Sun, Moon, and Stars:
by Samuel Bland
10/09/2014
Many times in Scriptures, idioms are used that we Westerners are not familiar with. If we do not understand that sometimes these figures of speech are indeed non-literal, we may interpret the Bible incorrectly. I hope to share what I have been shown, all for the search for truth and the advancement of God’s kingdom.
Babylon
If you recall from my previous post here, the Kingdom of Babylon was succeeded by the Medo-Persian Empire, as prophesied by Daniel. What is interesting is that Isaiah prophesied this as well. In Isaiah 13:1, we see him speaking of Babylon:
Isaiah 13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
In the following verses, we read of great destruction and judgment upon Babylon, with descriptions such as “destroy the whole land” (vs. 5), “pain as a woman travaileth” (vs. 8), “the day of the LORD cometh” (vs. 9), etc. Then we get to this verse:
Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Amid all this language of God’s judgment and “destruction from the Almighty” (vs. 6), Isaiah prophesied that the celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, and stars will be darkened and not give forth their light!
We all believe the Bible, so we all undoubtedly would agree that this prophecy did indeed happen the way Isaiah said it would. External sources such as history confirms that Babylon was overthrown by the Medo-Persians in the 6th-century B.C.; however, there is no evidence that the actual sun and moon stopped shining. The question here is this: Was this talking about a literal darkening of the sun and moon and stars?
As one person I've talked to asked, “If the sun did go out literally, would it not be recorded in history? Why would it not if there is existing proof of historical events from that time?” Something to consider.
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Egypt
Let’s rewind a bit. Before the Medes conquered Babylon, Babylon had conquered Egypt. This time, Ezekiel was given this prophecy. In Ezekiel 32:2, God is telling Ezekiel who He is addressing:
Ezekiel 32:2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.
All throughout Ezekiel 32, we read of great destruction such as “I shall make the land of Egypt desolate” (vs. 15) and “she is delivered to the sword” (vs. 20). We also read in vs. 11 that Babylon is the culprit of this overthrow. Things get interesting here:
Ezekiel 32:7-8 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
Once again, amidst all this destructive language of God’s judgment, we read that the heavenly bodies will be darkened; the same exact language used to describe Babylon’s fall was describing Egypt’s fall. Did the moon stop shining? Were the stars darkened?
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What does this mean?
Now that we have cited examples, I wish to reiterate: Throughout the Bible, there are phrases and idioms used that are no longer used today, and many times we misinterpret these and take them the wrong way.
For example, let’s say a book is printed today that uses the phrase “frog in his throat,” which obviously does not literally mean there is an amphibian in a person’s esophagus; this idiom actually means an itchy or scratchy feeling in the throat that needs to be cleared. But let’s say that this particular phrase stops being used over the next 1,000 years, people forget the meaning, and someone from this far distant future reads the book that has this phrase. Imagine their surprise and confusion at hearing of a frog in someone’s throat! Such as is the case with certain Biblical idioms.
According to thefreedictionary online, an idiom is as follows: “an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements” (source). This basically means that an idiom cannot be understood by the phrase itself, such as “frog in his throat” does not have anything to do with frogs.
A prevailing method of interpretation in certain circles today purports that everything in the Bible should be taken literally and physically unless it does not make sense to the reader, in which case, we interpret it as figurative, such as in Revelation and the beast with 7 heads. A few issues with this view (aside from it being entirely subjective) is the fact that when we read the Bible, we are reading an English translation of a Hebrew/Greek manuscript, there is a Eastern-Western cultural barrier, and we are separated by 2,000+ years! Not everything in our English language can be directly translated over, and vice versa.
Interpreting the Bible correctly is paramount. In all areas of our study and research of the Word, we must take the right steps of interpretation, and the best way to interpret it is to let the Bible interpret itself―don't use the newspaper to interpret the Bible!
In the given two examples of Babylon and Egypt, I believe it is plainly obvious that the sun, moon, and stars were not literally darkened. This type of language was used in the Bible to describe destruction and a change in powers or authorities.
Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
From this verse, we see the sun and moon related to ruling. This gives us an indication of the role of the sun and moon when God speaks, such as in prophecy.
Remember Joseph’s dream (Genesis 37)? His father and brothers became angry with him because they knew that the sun and moon and stars represented them! Joseph’s dream came true: the sun, moon, and stars did indeed bow to him, but not literally.
To recap, Babylon was overthrown, and sun, moon, and stars were mentioned to change, get dark, be covered, etc. Similarly, Egypt was overthrown as well, and sun, moon, and stars were mentioned to change, get dark, be covered, etc. This merely represents a change in ruling or authority or government.
Having said all this, what would verses like these mean?:
Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
When interpreting Scripture, we have to be consistent. To say that these happenings were/will be literal is to say that the examples of Babylon and Egypt were also literal. I believe correct understanding of this particular concept is vital. This is especially true of endtime views, or else one might be expecting a beast with 7 heads or a lamb with 7 eyes.
The reason for this post is 1.) to share what I have been studying and have been shown, and 2.) to address the influx in other posts concerning lunar eclipses and such. We are studying the Bible, not astrology. I sincerely hope that this post and the organization of the above verses helps you better understand what the Bible says.
