Right-wing pastors claim blood moon lunar eclipse spells midterm curse
Right-wing pastors claim the blood moon lunar eclipse is a prophetic sign of a looming red wave of Republican victories in the US midterm elections.
The moon turned red above much of the US overnight on Monday, a roughly once a year phenomenon that has been interpreted among some Christians as a “direct sign from God” of the apocalpyse.
“Of course, it’s gotta be a sign,” Indiana-based pastor Paul Begley said on his YouTube seriesThe Coming Apocalypse. “The Bible says in the last days, there will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars; the stress of nations with perplexity, the seas (and) the waves will be roaring. Well, the seas and the waves are roaring.”
In a separate post on Patreon, Mr Begley linked the blood moon to Benyamin Netanyahu’s victory in Israeli elections.
John Graves, the CEO of the Million Voices church association, said he believed the blood moon would lead to a red wave of Republican victories in the House and Senate.
“There’s going to be a much bigger swing than people think,” he said on a video on his Christian current affairs YouTube programme Flashpoint, that had been watched 250,000 times. “It’s not going to be 10 or 20 in the House. It’s going to be 30, 40, 50. It’s going to be at least 54 in the Senate.”
Nebraska-based pastor Hank Kunneman said the timing of the blood moon so close to the elections was part of “God’s calendar”.
The Lord of Hosts Church senior pastor urged followers to trust God in the event of voting irregularities in a 2 November episode of FlashPoint.
“There will be things that will be disputed, undisputed, and refuted, but I can guarantee you this is the beginning of America’s turning back,” he added.
Steve Cioccolanti, who claimed to have predicted Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, called for prayers for conservative candidates in a video posted to YouTube while calling the blood moon a “significant event”.
The senior pastor at Discover Church in Australia described President Joe Biden as the “anti-christ”.
According to Christian news site CBN News, some Christians believe the blood moon is a “biblical fulfillment of a prophecy”.
It cites a passage from Joel 2:31: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.”
The blood moon was visible over the United States overnight overnight on Monday, with the best viewing above the West Coast from midnight until 2.30am Pacific time.
