Blood Moon Rising – Day of the Lord
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Image added by Lyn Leahz
“And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come” (Joel 2:30-31).
This is part II, completing my sermon from my previous article, “No Man Knoweth the Day or Hour.” If you have not read that article you must make it the foundation to build upon to understand the teaching presented here. I invite you to read the first part found on this site to prepare your understanding. In the first part, we established that Jesus was talking about a coming day that could point to the time of His coming to earth to take His church home. It was an “idiom” that any Jewish man living at the time would recognize immediately just what Jesus was talking about, when Jesus said these words: Matthew 24:36:
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” The key words are, “no man knoweth the day or the hour.”
This “idiom” that Jesus was speaking of was also spoken of ONLY on one day on the Hebraic calendar known as the Feast of Trumpets. We studied the connection that Jesus spoke of to the God-appointed times of His plan for mankind and the prophetic rehearsals that signaled His first coming and His death and resurrection. It also points to His Second Coming at the end of the age of grace.
It would be logical and scriptural to assume that if God used these times for the redemption plan of salvation to be completed on the exact days of these feast days made by God, and knowing God doesn’t do anything by happenstance, we can look to the feasts that are still waiting to be fulfilled those that are observed in the fall with the first of these days known as the Feast of Trumpets, also known as, “The return of the King.”
But moving on to what I would like to focus on in this article: Is there anything that can be correlated to this feast day that would give us pause and wonder? Could this be the day? A word of caution is needed here. I am no Harold Camping and I am not so impudent to say that God has told me the exact day of His return. No, we look to the Scriptures to let the Word give us meaning to the coming days, as we see them approaching.
As I cautioned last time, take these words and line them up to your Bible and as a good Berean, see if these things are true and judge for yourself. Don’t believe me. Believe your Bible. There will be mockers and people who say that this has no meaning except it be seen from an example of Israel and something proclaimed by a rabbi. I am aware that Israel is the center of prophecy. God gives all His people warning of His closeness of return and it doesn’t take a rabbi in Israel to “sanctify” the Word of God. All born-again believers will understand through the direction of the Holy Spirit, as they are foolishness to the carnal man, but wisdom to those who are saved by grace, as they a spiritually discerned.
BLOOD MOON TETRADS
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26).
Luke recorded the words of our Lord when the disciples came to Him and asked when the end of the age would happen and the signs of His coming. What are these signs Jesus was speaking of and do they have any significance to what we are studying? We will see that may be just the case. But notice further on in the chapter Jesus said this to them, and to us:
“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Matthew 21:34-36)
We are to be ever alert and watchful as the signs of His appearing will be all around us. Signs in the heavens were present that announced Christ’s first visitation. Will there be signs that will be present at His Second Coming at the end of the age of grace?
“He [Jesus] answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowing. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:2-3)
As it was in the beginning found in Genesis chapter 1 that the sun, moon and stars would be signs in the heavens for season, signs, and years:
“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14).
So it will be in the end, that God will use His creation to signal to His people the signs of His coming and the end of the age. Let us focus for a moment on the opening Scripture that is quoted from Joel. Joel writes that the sun will be “darkened.” Joel restates this very thing in a following verse in the third chapter:
“The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining” (Joel 3:15).
Looking to Strong’s Concordance, we find the meaning of the words, darkened or darkness. We see in one of the verses the Hebrew word “chosehek.” Strongs #2822 states: the dark, darkness, or figuratively, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, night or obscurity. The other word is Strongs #6937 “qadar” to mean dark colored, sackcloth, be black, to make dark meaning no light.
Is there coming a day when the sun becomes black when no light falls anywhere and near a prophetic feast day, a day we have determined could be the day that the Lord says He would return? In the secular, they are called “solar eclipses” either partial or total. When the sun is covered either in part or total, the moon receiving its light from the sun turns reddish in color, depending on what part of the world you are viewing it from called a “blood moon.”
If we go to NASA, a secular authority that tracks these solar and lunar eclipses, we find that they have a complete listing of the eclipses that have happened and the ones that will be coming in the future. NASA identifies these as blood moon tetrads or four consecutive lunar eclipses that group together. There have only been two in the last century and they came on dates that are associated with prophetic events concerning Israel.
The first set of lunar eclipses happened in 1949 and 1950 and they are associated with the formation of Israel as a nation. Their birth was in 1948, but the government was not established until 1949. Those events happened in April and October of 1949, and April and September of 1950. The other event surrounded the recapturing of Jerusalem in 1967 or the Six Day War. Those eclipses were in April and October of each year of 1967 and 1968 also known as Passover and Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkoth. These can be viewed as prophetic markers in the sky that pointed to a completion of God’s promise to restore Israel and Jerusalem to the Jewish people.
How common are these blood moon tetrads, and the complete lunar eclipses of four in a row? Quite rare, as it had not happened in the past before 1949, except in 1493, and will happen only one other time in this century and will not happen again for 500 years. I would call that very rare.
BLOOD MOONING RISING, AGAIN
As we have learned there have been two blood moon tetrads in the last century. But notice that in our last lesson that Jesus made a clue that pointed to a possible feast day of His return. None of these last blood moon tetrads fell on what Jesus alluded to as the prophetic day in the Hebraic calendar, the time we have determined to possibly be the Feast of Trumpets and the Lord’s return. Is another total eclipse coming in the near future that does fall on these feast days? Yes, there is. According to NASA there will be another set of lunar eclipses coming up in 2014 and 2015. Why is this significant? In 2014 these eclipses fall on April and October 2014, which so happens to be Passover and Tabernacles (again) of that year. It will also happen in 2015 on yet another holy day of Passover and Tabernacles in April and September. But remember, Joel said that the Day of the Lord would happen after these signs are shown:
“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come” (Joel 2:31), emphasis added).
So we know that the Lord can’t come in 2014 or 2015, as the signs or blood moon tetrads have not been completed. The next Feast of Trumpets will be August 31 through September 1, 2016; a possible sign of His return. This is also the end of a generation after Israel became a nation, and also the end of a 50-year Jubilee or the end of a generation as previously discussed.
But there’s more. There will also be a total eclipse on the beginning of the Hebrew calendar on March 20th, 2015, and again the very next year on March 9, 2016 which is also the beginning of the Hebrew calendar year. These are both on a new moon of both years and NASA says there will be total eclipses. Another point is that on the year of the Feast of Trumpets there will be a partial solar eclipse on the very day; a very rare occurrence to say the least.
What are the chances of this happening on these exact days in our past, and our future? The answer is: NEVER. It has never happened in the past, and it will never happen in our lifetime and won’t happen again at all for 100 years! Coincidence? I don’t think so. But remember, we observe that the Lord has completed His first advent on the exact feast days found in the spring, and it bears note that He will most likely follow suit to complete the fall observances, as well.
Could these signs in the sun, moon and the stars proclaim the coming of the Lord on a following Feast of Trumpets? It bears much study and prayer, waiting and watching for further signs. But again, I make no claim that these are facts indisputable and I am not infallible, but only reporting what God has shown me, and others, things that may be coming upon the earth.
DANIEL OPENS UP TO OUR UNDERSTANDING
When Daniel had revealed what was to come upon the earth, beginning in chapter 12, Daniel inquired of God when all this would come to pass. What did God say to the prophet?
“And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:8-9).
These signs were quite disconcerting for the prophet and he inquired of their fulfillment and was told the signs of the times would be sealed until the time of the end. Knowing full well that the signs are all around us, I believe the signs are being opened up to us to understand. I’m amazed at how many ministers are becoming aware of these signs in the heavens that are possible precursors to the coming of our Lord. Do we get any of this wrong? None of us are infallible, but each minister takes his interpretation and prayerfully asks the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth.
Do we all agree? Not on everything, as this minister believes that the coming signs point to a pre-Tribulation removal of the church before the beginning of Jacob’s trouble. Why do I say that? Some make a distinction of the Day of the Lord and the beginning of the Tribulation to be two separate events. Both have one thing in common and that is God’s wrath. But we are not the focus of God’s wrath, as God told Isaiah that He would punish the world for it’s wickedness but the people of God would be hidden away.
“Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain” (Isaiah 26:19-21).
TWO OR THREE WITNESSES CONFIRM A MATTER
“This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1).
There are more witnesses than even this, if we follow what the Bible tells us about the end of days.
Witness number one:
[Jesus said,] “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:34).
Taking our Lord literally, we know that a generation is 70 years for man, 80 by strength:
“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10).
When Jesus was on earth He said that this generation would not pass, as noted in the above verses, but also identified in His Word that a generation is 70-80 years. I believe that time clock started ticking away again when Israel became a nation according to the parable of the fig tree.
“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all thesethings, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 21:33-35).
As we have studied in the past, Israel is that fig tree and she bloomed once again, prophetically in 1948, when she became a nation as declared by David Ben-Gurion and ratified by the UN charter. That is when the 70-year time clock began once again to tick for the generation who would also see the Lord’s return.
Witness number two:
The liberation of Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967 began the countdown for the year of Jubilee. What is the year of Jubiliee? It is the definition of property rights and land ownership, the freeing of slaves but more important it is the beginning and end of the generation. I take you to the definition found in Strongs #1755 and the Hebrew word “dowr” which describes the meaning of the Jubliee as, ” period, generation, dwelling, age and habitation.” If you take the capture of Jerusalem as returned to the Jewish people and the nation of Israel from 1967-1968, adding 50 years, you come to the end of that generation — that is also the end of the length of a generation according to Psalm and they both fall in the year 2017.
Witness number three:
The last clue to the end of a generation is the coming Blood Moon Tetrads that fall on a Feast of Tabernacles on2014 and 2015. Can all these clues be pure coincidence? The possibility of this occurrence by chance is unfathomable. It is impossible in the human realm for all these clues to be colliding with one another.
LET’S REVIEW WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED
We have established the premise that Jesus was giving the disciples an “idiom” that pointed to His telling them that He would return on a future Feast Day of Trumpets some time in the next two thousand years which is our time. We have established that all things are connected to Israel and surround her as the key to prophetic events past, present and future, if you have been following any of my articles from the past.
We have established with witness after witness points to a generation being fulfilled in the year 2017-2018. And the cap on the stone is the signs of the sun and the moon that are signs in the heavens that Jesus said would be occurring just before the “Day of the Lord” We know that the day of the Lord begins in chapter 6 of Revelation, as this is when God’s wrath is falling about the heads of earth dwellers.
“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great
earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
And said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17)
This signals the beginning of the Day of Wrath, the Day of the Lord’s wrath upon the earth. It begins an awful time of gloom, death and destruction.
“That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung” (Zephaniah 1:16-17).
This day begins with the opening of the first seal in chapter 6 and continues unabated until God sends His seventh angel with the vial or bowl judgment to pour out His vengeance from the cup of His indignation without mixture, meaning full-strength.
To bring this time of judgment, the church looks for a sign of hope, of blessings, and the fulfillment of God’s promise to His true church.
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3: 11).
Finally, brethren, take one last look at the coming signs that have been forecast and prophesied by men and by God respectively. Any of the following and what is addressed above does not mean that the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will definitely occur in what I have taught here, as they are signs that show that the time is close, right at the door. But to pinpoint a date, as some have done is not in our knowledge. Only the Father knows for sure and it is in His authority to show it to His saints and His ministers. The above taken as a whole does show is a pattern of how God has been working up to this time and signs that are coming in the near future. If that is the case one could see the following table in conclusion:
1) The first Tetrad was in 1493-1494 and heralded the Jewish Dispersion from Spain and the Jews were scattered.
2) The Second Tetrad of 1949-1950 heralded the Israel becoming a nation and the re-gathering of the Jews to their homeland.
3) The Third Tetrad of 1967-1967 ushered in Israel regaining control of Jerusalem and recapturing the Temple Mount.
4) The Fourth Tetrad coming in 2014-2015 point to a major event for Israel. Could be connected to the restart of the Temple being built, and followed by Tribulation. Last, we have identified that 2016 and 2017 is the only date for another 500 years that will have this prophesied sign in the heavens to proclaim the coming of the Lord on the Feast of Trumpets.
A CALL TO REPENTANCE
My reader, you have been given the evidence. You can search the Internet and your Bible to prove what you have read is truth. God is speaking to all who will listen. But make no mistake about one thing — Jesus is coming, very soon. A wise man calling himself a Christian gets his house in order. Don’t let the Lord find you ashamed on that day or standing naked and caught unaware.
To the fence sitter and the unrepentant, today is the day of salvation. There may be no other chance for you in this life to do so.
“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation)” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).
Do not reject so great a salvation as to do so will condemn you for all eternity.
“To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:4-5).
Do not refuse the calling of the Holy Spirit, as He calls you today, even as you read this. Prove all things to yourself. Reach out to Him who is able to free you from this sinful world and bring you to a place where He wants to put your name and spend all eternity in the light of His glory.
A day is fast approaching, a day of gloom, darkness and incredible sadness for all who have rejected the free offering of His grace by accepting the sacrifice of His Son on a cruel Roman cross to be a substitution of the penalty that each of us deserve─death! But He wishes to make you alive in Christ Jesus.
Won’t you take that opportunity to accept that sacrifice right now? You are promised only today to live your life and tomorrow might be too late.
“And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For
if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:24-29).
For COMING tomorrow, very soon is a day of redemption for all who believe in God’s only begotten Son, and to those who reject Him: A BLOOD MOON RISING AND THE DAY OF THE LORD!
This is Pastor Mike Taylor, praying God’s salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ will be found in your life today. If you need counseling, prayer, or just a listening ear, email me here at: realteam1999@sbcglobal.net , or visit me online at: http://www.churchofgod-usa.org.
God bless you all during the final days of the end of the Age.
Till we meet at Jesus feet.
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