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Theblood moon prophecies were a series of prophecies by Christian preachersJohn Hagee andMark Biltz, related to a series of four full moons in 2014 and 2015. The prophecies stated that atetrad (a series of four consecutivelunar eclipses—all total and coinciding onJewish holidays—with six full moons in between, and no intervening partial lunar eclipses) which began with theApril 2014 lunar eclipse was the beginning of theend times as described in the Bible in theBook of Joel 2:31,Acts 2:20, andRevelation 6:12. The tetrad ended with thelunar eclipse on September 27–28, 2015.
On April 15, 2014, there was a total lunar eclipse which was the first of four consecutive total eclipses in a series, known as a tetrad; the second one took place on October 8, 2014, the third on April 4, 2015, and the fourth on September 28, 2015. It is the second of eight tetrads to take place during the 21st century AD.[1] As with most lunar eclipses, the moon appeared red during the April 15, 2014, eclipse.[2][3] The red color is caused byRayleigh scattering of sunlight through theEarth's atmosphere, the same effect that causes sunsets to appear red.
The claim of ablood moon being a sign of the beginning of the end times originates in theBook of Joel, where it is written "the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."[4] This prophecy was repeated byPeter duringPentecost, as stated inActs,[5] though Peter says that the date of Pentecost, not a future date, was the fulfillment ofJoel's prophecy. The blood moon also is prophesied in the Book of Revelation chapter 6 verses 11–13,[6] where verse 12 states, "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood."
Hagee later wroteFour Blood Moons, that became a best-seller, being more than 150 days inAmazon.com's top 150 by April 2014.[3] For the week ending March 30, 2014, it was the ninth best selling paperback, according toPublishers Weekly.[7] By mid-April, Hagee's book was No. 4 onThe New York Times best-seller list in the advice category.[3] Hagee's book (and subsequent preaching series at his home congregation, Cornerstone Church) did not claim that any specific "end times" event would occur but claimed that every prior tetrad of the last 500 years coincided with events in Jewish and Israeli history that were originally tragic, yet followed by triumph.
Hagee and Biltz's claims gained mainstream media attention in publications such asUSA Today andThe Washington Post.[2][3]Earth & Sky reported receiving "a number of inquiries about Blood Moon".
Writing forEarth & Sky, Bruce McClure andDeborah Byrd point out that the referenced verse also says the "sun will be turned into darkness", an apparent reference to asolar eclipse. (There wasa total solar eclipse on March 20, 2015, but it appeared partial except near the North Pole.Another occurred on March 9, 2016.) They note that since theJewish Calendar is lunar, one-sixth of all eclipses will occur during Passover orSukkot.
Furthermore, there have been 62tetrads since the 1st century AD, though only eight of them have coincided with both feasts. There are eight tetrads between 1949 and 2051 (seeTetrad (astronomy)). In these, half of the eclipses in the (Northern Hemisphere) spring coincide with Passover and the subsequent eclipse with Sukkot. We are currently in a period when tetrads are more common than average. As seen in the graph, such periods happen every 600 years or so. The eclipses of a tetrad occur around the time of Passover and Sukkot (halfway between the Earth'sperihelion andaphelion).
Additionally, three of the four eclipses in the tetrad were not even visible in the biblical homeland ofIsrael, casting further doubt on Hagee and Biltz's interpretation; even then, only the very end of the last eclipse was visible in Israel.[1]
