It is Passover Week and I pray you are reminded of our Blessed Savior’s sacrifice on our behalf, and the promise of our Blessed Hope’s return!  Jesus Christ is our Blessed Hope…and He is returning soon!

There is lots of buzz over Monday night’s “blood moon,” so I want to share a bit about that.  (I know…I promised you we would discuss the peace talk issue, as well as issues in Syria, Russia and Iran.  We’ve covered two of the four, and I have not forgotten the other two!  We’ll get there!)

Several years ago, Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries introduced a theory about “Blood Moon Tetrads” (four full lunar eclipses in the span of two years) and a correlation between them and major events in Israel.  John Hagee has since jumped on the bandwagon and written a book about the phenomena.  But is the theory Biblically accurate?

In brief, the theory suggests that these blood moons are a fulfillment of Joel 2:31, which says:

The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

Let’s be clear: the Creator God of the universe can do whatever He desires, whenever He desires, so let’s not discount His ability to do so.  The question is not, “Is God able/willing to do what Biltz and Hagee are suggesting?”  Rather, the question is, “Is this ‘blood moon tetrad’ a true sign from heaven?”  To which I find too many obstacles in order to buy in to the theory.  Here are a few:

• Scheduled to occur April 15, 2014, October 8, 2014, April 4, 2015 and September 28, 2015, the first three blood moons of the tetrad will not be visible in Israel!  If God is giving a sign to Israel, don’t you think He would make it visible to them?
• Several Bible passages (Revelation 6:12-13, Matthew 24:29, Joel 2:10, Ezekiel 32:7-8) speak of sun, moon, and star signs, together resulting in catastrophe.  Interesting that Joel 3:21 is chosen as the basis of the theory, given that it speaks only of sun and moon, but not stars.  How, then, could blood moons be the fulfillment of such prophecy?
• In terms of eclipses, a lunar eclipse causes the moon to go dark, while a solar eclipse causes the sun to go dark.  According to the passages above, the sun, moon, and stars will all go dark.  However, a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse cannot happen at the same time.  So, why would there be something special about lunar eclipses and the fulfillment of this prophecy?
• A part of the theory hinges on the fact that these blood moons occur on Passover and Sukkot, two Jewish feast days.  However, a blood moon requires a full moon, and Passover and Sukkot are always during full moon.  Therefore, the timing of blood moons falling on Jewish feast days is really not that uncommon (about 1/6^th of the time).
• According to theory, these blood moons (particularly tetrads) are supposedly signs of impending doom.  However, there were 39 lunar eclipses in the 20^th century that coincided with Passover or Sukkot.  Why didn’t something significant happen on all those occasions?

(Interested in more info?  Here are two resources: Will Lunar Eclipses Cause Four Blood Moons in 2014 and 2015? by Dr Danny Faulkner at Answers in Genesis and Four Blood Moon Review by Chris White.)

There are other obstacles as well, but hopefully you see the hazard of jumping on a bandwagon without seriously considering the truth.  The point is this: The Bible admonishes us to be ready (Matthew 24:44, Luke 12:40) and to discern the signs of the time (Matthew 16:1-3), but we are warned that false doctrine will abound in the last days (2 Peter 2:1).  Be wise, dear friends, and don’t be blown around by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14, Colossians 2:8), but hold fast to the Word of God!

Happy Passover Week!