“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons, and days, and years’ … So the evening and the morning were the fourth day” (Gen. 1:14, 19).
We are seeing some extraordinary signs in the sky. Last year we saw two lunar eclipses and this year we will see two more. In both years, each of the lunar eclipses is on the same Jewish feast days, Passover and Tabernacles. Plus we have seen one solar eclipse in the middle of the lunar eclipses that just occurred on March 20, which this year was the Jewish New Year.
Jewish tradition views a solar eclipse as an omen or harbinger of distress or crisis for Gentile nations. In light of the solar eclipse on March 20, Orthodox Jews issued a worldwide call to pray for the nations.
Jewish tradition also considers a lunar eclipse, or blood moon, to be a harbinger or omen of distress or crisis for Israel. In light of the fact that this weekend there will be a blood moon, Mark Biltz and others have reciprocated the graciousness of the Orthodox Jews by issuing a worldwide call to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
What makes this pending lunar eclipse even more interesting is that it is not only one of a tetrad of four blood moons, two last year and two this year. But it is appearing on the fourth day of the fourth month for exactly four minutes and forty-four seconds, the fourth shortest eclipse in 4000 years. All those fours can’t be a random coincidence.
God is signaling us. But what do the signals mean? I believe one clear message is that it’s time for Christians and Jews alike to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, in order for Him to hear our prayer, forgive our sin and heal our world.
Anne Graham Lotz is an author and founder of AnGel Ministries.
