And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:19-21 ESV)
This morning there was a “blood moon”, meaning a lunar eclipse where the earth comes between the sun and the moon. It makes the moon appear to be red, like blood. Tonight, the feast of Tabernacles (in Hebrew, sukkot and pronounced “sue-COAT”) begins at sundown. Is this merely a coincidence? No, it is not.
The blood moon occurring this morning was the second of four consecutive total lunar eclipses with no partial eclipses in between. The first occurred the morning of April 15, 2014, the first day of the feast of Passover (in Hebrew, pesach and pronounced “peh-SOCK” or “pay-SOCK”), which began the previous sundown on April 14, 2014. Again, not a coincidence.
The days of the beginning of Father’s feasts are determined by the orderly progression of new moons, not lunar eclipses. This pattern will repeat again next year, with the next lunar eclipse occurring on April 4, 2015, the beginning of Passover, and the final eclipse occurring on September 28, 2015, the beginning of Tabernacles. Imagine the odds of this happening by “accident”. No, we believe an intelligent design is at work.
The question is, What does it all mean?
Pastor John Hagee has stated publicly that these occurrences are “celestial signals” from Father that something dramatic is about to happen in the Middle East, and particularly in the Jewish state. According to his interview with CBN News, linked above, such “signals” have historically coincided with major events involving Jews when the eclipses have aligned with Father’s feast days. Pastor Hagee is further quoted as saying, “In each of these blood moons, you have something that begins in tragedy and ends in triumph.” We believe that Pastor Hagee is correct.
However, Pastor Hagee unfortunately confuses the Jewish state with “Israel”, the name passed on by Jacob/Israel to his son Joseph’s sons, grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh. In Genesis 48, Jacob said,
Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as (my sons) Reuben and Simeon are.
Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well.” …Bless the lads; And may my name (Israel) live on in them,…
Notice, that the Bible does not use the name “Jacob” here, although that was also his name, but instead uses the name given to Jacob after he wrestled with the angel of the Lord at Penuel. Thus, Ephraim and Manasseh became sons of Jacob/Israel, as Reuben, Simeon and Judah were. Judah was the progenitor of the Jews, which is short for “Judahite”. It is simply not controversial, by any reasonable definition of the word, that the name “Israel” legally belongs to the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, and may not be usurped by anyone else.
Pastor Hagee says it is unclear what the signals portend; is that also incorrect? The passage we quote at the beginning of this post was taken from Acts 2, in the New Testament. It is the story of another of the feasts, occurring after Passover, called Pentecost (in Hebrew, Shavuot and pronounced “sha-vu-OAT”) because it occurs 50 days after Passover. On this particular occasion, the apostle Peter quoted from the Old Testament book of Joel and stated it was a partial fulfillment of another day, spoken of by the prophet Joel.
The prophecy itself identifies the later day: “the day of the Lord…the great and magnificent day.”
Whatever else may or may not accompany this “great and magnificent” day, we believe it will begin the restoration of all things which Peter also mentioned shortly afterward, when Father begins to turn the world upside right. Does anyone even want things to be different? Does Father need celestial signals for things to remain the same? No, these signals are meant to convey hope to the hopeless, liberty to the captive, and release to those physically, emotionally and/or spiritually imprisoned. In short, it will usher in the fulfillment of Isaiah 61.
Dear reader, things are going to change. For one, Jesus Christ will be disclosed, and the world will begin to learn what Father is really like, not the angry, vindictive, vengeful God as He is portrayed. But instead like the shepherd of the lost sheep and the prodigal’s father, who desires mercy and compassion, not judgment, and whose mercy endures forever.
So which side of this argument are you on, dear reader? Do you worry that Pastor Hagee and others who predict the great tribulation and hell-on-earth might be right? Why don’t you ask the Lord Jesus yourself? It is not difficult, and all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Blessed are you, wonderful Father, for you have placed celestial signals in the skies to tell of your glory and grace, which like your love, never fails. Answer all who call upon your name and grant your great salvation. Baruch ata.