As the world prepares to look skyward to witness a spectacular “blood moon” this weekend, pastor Mark Biltz says judgment is already under way on Earth. And more is on the way.
“The Bible talks of the times we are living in. Here we have the re-establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 and the return of Jerusalem into Israel’s hands in 1967. Now we have the signs in the heavens where the sun is turning to sackcloth and the moon to blood on the biblical holy days, warning both the nations and Israel against a two state solution,” he said.
The discoverer of the blood-moons phenomenon, Biltz says there’s no way to get around the fact that Israel is at the center of God’s plans for events to come.
In an interview with WND, the author of the theological blockbuster “Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs” suggested astronomical signs show Americans are living in “prophetic times” and the fate of the Jewish state is central to God’s plan.
“People need to realize the Middle East problem is not a political one but a religious one. They need to realize that Allah and the God of the Bible are not the same being. One hates and wants to destroy Israel, and the other loves Israel. Until this is understood, you will never have peace in the Middle East.”
The “blood moon” occurring this weekend is a lunar eclipse that will make the moon appear blood red for a short time on Saturday morning, April 4. It is the third in a tetrad of four blood moons taking place on Jewish holy days during 2014 and 2015, with this particular eclipse taking place on a date that serves as both Holy Saturday for Christians and Passover for Jews. The Passover blood moon is also occurring on the Shabbat, or the Jewish day of rest.
But Biltz and others say it is not just the timing of the Passover blood moon that is remarkable but the length of the eclipse.
Read the details of the blood moons happening now, in “Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs.”
Biltz said the eclipse will last for just under five minutes, the “shortest lunar eclipse ever recorded in human history on the night of Passover.” For that reason, Biltz is calling on Christians to pray for Israel and the peace of Jerusalem for four minutes and 44 seconds during the eclipse.
He is joined in this effort by Bob O’Dell and Gidon Ariel of the educational foundation Root Source,a group that provides Christians access to Jewish teachings online. Root Source was responsible for discovering how the March 20 solar eclipse darkened the sun just in time for the sunrise at the North Pole in what some biblical experts called an unmistakable sign of judgment to the whole world.
In a statement provided to WND, Biltz pointed out that according to Jewish tradition, a solar eclipse is seen as a sign to the whole world, while a lunar eclipse is seen as a sign to the Jewish people specifically.
Biltz says of the prayer effort, “We want all the Jewish people worldwide to know on this Shabbat the nations are praying for them and thanking them for guarding the Torah for the last several thousand years.”
Talk of prophecy and the possible approach of the end times is growing among American Christians with several prominent pastors speaking on the subject. One of the best known was the Rev. Franklin Graham, who recently commented: “We used to be ‘one nation under God.’ Now we’re a nation that has turned its back on God. History shows that when nations do this, their end is near.”
Pastor Carl Gallups, author of “Final Warning: Understanding the Trumpet Days of Revelation,”says he agrees with Graham.
In an interview with WND, Gallups commented: “It seems the signs of the Lord’s return continue to mount up before our eyes. It could very well be that we are living in the days of God’s final warnings. If ever there were a time for people to reevaluate their relationship with Jesus Christ, it is now.”
Gallups also points to Israel as the center of how prophecy is playing out in contemporary times.
“Consider the startling events that have occurred only in our day that line up, or are currently in the process of lining up, with specific prophecies. From Deuteronomy through most of the last of the Old Testament prophets there are declarations of Israel’s return to the land in the ‘last days.’ We are the only generation in history to see that happen – a 2,500-year-old prophecy came alive, in our historical lifetime, and is still the focus of the evening news each week.”
Biltz also says that prophecy is being fulfilled in the headlines. For that reason, he says, those who are expect a sudden cataclysm on Saturday are misguided, because the signs of judgment are already all around.
“The blood moons by themselves are significant signs that mankind should wake up. But a skeptic of the blood moons phenomenon wrote to me recently and asked the following question: ‘What if, after these celestial events take place, nothing much happens involving Israel?’ But let’s first look at what has already happened and what appears to be on the horizon in full view right now.”
He said: “After the first blood moon, we’ve had the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, we’ve had the advance of ISIS, a two-month war between Israel and Gaza, the Ebola plague, the overthrow of Yemen, upheaval in the Middle East, and economic meltdowns coming. We still have over a year to go. More judgment coming anytime in 2016 as well is what these blood moons are referring to.”
Gallups also warns that events around the world and especially in the Middle East testify to the continuing relevance of prophecy.