As the moon turns to blood tonight, I can’t help but think of somber prophetic warnings that this heavenly sign portends Jesus Christ’s Second Coming.
During creation, the God of Heaven appointed heavenly luminaries as signs and seasons. Israel marked new months by the new moon and planned their important feast days accordingly.
Prophets used the sun, moon, and stars in conjunction with important future events like Jesus Christ’s birth, death, and future Second Coming.
Joel, Peter, and Joseph Smith similarly admonished that altered appearances of the sun and moon will occur before Jesus comes again.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. Joel 2:31 (Acts 2:20; D&C 29:14; 34:9; 45:42; 88:87).
John’s apocalypse described the altered appearance in conjunction with a great earthquake.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; (Revelation 6:12)
When I was younger, I thought the moon turning to blood would be a one-time event. Now I know that it’s obviously not a one-time event. So curious to know how many blood moon eclipses have happened, I did a little bit of googling. And according to what I found,
There have been 89 Full Lunar Eclipses recorded since 1504.
I definitely missed a lot of blood moons over the past 50 years. I really only started hearing about these lunar eclipses in the past 10 years or so and started chasing the night to watch the moon turn to blood.
Blood Moon Prophesies by Joseph Smith
The Prophet Joseph Smith spoke so often about the Savior’s return. Many of Joseph’s prophecies included the sign of a blood moon. Here are two:
“I will prophesy that the signs of the coming of the Son of Man are already commenced. One pestilence will desolate after another. We shall soon have war and bloodshed. The moon will be turned into blood. I testify of these things, and that the coming of the Son of Man is nigh, even at your doors. If our souls and our bodies are not looking forth for the coming of the Son of Man; and after we are dead, if we are not looking forth, we shall be among those who are calling for the rocks to fall upon them [see Revelation 6:15–17].” (History of the Church, 3:390; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith about July 1839 in Commerce, Illinois; reported by Willard Richards.)
“Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed [see Ezekiel 47:1–9]. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, etc.; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance. There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, etc. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east [see Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:26].” (History of the Church, 5:337; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Apr. 6, 1843, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Willard Richards.)
Tonight’s lunar eclipse is another great reminder to keep watch for the coming of the Son of Man. I rejoice in the truth that Jesus Christ lives and will return again in power and great glory!
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