The Monarch Butterfly—An Illustration of Transformation—Part 21

Monarch Butterfly

Introduction and Review

The previous part of this series examined the number four and its connection to categorizing themes of change, transition, and transformation in the Book of Revelation.

This installment will study the same connection in current events and prophecy.

Four Blood Moons

Lunar eclipses are described in the Bible as blood moons because of their eerie red hue.

The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

— Acts 2:20

Lunar eclipses can only occur because of what some call "coincidences." The sun's being 400 times wider in diameter than the moon, but 400 times farther away from the Earth, makes it appear the same size from our perspective.

The four blood moons that occurred back-to-back on Jewish holidays in 2014 and 2015 were a pretty hot topic because they concern prophetic events. The third of these four moons occurred on Passover, which happened on 4-4- 2015 and lasted four minutes and 44 seconds. Historically, three of these previously rare tetrad events are linked with significant events concerning Israel and God's people. Might this be the fourth?

There have been four tetrads that have fallen on consecutive Jewish holidays, each linked to significant events.

1493-4. Just before the Spanish Inquisition, Queen Isabella gave the Jews four months to convert to Catholicism or leave the country.

1949-50. Followed the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

1967-68. Coincided with the Six-Day War and the reestablishment of Jerusalem.

2014-15. According to Hannah Snyder at Moritz Law, Ohio State University, as of January 2026, antisemitism in the US has risen 863% in the last decade. Another significant event that followed this particular tetrad was the acknowledgment of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017.

Historically speaking, Jerusalem has been attacked 52 (4x13) times and recaptured 44 times.

A solar eclipse also marks the rarity of this event. This eclipse occurs in the middle of the four lunar eclipses (chiasm). The Hebrew word for blood, "dam (דם)," consists of the letters dalet (ד), which has a gematria value of 4, and mem (מ), which has a gematria value of 40, giving a total of 44. The sun and moon were created on the fourth day to signal signs and seasons.

The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

— Joel 2:31

Shortly before the fourth and final tetrad that occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles, it is significant to observe that the day of Rosh Hashana (September 14, 2015, or Tishri 1, 5776 - 1444 x 4) on the Hebrew calendar, known as the Day of Judgment when the shofar blasts. It is thought that the books of reckoning open on this particular Biblical observance.

Blow the trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For the day of the Lord is coming,
For it is at hand,

— Joel 2

Earlier in chapter four, earth events are described that will occur, with the final two describing things created on the fourth day.

1. The earth quakes before them,
2. The heavens tremble;
3. The sun and the moon grow dark,
4. And the stars (fourth day creations) diminish their brightness

— Joel 2:10

Based on our observation of the number four, as has been exhaustively studied in God's Word and His creation, it is evident that God is about to change, establish, develop, or transform something on a grand scale of relevance and significance. Obama was our 44th president and used the word "change" as his 2008 campaign slogan. A significant change is coming, and it is certainly time to pay attention.

"Obama also won all four states that begin with 'New' (New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, and New York), but he lost all five that begin with a direction (North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia)."
— Charles M Blow, "New York Times"

Luke notes four great signs at the end of the age for which we are told to look.

1. “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
2. And there will be great earthquakes in various places,
3. and famines and pestilences;
4. and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven."

— Luke 21:10-11

Concerning Israel, four consultants sponsored by the U.S. were hired by the "One Voice Movement," who were also campaign consultants for President Obama, who campaigned in Israel for political change that promotes the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Its international headquarters, based in New York, has field offices for this organization in four cities:

Tel Aviv,
Rmallah,
Gaza City
And London,

and representing four places

The United States,
Europe,
Israel,
Palestine

Their campaign slogan was "change."

On March 17, 2015, Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected for a fourth four-year term as prime minister of Israel.

These facts are not intended to rally political opinions of any kind. I present the fours in each event with this understanding presented in Daniel.

... the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses (This phrase is used four times in the Bible, the first three in Daniel 4, the final in chapter 5)

— Daniel 4:17

The fours only confirm that God is at work behind the scenes in all of His creation, including time and events. Our job is to pay attention to what God asks us to do in these times and places as ambassadors and children of His kingdom.

The world scoffed at the Christian interpretation of these signs and wonders in the sky, concerning the blood moons, and they chant the following.

"Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything has gone on as it has since the beginning of creation."

— II Peter 3:4

Yet they misunderstand that we do not claim the end is yet, as Jesus foretold that it would only be the "signal" of the coming sorrows that would precede His coming.

... these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet ... All these are the beginning of sorrows.
— Matthew 24:6

The Great American Solar Eclipses

Much of the information in this section is borrowed from Mark Blitz of El Shaddai Ministries.

2017 was host to significant fours indicating signs, changes, and culminations. August 21st presented a solar eclipse that stretched across the entire United States from east to west. This last occurred in 1918 when a flu pandemic killed 50 to 100 million people worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic marked 2020. This event coincided with the end of World War I, which began in August 1914, and with a total solar eclipse over Europe and the Ottoman Empire. This area included where Jonah was said to have preached the message of repentance in Nineveh. This biblical event was also marked by an eclipse before his arrival. It was known as the Burr-Sagale eclipse of 763 B.C.

In April of 2024, the second Great American Eclipse ran from north to south, with a path that crossed this one at the New Madrid fault line, forming a cross. It passed through seven cities named Nineveh and one named Jonah. It occurred in the constellation of Cetus, which means whale. It lasted a little over four minutes.

A little phenomenon concerning eclipses. They are pretty miraculous and exclusive to the Earth. Size and distance are essential to create one. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, and the moon is 400 times closer to the Earth, which means the moon fits perfectly within the sun's circle from our viewpoint. Recall that the sun, moon, and stars were created on the fourth day for signs and seasons. Also, the last letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet has a gematria value of 400. A cross symbolizes it.

The 2017 eclipse followed a path across the Atlantic, landing on a developing hurricane named Harvey, which slammed into Houston, Texas, as a Category 4 hurricane just four days after the eclipse.

The eclipse also coincided with the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul, which is traditionally focused on repentance, forty days before the most significant holy day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur also centers on the theme of repentance. Jewish observers believe that if offenses against God or others are not amended, judgment will follow in the upcoming year.

It is believed that the first of Elul occurred when Moses ascended Mount Sinai to make atonement for Israel after the "golden calf" incident, and when Jesus entered the wilderness for 40 days and returned on Yom Kippur.

Mark Blitz makes some interesting observations concerning Hurricane Harvey and the eclipse, referencing a portion of scripture in Luke that connects the two events.

And there shall be signs in the sun (eclipse), and in the moon (last two years tetrads on Jewish holidays), and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring (hurricanes)

— Luke 21:25

If you notice the chapter and verse numbers, they mirror the dates on which each event occurred. The eclipse occurred on the 21st, and the hurricane made landfall four days later on the 25th.

A second Hurricane, Irma, made U.S. Landfall just a couple of weeks after Harvey and was another category-four hurricane. It is the first time two category fours have ever hit the U.S. in one year. Irma became a Category 4 hurricane on September 4th, the day the governor of Florida issued a state of emergency. It was also the fourth hurricane of the season and had a diameter of 400 miles.

The 2017 hurricane season featured four Category 4 or stronger storms; this has happened only four times before.

Harvey's name means worthy of battle, and Irma's name means universal. Ancient Germans worshiped Irma as a goddess of war.

Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us break their bonds in pieces
And cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
“Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

“I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”

Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

— Psalm 2

Twin Towers
Carol M. Highsmith

911

Some observations on a previous event from September 2011, four coordinated terrorist attacks using four airplanes were executed, killing 2996 (4 x 749) people. The fourth plane contained 44 people, and there were four hijackers aboard.

The "One World Trade Center," constructed to replace the "Twin Towers," is the fourth-largest in the world, contains 104 (4 x 26) stories, and sits on a 16-acre (4 x 4) site. It is also 1776 (4 x 444) feet tall, 1776 being the year of our nation's founding.

Bonnie Gaunt, the author of several books on biblical numerics, made a fascinating observation based on Biblical number connections and current world events. Some discredited her findings because she calculated a date for the possible return of the Messiah (never a good idea, considering He told us we would not know the day nor the hour). However, I was taken aback by the date she suggested, 9-11-1999. We all know that Jesus the Messiah did not return on this date, but the 9-11 part piqued my curiosity to understand the significance of a very well-known 9-11. I discovered that 9-11-1999 fell on Rosh Hashanah, signaling a period of judgment for the nations that the Rabbis have been anticipating for the past 400 years. Just two years after the Trade Center attacks occurred, terrorism has been the issue of the times since. This date was also observed as the 6000th anniversary of Adam's creation. Bonnie was wrong about her interpretation of those numbers, but she was not mistaken about the fact that something very significant surrounded them.

Other world changing terrosist events are marked by the number four.

The November 2015 Paris, France, terrorist attacks were said to have signaled a "change" in the strategies of terrorism, of which there were four suicide attacks at four locations, involving four gunmen and bombers. The one at the sports stadium resulted in four deaths. One hundred thirty lives were claimed in total.

ISIS began its campaign by attacking the ancient symbols and archaeological sites of idolatry that date back to Biblical times. Paris is renowned as the cultural center of the Western world, home to many of its most iconic idols in art, entertainment, fashion, and sports. According to a "Business Insider" report by Pamela Engel, it is "the capital of prostitution and vice."

The bombing of March 11th, 2004, of four trains in Madrid, Spain, was the target of terrorist attacks.

ISIS burns four Shiite fighters alive on August 31st, 2015

The Islamic State executed four people in the central Libyan city on August 24th, 2015

On Monday, August 24th, 2015, the stock market, both U.S. and Europe, took a four-day, four percent plunge, the largest in four years,

Pakistan hanged four suspected Taliban members over the school massacre on December 2nd, 2014

Four young Arab teens planned a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on October 23rd, 2015

Four Syrian hospitals have been bombed since Russian airstrikes began in October 2015

Four people were arrested in Syria-related counter-terrorism raids in October 2015

Syrian activists say four civilians were killed in intense airstrikes in October 2015

Moscow's presence in the Middle East has grown to four operating bases.

Four main trunk power lines running from Ukraine to Crimea were blown up

Four Harvard buildings cleared after bomb threat, November 16th, 2015

Beirut ISIS attack kills 44.

A gunman in Jordan killed four on November 9th, 2015.

Four female suicide bombers attacked the Chadian island of Koulfoua on Lake Chad on December 5th, 2015.

"In October, four suicide bombers detonated car bombs at a temporary Yemeni government headquarters and two Arab coalition outposts, killing more than a dozen people".

— Reuters

On December 2nd, 2015, husband and wife terrorists killed 14 people in California, shooting with four guns. Obama addressed the nation concerning this four days after the fact. He addressed the country from the Oval Office, a venue reserved for special occasions and matters of great gravity. The Oval Office is located in the West Wing of the White House and is used for four purposes: to confer with heads of state, diplomats, staff, and other dignitaries. Interestingly, there are four doors in this office.

The old city of Damascus
Vyacheslav Argenberg

Damscus

Damascus, the capital of Syria, is currently the world's oldest continuously inhabited city and has a gematria of 444. Isaiah, the prophet, issued this prophecy about it.

“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.

— Isaiah 17:1

In 2015, Syria was in its fourth year of a civil war. One news reporter from Yahoo News used similar language concerning this in his report, quoting a citizen of Damascus:

"We are trembling with fear. If the extremists get in, there'll be fighting in the streets. Everything will be destroyed."

— Marbel merchant Mohammed Ayman

The prophet Jeremiah, this time, prophesies;

Damascus has grown feeble;
She turns to flee (as of February 2016, over 6,000,000 have fled or been displaced),
And fear has seized her.
Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor.
Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy?
Therefore, her young men shall fall in her streets,
And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord of hosts.
“I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.

— Jeremiah 49:23-27

As of June 8th, 2016, 4.8 million Syrians have fled from their country, and 6.5 million have been displaced within their own country.

Although those particular tensions have cooled as of 2026, it still remains a hotbed of conflict.

War Office Second World War Official Collection

World War 2

According to Answers.com

World War II was fought because of four immediate causes:

1. Hitler invaded Poland, bringing France and Great Britain into the war.
2. Japan took over Manchuria, bringing China into the war.
3. Japan attacked the US Fleet at Pearl Harbor, bringing the US into the war.
4. Germany invaded the USSR, bringing the Soviet Union into the war.

A War Unlike Any Other War In World History

According to Wikipedia, in 1944, Allied forces launched the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino, which took four months and resulted in 105,000 (4 x 26,250) casualties.

Four Shmitas

Jonathan Cahn's book, The Mystery of the Shemitah, discusses a biblically prescribed seven-year rest cycle that allowed the land to rest. It was also considered a year of debt release. Agriculture and the Economy in ancient Israel were brought to a standstill every seven years. If the requirements were observed, Israel could expect an abundant blessing. If not, the exact opposite would occur.

"The Shemita brings about the transformation of the economic and financial realms."

Mr. Cahn observes a pattern of significance in many fourth Shmita years (28-4x7 years) related to modern events. He notes that 1917, a Shmita year, marked the end of World War I. This particular war would involve the collapse of four empires, including Germany, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia.

"Each of the four collapses would dramatically change the course of modern history."

Twenty-eight years later, 1945, a Shmita year, marked the end of World War II. He quotes both as "turning points in American and world history."

The following fourth Shmita year was 1973, which included the significant events of legalized abortion and the U.S. withdrawal from the Vietnam War.

2001 followed this significant pattern with the events of 9/11.

The Mystery of the Shemitah also includes a section on four significant blood moons occurring on Jewish Holidays that were considered omens of impending judgment from spring 2014 until autumn 2015, a Shmita year.

What Does Christopher Columbus Have to Do With It?

Concerning the discovery of our nation, from a historical perspective, Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of this landmass in 1492 (4 x 373). God's wisdom (373) and creative Word (4). It was the first of four voyages spanning 40 years.

In Columbus's writing "The Book of Prophecies," he attributes four God-given skills that assisted him in this task:

astronomy,
geometry,
arithmatic
His ability to draft maps

The ability to draft maps was listed in four forms: placing correctly

cities,
rivers,
mountains,
and ports

His additional studies included four other subjects:

cosmology
history
philosophy
chronology

He quotes:

"There is no questions that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures, a strong and clear testimony from the 44 books of the Old Testament, from the four Gospels, and from the 23 Epistles of the blessed Apostles, encouraging me continually to press forward; and without ceasing for a moment they now encourage me to make haste."

— Christopher Columbus

There are currently 39 books in the Old Testament. Remember that it was 1492, and the Bible available to him at that time may have been the 4th-century Latin Vulgate, which included some apocryphal books. Interesting that there were 44, though. The following excerpt from the article "Bible in America" from Houston Bible University explains further.

Interestingly, the first printed biography of Columbus also has Biblical connections. In 1516, Agostino Giustiniani published in Genoa a Psalter with parallel texts in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, and Chaldean (or Aramaic), with marginal notes in Latin. This Genoa Psalter was exquisitely printed with intricate woodcut borders and beautifully designed parallel columns of red and black print. In a note for Psalm 19:4, “and their words shall go to the ends of the earth,” Giustiniani’s Latin note comments that Christopher Columbus, a native son of Genoa, had explored more lands and seas than anyone else in the world and had discovered the “ends of the earth”, thus fulfilling the Scripture.

Some have also considered that Christopher Columbus may have sought a haven for the Jewish people. They were being persecuted in Europe and about to be expelled. It was the very day the decree was issued that the Jews were given four months to convert to Catholicism or be expelled, that Columbus set sail to the New World.

A Potter
Else Berg (1877-1942)

Fourth Millennium B.C.

The Fourth Millennium B.C. is noted for significant changes, including the emergence of urban development and its laws and governing systems. It was also known as the Bronze Age, which marked the development of tin-copper bronze alloying technology. Writing systems were also developed at this time. Astronomy and math were also revelations during this period, as was the invention of the potter's wheel.

Interestingly, the Copper Age preceded the Bronze Age and was followed by the Iron Age. Mixing is not desirable in the Bible. Iron symbolizes stubbornness and rebellion. The successive time periods show that, after mixing, hardness and rebellion follow. Recall that the fourth and final Kingdom in the Book of Daniel was a mixture of iron and clay. As bodies of clay, God's will for us is that we become filled with His light and not our own willful stubbornness.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

— II Corinthians 4:6-7

Jeremiah sums up the potter's wheel and the concepts of rebellion that result from mixing.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good
— Jeremiah 18:1-11

To which we might reply

But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
— Isaiah 64:8

This concludes part twenty-one of this series. The twenty-second installment will examine the transformational aspects of the created realm and other exhibits as expressed by the number four.