Michael Bresciani
Blood moons, eclipses, disasters, and September 23 – what do they all mean?
By Michael Bresciani
This year makes an even fifty years that I have been studying the subject of Biblical prophecy. I have watched as some of the best biblical expositors on this subject have arisen to help guide the believers and some of the worst as well.
It is with certainty I can say that most of the things in question here with the exception of the hype about September 23 and other astronomical occurrences are only what Jesus said they would be in Matthew's gospel.
"All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Mt 24: 8)
Disasters, famines, pestilence, earthquakes, wars, and rumors of war are all part of legitimate warnings, but astronomical occurrences are a stretch into hyper-interpretation.
Using signs in the heavens to affirm biblical prophecy is not only an error, but it is a dangerous crossing over from astronomy to astrology, which is strictly forbidden in the Bible.
There will be a day when the sun will not shine and the moon will be blood red, but this is a final sign to indicate that interventional judgments are about to ensue. What follows that great portent goes beyond the imagination, what is happening today is in no way comparable to those days.
YouTube prophets abound, and so does the panic and date setting. But a cautionary warning is well overdue for these kinds of things. No dates have ever been given for any of the last days' events and they will never be.
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Mt 24: 36)
Jewish feasts and celebrations
Lining up the Jewish feasts and holy days with last day's prophecy is another trend that has come into vogue. Like the tetrads and red moons, these are more speculative hype. No part of eschatology asks or demands that we use these as signs to affirm the events that the prophets foretold about the last days and the subsequent entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who insist that the connections should be considered are skirting a most serious error. They may hit a few and coincidence may at times be in their favor, but they will be caught with egg on their faces in the end.
We must be mindful that we are under a New Covenant since Christ came into our world. When the Temple veil was rent from top to bottom (Mt 27: 51) at the moment of Jesus death, the Jewish traditions, ceremonies, and holy days became a thing of the past – they must never be used to predict the future.
God does not use methods and signs of the old dispensation to do something new. He is a forward moving God that is well able to declare his intentions for today without resorting to the signs of yesterday.
What about disasters, hurricanes, earthquakes, wars, and the like?
The profusion of natural and manmade disasters along with war and other calamity is part of prophecy. Christ warned that these things will increase in frequency and intensity as the last hours of time approach. Noting the rise in these things is important because they are warning signs. They are, as aforementioned, "The beginning of sorrows."
Those who take the attitude that nothing much will ever change are themselves part of prophecy. The world will be blissfully unaware, even though their world will be topsy-turvy all around them. (Lk 17: 26-29)
The world is ripe for the second coming of Christ. The east is threatening the west with Muslim radicalism. The southern hemisphere is pumping out drugs and the northern hemisphere is seeking a perpetual high with those drugs. Abortions continue around the world. The homosexual agenda and transgenderism have deposited their evil indoctrination across the globe. Idolatry and religious hokey pokey of every kind are tainting a rapidly apostate church.
God is loving, but he is no fool; he will hold us accountable and the present troubles of this planet are the pre-cursor to much more severe times.
Only those who are solidly biblically grounded understand that almost every biblical prophecy of the second coming has already been fulfilled. The few remaining prophecies are the very worst in terms of severity and finality.
Are we ignoring the most important sign of all?
Sign seeking is not new, but if you have passed over the most important sign of all time, it matters little how you read the signs of our time.
Jesus referred to his death and resurrection as the most important sign of all time.
"But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Mt 12: 39-40)
Once we have recognized the earth-changing event called the resurrection and see that it was the Son of the Living God who died for the sins of the world, we can clearly see all the other signs.
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." (Ro 10: 9-11)
© Michael Bresciani
September 10, 2017
This year makes an even fifty years that I have been studying the subject of Biblical prophecy. I have watched as some of the best biblical expositors on this subject have arisen to help guide the believers and some of the worst as well.
It is with certainty I can say that most of the things in question here with the exception of the hype about September 23 and other astronomical occurrences are only what Jesus said they would be in Matthew's gospel.
"All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Mt 24: 8)
Disasters, famines, pestilence, earthquakes, wars, and rumors of war are all part of legitimate warnings, but astronomical occurrences are a stretch into hyper-interpretation.
Using signs in the heavens to affirm biblical prophecy is not only an error, but it is a dangerous crossing over from astronomy to astrology, which is strictly forbidden in the Bible.
There will be a day when the sun will not shine and the moon will be blood red, but this is a final sign to indicate that interventional judgments are about to ensue. What follows that great portent goes beyond the imagination, what is happening today is in no way comparable to those days.
YouTube prophets abound, and so does the panic and date setting. But a cautionary warning is well overdue for these kinds of things. No dates have ever been given for any of the last days' events and they will never be.
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Mt 24: 36)
Jewish feasts and celebrations
Lining up the Jewish feasts and holy days with last day's prophecy is another trend that has come into vogue. Like the tetrads and red moons, these are more speculative hype. No part of eschatology asks or demands that we use these as signs to affirm the events that the prophets foretold about the last days and the subsequent entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who insist that the connections should be considered are skirting a most serious error. They may hit a few and coincidence may at times be in their favor, but they will be caught with egg on their faces in the end.
We must be mindful that we are under a New Covenant since Christ came into our world. When the Temple veil was rent from top to bottom (Mt 27: 51) at the moment of Jesus death, the Jewish traditions, ceremonies, and holy days became a thing of the past – they must never be used to predict the future.
God does not use methods and signs of the old dispensation to do something new. He is a forward moving God that is well able to declare his intentions for today without resorting to the signs of yesterday.
What about disasters, hurricanes, earthquakes, wars, and the like?
The profusion of natural and manmade disasters along with war and other calamity is part of prophecy. Christ warned that these things will increase in frequency and intensity as the last hours of time approach. Noting the rise in these things is important because they are warning signs. They are, as aforementioned, "The beginning of sorrows."
Those who take the attitude that nothing much will ever change are themselves part of prophecy. The world will be blissfully unaware, even though their world will be topsy-turvy all around them. (Lk 17: 26-29)
The world is ripe for the second coming of Christ. The east is threatening the west with Muslim radicalism. The southern hemisphere is pumping out drugs and the northern hemisphere is seeking a perpetual high with those drugs. Abortions continue around the world. The homosexual agenda and transgenderism have deposited their evil indoctrination across the globe. Idolatry and religious hokey pokey of every kind are tainting a rapidly apostate church.
God is loving, but he is no fool; he will hold us accountable and the present troubles of this planet are the pre-cursor to much more severe times.
Only those who are solidly biblically grounded understand that almost every biblical prophecy of the second coming has already been fulfilled. The few remaining prophecies are the very worst in terms of severity and finality.
Are we ignoring the most important sign of all?
Sign seeking is not new, but if you have passed over the most important sign of all time, it matters little how you read the signs of our time.
Jesus referred to his death and resurrection as the most important sign of all time.
"But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Mt 12: 39-40)
Once we have recognized the earth-changing event called the resurrection and see that it was the Son of the Living God who died for the sins of the world, we can clearly see all the other signs.
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." (Ro 10: 9-11)
© Michael Bresciani
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