The Four Blood Moons Theory

The Blood Moon Theory has become increasingly more popular in the past few years. It is especially popular with the pre-tribulationists as they see it as a sign (in spite of the fact that they say there will be no signs) of the rapture. This theory was originated by Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries and was made more popular by John Hagee's bestselling book Four Blood Moons. 
 
If you have not heard of it, the theory is that the four lunar eclipses which occur on April 15, 2014, October 8, 2014, April 4, 2015 and September 28, 2015 are a tetrad of blood moons which, falling on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles (or Sukkot) in both those years, is a sign to Israel that something is about to happen. As pre-tribulationists believe that they will be out of here before anything starts with Israel, that means to them that the rapture must occur very soon.

Why are these eclipses significant? First in Jewish tradition, when a solar eclipse occurs, it is a bad omen for the nations, but when a lunar eclipse occurs it is a bad omen for Israel. Secondly there are some prophecies having to do with the end of the age that deal with the sun and the moon. The following are the Scriptures used as the basis for this Blood Moon Theory.


Joel 2:31 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.”

Acts 2:20 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:” 
 
Revelation 6:12b “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal …......and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;”

Taking these verses out of context from surrounding verses and assuming that they are speaking of normal lunar (and solar) eclipses, Mr. Biltz went to NASA's charts on eclipses and discovered that there was a tetrad of lunar eclipses in the future. He then compared these dates to the Jewish calendar and found that many fell on Jewish feast days. He then looked to see if there were any historical tetrads that had significance attached to their dates. He found what he thought was important information. Six times a tetrad had occurred in conjunction with Jewish feasts. By checking historical data he found that three of these had what he considered to be great significance in Jewish history.

The first tetrad was April 2 and September 25, 1493; and March 22 and September 15, 1494.

The second was April 13 and October 7, 1949; and April 2, and September 25, 1950.

The third was April 24 and October 18, 1967; and April 13 and October 6, 1968.

The first tetrad came during the Spanish Inquisition in which the Jews were expelled from Spain. Messieurs Biltz and Hagee have tied this tetrad in with the Alhambra Decree issued on March 31, 1492. The problem with this would seem to be, if God is trying to use these signs to warn the people, isn't he a little late to the party? These tetrads began after the expulsion. It is hardly of any use when one tells you after you have had something happen to you, that you were going to have something happen to you. Especially when the warning comes a year to two years late. I think we can dismiss this tetrad of being any special importance

The next tetrad was tied to the creation of the state of Israel. Israel declared itself the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, which was followed with a war, which was followed with their acceptance by the U.N. on May 11, 1949. Again, although there was one eclipse just before the U.N. accepted Israel into membership, the rest were after the fact. In fact the first one came a year late, considering they declared their independence a year earlier, and according to Jewish tradition these eclipses are signs of bad omens. It would seem that coming right before their acceptance as a country, it was a good omen. So again, God was late to the party, giving the warnings after the fact.

The last tetrad is tied to the Six-Day War in Israel which commenced on June 5 and ended June 10, 1967. Again, God only got one eclipse in shortly before the event, and the other three came after the fact. God does seem to have a problem with getting to the party on time. Three misses out of three tetrads.

Due to their tying these tetrads into these events, they postulated that the coming tetrads will fulfill the prophecy about which the Scriptures in Joel, Acts, and Revelation speak, therefore there is a major event for Israel about to occur. This is a 50/50 gamble, as everyone has been expecting something to happen in Israel for decades.

Before we show how these tetrads do not fulfill these Scriptures, let us consider some other facts. First of all, there were six tetrads that Mr. Biltz found. The other three were non-events. Coupled with the fact that these other three came more or less after the events, what basis do we have for believing that the upcoming tetrad has any significance? None, really. The odds are not on Messieurs Biltz and Hagee's side. In fact, it appears that these tetrads had nothing to do with the events, and certainly were not portents of them, as they came after and sometimes well after the events occurred. And why would God not warn them of the Holocaust during WWII, if He is using eclipses to warn them of major events of a negative nature? If He were going to warn them of something, would that not have been a good time to warn them?

Another fact to consider is that the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar. The feasts of Passover and Sukkot come on the 15th of the month. The full moon would come at the same time the feasts come during the month every year, so is it really so miraculous to think that occasionally there would be an eclipse of the full moon that coincided with these two feasts? And why is Mr. Biltz so sure that these eclipses will be blood moons? Not every eclipse is. 

The following information was found at AnswersinGenesis.org. The link is below.

"However, a wide range of color and brightness can be found in lunar eclipses. This is based on atmospheric conditions at the time including dust and humidity levels. While the color of some total lunar eclipses could be compared to blood, others are more orange, similar to a pumpkin. Still other eclipses look yellow, and some are very dark—virtually black. One of the most unusual total lunar eclipses was the very long one on July 6, 1982. Half of the earth’s umbra was as dark as coal, but the other half was rather bright and had a peach-like color. No one alive could remember such an unusual-looking lunar eclipse, nor were there any similar reports of past eclipses. In short, most lunar eclipses don’t appear blood-like, so it is a bit presumptuous to assume that any particular future eclipse—or, in this case, four eclipses—must of necessity be 'blood moons'

Total lunar eclipses aren’t that unusual; there will be 85 total lunar eclipses in the twenty-first century. The greatest length of time between two consecutive total lunar eclipses is only three years. In between these “droughts” will be occurrences of three or even four total lunar eclipses, each separated by about six months. A little more than half the earth’s surface can witness at least a portion of a particular eclipse.

The moon’s orbit around the earth is tilted a little more than five degrees with respect to the plane of the earth’s orbit around the sun (known as the ecliptic). So normally a full moon is above or below the earth’s umbra, and no eclipse occurs. Each month the moon’s orbit crosses the plane of the earth’s orbit around the sun in two places, points that we call the lunar nodes. If a full moon occurs when the moon is near a node, then there is a lunar eclipse. (Conversely, a new moon at this time results in a solar eclipse.) There are two times per year when the nodes are roughly aligned with a full moon. These eclipse seasons are little more than a month long, and they are separated by a little less than six months. The moon’s orbit precesses in an 18.6-year period, so the eclipse seasons shift about 20 days earlier each year. The result is that the possibility of lunar eclipses happening around the times of Passover and Sukkot (which are six months apart) repeats roughly half of this 18.6-year period. Passover and Sukkot are always at full moon and always six months apart. Hence, any lunar eclipse that happens near the equinoxes must fall on or within a day of Passover (spring) or Sukkot (autumn). Therefore the coincidence of these festivals with lunar eclipses is not as rare as Biltz implies."

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2013/07/12/lunar-eclipses-cause-blood-moons

So we can see that first of all, it is not remarkable or unusual for there to be an eclipse on the day of the Jewish Feasts of Passover and Sukkot. Nor it is unusual for several of them to occur six months apart. Nor to happen several years in a row. The odds of them being blood moons is unlikely, so to state that all four will be blood moons, when one cannot possibly know what the atmospheric conditions will be is ludicrous at best.

A problematic question that must be asked is this, why when the Scriptures imply this is a single event, do they say that these four events are the fulfillment of the Scriptures? Would not one eclipse do?

One last problem concerning the four eclipses themselves is that they are are not seen over the whole world as the Scriptures imply this event will be seen. They are only seen on the opposite side of the world from Israel. The last one is seen somewhat in Europe, but none are available for viewing in the very land that is supposed to view them as portents of their future. Does it not seem odd that God would not show these eclipses to the very people they are supposed to warn? 

Approaching the problem from another direction, we find that Mr. Blitz and likewise Mr. Hagee use only the passage in Joel to make their point. As the passage in Acts is taken as a quote from Joel, we will consider that this is the same verse. They look to the book of Revelation to verify that these signs are what they say they are, the signs of the coming apocalypse. As pre-tribulationists, they believe that the rapture occurs before the sixth seal, so this fits nicely with their ideology. But does Revelation really give credence to their theory? Let's take a closer look at that passage in Revelation.

Revelation 6:12-14 “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. 
 
We see that there is a little more at work here than a blood moon. The sun becomes black or goes dark at the same exact time. But solar and lunar eclipses do not happen at the same time. In fact it is impossible for them to occur at the same time, so it is quite impossible that if the sun must go dark too, that these lunar eclipses are what are being spoken of. The only possible thing that could cause both to be eclipsed would be for some other rogue celestial body to come into our sphere of influence. Added to these things, we find there is more than just the sun going dark and the moon becoming blood red. According to Revelation the stars also fall to earth. As realistically we know that the stars way out in space are not going to fall to earth, we must look for another explanation. Does one come to mind? Yes, easily. When meteorites fall to earth, we in fact call them falling stars. It would appear that there will be a lot of meteors, and possibly small asteroids falling to the earth causing it to look like the stars are falling or going out. And that is what we also find in the passage in Joel in an earlier verse than Messieurs Bliltz and Hagee use. 
 
Joel 2:10 “The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.”

This star shower can also be found in the gospel passages that describe this event.

Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.”

Mark 13:24-25 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.”

Luke is not quite as detailed, but he does mention that the stars are involved in this event.

Luke 21:25-26 “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”

  

We find that this event is not only described in Joel in the Old Testament, but in Ezekiel and Isaiah also. 

Ezekiel 32:7-8 “And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.”

Isaiah 13:10, 13 “For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine....Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” 
 
Isaiah 34:4 “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.”

Joel 3:15-16a “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake.”

If one looks back at these verses, there is another component that the two gentlemen seem to miss. The earth will be shaken. There will be great earthquakes or possible one mega earthquake, for the whole earth is affected by this. Every island and mountain will be moved out of its place. It is so bad that according to Isaiah, it will actually alter the earth's orbital position, for it will be moved out of its place. There has never been an eclipse of the moon that has caused an earthquake, much less one that could move the earth out of its orbit. This is obviously not speaking of a lunar eclipse. It is speaking of something far greater and terribly devastating. An eclipse does not hurt the earth in any manner. This event will make people run to the caves to hide out of fear. 
 
Revelation 6:15-16 “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.”
 
Clearly this Blood Moon Theory is a theory that comes from the imagination of some men. It is not based upon Scripture. Its only foundational basis is that there is a tradition in Judaism that eclipses of the moon have some significance for Israel. From there this entire theory was born, using one verse of Scripture out of context from the rest of the parallel passages. One can only see dollar signs as the reason for propagating a teaching that can easily be shown to not line up with Scripture. That God uses the celestial bodies as signs and portents is not in question. He does. And these eclipses might well occur before something disastrous happens, as the situation in the Middle East is always ready to blow. But to say that these four eclipses are 1)blood moons, which cannot be known until the day they occur as to whether they will be red or not, 2) are in a line of historical tetrads that have been portents, which clearly has been shown to be wrong, 3) only happen as a sign from God that something is about to occur, which is not true as they happen all the time due to the fact that these feasts fall on the full moon all the time, and 4) are the fulfillment of the signs given in Revelation, which clearly they are not, is deception at best. Such poor scholarship is inexcusable from men who are reaching and teaching thousands of people.

Addendum: It's been a while since I wrote this article. Today I was reading a devotional and came across a verse that I think is pertinent to this theory. The Scriptures teach that the heavens were created for signs and seasons. We know how they work to tell us of the seasons, but what about signs? The heavens can only be a sign if we know the sign for which we are looking. The wise men knew to look for a star, because the Scriptures told them there would be a star to signify the birth of the Messiah. When God wants us to look to the heavenlies for a sign, He will tell us what sign to expect. Tetrads have never been a sign that has been mentioned in the Bible. NEVER. What has brought about the idea that a simple lunar or solar eclipse is an omen of something bad is tradition. Superstitious tradition. Tradition that comes from Kaballah. In the devotional I read, this verse in Leviticus jumped out at me. Normally I prefer the KJV Bible, but in this case I thought this particular version was more beneficial. In Leviticus 19:26b it says "Do not practice divination or seek omens." These tetrads are being sought out as an omen, because people so desperately want the apocalypse to occur. For the most part, this tends to be people who are pre-tribulation rapture believers. If they understood that they had to go through the tribulation they might not be so anxious to seek an omen to start things. God has said, in Amos 5:18 "Woe unto you who desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness and not light."  The signs we need to look for will be unmistakeable when they occur. There will be no question, for the Bible tells us that people will be running to hide in the caves out of fear, yelling that the Day of the Lord has come. If non-believers will be doing this, is there any question that any believers that are still alive will mistake these signs?