And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
This weekend’s (Saturday, April 4th) “blood moon” marks the third in a rare series of four lunar eclipses (called a tetrad) that fall on Jewish feast days over 17 months. This blood moon will be the shortest lunar eclipse of the four. Strangely, it will take place on the fourth day of the fourth month, and stay at total eclipse for a duration of four minutes and forty-four seconds.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth passes between the sun and the moon. This blocks the sun’s rays from reflecting off the moon as normal. However, some of the sun’s rays curve around the earth causing the moon to appear red during a total eclipse. Because of its vivid color, a total lunar eclipse is often referred to as a “blood red moon.”
2014:
- Total lunar eclipse: April 15 (Feast of Passover)
- Total lunar eclipse: October 8 (Feast of Tabernacles)
2015:
- Total lunar eclipse: April 4 (Feast of Passover)
- Total lunar eclipse: September 28 (Feast of Tabernacles)
The blood moon phenomenon has captivated much of the religious world. Many see the occurrence of four consecutive blood moons corresponding with Jewish feast days as much more than a coincidence. Since 1 AD, this has only happened 8 times and only 3 times since 1492. Many are taking note that major events affecting the Jewish people have taken place in close proximity to all three of these tetrads.
- Tetrad of 1493-1494 (Spanish Inquisition)
- Tetrad of 1949-1950 (Israel becomes a nation-1948)
- Tetrad of 1967-1968 (City of Jerusalem united after 6-day war)
If you want to see what day of the month it is, look on the calendar. If you want to see what day in the season it is of the coming of the Lord, watch where Israel's setting. That's God's timepiece.
61-0217 The Mark Of The Beast And The Seal Of God #2
The Middle East is a tinderbox. This has been the case for decades, but there seems to be a shift in world politics concerning the relation between the United States and Israel. In fact, relations between the two countries have never been worse. Other countries are also distancing themselves from the Jewish State, to the point where Israel may very well find herself standing alone.
Here are a few of recent noteworthy occurrences:
- Relations with Israel and the United States are the worst in history.
- The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed the Congress of the United States in March 2015, against the will of the president.
- Last month the Prime Minister of Israel issued a call to all Jews living in Europe to immigrate to Israel, because they are not safe in Europe.
- "This wave of terror attacks can be expected to continue, including antisemitic and murderous attacks. We say to the Jews, to our brothers and sisters, Israel is your home and that of every Jew. Israel is waiting for you with open arms."
- This was flatly rejected by European leaders.
- On March 2, Israel’s Jewish Court made historical ruling that Israel’s police on the Temple Mount “must” allow all Jews to pray and read their Bibles, despite violent Muslim opposition.
And it gets better.
We don’t know of Brother Branham specifically mentioning “blood moon” but he does mention the pope visiting Israel in 1964, and the connection to an eclipse of the moon.
And isn't it strange that just before the pope took his journey to Jerusalem, that the moon in the heavens made a total blackout, just a few days before he took it, his journey. He's coming here also, you know, see. Now that's never been known, see. But what does it show? That, this, he's doing this to win fellowship as he met on the day after he come into Jerusalem, he met the Greek Orthodox hierarchy. And what does that reflect? Fellowship, they're wanting Protestants and Catholicism joining together, which they are doing and will completely do. And God reflected this to us, in the moon, of a total blackout. By His mercy and grace...
As we reported in the first blood moon article, the pontiff went to Israel in May, 2014 and met with the head of the Orthodox Church to promote unity.
In recent news the pope has announced a visit to the United States this September. This visit will be at the same time as another total eclipse of the moon, and the final of the four blood moons during Jewish feasts. The blood moon will take place September 28, and the pope plans to visit the United States on September 22-27. Further, he has accepted an invitation to address a joint meeting of Congress on September 24. This occasion will mark the first time the head of the Catholic Church will address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.
A spokesperson from the White House was recently quoted as saying,
“I can tell you that the President and his team here at the White House have been anticipating the visit from Pope Francis here in the United States for quite some time, and even as far back as the President's visit to the Vatican where he first met Pope Francis he talked about how eager he was to welcome the Pope to the United States, so the President is certainly looking forward to this visit.”
Sadly, the Prime Minister of Israel did not receive the same welcome.
By this point, you are probably shaking your head in astonishment of what this generation is witnessing, but we’d like to add another interesting fact into the mix.
On March 13, 2015, the pope declared a “year of Jubilee” that is to start on December 8, 2015. Consider this: If the Lord tarries, thousands of believers around the world will be listening together on December 13, 2015, during our own 50-year Jubilee. We will hear the last sermon Brother Branham preached, “Communion.”
We don’t know what all these signs mean, but we believe they are showing us that the end is close at hand.
The partial lunar eclipse starts at 10:17 am UTC (6:17am eastern daylight time (EDT) USA). The full eclipse will happen at 12:00 pm UTC (8:00 am EDT USA); followed by another partial eclipse at 1:44 pm UTC (9:44 am EDT USA). Because it will be below the horizon, the full eclipse will not be visible in most of the United States, however, the farther west you live, the more you can see. Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, Eastern Russia, and Indonesia should be able to see the entire eclipse.