The moon turning to blood (Joel 2:31) is fulfilled at the Sixth Seal of Revelation 6, and that seal involves far more than eclipses. The sun is darkened, stars fall, and the sky recedes, none of which relate to eclipses. Today the heavens are stable, and the earth and heavenly bodies move in predictable orbits, which is why NASA can calculate eclipses centuries ahead. When the Sixth Seal is opened, that stability is upended. God promises twice to shake the heavens (Haggai 2:6, 21), Christ says the powers of the heavens will be shaken (Matthew 24:29), and Isaiah 13:13 adds that the earth will be moved out of its place. The powers refers to the forces of the heavenly bodies. With the heavens shaken and the earth displaced, eclipses and similar events could no longer be calculated, so even if the Sixth Seal includes eclipses, they will come in a way and at a time that cannot be foreseen. These disturbances also come after the Fifth Seal, the martyrdom of those who hold God's testimony, and after the great tribulation described in the Olivet Prophecy. Because religious violence is rising but God has not yet had to cut things short for the elect, it is too early to look for the Sixth Seal's fulfillment. The present tetrad of blood moons on the holy days therefore does not match all that Scripture says about these heavenly disturbances, though it remains worth considering for its symbolism.

The darkening of the sun, moon, and stars is tied throughout Scripture to times of judgment. The Sixth Seal (Revelation 6:12-14) includes disturbances in the sun, moon, stars, and sky as a whole, so blood moons by themselves cannot fulfill it. Yet it marks the beginning of God's judgment on those persecuting His people. Joel mentions the heavenly lights being darkened three times as a precursor to the Day of the Lord (Joel 2:10, 31; 3:15). Isaiah 13:10 foretells it in God's judgment on Babylon, and Ezekiel 32:7-8 links it with God extinguishing the light of the whole nation of Egypt. Ecclesiastes 12 uses the same imagery for a man nearing death, since light symbolizes understanding, life, and vitality, while darkness signifies confusion and doom. In every case the darkening signals the approaching end of a period of judgment. Genesis 1:14 says God set the lights in the firmament for signs and seasons (moedim), meaning appointed times of gathering, not summer and winter. So when these lights are darkened on God's appointed days, such as lunar eclipses on the first days of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles, and solar eclipses on the last day of the year and the last day of the year of release (Elul 29), the coincidence is beyond chance and invites serious consideration of what God may be doing, particularly since a year of release brings economic reckoning for a nation that confuses debt with wealth.

God uses heavenly phenomena as signs of momentous events in His plan, such as the Star of Bethlehem, the Ninth Plague's darkness, Joshua's Long Day, and the darkness at the crucifixion. Though believers are not to be dismayed at the signs of heaven as the Gentiles are (Jeremiah 10:2), the sixth seal brings cosmic upheavals that herald the Day of the Lord and judge sinful mankind. A great earthquake, a common indicator of God's appearing and anger, opens the seal. The sun turns black as sackcloth of hair, perhaps through an eclipse or volcanic dust, and the moon becomes like blood, presaging calamity and death. The stars fall like late figs, most likely a meteor shower of immense proportions with large meteorites. The sky recedes like a rolled scroll, perhaps turbulent, roiling clouds racing across the heavens. Mountains and islands are displaced, destroying lives and leaving nothing stable. Joel, Isaiah, and Jesus in the Olivet Prophecy foretell the same signs. The effect is terror: people of every rank flee to caves and ask the mountains to cover them from the face of Him on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb. They rightly recognize these disasters as God's wrath rather than natural events. The Lamb is both the sacrificial Redeemer and the exalted Judge. Since no one can stand before such wrath on his own, Jesus urges watching and praying always to be counted worthy to escape and stand before Him. That requires strengthening one's relationship with the Father and Son through prayer, study, meditation, and obedience, and seeking the Lord, righteousness, and humility now.

Christ's return will be a righteous "shock and awe" campaign, accompanied by upheaval in the heavens and on earth that no one can miss. The pattern was set at Mount Sinai, where thunder, lightning, thick cloud, a loud trumpet, fire, smoke and quaking terrified Israel. God deliberately produces such terror so that people take His power seriously and repent. Hebrews 12 adds that God's voice once shook the earth, but He has promised, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven," removing what is made so that only what cannot be shaken remains. Matthew 24 places the heavenly signs immediately after the Great Tribulation: the sun darkened, the moon not giving its light, stars falling from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shaken. Then the Son of Man appears on the clouds with a great trumpet blast, flashing like lightning from east to west. There will be no secret return, since the whole world will see, hear and feel it. Joel and Haggai repeat the same signs: the heavens tremble, the sun and moon darken, the moon turns to blood, and stars dim, with blood, fire and pillars of smoke. Revelation 11:19 sums up the seventh trumpet with lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake and great hail. Peter says the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Those who refuse God now will be under this campaign instead of among the victors who bring it. Believers must therefore build what cannot be shaken and keep watch, because the day comes suddenly, like a thief.