ANALYSIS
Some remarkable celestial signs will be on display in the coming months that may hold prophetic significance for our world. This series of four heavenly phenomena includes three lunar events, two of which could represent a possible direct message about Israel.
It all kicks off with a total lunar eclipse known as a "blood moon" that will appear over the U.S. on March 14, 2025. This particular one will fall directly on the Jewish holiday of Purim. That's when the Jewish people celebrate the biblical account of Esther when they were delivered from annihilation at the hands of an enemy named Haman in the Persian empire, which is modern-day Iran.
That first lunar eclipse will be followed by two more blood moons, with one coming this fall before Rosh Hashanah, and then the third one ALSO falling directly on Purim on March 3, 2026.
Bible prophecy experts say lunar eclipses known as "blood moons" are tied to events that affect Israel. And with antisemitism spiking around the globe, the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, and the massive Middle East shifts that have followed the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, the two Purim blood moons could hold special significance.
Israel is also facing a new era of uncertainty now that its neighbor Syria has fallen into the hands of rebels with ties to Al Qaeda as well as Turkey. And some are concerned that Iran could find a way to lash out after seeing its proxy terrorist armies of Hamas and Hezbollah being destroyed by Israel. It's why Israel may feel compelled to act swiftly as rumors abound that Iran is close to completing a nuclear weapon that could be deployed against the Jewish state.
What Is the Significance of a Blood Moon?
A blood moon is a full lunar eclipse in which the moon can appear to be an eerie blood-red color. Blood moons occur when Earth passes directly between the moon and the sun, preventing the sun from reflecting off the moon and casting a reddish shadow over it.
In the next such event, the moon will turn red for more than an hour over North and South America on March 14.
A blood moon is framed by US Flags on the National Mall in Washington, Nov. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)
The cosmic moment will repeat on September 7, 2025, with an 82-minute "blood moon" that will be visible over Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. That's two weeks before the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year which is a time of prayer and repentance.
Then the third blood moon will arrive on Purim, March 3, 2026. It will be visible for nearly six hours from Asia to parts of North America.
Christian leaders who study biblical prophecy, like Pastor John Hagee, have contended for years that blood moons portend significant events for Israel and the Middle East, and therefore the entire world.
Hagee wrote a best-selling book about it called, Four Blood Moons. "The heavens are 'God's billboard.' He's been sending signals to Earth, and we haven't been picking them up," Hagee explained a decade ago when talking about a particularly remarkable series of blood moons called a tetrad – that's four blood moons within a span of two years.
The last time a tetrad took place was from 2014-2015, and all four of those eclipses landed directly on Jewish holidays, coming as the world endured the shocking and horrific rise of ISIS, the highly controversial Iran nuclear deal, and the previous Israeli war with Hamas.
That tetrad began during Passover in 2014. The final blood moon of that series took place in September of 2015 during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles which marks God's provision and protection during the Israelites' 40 years in the wilderness.
Significance of Blood Moon Tetrads in History
Historically, blood moon tetrads have occurred during some truly world-changing events directly related to Israel.
Three tetrads stand out over the last millennium, coinciding with major events for the Jewish people. They occurred from 1493-1494, 1949-1950, and 1967-1968.
In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain after severe persecution, and Christopher Columbus also discovered America, which would eventually become a safe haven for the Jewish people.
In 1948, the modern state of Israel was reborn as a nation in its original homeland, fulfilling a biblical prophecy from Jeremiah 16:15 – "For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers."
"After 2,000 years, God supernaturally brought them from 66 nations, and a nation was born in a day," Hagee explained in a previous interview. "That again was a supernatural something that happened following the tragedy of the Holocaust."
Finally, in 1967, Israel recaptured their capital of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War which many see as an essential precursor to the eventual construction of the Jewish Third Temple. (The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.)
"In each of these blood moons, you have something that begins in tragedy and ends in triumph," Hagee said.
The next tetrad of blood moons will occur in 2032–2033, exactly 2,000 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The first two in that rare tetrad will occur on April 25 and October 18, 2032. The last two in that series will fall on Jewish holidays – Passover on April 14, 2033, and Sukkot on Oct 8, 2033. A total solar eclipse will occur right in the middle of that tetrad on March 30, 2033.
Celestial Signs in the Bible & Jewish Tradition
Blood moons are mentioned in multiple places in the Bible, including in the book of Joel, the book of the Acts of the Apostles, and the book of Revelation.
Blood moons are first foretold in Joel 2:31: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." The Apostle Peter repeats that prophecy in Acts 2:20.
Then the End Times book of Revelation 6:12 says: "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood."
All of those scriptures refer to the moon turning blood red as a heavenly sign the End Times are underway.
The Gospel of Luke 21:25-28 points to more celestial signs before the end of days: "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near."
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Meanwhile, Jewish teaching from the Talmud also indicates that lunar and solar eclipses have long been seen as a sign from God.
According to the Messianic Prophecy Bible Project, the Talmud states, "Our Rabbis taught, when the sun is in eclipse it is a bad omen for idolaters; when the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel, since Israel reckons by the moon and idolaters by the sun... If it is in eclipse in the east, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the east; if in the west, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the west; if in the midst of heaven it is a bad omen for the whole world."
Capping off the four major celestial signs over the next two years, after the three blood moons, there will be a total solar eclipse, coming in August of 2026, visible across Europe and Russia.
As Pastor Hagee previously told CBN News, "The evidence is very clear Scripturally that God controls the sun, moon, and stars – that God is sending us a signal through the sun, the moon, and the stars. The question is, are we listening?"
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