Signs in the Heavens?

What is this burgeoning craze about the coming four “blood moons,” and do they convey a prophetic message for mankind?

Roll… Camera… Action! It was Friday night, November 1, 2013 when I found myself sitting on the Trinity Broadcasting Network’s (TBN) TV set beside Pastor John Hagee. It was just minutes before we were going live in front of an international audience of millions on a “Praise the Lord” (PTL) TV show when I privately asked Pastor Hagee, “Have you considered the possible connection between the coming blood-red moons and the Psalm 83 Arab-Israeli war prophecy?”

The program that night was featuring Pastor Hagee’s bestselling book, Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change, and Psalm 83: The Missing Prophecy Revealed authored by yours truly. Pastor Hagee responded by saying that he was taking a closer look at the psalm to see if any possible connections existed.

Before any further words could be exchanged between us the producer started the five-finger countdown, 5…4…3…2…1 and it was show time.[1]

So what is this burgeoning craze about the coming four “blood moons,” and do they convey a prophetic message for mankind? Although there is no specific reference to four blood moons anywhere in the Bible, Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20 and Revelation 6:12 refer to the moon having the appearance of turning to blood.

On the TBN TV program Pastor Hagee stated, “The Biblical substance of the foundation (of the blood moons) begins in Genesis 1:14.”

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;

— Genesis 1:14 (NKJV)

Let Them Be For Signs and Seasons…

The basis for his thesis can partially be summed up within the words signs and seasons, which in the Hebrew can generally be translated as “heavenly banners displayed at divinely appointed times.” Blood moon advocate Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries believes that the seasons allude to the appointed feast days of the Lord.

These interpretations imply that the heavens become a visible means through which the Lord can communicate important messages to mankind. The Bible conveys God’s Word directly to man, but perhaps the heavens serve as His “Amber Alert” system. Is God utilizing the coming “blood moons” to alert His children that Something is About to Change, as Hagee’s book subtitle suggests?

The coming four “blood moons,” as they apply in this case, are simply full lunar eclipses that occur on the Jewish feast days of Passover and Tabernacles of 2014 and 2015. The fact that they occur consecutively on these celebrated feast days is what supposedly makes them significant. When they occur in a sequence of four, they are referred to as a tetrad.

Good Bible Scholars Disagree

For the sake of this article, what the “blood moons” are becomes less important than what they may mean. If you want to learn more about this phenomenon, there is a plethora of public information available. A simple Google search with the words “the coming blood moons” recently netted 4,930,000 results. In addition, Mark Biltz and Dr. Mark Hitchcock have also authored timely books about this subject.[2]

Dr. Hitchcock stated to me personally, “I reject the blood moons as valid signs of the time. In my book I deal with Hagee’s arguments and show how and why I disagree.”[3]

Conversely, Mark Biltz’s new book devotes an entire chapter to the blood moon naysayers. Biltz also points out that the fourth blood moon will be a “Super Blood Moon” that will be visible in Israel. This blood moon will be at perigee with the earth, making it enlarged to the spectator.

In the inquiry process the reader will find no shortage of blood moon skeptics. Here is a quote from one of them:

While the color of some total lunar eclipses could be compared to blood, others are more orange, similar to a pumpkin. Still other eclipses look yellow, and some are very dark—virtually black…. In short, most lunar eclipses don’t appear blood-like, so it is a bit presumptuous to assume that any particular future eclipse—or, in this case, four eclipses—must of necessity be “blood moons.”[4]

Presuming that these four “blood moons” are prophetically relevant, then the remainder of the article will be devoted to what they might mean. As you read further, keep in mind that there will be no more “blood moons” occurring in a back-to-back sequence on Passover and Tabernacles for the remainder of this century.[5]

The Historical Precedent of the “Blood Moons”

Over the past 2,000 years there have supposedly been eight tetrads falling on Jewish feast days (see chart), but only five of them occurred on Passover and Tabernacles.[6] Among these five, the last three seem to have happened at a time when the Jewish people were unjustifiably persecuted by Gentile populations. In every instance they survived near-genocidal attempts in order to observe their feast days on schedule.

The Lesson of 1493–1494 “Blood Moons”

In 1492 Christopher Columbus navigated three ships—the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria—that were probably filled with affluent Sephardic Jews to safety.[7] Some believe that Columbus was also a Jew.[8] They fled Spain to escape the merciless “Edict of Expulsion” campaign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. While heading for the West Indies, the Lord redirected these holocaust survivors to America. As a result of their discovery of this new-found land, they paved the way for a future safe haven for the Jewish people.

One of the God-given purposes for the existence of America was to become a safe haven for the Jewish people. Additionally, the U.S. was to be a beacon of Christianity to the nations of the world and to become instrumental in the rebirth of the Jewish state of Israel.

Pastor Hagee asks repeatedly in his blood moons book, “What was happening to the Jewish people at this time?”[9]

At this “blood moon” interval they were thanking their Lord for the following reasons:

• They survived unjustified Gentile persecution,
• They were divinely preserved through that persecution,
• They found a safe-haven (America) as a result of the Lord’s protection,
• They could freely worship their God and celebrate His prescribed feasts.

The Lesson of the 1949–1950 “Blood Moons”

The “blood moon” saga continues 454 years later in 1948, when the Jewish people found themselves again facing unjustified Gentile persecution, but this time it was from the Arab states listed in Psalm 83:6–8. It was the Arab-Israeli “War of Independence” and the Jews won, earning them the undeniable right as the victors to call Israel their homeland. So what was happening to the Jewish people when the “blood moons” of 1949–1950 occurred? Deja vu, the answer is that they were thanking the Lord for the following reasons:

• They survived unjustified Gentile persecution,
• They were divinely preserved through that persecution,
• They found a safe-haven (Israel) as a result of the Lord’s protection,
• They could freely worship their God and celebrate His prescribed feasts.

The Lesson of the 1967–1968 “Blood Moons”

Only 17 years later, in the summer of 1967, the Psalm 83 countries of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan unjustifiably persecuted the Jews again. Along with the overwhelming endorsement of the other Psalm 83 cohorts they attempted to eradicate the Jewish state of Israel. In this repeat performance the destruction of Israel was the identical goal from 1948. Israel won that war and nearly tripled its size at the time by capturing the Golan Heights, West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the Sinai Peninsula. So again the pertinent question is, what was happening to the Jewish people when the “blood moons” of 1967–1968 occurred? At the risk of sounding redundant, they were thanking the Lord for the following reasons:

• They survived unjustified Gentile persecution,
• They were divinely preserved through that persecution,
• They found a safe-haven (a Greater Israel) as a result of the Lord’s protection,
• They could freely worship their God and celebrate His prescribed feasts.

The Lesson of the 2014–2015 “Blood Moons”

If this pattern of Jewish persecution, preservation and protection continues into the upcoming “blood moon” tetrads scheduled for April 15, 2014 (Passover), October 8, 2014 (Tabernacles), April 4, 2015 (Passover) and September 28, 2015 (Tabernacles), then what might occur?

There could be more unjustified Gentile persecution perpetrated by the Arab populations of Psalm 83:6–8. This oppression could manifest into another war intended to destroy Israel, but result in the decisive defeat of the Arab enemies by the Israeli Defense Forces, as clearly outlined in Psalm 83. As the ultimate victor, the Jewish state could capture even more land and increase the defensibility of its borders. Perhaps the world will witness the final fulfillment of Psalm 83 during this “blood moon” interval.

Psalm 83 in a Nutshell

For the unfamiliar, Psalm 83 is an ancient prophecy issued by the psalmist Asaph, who we are informed in 2 Chronicles 29:30 was also a prophet. The psalm predicts that the Arab states sharing common borders with Israel, and undoubtedly the terrorist populations within those countries, will form a confederacy that attempts to wipe Israel off of the map. Dr. Chuck Missler, Dr. David Reagan, Hal Lindsey, myself and many other Bible prophecy teachers believe that this prophecy could find fulfillment relatively soon.

The Plan of the Psalm 83 Confederacy

They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

— Psalm 83:4 (NKJV)

The Goal of the Psalm 83 Confederacy

Who said, “Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God (Israel) for a possession.”

— Psalm 83:12 (NKJV)

The psalm lists ten populations by their ancient names like Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, etc. and the chart on page 15 identifies their probable modern-day equivalents. For more information about the Psalm 83 prophecy, pick up your copy of the Psalm 83: Missing Prophecy Revealed, How Israel Becomes the Next Mideast Superpower from https://www.prophecydepot.com.

So in conclusion, let me ask you the same question that I posed to Pastor John Hagee, “Have you considered the possible connection between the coming blood-red moons and the Psalm 83 Arab-Israeli war prophecy?”