By William Kuik
One of the best things about living in the Four Corners region is that on a clear night you can literally see millions of stars.
I have always made a point of observing unique events involving the sun, moon, and stars whenever possible. This past autumn there was a lot of excitement in the scientific community over a phenomenon which has been called a “tetrad.” This is when a sequence of four lunar eclipses takes place in a row. These full lunar eclipses are also called “blood moons.” When Earth’s orbit passes between the sun and moon, the atmosphere of the earth scatters the light away from the moon; however the longer, red wavelength of light passes on through the atmosphere and makes its way to the moon. This is why the appearance of the moon turns a deep blood red color.
From the Bible, in Genesis 1:14, we learn that there are several reasons the lights in the heavens were created: ‘And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”’ These ‘signs and seasons’ are literally ‘markers and appointments’, God tells us He created all of this natural beauty, in part, so that He could communicate His orderly sense of timing—His Appointed Times— to us. Many Christians are surprised to find out that God’s sacred calendar, as described in the Bible, is based upon a lunar cycle which is tracked or modified through a solar year.
As God communicated His timing to us through seasons, He specified the observance of seven yearly holidays or appointments. The first is a spring feast called Passover; it is a time to remember the Exodus of the Israelites from 400 years of bondage in Egypt. The last is a fall feast called Sukkot; it is a time to tabernacle together and remembers the wilderness wonderings.
In 2014 and 2015 Passover and Sukkot, the first and last appointments, are bracketed both years with a tetrad of blood moons—full lunar eclipses—which occur specifically on the night of the full moon and on these Jewish holidays. It will be the only time this century when this will happen. We will be celebrating Passover on April 3 after sunset, the night of the 3rd lunar eclipse in the tetrad, and so will millions of other people all around the earth. Are these indicators of something bigger? Many people think so.
Next week, Part 2: More thoughts about Passover, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and about God’s amazing timing.
Bill Kuik is the Congregational Leader of Etz-Chayim B’Yeshua Messianic Congregation in Cortez, Colo. Visit www.byeshua.org.