Today’s Word: It is funny how different our children can be. One of my children is a morning person while the other could sleep everyday until noon. But this morning, I got him to jump out of his bed in curiosity. I proclaimed, “Hunter, the moon is red!” I am sure it must have took a few seconds to process, yet a few seconds later, he popped out of bed and joined me at the window. It seems these blood moons are making quite the news these days. In fact, today’s blood moon is the second of four blood moons in a 2 year period called a tetrad. They even say that these moons coincide with the Jewish holidays.
I find myself looking to scripture when things like this occur. It would be easy to say that maybe this is a sign of the end times; however, two things stand out against it. First, tetrads actually happen quite frequently. I found that 8 will occur in the span of 100 years. Secondly, I believe that most Jewish Holidays occur during a full moon. Therefore, it would make sense that the tetrads would coincide with Jewish festival times. However, I will concede that lunar events like this provide a great reminder of what is said in scripture. For, “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” (Rev. 6:12-14)
This scripture reminds me of when Christ was on the Cross when he proclaimed, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?” It was that moment when the Spirit of God left Jesus on the Cross. At that moment, Jesus was no longer reflecting the Light from God, and Christ’s disciples fell and were scattered. The Word for today is that this prophecy will happen again. Before the final victory comes, there will be a short time of great tribulation. If Christ is now to represent the Light, it could mean that before the day of Judgment comes, He may choose to remove His Light from the world. And without the Sun, the moon will naturally be darkened.
For me, the moon represents the organized church. I believe we are seeing the Spirit of God leaving our churches. But do not fret. For just as Christ’s disciples made it though the first great shaking when Christ died, we who truly believe will endure. For the stars that fall do not reflect light as the moon does. These stars produce Light from within themselves; light that is sourced through the promised Spirit of God. And when the great harvest comes, it will be easy for the harvesters to seek out the good fruit of the earth, for we will be shining as light in the darkness.
Therefore, let us hold fast! Let us preserver to the end! Let us finish the race God has placed before us! For the end is near! Jesus is coming back soon. And rejoice in His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Yet remember, the promise was solely for His chosen. He still may choose to leave the world before he “returns” to judge it. And judgment will be passed on our churches first.