The Sun and Moon Prophecies and Chain of Events, Part 8 of 9

Part 7 covered Acts 2:17-21 and Revelation 6:12-17.

Both of those 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 8 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 8 has Revelation 7:9-17 and Revelation 8:12-13. In Revelation 7, John sees a great multitude no one could number standing before the throne of God, come out of the great tribulation. In Revelation 8, the fourth trumpet strikes a third of the sun, a third of the moon and a third of the stars.

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

1. Revelation 7:9-17

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,"

"and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”"

"And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,"

"saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”"

"Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”"

"I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

"“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence."

"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat."

"For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”"

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

1. A great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, stands before the throne and before the Lamb
2. They are clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, crying out that salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb
3. All the angels stand around the throne and fall on their faces before the throne and worship God
4. One of the elders says these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation
5. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb
6. They are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne shelters them with his presence
7. They shall hunger no more and thirst no more, and the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat
8. The Lamb will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes

John sees a crowd too big to count, standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb.

They come from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. And the elder names where they came out of: the great tribulation.

That tribulation is the same one Parts 5 and 6 already read. Matthew 24 and Mark 13 put it right before the sun and moon go dark and the Son of Man comes.

Parts 5 and 6 checked the record for that chain and did not find it. And no record holds a gathering like this one either.

No year in the record has a multitude too big to count, drawn from every nation on earth, gathered at one time in this way. The gathering is in the text. It is not in the record.

2. Revelation 8:12-13

"The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night."

"Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”"

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

1. The fourth angel blows his trumpet
2. A third of the sun is struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars
3. A third of their light is darkened
4. A third of the day is kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night
5. An eagle flies directly overhead and cries woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow

John hears the fourth trumpet, and the strike lands on the lights themselves. A third of the sun, a third of the moon and a third of the stars lose their light together.

The biggest darkenings in the record did not strike the lights. They came from volcanoes throwing dust and gas high into the air.

Tambora, in Indonesia, blew in April 1815, the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. Its cloud blocked a large share of the sunlight and lowered the average temperature of the whole earth by as much as 3 degrees.

The next year, 1816, is called the year without a summer. Snow and killing frost hit parts of western Europe and eastern North America in June, July and August, and crops failed.

Krakatoa, also in Indonesia, blew on August 27, 1883. Ash fell over about 300,000 square miles, the land around it sat in darkness for two and a half days, and its fine dust circled the earth and made red and orange sunsets for a year.

But neither one is this chain. Dust in the air dims the light by season and by region, and the sunsets it made were red, not struck dark.

Neither volcano struck a third of the sun, a third of the moon and a third of the stars at the same time, so that a third of the day and a third of the night lost their light.

And no eagle follows either one in the record, crying woe over the earth for the trumpets still to come.

Big darkenings are in the record. This chain is not.

And the standing point of this series stands over Revelation too. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome in AD 70, and no temple has stood in the city since that day.

The temple of the last days has not been built yet. Part 5 said it in full, and it stands here too.

That is two more chains. Revelation 7 has a multitude no one could number, from every nation on earth, come out of the great tribulation and standing before the throne, and no gathering like it is in the record.

Revelation 8 has a third of the sun, a third of the moon and a third of the stars struck at one time, and the biggest darkenings in the record are volcano seasons that never did that.

Part 9 is the last part. It lines up every chain from every passage in this series, side by side, and shows how they all connect.