second coming. They are simply signals from our Lord to not be asleep spiritually and to be about His business.
Yet, just as the spring Feasts of the Lord prophetically pointed to the first Coming of Christ, so the Fall feasts prophetically point to His second. The first coming events happened on the very feast days: Jesus, the Lamb of God, was slain on Passover. He was then buried and became our heavenly bread on Unleaved Bread. He was resurrected along with a select group of saints on the feast of Firstfruits. And, He poured out the Holy Spirit to enable a global harvest on the feast of Pentecost or Weeks. Now Christians have debated for years whether the Rapture is actually going to happen on one of these Fall feasts. I am of the opinion that our Lord wanted us to understand the times without being focused on figuring out what day He will come. Thus I encourage you, keep your eye on Jesus and the duties that He has given you. Keep sowing the seed, watering it, and harvesting as the Lord provides. When it is time to go He will let you know. Maranatha!