BLOOD MOON
Good day all you fine folks out there! First my apologies for not getting a new blog out last week. Hopefully this week will make up for it and all your kind hearts will forgive me! So what is happening all around the world with you all? Here is has been a busy week getting my nephew moved in and monitoring bat behavior. Interesting work, but I always have trouble switching to the night hours!
Speaking of all around the world….tonight is a natural phenomenon everyone should make a point to take a look at. It is the first of four blood moons over the next two years. So what exactly is a blood moon? Does it have anything to do with Hebrew prophecy? Let’s take a closer look…
First, let’s see what a blood moon is. It is actually a lunar eclipse. “A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth’s shadow (the umbra) falls on the moon. If the earth’s shadow completely covers the moon, it is a total eclipse. But a partial lunar eclipse happens if the earth’s umbra only partially covers the moon. Because the earth has an atmosphere that bends light around its edge, the earth’s umbra is not completely dark. So, the totally eclipsed moon will reflect the color of the light contained in the earth’s shadow. The earth’s atmosphere scatters out shorter-wavelength light (green through violet) leaving mostly longer-wavelength light (red, orange, and yellow) in the earth’s umbra. This is why sunsets and sunrises generally are red, and why most lunar eclipses are red. 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.
“Normally a full moon is above or below the earth’s umbra because it orbits on an elliptical angle 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.)”1
Twice a year (and six months apart) the conditions are right for the nodes to line up with a full moon. Due to shifts in the eclipse seasons (which last about a month), total lunar eclipses occur on average every 18 years. However some years they are only 10 years apart (this seems to happen about every 65 years). Interestingly enough, years where a lunar eclipse happens two times a year for two years is a row happens about every 65 years as well.
So now that we understand where the color for a blood moon comes from and the conditions/time that produces this, let’s look at the Hebrew end-time prophecies and the Lord’s return. Much emphasis has been placed on the significance of the four lunar eclipses which coincide with the dates of Passover and Sukkoth this year and also in 2015. In the past, blood moons have been linked with Passover and Sukkoths and major events. For example, the sky turning dark at Jesus’s Crucifixion (Passover), and Israel becoming its own nation again (Passover). Mark Hiltz, the founder of El Shaddai Ministries a Hebrew roots resource and teaching ministry located near Tacoma, Washington, believes that the Second Coming of Christ must happen at Sukkoth since Jesus was crucified at Passover. Hiltz also believes that the total lunar eclipses fulfill the prophecy in Joel 2:31 which speaks of the sun being darkened and the moon turning to blood. Could this be true?
Well, if you take in all the facts, lunar eclipses really aren’t that rare. For example, there will be 85 total lunar eclipses in the twenty-first century. But since only slightly more than half the earth’s surface can witness at least a portion of any particular eclipse it makes it a little more uncommon. And as far as the lunar eclipses happening on the same day as Passover or Sukkoth, its really not that unusual. Using the Hebrew calendar, the full moon always coincides with the fourteenth or fifteenth of their month. And then, geologically speaking, where will the eclipse take place? “One might think that Jerusalem would be a key site, but the first three total lunar eclipses in 2014–2015 won’t be visible from there, and only the beginning of the final eclipse will be. One must ask whether a sign that few people notice is much of a sign.”2
Another example is the first eclipse of 2015, to occur on March 20th. “The eclipse path is in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The only landfalls that the eclipse path will make are the Faroe Islands and Svalbard. The population of the former is 50,000 and the latter less than 3,000. The eclipse is of short duration, and the weather can be overcast much of the time at that latitude. There is a good chance that few people, if any, will actually see this eclipse.”3
“The second solar eclipse (September 13, 2015) is partial and falls on Rosh Hashanah. Though many people have experienced a partial solar eclipse, most of them had no idea that anything was going on. This is because unless a partial eclipse is very close to being total, the sun is not appreciably dimmed.”4 A total solar eclipse would most likely be interpreted as a great sign to those who witness it. But if very few are around to see it...how great is that?
Though Blitz and others point out serendipity of these blood moon eclipses, especially four happening within two years, and even though such factors are rare, they are not distinctive and there are no other suggestions that these eclipses are otherwise unique. “The biblical passages that refer to the dimming of the sun (Matthew 24:29; Joel 2:31) and the moon turning to blood (Joel 2:31) speak in very apocalyptic terms, emphasizing frightening things that men experience. The timing of the eclipses that Biltz draws attention to, while interesting, falls far short of the sort of signs that will cause the heavens to shake (Matthew 24:29).”5
Answers In Genesis has a great, more detailed article on this subject. Just google the ministry and type in ‘blood moon’ in their search box and it will take you right to it.
Nevertheless, the total eclipses, of which one is to happen tonight, are phenomenal! I suggest you do your best to not miss this spectacular sighting. Here are some times to look for:
Excellent viewing prospects can be found all across North and South America.
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Total eclipse of the Moon, April 14-15, 2014* (US and Canada times & comparable to South America)
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Eclipse event
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UT
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EDT
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CDT
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MDT
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PDT
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Penumbra first
visible?
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5:20
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1:20 a.m.
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12:20 a.m
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11:20 p.m.
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10:20 p.m.
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Partial eclipse
begins
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5:58
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1:58 a.m.
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12:58 a.m.
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11:58 p.m.
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10:58 p.m.
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Total eclipse
begins
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7:07
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3:07 a.m.
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2:07 a.m.
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1:07 a.m.
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12:07 a.m.
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Mid-eclipse
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7:46
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3:46 a.m.
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2:46 a.m
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1:46 a.m.
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12:46 a.m.
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Total eclipse
ends
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8:25
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4:25 a.m.
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3:25 a.m.
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2:25 a.m.
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1:25 a.m.
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Partial eclipse
ends
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9:33
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5:33 a.m.
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4:33 a.m.
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3:33 a.m.
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2:33 a.m.
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Penumbra last
visible?
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10:10
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—
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5:10 a.m.
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4:10 a.m.
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3:10 a.m.
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“In Australia, the April 15 Total Lunar Eclipse occurs mostly during twilight, with the Full Moon rising fully eclipsed, while the Sun is setting.”6 Anyone at that latitude should also be able to see this blood moon too. Australia and New Zealand will surely have prime time seats for this event.
Until next week, take care and God bless,
Willow Dressel
References:
6http://astroblogger.blogspot.com
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ReplyDeleteMore information on the circumstances and effects of the next Total Solar Eclipse on March 20, 2015 available Here
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding this info!
DeleteWillow