How are we to interpret the Moon turning into blood, in Joel 2:31 and Rev 6:12?

Question

In Joel the moon is mentioned as getting 'dark'.

The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. (Joel 2:10, ESV)

Then at a later time in the vision is is said to be turned 'to blood'.

The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, ebefore the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. (Joel 2:31, ESV)

In some ways the Moon and Sun was made dark after an earthquake when Jesus died on the cross and then at the end of the world again the full Moon becames 'like blood.'

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, ithere was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. (Rev 6:12)

The question is what does this refer to, and how is it different from the Moon simply turning dark?

Answer 1

The heavens is often used to express powers of governments while the earth is the populations under them.

For example, long after the heavens and earth were literally established, God uses the same phrase in establishing Israel:

And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people. ’” (Isaiah 51:16, ESV)

Note: This was not clear to me at all until noticing it yesterday argued in depth in a sermon from John Owen entitled THE SHAKING AND TRANSLATING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. (Owens Works, Volume 8, See page 254)

So the earthquake, disturbing the populace, and the loss of heavenly bodies for their usual public power on display, naturally means and overthrow of government powers under the wrath of God. Of course, erroneously through superstition, pagans would more or less also equate such disturbances to an overthrow of their gods, as these powers were at times associated with the gods directly in Emperor worship or indirectly under their favour.

Although God often works in secret, an overhaul of the entire world in which everyone in a given society lives, implied by such commotion a full public recognition of God's wrath. It is meant to rise above the everyday manifestation of Gods anger against sin and implies a long awaiting magnificent disturbance of all who are secure in their power and commotion among people watching in dismay. Furthermore as powers are usually meant to provide order and blessings from God, the darkness covering these happy lights clearly spells his disfavor and withdrawal of a happy countenance towards the earth.

Regarding why the end of the ages takes the image one step further and describes the moon as turning into blood is curious. It seems as a minimum to indicate a more final and extreme vengeance upon those powers that oppose the Messiah, so that their very light is not just toppled but they are made into blood as they perish absolutely.

It might be taking the image to far, but as the Moon is the light to speak of better things to come during the Day, the loss of the Sun mirrors the loss of gospel light, and the loss of Moon in higher abstraction indicates the loss of the light of the Law. In other words government powers actually exist in support of providing gospel and law, even without having any such intention. If we allow this more abstract image to hover over the obvious more certain image, we can say the Sun does not turn into blood but the moon, because the final judgment will actually be the Law taking vengeance on the sins of the world, while the gospel is no longer offered, for the age of repentance is no more.

Answer 2

It could simply be a physical description of what the moon looks like.

Have you ever seen the moon during a lunar eclipse (when the moon moves into the shadow of the earth)? It becomes red (or brown or yellow) because some of the sunlight passes through the earth's atmosphere and bends around the earth to reach the moon. The actual colour of the moon depends on what happens to be in the atmosphere at the time (recent volcano eruptions, etc.). The moon is also a lot darker than usual (because it's in the earth's shadow, of course).

I don't think the moon turning to blood is a lunar eclipse - there's too many other things going on when the sixth seal is opened in Rev 6:12. Nevertheless, we have evidence right now that the moon can become blood red in colour, so a literal interpretation is not unreasonable.

The trouble with a non-literal interpretation of this is that it can devolve into intellectual arguments about whether it has happened/is happening/will happen etc. But if you're standing on earth when that 6th seal is opened and it is a literal unfolding of what John saw, I don't think you'll need to start a discussion with your hermeneutics buddies about whether or not it is literal. This doesn't mean that a non-literal argument is incorrect, merely that we shouldn't discount a literal interpretation.

Answer 3

One point on the use of "Creation" language by the prophets. It has to do with the Flood, and God's promise not to destroy the world again with water.

With the call of Abraham and the beginning of circumcision, humanity was divided in two. Instead of God dealing with the physical land and sea (flooding the land to clean it), Jew and Gentile became a social land and sea, that is, a social model of the creation. The Tabernacle and Temple were models of the cosmos. When Israel sinned, the model was destroyed: Gentiles came in like a flood (Dan. 9).

Then, Christ comes, and He too is a model of the world, and is judged in its place. Israel's rulers ("the kings of the Land") reject Him, and there is another "social flood" in AD66-70. It was as it was in the days of Noah - but social rather than physical.

The Church is a new model of the physical creation, carrying out "liturgically" (and socially) that which will end in a physical restoration. Thus the entire process is chiastic: physical - social - individual (Christ) - social - physical. But the chiasm is also progressive: the Church is a flood of all nations cleansing the Land until the knowledge of the Lord covers it.