Four Blood Moons Update

There are various opinions regarding the phenomenon known as the Four Blood Moons.  In a previous post, I shared some thoughts about the Four Blood Moons Documentary which was shown in theaters nationwide on two specific dates back in March and April, 2015.

I was curious to find out when the documentary would be released on DVD, and found my answer at the Four Blood Moons movie website. It will be available on June 23, 2015.

During my search, I discovered a website called Breaking Israel News. Unfortunately, today’s headline on the front page shares the latest attack from Gaza upon the Jewish State of Israel and how the IAF Strikes Gaza Following Rocket Fire on Israel.

However, the first page that I read there had to do with an interesting article written back in March about “Four Blood Moons Movie”: The Winners and Losers.

Links within the post brought even more fascinating information!

There are many to read, but here are the ones I have read so far:

1. Exclusive: Friday’s Solar Eclipse Linked to Fateful 1492 Blood Moon.

This portion was truly exciting:

“My mouth nearly dropped to the floor when I discovered the path of the 1492 solar eclipse.”

NASA has tracked the path of the solar eclipse of April 26, 1492, which began in the Pacific Ocean south of the equator and traveled northeast crossing the thin land bridge where, years later, the Panama Canal would be built. On the Jewish calendar, April 26, 1492 corresponds to the fifth day of Passover (20 Nissan), which the Bible states is two days before the Exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the sea.

After then clipping the very top of South America, the path of the 1492 solar eclipse headed southeast in the Atlantic Ocean very close to the shortest crossing point between South America and Africa.

“It is almost like it was a signpost being placed on earth for later generations to see, once the age of computers would arrive,” O’Dell explained to Breaking Israel News.

“God could have been saying to the world, that yes, you can expel the Jews from Spain, but I am going to open up the Americas so they would have a place of refuge until their ultimate homeland was ready to receive them.”

 

2. CUFI Denounces Journalist for Article Attacking Pastor John Hagee

As with anything else that a Christian Pastor presents as evidence of the God of the Bible, Pastor Hagee was attacked by a Huffington Post writer who apparently wrote an untruthful screed against Hagee; accusing him of anti-Semitism!

Go to that link and read the truth about Hagee and his decades long friendship with Israel!

Excerpt:

Hagee has long enjoyed a close relationship with the Jewish community and was honored in 2013 by leading Jewish organizations for his “years of support and humanitarian endeavors on behalf of Israel,” including more than $80 million in donations by John Hagee Ministries to Israeli charities, which is a separate entity from CUFI [Christians United For Israel].

 

Just goes to prove…you can’t believe everything written on the HuffPoo site!

 

3. Root Source is a website started by a Jewish founder and CEO named Gidon Ariel. The Christian co-founder is Bob O’Dell.

What is Root Source?

Today, more and more Christians and Jews are hearing the divine call to wake up and engage with one another.

Root Source is answering that call: Knowledgeable, Orthodox Israeli Jews teaching Christians around the world online about Jewish concepts, ideas and thought, to more deeply understand the roots of their faith, in an informal and loving manner.

Root Source enables and encourages dialogue and relationships between Christians and Jews, and empowers Christians to learn like Jews have been learning for centuries. Our Israeli Jewish teachers know you are a Christian, and respect your identity and your faith. Root Source gives you access to world-class Jewish biblical teaching online, helping you learn deeper and reach higher in your Christian faith, with the opportunity to ask any question openly.

Our members are often surprised at how quickly they can learn deeper biblical truths from Orthodox Jewish teachings and directly and practically apply those teachings to their own Christian faith.

I can attest to the fact that when Christians learn about the Jewish Feasts Days and their significance (as well as how they point to the Messiah – Jesus Christ!); our faith can be exponentially increased!

For example, read my post from Good Friday of this year (which fell on the first day of Passover!) How the Passover/Seder Reveals Jesus Christ!

Hat tips to all links.

How the Passover/Seder Reveals Jesus Christ

While the Christian Holy Week and Passover usually fall near each other, it is not often that Good Friday and the first night of the eight-day Jewish festival are celebrated on the same day. The rare convergence of the observances is a reminder of the historical links between the two religious holidays.

Jesus’ Last Supper is traditionally thought to have been a Passover Seder, highlighting the historical links between the Jewish holiday and the Christian Good Friday observance.

I found the following essay online this morning.  Once again, we see evidence of the eternal connection of Judeo-Christian beliefs that are outlined in the Bible.

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How the Passover / Seder Reveals Jesus Christ

The festival of the Passover has been celebrated by Jews for thousands of years. It is the retelling of the great story of how God redeemed the Jewish nation from enslavement in Egypt.¹ The celebration itself was given to the Jews while they were still in Egypt.² The original celebration centered around the Passover lamb, which was sacrificed and its blood put over the doorposts as a sign of faith, so that the Lord passed over the houses of the Jews during the last plague poured out on the Egyptians – the killing of every firstborn.³ To a large degree, the Passover lamb has been eliminated from the Passover festival (with the only remnant being the roasted lamb shank bone).⁴ The New Testament says that Jesus is our sacrificial Lamb.⁵ The Passover lamb was to be a “male without defect,”⁶ which is the same description given to Jesus.⁷ In addition, when the lamb was roasted and eaten, none of its bones were to be broken.⁸ This fact was also prophesized for the Messiah, whose bones were not to be broken.⁹ It was customary during crucifixion to break the leg bones of the person after a few hours in order to hasten their death. The only way a person could breathe when hanging on a cross was to push up with his legs, which was very exhausting. By breaking the legs, death followed soon by asphyxiation. However, in the case of Jesus, they broke the legs of the other two men, but did not break His, since He was already dead.¹⁰

Much of the symbolism of Jesus’ last Passover week is lost to us because we are unaware of the customs of the time. For example, Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem five days before the lamb was killed in the temple as the Passover sacrifice for the sins of the people of Israel. Five days before the lamb was to be sacrificed, it was chosen. Therefore, Jesus entered Jerusalem on lamb selection day as the lamb of God.¹¹ The people did not understand the significance of this, since they greeted Him with palm branches¹² and hailed Him as King,¹³ shouting “Hosanna,”¹⁴ which means “save us.” However, they were not looking for a spiritual Savior, but a political savior. Palm branches were a symbol of freedom and defiance, since Simon Maccabeus had entered Jerusalem with that symbolism.¹⁵ Jesus’ reaction was to weep,¹⁶ since He realized that they did not understand the Messiah’s purpose in coming.

Good Friday was the day of the Passover celebration and the day that the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed. For the previous 1,200 years, the priest would blow the shophar (ram’s horn) at 3:00 p.m. – the moment the lamb was sacrificed, and all the people would pause to contemplate the sacrifice for sins on behalf of the people of Israel. On Good Friday at 3:00,¹⁷ when Jesus was being crucified, He said, “It is finished”¹⁸ – at the moment that the Passover lamb was sacrificed and the shophar was blown from the Temple. The sacrifice of the lamb of God was fulfilled at the hour that the symbolic animal sacrifice usually took place. At the same time, the veil of the Temple (a three-inch thick, several story high cloth that demarked the Holy of Holies¹⁹) tore from top to bottom²⁰ – representing a removal of the separation between God and man. Fifty days later, on the anniversary of the giving of the law (Pentecost), God left the earthly temple to inhabit those who call on the name of Jesus through His Holy Spirit.²¹

The festival of unleavened bread began Friday evening (at sunset). As part of the festival, the Jews would take some of the grain – the “first fruits” of their harvest – to the Temple to offer as a sacrifice. In so doing, they were offering God all they had and trusting Him to provide the rest of the harvest. It was at this point that Jesus was buried – planted in the ground – as He said right before His death.²² Paul refers to Jesus as the first fruits of those raised from the dead in 1 Corinthians.²³ As such, Jesus represents the fulfillment of God’s promise to provide the rest of the harvest – resurrection of those who follow the Messiah.

 

Christian symbolism in the Passover occurs early in the Seder (the Passover dinner). Three matzahs are put together (representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The middle matzah is broken,²⁴ wrapped in a white cloth, and hidden, representing the death and burial of Jesus.²⁵ The matzah itself is designed to represent Jesus, since it is striped and pierced, which was prophesized by Isaiah, ²⁶ David,²⁷ and Zechariah.²⁸ Following the Seder meal, the “buried” matzah is “resurrected,” which was foretold in the prophecies of David.²⁹

It was during a Passover seder³⁰ that Jesus proclaimed that the meal represented Himself and that He was instituting the New Covenant, which was foretold by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah.³¹ The celebration of this covenant has become the ordinance of communion in the Christian Church. At the end of the meal, Jesus took the unleavened bread, broke it, and said that it represented His body.³² Then He took the cup of wine, which would have been the third cup of the Seder – the cup of redemption. He said that it was the new covenant in His blood “poured out for you.”³³ It is through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are declared clean before God, allowing those of us who choose to accept the pardon, to commune with Him – both now and forevermore through the eternal life He offers.

 

References

1. The entire story can be read in the book of Exodus
2. See Exodus chapter 12.
3. Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. (Exodus 12:21-23)
4. The Passover lamb was still sacrificed in the first century, as indicated in the New testament – Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. (Luke 22:7)
5. Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7)
   The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
   When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36)
   For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
   I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)
   “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. (Revelation 12:11)
6. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. (Exodus 12:5)
7. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
8. “It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. (Exodus 12:46)
9. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. (Psalms 34:20)
10. The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs;… For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.” (John 19:32, 33, 36)
11. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
12. On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.” (John 12:12-13)
    And most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and spreading them in the road. (Matthew 21:8)
13. saying, “BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38)
    And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9)
14. And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9)
    And those who went before, and those who followed after, were crying out, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:9-10)
15. Simon Maccabeus entered the Akra at Jerusalem after its capture, �with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and with harps, and cymbals, and with viols, and hymns, and songs: because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel� (1 Maccabees 13:51) (see also 2 Maccabees 10:7).
16. And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, (Luke 19:41)
17. And about the ninth hour [3:00 p.m.] Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?”… And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. (Matthew 27:46, 50) (see also Mark 15:34-37, Luke 23:44-46)
18. When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. (John 19:30)
19. And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, (Hebrews 9:3)
20. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split, (Matthew 27:51)
    And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Mark 15:38)
    the sun being obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. (Luke 23:45)
21. Acts chapter 2.
22. And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:23-24)
23. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:20)
24. And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “Take, eat: this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)
25. And so they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. (John 19:40)
26. But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
27. For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. (Psalms 22:16)
28. “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. (Zechariah 12:10)
29. For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay. (Psalms 16:10)
    O LORD, Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. (Psalms 30:3)
    But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for He will receive me. Selah. (Psalms 49:15)
    I shall not die, but live, And tell of the works of the LORD. (Psalms 118:17)
30. And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; (Luke 22:15)
31. “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)
    “And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19-20)
    “I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, (Isaiah 42:6)
32. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28)
33. In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you. (Luke 22:20)

 

Hat tip: Son Server.com

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How To Know God Personally [Click on link to discover the principles!]

What does it take to begin a relationship with God? Devote yourself to unselfish religious deeds? Become a better person so that God will accept you?

You may be surprised that none of those things will work. But God has made it very clear in the Bible how we can know Him.

The following principles will explain how you can personally begin a relationship with God, right now, through Jesus Christ…