And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Joel 2:30-32)
Sounds ominous, doesn’t it? Looks even more ominous. Eclipses are events that we all throng to see. When we happen to be in the path of a total solar eclipse, everyone goes outside with their special glasses to watch. We’ll stay up late to see the blood-red lunar eclipse, too. We may understand these occurrences better than ancient civilizations, but they are no less amazing to observe.
But what does a blood-red moon have to do with the great and awesome day of the Lord? Which eclipse will precede the day of his coming and the final judgment? Many have tried to predict, and of course they have failed. No one knows except God when Christ’s return will be.
Yet God has set these portents in the sky, along with others (like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), as reminders that this world as we know it will one day come to an end. When the ground shakes, when lava flows, when day is strangely darkened and the moon is turned to blood, we are to remember the one who made them. And we are to remember his promise that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Paul reminded the Christians in Rome that you can learn a lot about God from creation. He’s put it right there in front of you so that you’ll not only know he exists but seek to know more about him.
Thank you, Lord, for a little blood on the moon once in a while to draw attention to you. Amen.
Waite for it... 