In the news recently there has been swirling around talk about the
“blood moons”, lunar eclipses which will set the moon to a red color.
There events are set to also happen on Jewish Feasts. Many Christians
and non-Christians alike see significance in these events and there
timing. But, how should Christians feel about these events? Here are
three quick thoughts.
1) These “blood moons” do communicate a message but not the one John Hagee claims it communicates.
Putting aside the lacking theological integrity of Dr. Hagee (in his
book, “In Defense of Israel” that Jesus was not the Messiah), his
message was that these blood moons were a “sign to America” and then
pointed to Joel 2:28-32.
“And it shall come
to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and
your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit. “And I will show wonders in the
heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun
shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and
awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and
in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and
among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.”
First,
this text has nothing to do specifically with America. It is dealing
with God’s people (and is quoted again in Acts 2 to refer to the Holy
Spirit’s work on believers) Second, this was not a warning to Jewish
people specifically, not Gentiles. But, Dr. Hagee was onto one thing,
this phenomenon was a message. “The heavens declare the glory of
God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”Psalm 19:1 It is a message of God’s glory in creation.
It is so popular to see the Bible Belt “Evang-jellyfish” culture I live
in to care about what the Bible says about the end but not obey what it
says in current. Paul writes to Timothy and calls this having “a form
of godliness but denying it’s power”. So stories like the blood moon
already make my face look like a blood moon! The blood moon should not
drive us to charts, but to our knees in reverence of our Creator we have
disobeyed. It should drive us to obey His Gospel and find peace
through the shed blood of His Son. That is what this season is all
about. But, what exactly do the “blood moons” refer to in this text?
2) The “blood moon” should teaches us that the Bible has different genres. It
seems that many people, once again, in the buckle of the Bible belt,
think such Biblical literalism as the Left Behind novels are accurate
while disregarding the Biblical stance on sexual ethics or Jesus’ call to repent and obey Gospel (Acts
17:30-31). But, this does bring up a good question, what should be
taken literal verses symbolic. Let’s keep it simple; theBible makes it clear.
In other words, books such as Matthew, or Genesis (history), are meant
to be taken with much more literalism then a book like Joel (prophetic
and symbolic in nature). Also, context is key. Can’t we remember the
context of Joel 2 where there is a world-wide locust attack? Let’s
treat the Bible with the reverence it is due. God was speaking symbolic
of the bloody moon. God often draws on literal language to show
symbolic judgment (think about Isaiah 19). The language of blood is
possibly from the plagues of the Exodus, what is normal (water/moon)
became a color of death (blood). Either way, I think the language of
Joel 2 is best taken as symbolic of a real judgment- the “day of the
Lord”. But, one thing that is worth noting, and it is my final point,
that the response of many is the proper response to events like this.
3)The “blood moons” are leading many to think about what they should be thinking about; the end.
Yes, you read that right. We should be thinking about the end of our
lives and of this world. Psalm 90:12 calls this “wise” to number our
days. One day the end of the world will come and we will stand before
the Lord and give an account of our lives. What will we offer Him?
Will He look on us as spotless, forgiven and clean through the blood of
His Son, or in rightful condemnation in our sin? This brings us right
around to the message of Easter, which is the message of Joel (and the
Bible). “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel
2:32). Through trusting in Jesus Christ- the God-man, whom God the
Father sent in mercy to rescue sinful people, we can be saved from His
condemnation and judgment. He died as a substitute for sinners on the
cross and rose again three days later to purchase “every spiritual
blessing” for those who turn from their sin and trust in His work on
their behalf. God promises eternal life to those who obey this Gospel
(greek for “Good News!”) Those who do so have no reason to feel the end
of their lives or the end of the world, but look forward to a day free
from sin, and death where there will be “no need of sun or moon to shine
on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb”
(Revelation 21:23)
Christians, let us not get lost in
celestial speculation in this season of Easter, but let us be driven to
celebratory proclamation of the Good News of our Savior! Happy
Easter! He is Risen! P.S. HERE is a helpful review of Hagees recent book from Tim Challies
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