If you’re like me, you would have heard the buzz going around of the world’s ending on the 28th September 2015 when a meteor will hit Earth. That’s less than a week away. How should Christians react to this? Last Sunday, on the 20th of September 2015, Pr Vincent Leoh of Glad Tidings PJ shared an in-depth message about the Christian response and hope amidst such settings.
Much of the buzz has to do with the Blood Moon prophecy. According to the prophecy, the ending of the world would coincide with the last of the 4 blood moons in the current tetrad. The Blood Moon Tetrad in turn is related to the seven feasts of Israel.
The Seven Feasts of Israel
These feasts were a part of the Mosaic Law that was given to the Children of Israel by God through Moses (Exodus 12, 23:14-17; Leviticus 23; Numbers 28 & 29; Deutoronomy 16). God refers to the feasts as the Feasts of the Lord, literally, the feasts of Yahweh (Jehovah), indicating that they belong to Him and have been set aside by Him to be sanctified and celebrated unto Him for His honor, glory, and praise.
The Jewish nation was commanded by God to celebrate seven feasts over a seven month period of time, beginning in the spring of the year and continuing through fall. These seven feasts are divided into 2 groups: The Spring Festivals (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost) and the Fall Festivals (Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacle). Traditionally, much of significance has happened on most of these festivals.
According to the Prophecy, the Spring Festivals has all come to pass, marking events that are of significance to the modern Church. The Passover through Jesus’ death, the Festival of the Unleavened Bread in His burial, the First Fruits in His Resurrection, and 50 days after the Resurrection, the Pentecost through the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Because the 4 Spring Festivals had prophecies fulfilled in them, the Blood Moon prophets say that it is reasonable to conclude that something of significance is going to happen on each of the Fall Festivals as well. The prophecies of the Fall Festivals has yet to pass and will be fulfilled during Christ’s Second Coming.
The Blood Moon Prophecy
What is the Blood Moon Tetrad? Such a tetrad occurs when there are 4 successive total lunar eclipses. The last 3 has already taken place, on April 2014, October 2014, and on April 2015. The last 3 coincided with significant feasts in the Jewish calendar.
The first two blood moon occurred on last year’s Feasts of Passover and Tabernacles. This year one had already occurred on the Feast of Passover. The next one is scheduled to occur on September 28, 2015, during this year’s Feasts of Tabernacle. This is where the prophetic significance comes in.
Because the Blood Moon on September 28th is the last one in the Tetrad, it is believed that it will coincide with the End of Days. Yet, if we study the evidence, there are many loopholes in the prophecy.
Loopholes in the Blood Moon Prophecy
Firstly, there have already been 8 Tetrads which fell on the Jewish feasts of Passover and Tabernacles in the last 21 centuries (162-163AD; 795-796; 842-843; 860-861; 1493-1494; 1949-1950; 1967-1968; 2014-2015). Furthermore, over the next 6 years, there will be another 5 total lunar eclipses (28 September 2015; 31 Jan 2018; 28 July 2018; 21 Jan 2019; 26 may 2021).
It is not unusual to experience a lunar eclipse in conjunction with a Jewish Feast since the Jewish calendar is a lunar one. It is also somewhat ironic that 3 of these 4 lunar eclipses were not visible – even in part – in Israel, and the only eclipse that can be seen at all from Israel is the tail end of the September 28 2015 one which may be observable for a short while before sunrise.
Scripture also says that the “New Heaven and the New Earth” will come after the first earth had passed away (Revelation 21:1) and that will come only after the Millennial rule of Christ (Revelation 20). Furthermore, NASA reports no object on a collision course with Earth.
Most importantly, Christ gave numerous warnings about discernment of prophets in the Last Days. Earlier in Scripture, in Isaiah 47:13-14, strong warning had already been given that the counsel from astrologers cannot save us. So after all this build-up, if such a prophecy only end up standing on shaky ground, what then shall be the focus of a Christian in search of hope and security?
Pr Vincent shared that the prophecies on the 4 Spring Feasts has already been fulfilled. There is the last 3 Fall Feasts yet to be fulfilled. This much we know, along with the fact that Christ will, in due course, return again. He shared that as Christians, now is the time to be watching. How does a Christian keep watch?
The Holy Spirit
In John 14, Jesus told His disciples that when He returned to Heaven, He would ask the Father to give His children an Advocate who will be with us forever. Prior to that, He had already spoken of the Spirit in John 7 at the Feast of Tabernacles.
Jesus described the Spirit as of Rivers of Living Water. He chose the word “Rivers” to describe the abundance of the Spirit to us and the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Note that it was “Rivers” (plural) that Jesus said, and in a context that is mightier than our natural rivers for it channels the Living Water.
Jesus also spoke of wells (John 4:10) and rivers (John 7:38) in reference to the Holy Spirit. The well that Jesus was talking about was the Holy Spirit’s work in salvation, like an inner well of satisfaction. But when He described the Spirit as rivers, He was referring to the baptism or giving of the Holy Spirit, who is like a river that cannot be held back.
If the Well of Living Water within the believer is a Life by the Spirit of God that satisfies every need of our heart, the Rivers of Living Water is a Life in the Spirit, a divine life manifested in all our ways.
The Holy Spirit empowers God’s people to walk in His ways, and His people keep watch by first knowing His word, and then by walking through the counsel and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Until the end of time, He helps us by being our guide, security, and hope.
Many other references to the blessings of the Holy Spirit in connection with water are found in Scripture (Psalm 78:15-16; Isaiah 44:3, 55:1, 58:11; Ezekiel 36:26-27, 47:1-9; Joel 3:18; Zechariah 13:1, 14:8, Proverbs 4:23, 5:15).
Life Grows Along the River
Pr Vincent also shared that rivers produce and attract life. Ezekiel 47:9 states that wherever a river flows, there will be swarms of living things. Life flourishes wherever rivers flow. This is a prophetic picture of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in the Last Days, and of His life and His fruits.
The Spirit flows from our innermost being, from our belly, the seat of emotions in Jewish thought. But here, rather than craving earthly things, the implication is that our inner cravings are abundantly satisfied through the indwelling Spirit. There is an overflow that comes from within.
What does it mean to overflow? It means lives that are full of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives we become rivers, not cisterns; not a receptacle, but a river. The overflowing life is the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit.
In the river, there are many depths and our experience depends on how much we want Him to control our lives and how far we want to go with the Spirit. Some people are ankle-deep; they have a foundation but it is shallow. Some are knee-deep, some waist-deep. There are some others who have reached a level of swimming depth, a life of complete surrender in will to God and the Spirit.
As a people empowered by the Spirit, we must walk in the rivers of deliverance (Exodus 2:3), promise (Joshua 3:14-16), vision (Ezekiel 1:1-3), evangelism (Acts 16:13), love (Romans 5:5), growth (Jeremiah 17:8), refreshing (Psalms 105:41), satisfaction (Psalm 36:8), and actual joy (Psalm 46:4). Where the river flows, there’s a constant change, a constant cleansing, a change of course and an abundant overflow.
Steps to an Overflowing Life
How do we come to an overflowing life? First, we must come thirsty to Jesus. We need to believe in Jesus, having an open mind, and believe that God wants to fill us with the Holy Spirit. Secondly, we must drink.
When we believe in Christ, we receive the Spirit. However, Christ’s exhortations to come and drink are in the present tense. To come and drink means to believe and to receive all that He offers. It is a continuous process and we must keep on believing in faith.
Not only do we receive, however, but the word ‘rivers’ implies that we let them flow through us into others. At the end of time, it is our walk with Christ and in the Spirit that will bring us home in an ultimate reunion with Him. We must focus in on our identities and relationship with God and through Christ, continually paying heed to the counsel of and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
NOTE: This is a condensation of the message shared by Pr Vincent Leoh in Glad Tidings PJ, about the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, written through the writer’s understanding of the message. It has not been vetted by Pr Vincent or Glad Tidings.
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Jason Law
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