“Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.” Gen. 1:14
What does Moses mean by saying the celestial bodies are to be for signs? Signs of what? Most commentators agree that it is referring to natural signs that the heavenly bodies reveal. Matthew Henry writes they are “for signs of the change of weather, that the husbandman may order his affairs with discretion, foreseeing, by the face of the sky, when second causes have begun to work, whether it will be fair or foul.”
Adam Clarke believes they are “tokens of God’s tender care for man, and as standing proofs of his continual miraculous interference; for so the [Greek work] is often used. And is it not the almighty energy of God that upholds them in being? The sun and moon also serve as signs of the different changes which take place in the atmosphere, and which are so essential for all purposes of agriculture, commerce, etc.”
John Calvin has this word of admonition for those who would make them be signs for whatever they fancy:
“It must be remembered that Moses…relates those things which are everywhere observed, even by the uncultivated, and which are in common use. Because Moses declares that the sun and moon were appointed for signs, [some] think themselves entitled to elicit from them anything they please. But confutation is easy: for they are called signs of certain things, not signs to denote whatever is according to our fancy. What indeed does Moses assert to be signified by them, except things belonging to the order of nature?” John Calvin
Could the heavenly bodies also be signs of prophetic significance? And if so, what would they signify? When we look at prophetic passages and try to understand their meaning, it behooves us to consider the biblical symbolism and not attempt to add our own. The meaning of the passage must be understood in light of what the original author and readers/listeners would have understood it to be. Do the prophets literally mean heavenly bodies when they speak of the sun darkening, the stars falling, the moon ceasing to give light? Are they referring to that which will actually happen to the sun, moon, and/or stars? Or, do the heavenly bodies symbolize something different?
In a dream Joseph saw “the sun and moon and eleven stars… bowing down” to him (Gen. 37:9). Joseph, being only “seventeen years old” (Gen. 37:2), was under the government of his father, mother, and older brothers. In reality, they ruled over Joseph. Upon hearing about Joseph’s dream, Jacob asked him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” (Gen. 37:10). Joseph’s father and brothers immediately understood the significance of the images in his dream. They were not thinking that the sun, moon, and stars would literally bow down before Joseph. They understood that the heavenly bodies were symbolic. They were symbolic of governing authorities.
“In ancient Hieroglyphic writings the sun, moon, and stars represented empires and states, with their sovereigns and nobility.The eclipse of these luminaries was said to denote temporary national disasters, or an entire overthrow of any state. This is still an Eastern mode of writing, and there are some classical examples of it.The Prophets frequently employ it…” -Rev. John Forster, The Gospel-Narrative
The use of sun, moon, and stars in prophetic passages refers not to the celestial bodies themselves, but were symbolic of ruling authorities, nations, or cities. To the 1st century listeners, the use of various signs in the heavens were familiar figures of speech from the OT apocalyptic language referring to the destruction of a nation or city. The Old Testament has numerous examples of a city receiving prophecies of its destruction using the heavenly bodies as symbols.
In his prophecy over Egypt, Ezekiel prophesied,
“When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of the haven will I make dark over you and put darkness on your land.” Ez. 32:7-8
“When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of the haven will I make dark over you and put darkness on your land.” Ez. 32:7-8
Isaiah prophesied the destruction of Edom in Isaiah 34
“All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll.” Is. 34:4a
In his prophecy concerning Babylon, Isaiah states,
“For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.” Is. 13:10
“For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.” Is. 13:10
We have to understand this symbolism when we approach prophetic passages. We cannot, as Calvin said, make the signs say whatever we please. With this understanding, let’s look at the passages that speak of a “blood moon”. Does it refer to the actual moon or does it symbolize something?
“The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” Joel 2:31
The book of Joel is a prophecy concerning Jerusalem and Judah. It is filled with symbolism(as are most of the prophetic books) that would stretch the imagination to attempt to interpret literally.
“Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!” (v. 1-2) Is this to be taken literally, signifying a day so cloudy that it dark?
“Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns.” (v. 3a) Are we to understand this as the country of Judah being surrounded by a huge conflagration? No, for if we look back a verse, we see that, “Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them…fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. Their land is like the garden of Eden before them…but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.” (v. 2-3) It’s obvious Joel is using symbolism to describe an invasion of an army that leaves desolation in their wake. Before this army arrives, the land is lush; after they go through, it is a wilderness.
Let’s go down to verse 10:
“The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble.” I’ve heard of earthquakes but will the heavens literally tremble or is this symbolism again? What portion of the heavens? When one considers that the heavens are technically the entire universe, does it literally mean the universe will tremble? And the heavens and earth are trembling before an army of mere men?
“The sun and moon are darkened and the stars withdraw their shining.” Are we to believe that the actual heavenly bodies…the sun, moon, and stars will simultaneously cease shining? How could that happen? Consider the logistics of that. It takes 1 1/3 seconds for light from the moon to reach us, 8 minutes for light from the sun. The closest star is a little over 4 light years away…4+ years for its light to reach us. But other stars are hundreds of light years away. To the viewer on earth, Jupiter and Venus appear as stars. It takes light from Jupiter 35-52 minutes to reach us. So, in order for this to happen simultaneously, each of these heavenly bodies would need to be extinguished or darkened at different times. Very implausible. Is it possible that Joel is speaking symbolically and not referring to the heavenly bodies at all?
Now we come to the prophecy in question: “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord.” (v. 30-31)
If it is obvious that the previous verses in Joel 2 are symbolism, why would these verses suddenly become literal? Or, partially literal. The verse says literally, “the moon shall be turned to blood.” It does not say it will look like blood, or become as blood. If one is going to take the verse literally, the moon must actually turn to blood.
But now, if Joel uses the terms for heavenly bodies to refer to governing authorities, as the other prophets do, this verse could actually mean something very different than what we have been led to believe. Could Joel be prophesying that the governing authorities would be overthrown or destroyed? All other OT prophetic passages that speak of activities in the heavenly bodies referred to the destruction or judgment of a city or nation. Could this also be Joel’s message? Could it mean that a governing authority would lose its power(the darkening of the sun) and would be turned to blood(bloodshed)?
In Acts 2, Luke records the events of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples gathered and they began to speak in other tongues causing those witnessing this event to question if they were drunk. Peter, stands up and tells them that what they are witnessing is what Joel prophesied.
“Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But THIS IS WHAT WAS UTTERED THROUGH THE PROPHET JOEL, ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy.’”(v. 17-18)
The first section of Joel’s prophecy was being fulfilled at Pentecost. Peter makes that clear. Peter goes on to declare the rest of the prophesy. In doing this, he is warning the men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem of a coming destruction of the Jewish governing bodies, “And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.”(v. 19-20)
“The sun shall be turned into darkness – The Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, shall be entirely destroyed. Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come – In the taking and sacking of Jerusalem, and burning of the temple, by the Romans, under Titus, the son of Vespasian. This was, perhaps, the greatest and most terrible day of God’s vengeance ever shown to the world, or that ever will be shown, till the great day of the general judgment.” Adam Clarke
Joel’s prophecy has been fulfilled. The sun did become dark and the moon did turn to blood. The symbolism of the celestial bodies was clear to Joel’s readers and Peter’s audience. It was not lost on them. May it not be lost on us. Let us understand the words as they understood them.
There is nothing prophetic or strange for the moon to appear red when it is eclipsed by the earth’s shadow. It is a natural occurrence. Every full lunar eclipse will result in the moon appearing some shade of red. During a total lunar eclipse, the earth passes between the sun and moon, casting its shadow on the moon. If the earth had no atmosphere, the moon would appear black during a full eclipse but because of the atmosphere it takes on a reddish hue. During the eclipse, when the moon is covered by the earth’s shadow, there is a ring around the earth…the atmosphere…through which the sun’s rays pass.
“Sunlight is composed of a range of frequencies. As sunlight passes through our atmosphere, the green to violet portion of the light spectrum is, essentially, filtered out. This same effect, by the way, is what makes our sky blue during the day. Meanwhile, the reddish portion of the spectrum is least affected. What’s more, when this reddish light first entered the atmosphere, it was bent (refracted) toward the Earth’s surface. It’s bent again when it exits on the other side of Earth. This double bending sends the reddish light onto the moon during a total lunar eclipse.”( www.earthsky.org)
Depending on the conditions of the atmosphere…dust, humidity, temperature, etc….the moon can take on a color varying from a copper colored to a deep red.
I read of a missionary who used his knowledge of an upcoming solar eclipse to scare chiefs who didn’t attend church meetings. It worked. The solar eclipse that he “threatened” actually happened(because he knew it would) and the chiefs were terrified at such power so they repented. Columbus pulled a similar trick on native Jamaicans. He had astronomical charts with him and knew there was an upcoming lunar eclipse. So he used that knowledge to his advantage. When the natives decided they were no longer going to supply Columbus with supplies, he gathered them together and informed them that his god was angry at them for ceasing to supply their needs and would take away the moon as punishment for their actions. I see little difference between Columbus’ actions and the actions of those today who prophesy vague threats based on scientific knowledge in an attempt to scare people into repentance.
If we are going to interpret the Bible correctly, we need to rely on the Bible’s use of symbolism, allowing the text to interpret itself. We also need to use a historical contextual hermeneutic that attempts to determine what the original readers or listeners of the prophesy would have understood. When we make the signs and symbols mean whatever we desire, we distort God’s word and step onto a dangerous path that leads away from traditional orthodoxy.