The Sun and Moon Prophecies and Chain of Events, Part 3 of 9

Part 2 covered Isaiah 34 and Isaiah 50.

Both of them tied what happens in the heavens to a chain of bigger events around them, events that would be impossible to miss and impossible to leave out of the record, and the record does not have them.

In Part 3 we keep doing the same thing. Read the passage in full, list the chain of events in the order the text gives them, then check history and see if that chain ever happened.

Part 3 has Jeremiah 4, a whole chapter, and Joel 2:1-11, the first section of Joel 2. Joel 2 is read in two parts in this series. Its back half, verses 28-32, opens Part 4, where it is read with Joel 3.

No teachers, no doctrines from outside. Just the Bible, and the historical record.

1. Jeremiah 4

"If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return."

"If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver, and if you swear, 'As the Lord lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory."

"For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: 'Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.'"

"Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds."

"Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, 'Blow the trumpet through the land; cry aloud and say, "Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!"'"

"Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, stay not, for I bring disaster from the north, and great destruction."

"A lion has gone up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant."

"For this put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us."

"In that day, declares the Lord, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded."

"Then I said, 'Ah, Lord God, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, "It shall be well with you," whereas the sword has reached their very life.'"

"At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, 'A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.'"

"Behold, he comes up like clouds; his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles—woe to us, for we are ruined!"

"O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved."

"How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?"

"For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim."

"Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, 'Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.'"

"Like keepers of a field are they against her all around, because she has rebelled against me, declares the Lord."

"Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart."

"My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war."

"Crash follows hard on crash; the whole land is laid waste."

"Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment."

"How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?"

"For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise'—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not."

"I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light."

"I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro."

"I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled."

"I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger."

"For thus says the Lord, 'The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.'"

"For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be black; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back."

"At the noise of horseman and archer every city takes to flight; they enter thickets; they climb among rocks; all the cities are forsaken, and no man dwells in them."

"And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life."

"For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, 'Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.'"

The chain in this passage, in the order it is given:

1. Israel is called to return to the Lord and put away her detestable things
2. The men of Judah and Jerusalem are told to break up their fallow ground and circumcise their hearts, lest wrath go forth like unquenchable fire
3. Disaster is declared from the north, and the lion, the destroyer of nations, has set out to make the land waste and the cities ruins without inhabitant
4. The people are told to put on sackcloth and lament, for the Lord's fierce anger has not turned back, and courage fails both king and officials while priests are appalled and prophets astounded
5. A hot wind comes from the bare heights, not to winnow or cleanse, and judgment is pronounced on Jerusalem, whose wicked thoughts lodge within her
6. A voice declares from Dan and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim, while besiegers from a distant land keep watch against Jerusalem because she has rebelled
7. Anguish and the alarm of war are heard, crash follows hard on crash, and the whole land is laid waste
8. The earth is seen without form and void, and the heavens have no light
9. The mountains are quaking, and all the hills move to and fro
10. There is no man, all the birds of the air have fled, the fruitful land is a desert, and all its cities are laid in ruins
11. The whole land is a desolation, yet not a full end, while the earth mourns and the heavens above are black
12. Jerusalem adorns herself in vain, for her lovers despise her and seek her life
13. A cry is heard like a woman in labor, like one giving birth to her first child, with hands stretched out and the words, "Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers"

This chapter begins as a call to return. Israel is told to put away her detestable things, and Judah and Jerusalem are told to circumcise their hearts. Then the warning turns north, to a destroyer already set out against the land and its cities.

In the middle of the chapter the view widens past armies and cities. The earth is seen without form and void, the heavens have no light, the mountains quake, no man is there, and every bird has fled. The chapter ends where it began, with Jerusalem in anguish, but now her lovers are seeking her life.

The claim you will hear is that this was finished when Babylon took Jerusalem. That part of the history is real. Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar really did come from the north, besiege Jerusalem, and destroy the city and the temple in 586 BC. The siege brought famine, the walls were broken, the city was burned, and people were carried away to Babylon.

But the chain in Jeremiah 4 does not stop at a siege, and the history of 586 BC does not contain the middle of this chapter. No record of Babylon's victory says the earth was seen without form and void, the heavens had no light, the mountains quaked and the hills moved to and fro, no man remained to be seen, every bird fled, and the heavens above turned black over the whole land. Those things are in the text, in the same chapter, in that order, and they are not in the record of 586 BC.

And Jerusalem was not left as a finished desolation. Survivors returned from Babylon after Cyrus let the exiles go back, and the temple was rebuilt and finished in 516 BC, within the same century that it was destroyed. The city's history runs on from there in the records of one empire after another. A city that was taken, burned, rebuilt, and lived in again is real history. It is not the whole chain Jeremiah wrote down.

That rebuilt temple was the second one, and Rome destroyed it in AD 70. No temple has stood in Jerusalem since. The temple the end-times passages point to, the one that has to be standing again for what they describe, has not been built yet. It is still ahead of us, and that alone puts these events in the end times, not in any year history has already recorded.

2. Joel 2:1-11

"Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!"

"Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations."

"Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them."

"Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run."

"As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle."

"Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale."

"Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths."

"They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted."

"They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief."

"The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining."

"The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?"

The chain in this passage, in the order it is given:

1. The trumpet is blown in Zion and the alarm sounded on God's holy mountain, and all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming
2. It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, and like blackness spread upon the mountains comes a great and powerful people whose like has never been before and never will be again
3. Fire devours before them and a flame burns behind them
4. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, and a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing escapes them
5. Their appearance is like horses, and like war horses they run, with the rumbling of chariots on the mountaintops
6. Peoples are in anguish before them, and all faces grow pale
7. Like warriors they charge and scale the wall, each marching on his way without swerving or jostling, bursting through the weapons and not halted
8. They leap upon the city, run upon the walls, climb up into the houses, and enter through the windows like a thief
9. The earth quakes before them, and the heavens tremble
10. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining
11. The Lord utters His voice before His army, for His camp is exceedingly great and He who executes His word is powerful, and the day of the Lord is great and very awesome, who can endure it

This passage is set in Zion. The trumpet and the alarm sound there, and the great people come over the mountains like blackness. They move like an army that nothing stops, and they reach the city, the walls, the houses, and the windows.

And the whole thing is tied to the heavens moving with it. Before this army the earth quakes and the heavens tremble, and the sun, the moon, and the stars go dark. It ends with God's voice before His army and the question standing open: who can endure that day.

The place is Zion, Jerusalem, and Jerusalem's recorded history is long and detailed. It includes the Babylonian destruction of 586 BC and the Roman destruction of AD 70, and for AD 70 Josephus wrote down strange signs people saw before the fall: a star that looked like a sword, a comet, and a great light around the altar and the sanctuary.

Those signs are in the record, and they are not this chain. No account of any invasion of Jerusalem, in 586 BC, in AD 70, or in any other year, records an army arriving while the earth quaked before it, the heavens trembled, and the sun, the moon, and the stars went dark together. And this passage puts its own measure on the day it describes: a people whose like has never been before, and never will be again. History has no day like that to point to for Zion.

That is two more chains. Jeremiah 4 runs from the call to return, through the destroyer from the north, to an earth without form and void and heavens with no light, and even Jerusalem's real destruction in 586 BC does not contain that chain. Joel 2 opens with Zion's alarm and an army whose like never was, under a quaking earth, trembling heavens, and a darkened sun, moon, and stars, and no recorded day in Jerusalem's history matches it.

And keep hold of one plain fact through everything that follows in this series: there is no temple standing in Jerusalem today. The one Rome destroyed in AD 70 was the last. The rebuilt temple that the end-times passages, Revelation included, speak of has not been built. Those events cannot be fitted into a past that never had the temple they require. They are still to come.

Part 4 picks up at Joel 2:28-32, the back half of Joel 2, and Joel 3, and the chains keep going from there, until the last part lines them all up together.