There has been many blood moons, including a recent one on September 7th, and the reason this phenomenon catches the interest of us believers is prophets and apostles said leading up to Jesus’ Return such phenomenon would happen, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come,” (Joel 2:31), "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come." (Acts 2:20). The signs in the cosmos are often a tell tale indicator that we are living in the last days. Particularly that Pestilence & Death, The Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse (Revelation 6:7-8) seems to have been riding since 2019 with Covid to now the parasite endemics happening in North and South America as well as in other countries.
Prognosticating the end is more of an art than a science and we are warned that, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows,” (Matthew 24:36) and yet we are to be ready and watching for His Return, “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching,” (Luke 12:36-48). Christ tells us by knowing the signs of the end times we can know He is soon to arrive “So also, when you see all these things, you know that He is near, at the very gates,” (Matthew 24:33) which means we have to find a delicate balance in eschatology of not predicting “on this Date Jesus returns” which violates “you will not know the day or hour,” (Matthew 24:36) while being aware of the end times signs and raising awareness that prophecies may indeed be being fulfilled and be ready to meet our Lord.
Apocalyptic fervor is a double edge sword. On one hand we as Christians need a little dose each day to get excited about Jesus’ Return. It helps motivate us to not get caught naked, “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who stays awake and who keeps his clothes [that is, stays spiritually ready for the Lord’s return], so that he will not be naked—spiritually unprepared—and men will not see his shame” (Revelation 16:15, AMP). On the other end is the harmful doomsdayers who swindle people out of money with their supposed timeline books and plane tickets to get to the Holy Land or worse convincing people to stand still in their lives, selling their possessions, and live like Doomsday Preppers in underground bunkers. The End Times is very much like Spiritual Warefare, something to “be aware of and ready for, but not preoccupied with.” (Chip Ingram, The Invisible War). We need to be spiritually ready for Christ’s Second Coming and be aware of the end times signs, but not let blood moons eclipse our lives to the point that we do drastic and foolish things like postpone having families and doing careers.
I personally grapple with Apocalyptic concern. I do not want to be unprepared and yet I am conscious that people have predicted Jesus’ Return from the Apostle’s times to Reformation Times to as recent as 2022 A.D. and all their predictions did not come true. So my reticence is fueled by history, but seeing the signs of our times has me rather convinced this is the Last Days, and the events that lead up to Christ’s Second Coming could happen in our life time.
Finding the happy place between hesitation because so many have gotten the predictions wrong and being ready for what appears to be the possible events of The End is a daily struggle. In a day you see how people are acting and yu think indeed Paul’s words are happenjng, “For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!.” (2 Timothy 3:2-5). Then you are reminded that the apostles thought Jesus’ Return was imminent and we The Church are here two thousand years later still waiting.
Apocalyptic fervor can grab you cuz it adds great purpose to your life, that you are living out unfulfilled prophetic passages in the Bible! However, equally cataclysmic is getting so certain of timelines and signs that you stall your life, and when the window of expectation passes you, you find a drained wallet, disillusionment, and many days spent maybe even years gone.
What is the solution then? Turn a blind eye and say Nero fulfilled stuff in the Past? Or double down, getting more zealous over blood moons and other signs? I would urge instead, keep your eyes on Jesus, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2). Being ready for the End Days is noble, but even noble things can take Jesus’ place in your focus and heart. Just as people can get obsessed with demons and superstition, forgetting God lives in them and they in God (1 John 4:15), people can get so into the end timelines, tribulation, millennium, and predictions that they take their eyes off the Lamb of God. The word apocalypse means “unveiling” as in that of a Bride at a wedding which ties into we are The Bride, “Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright andclean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” (Revelation 19:7-8), and Jesus is the Bridegroom, “nd Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:15) coming to gather us for The Wedding Supper of the Lamb. That means He needs to be our focus and while I agree take heed of the signs of the end, and be ready spiritually any moment for it, do not forget to keep your eyes fixed On Jesus while doing so Amen.
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