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Thank you Tyndale House for this review copy.
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In the wee hours this morning, April 15th, 2015, my daughter Amy, 12, and I sat bundled under the stars gazing at the moon. The rest of the family got up at 2:15, looked at the moon, and went back to bed. Amy and I chose to relish the moment and cherish the memory were were making as we shivered and cuddled together. Our cat, Tiger, decided he wanted to be in on it, too, so he snuggled in, too.
As we watched the first of the four blood moons, we prayed, I sang soft praises, and we interceded for the peace of Israel. Around 3:30, as we prepared to go to bed, I told her to think about what she saw, what she felt, what she heard, all to make the memory permanent. She went to bed, I added wood to the fire, and went to take one more look. The moon had moved and changed. Since we could now see the moon from the kitchen window, I got Amy out of bed. I explained to her what an eclipse is, and as the moon began to show white again, why and how it was happening. In her excitement, she drew pictures and labeled them to show the phases of the eclipse that we'd witnessed.
I heard about the
Four Blood Moons early this year by watching a sermon series by Pastor John Hagee. He believes that the heavens are God's billboard and that something big is about to change. I read his book, Four Blood Moons. I enjoyed it, but it was a bit academic for me. Mind you, I've not read very many books about prophecy.
Blood Moons Rising is Pastor Mark Hitchcock's answer to
Four Blood Moons. Pastor Hitchcock has a gift for taking a very complex subject, Biblical prophecy, and breaking it down into language that I can understand easily. His writing is very clear and concise. He is writing for the average person who wants to understand just what all the talk about the Blood Moons is about.
In the first few chapters, Hitchcock lays a foundation with a very thorough explanation of Biblical prophecy. He includes timelines of the expected order of prophecies yet to be fulfilled. Beginning in chapter 6, Moonshine: Signs in the Heavens, Hitchcock begins to look directly at the four moons prophecy. In his words, "I believe that reading Genesis 1:14 as implying that God uses the heavens as "high-definition billboards" to send messages to humanity is overstating what that verse says." (p.95) The remainder of the book addresses the reasons that he does not agree with the blood moons prophecy and what he believes about the end times. He explains the feasts, the biblical prophecies and the historical situations at the time of the previous tetrads (sets of four blood moons). He is very thorough. Hitchcock doesn't believe the blood moons have anything to do with any big change coming. He believes the that the scriptures that Pastor Hagee sites are about the tribulation. He is respectful in his writing.
Who's right? Hagee or Hitchcock? I don't know. I learned a lot from this book, but I'm no expert on prophecy. Fortunately, I know who is. God our Creator, my God. I trust Him with my future. Ultimately, this is Hitchcock's point. He emphasizes the need to be prepared no matter when the Lord comes. He sums it up this way, "First Peter 4:7-11 tells us that as we await the Lord's coming, we need to do four things: keep our heads clear, our hearts warm, our homes open, and our hands busy." That's something I can agree with. So tell me, are you ready?
Additional resources:
PDF EXCERPT
Mark Hitchcock's Website
Q & A With Mark Hitchcock
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
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