The "Blood Moons" Myth

3 Iyyar 5775
Day 18 of the Omer


I am very disappointed to once again be hearing the theory of the "Blood Moons" which originated with Mark Biltz, a so-called 'Messianic' preacher, and was propagated by Baptist preacher John Hagee in a best-selling book. What is most disturbing is that I am hearing it from respected and otherwise knowledgable rabbis. 

I just tried to listen to a lecture by one of my favorite and most trusted rabbis and what did it start off with but all the same old lies of the "blood moons" that have been debunked even by other Christians. Yes! I am upset!! I expected more.

Once and for all - there is no such thing as a "blood moon!" No one ever called a lunar eclipse a "blood moon" before Biltz and Hagee coined the term and started making money off of it. Please do not continue to refer to it that way. They made up the phrase to make it appear that these eclipses were fulfilling the prophecies of both our Tanakh (Yoel 3:4) and their New Testament. They don't, of course, because, as is typical for preachers, they throw out the inconvenient truth which contradicts their theories. This is how they read JC into the Tanakh. We are better than that. We look for the truth and we make the facts conform to the truth or we throw them out!

So, to make it easier, I've gathered the facts for you here...

MYTH #1: There have only been three "tetrads" of lunar eclipses in the last 500 years. 

FACT: According to the same NASA website that Mark Biltz purportedly used to formulate his "blood moons" theory, there have been 14 tetrads of lunar eclipses in the past 500 years.

Tetrad: 1493 - 1494
Tetrad: 1504 - 1505
Tetrad: 1515 - 1516
Tetrad: 1522 - 1523
Tetrad: 1533 - 1534
Tetrad: 1562 - 1563
Tetrad: 1580 - 1581
Tetrad: 1909 - 1910
Tetrad: 1927 - 1928
Tetrad: 1949 - 1950
Tetrad: 1967 - 1968
Tetrad: 1985 - 1986
Tetrad: 2003 - 2004
Tetrad: 2014 - 2015 to be followed by 6 more in this century.

MYTH #2: It's rare for the moon to be 'red' during an eclipse.

FACT: Every total lunar eclipse appears 'red' at totality. (See why here.)

MYTH #3: It's rare for a lunar eclipse to fall on a Jewish "Feast" Day.

FACT: A lunar eclipse can only occur on the night of a full moon and since Passover and Sukkot take place on the full moon, there is always a chance that a lunar eclipse can occur on a Jewish festival. In just the last twenty years...

2008 - Purim
2006 - Purim
2005 - Sukkot
2005 - Passover
1998 - Purim
1997 - Purim
1996 - Sukkot
1996 - Passover
1995 - Sukkot
1995 - Passover

MYTH #4: The tetrad of 1493-1494 heralded the Expulsion from Spain; the tetrad of 1949-1950 heralded the 1948 Israeli War for Independence; and, the tetrad of 1967-1968 heralded the victory of the Israeli Six Days War.

FACT: Since all three of these tetrads occurred following the events they are supposed to be signaling, what was the point? To be consistent, you'd have to say that whatever event the 2014-2015 tetrad portends must have already happened at least in 2013!

Don't ever just take someone's word for something. Check it out for yourself, especially if its origins are questionable and maybe even when it's not!