April 4 - BLOOD MOON - Sign of a coming Jewish Temple in Jerusalem?

Many have been fascinated with the four “Blood Moons” occurring in 2014 and 2015 on the Jewish Holidays of Passover and Sukkot, holidays that probably mark the death and birth of Jesus.  The third blood moon today (April 4, 2015) is the last one before September’s final blood moon in this tetrad. With so much drama in the Middle East recently – the interference in Israeli elections – the constant threat of a larger war – Iranian nukes – ongoing wars in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, etc… Could the blood Moons be a sign of very bad things to come?

In 2008, Pastor Mark Biltz (author of Blood Moons) was analyzing NASA’s astronomical data on lunar eclipses and he noticed that on rare occasion there are four total lunar eclipses in a row, with no partial eclipses in between, within the space of two years.  This pattern of four consecutive total lunar eclipses can be referred to as a tetrad.  Because the moon often appears to be blood-red during such an eclipse (Earth’s atmosphere refracts the sun’s light around our planet and onto the moon while it tends to filter out wavelengths other than orange and red) these eclipses are being referred to as a tetrad of blood moons.

Biltz noticed that occasionally (just eight times in the first and second millennia A.D.) these eclipses all occur on the Jewish Feast holidays of Passover and Sukkot (or Tabernacles.)  But what really got Biltz’s attention was the close timing of these eclipses near major events in the history of the Jewish people.

I happen to agree with Biltz on many points, including the significance of astronomical signs (many point to 2016 and 2019) and Jewish holidays as markers for future events.  He wrote that “God says He created the sun and moon and the stars for signals” (Blood Moons, p. xviii) clearly referencing Genesis 1:14 “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs.”  In Psalm 89:37 God tells us: “as the sun before Me.  It shall be established forever like the moon, and the witness in the sky is faithful.”  Here the sun and moon are faithful witnesses, and aligned properly with the earth, their positions cause eclipses which may be signs.

Scoffers will point out that in the last 2000 years there have been eight such tetrads of blood moon eclipses lined up on Jewish feast days, and only the last three have been near significant events in the history of the Jewish people.  I would counter that even three such occurrences establish a new trend; that the trend has been in effect for over 500 years, and that it may be worth keeping in mind as the fourth such set of eclipses is occurring in 2014 and 2015.  Total lunar eclipses occur on Passover and Sukkot, the holidays associated with Christ’s death and birth, in both years.

Perhaps I am biased to take these potential celestial omens seriously because my own research concludes that the most important prophetic warnings are often linked to astronomical signs, and that the reestablishment of some form of Third Temple in Jerusalem is crucial by June 2016 if an Antichrist is going to be revealed to the world from it. 

(above: model of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem)

The focus of historical events linked to tetrads of blood moons on Jewish holidays also fits this idea.  Although Mark Biltz hints that the end of the present world may occur when Hanukkah and the first day of winter line up together on a Saturday (as they do in December 2019) – he does not make a claim the Third Temple will be rebuilt several years earlier for the Antichrist to enter it halfway through the final seven years near this tetrad of eclipses, as some others do.  In John Hagee’s book: Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change, he asks: “What historical event will take place during their occurrences that is significant to Israel and the Jewish people?” (p. 221)  In the following excerpt from Antichrist 2016-2019, let’s consider the narrowing geographic focus of events associated with the only tetrads of total lunar eclipses falling exclusively on Passover and Sukkot since the 15th century:

The World – In 1492 the Jews were expelled from Spain, the Spanish officially discovered the Americas, and the Jews spread out to live in many new countries, including the United States, where eventually there were more Jews than in Israel.  Within one year of these historical events there was a holiday tetrad of blood moons in 1493 and 1494.

The Nation of Israel  – Israel was re-established as a nation in 1948, and within a year of this independence there was a blood moon tetrad on the Passovers and Sukkots of 1949 and 1950.

The City of Jerusalem – Israelis reunited all of Jerusalem under Jewish rule after recapturing East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in 1967.  Within a year, there was a similar tetrad of blood moons in 1967 and 1968.

The Temple – my research points to the reestablishment of a new Jewish Temple – the Third Temple – being built in Jerusalem no later than June 6, 2016 – when I expect the Antichrist to reveal his identity to the world from within the Temple.  This would be within a year of the tetrads of holiday blood moons in 2014 and 2015 and seems to fit the pattern well.  It will be especially interesting if the lost Ark of the Covenant is discovered, prompting the establishment of a Temple to properly house it by early 2016.

This giant gold Menorah, and almost a hundred other reconstructed artifacts needed for use in a real, operational rebuilt Jewish Temple – have already been made in preparation.

I also consider it noteworthy that the potential warning date of August 14, 2016 on the recent cube at the Georgia Guidestones corresponds with Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av – the date on which BOTH the Babylonians and the Romans destroyed the FIRST and SECOND Jewish Temples.  We may see the Antichrist destroy a THIRD Temple on this same date in 2016.  But to be desecrated and destroyed, it would of course have to be rebuilt first.  I suspect the narrowing geographic focus of the tetrads of blood moons are pointing to a new Temple very soon.

— contributed by David Montaigne

author of  End Times and 2019 – and – Antichrist 2016-2019