I woke up at 2 a.m. in hopes of seeing the much advertised "blood moon" during the week of October 8- 10. I was excited that I would not only see the red moon, but would see it from the vantage point of the Sea of Galilee in Israel where I was staying.
I stumbled out of bed, fumbled my way outside, and felt a bit like a werewolf staring into the night sky hoping to see this infamous sign. I had read that these blood moons occurred on Jewish holidays four times between 2014 and 2015. These stories cascaded across social media predicting important significance toward Israel that this phenomena would coincide with the Jewish festivals.
Imagine my dismay to discover the moon was not red that fateful morning. I got on the internet to see if the "time changes" between the sighting of the moon in American might be different in Israel.
The moon glows a red hue during a total lunar eclipse Tuesday, April 15, 2014, as seen from the Milwaukee area. Tuesday's eclipse is the first of four total lunar eclipses that will take place between 2014 to 2015. (AP Photo/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Mike De Sisti)
I felt a bit bamboozled when I discovered that the lunar eclipse that was supposed to be a significant prophecy about Israel...couldn't be seen in Israel.
If God was sending these prophetic events on Jewish Festivals to communicate something to his chosen people....He missed the intended audience. For me, the quadruple blood moon significance lost its luster that night. The fact that it was unviewable from Israel was...inconceivable, I do not think it means when they said it means.
In fact, the blood moon's significance to Israel that October day was starting to sound like R.O.U.S.'s (Rodents of Unusual Size), the mythical creatures from "Princess Bride."
I do think God has a blood moon in the future. I do think God uses the Jewish festivals as a prophetic timetable to communicate his plan. Jesus was almost certainly born on Sukkot, the Jewish festival of tabernacles. Jesus died on Passover. He was raised on Firstfruits. He was even buried during Unleavened Bread. God sent His spirit to birth the church at the Festival of Pentecost. I've noticed that God loves a good mystery. He also loves revealing the plot in advance to those who read carefully.
Despite my disappointment about the moon, the exciting part of being at the Sea of Galiee during the Feast of Tabernacles was seeing the skies. The clouds, not the moon, were on display that evening. During the festival of Sukkot, followers of God set up tents or tabernacles outside their homes to eat and live in temporarily. This reminds them of God's work in their past when their ancestors wandered in tents in the wilderness after exiting Egypt.
It is a practice of gratitude as a family looks back at their bountiful possessions from the vantage point of a temporary dwelling. It is also a time of harvest where prayer is offered to God to provide rains for the fields. It is a time of prayer and petitioning that God will send the living water to make their fields grow during the next few critical weeks and months. They sing, pray, and call upon God to send rain upon their land.
It was at one of these Sukkot feasts - as the people cried out to God for living water - that Jesus claimed to be the final and ultimate living water from God. As noted by Jews for Jesus:
We find a significant mention of Hoshana Rabbah in the New Covenant book of John chapter seven verses 37-52. It was on this day, the last and greatest day of the feast (possibly just as the water was being poured out), that Y'shua stood up and boldly proclaimed to the celebrants, "If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:38)
Over the last few years, I was able to design a series called Fast Track Bible that reveals how the Jewish Feasts all point to Jesus. Here's a clip:
I was standing on a large hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee during the festival last October exploring the archeological remains of the location Jesus freed the demoniac. As we spoke of Christs power over the forces of evil, we took note that a storm was brewing around us, God was sending rain, on the festival of rain, as the people prayed. I stood at an incredible vantage point on that high hill where I could see the clouds at eye level as they formed into rain storms. God's power was tangible as lightning sparkled and thunder boomed. His faithfulness confirmed in a dramatic way.
So, I stopped reading so much into the blood moon's relevance for now. God's plan is often seen better through the rear view mirror than through the windshield of prophecy.
For more information, check out Godonomics DVD at www.godonomics.com, Godonomics: How to Save Our Country and Protect Your Wallet whoever books are sold, or Fast Track Bible DVD curriculum at www.fasttrackbible.com.
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