The Groaning of Nature: Volcanoes, Ash, Blood-Moon, And A Prophetic Text On The Last Days

This post is going to be straying from the archeological route, but I felt the need to write this. I’m sure you heard in the news about the lunar eclipse on Wednesday, June 15^th. A friend of mine read the news on Yahoo and then asked me “Do you know what this means.” I was clueless, as I’m sure some of you are, about what she was getting at, but when she took out her Bible and read from the book of Joel chapter two, verses twenty-seven through thirty-two; it hit me. This is going to be a short post and all I am going to do is show you the Yahoo News article and then take you to the Biblical text.

     Here is the News article:   

Volcano ash turns Asian eclipse blood red

– Wed Jun 15, 4:57 pm ET

SYDNEY – Asian and African night owls were treated to a lunar eclipse, and ash in the atmosphere from a Chilean volcano turned it blood red for some viewers.

The Sydney Observatory said the eclipse was to begin at 3:25 a.m. Thursday (1:25 p.m. EDT, 5:25 p.m. GMT Wednesday) and last until after 5 a.m.

Scientists said the specific phenomenon happening Thursday — known as a "deep lunar eclipse" — often exudes a coppery color. But the intensity of the color depends on the amount of ash and dust in the atmosphere.

Luckily for moon-gazers, there was plenty of ash in the air so the moon appeared orange or red, especially in Asia. Air travelers haven't been so lucky: The ash has grounded hundreds of flights around the region.

Scientists said the eclipse could be safely observed with the naked eye.

            It is interesting that the Chile eruption caused the moon to turn this color. It is just proof that nature is indeed groaning, as the apostle Paul states in Romans chapter eight, verse twenty-two: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now (NKJV).” But why is it groaning? Because, like I stated in a past post, nature was affected by the fall of man (Gen. 3). So nature is groaning, waiting for the day it will be reconciled unto God (Col. 1:20), and it will be made into the New Earth (Rev. 21:1). Let us now look at Joel chapter Two, verses twenty-seven through thirty-two: “And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call (KJV).”

     Looking at verse thirty-one and matching it up with the news article does bring chills up your spine “and the moon [will be turned] into blood,” and all of these “wonders” will occur before the “day of the Lord come.” But there is hope for those who call upon the name of Lord “that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered:” this reminds me of another verse, Acts 2:21: “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (KJV).” Make sure your life is right with the Lord, for if nature was groaning in the time of the apostle Paul and has been on a down-ward spiral since then, then the time is soon coming when all things, even the earth, will be reconciled to the Lord (Col. 1:20).