U.S. Naval Observatory annoyed by Blood Moons, Supermoon

Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory says he'd be just as happy if the terms "supermoon" and "Blood Moon" would go away.

This year's second supermoon is looming this weekend.

"There's a part of me that wishes that this 'Supermoon' moniker would just dry up and blow away, like the 'Blood Moon' that accompanied the most recent lunar eclipse, because it tends to promulgate a lot of misinformation," Chester said in a Science NASA report. "However, if it gets people out and looking at the night sky and maybe hooks them into astronomy, then it's a good thing."

On the other hand, Pastor Mark Biltz, author of "Blood Moons" and the inspiration for a documentary movie of the same name, sees the names as significant.

He wants people to pay attention to the "signs in the sun, moon and stars" promised in the Bible and try to understand what they mean.

"As calamities around the globe mount and things seem to be unsettled on every front, I hope we will remember that it is a God of grace who warns and signals and is calling people to His nail pierced hand that is stretched out still," he explained in a newsletter.

"The Lord is surely speaking. Are we rejoicing that God warns us in these amazing signs in the heavens? Are we listening and watching and praying and warning and teaching others the things we have been taught? It is time," he said.

The weekend's supermoon, on Sunday, derives its name from the fact that it will become full the same hour as perigee, the point at which it's closest to Earth.

The moon appears to vary in size because of its oval orbit. When in perigee, the moon is some 30,000 miles closer to earth than when it is at its furthest point, its apogee.

On Sunday, the moon will be 863 miles closer than the last supermoon in July. Unlike solar eclipses and other celestial treats, supermoons occur every 13 months and 18 days. The last time a supermoon made headlines was in June last year, when it appeared to be 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter.

Chester said such supermoons create an illusion that the satellite is huge, especially when seen through trees, buildings or other foreground objects.

"I guarantee that some folks will think it's the biggest moon they've ever seen if they catch it rising over a distant horizon, because the media will have told them to pay attention to this particular one," said Chester.

Denver meteorologist Chris Sperase said the moon will be 221,931 miles above Denver.

Earthsky.org reported another effect is that the tides will be higher than usual.

Sunday's event is the second of three such supermoons this summer – in July, August and September.

Biltz and his team at El Shaddai Ministries want believers to take these signs in the heavens to heart.

His "Blood Moons," released by WND Books in March, was accompanied by a documentary. It documents the extraordinary chain of events in the heavens that began this past Passover, April 14.

It's called a "Blood Moon tetrad," an astronomical series of lunar eclipses that has occurred previously, according to NASA. But there's something very different about this series, because the eclipses occur on the biblical holidays of Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot.

When tetrads have occurred in the past on these holidays observed by Jews around the world, and an increasing number of Christians as well, they have coincided with momentous events in the history of the Jewish people. The 1967 Six-Day War and the 1948 resurrection of the nation of Israel are two examples.

The eclipses are called "Blood Moons" because of the reddish tint the atmosphere gives it.

Biltz believes that to understand the timing of the Lord, one has to understand the seasons of the Lord, the feasts of the Lord and the calendar of the Lord.

Biltz is a well-known commentator on the feasts of the Lord who has spoken in Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and throughout the United States.

"All these signs, coming together at one time, are potentially the culminating signals that God is closing this chapter of human history," Biltz said. "This could be the final curtain call before the Great Tribulation mentioned in the Bible. God has always wanted to warn His people, and the rest of the world, before He intervenes. What better way to communicate to us than through the universal language of heavenly signs that speak to every tribe, tongue, and nation?"

In the Old Testament, the prophet Joel states: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come" (Joel 2:31).

In the New Testament, Jesus is quoted as saying: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light … And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:29-30).

In July, the first of this year's three supermoons was observed.

Biltz, of El Shaddai Ministries in Tacoma, Washington, points out that in Genesis, God said He created the sun and the moon for signals about coming events.

"Are we watching?" he asks.

Get the "Blood Moons" book and movie now.

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