From the above scripture that, at its origin, we see that the moon was made for:

• Signs
• Seasons
• Days and years
• Lights in heaven’s expanse
• Light on the earth

And, believe it or not, God set up a festival for Jews to celebrate every new moon!

That’s right, once a month the Jewish people paused at the time of the new moon (which on the Jewish lunar calendar meant a new month).

The festival marked the consecration of each Jewish family to God at the offset of each new month in the year.

New Moon festivals were required under the Mosaic law
This was a time of celebration marked by the blowing of trumpets:

‘Then at the beginning of each of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect’ (Numbers 28:11).

‘Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day’ (Psalm 81:3).

The young David knew that he was expected to eat at King Saul’s family table at the new moon: ‘David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to eat with the king”‘ (1 Samuel 20:5).

Scripture clearly shows us that the Jewish calendar is based on the moon and begins at Passover, which falls between March and April each year. (This is why our Easter holiday changes dates from year to year, because the Passover date changes yearly).

Most people today use the Gregorian calendar, which runs from January to December.
The table below shows the Hebrew months,  the Jewish holidays occurring during these months and indicates the corresponding secular months.

In understanding the Jewish calendar, we can take a more intelligent look at the lunar eclipses and their meaning to Israel.

Perry Stone, pastor and Bible teacher, states, ‘When moon is in eclipse (lunar eclipse), it’s a bad omen—a sign for Israel. Rabbis taught that when the sun is in eclipse (solar eclipse), it’s a bad omen for the world.’

Why do the Jews feel that a change in the moon is a bad omen for them? Let’s look at this Jeremiah 31 scripture:

‘Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
The Lord of hosts is his name:
“If this fixed order departs
from before me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the offspring of Israel also will cease
from being a nation before me forever.”‘

Significant blood moons that occurred in the 1900s
Eclipses are not unusual—there have been lunar eclipses and solar eclipses for millennia. However, when you have four total blood moons back to back it’s called a tetrad. Scientists have documented tetrads for centuries and also predict when coming tetrads are due to occur.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reports, ‘. . . there are no tetrads from 1582 to 1908, but 17 tetrads occur during the following 2 and 1/2 centuries from 1909 to 2156.’

Let’s take a look at the last few tetrad lunar eclipses that are documented by NASA and see how they correlate with Jewish history. I’m using the Gregorian calendar (our calendar) as dates here. Bear in mind that the tetrads occur on the Jewish lunar calendar and will encompass more than one year on our calendar.

Tetrads relating to Jewish history
1492 to 1494—at this time, all Jews were kicked out of Spain, Columbus discovered America which was later a land of refuge for the Jewish people. The lunar eclipses occurred 1493 and 1494 on Passover and tied to Jewish people.
1917—Great Britain’s Balfour Declaration (which said, ‘His Majesty’s government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people’); the British take over Jerusalem from the Turks; Russia becomes communist.
1948—Israel became a nation (four blood moons occurred again in 1949 and 1950 on Passover and Sekot).
1967—Six Day War when Jerusalem was taken by Israel.

Currently
The next tetrads (consecutive four blood moons) that are scheduled to take place on four biblical Jewish holidays begin now, this Jewish year, from Passover April 15, 2014 to April 2015.

For clarity, let’s look at a chart created by Pastor John Hagee:

The coming tetrad—our consecutive blood moons 2014 and 2015
The black circle in the centre represents a solar (sun) eclipse that is due to fall directly between the four blood moons. Again, Jewish scholars believe:
• Moon—reveals signals (or signs) from God to Israel
• Sun—discloses signals (or signs) from God to the world.

Matthew 24:29 (NASV) says: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall  from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of the sky  with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together  his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Jesus said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light.“‘

Food for thought
Is God calling us to look up at the blood moons because our Saviour is coming soon? Is this a sign that his coming is near?

April 15, 2014 sees the first of four ‘blood moons’ earmarked to occur. NASA reports that four dark red/dark orange moons are scheduled to occur between April 15 2014 and September 29, 2015.

These moons will occur on Jewish holy days. I’ve researched this and pointed out that the blood red moons in the 1900s seemed to predicted good history was taking place for the little nation of Israel.

In closing this subject, I give you links to web pages and You Tube teachings on the blood moons. Yes, there are more teachings and teachers besides these on this subject, but I will share a few that I trust. If you find a teacher or link that interests you, please feel free to provide a link for everyone in the comment box.

Blood moons links
NASA webpage shows regions of visibility of lunar eclipses
NASA’s Lunar Eclipse page
Pastor Mark Biltz
Pastor Perry Stone
John Hagee   (A good link for people who have families that don’t know Jesus)
Fox News Report

Ans a great scripture: ‘But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draws nigh’ (Luke 21).

Hope Flinchbaugh has a heart for Asia and  is the author of  I’ll Cross the River (See Resources category and also here) and several other novels. We recommend Hope’s monthly Lift the Cross of Jesus!