Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but in the Apostle John’s vision of the end times, the prophet saw rivers turning blood-red as part of the judgment associated with the pouring out of the bowls of wrath in Revelation 16:
Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. (Revelation 16:3-4 NASV)
Most believe that the waters turning red is reminiscent of what took place when God turned the Nile into blood during Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt (Exodus 7:20).
In other words, blood-red rivers speak of judgment.
So like I said, it’s possibly just a coincidence that in the days preceding the launching of Iran’s massive attack on Israel on April 13, 2024, involving over 350 drones, ballistic, and cruise missiles, the country experienced blood-red water, Israel 365 News reports.
“Iran’s Meteorological Organization is not known for its prophetic inclinations,” Adam Berkowitz explains in his article for Israel 365. “However, last month, it issued a ‘red warning’ for flooding in five western provinces as a new wave of heavy rains approaches just ahead of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Iran is suffering a drought, and overall rainfall for the year is 28 percent below the long-term average.“
“Rain did indeed fall in copious amounts, but videos on social media showed torrents of water flowing blood red on the island of Hormuz. While the phenomenon is not unknown, the event’s timing caused many to comment,” Berkowitz added.
Though Orthodox Jews do not accept Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, nevertheless they do believe a Messiah is coming.
Berkowitz says that based on Micah 7:15, Orthodox Jews believe the Messiah’s arrival will be preceded by similar judgments that occurred at the time of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt.
So for Orthodox Jews, a river running red is a sign of the Messiah’s imminent arrival and coincidentally, for Christians, it is also a sign that will precede Christ’s second coming.
In his vision of the end times, the apostle John saw many rivers running red, so a one-off like we saw in Iran may not be significant.
Then again maybe it is. Time will tell.
Nevertheless, other events taking place today may also be connected to the pouring out of the seven bowls of wrath that John saw in his vision of the end times.
As Berkowitz noted, Iran is experiencing a major drought, and in (Revelation 16:8-9), we read that a fourth angel poured a bowl of wrath on the sun, causing it to become extremely hot.
Then in Revelation 16:12, an angel pours on the sixth bowl of wrath on the Euphrates River causing it to become completely dry, which is probably connected to the previous fourth bowl.
Because of the drought and mismanagement of the Euphrates water resources (purposeful and otherwise), secular sources, including the UN, have issued warnings about the Euphrates drying up.
It hasn’t happened yet, but it seems the stage is being set.
