“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood
before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.” Joel 2:31
“The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before
that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.” Acts 2;20
Note there are two specific references to “the great day of the Lord” – a dreadful day beginning the terrifying period of Tribulation, and a glorious day, signifying the final victory over evil at the end of the Tribulation. Two separate events, each highlighted as a great (powerful or super-significant) day of the Lord.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.” Isaiah 11:11.
Since Isaiah 11:11 begins, ” it shall come to pass IN THAT DAY…” we know it refers to a future end times event. Since it refers to a second time, it is also understood there was a first time. One can easily see reference to a rapture at the beginning of the Tribulation to spare God’s people from this horrific period, and one at the end of the seven years of Tribulation to redeem those who have come to know God personally during the Tribulation.
It appears these two great days of the Lord are separated by a period of time referred to as Armageddon, or The Great Tribulation. But is that what the Bible says?
Terrible Day
“In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight and pass away, and the mighty shall be taken away without hand. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he sees all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. For he will not lay upon man more than right, that he should enter into judgment with God. He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead. Therefore he knows their works, and he overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed. He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways so that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted.” Job 34:20-28
Great Day
“And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:3-4
BLOOD MOON
Blood moon is a term we use to describe a total lunar eclipse, during which the moon appears red from the earth’s atmosphere scattering sunlight as the earth passes between the moon and the sun. Similarly, a solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, causing the sun to turn to darkness. Therefore, God is giving more clues about the transition timing between the 6th and 7th thousand-year periods, typically referred to as the End Times. God is revealing transition from our current earthly rule into God’s promise of his earthly rule for the last thousand-year period on earth (7th Day prophecy). In order to understand this prophecy, we can’t judge an exact timing from just these two quotes from Joel and Acts.
The Blood Moon prophecy provides details with specificity to God’s protection of his people. But there are several more signs we should be looking for with regard to God’s prophetic warnings. First of all, we’re already 26 years into the 7th thousand-year period on earth. We know we have another 1,000 years on this earth with God as our King. We know from Day 7 prophecies the timing is close, if not spot-on. We know from Daniel’s prophecy that these things will occur during the End Times “Time of the Kings.” How close are we?
Blood moons and solar eclipses happen quite frequently, but these two, dreadful and glorious, days of the Lord are future events.
2026: There was an annual solar eclipse February 17, 2026, a total blood moon lunar eclipse March 2-3, 2026, a total solar eclipse August 12, 2026, and a dramatic near-total blood moon lunar eclipse on August 27-28 2026.
SEVEN FEASTS OF THE MESSIAH
Leviticus 23
God gave more clues. He established The 7 Festivals of the Messiah as foundational laws for his people. The 5th Festival, the Feast of Ingathering, or Harvest, we know as Rosh Hashanah. It is also the end times harvest of souls, of those who have a personal relationship with God. God will gather them to a safe hiding place as the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their sins.
God’s prophecy stands throughout the Bible with timing specifics. The 7 Festivals are foundational laws, but they also provide prophetic detail. Each feast provides specific reminders of God’s promises for a closer relationship to him. And each one also points to a specific timeline that correlates to his 7-Day Creation prophecy.
Just as the 7 days of Creation foretells the 7 one-thousand-year time periods before eternity, so the 7 Festivals of The Messiah give us another layer of timing prophecy relative to the End Times, prior to the “Great and Terrible Day of the Lord”. These feasts weren’t just a routine process his people were to participate in, but are also a Biblical revelation of the his power to foretell an accurate future from the early days of the Exodus. The Spring Feasts represent our personal identification of the power of salvation to each one of us through Jesus, the Messiah, and his passion for us to reflect the image he calls us to walk in. Halfway through the 7 Feasts we are given a reminder of this opportunity given to us, the power of Pentecost. The Fall Feasts are a future time of final reflection for each one’s personal soul. Remember God’s promises. His teachings. His warnings. The Fall Feasts direct us to his amazing plan for our future back in Israel during the last 1,000 years.
SPRING FEASTS – The Messiah has already fulfilled these 3 Feasts
- Passover
- Unleavened Bread
- First Fruits
Originally Rosh Hashanah was celebrated as the New Year for God’s people and served as a time of reflection, introspection and planning for the new year. But when God instructed his people to prepare Passover as they left Egypt, he said to them, “From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you.” Exodus 12:2. Therefore, the first Passover moved the Jewish New Year from Fall to Spring.
Jesus prophetically fulfilled the first 3 feasts: He became the spotless lamb sacrificed for our sins at Passover. He was the sinless, Unleavened Bread of Life, and was the First Fruit sacrifice of all who will rise, therefore, he is first in everything.
“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.” 1 Corinthians 15:22-23
Pentecost – The middle feast between Spring and Fall celebrated God’s giving us the Law in the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, both on Pentecost.
God gave his people the physical law (10 Commandments) on the first Pentecost when God called Moses to meet with him on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19). This law was 10 basic life rules: the first 6 – how to build a strong relationship with God, and the last 4 – how to build a strong relationship with people.
Begin counting at Noah (when all were destroyed by the flood except Noah and his family about 1,000 years out from Creation), and the first Pentecost would have happened approximately halfway between Noah and Jesus, Similarly, the Feast of Pentecost is about halfway between the Spring and Fall Feasts.
Be clear. God gave 10 rules to his people who had no rules. God gave Jesus to all people who had rules but hadn’t connected the power and importance of relationship with God, and with one another. Jesus came to explain God’s law, then came the promise the Holy Spirit.
“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:23-27.
Pentecost, this middle Feast, demonstrates and highlights God’s will for each one of us. These 2 Acts of God (Giving the Law and Giving the Holy Spirit), emphasize the importance of relationships.
FALL FEASTS – Prophetically the Fall Feasts direct our attention to the End Times.
- Rosh Hashanah
- Yom Kippur
- Sukkoth
Rosh Hashanah
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein, but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.” Leviticus 23:23-24.
This Fall Feast of Trumpets, or Ingathering, celebrates the harvest of crops in Biblical times, whereas the End Times prophecy for this feast will celebrate the harvest of souls, gathering God’s people to a safe hiding place as the Lord comes out of his place to punish the ungodly inhabitants of the earth for their sins. God’s timing isn’t a finite day or hour or even year, but a sliding scale as it reflects severe moral decay encroaching upon his people.
This year’s Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah, begins the evening of September 11 and ends the evening of September 13, 2026. It is a two-day Feast.
Yom Kippur and Sukkoth follow directly, and are closely connected to Rosh Hashanah. See: The 7 Feasts of The Messiah.
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur, the Feast of Atonement, is also a prophetic type and refers to a distinction between two goats, representing (1) sinners without a savior, and (2) sinners whose God carried their penalty away from his people. Again, God gives us the Old Testament focus on the Feast of Yom Kippur which was a time of deep reflection, repentance and atonement, while pointing to Jesus’ death on the cross as the only redemption for our sins. For a deeper dive, see: The Manger.
Sukkoth
Sukkoth is the Feast of Tabernacles, celebrating God’s protection and provision for his people in the Tabernacle in the wilderness and subsequent entrance to the Promised Land. The Feast of Tabernacles is also a prophetic type and refers to God bringing his people back into their future promised homeland during the future Millennium. It is known as the Homecoming Festival. He has prepared another 1,000 years of rest for us. But this time, HE WILL BE OUR KING. You will find in Day 4 that God warned Samuel about having a king like all the other nations, but the people insisted. God said, “They have not rejected you, they have rejected me.” 1 Samuel 8:7. In Day 7, God will finally be our King. “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one.” Zechariah 14:9
GOD’S ANGRY WARNING
“And at that time, shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Daniel 12:1.
“For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord. For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.” Isaiah 66:15-18
“See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The Lord will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple.” Isaiah 13:17; Jeremiah 51:11
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has shown it to them.” Romans 1:18.
“Thus said the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Neither shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore, for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.” Ezekiel 34:10-12
1st RAPTURE
“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.” Joel 2:31
“Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Psalm 50:3-5
“Come, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut your doors about you. Hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation passes over. For behold, the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isaiah 26:20-21.
God has prepared a chamber for hiding his children during the last 7 years of severe tribulation here on earth prior to and during the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there may you be also.” John 14:1-3.
In prophecy, the Feast of Trumpets point us to the Rapture, which is God’s temporary hiding place of provision and permanent protection for his people in the last days. It is, therefore, most likely that the first Rapture would occur just prior to, or during Rosh Hashanah.
As the Tribulation battle begins, God will rescue his children and hide them in an amazing place he has prepared. God’s people will be plucked up apparently, perhaps into God’s house. There are strong indications from 2 Corinthians 12:2 that God’s home is in the third heaven. We are given another snippet of information in Ezekiel from his conversation with Lucifer before he was ‘let go.’ “I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire.” Ezekiel 28:14.
“The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” Isaiah 24:3-6
SECOND RAPTURE – Isaiah 11:11
For the second time, God will rescue his people.
“In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.” Isaiah 11:11.
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. Acts 2:20.
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
God’s people who are alive at the 1st Rapture will live in a safe (awesome) place in God’s house during the 7 years’ tribulation, and then return to earth with Christ at the second Rapture for the final 1,000 years on earth, the Millennium. Those who accept Christ during the Tribulation will be raptured at the end of the Tribulation and will be caught up to join us in the 2nd Rapture as we return with Christ to God’s promised land during the 1,000-year Millennium.
“And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:3-4
When the Rapture occurs, the 5th Festival of The Messiah will have been fulfilled. The 6th Feast of The Messiah, Atonement, is the final opportunity for unbelievers to come to atonement (Atone = At-One with God) which will fulfill the 6th Feast of The Messiah, a period of deep and severe reflection, restoring relationships with God. Perhaps Atonement is the period of the great Tribulation. God’s people coming home to reign with Jesus for 1,000 years will fulfill the 7th Feast of The Messiah, the Feast of Tabernacles. The 7 Feasts of The Messiah complete God’s Plan from Genesis to Revelation.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DREAM
“And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the [end times] kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Daniel 2:42-45
“Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off.‘ Therefore say unto them, ‘Thus said the Lord God; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, said the Lord God.’” Ezekiel 12:27-28
CONCLUSION
So does the mystery remain? According to God’s word, a blood moon and a solar eclipse would need to occur before the dreadful day of the Lord, the first Rapture, in order for Christ to fulfill the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah. Both a blood moon and a solar eclipse occurred during August 2026. Rosh Hashanah will occur September 11-13.
“Gather together—yes, gather together, you shameless nation. Gather before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls and the terrible day of the Lord’s anger begins. Seek the Lord, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you—protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.” Zephaniah 2:1-3. “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality.” Romans 9:28