And the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were smitten, in order that a third of them might be darkened, and that a third of the day might not shine, nor a third of the night likewise. Rev. 8:12.
It started as a routine trip home one night. As I came around the S curve and entered the straightaway that brings me to my street, I saw the strangest thing. There appeared to be a full moon rising above the horizon in front of me, but it looked as if someone had taken a big bite out of the left-hand side.
"Could that be a gibbous moon [the third quarter of the lunar month, when the moon begins to shrink after its full phase]?" I asked my wife, who was riding home with me.
"I don't think so," she said. "I've never seen anything like this."
Undeterred by her opinion, I tried to think of whether a gibbous moon was like a reverse crescent, or whether it "had a bite out of it," as this one did. I kept on pondering the significance of what I had seen, but when I arrived home I forgot all about it for a half-hour. Then I suddenly remembered the moon again.
"Hey, kids!" I called to my teens. "You got a look out the front window. The moon has a bite out of it!"
They followed me out to the living room to look past the white birch in our front yard. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. No longer did the moon have a bite out of it, Instead I was looking at a half moon. ("What's the big deal, Dad?") Could the moon go through half a phase in a half hour? I ransacked the limited scientific knowledge in my brain and came up with a negative conclusion. Then I noticed that the dark of the moon was a dull red, completing the full circle.
"I know!" I blurted out. "It must be a lunar eclipse. ["Told you so," grumbled the wife.] The earth has moved directly between the sun and the moon, and the shadow of the earth is moving across the moon." I continued watching until the white part of the moon completely vanished, leaving a dull red circle.
The best explanation of Revelation 8:12 is probably an image drawn from the eclipses of sun and moon that were widely known to the ancient world. The sun, moon, and stars symbolize the Word of God (Ps. 19; 119:105), the people of God (Dan. 12:3), and the things of heaven (Dan. 8:10) in the Old Testament. The rejection of God's Word and His ways results in spiritual darkness. But the darkness here is partial. We still have time to repent.
Lord, I want to live in the light of Your Word and Your Ways. Keep me from choices that will lead me into spiritual darkness.
It started as a routine trip home one night. As I came around the S curve and entered the straightaway that brings me to my street, I saw the strangest thing. There appeared to be a full moon rising above the horizon in front of me, but it looked as if someone had taken a big bite out of the left-hand side.
"Could that be a gibbous moon [the third quarter of the lunar month, when the moon begins to shrink after its full phase]?" I asked my wife, who was riding home with me.
"I don't think so," she said. "I've never seen anything like this."
Undeterred by her opinion, I tried to think of whether a gibbous moon was like a reverse crescent, or whether it "had a bite out of it," as this one did. I kept on pondering the significance of what I had seen, but when I arrived home I forgot all about it for a half-hour. Then I suddenly remembered the moon again.
"Hey, kids!" I called to my teens. "You got a look out the front window. The moon has a bite out of it!"
They followed me out to the living room to look past the white birch in our front yard. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. No longer did the moon have a bite out of it, Instead I was looking at a half moon. ("What's the big deal, Dad?") Could the moon go through half a phase in a half hour? I ransacked the limited scientific knowledge in my brain and came up with a negative conclusion. Then I noticed that the dark of the moon was a dull red, completing the full circle.
"I know!" I blurted out. "It must be a lunar eclipse. ["Told you so," grumbled the wife.] The earth has moved directly between the sun and the moon, and the shadow of the earth is moving across the moon." I continued watching until the white part of the moon completely vanished, leaving a dull red circle.
The best explanation of Revelation 8:12 is probably an image drawn from the eclipses of sun and moon that were widely known to the ancient world. The sun, moon, and stars symbolize the Word of God (Ps. 19; 119:105), the people of God (Dan. 12:3), and the things of heaven (Dan. 8:10) in the Old Testament. The rejection of God's Word and His ways results in spiritual darkness. But the darkness here is partial. We still have time to repent.
Lord, I want to live in the light of Your Word and Your Ways. Keep me from choices that will lead me into spiritual darkness.
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