by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
Last week we saw the very close parallels of the heavenly signs announcing the Son of Man’s coming found in Matthew 24:29-31 and Mark 13:24-27. We saw that 2 verses, Mark 13:24-25 corresponded to Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:26 was an abbreviated parallel to Matthew 24:30; and Mark 13:27 corresponded very closely with Matthew 24:31. We also saw that in both the Greek text as well as in English, Matthew 24:29-31 and Mark 13:24-27 conveyed identical major ideas. But Matthew also had some additional unique phrases and ideas which are not present in Mark.
Now we will compare the texts of Matthew 24:29-31 with Luke 21:25-28 and do the same verse-by-verse exercise. The SBL GNT is followed by my formal translation below:
Matthew 24:29Εὐθέως δὲ μετὰ τὴν θλῖψιν τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐκείνων ὁ ἥλιος σκοτισθήσεται, καὶ ἡ σελήνη οὐ δώσει τὸ φέγγος αὐτῆς, καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες πεσοῦνται ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν σαλευθήσονται.
But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Luke 21:25Καὶ ἔσονται σημεῖα ἐν ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς συνοχὴ ἐθνῶν ἐν ἀπορίᾳ ἤχους θαλάσσης καὶ σάλου,
And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity, roar and swell of sea,
Luke 21:26ἀποψυχόντων ἀνθρώπων ἀπὸ φόβου καὶ προσδοκίας τῶν ἐπερχομένων τῇ οἰκουμένῃ, αἱ γὰρ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν σαλευθήσονται.
Fainting of men from fear and expectation of that which is coming on the whole inhabited world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Matthew 24:30καὶ τότε φανήσεται τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ τότε κόψονται πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ὄψονται τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ μετὰ δυνάμεως καὶ δόξης πολλῆς·
And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory;
Luke 21:27καὶ τότε ὄψονται τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐν νεφέλῃ μετὰ δυνάμεως καὶ δόξης πολλῆς.
And then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:31καὶ ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ μετὰ σάλπιγγος μεγάλης, καὶ ἐπισυνάξουσιν τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων ἀπ’ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν ἕως τῶν ἄκρων αὐτῶν.
And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet (sound), and they will gather his elect from the four winds from the ends of the heavens until its farthest ends.
Luke 21:28ἀρχομένων δὲ τούτων γίνεσθαι ἀνακύψατε καὶ ἐπάρατε τὰς κεφαλὰς ὑμῶν, διότι ἐγγίζει ἡ ἀπολύτρωσις ὑμῶν.
But when these things begin to come about rise up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.
We can see that Matthew 24:29-31 and Luke 21:25-28 resonate in harmony with each other, although not as tightly as with Mark 13:24-27 where you have extensive word-for-word agreements. But 3 major ideas in Matthew and Luke are identical or are restatements: the heavenly signs involve the sun, moon and stars; “powers of heaven” are shaken; and the Son of Man will be seen coming from above with a cloud of heaven in great power and glory. On this last point, Luke 21:27 even uses almost the same words as Mark 13:26.
There are also some unique phrases and ideas in the verses of Luke which are not present in this section of Matthew. For one, Luke 21:25 says that the signs affect not only the heavens but nations will be distressed on land and the sea will roar, and men will faint in apprehension as the entire world churns. Luke 21:28 also has a word of encouragement as he reminds everyone that the onset of these events signal the imminent redemption of the Lord’s elect. This perhaps has the same meaning in the way Matthew and Mark narrate it: the elect will be gathered for the day of salvation.
Now the appearance of these heavenly signs after the tribulation is actually the 7th in the sequence of eschatological events in the Olivet Discourse in the Synoptic Gospels. And as we saw with the earlier events in sequence, they also can be seen in parallel with sections of Revelation 6.
Revelation 6:12-17 talks about the opening of the 6th seal of the scroll of God’s judgments. The Greek text is given below followed by my formal translation in interlinear format:
12Καὶ εἶδον ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν ἕκτην, καὶ σεισμὸς μέγας ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ ἥλιος ἐγένετο μέλας ὡς σάκκος τρίχινος, καὶ ἡ σελήνη ὅλη ἐγένετο ὡς αἷμα,
And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as (goat’s) hair sackcloth, and the whole moon became as blood,
13καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔπεσαν εἰς τὴν γῆν, ὡς συκῆ βάλλει τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου μεγάλου σειομένη,
And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree being shaken by a great wind casts its unripe figs,
14καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπεχωρίσθη ὡς βιβλίον ἑλισσόμενον, καὶ πᾶν ὄρος καὶ νῆσος ἐκ τῶν τόπων αὐτῶν ἐκινήθησαν.
And heaven was swept aside as a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island from its places were moved.
Revelation 6:12-14 parallel the cataclysmic events described by the Lord even in the earlier verses of Matthew, Mark and Luke. For the unmistakably heavenly signs, the sun, the moon and the stars of heaven are all involved, as shown in the highlighted words used in both Greek and English.
Revelation 6:13 clarifies for us what the falling stars mentioned in the Synoptics would really look like. Contrary to our common notion that these stars will burn in the earth’s upper atmosphere (like “shooting stars”), these will be more like lots of meteorites falling and landing on the ground! Herein is the danger to people and property. Think of widespread hail storms.
Revelation 6:14 has the added picture of the dramatic changes that occur in the heavens and on the earth, similar to the way Luke 21:25 puts it. And our study has shown earlier that the prophecies in Joel 2:30-31 (quoted in Acts 2:19-20), Isaiah 13:10 and Ezekiel 32:7-8 are definitely in view. Commentaries say there are other Old Testament (OT) verses that are quoted or alluded to: Isaiah 34:4, 54:10; and Haggai 2:6.
My formal translation of Revelation 6:15-17 follows:
15And the kings of the earth and the great ones and the commanders (of a thousand troops; Greek χιλίαρχος, “chiliarchos”) and the rich and the strong and the slaves and freemen hid themselves into the caves and into the rocks of the mountains; 16and they say to the mountains and rocks; fall upon us and hide us from the face of the One sitting on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?
These last 3 verses of Revelation 6 describe the terror that befell all the people of the earth (see Luke 21:25-26 above), even the powerful and the least; and how they all tried to conceal themselves. In their desperation they cried out to the mountains and rocks to bury them so that they are not seen by God sitting on the Throne and escape the wrath of the Lamb. It seems they would rather perish! The Day of Judgment has come and they ask themselves who can survive it. Commentaries say these verses quote or allude to Isaiah 2:10, 19; Nahum 1:5-6; and Malachi 3:2.
In summary, the 7th in the sequence of observed events according to the Synoptic Gospels (anchored on Matthew) is about the heavenly signs after the tribulation, as paralleled by OT prophets and Revelation 6:12-17. The following table shows this:
| Bible Book | Chapter & Verse(s) |
| Matthew | 24:29-31 |
| Mark | 13:24-27 |
| Luke | 21:25-28 |
| Daniel | 7:13-14 |
| Zechariah | 12:10 |
| Joel | 2:30-31 |
| Isaiah | 13:10 |
| Ezekiel | 32:7-8 |
| Revelation | 6:12-17 (Seal#6) |
The heavenly signs prior to the Lord’s return are indeed fearful. But we can take heart for our redemption draws near. Psalm 46:1-2 (my translation) also reminds us:
1God is our refuge and strength, a help to be abundantly found in distress. 2Therefore we will not fear when (the) earth is caused to be changed; even when the mountains are to slip into the heart of (the) sea.
We will continue next week.
God bless us all.