Eclipses of 2014-2015

A few years ago I began studying the subject of the sun turning dark and the blood red moons prophesied in the end days. I abandoned the study for a while until I heard Pastor Mark Biltz’s discovery. I transcribed and compiled this from his appearance on Prophecy in the News with J.R. Church and a few other resources. I firmly hold strong to this study and agree with his discovery.

Heavenly Signs
Sabbatical Year 2014-2015
Begins Sept. 25, 2014
Ends Sept 13, 2015

Four Lunar Eclipses:    Tetrads
Passover – April 15, 2014
Tabernacles (Sukkot) – Oct 8, 2014
Passover – April 4, 2015
Tabernacles (Sukkot) – Sept 28, 2015

Total Solar Eclipses
Nisan 1, 2015 – Mar 21
Tishri 1, 2015 – Sept 14, Rosh Hashanah

When four consecutive lunar eclipses are all total eclipses, the group is known as a tetrad. The following tetrads occur during this century:

Tetrad (Four Consecutive Total Eclipses):   2003 –  2004
Tetrad (Four Consecutive Total Eclipses):   2014 –  2015
Tetrad (Four Consecutive Total Eclipses):   2032 –  2033
Tetrad (Four Consecutive Total Eclipses):   2043 –  2044
Tetrad (Four Consecutive Total Eclipses):   2050 –  2051
Tetrad (Four Consecutive Total Eclipses):   2061 –  2062
Tetrad (Four Consecutive Total Eclipses):   2072 –  2073
Tetrad (Four Consecutive Total Eclipses):   2090 –  2091

We have had blood-red moons on the first day of Passover and the first day of Sukkot on back-to-back years seven times since 1 A.D. Three of these occurrences were connected to 1492 (the Spanish Inquisition), 1948 (statehood for Israel and the War of Independence), and 1967 (the Six-Day War) — some of the most significant days in Jewish history.

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Three sets of blood-red moons that corresponded to significant events:

The Spanish Inquisition — 1492

* Passover, April 2, 1493
* Sukkoth, Sept. 25, 1493
* Passover, March 22, 1494
* Sukkoth, Sept. 15, 1494

The War of Independence — 1948

* Passover, April 13, 1949
* Sukkoth, Oct. 7, 1949
* Passover, April 2, 1950
* Sukkoth, Sept. 26, 1950

The Six-Day War — 1967

* First Day of Passover, April 24, 1967
* First Day of Sukkoth, Oct. 18, 1967
* First Day of Passover. April 13, 1968
* First Day of Sukkoth, Oct. 6, 1968

What will occur in the 2013–2015 time period?

* First Day of Passover, April 15, 2014
* First Day of Sukkoth, Oct. 8, 2014
* First Day of Passover, April 4, 2015
* First Day of Sukkoth, Sept. 28, 2015

Fall Feasts in 2015

* Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets), Sept. 14
* Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), Sept. 23
* Sukkoth (The Feast of Tabernacles), Sept. 28

The others were in 162/163 A.D., 795/796 A.D., 842/843 A.D. and 860/861 A.D. We don’t have any historical connections for these years at this time, but we do know of significant Jewish persecution during the eighth and ninth centuries.

In all eight examples, the eclipses have fallen or will fall on the first day of Passover and Sukkot.

The eighth occurrence of back-to-back, blood-red moons will be in 2014–2015.

In 2008, there is only one Total Solar Eclipse that will occur. It falls on 29 Tammuz/1 Av 5768 = Friday 1 August 2008.

I believe we should closely watch the peace efforts in Israel in 2008 to see if a peace deal is signed — knowing that 2015 would be seven years later. I am not date-setting, and I certainly won’t speculate, but the lineup of occurrences is very intriguing.

Additionally, 2008, 2009, and 2010 each have one Total Solar Eclipse, and they all happen to fall on the 1st of Av.

* Aug. 1, 2008 (1st of Av)
* July 22, 2009 (1st of Av)
* July 11, 2010 (1st of Av)

NOTE: The first of Av begins at sundown and ends at sundown the following day.

The month of Av, in the Hebrew calendar, is called the “dark time.” This eclipse in 2008 falls on the first day of the “dark time.”

This is when the Jews really get serious about lamenting the destruction of the Temple. They don’t bathe, they don’t shave, they don’t put on fresh clean clothes, they take their shoes off, turn their chairs upside down, sit on the upturned chair. They do not want any comfort for those next 9 days from the 1st to the 9th of Av.

We know that the month of Av — and especially the 9th of Av — has been the most trying period throughout history for the Jewish people.

The reason being is because historically on the 9th of Av, the 10 spies brought back the bad report and didn’t want the land, they despised it. Because of that, that day has been cursed in Jewish history.

When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple it was the 9th of Av.
600 years later, when Rome destroyed the Temple, it was the 9th of Av.
All the Jews were kicked out of England in 1290 on the 9th of Av.
All the Jews were kicked out of Spain in 1492 on the 9th of Av.
World War I started on the 9th of Av.
Hitler’s proclamation to kill the Jews came on the 9th of Av.
And they evacuated the Gaza strip at sundown on the 9th of Av.

The same day they rejected the land 3500 years ago.

Zechariah 8:19 is a very key verse because it mentions these four fast dates and in Jewish writings. Total solar eclipses have been a bad omen for the nations, while blood-red moons have been a bad omen for the Jewish people and Israel. In Zechariah 8:19, in the context of these fast dates God says he’s going to turn these fasting dates to days of great joy, in other words, the nations are going to be judged at that time. And here in the middle during the next 3 years, we see judgment coming upon the nations by having this total solar eclipse right in the midst.

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1 Thessalonians 5:1 “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

Paul is saying that they already have enough information to start watching, they do not need anymore.

Those words “times” and “seasons” are so significant because the feasts are called “appointed times.” And the Hebrew word for season used in Genesis 1:14 where He created the Sun, the Moon and the stars, they were for seasons, but the same Hebrew word translated for feasts is that, it means “appointed time”. So, in essence he was saying , you know the biblical calendar.

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Jesus talks about coming like a thief in the night. As Gentiles we don’t really understand what this is really about.

The next verse is, “because you know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night.”

Now what is strange is that the church is proud of the fact that they are blind and don’t know the times and the seasons. We almost brag about no one knowing the time or the hour and we’re to be in darkness. But we are children of the light.

Everyone knows that you must read Bible verses in context. So if you go to your Bibles and you look everywhere the Bible says the Lord comes as a thief in the night, look at who he’s talking to.

In Revelation 3:1-3 he is writing to the church in Sardis. And to the church in Sardis He says, “…you are dead.” So he’s speaking to the “dead church” and he tells them they need to be watchful. Then He goes on to say, “But if you don’t watch, I will come upon you as a thief.” So he’s telling the church he only comes as a thief to the dead church.

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Then if you look at Revelation 3:17-18, here He’s speaking to the church of Laodicea, which is the “lukewarm church.” And there at the conclusion of that he says, “I council of you buy from me gold, refined in the fire, so you can become rich.” Then he also says for them to buy white clothes, and the priest were covered in white clothes, that the shame of their nakedness does not appear.

Now most Gentiles don’t really understand the context. If you tie that in with Revelation 16:15, that is another verse where the Lord says, “Behold, I come as a thief,” and then again he says “Blessed is he that watches…” Now watch this, “…and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” So that’s exactly what he said to the Laodician church, that the shame of their nakedness does not appear.

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What people don’t realize is the high priest and the captain of the guard was known as “a thief in the night.” And there were watch posts where the priests had to be watching and one of the things they had to be watching was the fire that fell on the altar because it was a godly fire that fell from heaven and God commanded it should never go out and they have to be watching it. And so if a priest was caught asleep when the captain of the guard came, he would take a torch and light it with fire from the altar that they were supposed to be watching and he would go and set their priestly garments on fire and they’d be running through the Temple ripping off their temple garments and the shame of their nakedness would appear.

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But what about a lot of people who say, “Well we can’t know the day or the hour, in fact it says right here in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” And the usual argument is that is is futile to study prophecy because no man can know the day or the hour, only the Father knows so therefore, so why should we even try to watch for signs and seasons?

If you go to Matthew 25 you have the story of the foolish virgins and the wise virgins. Well the foolish say to the wise give us of your oil, and the wise said forget it, go get your own. At the conclusion of the matter, when they come, they come to the Lord, and he says this, Verily I say unto you, I don’t know you. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day or the hour when the Son of man comes. So when he says you don’t know the day or the hour, he’s speaking to the foolish virgins not the wise virgins.

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Luke 12:37-41 talks about the good servants and the evil servants. Jesus says, ” It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.” And then it says, “But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.”

And then Peter says to Him, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?” And Jesus answered, “Who is the faithful and wise steward, whom the master puts in charge of his whole household.” It’s basically the ones that are watching. Then He says this, “I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”

Now he’s going to talk to the evil servants. He says, “But and if that servant say in his heart, my master is delaying his coming and he should begin to beat his menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of THAT servant will come on a day when he looks not for him and at an hour which he is not aware.”

So again here we’re seeing him speaking to the foolish virgins; he’s speaking to the evil servants, and he rebuked the Pharisees of his day for not knowing the time of the visitation when He came.

You cannot build a doctrine on one verse you have to look at the context and everything together and how they tie.

Now the one verse where He says, “no one knows the day or the hour.” So now, by eliminating all the other verses as not applying to those that are watching, we come to one verse and that verse has very much to do with the Jewish wedding.

In a Jewish wedding, the father would have to make sure his son had everything prepared and ready. And if anyone would ask the Jewish men when is the wedding, he would say ask my father, only my father knows. That was a traditional response.

Now also, the Feast of Trumpets was known as the feast where no one knew the day or the hour because it was based on the sighting of the new moon. So no one knew when the day or the hour was and it was kept and it still is a 2 day feast because they would light fires on the hills to let the Jews know in Diaspora or in Babylon or where ever, that the new moon has come and it was time for the feast. They would light fires on the hills because Jewish days starts at sunset, at the sighting of the new moon and everyone’s asleep, they’re not going to know until the next day that it was actually the Rosh Hashanah and by then the day’s mostly over and they had to keep it. So they would keep it a 2 day feast and it was known as one long day where no one knew the day or the hour that it was going to begin.

So it’s kind of like if I told you, I’m not going to tell you when I’m coming but gobble, gobble, gobble. Ok, turkey day.

When he says you won’t know the day or the hour, he’s telling you it’s the Feast of Trumpets because that was known as the feast where no one knew the day or the hour that it would begin.

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Now 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 are starting to make some sense. Let’s read the next 2 verses. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

So he’s telling you that the day of the lord is not to overtake you as a thief in the night. It’s only going to overtake the dead church.

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This coming September 29, 2008, on Rosh Hashanah begins the next 7 year cycle. It’s called a week or a Shivua in Hebrew, translated in the KJV as week. It is entirely possible that Daniel’s 70th week will begin on Day 1 of Year 1 of a 7 year cycle.

Although it may at first seem complex, this is all very simple how God has placed signs in the heavens on specific Jewish feast days.

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Now we were talking about the Lord’s coming as a thief in the night to the unbelieving church. Paul uses the term sudden destruction in 1 Thessalonian 5:3. And in Luke 21:34-35 there is this phrase, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” That Greek word that’s translated as “unawares” means suddenly and without any warning whatsoever. All of this ties together the most interesting way because we look at the signs and we watch and we wait. But the world right now, is fast asleep.

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When we hear the word feast we think of food but the biblical word is “moed” (moe-ade), and it means a “divine appointment.” It’s like God has a day timer, and He’s saying these are the days that I’m going to interect human history, on my day timer, on my calendar. And they were also called convocations in Leviticus 23.

The first thing I want to mention and this is where the church really needs to get a hold of this. It says, “These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.” He doesn’t say these are the Jewish feasts, He doesn’t say these are Israel’s feasts, He says these are the feasts of the Lord. If you belong to the Lord, these feasts belong to you. and they were called convocations, in Hebrew the word is “miqra”, and it means “an assembly” but it implies a dress rehearsal. Just like you goto a dress rehearsal for a wedding, you’re rehearsing what is going to happen.

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So throughout history, the feasts were the divinely appointed days that they would do the dress rehearsals of what would prophetically happen in the future.

So that is why they would sacrifice the lamb everyday on Passover, because He was going to die on Passover. And what’s amazing is they would bind the Passover lamb to the horns of the altar at the time of the morning sacrifice, which is 9 in the morning. So if you’ll notice in the Gospels it says that the Lord was bound to the cross at the third hour of the day. That’s the time of the morning sacrifice. So the very moment the high priest is binding the Passover lamb to the horns of the altar, they’re binding Jesus the Lamb to the cross. They also sing what is called the “hallel” which is Psalms 113-118 on the feast days. And they sing them at the time of the morning and evening sacrifice. So Psalms 118, what song are they singing? What are the words of Psalms 118? “Bind the sacrifice with cords even to the horns of the altar.”

This is what they’re singing while they’re binding the Passover lamb to the altar and they’re binding Jesus to the cross, and then at the ninth hour, or three in the afternoon, that’s the time of the evening sacrifice, and it was at that very moment the high priest would slay their last Passover lamb and say it is finished. And here you have Messiah saying “It is finished,” at the ninth hour, or three in the afternoon. So it’s not only the very day, it’s the very hour.

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Even Pentecost, if you remember, Peter said “These people aren’t drunk, it’s the third hour of the day.” That’s nine in the morning, time for the morning sacrifice. And so it was on the feast of Pentecost at the time of the morning sacrifice because the Jews have been keeping Pentecost for 1500 years. They were required to. In Deuteronomy 16:16, three times they had to appear before the Lord, it was Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. And the reason why was because they were dress rehearsals for His first coming. Passover, the Lord wanted everyone to see His Son die, Pentecost the Spirit poured out, Tabernacles for His return. And so that is why they are dress rehearsals.

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Now all these signs this year and in 2014 and 2015, it’s almost as if someone is trying to get our attention. And if you don’t know the signals to watch, if no one told you, “1 if by land, 2 if by sea,” if you saw these lights flashing, they’re not going to mean anything to you. That’s why the church has to get on the biblical calendar because that’s the calendar God’s using.

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Let’s conclude with one more thought. Let’s look at 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

And that’s the message, we have to be watching. And if the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever, if He fulfilled the spring feast to the day of His first coming, He will fulfill the fall feast to the day of His second coming. The church doesn’t understand Revelation until they understand the fall feasts and what events will happen on those days.

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In Revelation 19 we have Jesus coming back in power and great glory. The book of Revelation is layed out like the fall festivals. The Gospel of John, the spring festivals of Passover. In the fall festivals, when we come to chapter 19, we are in Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

Now Moses came down from the mountain on that day as well. Within Jewish history, Moses came down, they had sinned with the golden calf, he had to go up and make atonement. He comes down on the day of atonement, and when he came down his face, they said was glorious and it just shone. Everyone was afraid of his presence. Well, he’s a type of Messiah and on Yom Kippur, Messiah will come down and his face will be glorious and people will be terrified of His presence.

At the end of the tribulation period it looks like the Lord will return on Yom Kippur. In fact in Ezekiel 40, we have this story of Ezekiel coming in the spirit to the Temple Mount, to watch the return of the Lord which he describes in power and great glory and his voice the sound of many waters, his feet touch down on the Mount of Olives and he discusses what he has seen with the wall and the two sanctuaries, the profain place and all of this. Verse one says it occurs on the 10th day of the beginning of the year, that’s Yom Kippur. So Ezekiel has the Lord showing up on Yom Kippur.

If you go to Zechariah 14:16, key text. He would then begin his millennial reign 5 days later on the Feast of Tabernacles dwelling among men. All the nations will come and keep that feast. If we wanted him to keep in back then, we’re going to keep in the millennial reign.

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If these eclipses in 2015 are what the Lord was referring to, then 2015 would look like a possible year for His feet to land on the Mt of Olives. And, IF this is true then the tribulation could, not would, start this fall at the Feast of Trumpets, (which technically is 2 days long:  KJV Matthew 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only).  In light of all the prophetic events going on I would say it is likely but I’m not saying definitely. As far as the rapture, if you’re pretrib then 2008 could be interesting, if you’re midtrib, 2012 could be interesting, if you’re prewrath then 2014 might be interesting, if you’re a posttribber then 2015 might be interesting and if you’re amillennial just sit back and watch the show!

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Luke 21:24-28 “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Regarding knowing “the day or the hour” scenario. I do not set dates and will not set dates.  Closely looking at a span of roughly 530 days is not date setting. First I would like to ask, what do you think this verse refers to in the many events that will unfold during the tribulation? Does it refer to the day the tribulation begins, or when the anti- christ is revealed or when Messiah’s feet land on the Mt of Olives, or the rapture and on and on?  Does this verse require us to put blinders on?  I do know that the biblical holidays are the exact days when certain events have happened (the Passover lamb, Messiah is the First Fruits, Shavuot or Feast of Weeks is Pentecost) and will happen; but through every year’s cycle of feasts, we don’t know if it is a rehearsal or if it will be the real thing.

Why would he give us this forewarning that “there shall be signs in the sun, and in the
moon, and in the stars” if we are not supposed to study it and know?  If we don’t
know the biblical calendar then we will remain clueless as to what God is doing.