The moon will turn to blood…(Joel 2:31).
I was contacted earlier this week by our local newspaper and asked what the deal was with all this blood red moon talk. Since I know the editor, she wanted to know if I had written anything about it. If you have followed my posts for a while, you probably remember that I have addressed this phenomena on a couple of occasions and hesitate to write about it again for fear you think I’m obsessing. But since Sunday is going to be quite a special event astronomically, let me remind you what all the fuss is about.
From a purely scientific standpoint, Sunday will be very unique. It has been thirty years since what will occur Sunday happened in the past, and we are told it will be at least thirty years till it happens again. On Sunday evening in the US, we will have a combination of a Super Moon and a Blood Red Moon. I guess you can say we will have a “Super Blood Red Moon”. This means that the moon’s orbit will be the closest to the earth it can possibly come, making the moon look exceedingly large, while at the same time a lunar eclipse will take place, making the moon look reddish.
From a spiritual standpoint, there are a number of issues that connect to this event. First, it is the fourth blood red moon, or lunar eclipse, in the last two years, divided by a full solar eclipse in-between. For most of these two years there has been a great deal of speculation on the significance of this sequence. It ranges all the way from doomsday predictions of the end of the world to a simple observation that the end-times will involve “signs” in the heavens above.
The doomsday predictions usually point to the verse in Joel cited above, which is quoted by Jesus in Matthew 24, and is seen by John in Revelation 6. The big question is whether the blood red moon of the Bible is simply a lunar eclipse, or caused by other factors. I recently was looking at a reddish moon from my deck that was the result of smoke from the western fires in the US creating a smoke screen that gave the moon its red appearance. For many years, biblical scholars have suggested that the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy was connected to the events of Revelation 6, in which massive warfare erupts during the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period, potentially creating conditions in the atmosphere that cause the moon to appear to be red.
What makes all this even more interesting is that the Super Blood Red Moon occurs on the first day of the Jewish feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth). All four of the tetrad events have fallen on the dates of Jewish feasts over the last two years. Many have noted that this conjunction of events seems to be more than mere coincidence. For many years, biblical scholars have suggested, or taught, that the return of Jesus Christ will take place during the Feast of Tabernacles. This is based on the fact that he was crucified during the Feast of Passover and poured out the Holy Spirit during the Feast of Pentecost. The only major feast left to fulfill is Tabernacles, or “Ingathering”. I somewhat humorously always alert my congregation to keep spiritually sharp and behave properly during these seven days.
Finally, there seems to be a historical dimension tied into old rabbinic thinking that a blood red moon means trouble for Israel. Past triads have occurred during critical periods of Israel’s history. I’ve been told that they happened during times like War of Independence in 1949 and the Six Day’s War in 1967. The theory is that a blood red moon is a bad omen for Israel, and a full solar eclipse, when the sun turns black (also part of Joel’s prophecy), warns of trouble for the world.
Jesus once said, “When these things happen (the events prophesied in Matthew 24)…look up…your redemption “draweth nigh”. At a minimum, this Sunday night will be a good time to “look up”, and regardless of whether something dramatic takes place next week or not, I promise you, your redemption does “draweth nigh”. So, just in case, you might want to make sure over the next days that your spiritual affairs are in order!