Sun and Moon darken, Stars fall from heaven

It is tempting to take this literally, but that could lead to an entirely innappropriate expectation. A lot of the Bible, after all, is written in figurative language. Here is another take on this prophecy which yields a completely different, and pertinent, warning.

In the Last Days, Jesus said, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” How are we to understand this verse? It is written that Joseph, the eleventh of the twelve sons of Jacob, had a dream:

Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” - Gen. 37:9, 10

When Joseph later became the prime minister of Egypt, his parents and brothers bowed down before him, as the dream had foretold. In his dream, the sun and moon symbolized the parents, while the stars symbolized their children. As will be explained, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the True Parents who came to give rebirth to humanity in place of Adam and Eve. Therefore, in this prophecy from Matthew, the sun and moon represent Jesus and the Holy Spirit, while the stars represent the faithful believers who are their children. Elsewhere, Jesus is likened to the true light because he came as the incarnation of the Word and shone forth the light of truth. (John 1:9,14) Here, the sunlight means the light of the words of Jesus, and the moonlight means the light of the Holy Spirit, who came as the Spirit of truth. (John 16:13)

For the sun to be darkened and the moon to lose its light means that the New Testament Word given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit will lose its luster. How can the Word as revealed in the New Testament possibly lose its light? The Old Testament Word was eclipsed when Jesus and the Holy Spirit came and gave us the New Testament Word, which fulfilled the Old Testament Word. (2 Cor. 3:7-11) Likewise, when Christ returns and gives the new truth in order to fulfill the New Testament Word and build a new heaven and new earth, the Word which he gave at his first coming will lose its light. It is said that the Word will lose its light because, with the coming of a new era, the period of the mission of the old truth will have lapsed.

The prophecy that the stars will fall from heaven signifies that in the Last Days many faithful Christian believers will make a misstep and fall from God’s grace. At the time of Jesus, the leaders of the Jewish people were all yearning for the coming of the Messiah, but they met their downfall when they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and opposed him. Likewise, Christians who have been anxiously awaiting the return of Jesus are likely to make the same misjudgment and fall when he actually returns.

Jesus asked, “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8) On another occasion he said he would declare to devout believers, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.” (Matt. 7:23) Jesus gave these warnings to the Christians of the Last Days because he foresaw that they would be likely to disbelieve and trespass against him at his Second Advent.

This explanation makes a lot more sense, right? The stars falling from heaven parallel with the warning that Jesus, at his return, may reject even those who are doing mighty works in his name (Matt. 7:21-23)

Another point to be clear about is that the Fall of Man was not God's Will, as evidenced by the Bible verse in Genesis 6:6 - And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The rejection of Jesus that led to his death on the cross is in the same ball-park.

There has to be freewill in order for Love to exist. If this freewill were compromised then Love would become void, or permanently crippled. Because of this God cannot intervene in, or interfere with, mankind's portion of responsibiity. This is the main reason why God's providence of restoration has taken such a long time.

That mankind has to respond appropriately to God, or Jesus, is shown through Bible verses such as, 'The prayer of faith will save the sick man (James 5:15) and, 'For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Matt. 7:8). Jesus also made this clear when he said,  "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn." (Matt. 11:16,17)

The 2nd coming of Elijah at the time of Jesus that fulfilled the prophecy contained in Malachi 4:5 did not come in the way the people expected from taking that prophecy literally. According to the words of Jesus it was fulfilled by a different person, with a different name - John the Baptist. Shouldn't we learn from this actual example?

For the signs of the Last Days, which we most certainly are in right now, have a look at pertinent meanings highlighted on the Home page (under basic points) which make a lot more sense than just taking these Bible words at face value (as the example which you've just read of the Sun and the Moon darkening, and the Stars falling from heaven).

The Messiah of the 2nd Coming has to come as Jesus did - born on the earth. Jesus gave to Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven and said, 'What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. We've got to accomplish this on the earth first.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Andrew and Marie Derricutt