Hosts on NBC's "Today" show have added a new element to the story about the "blood moons" taking place on Jewish holy days this year and next.
The end of the world.
Reporting on the first of the coming full lunar eclipses, which will occur early Tuesday morning for most of the United States, one host said: "So it's a little eerie. There's a lot of speculation around it. It happens after 3 a.m. Eastern Time this morning. It will be cloudy on the East Coast, so maybe the world doesn't end for us."
Another host added: "That's the only thing I obtained from that piece, that the world may end tonight."
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The conversation, with hosts talking over each other, continued: "How are you going to adjust your behavior accordingly?"
"Liquid lunch? I don't know."
"Seize the day, guys."
"You do that anyway."
But Pastor Mark Biltz, author of "Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs," who appeared in the "Today" segment, told WND he's not suggesting the world will end based on the eclipses.
Could the eclipses be a sign of the coming of significant world events? He does believe that. Should people be paying attention? Absolutely.
In the NBC report Biltz said: "I think the fact that we're having this total lunar eclipse on the Feast of Passover has great spiritual significance. You go to 32 and 33 A.D. when Jeshua, Jesus, died, there are solar lunar eclipses all over the biblical holidays at that time as well."
Significant is the tetrad, a series of four total lunar eclipses that will occur over a period of about 18 months in 2014 and 2015 – each one on a Jewish festival day.
Tonight's eclipse is gathering attention, with the influential Drudge Report featuring it as the lead story today.
The New York Daily News interviewed Pastor John Hagee, founder of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, author of "Four Blood Moons." Hagee believes the celestial signs are evidence of a future "world-shaking event."
In the report, he points to Acts 2:19-20, which says: "And I will show wonders in Heaven above and signs in the Earth beneath, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord."
April 15 this year is Passover. Oct. 8 will be the Feast of Tabernacles. In 2015, the eclipses also are on Passover, April 4, and Feast of Tabernacles, Sept. 28.
Hagee notes that in the past, tetrads have arrived on Jewish holidays in the late 1400s, when Jews were being expelled from Spain, in the 1940s after the founding of the state of Israel and in 1967 during the Six-Day War.
Biltz agrees that current events should be closely watched.
"We are on the verge of witnessing something historic," said Biltz, who discovered the blood moons phenomenon in 2007. "This has happened only eight times over the last 2,000 years! And the last two times these occurred on the Jewish holidays there was a war in the Middle East regarding the nation of Israel. These are patterns and historical facts that cannot be disregarded. The Jewish Talmud records that total lunar eclipses are indicators or omens for the nation of Israel."
Author Doug Drake believes God might be sending a message.
"Maybe the message is for us 'sleepers' here in the United States," Drake wrote in a blog post. "We have turned from our faith in the God of Bible. Maybe He has a message for us; or maybe not."
While NASA predicts there will be several tetrads in the 21st century, North Americans will have the best view of the first, beginning Monday night.
"The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak told CNN.
Biltz believes the convergence with biblical holy days is special.
Biltz discovered what has become the "blood moon phenomenon" in 2007, researching the correlation between when blood moons fell on feast days and key historical world events. He found the divine link between prophecy, heavenly signs, historical events and when they intersect.
"Blood Moons" was released nationwide March 18 and has consistently been one of the top books sold on Amazon.com. A full-length documentary produced by WND Films and featuring Biltz was also released the same day.
Biltz said that to really understand the meaning, it's important to know the seasons, feasts and calendar of the Lord.
Biltz, founder of El Shaddai Ministries, is a well-known commentator on the feasts of the Lord who has spoken in Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and throughout the United States.
When he appeared on "The Jim Bakker Show," host Jim Bakker called Biltz' work "the most important book of the times."
Biltz spent two days recording interviews with Lori and Jim Bakker at their Christian retreat in Branson, Mo., with Bakker saying that the upcoming broadcasts would tell "the definitive story of the impending blood moons by the man who discovered the astronomical relationship behind the prophecy, heavenly signs and when they intersect."
Bakker told Biltz that he read "Blood Moons" in one setting, spending an entire night consuming every page and detail.
Joseph Farah, WND Books CEO, who wrote the foreword to "Blood Moons," spoke with Biltz about the importance of being on God's calendar, as outlined in Genesis 1:14.
Farah said: "You are the 'blood moons' guy, you are the discoverer of something that has become a phenomenon around the world. People recognizing God has given us heavenly signs for our times. And talking about time, the whole world is on a seven-day calendar and has been since God created the world. It's in Genesis. What's so significant about those seven days unless it came from the hand of God?"
Biltz said "mankind has been trying to change the seven day week forever, but it's set in concrete, and this is what God created, despite man's greatest endeavors."
"This is God's calendar," he said.
Media wishing to interview Mark Biltz about "Blood Moons," please contact us here.
See the trailer for the "Blood Moons" DVD:
And here's a map of the regions of the U.S. that could have the best view: