On Sunday, September 27 a dramatic lunar eclipse will cross the country. The eclipse will begin in Charlotte, NC at 8:11 p.m., reach it’s maximum at 10:47 p.m., and wane at 1:22 a.m. This will be one a supermoon eclipse, which appeared last in 1982 and will not be seen again until 2033. A supermoon occurs when the moon is at its closest point to the earth and is therefore larger.
This lunar eclipse also has taken on ominous overtones as some evangelical Christian ministers who have renamed the event a blood moon. They have also labeled a tetrad of blood moons occurring on Jewish holidays as signs of the end of the world. But they have made at least ten mistakes.
1. The term “blood moon” is wrong, it is manufactured, and the correct term is solar eclipse. If the solar eclipse occurs at the right time the moon turns a tinge of red (like sunrise or sunset) because of rayleigh scattering of sunlight. Other times the moon is amber or just dark during the solar eclipse. Many people cite Rev. 6:12-13 which says, “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.” This is no solar eclipse, this is a cataclysmic event which involves earthquake, sun, moon and stars all in one day!
2. Many call the blood moon a unique event, but there were 229 lunar eclipses in the 20th Century which averages more than twice each year. And the lunar eclipse always falls in the middle of a lunar month which is always when Passover and Succoth occur. The prophecy of Joel 2:30-31 says, “I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” As state above, it is more than just a multi-month cycle of eclipses.
3. Many who get excited ignore what Jesus said to look for: Mark 13:24-25 “”But in those days, following that distress, `the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’” The events come before the blood moon, not after.
4. Some of the events John the apostle list before the blood moon include hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth, A third of the sea turning into blood with death of sea creatures and sailors, and water systems failing. “The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.” Revelation 8:12
5. Peter said uses the prediction of Joel to explain a great revival, not massive destruction: Acts 2:18-21, “Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
6. King Solomon used eclipse like words to describe troubles of old age in Ecclesiastes 12, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”– before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain…”
7. Sensationalism likes to throw Hebrew terms such as shemitah into the conversation to confuse people. One reason for shemita is to cancel debt of fellow Jews (sorry, this does not apply to gentiles). De. 15:1-3 says, “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.”
8. The blood moon is never connected to either the shemitah or the jubilee year. Lev. 25 contains laws of the shemitah or levitical year. “Have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan.”
9. Sen – 2006; sationalists and the false prophets have repeated this tale again and again in order to gain notoriety, build church membership and sell books. (John Hagee predicted this The Begining of the End – 1996; From Daniel to Doomsday – 2000; Jerusalem Countdown – 2006; ) Jesus replied, “When evening comes, you say, `It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, `Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” (Mt 16:2-4)
10. So, don’t believe these false prophets of doom and gloom. Moses would say: “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.” (De. 18:22)
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