The following is a chapter from Behind the Veil of Moses, by Brian L. Martin.

Apocalyptic Language

Behold, the day of the LORD comes,

Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,

To lay the land desolate;

And He will destroy its sinners from it.

For the stars of heaven and their constellations

Will not give their light;

The sun will be darkened in its going forth,

And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

Therefore I will shake the heavens,

And the earth will move out of her place,

In the wrath of the LORD of hosts

And in the day of His fierce anger.”

“The earth quakes before them,

The heavens tremble;

The sun and moon grow dark,

And the stars diminish their brightness.

Recognize these passages about the Tribulation? Are they from the Lord’s Olivet discourse, or the book of Revelation? Sorry, those are trick questions, which isn’t fair. But don’t they sound like a description of the Tribulation? Compare:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matt 24:29

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. Rev 6:12

Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. Rev 8:12

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. Rev 11:19

Amazing similarities, aren’t there? Our opening Old Testament passage was from Isaiah 13, describing the Medes overthrowing the Babylonians. The second was from Joel 2. Let’s look closer at Isaiah 13. Points to be emphasized have a bold font:

The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

“Lift up a banner on the high mountain,

Raise your voice to them;

Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

I have commanded My sanctified ones;

I have also called My mighty ones for My anger;

Those who rejoice in My exaltation.”

The noise of a multitude in the mountains,

Like that of many people!

A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together!

The LORD of hosts musters

The army for battle.

They come from a far country,

From the end of heaven;

The LORD and His weapons of indignation,

To destroy the whole land.

Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand!

It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Therefore all hands will be limp,

Every man’s heart will melt,

 And they will be afraid.

Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them;

They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;

They will be amazed at one another;

Their faces will be like flames.

Behold, the day of the LORD comes,

Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,

To lay the land desolate;

And He will destroy its sinners from it.

For the stars of heaven and their constellations

Will not give their light;

The sun will be darkened in its going forth,

And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

“I will punish the world for its evil,

And the wicked for their iniquity;

I will halt the arrogance of the proud,

And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,

A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.

Therefore I will shake the heavens,

And the earth will move out of her place,

In the wrath of the LORD of hosts

And in the day of His fierce anger.

It shall be as the hunted gazelle,

And as a sheep that no man takes up;

Every man will turn to his own people,

And everyone will flee to his own land.

Everyone who is found will be thrust through,

And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered

And their wives ravished.

“Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,

Who will not regard silver;

And as for gold, they will not delight in it.

Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,

And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;

Their eye will not spare children.

And Babylon , the glory of kingdoms,

The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,

Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah .

It will never be inhabited,

Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;

Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,

Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.

But wild beasts of the desert will lie there,

And their houses will be full of owls;

Ostriches will dwell there,

And wild goats will caper there.

The hyenas will howl in their citadels,

And jackals in their pleasant palaces.

Her time is near to come,

And her days will not be prolonged.”

We note two things here. First, God is said to muster nations from the end of heaven to deliver judgment upon the Babylonians. Thus God is delivering His judgment through foreign armies. Second, when we read this passage, especially the items in bold, do we believe that all of them literally happened when the Medes and Persians overthrew Babylon ? We’ve never heard it taught that way. Consider Albert Barnes’ commentary:

Isaiah 13:8. They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth This comparison is often used in the Scriptures to denote the deepest possible pain and sorrow, as well as the suddenness with which any calamity comes upon a people

Isaiah 13:10. For the stars of heaven This verse cannot be understood literally, but is a metaphorical representation of the calamities that were coming upon Babylon . The meaning of the figure evidently is, that those calamities would be such as would be appropriately denoted by the sudden extinguishment of the stars, the sun, and the moon. As nothing would tend more to anarchy, distress, and ruin, than thus to have all the lights of heaven suddenly and forever quenched, this was an apt and forcible representation of the awful calamities that were coming upon the people. Darkness and night, in the Scriptures, are often the emblem of calamity and distress. The revolutions and destructions of kingdoms and nations are often represented in the Scriptures under this image. (Barnes’ Notes)

That certainly seems plausible. But then the question arises, if these explanations are plausible here, why not in Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation? In the many prophetic Old Testament passages with similar language, there appears to be no controversy over their fulfillment just because theologians have found no historical evidence for the “earth being moved from its place; the sun, moon and stars not giving forth their light; the heavens being rolled together as a scroll, etc.” Yet in spite of this scriptural precedent for non-literal interpretations of apocalyptic language, many theologians assign literal interpretations to this same language in the New Testament when it is associated with the Second Coming. Added to this is the fact that the timing passages, which we earlier demonstrated are to be read at face value, are applied to some future generation. It seems that many in the church, when interpreting the Second Coming passages, have ignored Biblical precedent in two areas:—1) apocalyptic language (which determines the nature of His return); and—2) the imminency, or timing phrases. Lest the reader think that this scriptural precedent of apocalyptic language consists of only a couple of passages, consider the following:

All the host of heaven shall be dissolved,

And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll;

All their host shall fall down

As the leaf falls from the vine,

And as fruit falling from a fig tree.

Isa 34:4 [concerning the destruction of Idumea]

“When I put out your light,

I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark;

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

And the moon shall not give her light.

All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, And bring darkness upon your land,”

Says the Lord GOD. Ezek 32:7-8

[concerning the destruction of Pharaoh, king of Egypt .]

The earth quakes before them,

The heavens tremble;

The sun and moon grow dark,

And the stars diminish their brightness. 

The sun and moon will grow dark,

And the stars will diminish their brightness.

The LORD also will roar from Zion ,

And utter His voice from Jerusalem ;

The heavens and earth will shake;

But the LORD will be a shelter for His people,

And the strength of the children of Israel . Joel 2:10; 3:15-16 [The Lord, concerning the judgment of His enemies.]

“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord GOD, “That I will make the sun go down at noon ,

And I will darken the earth in broad daylight . . . .” Amos 8:9 [The Lord, concerning judgment against the house of Jacob.]

Then David spoke to the LORD the words of this song, on the day when the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. And he said:

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

The God of my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation,

My stronghold and my refuge;

My Savior, You save me from violence.

I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;

So shall I be saved from my enemies.

When the waves of death surrounded me,

The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the LORD,

And cried out to my God;

He heard my voice from His temple,

And my cry entered His ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled;

The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken,

Because He was angry.

Smoke went up from His nostrils,

And devouring fire from His mouth;

Coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down

With darkness under His feet.

He rode upon a cherub, and flew;

And He was seen upon the wings of the wind.

He made darkness canopies around Him,

Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

From the brightness before Him

Coals of fire were kindled.

The LORD thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered His voice.

He sent out arrows and scattered them;

Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them.

Then the channels of the sea were seen,

The foundations of the world were uncovered,

At the rebuke of the LORD,

At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

He sent from above, He took me,

He drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me;

For they were too strong for me.” 2 Samuel 22:1-18 [David’s description of the Lord delivering him from his enemies and the hand of King Saul] (Further reading: Ps 68:7-9; 144:5-6; Hab 3; Mic 1:3-4;)

Are you beginning to see a pattern emerging? The Jews used a very symbolic, figurative language when describing momentous events, such as battle victories, deliverance from enemies, nations falling, etc. In the preceding chapters of 2 Samuel, where the victories that David sings this song of praise about are recorded, there is no mention of any of these apocalyptic events literally happening. This is merely the literary style for describing God’s judgment, whether predictive, or after the fact.

Is there any reason to think that this literary style changed in the New Testament? Is there scriptural precedent to support a change? In light of what we have seen concerning John the Baptist’s fulfilling prophecy in a non-literal (non-physical) manner, it appears that this linguistic form was still used in Christ’s day. Notice this phrase from 2 Samuel 22:11:

And He was seen upon the wings of the wind

Was God literally seen? Did they see the “smoke from His nostrils” (v.9)? If we can accept that this is just typical of the Jewish figurative/apocalyptic language, then what about the following?

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.

Isn’t “coming with clouds” a lot like being “upon the wings of the wind”? Aside from our own personal desire, is there any reason to believe that “every eye will see Him” is any different from “He was seen upon the wings of the wind”? What do you think—is the last verse figurative as well? Be careful how you answer, because the last verse is not from the Old Testament, it is Revelation 1:7. Now what do you think? Have we gone from being figurative to being literal? If so, when did the change take place? We have already established the figurative language in the example of John the Baptist. In fact, a similar passage was fulfilled by John the Baptist, of which it was prophesied that “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together (Isa 40:5).” How is that any different than “every eye shall see him . . .”? If the Jews had for centuries used this kind of language for national upheaval, should there not have been some instruction to the people that the same kind of language in the Olivet discourse and the book of Revelation was to now be taken literally? We are talking about a major change in the linguistics of a nation. Put yourself in the place of one of the disciples. You were raised on the Old Testament. Every time you hear about the sun going dark and the stars not shining, it’s associated with the fall of a nation. Now Jesus has just said that the temple would be destroyed. He wept over the city because the people did not know the time of their visitation. And He says that immediately after the tribulation of those days (during which the temple would be destroyed) the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Just as in the Old Testament, apocalyptic language is associated with God’s judgment. If you are one of the disciples, do you take that to mean that the sun will really be darkened, or do you think, “He’s talking about an event as serious as what happened to those nations in the Old Testament”? Remember your Jewish mindset and background, and the fact that you have heard nothing that says that this is any different. Do you think that the disciples thought Jesus was talking about literal astronomical phenomena, or serious judgment? Or imagine for a moment that amongst Jesus’ audience were the authors of the Old Testament passages previously discussed; Samuel, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel, et. al. How do you suppose that they would have understood this very familiar language as Jesus taught?

If the apocalyptic language associated with judgment in the Old Testament was never interpreted in a literal manner, shouldn’t Jesus have told His listeners, and the author of Revelation his readers, that this same apocalyptic language was to now be taken in a literal sense? Consider again this chapter’s opening passage from Isaiah, and how closely the language parallels that of Revelation, in the table on the following pages:

Is it so far-fetched to think that the book of Revelation is an extensive prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem , written in the established style of Jewish prophetic language? In fact, some have noted that only John’s Gospel does not contain a record of Christ’s Olivet discourse, which has obvious allusions to the destruction of Jerusalem . They suggest that Revelation is John’s divinely inspired, expanded version of what Christ delivered on the Mount of Olives . As Russell notes:

Even a slight comparison of the two documents, the prophecy and the Apocalypse, will suffice to show the correspondence between them. The dramatis personae, if we may so call them,—the symbols which enter into the composition of both,—are the same. What do we find in our Lord’s prophecy? First and chiefly the Parousia; then wars, famines, pestilence, earthquakes; false prophets and deceivers; signs and wonders; the darkening of the sun and moon; the stars falling from heaven; angels and trumpets, eagles and carcases, great tribulation and woe; convulsions of nature; the treading down of Jerusalem; the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven; the gathering of the elect; the reward of the faithful; the judgment of the wicked. And are not these precisely the elements which compose the Apocalypse? This cannot be accidental resemblance,—it is coincidence, it is identity. What difference there is in the treatment of the subject arises from the difference in the method of the revelation. The prophecy is addressed to the ear, and the Apocalypse to the eye: the one is a discourse delivered in broad day, amid the realities of actual life,—the other is a vision, beheld in a state of ecstasy, clothed in gorgeous imagery, with an air of unreality as in objects seen in a dream; requiring it to be translated back into the language of everyday life before it can be intelligible as actual fact. (pp. 375-376, The Parousia)

If we were to take some of the individual Old Testament verses we have discussed, and similar verses from New Testament prophecy, strip them of their references, and pull them from a hat one at a time, one wonders, how would we determine which are literal and which are symbolic in fulfillment? Aren’t they all describing national calamities? Aren’t they all “seeing” the Lord come in judgment in the guise of foreign armies? Aren’t they all describing these events in earth-moving, heaven-falling terms? What happened between the times of the Old Testament apocalyptic language and Jesus’ Olivet discourse (which we are taught is literal) that completely changed the Jewish style and understanding of prophetic language? In this we fear that we have gone beyond putting the veil back on, for even the Jews understood the nature of this language.