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Burning Questions
answered by Rev. Colin Le Noury
What
does the Bible mean when it says
'The moon shall be turned into blood' in the last
days?
The
statement in our question regarding the Moon being
turned into blood is something that has fascinated
Bible students for years.
The
generation to which these words were spoken must
have been greatly puzzled by this prophecy, as indeed
many other generations down through the centuries.
I
believe, however, that this present generation is
better poised than any before it to understand and
interpret the prophecy.
Having
so said I must warn that like many other prophecies
there is no simple explanation. As with all scripture,
a study of the immediate and wider contexts is important.
There are actually two statements in scripture regarding
the Moon and blood; one is in Revelation 6 and the
other in Acts 2 - the latter being a direct quotation
from the prophecy of Joel.
To
understand this prophecy we must remember that the
Moon being turned into blood is lust one of an array
of cosmic happenings which are predicted for the
last days. Regardless of what is meant by the phrase
'turned into blood' it must not be looked at in
isolation.
Let
us therefore consider the three main passages;
'And
there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,
and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity
the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing
them for fear and for looking after those things
that are coming on the earth, for the powers of
heaven shall be shaken. (Luke 21 vv 25-26.)
And
I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs
in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour
of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness,
and the moon into blood, before that great and
notable day of the Lord come.' (Acts 2 vv 19-20)
And
I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal and,
Io, there was a great earthquake, and the sun
became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the
earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely
figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And
the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled
together; and every mountain and island were moved
out of its places.' (Rev. 6 vv 12-14.)
Taken
together, these prophecies seem to point to a time
(almost certainly during the Great Tribulation)
when catastrophic events, initiated by happenings
in space, will have profound affects on every body
in our solar system - particularly, the Sun, Moon
and not least Earth itself.
The
language of the prophecies points towards earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, tidal waves and other natural
disasters of unprecedented proportions. This is
not science fiction - this is biblical fact
Recently,
THE NEGOTIATOR, a secular magazine for estate agents,
carried a very interesting article entitled, 'Millennium
Blastoff,' in which it was stated that a planetary
conjunction about to take place in the year 2000
AD could initiate a spate of worldwide disasters.
It went on to state:
'Underwriters
at Lloyd's, Britain's leading insurance market,
believe the phenomenon could lead to an increase
in premiums as the insurer braces itself for its
biggest ever payout. The conjunction, in which Mercury,
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will line up with
the Sun and Moon is predicted to generate a collective
gravitational pull that could initiate earthquakes,
tidal waves and volcanic eruptions.'
The
threat has been taken so seriously that a 'Millennium
group' at Lloyd's has been set up to assess the
situation.
the
article goes on, 'Planetary conjunctions occur when
celestial bodies become aligned so that they are
moving on the same plane. The last one to involve
;ix bodies was six thousand years ago.'
THE
NEGOTIATOR is not the only secular magazine to make
these kind of predictions. TIME magazine, back in
1994, carried an article on the impact of the Shoemaker-Levy
9 comet on the planet Jupiter. The event on July
18th, 1994 created an explosion on Jupiter (400
million miles away from us) which was equivalent
to millions of megatons of nuclear power, throwing
up fireballs brighter than the planet itself.
The
fear is that something similar to SL9 could one
day hit the Earth. TIME said, 'If such a comet train
hit one of Earth's oceans, tidal waves would deluge
and destroy the closest coastlines. If it hit and,
it could incinerate whole countries and kick up
a cloud that would blot out he Sun and bring on
a nuclear winter.'
Since
that article was written, in December last, astronomers
discovered asteroid XF II, about 1½ miles wide which
they believe could swing in close to Earth on October
26th, 2028 AD The result of such an impact would
be an explosion of 25 x 20,000 megatons of nuclear
power. Hollywood has been quick to capitalise on
the possible drama with recent films like, 'Deep
Impact and 'Armageddon'. In actual fact, XF II is
not now expected to impact Earth but there are something
like 300,000 potentially dangerous asteroids which
could intersect Earth's orbit.
It
must be said that the picture in Rev. 6 of stars
falling to Earth like figs from a tree shaken in
the wind sounds very much like a shower of asteroids.
All of this during a time of cataclysmic happenings.
We
have now painted the context of our prophecy. What
then is meant by the Moon being turned into blood?
First, let me point out that the quotation from
Acts says, 'Turned INTO blood' whereas in Rev. it
says, 'The Moon will be AS blood'.
Taken
together this appears to be a prediction about its
appearance and colour.
Some
in the past have suggested that the Moon will be
colonised by different races and that eventually
there will be bloodshed on the Moon. I am somewhat
sceptical about this interpretation. Despite recent
findings suggesting that there is frozen water on
the dark side, I cannot see the Moon being colonised
for a very long time. My belief in the Lord's imminent
return is infinitely stronger than in the Moon's
colonisation.
It
is more likely that during the cataclysmic events
described above something will happen to the atmosphere
which will affect the colour of the Moon. It may
be, of course, that the Moon itself will be hit
by one such asteroid causing an affect that scientists
have not yet considered.
One
thing is certain, the predictions made by scientists
and astronomers through the increase of knowledge
is showing Bible prophecy to be relevant and up-to-date.
In
this context, Jesus' words stand out remarkably
clear, 'When you begin to see these things come
to pass, LOOK UP, lift up your heads, for your redemption
draweth nigh.'
YT
9/98
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