28 September 2015
G. Wilson
THE
VOICES OF THE SIGNS:
Blood
Moon Shadow Speaking To The Day Of The Lord ?
The Blood moons are now history.
What do we make of this tetrad of signs ? I would like
to suggest that this phenomenon possibly speaks to the end
of the Church Age. This is speculation, of course, as
we labor to seek knowledge, gain understanding and aspire to
wisdom through the signs of our times, in anticipation of
His visitation, the Day of Christ.
I will review Peter's interpretation of
Joel 2 in the context of Acts 2 with the hope of gaining a
greater understanding of the Lord's words of truth and His
speech in the Heavenlies. The heavens declare the glory of
God; and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day
unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night shows
knowledge. There is no speech nor language,
where their voice is not heard. (Psalm 19:1-3)
Peter likens the coming of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:16) to Joel's prophecy in
Chapter 2, Verses 28-32 which state:
"And
it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my
spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions:
29 And
also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those
days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And
I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth,
blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The
sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
32 And
it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord
shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in
Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said,
and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call."
It
is in this context that Peter includes the "sun to darkness"
and "moon to blood" verses of Joel 2 to his Acts 2
interpretation of these Joel 2 verses.
I
am fully convinced that the Joel prophecy relates to the
Second Coming of Jesus concluding the Time of Jacob's
Trouble, but have a sense that it also has a New Testament
application beyond verses 28 and 29 which speak to the
coming/indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Christ's Own.
Why
did Peter continue with Joel's verses 30-32 if there was not
an intended "end times" application. I must consider
that these verses have a primary application to the Second
Coming of the Lord. However, they must be relevant
during the Church Age, albeit a secondary or New Testament
application. Why else are they included. The
context of Peter's speech is the evidence of Holy Spirit
indwelling by the gift of foreign tongues. These two
verses add nothing to the explanation for the "speaking in
tongues" evidence of the Holy Spirit's indwelling on that
first Pentecost.
Further,
the Joel 2:28 states that God will pour out His spirit "on
all flesh". Peter uses this verse as a partial
fulfillment, but inferentially distinguishes it in the
Church Age context, where God in fact is not pouring His
Spirit out "on" flesh, but rather pouring it "into"
(indwelling) the believer's fleshly body. Again, this
is a clear New Testament application of the Old Testament
prophesy which will be fulfilled during the Time of Jacob's
Trouble or 7- Year Tribulation.
Peter's
quote of Joel was intended to suggest that the timing of the
Holy Spirit's indwelling action was occurring before
the "Day of the Lord". The Day of the Lord has a very
broad meaning. Generally, I believe the Day of the
Lord commences with the Time of Jacob's Trouble reaching it
climax with the Second Coming of the Lord. Peter
interprets the Pentecostal indwelling as occurring before
the Day of the Lord.
Additionally,
it is interesting that when Peter quoted Joel, he altered
the word "delivered" in Joel 2:32a substituting
it with the word "saved". In the context of Peter's
interpretation of Joel 2 speaking to the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit, I am lead to consider that Peter had a
secondary New Testament application in mind. The
indwelling of the Holy Spirit was God's seal of salvation in
the believer during the Church Age.
Acts
2, in part, states:
"And
it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will
pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men
shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And
on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in
those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And
I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the
earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The
sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and notable day of the
Lord come:
21 And
it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved."
During
the Church Age dispensation, "all who call on the name of
the Lord" shall be saved. Paul teaches this principal
in Romans 10:14 where he states "How then shall they call on
him in whom they have not believed" inferring that if one
calls on Jesus, it is because they believe in Him and by
faith are saved.
This
Church Age salvation is not available during the Time of
Jacob's Trouble as this will be a works/faith salvation
system. Salvation in this period is based on keeping
the commandments of God and having the testimony of Jesus.
(Revelation 12:17; 14:12). Additionally,
tribulation salvation includes not taking the mark of the
beast and enduring until the end. Therefore, in
Peter's context, are we not encouraged to believe that he is
speaking of the Church Age when referring to the signs in
the sky, albeit "a shadows of Old Testament prophecy" ?
All
of the Festivals of the Lord (Leviticus 23) are shadows of
things to come (Colossians 2:18) in Christ. Jesus is
the focus of all prophecy and these seven
Festivals. The fact that these lunar eclipses
occur on two successive years each on the First (Passover)
and Last (Tabernacles), I am inclined to look for the Lord
in the signs as instructed in Genesis 1:14 and Exodus
4:8. Additionally, there were signs in the sun
manifested as a solar eclipse on Nisan 1, 2014, and a
partial eclipse on Tishri 1, 2015. These two dates
represent the first days of the Jewish religious and civil
new years.
The
First and Last Festivals speak to one of Christ's names. He
says "I am the First and the Last". (Revelation 2:18;
22:13) Christ is the sign of salvation. The
Hebrew word for sign, "oth" is spelled Aleph-Vav-Tav.
The Aleph Tav (Hebrew) is a picture of the Messiah.
Its letters mean "strength of the covenant". He
is the Alpha and Omega (Greek). The vav is the 6th
letter of the Hebrew alphabet and represents man. He
is fully God and man. He is the sign. A sign is
purposed to cause belief. (Exodus 4:8) Jesus is the
Spirit of prophecy. Everything points to Jesus !
This is the sole purpose of the Holy Spirit. (John 16:13)
Is
it possible that this tetrad of lunar eclipse on
Passover/Tabernacles 2014-2015 could be a shadow speaking to
the end of the Church Age as God prepares the world for the
Time of Jacob's Trouble at the Last Trump ?
Considering that Peter was interpreting Joel 2 in the
context of the Church Age, then we may also consider that
these "signs in the sun and moon" are shadows which will
occur in the Church Age before the Day of the Lord.
After
all, this sequence of festival tetrads will not occur for
sometime in the distant future. As we approach the 70th
prophetic year since May 14, 1948 (2017), should we not
expect God to act on Israel. Seventy years is the
theme of Daniel 9 and the period of time from the birth of
Messiah until Jerusalem was destroyed. God has a pattern of
acting on Judea and Jerusalem in 70-year periods.
Will
the Year 2017 be third time in history when the Lord God
acts on Jerusalem in a 70-year period, as we come to
the end of the Age of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Three times speaks a pattern of divine perfection. Are we
not in the period of the generation (70 years, Psalm 90:10)
which has seen the budding of the fig tree, Israel ?
(Matthew 24:32).
God's
speech is active and alive. His signs have a voice.
(Exodus 4:8) In fact, as to Moses' work before
Pharaoh, God's signs had a "first voice" and a "last voice"
purposed toward belief in the awesome power and sovereignty
of the Most High God.
Will
the Voice of the Lord, the Last Trump, be God's last
utterance of speech before His Second Coming with great
power and glory ?
Should
we not be encouraged, that our First and Last speaks to us
in His signs as well as His words of Truth, the
Scriptures. God's speech knows no limits. Let us
not limit our awesome God as He makes preparation for our
redemption. Is He speaking to you ?
In
Christ, Greg Wilson