The True Mehdi Issue 04 - September | Page 8

The Blood Moons Prophecy Could lunar eclipses be portents of the end times? There will be signs in the Sun, Moon and stars. T he last century has seen a huge wave of end-of- the-world predictions - and with Y2K and 2012, our generation, in particular, has witnessed its fair share of ‘the end is nigh!’ claims. To support the notion that we are heading straight to the Apocalypse, the end-times proponents cite everything from the Mayan calendar to Biblical verses. One of the most popular recent theories in Judeo-Christian circles is the Blood Moons Prophecy, which, again, views the Moon as a crucial element in God’s plan for mankind. It conjectures that the four Blood Moons which happened in 2014 and 2015 were signs from God regarding the end times since all four Blood Moons fell on Jewish holidays. The calendar used by the Jewish people, the Hebrew calendar, is a lunisolar calendar. This means that the months are based on the lunar cycle while the years are counted according to the solar cycle. Every month in the Hebrew calendar begins with the New Moon; therefore Jewish holidays and festivals depend on the movement of the Moon. That makes the Moon quite vital for Israel. Some believe that GENESIS 1:14 is evidence that celestial bodies are the locations of signs from God. According to the Talmud, lunar eclipses are bad omens for the Israelites and solar eclipses 8 are bad omens for the non- Jews. It further elaborates that an eclipse seen in the Western sphere of the world will affect only those in the West and an eclipse seen in the East will only affect its inhabitants; if an eclipse is seen in the geocentric zenith, it is a warning for the entire world. [SUKKAH 29A] The Talmud notes, ‘When the colour of the eclipse is red, it symbolises war; when grey, famine; when changing from red to grey, both war and famine.’ [SUKKAH 29A] Rabbis believed these eclipses were signs of trials and tribulations due to human beings’ transgressions. They also declared that the Hebrew people would be successful as long as they followed the decree of God. [SUKKAH 29A] According to the Tanakh (the Old Testament), God said that in the end times, ‘I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth. Blood, fire and columns of smoke. The Sun will be turned into darkness and the Moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.’ [JOEL 2:30-31] The four Blood Moons that came to pass in 2014 and 2015 were special in that they all fell on Jewish feast days - something that isn’t predicted to happen again for the next hundred years. For a tetrad to synchronise with the Jewish holidays is so rare that it has only happened three times in the past 500 years. THE TRUE MEHDI • ISSUE 04 • SEPT 2017 What is a Tetrad? A tetrad in astronomy is ‘a series of four consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six-month intervals.’ — LUKE 22:25 Supporters of the Blood Moons Prophecy point to history as proof of the significance of the 2014/2015 tetrad. They assert that with every tetrad in synchronisation with Jewish festivals, the Jewish people were affected in some way. Mark Hitchcock, in his analysis of the Blood Moons Prophecy [ B LO O D M O O N S RISING, 2014] , notes the three times in history when the tetrad lined up with Jewish holidays: 1493-1494: A year after the Edict of Expulsion was signed in Spain, which banned Jews from entering Spain if they did not convert to Catholicism. 1492 was also the year Columbus sailed to North America, paving the way for the formation of the United States of America which would serve as a ‘safe haven’ for many Jews. 1949-1950: A year after the founding of the modern state of Israel, which was immediately attacked by its neighbouring Arab states; the ensuing Jewish War of Independence would continue on into early 1949. The Jewish people won the war and a tentative truce was made. 1967-1968: 1967 was the year of the Six-Day War between Israel and the combined forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. The Jewish people emerged victorious, having captured the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights. They also gained control of the West Bank, which meant that Jerusalem was now in custody of Israel. In addition to the tetrad lining up with Jewish festivals in 2014/2015, September 2015 was part of the Jewish Sabbatical year. Sabbatical years happen every seven years and during this time, [A TETRAD OF LUNAR ECLIPSES BY DR TONY PHILLIPS FOR NASA] In order to be known as a tetrad, there must not be any partial eclipses between the total lunar eclipses. During a total eclipse, the Moon takes on a reddish hue for approximately an hour. The Blood Moons of 2014-2015 in Conjunction with Jewish Holidays 1: 15 April 2014 - Passover 2: 8 October 2014 - Feast of Tabernacles 20 March 2015 - Total Solar Eclipse 3: 4 April 2015 - Passover 4: 28 Sept 2015 - Feast of Tabernacles The final Blood Moon in the tetrad was an even rarer Supermoon eclipse. the Israelites were to let the land rest, meaning that they were not to plant any crops. The Bible details a time when God punished the Jews for failing to observe the Sabbatical year for 490 years by exiling them from Babylon for 70 years. [2 CHRONICLES 36:20-21] The Blood Moons Prophecy supporters note that the horrific attack of 9/11 was carried out in 2001 - a Sabbatical year. 2008, another Sabbatical year, was the year of the Great Recession. Although the Great Recession affected the whole world, it had a particularly huge impact on the United States of America. Since the United States is home to 40% of the world’s Jewish population , it makes sense that any divine judgement for the Jews would affect the United States. THE TRUE MEHDI • ISSUE 04 • SEPT 2017 9