Four Blood Moons

Introduction
Four Blood Moons! I can't say I have ever seen even one. Now that I am actively watching for signs in the heavens, I will be watching this with interest. Even more so because the four blood moons coming over the next two years are all predicted to occur on Biblical Feasts Days. This is a rather rare event and when they have occured in the past they have often coincided with significant events in the history of the state of Israel, notably 1948 and 1967.

While I do not share all of the popular evangelical viewpoints on the significance of the modern state of Israel, there is no denying that the Middle East will be center stage for many significant developments as the last great crisis as Earth's history unfolds.

Note that I am simply sharing items of interest. That does not imply that I agree with everything presented.

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars ... nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes ..." (Matt 24:6-7)

Real Omen? A 'Super Blood Moon Eclipse'
WorldNetDaily.com / January 26, 2014

"Strange things have been happening amid this winter's especially cold weather, and this week an Arctic snowy owl was spotted sitting on a green awning in downtown Washington, D.C.

"The Washington Post reported the birds, which mostly live in the treeless tundra of the Arctic, recently been seen in Revere Beach, Mass., near Jacksonville, Fla., in the Great Lakes region, in Arkansas and in the Dakotas.

"The paper said some are wondering whether the unusual occurrence in the nation's capital was some kind of omen.

"Regardless, a pastor told WND that if people are seeking an omen, or sign, they should just check out the timing of the highly unusual four blood moons over the next two years, including a 'super blood moon eclipse.'

"The last time the same sequence happened was in 1967 and 1968, when Israel recaptured Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. Before that, it was in the 1940s, when Israel was born.

"It didn't happen the 1800s, not in the 1700s. Not even in the 1600s.

"It did take place in the 1400s, in 1493 and 1494, when the Jews were expelled from Spain.

"'Four total lunar eclipses happening the next two years herald possible war in the Middle East as well as global economic collapse,' Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries told WND in an email."

Obama Putting Squeeze on Temple Mount
By: Aaron Klein / WorldNetDaily.com / December 4, 2013

TEL AVIV -- The reports of stepped-up activism to ensure non-Muslim prayer on the Temple Mount comes as the Obama administrations continues to quietly push a plan in which the Palestinian Authority and Jordan will receive sovereignty over the holy site.

"On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported on what it described as a 'small but growing movement by Jewish activists' demanding the right to pray on the mount.

"Currently, all non-Muslims are barred from praying at the site. While Muslims can access the Temple Mount 24-hours a day, Jews and Christians may only ascend during certain hours, and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays or other days considered 'sensitive' by the Waqf, the Islamic custodians of the mount."

Ray's note: Things are developing in the situation around the control of the Temple Mount and other important religious sites. It would be very interesting if one or more of the predicted four blood moons coincided with a significant events regarding the temple.

Iran: We Did Not Agree to Dismantle Anything
By: Yoel Goldman / The Times of Israel.com / January 23, 2014

"Iran's foreign minister accused the US of mischaracterizing the terms of an interim nuclear deal that went into effect on Monday.

"'We did not agree to dismantle anything,' Mohammad Javad Zarif told CNN in an interview on Wednesday, charging that the Obama administration had created a false impression in the language it used to describe the six-month agreement.

""The White House tries to portray it as basically a dismantling of Iran's nuclear program,' he said, speaking from Davos, Switzerland, where he is attending the World Economic Forum. 'If you find a single, a single word, that even closely resembles dismantling or could be defined as dismantling in the entire text, then I would take back my comment.'

"Zarif repeated that 'we are not dismantling any centrifuges, we're not dismantling any equipment, we're simply not producing, not enriching [uranium] over 5%.'"

Winds of War, Part II
Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. | Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 7:30 am

"Last summer, I made it absolutely clear that peace in the Middle East was a pipedream.

"I wrote:

"'If our leaders and allies still think they have the power to impose their brand of peace and freedom on the Middle East, they need to check into an insane asylum.'

"For the evidence, just compare the two maps below.

"The first map shows what the region looked like about five years ago when the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan were still in full swing; the U.S. was still debating withdrawal; and nearly all American citizens voted for the presidential candidate they thought could do the best job of ending the conflicts.

The next map shows the situation in the Middle East today. The situation is not getting better.

UK weather: 'Danger to life' in severe floods as yet more rain, gales and huge waves batter Britain
Lizzie Dearden

Gales, huge waves and torrential rain are set to bring yet more misery to swamped parts of the UK this weekend, overcoming defences, flooding homes and causing travel chaos.

Lives could be in danger in parts of the south-west and in the Midlands, where the Environment Agency has issued nine severe flood warnings - its highest level of alert.

The Cornwall and North Devon coasts are expect to bear the brunt of the weather, along with the River Severn near Gloucester, and 178 more flood warnings have been issued across England and Wales.

Cobra, the government’s emergency committee, has met to address the issue amid growing calls for a permanent solution.

A month of torrential downpours has seen some parts of England suffer the wettest January since records began more than 100 years ago, and the start of February is not looking promising.

Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. | Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 7:30 am
By Kathy Quiano and Mark Morgenstein, CNN February 2, 2014E

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- The 15 victims simply couldn't outrun the searing debris that billowed out of Indonesia's Mount Sinabung.

Plumes of ash had spewed more than a mile into the sky Saturday and descended in superheated clouds. Scalding ash up to 700 degrees in temperature raced down the slope in just two to three minutes.

By the end of several eruptions, at least 15 people had been killed, a government official told CNN. It was the first time Mount Sinabung's volcanic output had resulted in deaths, the Jakarta Post reported.

The victims, and at least three other injured people, were all found in Sukameriah, a village close to the volcano's crater, disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told CNN.

What you need to know about volcanoes

Local search-and-rescue teams were scheduled to go on a recovery operation Sunday, he said.

Eruptions at Mount Sinabung are becoming common. After about 400 years of minimal volcanic activity there, Sinabung erupted in 2010. It has been emitting gas since September.

The English-language Jakarta Post said while 31 people previously had died from eruption-related illnesses such as asthma and hypertension.

The unpredictable volcanic volatility has meant an itinerant existence for those who live in this region a 2 1/2 hour flight from Jakarta. Last month, intensifying volcanic activity forced 22,000 people into temporary camps, but more than half were allowed to return home on Friday.

On Sunday, the sky above the North Sumatra mountain was still the color of murky gray ash, as shown on video from the Indonesia Geologic Agency.

Monsanto Readies First-ever GMO Wheat
Russia Today.com / January 15, 2014

"Biotech titan Monsanto has made significant advances in the development of herbicide-tolerant wheat, the company announced recently, and could have the first-of-its-kind crop ready for farming in just a few years' time.

"Genetically-modified wheat isn't legally approved anywhere in the world, but the billion-dollar St. Louis, Missouri-based agriculture company has for years been determined to develop the first GMO variety of the cash crop.

"Monsanto-made wheat, like other GMO crops created by the company, would be resistant to their weed killer Roundup and thus join the likes of other 'Roundup Ready' products already sold by the company, including bioengineered soybean and corn."

More Infected in Fresh Wave of China Bird Flu -- WHO
By: Kate Kelland / Reuters.com / January 20, 2014

"Another 23 people in China have been infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu in recent days, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday, adding to at least 24 new cases last week and confirming a fresh surge in the virus.

"The H7N9 bird flu virus emerged in March last year and has so far infected at least 199 people in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, killing 52 of them.

"It advised people 'to continue to practice good hygiene and handle food properly' but did not recommend any travel or trade restrictions."

Retirement Crisis: Don't Lean Too Heavily on Social Security
By: Dan Ritter / Wall St. CheatSheet.com / January 14, 2014

"John Bogle has been one of the chief architects of the way in which people participate in the retirement system, and over his long career in the industry, he says he has seen the pillars of that foundation erode in the face of bad policy and economic hardship.

"'There are three pillars of the retirement system,' said Bogle. 'One is Social Security. Two is the defined-benefit plan, and three is the defined-contribution plan. They are all in terrible shape."

"'Terrible' may be an understatement. It's not productive to cry wolf, but the word 'crisis' has apparently attached itself like a parasite to the end of the word 'retirement,' and the data appear to validate the phrase. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) helped legitimize the phrase in a 2012 report titled 'The Retirement Crisis and a Plan to Solve It.'

"In the report, Harkin, who is chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, showed exactly how poorly the retirement system is working: Americans are running a collective retirement deficit of $6.6 trillion, only 20 percent of workers have a defined benefit pension plan, and half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings."

Watch the following 8-minute video of some of the signs of the last days that happened around the world within the month of January 2014.

"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)

Four blood moons - blood-red moons would certainly qualify as signs one could "look up" and see. With confidence in our God, we can indeed lift up our heads in spite of the many problems in the world and anticipate the redemption that is surely drawing near. By the way, be watching for the first of those four blood moons on April, 15 2014.

If prophecy of the end of the world is of interest to you and you would like to receive this monthly newsletter containing articles of interest and relevance to prophetic events, please respond using the form below: