Is the Blood Moon Prophecy a sign of the end times?

Today, Wednesday October 8, we shall see the second of the four-part series of the Blood Moon eclipses.

A blood moon, a total lunar eclipse, causes the planet Earth to cast its shadow on the surface of the moon. A shade of red then taints the moon as it passes due to the reflection of the light from the sun.

According to NASA,  during this episode, the moon will appear 5.3% larger than it did during the April 15 eclipse and the eclipse will last 59 minutes. The entire October 08 eclipse is visible from the Pacific Ocean and regions immediately bordering it but none of the eclipse is visible from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

The times are slated as follows–the partial eclipse begins at 5:18 a.m. EDT, with the full eclipse beginning at about an hour later at 6:27 a.m. The maximum eclipse is set for 6:55 a.m., with the full eclipse ending at 7:22 a.m. Sunrise will take place at 7:57 a.m.

This is an important event in the astronomer's calendar; but does it mean anything to the true believer?


John Hagee, Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio Texas and author of “Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change,” seems to think this is a significant event in the Christian Calendar. He postulates, along with Mark Blitz of El Shaddai Ministries, that an ongoing tetrad (a series of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, with six full moons in between, and no intervening partial lunar eclipses) which began with the April 2014 lunar eclipse is a sign of the end times.

The dates of Biblical prophecy Blood Moons in 2014 and 2015 are:

2014:

• Total lunar eclipse: April 14-15
• Total lunar eclipse: October 7-8

2015:

• Total lunar eclipse: April 4
• Total lunar eclipse: September 28

The idea of a "blood moon" serving as an omen of the coming of the end times comes from the Book of Joel in the Bible, where it is written "the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes." (Joel 2:31) This phrase is again mentioned by Saint Peter during Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2:20.

John Hagee claims that every prior tetrad of the last 500 years coincided with events in Jewish and Israeli history that were originally tragic, yet followed by triumph. 

John Hagee

He maintains that the tetrad holds religious significance, particularly because the first two blood moons align with the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacle. Hagee told Fox News that the tetrad signals the end of the modern era.

“Technically, the end times began with the outpouring of Pentecost 2,000 years ago,” said Hagee. “We have been in the end times a long time.”

Hagee says that any change brought by the four blood moons will impact Israel.

He references three previous dates as examples of that. They include the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492), the years right after Israel was declared a nation-state (1949-50), and the Six-Day War (1967).

“Each time it has gone from tragedy to triumph,” said Hagee.

“This is something that the Bible using the sun, the moon, and the stars as a communication system to humanity says something is about to change and world history is going to change forever,” said Hagee.

Though some Christians strongly believe that this year's 'blood moon' eclipses are related to biblical prophecy, some others do not. An example is the Rev. Mark Hitchcock, a preacher and biblical prophecy expert in Edmond, Oklahoma. He told The Oklahomian that he doesn't believe the eclipses are related to Bible prophecy. 

He points out that while rare astronomical occurrences can often be read about in the Bible, the upcoming lunar eclipses is not one of them. He explained in his recently released book, "Blood Moons Rising: Bible Prophecy, Israel and the Four Blood Moons," that after examining historical and scriptural information, he believes that "the conclusions they draw on this blood moon prophecy of 2014 and 2015 are not valid."

As for me, I would like to state that everyone should be prepared for that day; whether tomorrow or next year. Jesus is definitely coming soon.