Most Christians today are aware of the prophetic statements of Jesus himself in the book of Matthew 24. Here He tells his disciples exactly what can be expected in the very last days. He mentions wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, nations rising up against nations, people against people, etc. Then there is a great time of tribulation as has not been seen since the beginning of the world. We are given clues by Jesus into how to determine the seasons of these events. We know that no man can know the day or the hour that the Son of Man comes, but we are encouraged to know the “season” of His return. He gives us signs in the heavens to give us a ‘heads up’ to his timing. He reveals to us His seasons (Mo-ed) in the sun, moon and stars. When Jesus was speaking to His disciples, he mentioned a significant clue:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” ~ Matthew 24:29-31
This is an information packed piece of prophecy. We can see here that this speaks of the time of the “rapture” or taking up of the people of God. Notice that it is not a secret rapture, rather all the tribes of the earth see Him coming. Notice that this occurs after a time of tribulation. Notice that the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light. Here we are given an indication of the signal in the heavens of the imminent return of Jesus on the cloud. The sun being darkened as we know it, represents a “solar eclipse.” The moon not giving her light as we know it is a lunar eclipse or “blood moon.” It is called a blood moon because the moon appears to be red like blood in the sky. In looking for patterns in the sun and moon, you can see one that is distinct. There are only 6 times since the death of Christ, where there were four consecutive “TOTAL” lunar eclipses in a row that all fell on Holy Feast dates (Information on the Holy Feasts can be found on the God’s Calendar page of this site). Remember, God’s calendar is very different than the Gregorian calendar that man has created today. What is more interesting, is that these signals in the moon seems to have represented significant moments in history. Let’s take a look:
Death of Christ– There were four “PARTIAL” lunar eclipses which occurred on the Jewish Passover and Feast of Tabernacles in the years 32AD-33AD.
FOUR CONSECUTIVE BLOOD MOONS ALL FALLING ON HOLY FEAST DATES
The Following represent years and events where four consecutive TOTAL lunar eclipses occurred all on Holy Feast dates:
EVENT 1- 162-163AD– Occurred on the Jewish Passover and Feast of Tabernacles of these two years. This coincided with the worst persecution of Jews and Christians in the history of the Roman empire. The result was the Antonine Plague which killed eight million people which represented 1/3 of the population.
EVENT 2- 795-796AD– Occurred on the Jewish Passover and Day of Atonement holy days of these two years. In this time, King Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire established a buffer zone between France and Spain, ending centuries of Arab invasions into Western Europe.
EVENT 3- 795-796AD– Occurred on the Jewish Passover and Day of Atonement holy days for these two years. Shortly after the eclipses, the Vatican church in Rome was attacked and looted by an Islamic invasion from Africa.
EVENT 4- 860-861AD– Occurred on the Jewish Passover and Day of Atonement holy days of these two years. Shortly after the eclipses the Byzantine Empire defeated Arab armies at the Battle of Lalakaon in Turkey and permanently stopped the Islamic invasion of Eastern Europe.
EVENT 5- 1493-1494– Occurred on the Jewish Passover and Feast of Trumpets holy days of these two years. During this time, King Ferdinand of Spain expelled all of the Jewish people ordering them to leave the country. Tens of thousands of Jewish refugees were persecuted and masacred as they were fleeing. This also was the beginning of the exploration of the Indies- America, which would soon become a refuge for those seeking religious liberty.
EVENT 5- 1949-1950– Occurred on the Jewish Passover and Feast of Tabernacles holy days of these two years. If you will recall, January of 1949 marked when the Israeli government first took office as an independent nation for the first time in almost 2,000 years. In May of 1948 (when they declared their independence) not but 24 hours later they found themselves surrounded in a war known as Israel’s war of independence. They were surrounded by the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. This war lasted 15 months and took 6,000 Israeli lives (about 1% of their population). On May 11, 1949, Israel took its seat as the 59th member of the United Nations.
EVENT 6- 1967-1968– Occurred on the Jewish Passover and Feast of Tabernacles holy days of these two years. If you will remember, this coincided with the Israeli 6 day war. They fought against Egypt and Jordan to take back Jerusalem.
We are now on the verge of EVENT 7. This is set to occur in 2014-2015- see the chart below:
For those that don’t know- Sukkot means the Feast of Tabernacles, and Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. We are on the verge of the 7th time since the death of Yeshua that there will be four consecutive TOTAL lunar eclipses all falling on Holy Feast dates. The number seven has special meaning in the Word of God. It symbolizes perfection and completion. We can see from history that these signs in the heavens all have in the past represented significant world changing events, especially for Israel (God’s chosen people). What is really interesting, is that in 2015, as you will see above, the Biblical Jewish New Year (Nisan 1) is marked by a Solar eclipse. We can’t know for sure if the lunar and solar eclipse is what Jesus was referring to- He could after all do whatever He wants to do with the sun and the moon. We do know that these signals/signs in the heavens have carried significant meaning in the past, and will probably be significant signs for Israel again. Could this be the a sign of the end? Could this be a sign of the beginning of many Revelation events? We won’t know until everything unfolds. We know that the world is on the verge of war yet again in the Middle East. Could this be the beginning of the tribulation that Jesus warned of? We must WATCH, wait and see. Please don’t ignore the signs (O-tot) in the heavens. Remember the words of Jesus and Repent, the Kingdom is at hand!:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” ~ Matthew 24:29-31
While I support the Moon tetrad eclipses as signs in the heavens regarding Israel. your statement regarding 1493 is inaccurate regarding the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. This was ordered by the King and Queen in 1492 and the Jews had only until July 31, 1492 to leave. 1492 was not a factor. with 1949 and 1967 being positive events for Israel I think the better indicator of the 1493-94 eclipses is that Columbus returned to Europe in 1493 with news of his discoveries. This was a beacon of hope for the Jews, and America became their eventual destination. The first Jews arrived in the 1600’s from South America after the colonies were established, and never stopped coming until Israel was created with their victory in 1949 over the Arabs. The 1949-50 tetrad points to this establishment of the nation officially and international recognition. 1967 points to the 6 day war victory and Jerusalem’s liberation that same year, again a positive event. So I am convinced that in 2014-15 something positive will happen for Israel. Victory in the Psalm 83 war? Victory in the Ezekiel 38-39 war? BOTH??? Will the Church witness these events or will Christ take us home first. Who can say for sure, but it is an exciting time to be alive and a true believer.
Good insight and clarification- thanks Randy!