Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Four Blood Moons by John Hagee

A synopsis:
Hagee shows that God uses the sun and moon as signs, giving us the biblical evidence, and connecting them to the history of Israel. He explores the importance of the Shemittah year, the relevance of 490 year events, the significance of the 9th of Av. He spends quite some time on Israel and the importance of the nation in the plans of God. He covers the importance of Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Hagee reviews the previous times the four blood moons occurred on the Jewish holidays of Passover and Feast of Tabernacles. In 1493-94 and the expulsion of Jews from Spain, 1949-50 and the Jews fighting for their land, 1967-68 and the Jews reclaiming the entire city of Jerusalem. 
The four lunar eclipses (blood moons) of 2014-15 are:
Passover, April 15, 2014,
Feast of Tabernacles, October 8, 2014,
  (Total solar eclipse March 20, 2015)
Passover, April 4, 2015,
Feast of Tabernacles, September 28, 2015.
Hagee also notes that the Shemittah year begins September 25, 2014 and ends September 13, 2015.

An evaluation:
Hagee notes, “...several Tetrads have occurred in the past five hundred years, only three have corresponded to the Jewish Feasts as well as being linked to historical events significant to Israel.” (224) While I would say this means there is no guarantee this Tetrad will have any significance to Israel's history, Hagee writes, “...we can rightly conclude that the next series of Four Blood Moons of 2014 and 2015 will also hold significance for Israel and the Jewish people.” (225) And, “The final Four Blood Moons are signaling that something big is coming....something that will change the world forever.” (237, ellipse in original)

Hagee doesn't hedge his prediction by saying something “might” or “could” happen. He is definite in his prediction. Time will tell.

An error:
Hagee writes, “There was a total solar eclipse on September 24, 1493 – one day before the blood moon of the Feast of Tabernacles, September 25, 1493.” (184)
While there was a lunar eclipse as Hagee reports, according to the catalog of solar eclipses from the NASA site (http://1.usa.gov/16Wu2Wqthere was no solar eclipse on that date, let alone a total one. There were solar eclipses in that year on April 16 and October 10. In a solar eclipse, the moon is between the sun and the earth, blocking out the sun's light. The blood moon is a lunar eclipse, meaning the earth is between the sun and the moon, keeping the sunlight from hitting the moon. A solar eclipse and and lunar eclipse are just not going to happen on successive days! (Here is a good website that explains that with a diagram: http://bit.ly/1eSmmMS.)

A contradiction:
Hagee writes, “NASA has stated that this will be the last appearance of a Tetrad in this century.” (221) But he also writes, “Seven more Tetrads will take place in the twenty-first century...” (224-5)

A caution:
There are many views on the details of Jesus' second coming. There are pre-, mid-, and post-tribulationists. There are some who believe a secret rapture will happen and others who believe Jesus returns once and that's it.
Hagee calls those who teach that there is no (secret) Rapture of the church “false prophets.” (78) He also says if you're not looking for Jesus you won't go with Him in the Rapture. (79) Yet, he contradicts that statement by later saying, “All Christians will have been caught up...” (88, italics in original)
So the caution is that there have been Christians throughout the centuries who have not believed in a (secret) Rapture, an idea that gained recognition in the 1850s.

Hagee also comes down hard on those who believe that Christians are now considered the true seed of Abraham and are also now heirs of the promises to Abraham, a literal interpretation of Galatians 3:29. Many believe that Christians would not necessarily replace the Jews with respect to the promises, but would, in some sense be included.

A final comment:
I really like prophetic books that include predictions for the near future. Lord willing, many of us will live through the next couple of years to find out if Hagee is right.

You can find out more at the website for the book: http://fourbloodmoons.net/

John Hagee is the author of four New York Times bestsellers. He is the founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a nondenominational evangelical church with more than twenty thousand active members. He is the founder and president of John Hagee Ministries and founder and national chairman of Christians United for Israel.

Worthy Publishing, 272 pages.

I requested and received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

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