Being Careful NOT To Misinterpret The Easter Sunday Blood Moon

There are blood moons and somehow, some people are panicking when it comes to this believing that the end has come.  Some Christians may be rejoicing believing that Christ is returning soon (some may have expected the Rapture to happen last December 21, 2012) and a blood moon is scheduled to happen during April 4, 2015 on an Easter Sunday and on September 28, 2015 which is the Feast of Sukkot.  Now I do believe that these might be signs of the times but there has been subject to scrutiny on how to interpret the blood moon in the Scriptures.

While I do believe that there is a prophetic meaning behind them but, I have to be careful in how I interpret prophetic events.  For instance, some cuckoo ministers have more than once used the planetary alignment to justify their belief that (insert date) would be the Rapture or the End of the World.  I mean, who couldn't forget the December 21, 2012 as a proposed Rapture date?  I mean, some Christians who may not be doing their homework may have been hopeful that the Rapture would hit by 2012.  I even remembered the hoax that the Rapture would hit by the year 2000 back when I was in high school!  Just because I believe that the blood moon may be a sign of Christ's second coming, however it does mean I am right.  I could be wrong and the truth will always be there to correct my mistakes.

The verse that has been perhaps misinterpreted is Joel 2:31 saying, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come."  But one must be careful of the word "before" like many times.  For example, before the product was finished, it was still a raw material.  That means, in between before, there can be MANY times the word before is used  When you think about it, let's think of the process of making a cake.  Before the cake was finished we do know there are many events.  Before the cake was finished, it was once flour, eggs, milk, butter and flavoring.  Before the cake was finished, it was mixed into a batter, it was baked with specifications, it was under the process of baking then the cake was finished.  Likewise, a blood moon while I do believe it is a sign that the Lord Jesus may return soon but I cannot be certain how many blood moons will occur before Jesus returns!

It would be important to define an eclipse.  According to Space.com, here's what an eclipse is based on the diagrams I will use in here with their permission.  I suggest you better read through this before getting too excited or panicking. 
The diagram above presents an explanation on how a solar eclipse occurs.  Studying science is indeed a command for EVERY Christian.  It would be stupid to say God is great without realizing the greatness of His creation.  The Bible commands to "test all things" (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and to beware of what is falsely called "science" or "knowledge" (1 Timothy 6:20).  I encourage people to please try and discern the facts first before predicting that the Apocalypse is near.  

However I do have my interpretation (I could be wrong) with the blood moon event namely this.  I simply have the interpretation that the blood moon happening on Passover is a reminder that only the blood of Jesus saves.  Remember that nature is God's way of communicating with man.  It might be God's warning that He is coming soon, that a pestilence may come, the Antichrist may be around the corner but I am just speculating on the events.  Here's a bit of what happened with the blood moon:

When you think about this, I think there might be a prophetic significance behind this but not necessarily the Apocalypse is near.  But still, I cannot deny I think there is a message behind this one for sinful man and Israel for continuing to reject the Messiah.  When I think of it, what is highly possible is that the blood moon on passover and Sukkot four times in a row can mean this.  Four represents the world but it can also mean death.  This might be a reminder or declaration of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The Jews still celebrate the Feast of Passover and the Feast of the Tabernacle (Sukkot) still waiting for the Messiah, without realizing that Jesus Christ is the Messiah whom they have continued to reject.  The Tetrad may also be a warning of upcoming judgment and the signs of the times are here.  However, I am no prophet to determine when as Jesus said that only His Father knows the times and dates, Acts 1:7 says it is not for us to know the times and dates.

At the same time, it's important take a theological view of Joel 2:31.  I would present some Bible scholars to help interpret the matter:

Dr. Matthew Henry's commentary states:
"The pouring out of the Spirit will be very comfortable to the righteous; but let the unrighteous hear this, and tremble. There is a great and terrible day of the Lord coming, which shall be ushered in with wonders in heaven and earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke, the turning of the sun into darkness and the moon into blood. This is to have its full accomplishment (as the learned Dr. Pocock thinks) in the Day of Judgment, at the end of time, before which these signs will be performed in the letter of them, yet so that it was accomplished in part in the death of Christ (which is called the judgment of this world, when the earth quaked and the sun was darkened, and a great and terrible day it was), and more fully in the destruction of Jerusalem, which was a type and figure of the general judgment, and before which there were many amazing prodigies, besides the convulsions of states and kingdoms prophesied of under the figurative expressions of turning the sun into darkness and the moon into blood, and the wars and rumours of wars, and distress of nations, which our Saviour spoke of as the beginning of these sorrows, Mt. 24:6, Mt. 24:7 . But before the last judgment there will be wonders indeed in heaven and earth, the dissolution of both, without a metaphor. The judgments of God upon a sinful world, and the frequent destruction of wicked kingdoms by fire and sword, are prefaces to and presages of the judgment of the world in the last day. Those on whom the Spirit is poured out shall foresee and foretel that great and terrible day of the Lord, and expound the wonders in heaven and earth that go before it; for, as to his first coming, so to his second, all the prophets did and do bear witness, Rev. 10:7 .III. The safety and happiness of all true believers both in the first and second coming of Jesus Christ,"

Baptist preacher John Gill stated:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,.... Not by eclipses, as Aben Ezra; but by the clouds of smoke arising from the burning of towns and cities, which would be so great as to obscure the sun, and through which the moon would look like blood: or all, this may be understood in a figurative sense of the change that should be made in the ecclesiastic and civil state of the Jewish nation, signified by the "heavens" and "earth"; and particularly that their king or kingdom should be in a low, mean, and distressed condition, designed by the sun; and the change of their priesthood is signified by the "moon": so Vitringa on Isaiah 24:23; interprets the "sun" here of King Agrippa, the last king of the Jews in obscurity; and the "moon" of Ananias junior, the high priest, slain by the zealots:  
before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come; not the fall of Gog and Magog, as Kimchi; not the day of the last judgment, but of the destruction of Jerusalem; not by the Chaldeans, but by the Romans; their last destruction, which was very great and terrible indeed, and in which there was a manifest appearance of the hand and power of God; see Malachi 4:1. Maimonides (u) interprets it of the destruction of Sennacherib near Jerusalem; but if that sense is not acceptable, he proposes that of the destruction of Gog and Magog, in the times of the Messiah.
(u) Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 19. p. 271. 

Apparently, the real blood moon is yet to happen.  We are still seeing signs.  As I said, I do personally believe that the blood moons is a warning sign for mankind and assurance to Christians that Jesus is coming soon.  I do believe that we are at the end times looking at the depressing news but there is still ONE major sign that has not been included... soulwinning.  Remember, Matthew 24:14 says that first the Gospel MUST BE PREACHED before the end will come, that is the biggest and most overlooked sign that Jesus is coming soon.  The Rapture can happen one day, not on a solar eclipse, but every other day... the question is, are you ready for that great and fearful day?