Joel and Revelations both talk about blood moons as one of the signs of the Day of the Lord. Blood moons are relatively common but rarely do they coincide smack-bang on Passover and Sukkot. Just as a great star heralded the birth of the Messiah, could these signs be saying something to us today? Jesus said that just as people of His day could read the sky and foretell what kind of weather was on its way, or notice the fig tree sprouting for summer (Matt 24:32-33 in context of 24:3-44) and that we are to likewise watch the signs of the times to know the season of His coming.
Our Pastor has called our Church to prayer and fasting as we move towards this significant season so I asked Enoch to explain a bit more about these signs in the sky and what they mean for us. Here is his offering. I hope that we take it prayerfully and prepare ourselves dilligently to draw nearer to God and live lives pleasing to Him.
Davo's Big Break
David - or Davo as his mates called him - was over the moon. After years of patiently developing his business, his business ideas had caught the eye of the prominent Chinese business leader Mr. Wang. Mr Wang had announced that he was going to make a special trip to Australia to see David and find out more - and they had excitedly arranged to meet at the airport.There was only one catch - they were to meet on Chinese New Year and Davo had no clue what this meant. “I reckon it must be on the 1st of January”, Davo said to himself, “she'll be right mate!”
So on the 1st of January, Davo got up early, put on his best business suit and even combed his usually unkempt hair. “Today's the day”, he thought to himself excitedly. Getting to the airport just in time, Davo was surprised to find no sign of Mr. Wang. Davo waited for hours, looked up and down the different parts of the airport and asked repeatedly at the information desk, but no one could help him. Finally Davo headed home. Disappointed, he thought to himself: “Why didn't Mr. Wang come as he said he would?”
Soon Davo settled back into his ordinary routine and forgot all about Mr. Wang and his appointment. Then one February morning Davo was wakened by his phone ringing. With a sleepy voice he discovered to his surprise that it was Mr. Wang himself. Today was Chinese New Year! Mr. Wang asked with a disappointed tone in his voice: “David, why weren't you ready for my coming?”
We all have an important appointment coming up with THE Mr. Wang Himself - Jesus our Lord and King. He is indeed coming soon! But to be ready for this once-in-a-lifetime divine appointment, we need to make sure that we too are on the King’s calendar.
The King’s Calendar
Many of us have a hard time reading the book of Leviticus, but in it are contained some very important treasures. Leviticus chapter 23 outlines for us the King’s calendar.Let’s read verses 1-2: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.”
The word translated ‘feast’ here, does not really refer to parties, food and celebrations – although God does indeed through some great celebrations. The Hebrew word for ‘Feast’ is actually better translated as ‘appointment’ – a ‘divine appointment’.
Note that God describes them as ‘My feasts’. They are not some antiquated Jewish customs to be brushed aside – they are His Divine appointments with us. We will be learning more about the Divine Appointments later this year, but it is sufficient for us to now know that: • There are 7 Divine Appointments and they all prophesy and foretell a future event that is important in God’s calendar • The first 4 Divine Appointments where fulfilled on the Day during Jesus’ first coming in great detail • The last 3 tell us of His Second coming – and warn us to be ready for the soon coming King
Signs in the Sky on the Divine Appointments There are many things happening in our world that we should watch – including significant developments concerning Israel, the Nations, and concerning the great harvest of people coming into the Kingdom from every tribe, tongue and kingdom. All this points us to the fact that we are living in a time where Bible prophecy is being fulfilled at a scale that has not been seen in history since the time of the Book of Acts. I believe we are indeed getting closer to the Lord’s return! The Bible tells us to look for signs in the sky as we get closer to the Lord’s return.
Acts 2:20 says: The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
The most literal way of interpreting this is that there will be solar and lunar eclipses around the time of the Lord’s return.
A Pattern of Signs in the Sky
A few years ago, a Messianic Pastor called Mark Biltz made a
startling discovery of a pattern where from time to time 4 consecutive lunar
eclipses take place – precisely on the first and last ‘appointments’ or Feasts
of the Lord for 2 years in a row. This is an extremely rare event, and what is
even more interesting is that it appears to happen at times when there are
prophetically significant events taking place on the earth.
Let’s have a look at an overview of when it has happened in
the past when these signs have been in the sky:
Around the time of Jesus death there were 4 partial lunar
eclipses in a row on the ‘Divine Appointments’ – as if God Himself was
signalling to all of mankind the importance of this event!
Since then, it has occurred 7 times – coinciding with:
- Major Persecution of Jews and or Christians
- Islamic attempts at conquering Europe (and the World)
- The Restoration of Israel and Recapture of Jerusalem
As we enter into 2014/2015 it is therefore important to
watch and pray for Jews and Christians, for Israel and for the Islamic World.
Returning to the pattern, it is extra interesting to note
that the 7th lunar eclipse cycle happened at exactly the time when
Jerusalem was being recaptured by Israel – and 7 is the number of ‘completion’.
It was truly a time of Divine completion of ancient prophecies!
The next time this will happen will be in 2014 and 2015!
Check out this exciting video to learn more:
Sounds interesting – now what?
As a Church, we are being encouraged to fast, pray and spend
extra time to seek the Lord at this time. Make sure your own life is in order
with God. If you are struggling with issues, take them to the Lord and maybe
get one of the leaders to stand with you in prayer that you might be able to
live fully for the Lord.
Also, please pray for Israel and the Middle East at this
time – her sworn enemies would like nothing less than the extermination of
Israel and hope and dream for that day to come. Iran seeks to clandestinely
build nuclear weapons and recently released a video proudly showing them
launching a nuclear strike. At the same time other terrorist networks are seeking
biological and chemical weapons to add to their arsenals. Daily anti-Semitic
propaganda is being published across the Middle East, and the level of general
hatred for the Jews is comparable to the situation in Germany at the time when
Hitler came to power.
So, let’s fast a meal when we can and spend extra time to
seek God at this crucial time in history. We are called to be history-makers
and we have a role in interceding for God’s will to be done on earth as it is
in Heaven.
by Enoch Lavender
Enoch Lavender is a graduate from Harvest Bible College (B.A. 2008) and is actively involved with several ministries that have a focus on Israel and the Middle East in the End Times. Enoch is available to share at churches / youth groups and can be contacted via www.shalomisrael.com.au
