New Bloody Book From John Hagee

WorldNetDaily (WND) has a question for us:

Are You Ready for 2014 Biblical Blood Moons?

The hottest Christian book in the world right now is called “Four Blood Moons” by Pastor John Hagee.

It is creating a sensation in the publishing world and in churches.

On Passover 2014 the first of a series of mysterious astronomical events will occur that will have the whole world looking up at the night skies.

The story begins in 2008 when Hebrew roots Pastor Mark Biltz made an astounding discovery – a story broken first in WND.

Biltz had been studying prophecies that focus on the sun and moon, even going back to the book of Genesis where it states the lights in the sky would be “be for signs, and for seasons.”

The “mysterious astronomical events” are actually un-mysterious lunar eclipses, during which the moon in certain parts of the world (although not apparently in Israel) will appear to have a red or orange hue. Hagee and Blitz want us to believe that this is what the Israelite prophet Joel was referring to in an eschatological passage concerning the “Day of Yahweh” (start of chapter 3 according to Hebrew chapter divisions; end of chapter 2 according to Greek):

And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

The passage is quoted by Peter in the Book of Acts as an explanation for the events of Pentecost. It’s very clear from the meaning that the moon turning to blood is supposed to be a dramatic supernatural disturbance rather than a regular astronomical phenomenon, and there’s no indication that four in row corresponding with Jewish festivals thousands of years in the future are of any significance whatsoever. However, Blitz and Hagee are impressed by the fact that the three occasions on which lunar eclipses have occurred on the first day of Passover in the past 500 yeards have come in years of special significance for Jewish history: 1492 (when Jews were expelled from Spain); 1948 (the foundation of Israel); and 1967 (Six-Day War).

Looking forward, Blitz notes:

When checking the schedule for eclipses, Biltz found two – one on Passover the next on the high holy day of Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh Hebrew month. Two more take place in 2015, also on biblical “feast” days.

I discussed Blitz’s theory – and his claim that this is not “date setting” because the Feast of Trumpets is based on “sighting” the new moon rather than predicting the exact moment – here.

What’s amusing in all this is the shameless way that John Hagee – who claims to be a “prophecy expert” – has jumped on Blitz’s bandwagon. Why didn’t Hagee realise the the significance of the “blood moons” himself in any of his previous “end times” potboilers if he  has such insight into the meaning of the Bible?

Hagee’s book is published by Worthy Publishing, which was founded by former Thomas Nelson head Byron Williamson in 2010; plans to publish it were announced back in April:

“Worthy is honored to publish Pastor Hagee’s remarkable new book, which will speak to an upcoming astronomical phenomenon already predicted by NASA and astronomers worldwide,” said Byron Williamson, president of Worthy Publishing. “Pastor Hagee’s widely viewed weekly television program reaches 99 million homes and his message touches more than a million followers via email, Facebook and Twitter.”

For some reason, the book – which is just the latest addition to a massive heap of “End Times” paperbacks – is described by Worthy as “unprecedented”.