Joel 2:31

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,.... Not by eclipses, as Aben Ezra; but by the clouds of smoke arising from the burning of towns and cities, which would be so great as

And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. As Messiah's manifestation is full of joy to believers, so it has an aspect of wrath to unbelievers, which is represented here.

Having mentioned the prodigies which were to be wrought on earth, now the prophet specifieth what shall be done in heaven, where the great luminaries shall be wonderfully affected. The sun shall be turned into darkness; shall be greatly obscured; shall seem to be turned from a body of light to mere darkness. The moon into blood; either by eclipse, or by the intervention of vapours drawn up from the places where was great slaughter and effusion of blood; however as to manner, it is most certain as to the event; the moon shall seem to be blood. Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come; great to all, terrible to the rejecters and persecutors of Christ. This day was the day of Jerusalem’ s’ destruction, and burning of the temple, and slaughter of the Jews, for their violence against and murder of the Messiah, for their sins against the gospel: this was fulfilled partly in the devastation of Jerusalem, but shall fully and finally be fulfilled in the day of judgment, and at the consummation of the world.

Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.Ver. 31. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood] By strange and stupendous eclipses: such as was that of the moon for 12 nights together, a little before the last destruction of Jerusalem; and that of the sun this present 29th day of March, 1652, wherein I write these things, but could scarce see to write, or forbear to behold: for though busy enough to bring this work to an end, if God please, yet I cannot say, as the Duke of Alva did to the King of France, who asked him whether he had observed the late great eclipse? "No," said he, "I have so much to do upon earth, that I have no leisure to look toward heaven." Of this day’ s eclipse I may well say, as Lucan doth of another, “ Ipse caput medio Titan cum ferret Olympo, Condidit ardentes atra caligine currus; Involvitque orbem tenebris, gentesque coegit Desperate diem. ” I heartily pray it do not presage a dreadful eclipse of the sun of Christ’ s glorious Gospel among us; that this bright sun should go down at noon over our heads, and our earth be darkened in the clear day, Amos 8:9. And let every good soul pray that that dismal day may never arise unto us, wherein it shall be said that this glory is departed from our English Israel. ‘ - nobiscum, Christe, maneto; Extingui lucem nec patiare tuam. ” And the moon into blood] That is, into redness, as it was likewise on the 15th day of this instant March, in the morning. Two such eclipses so near together having seldom been seen, I fear we may have cause, ere the year come about, to sing sadly with the poet (Ovid. Metam. lib. 15) “ Signa dabant luctus superi haud incerta futuri Saepe faces visae, solis quoque tristis imago; Caerulus et vulture ferrugine Lucifer atra Sparsus erat, sparsi lunares sanguine currus. ” Before the great and terrible day of the Lord come] i.e. The great day of general judgment, called here the great day, because the great God will on that day do great things and determine great matters; and the terrible day, because it is a day of anger and of wrath, Revelation 6:17; yea, the day of the declaration of the just judgment of God, according to the gospel, Romans 2:5; Romans 2:16. It is elsewhere called "that day" by an appellative proper, Mark 13:32 Luke 21:34 Matthew 7:22. That day of note, wherein God will break silence, "execute judgment upon all, and convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him," Judges 1:15. Enoch foretold this great day before Noah did the Deluge.

(30, 31) The sun . . . and the moon.—These words, recalling some of the portents in the ancient history of the Jews (especially as instanced in some of the plagues of Egypt) are taken up by our Lord Himself, as ushering in the great day of judgment; and they are echoed again by St. John in the vision of the opening of the sixth seal: “For the great day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” (Comp. Joe 2:11 of this chapter.) The sun and moon, &c., may include the luminaries in heaven and the potentates on earth.

Verse 31. 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. For a full view of this subject, I wish to refer the reader to the notes on Matthew 24:1-51.

31. Celestial portents. The imagery may be suggested partly by eclipses (cf. on Amos 8:9), partly by unusual obscurations of sun or moon through atmospheric disturbances,—for instance, sand-storms, cyclones, flights of locusts, &c. “A dreadful whirlwind occurred here [in Allahabad] on June 2, 1838. The whole sky was blood-red, not with clouds, for there was not a cloud to be seen. Overhead moved immense masses of dust; but below there was not a breath of wind. Shortly after, the wind rose, carrying with it sand and dust. It soon became extremely dark, although the sun was still up. The darkness was not only visible but tangible. The wind wrought immense damage” (Asiatic Journal, Nov. 1838, p. 155, referred to by Ewald). into darkness] comp. Joe 2:10, with the passages there cited. into blood] comp. Revelation 6:12 (the imagery of which is based upon this passage, as that of Joe 2:13-14 is upon Isaiah 34:4). Ovid (quoted by Credner), among the celestial portents which he describes as preceding the death of Caesar, includes sparsi lunares sanguine currus (Met. xv. 790). before &c.] exactly the same words as in Malachi 4:5.

Before the great and terrible Day of the Lord come - o: “The days of our life are our days wherein we do what we please; that will be the “Day of the Lord,” when He, our Judge, shall require the account of all our doings.

30, 31. Wonderful indications of the approach of the judgment. Show — Literally, give. Wonders — Hebrews mophethim.