Sunday, September 27, 2015

Bloodmoon and the Supermoon Tetrad Arrives -- What It Is

"I hear hurricanes a blowing.
I know the end is coming soon.
I fear rivers overflowing.
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.
Don't go around tonight,
Well, it's bound to take your life,
There's a bad moon on the rise.
All right!"

"Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

It's September 27, 2015, and a supermoon lunar eclipse will occur at nightfall. A sizeable moon, referred to as a “supermoon,” happens because in its orbit, the moon will be closer to the earth than at any other time, just about 385,000 kilometres away. The closeness will make the moon appear up to 14 percent larger than usual.

The lunar eclipse part of this phenomenon is caused by the Earth inserting itself between the sun and the moon. As this happens, the Earth casts its shadow on the face of the moon.

The “blood moon” effect is caused by the fiery ring around the earth with the sun directly behind it, its shadowed face turned to the moon. The thin glimmer from the sunrise-sunset encircling the darkened earth, hits the moon surface and reflects back as a reddish glow. The moon takes on the color of blood.

The last lunar eclipse of this magnitude occurred in 1982, and the next one of a similar magnitude will be in 2033. A lesser lunar eclipse will come in 2018.

Omens of the Blood Moon

The idea of a "blood moon" serving as an omen of the coming of the end times comes from the Book of Joel before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes." The Book of Joel is part of the Hebrew Bible and is part of a group of twelve prophetic books known as the Twelve Minor Prophets.

"I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.".


(Joel 2:30-31)

This phrase is again mentioned by Saint Peter during Pentecost, as recorded in Acts, although Peter says that date, not some future date, was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy.

"The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord."


 (Acts 2:20)

The blood moon also appears in the book of Revelation chapter 6.

"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?"

(Revelations 6:12-17)

Stories abound about how the supermoon of September 27 will be enormous in the sky, that it could trigger earthquakes, that the blood red color is a sign of doom, and the fact that this one is the fourth in a series called a "tetrad" must mean some kind of apocalyptic ending. A tetrad is a term for four total lunar eclipses happening at six-month intervals.

The number of "blood moons" seen in the past 18 months sparked some conspiracy theories about possible dangers to humanity. In 2014, according to Space.com skywatching columnist Joe Rao, online rumors drew a link between the eclipses and biblical prophecies of the apocalypse -- a theory also popularized in a book called Four Blood Moons by evangelical pastor John Hagee (Worthy Publishing, 2013).

Hagee claims that history has shown the last blood moon in a tetrad signals a time period of tragedy. He claims that when a tetrad occurs there is “a sense in the world that God is trying to communicate with us in a supernatural way.”

(Elizabeth Howell. "Four Blood Moons: Supermoon Eclipse Will Cap Epic Lunar Tetrad."
Yahoo News. September 24, 2015.)

Irvin Baxter runs Endtime Ministries in Plano, Texas. He says, “Some prophecy teachers are declaring boldly that this tetrad just ahead signals that something is getting ready to happen, which will change the world forever."

God has often used “the heavens” for sending signs to mankind, Baxter says. He quotes Genesis, in which God says there should be lights in heaven and says of those lights: “Let them be for signs.”

Baxter warns that previous tetrads have had stark consequences for Jewish people. The Spanish inquisition took place before the tetrad of 1493-94. The tetrad of 1949-50 occurred just after the founding of Israel. The tetrad of 1967-1968 occurred as the Six-Day War was fought in Jerusalem.

(Adam Gabbatt. "'Blood moon' brings prophecies of end times – but Nasa says not to worry." Guardian News. September 27, 2015.)

Last month NASA shot down reports that appeared on alternative news sites claiming an asteroid would hit Earth on September 28, “wiping out most of the Americas.”

Mark Blitz, who leads the El Shaddai Ministries in Washington, agrees the asteroid story was rubbish; he says the end will instead be heralded by the mother of all earthquakes after a blood moon prophecy.

“The number has more than doubled over the last 10 years,” he told his devotees recently. “It was prophesied that there would be earthquakes at increased levels before the return of the Messiah and they were to be likened to birth pangs. … With the increase in activity and the increase in magnitude I definitely see it as being but another sign along with the signs in the heavens that we are at the door.”

Blitz uses Revelation to support his theory. He warns that the dreaded Four Horsemen of the Acocalypse will use these events to reveal their individual missions. 

(Kara Gilmour. "Super Blood Moon 2015 Prophecy Unveils Apocalypse On Sept 28."
NewsOXY. September 25, 2015.)

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