Pastor Hagee: Blood moons point to 'world-shaking event'

SAN ANTONIO — Megachurch pastor John Hagee is warning his San Antonio congregation and international following of a “world-shaking event that will happen between April 2014 and October 2015.”

And, no, he's not talking about Fiesta.

Hagee, founder of the Cornerstone Church, points to “four blood moons,” a rare astronomical event of four consecutive and complete lunar eclipses, known as a tetrad, which begins April 15. The San Antonio pastor asserts the dates of the eclipses signify a major event that will change history in a book released in October, a series of sermons and a TV special airing on Tuesday, the first night of the tetrad.

“What is the prophetic significance? Is this the end of the age?” Hagee, 73, asked his flock during a sermon near the time he released the book.

The televangelist, who declined to comment through spokesman Ari Morgenstern, gained international attention two years ago for a series of sermons asking, “Could 2012 be the end of the world as we know it,” that was broadcast to millions worldwide via his organization John Hagee Ministries and Global Evangelism Television.

Videos with dramatic music featuring Hagee's new prophecy have been posted to the organization's YouTube channel during the last few weeks, claiming “something is about to change” and seemingly ginning up excitement for the April 15 GETV special.

In this 2004 file photo a full moon rises in during a lunar eclipse above the golden domes of the Orthodox Monastery of Caves in Kiev, Ukraine. Celebrations marking the 1020th anniversary of this region's conversion to Christianity may turn into a fierce political battle with Ukrainian officials are determined to use the events to lobby for autonomy for the local church from Russia, while the dominant Moscow Patriarchate will fight to retain influence over this mostly Orthodox country of 46 million. less In this 2004 file photo a full moon rises in during a lunar eclipse above the golden domes of the Orthodox Monastery of Caves in Kiev, Ukraine. Celebrations marking the 1020th anniversary of this region's ... more Photo: Efrem Lukatsky, AP Photo: Efrem Lukatsky, AP Image 1 of / 59 Caption Close Pastor Hagee: Blood moons point to 'world-shaking event' 1 / 59 Back to Gallery

The four “blood moons” are total lunar eclipses that occur in intervals of about six months, an event known as a tetrad, according to NASA. A total eclipse is a result of a perfect alignment of the sun, the moon and the Earth and causes the moon to glow dark red.

Each eclipse in the upcoming tetrad will occur on a significant religious date, Hagee points out, citing NASA.

“The first of the four blood moons will come on April 15 this year, during Passover. The second will be on October 8, at the time of the Feast of the Tabernacles,” Hagee said, according to the Daily Express in London. “On April 4, 2015, during Passover, we will have another blood moon. Then finally, on September 28, during next year's Feast of the Tabernacles, the fourth blood and final moon will dawn.”

Hagee said to “have them fall on these exact dates is something that has to be beyond coincidental,” according to the Daily Express.

The Cornerstone Church, located near Stone Oak on the North Side, has about 20,000 active members, according to its website.

During last year's sermon, Hagee read Acts 2: 19-20 from the New Testament to signify the importance of the “blood red moons.”

“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.”

Between 1600 and 1900 there were no tetrads, but since, there have been five, according to NASA's millennium catalog of lunar eclipses.

The red moons all will be visible from the United States, and Tuesday's moon will be visible for approximately 78 minutes around 2 a.m., Fred Espenak, an eclipse expert for NASA, wrote on the agency's website.

“When you see these signs, the Bible says, lift up your head and rejoice, your redemption draweth nigh,” Hagee said in a sermon. “I believe that the Heavens are God's billboard, that He has been sending signals to Planet Earth but we just have not been picking them up.”

kparker@express-news.net

Twitter: @KoltenParker