The Blood Moons HOAX

Belief that the blood moons signify something extraordinary is like believing that animal migrations signify something extraordinary.  They are just too regular and predictable.

We are not sure how many or how far this teaching has spread.  Google turned up Pastor John Hagee first, so we will go with what we found on his website.  The Dispensationalists have taught that the eclipses of the moon are portents of the Second Coming, or the beginning of an apocalyptic tribulation event.  Supposedly, four such blood moons are coming.  While this is made to sound rather ominous and warlike, these blood moons are actually a known periodic celestial appearance.

What Hagee and others are teaching:

banner291“THE COMING FOUR FULL BLOOD MOONS”

SERMON # 2

This Sunday we continue the sermon series, “The Coming Four Full Blood Moons” in the pursuit of the Biblical meaning of the four blood moons predicted by NASA to begin in April 2014 and conclude in October 2015.

Here’s what we know for sure!

1) God created the heavens; that is, the earth, sun, moon and stars are totally controlled by His power.

2) In the biblical account of Joshua and Hezekiah, the three wise men following the star to the location where Jesus was is a biblical validation of God’s absolute control of the universe.

3) Genesis 1:14 states that God has put lights in the firmament and let them be for “signs.”  The Hebrew word for “sign” is “owth” which means also “a signal.”

4) Jesus said in Mark 13:24-46, “But in those days the sun shall be darkened (eclipse) and the moon shall not give its light (eclipse) then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

5) Joel 2 and Acts 2 both state; “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.  The sun shall be turned into darkness (eclipse) and the moon into blood (eclipse) before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.”

Now NASA has stated a fourth blood moon series is about to appear in April of 2014.  What does it mean?  We will pick it up from this concept Sunday morning.  See you there.

Pastor John Hagee

This is not only bad theology; it is also bad science.

First let us explore the theological shortcomings.

The standard rules of hermeneutics require that the reader separate the literal passages from the symbolic and prophetic ones.  The verses quoted by Hagee have been mixed in an irrational and specious manner.

The “I feel, I think, I believe, or the Spirit told me” form of hermeneutics that is so popular in the postmodern church, is not based in sound interpretation.  There is a need to establish a reasonably logical way of looking at these passages.  All interpretation should be able to be tested to standard hermeneutics, without lauding or questioning someone’s spiritual state.  All things are confirmed by two or more witnesses-including scriptural interpretation.

One of the oldest rules of hermeneutics is:  “The Bible is its own best commentary.”  That is the most accurate way to learn how to interpret prophecy. Our first search is to look at prophecies that have already been fulfilled.  There are reoccurring themes and vocabulary, and turns of phrases and language patterns that can be compared or matched to other references of the same events and actual history.

Unfulfilled passages become easier to analyze and perhaps-hypothesize-as to what possible meanings are appropriate. For example, a search of the language found in Daniel concerning the beasts from the sea is a case in point.  These beasts have all been fulfilled as historic imperial powers.  They were Babylon, Medio-Persia, Greece and Rome.  A quick search for other beasts found in the bible should yield more information as to their usage as a symbols.  Most beasts in the Bible are, in fact, animals.  Where we find beasts described as coming up out of the sea, out of the earth, out of the abyss and being worshipped, etc., is in Daniel and The Revelation. Thus, we can reasonably conclude the beasts in The Revelation are likely to be imperial powers as well.

To answer Hagee’s five points:

1. Yes, God is the creator and controller of the universe

2. Signs generally refer to the signaling of the seasons

The Hebrew word for sign has 8 different uses:

  1.  signpledgetoken
  2.  signsomens promised by prophets as pledges of certain predicted events
  3.  signsymbol of prophets
  4.  signsmiracles, as pledges or attestations of divine presence & interposition
  5.  signsmemorials
  6.  signpledge of covenant, e.g. rainbow, of Noachian covenant; circumcision, of Abrahamic covenant; the Sabbath of Mosaic covenant
  7.  ensignsstandards
  8.  signstokens of changes of weather & times

One decides which “sign” is meant by the context.  In Gen 1 the context is the celestial orbs function which is “for signs and for seasons and for days and years”.  So the “signs” were given for people to figure out a way of constructing a calendar.  The “season” or rather “mo’adim”, meaning “the appointed times” , could be established.  This is the same language used of the Biblical holy days, their “mo’adim” were to be be fixed.

Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. Ex. 13:10 KJV

3. Jesus used prophetic and symbolic language to warn of an enormous change regarding the kingdom being taken from the Jews and given to another

4. Joel and Acts are also a reference to this same change that Jesus spoke of

Examples of sun, moon, and stars in prophecy:thumbnail-4-aspx

The moving or shaking of the celestial bodies is a common theme in the Old Testament.  They follow an established pattern.  The pattern shows that abnormal behavior of the sun, moon, and/or stars implied political change.

In Genesis 37, Joseph tells his family of his dream that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. No scholar then, or since, has interpreted it as some kind of astronomical event.  Joseph’s’ family did indeed bow to him; and, the entire family came under his absolute control [Gen 43-50]. Joseph’s dream [Gen. 37:9-11] represented a change in the administration of his family, not a change in the celestial bodies.  No one would suggest that the sun literally bowed to Joseph!

The description of the fall of the Babylonian Empire uses almost exactly the same words [Is. 13:10].

Isaiah also calls the king of Babylon the planet Venus, and says he is fallen.  Yet the planet is still in our skies although the empire of Babylon fell long centuries ago [Is. 14].  (See Also: Lucifer)

Stars are also used to explain the state of things when all the nations are gone and only God reigns [Is. 24.23].

The lamentation over the demise of Pharaoh is described as a darkness coming on Egypt [Ezek. 32:7].

See also [Am. 8:9; Hag 2:6,21].

It is clear from these passages, that in Biblical prophecy when heavenly bodies behave in strange and exotic ways, symbolically a change is indicated in the political structure-not that a literal catastrophic cosmic event is about to occur.  But the Dispensational futurists still insist on a literal meaning. We all need to acknowledge and  learn the correct usage of symbols, metaphors, parables, etc. and their use as a literary device.  They do not negate the message, but rather, often form the most common of understandings among the readers. Hence, the “sky is falling, the sky is falling” from the children’s tale of Chicken Little also becomes a metaphor for calamity.

So lets look at some literal verses.  There are only THREE verses in the Bible with blood red moons, NOT FOUR!

The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. Joel 2:31

The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day. Acts 2:20

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, Rev. 6:12 

In the Acts passage, Peter is quoting the Joel passage and saying that it is being fulfilled in front of their eyes.  So this can not be a prophecy about OUR future.  It was about the fall of Jewish polity.  From this moment Rome began to become less and less tolerant of the Jewish nation.  As the nation had rejected their Messiah, God now moved to make the Roman Empire to reject the Jewish nation.  Forty years later the temple lay in ruins, never to be rebuilt, and, the kingdom was fully given to the Gentiles.  [See Also: Dream, dreams or see visionsand Kingdom Parables]

That leaves only the Revelation 6:12.  As Historicists, we believe that Chapters 6-7 of The Revelation are about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.  Remember the beasts?  It is interesting to note that after Rome fell, the next time period in earth’s history is called the Dark Ages.  But, even if you are a good little Dispensationalist and believe that the very first verse in The Revelation is to be disregarded, it remains that there is still only ONE future blood moon.

Now we will explore the Science:

There have been numerous times in our past when “blood red” moons appeared with eclipses. The phenomenon is well known to astronomers, and for that matter, to astrologers.  Eclipses happen on a well-established schedule worked out by astronomers millennia ago.  They surprise no one who is paying attention to the signs or reads the almanac.

Lunar eclipses occur when the sun, earth and moon sit in alignment and the earth blocks sunlight from reaching the moon.  Usually, we can only see the moon because it reflects sunlight.  But during an eclipse, the source of light is blocked and the moon’s disk goes unusually dark.  However, the moon doesn’t completely disappear since the gasses in our atmosphere act to bend  sunlight, blocking the blue end of the spectrum, and allowing only the red part of the solar spectrum to get though to the moon.  Sometimes this has the effect of turning the moon a deep red, often blood red color.  The mechanism behind this phenomenon is called “Rayleigh scattering.”

But ecliptic moons are only sporadically blood red.  They range in colors from dark brown and red to bright orange and yellow.  Just how red it will appear during totality will depend on the conditions in our atmosphere.  If there is a lot of dust and ash from a volcanic eruption, for example, the lunar surface may turn a dark brown, but if the atmosphere is clear, it may turn a striking blood red.  It’s never easy to predict quite how it will look, so keep your eyes peeled.

Unlike solar eclipses where the moon blocks the sun from our view in only a few locations on the planet, for lunar eclipses, as long as you can see the moon, then you will see the eclipse.

For further reading

The Night of the Blood Red Moon

Lunar Eclipses for Beginners

For Viewing – Apr 15, 2014 Total Lunar Eclipse

Conclusion:

Using the sun, moon, and/or stars as portents of future events is not astronomy nor prophecy, IT IS ASTROLOGY.

  • During Second Battle of Syracuse (415 BC -413 BC) because of a lunar eclipse the priests suggested the Athenians put off their attack for another 27 days. The Syracusans took advantage of this, and with 76 of their own ships attacked the Athenian ships in the harbor, 86 ships were destroyed, and the Athenians were defeated.
  • Columbus-armed with an almanac-tricked the Indians in 1514 into believing he had great powers by telling them he could affect the moon.
  • Just before the Battle Of Gaugamela in 331 B.C. between Alexander the Great and Darius king of Persia there was a lunar eclipse.  The astrologers of the time reported that it was a portent of Darius’ defeat.

Such superstitious non-science and practices are forbidden in the Bible [Deut 18:10-11].  And those who practice such deceptions are to be eliminated.

“You shall not permit a sorceress to live. Ex. 22:18 

 See Also: Blood Moon Hoax 2

45 thoughts on “The Blood Moons HOAX

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  7. Your arrogance betrays you. You must be coming from a suppercessionist paradigm. “given to the Gentiles”? “never to be rebuilt”? Really? Why have you not searched just a little bit out of your comfort zone? Ezekiel’s temple will be built and Paul spoke of the mysterious blinding “until the fullness of the Gentiles”. HaShem has neither forgotten nor will He forsake His people!

    • I agree, the above article has no substance or regard for scriptural arguments as proof of ANYTHING! Jesus HIMSELF fulfilled the first 4 “FEASTS OF THE LORD” right on the very DAY scheduled. Any student of the Bible understands that God uses the MOON in relation and as a timetable for His feast days celebrations. The NEW MOON (FEAST OF TRUMPETS) a solar/lunar event, certainly falls on certain “days” every year, in spite of the above article’s denial moon and sun phases are relavent to prophecy. God says THEY ARE. Jesus will fulfill this NEW MOON feast of the very DAY of the “FEAST OF TRUMPETS”. He fulfilled the first 4 feasts on the VERY DAY; He will fulfill the last 3 FEAST DAYS on the VERY DAY also. According to “laurelanthenat” (author of this article) people who study Biblical Calendars are guilty by association with “astrologers” using the celestial bodies ie. moon/sun phases and are to “be eliminated” (killed?) according to Deut.18:10-11. Thus “laurelanthenat” distain for opposing arguments to his pet interpretations. “laurelanthenat”, the heavenly bodies do tell the story of “redemption” of mankind and solar/sun phases God’s appointed days.

  8. broghtclose, I’m curious. Are you saying that Ezekiel’s temple proves that replacement theology is a lie? Since the topic here is the debunking of trendy theology in the hope that people will think more about the the truth historically and spiritually, what do you think about God’s temple as described to Ezekiel?

    • Hello Christine J. Webster,
      My reference to Ezekiel’s temple was to refute the statement of the author at: “Forty years later the temple lay in ruins, never to be rebuilt and the kingdom was fully given to the Gentiles.” I was only concluding that the author must be subscribed to replacement theology (which is rampant throughout Christendom) in order to miss the significance of the third temple – that the temple WILL be rebuilt.
      I am not in complete disagreement with all of the article…just big parts 🙂
      Now, do I think that the topic of Ezekiel’s temple could be beneficial to those who are willing to challenge supercessionism and dispensationalism. When the Messiah returns and during HIs thousand year reign, He will be ruling from Jerusalem in the Temple. The temple system and all that comes with it will be central to the practice of worship by all believers. Now, if this is true (and it is), then how does that line up with the position continually coming out of the seminaries (evangelical or reformed) that “all of that stuff is done away with”. It doesn’t….so something is wrong. I believe that we have inherited the lies of our fathers. We should be testing ALL of the previous conclusions just like the Bereans of Paul’s day, to measure what people are teaching.
      Another problem I have with the article is the incongruence of the Conclusion piece with the articles first question. Why use three examples (two really) of superstitious statements to be equally considered with what has been revealed in the prophets?

      • There is nothing in this post about Ezekiel’s temple. Nor does it contain the statement “Forty years later the temple lay in ruins, never to be rebuilt and the kingdom was fully given to the Gentiles.”

        Laurel

      • Beloved,
        I brought up Ezekiel’s temple.
        The following is a copy and paste from the article above:
        “In the Acts passage, Peter is quoting the Joel passage and saying that it is being fulfilled in front of their eyes.  So this can not be a prophecy about OUR future.  It was about the fall of Jewish polity.  From this moment Rome began to become less and less tolerant of the Jewish nation.  As they had rejected their Messiah, God now moved to make the Roman Empire to reject them.  Forty years later the temple lay in ruins, never to be rebuilt and the kingdom was fully given to the Gentiles.”

      • “The temple system and all that comes with it will be central to the practice of worship by all believers.”

        But you can’t possibly mean the animal sacrifices, since Jesus was the final sacrifice for sin and the fulfillment of the Law.

      • Bryan,
        It is profitable to study all of the sacrifices. Were they all for sin? Also, you would think that the apostles would be aware of “the animal sacrifices” and the doing away of them. But to challenge your assertion, look at:
        Acts 21: 26Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.

        Also, consider a portion of your statement rewritten like this: “and the fulfillment (not abolishment as is practiced and taught by those who oppose the Torah) of the Torah”

      • I am a gentile. I believe that Jesus is the Son of Man. I will be celebrating by having a Passover Seder in my home Monday night. When we limit Ha Shem we make a grave error. Yes there will be a new temple. Yes there will be sacrifices in this temple . Ha Shem created man in his own image. Yes there will be a world to come. This is the goal. Man restored . World restored. Heavens restored. Ha Shem being all in all. All being sons of God. For it pleased the Father that fullness of his divine nature to rest in the son. Awake, awake o you who sleep. For The Lord will descend with a shout and the dead in Mashiach will rise and those left alive will be caught up to meet him in the air ( clouds) . This world is being transformed into a the greater glory. Be perfect as your father in Heaven is perfect.

        Shalom

      • Luke 22:19 , all of the services were given to teach and reveal Ha Shem’s plan for creation. Yes, Jesus is the final sacrifice for sin. His sacrifice is eternal. No man comes unto the father accept thru him. The Gentiles are blessed thru the promised seed. That seed was brought to us thru Israel. If you have a specific question, then ask me. I will give you the text. Let me give you food for thought. In John 6 Jesus tell the people that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood. However, this would be against the Torah. In the later verses he tells them these words are spirit. The mystery Of Christ is Christ in You. If we can only see literal then we will fail to see spiritual.

        Shalom

      • Interesting. After reading your comment about sacrifices, Warren, i wonder what take you have on Isaiah 66 or Micah 6.

        Regarding the moon, I sure hope the sky over our place is clear so we can see it. Never the less, it is always good to pray for the peace of Jerusalem whether that prayer is directed to the earthly representation or the Jerusalem that is above. Peace be yours in Christ Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

      • You have requested a response to a very rich utterance of Isaiah. In that there is limited ability to impart all that revolves around this portion of scripture I will try to give you and over view. First and foremost God has never desired to have animals pay the price for mans sin. However, these sacrifices teach and point to the sacrifice of one man, the Holy One of Israel, Yeshua the messiah. Anyone can keep the commandment to bring a sacrifice, yet God desires is that we do all that we do with a humble and contrite heart. Once the temple is restored there will be sacrifices that are brought and offered to God. However, the only sacrifice that will grant eternal covering of ones sin is the blood of Jesus. Life is in the blood. All of creation is paying for Adams disobedience. It was God who first sacrificed an animal in the Garden. It was God who destoyed all the animals in the Flood, it was God who in the 10 th plague killed the firstborn of both man and livestock. The animals are crying out for redemption as well as all creation. The key to your question is to realize that the present world that we live in and will live in when Christ returns to establish the Kingdom for a 1000 years will eventually be done away with. The Word says that the old order will pass away and all thing will be made new. This is the subject of the rest of Isaiah 66.
        Micah 6 repeats the same words. Anyone, be it Jew or gentile, that is honoring God with his lips only and not his heart, is going to be judged among the wicked, workers of iniquity. I hope this helps you.

        Shalom
        Warren

    • Yes replacement theology if not a lie is a gross distortion of the truth. Jesus called us (believers) branches of the tree of faith. There would be no Christian faith without the old covenant message of salvation. It is in every book of the Bible. Old and New Covenants. Christians did not discover redemption in Christ and thereby “own” it. We were graced to understand the fullness of the revelation in Christ as it concerns our redemption through his blood. I agree with Paul in Romans 11. The entire chapter is extremely significant to this concept, but here is a small portion. He speaks of ‘blindness’ that will be lifted from off of his covenant people in the last days. 26And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
      27For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
      28As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 29For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 32For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.”
      As the church we should watch Israel and we would do well to understand their history taking special note of verses 30 and 31. Are we fulfilling this in our lives are we being faithful to the Jewish people in this? Just because we may not understand “how” He is doing it, we know through the Word that God is in fact still at work in the nation he initially chose to show His compassion mercy and salvation.

  9. We have no problem with your Christology or your Soteriology. However we don’t understand why you thought it necessary to put it in our post on the Blood Moons. This is a prophecy blog.
    Our Doctrinal Statement is here
    http://openingtheseals.wordpress.com/about/
    Comments about Christology and Soteriology properly belong there.

    If you want to spend time discussing ones walk with the Lord you might like our other blog better.
    http://thesongofsongsblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/four-kinds-of-men-in-the-bible/

    Laurel

  10. Blood Moons, Pretrib Rapture, Etc.

    Heard of the coming blood moons? Is the pretrib rapture symbolized by anything in the heavens?
    Hal Lindsey, influenced by occultic astrology, asserts on p. 124 in “The Late Great Planet Earth” that the famous Sphinx in Egypt has the head of a “woman” – even though encyclopedias say it’s the head of a “man”! Hal’s plagiarism on that page of a 19th century British theologian is his acceptance of the occultic Virgo-to-Leo theory – a “Christian” zodiac arbitrarily starting with Virgo (Virgin Mary) and ending with Leo (Christ returning as “Lion,” Rev. 5:5).
    Those who swallow this guesswork often see Ursa Minor (part of Cancer which precedes Leo) as a heavenly “symbol” of a pretrib rapture! (Hal doesn’t want anyone to Google “Hal Lindsey’s Pretrib Rapture Proof”!)
    Pretribs also insist on separating the “church” from “Israel” – but when you aren’t looking (or thinking) they blithely “prove” pretrib by the Jewish feasts in Leviticus, the stages of a Hebrew wedding (Google “Pretrib Rapture: A Staged Event”), and the one “taken” and the other “left” in “Jewish” Matthew 24.
    Amazingly, Jewishness (and even anti-Jewishness) has been uncovered even in pretrib dispensationalism’s 19th century foundation (Google “Roots of Warlike Christian Zionism”)!
    The current “blood moons” craze (promoted by lunar persons including rock musician Scottie Clarke and John Hagee) is tied to – you guessed it – the same old Jewish feast days.
    Yes, there’s something colored red in the future of the church, but I don’t have moons in mind. What will really turn red will be the collective faces of many when it finally dawns on them that their any-moment fly-away was nothing more than an end time hoax!
    Not shook up yet? Okay, then at least Google “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty.”

  11. “This is not only bad theology but, it is also bad science.”

    What is? I do not see what Hagee said in your above quote that was bad theology or science. I do not see any predictions using these “blood moons” by Hagee in the quote you sited. He used some prophetic scriptures about blood moons and sun eclispes, but made no predictions of any future events. I do not follow Hagee anyway, but for sake of argument he said nothing I would construe as “astrology” (zodiac forecasting). “Using the sun, moon, and/or stars as portents of future events is not astronomy nor prophecy, IT IS ASTROLOGY”. Again–where in the quotes by Hagee did he do this? It is apparent that during “during those days..the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, Rev. 6:12” are definitely “wonders” in the Heavens associated with the “Day of the Lord”–God seems to have specifically pointed this out. Shall we accuse John on Patmos of praticing “astrology”? Acts 2:19 similarly declares this is GOD’S doing, “I (GOD) will shew WONDERS (τέρας “omens”) in the heavens” as a signal of the Lord coming. Greek (τέρας) –“wonders” a prodigy or “omen”: – wonder.” So, we must consider Joel and Peter as fellow astrologists and sky forecasters deserving God’s wrath? Hagee is ‘postulating’ not “soothsaying”–calm yourself.

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  13. People still have not learned from the crap we all heard before. The Jupiter Effect, the Bible Code, the Quatrains of Nostradamus, Y2K and the December 21st 2012 end of the world crap. It’s all witchcraft and nothing is going to happen in the next few years. Satan is having a field day with us. The 4 blood moons is about as supernatural as a fortune cookie. Using the sun, moon, or stars as portents of future events is not astronomy or prophecy, IT IS ASTROLOGY. It’s witchcraft and the bible warns us about this kind of stuff. Such superstitious and practices are forbidden in the Bible [Deut 18: 9-14]. I fully expect the church to be into tea leaves, crystal balls, we-gee boards and tarot cards, very soon.! This 4 blood moons is just more crap coming from Satan. We subject ourselves to ridicule every time there is an asteroid or a planetary alignment or an eclipse, and we run around crying, that the sky is falling.!!

    • Ask the wise men if the star was just a symbol and crap from Satan, they seemed to find Jesus just fine. Jesus seemed to refer to signs as well when he rebuked the pharisees for not seeing the signs of his coming. Satan can’t control the moon and the stars, but what he can do is make them not matter, and a joke. He’s obviously succeeding. Careful what you think might be nothing, don’t get complacent always be ready in season and out of season and even if nothing does come to pass use it as a reminder to be ready.

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