Blood moon doomsday prophesy: The science behind the hype - by Olivia Lowenberg

The lunar eclipse set to occur later this month has both skywatchers and some Christians excited, but for very different reasons.

John Hagee, founder and current leader of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, has been prophesying for months that the upcoming "blood moon," so named for the reddish hue that the moon takes on as it is illuminated by sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere, will bring calamity.

Hagee's 2013 book, "Four Blood Moons" sought to draw parallels between previous lunar eclipses and important events in Jewish history, such as the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 to the creation of the Israeli state in 1948.

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USA: Biblical prophecy says blood moon lunar eclipse early Saturday morning signals bad tidings for the world

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

Is it about to happen?  Space.com reports that the moon will pass through the Earth’s shadow and turn blood-red in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, in a brief total eclipse best visible from the western part of the US.

It will be the third in a series of four total lunar eclipses, or a “tetrad,” that began in mid-April last year.

The second occurred in October 2014, and the last will be on September 28 this year. Tetrads are very rare: only seven more are expected by the year 2100.

Saturday’s eclipse will also be the shortest in a century, with the moon spending just four minutes and 43 seconds completely in Earth’s shadow. However, the time it will take for the moon to become completely occluded will be abnormally long, a whole 102 minutes. This is because the moon will have just reached apogee, its farthest point from the Earth.

While the lunar eclipse is a fascinating astronomical phenomenon, some see deeper religious significance in it. Saturday will be the first night of Passover for the Jews, and Easter Vigil for Christians that follow the Gregorian calendar.

The current tetrad is only the fourth time in 500 years that all four ‘blood moons’ fall on Jewish holidays, one Israeli website reported. It quoted a mystic rabbi from the south of the country, who said the eclipse was a sign Israel faced “great judgment and potential danger.”

Some Evangelical Christian preachers in the US have pointed at the Biblical prophecy that says: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.” (Joel, 2:31, KJV).

A full solar eclipse occurred on March 20, in the middle of the current lunar tetrad.

EU-Digest

The Moon: Does Tuesday's 'blood' eclipse signal the End Times?

"Blood Moon"

Tuesday's first of four lunar "blood moon" eclipses mark one of two earth-shaking events, depending on your viewpoint: Either a critical moment in the unfolding prophecy of the End Times, or Tax Day.

It could also be just a spectacularly beautiful astronomical event over the next two years.

The tetrad — or four consecutive and complete lunar eclipses occurring at approximately six-month intervals — will all be visible over the United States this year and next, according to NASA lunar eclipse expert Fred Espenak.

While Espenak sees it as a frequent and naturally occurring event, best-selling author and Texas televangelist pastor John Hagee sees the four blood moons as evidence of a future "world-shaking event" that begins to fulfill End Times prophecy.

The controversial 73-year-old founder of Texas' Cornerstone Church says he has been preparing for this tetrad for years. The preparation includes a book — Blood Moons: Something is About to Change and an online TV special Tuesday.

"What is the prophetic significance (of the four blood moons)? Is this the end of the age?" Hagee asked his congregation during a sermon shortly after his book was released, Christian Today reports.

He cites Acts 2:19-20 as a sign: "And I will show wonders in Heaven above and signs in the Earth beneath, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord."

In extensive remarks available online on his interpretation of the Blood Moons, Hagee says, "I believe that the heavens are God's billboard, that He has been sending signals to planet Earth, and we just haven't been picking them up."

He adds: "God is literally screaming at the world: 'I'm coming soon.'"
A spokesman for the televangelist said tells USA TODAY on Monday that Hagee "has not associated the blood moons with the end of days."

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