The Lights Go Out in Judah Text: Revelation 8:12
Introduction: Learning to Read the Pictures
When modern Christians come to the book of Revelation, they often treat it like the morning newspaper, trying to decode headlines about the European Union or microchips. But this is a profound mistake. John was not writing to us in the twenty-first century with secret information about our technology. He was writing to first-century Christians, using a symbolic vocabulary they would have understood perfectly, a vocabulary drawn entirely from the Old Testament Scriptures. If you don't have your Old Testament open, you cannot understand the Revelation.
The central mistake is to read this kind of language literally when the Bible itself teaches us to read it symbolically. We are dealing with what I call "decreation" language. It is the language of a collapsing solar system, of suns going dark and stars falling from the sky. And here is the key, the hermeneutical anchor that keeps you from drifting into wild speculation: every time this kind of language is used in the Old Testament prophets, it refers to the political and military collapse of a nation, a city, or an empire. It never refers to the end of the space-time continuum. It is covenantal, judicial language. God is bringing a nation to ruin, and so He describes it as that nation's universe coming to an end.
The prophets spoke of Babylon's fall this way: "For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light" (Isaiah 13:10). They spoke of Egypt's fall this way: "When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light" (Ezekiel 32:7). God uses the same language for Edom (Is. 34:4) and for Israel herself (Amos 8:9). This is God's established, inspired dictionary for describing national judgment.
So when we come to the fourth trumpet and we see the lights in the sky being struck, our first question should not be, "Is this a nuclear winter or a meteor strike?" Our first question must be, "Which nation is God bringing down?" Given that Revelation is a prophecy about "things which must shortly take place" (Rev. 1:1), and given that the central covenantal event of that generation was the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the answer is plain. The trumpets are the escalating covenant lawsuits against apostate Israel, the Israel that had rejected and crucified her Messiah. The fourth trumpet is the announcement that the lights are going out over the ruling structures of the Judean world.
The Text
And the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.
(Revelation 8:12 LSB)
The Collapsing Firmament of Israel (v. 12)
Let us break down the verse piece by piece.
"And the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck..." (Revelation 8:12a)
The sounding of the trumpet is a call to war, an alarm, a heralding of a great act of God. This is the fourth in a sequence of judgments. The first three trumpets struck the earth, the sea, and the fresh waters, that is, the land of Israel, the Gentile sea of nations surrounding it, and the sources of its life and teaching. Now, the judgment moves to the heavens, to the ruling authorities.
In the symbolic language of Scripture, the "heavens" represent the political and religious authority structures of a nation. The sun, moon, and stars are not literal celestial bodies; they are the rulers. Joseph's dream in Genesis provides the foundational key. He dreamed the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him, and his father Jacob immediately interpreted it: "Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?" (Genesis 37:9-10). The sun was the patriarch, the moon was the matriarch, and the stars were the sons, the tribal leaders. The sun is the chief authority, the moon reflects that authority, and the stars are the lesser magistrates and princes.
In the context of first-century Israel, this is a direct reference to the ruling council, the Sanhedrin, the high priesthood, the Herodian dynasty, and the various other leaders and officials of the Jewish people. This is a judgment on the leadership that orchestrated the death of Jesus and the persecution of His church. God is striking the very source of their political and religious light. Their glory is being extinguished.
Notice the fraction: "a third." This is crucial. The trumpet judgments are not yet final. They are severe, devastating warnings. A third is a significant portion, a blow from which it would be difficult to recover, but it is not total destruction. This is a partial judgment, designed to lead to repentance. God is dismantling their world piece by piece, giving them every opportunity to see His hand and turn. But as we see at the end of chapter 9, they do not repent. This partial, "one-third" judgment will eventually give way to the total, final judgment of the bowls.
A World Plunged into Confusion (v. 12)
The effect of this strike on the ruling bodies is described next.
"...so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way." (Revelation 8:12b)
The result of striking the rulers is darkness. When the leadership of a nation is struck by God, the whole nation is plunged into confusion, chaos, and gloom. The regular rhythms of life are disrupted. "The day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way." This means that the normal functions of governance and society break down.
Think of what was happening in Judea in the years leading up to the final Roman siege. The land was filled with factionalism, infighting, assassinations, and rival claimants to power. The Zealots, the Sicarii, the various revolutionary bands, the corrupt priesthood, they were all at each other's throats. Josephus documents this period as one of utter chaos and darkness. The established authorities were losing their grip. Their counsel was darkened. Their ability to govern, to provide "light" for the people, was being systematically destroyed. This was not just a political crisis; it was a divine judgment. God was striking their sun, moon, and stars, and the result was a partial, but terrifying, political and social blackout.
The day, the time of normal business and order, is cut short. The night, the time of rest and watchfulness, is likewise thrown into disarray. A third of the light is gone. This means a third of their wisdom, a third of their stability, a third of their glory. It is a picture of a society coming apart at the seams because its leadership has been judged by God. This was the state of Jerusalem as the Roman armies began to tighten their noose. The city was tearing itself apart from the inside long before the Romans breached the walls. This internal collapse was the fourth trumpet sounding.
Conclusion: The Unshakable Kingdom
This verse is a graphic depiction of the collapse of the old covenant world. The entire religious and political universe of Second Temple Judaism was being dismantled. Their leaders, who were supposed to be lights to the nation, were being darkened. Their authority was being struck. Their world was ending, just as Jesus had prophesied it would within that generation (Matthew 24:29, 34).
But for the Christians who first read this, this was not a message of despair. It was a message of hope. Why? Because while the heavens and earth of old covenant Israel were being shaken and removed, they were being made citizens of a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). While the sun of the Sanhedrin was being blotted out, they were looking to the true "sun of righteousness" who had risen with healing in His wings (Malachi 4:2).
This is the nature of God's work in history. He tears down one kingdom in order to establish another. He tore down the temporary, shadowy world of the Jerusalem temple and its rulers to make way for the permanent, substantive reality of the Kingdom of Christ and His Church. The lights were going out in Judah so that the light of the gospel could shine to the ends of the earth.
This passage reminds us that all earthly authorities are derivative and temporary. They are suns, moons, and stars that God has placed in the sky for a time. But if they rebel against the one who made them, He can and will strike them. He can and will darken them. And when He does, the societies they govern are plunged into chaos. Our only hope, our only stability, is to be found in the one who is the true Light of the world, Jesus Christ, the one whose kingdom has no end, and in whose light we see light.