The Day of the LORD is preceded by the sun, moon, and stars going dark
Joel tells us of a unique celestial or cosmic event that serves to indicate that the Day of the LORD has arrived.
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.
The eschatological Day of the LORD is associated with the sun, moon, and stars going dark. Peter even quotes Joel:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
These celestial signs are prominent in most of the passages detailing this future day.
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Isa 13:10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Isa 13:11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Notice how Jesus uses these celestial markers to signal His return to gather his elect and make war upon the unbelieving world.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
John also sees and describes this sign after the opening of the sixth seal.
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Notice that Jesus said the sign of the sun, moon, and stars going dark comes “immediately after the tribulation of those days” (Matt 24:29). The days in context are those of the “great tribulation”.
Characteristics of the Great Tribulation
Remember that the “great tribulation” is a time of unparalleled persecution upon those who refuse to worship the beast and take his mark. It is not a time of tribulation for the unbeliever. The unbelievers who worship the Antichrist are “having a party” all the way up until they are caught like a thief in the night by Christ's glorious return. The unbelievers are described by Jesus as eating and drinking, buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage, planting and building right up until the time that sudden destruction comes upon them.
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Luk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luk 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
However, for all Christians this will be a time of slaughter, martyrdom, and suffering like has never been seen. The refusal to worship the Beast will bring a death sentence. Many will have their heads cut off (Rev 20:4). Likewise, refusal to take the mark will immediately cut them off from the economies of their respective societies. They shall be outcasts. Many will starve and suffer exposure to the elements.
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Jesus says that it will be so bad that God must intervene or no believer would be left alive.
The length of the Great Tribulation
To save some of the persecuted elect from physical death the days of their persecution are divinely shortened.
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
The persecution will be so horrific that when it appears as though Satan will extinguish all Christians from the earth, God cuts the great tribulation short with a glorious rescue of those who are alive and remain.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
You may be thinking: how do I know that these who are gathered by the angels are Christians. Or how do I know that it is the church which is being persecuted here and not just the Jews. I’m glad you asked. However, before I answer that I want to finish with the previous line of correction that we had entered down making it very clear that the Day of the LORD (the period of God’s wrath) does not run concurrent to the whole seven years at the end of this age.
To be continued....