Ominous Warning

“At that time, after those horrible days end, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken" – Mark 13:24-25 (NLT).

Notice the words “At that time, after those horrible days end.”  Jesus now begins to transition to a parenthetical mention of his second coming in verses 26-27.  But first, he does what many Old Testament prophets did.  He uses apocalyptic or symbolical language to signify Jerusalem’s great destruction.

He speaks of the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its light, the stars falling from the sky, and the powers of heaven being shaken (See verses 24-25).  This certainly sounds like the second coming, but it isn’t - - not yet.

Such symbolical and ominous phraseology is very common in the prophets when predicting the downfall of great cities such as Jerusalem.

Isaiah used such language when he predicted the fall of the great city of Babylon whey it was destroyed by the Medes and Persians in the 6^th Century.  He wrote, “Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon.  The day of the Lord is coming – the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger.  The land will be destroyed and all the sinners with it.  The heavens will be black above them.  No light will shine from stars or sun or moon.  For I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move from its place” – Isaiah 13:1, 9-10, 13 (NLT).

Similar language was used by Isaiah to predict the downfall of various nations surrounding Israel, particularly Edom – all of which was fulfilled.  He wrote, “The heavens above will melt away and disappear like a rolled-up scroll.  The stars will fall from the sky, just as withered leaves and fruit fall from a tree” – Isaiah 34:4 (NLT).  Well, needless to say, the stars didn’t fall from the sky when Edom was conquered, but the language suggested that its fall would be a tremendous and ominous event.

Ezekiel records God’s warning to Egypt, “When I blot you out, I will veil the heavens and darken the stars.  I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give you its light.  Yes, I will bring darkness everywhere across your land.  Even the brightest stars will become dark above you.  I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken” – Ezekiel 32:7-8.  Again, these were not literal things that were to happen.  God is speaking in apocalyptic or symbolical language to emphasize the catastrophe that lay ahead for Egypt.  This is especially true when we consider that the Egyptians worshipped the sun, moon, and stars.  Their sun god was RA, the god of light.  So God is telling them that what they worship as the god of light would lead to their dark doom by using such apocalyptic language.  Jeremiah, Joel, and Micah all use similar imagery. 

Peter uses it too.  On the day of Pentecost, he cites Joel’s prediction of the coming of the Spirit as being fulfilled that day.  Included in the prediction are the words, “I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below – blood and fire and clouds of smoke.  The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon will turn bloodred, before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives” (See Acts 2:19-20).  When Peter said this, no one looked up at the sky and said, “Gee, where’s the blood and fire and clouds of smoke?  Why aren’t the sun dark and the moon bloodred?”  No!  The Jews gathered in Jerusalem listening to Peter never asked such questions.  They were accustomed to such symbolical language accompanying great prophetical events.

The bottom line is that in the most ominous language possible Jesus is predicting Jerusalem’s fall.  He tells them that all the specific signs of its fall will warn them of pending disaster and that their generation would live to see all these signs.  He wants his disciples to realize what a huge and shocking event this was to be.  And so it was - - as we have discussed in earlier articles.

The silver lining in the dark cloud of Jesus’ ominous language is the fact that God was giving a clear and concise warning to his listeners about the pending doom of Jerusalem.  Anyone who believed his warning had ample time to turn their life around and get right with God.  In fact, it would be more than thirty-seven years before Jesus’ prediction would come true.  Now that’s a long time!  But God is a patient God.  He loves us so much that he gives us time to connect with him and get our act together.

But even when we blow it, God loves us and often gives us time to reflect on our mistakes in order to see our need for him and get our hearts right.  I like what he wrote through Jeremiah, “The Lord does not abandon anyone forever.  Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love.  For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow” – Lamentations 3:31-33 (New Living Translation).