The Day of the LORD

Addendum: Signs in the Cosmos

In a previous article, The LORD, the Author of Calamity, I detailed from the Scripture how the LORD uses calamity to punish sinful mankind by sending various calamities upon nations, cities and individuals.

As this article shows, the Day of the LORD is a series of calamities; those passages in which the term or its equivalents are used share a very unique property: ominous signs in the cosmos. Such signs do not appear to be used in “simple” (my term) calamities regardless of their scope.

The first mention of these signs appears to be in the prophet Isaiah:

Isa 13.1,10
The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
…
For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash forth their light;
The sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light.

As we review the remainder of these texts in the Scriptures, the Lord Christ’s words show us that the “signs in the cosmos” can’t be anything as pedestrian as comets, asteroids or solar/lunar eclipses:

Luk 21.25-26
There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Comets, asteroids, star (super)novas, solar and lunar eclipses, and other regular astronomical events are well-understood and largely predictable by known science. However, when the events detailed in this chapter occur, the response of the peoples of the earth will be unmitigated terror because the very cosmos will be "shaken". Those events will defy all attempts at natural and/or scientific explanation, because it will be thought that such things are impossible. Mankind will be “in perplexity” and “fainting from fear”, trapped on a planet and in a cosmos, both of which appear to be moving inexorably toward a certain, albeit unknown, destruction.

[Occasionally, irresponsible “Bible preachers” (I use the term very loosely!) will try to make the case that a lunar eclipse or the “blood moon” (or other similar astronomical events) are portents of imminent, global disaster. In general, such men are ignorant of the truth of the Bible concerning the Day of the LORD. And they are rightly viewed as fools when their dire "predictions" fall flat.]

There are a few texts which state that the heavens will be “shaken”.

Hag 2.6
For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.‘

Rev 6.12-13
I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

It is difficult to imagine what a “shaking of the heavens” would look like. Regardless of the mechanics of the event, what the Apostle John saw reminded him of what a strong wind will do to a fig tree with ripe fruit.

[Hag 2 and Rev 6 strongly suggest, consistent with the example of the fig tree being shaken by a wind and thereby losing its figs, that it will be a time of unprecedented meteorites impacting the earth, as if the heavens, being shaken, are dropping its stars. These statements are a good example of "illustrations of appearance".]

As the Day of the LORD approaches its full revelation there will be dramatic and seemingly impossible signs in the cosmos: specifically, changes in the luminosity of the sun and (therefore of the moon since it reflects light from the sun—though with spectacular exceptions!).

Isa 24.21-23
So it will happen in that day,
That the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high,
And the kings of the earth on earth.
They will be gathered together
Like prisoners in the dungeon,
And will be confined in prison;
And after many days they will be punished.
Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed,
For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory will be before His elders.
[Note that there are two phrases here which are not always the same: the “host of heaven” and the "moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed". The former phrase is used in two distinct contexts:

1. astronomical (used in the context of idolatry): Deu 4.19; 2 Kin 17.16; 2 Kin 21.3-5; 2 Kin 2 Kin 23.4-5; 2 Chr 33.3-5; Isa 34.4; Jer 18.2; Zep 1.5; Act 7.42
2. the angels which serve the LORD: 1 Kin 22.19; 2 Chr 18.18; Isa 24.21; Dan 4.35; Dan 8.10;

While I'll make no attempt thoroughly to prove it here (that will be part of a later article) in the context of those beings which are in heaven, it is nonetheless true that currently some of the fallen angels (demons) still dwell in/have access to heaven. I'll mention only a single text:

Eph 6.12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

I believe that this is the essence of the LORD's assertion in Isa 24.21 above that He "will punish the host of heaven on high".]

Joe 2.10
Before them the earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.

Joe 2.30-31
“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire and columns of smoke.
The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”

Joe 3.14-15
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.

Rev 6.12-17
I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

[There are a few very interesting items to note:

The sun becomes black but the moon is still visible. Since the moon is a reflective rather than an emissive body this should be impossible. That is, if there is no sunlight to reflect from the surface of the moon, how would it be possible to see the moon at all? This "sign in the heavens" will certainly be viewed with unbounded fear and confusion. The moon is not only still visible, it takes on an appearance with the hue of fresh blood. How could anyone on the earth not be terrified at what is happening?

Those who are the LORD’s enemies, who thought nothing of the fact that throughout all their lives they denied and blasphemed Him are now suddenly beginning to experience His wrath. Their only objective is somehow to try to escape. Their plan? Commit mass suicide in the stunningly misguided notion that if they are buried by mountains that the LORD won’t be able to find them! Truly their horror will be without bounds on that day as they awake to the torment of Hades and quickly realize that they are being held inexorably for the Great White Throne Judgment and, ultimately, the Lake of Fire!]

Rev 7.1
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

 [Here is another phenomenon which should be impossible as long as the sun is shining. (That is, temperature differentials cause the expansion and contraction of air, a major component of the physics of wind flow.] 

Another sign in the cosmos is this:

Isa 34.4
And all the host of heaven will wear away,
And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All their hosts will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,

We’re all familiar with rolling up a length of paper; what use to be flat and spread out is now compacted into a tube. What a spectacular sight that will be when the LORD’s enemies see the stars above moving in unison in a way that is described as a scroll being rolled up! A universe of unimaginable size will move in ways that should be impossible, across spans which are unimaginably huge, within a time frame that is impossibly small. But, it will be possible in the Day of the LORD!

[Consider what is termed the "subtended angle" of a view into the night sky. Given the immense distance to the various galaxies, they would need to move "laterally" hundreds of millions of light years within an impossibly short a time frame (minutes, hours, days) to create a subtended angle large enough to be observed on earth with the unaided eye.

As an example, consider our nearest galaxy, Andromeda. It is a "mere" ~2.5 million light years from earth. (This means that light from Andromeda takes 2.5 million years to reach us.)

To sweep Andromeda through an angle of only 15 degrees would mean that it had to move through a plane normal to our view of ~0.669 million light years. Stated another way: if the Andromeda galaxy moved through 15 degrees relative to our view on earth in any time period short of 669,000 years, then it had to travel faster than light, something supposedly impossible. But it will be possible during the events of the Day of the LORD, apparently quickly enough to enable the scene to be described as a "rolling up".

This is one of the reasons that these signs in the cosmos will bring such fear.]

As you read the texts below, attempt to reconcile the ridiculous notion of the “secret rapture” (something of the type popularized by the Left Behind book and film series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins). This silly, unbiblical notion (that is, a “secret rapture”) may sell books and make for dramatic movie plots but it dishonors the Scripture.

Mat 24.29-31
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

Mar 13.24-27
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.”

The return of the Lord Christ will be unmistakable and visible to all—it will be anything but “secret”! As the Scriptures above teach us, the result will be global mourning (Rev 1.7) by all those who haven't by that time confessed Christ as Lord!

Similar to the sun and moon being darkened, but perhaps even more ominous, is the following:

Rev 8.12
The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

Here, the Apostle John describes the selective changes in luminosity of the sun, moon and stars. Since the effect lasts only one-third of a (24-hour) day, it must likewise indicate that their “usual” luminosity was restored after the time expired.

[We've all seen the images of a partial eclipses: the entire disc of the sun or moon is not covered, only a portion of it. In order to make it clear that a true "sign of the cosmos" is taking place, both the sun and the moon appear as if a partial eclipse are taking place at the same time! Since in a "normal" eclipse either the moon is between the earth and the sun, or the earth is between the moon and the sun: these conditions are, of course, mutually exclusive! Hence, what John saw in Rev 8 is another of those "impossible" celestial signs.]

Ultimately, though, the end of the Millennium will arrive and the Great White Throne Judgment will begin.

[See The Final Sequence for details.]

2 Pet 3.7
But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

2 Pet 3.10-13
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

[Consider also the fact that "the heavens will pass away with a roar". Normally, there is no sound transfer in the vacuum of space, but at that time the destruction of the cosmos will be attended by a great "roar". It truly will be a fearful time.]

Peter teaches here that the universe is going to be destroyed by fire! It should be obvious to even the casual reader that life on earth can’t continue, since it will be part of what the fires of judgment will destroy. As Peter said (v.7) above, ungodly men will be destroyed!

[See The Final Sequence for additional details.]

These are the events to be expected at the Day of the LORD, the return of the Lord Christ for His revelation as the sovereign of the universe.