Revelation 8:12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, 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 turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
The fourth trumpet effects the sun, moon, and stars, reducing their light by one third. Darkness is a common symbol of terror and the end of the world, the reduction of light will increase terror, and make food production less effective. Like the other trumpets, this unnatural darkness recalls the plague of darkness in Exodus 10:21-23.
Darkness is often associated with God’s judgment in the Old Testament. Amos 5:18 describes the Day of the Lord as “darkness, not light” and Joel 2:2 calls is a day of “darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.” Isaiah 13:10 describes the Day of the Lord for Babylon as a time when “the stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.” Similarly, tn the Olivet Discourse Jesus says just prior to the coming of the Son of Man, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” (Mark 13:24-25).
This darkness is unnatural, listed among the “evil signs” in the ancient world. For example, Lucan describes the moon growing dim and the sun turning dark, “forcing mankind to despair of daylight” (1.536-43). David Aune suggests the unnatural darkness in Revelation 8:12 is an allusion to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, citing the eyewitness report of Pliny the Younger (Ep. 6.16.17; 6.20.15; Aune 2:522).
Unnatural darkness also appears in Second Temple period apocalyptic texts. In the Animal Apocalypse, when the Lord of the sheep came upon enemies of the sheep in wrath, “all who saw him fled and fell all into darkness, from before his face” (1 Enoch 90.15).
1 Enoch 62.9–10 On that day, all the kings, the governors, the high officials, and those who rule the earth shall fall down before him on their faces, and worship and raise their hopes in that Son of Man; they shall beg and plead for mercy at his feet. But the Lord of the Spirits himself will cause them to be frantic, so that they shall rush and depart from his presence. Their faces shall be filled with shame, and their countenances shall be crowned with darkness.
Ezekiel the Tragedian 1.141–146 And I shall make the heavens bitter; hail and fire shall fall and slay all mortal men, and cause to perish every crop and beast. Darkness I’ll decree for three whole days, and locusts send, who shall the residue of food consume and every blade of grass.
Both these texts are remarkable parallels to the to the unnatural darkness in both the sixth seal (Rev 6:12-17 as well as the fourth trumpet. Ezekiel the Tragedian is retelling the story of the plagues, but notice he has reverse the order of the locust and darkness so that the locust follow the plague of darkness, as in the fourth and fifth trumpets.
In contrast, the absence of darkness is often a sign of salvation. Revelation 21:24-25, the New Jerusalem is described as a place filled with light, “there will be no night there.” In the conclusion to the Animal Apocalypse, “Sin and darkness shall perish forever, and shall no more be seen from that day forevermore” (1 Enoch 92:5). In the Testament of Levi, the messianic figure described as a “new priest” will drive out all darkness.
Testament of Levi 18:4-5 This one will shine forth like the sun in the earth; he shall take away all darkness from under heaven, and there shall be peace in all the earth. The heavens shall greatly rejoice in his days and the earth shall be glad; the clouds will be filled with joy and the knowledge of the Lord will be poured out on the earth like the water of the seas.
What is it that reduces the light? It is possible that this is the combined effect of all the fire that has been started in the first three trumpets, all of the smoke and pollution have created a cloud cover that reduces light by one third. But the New Testament associates darkness with demonic activity. The fourth trumpet anticipate demonic activity which increases in intensity in the fifth and sixth trumpets. Greg Beale suggest this darkness is a transition to more demonic in the fifth and sixth seal (Beale, 483).
It is pretty clear when it is written in Joel 2:2 that “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the generations”. Darkness is the key way of describing the harsh judgement here. It is worth noting that “Unnatural darkness also appears in Second Temple period apocalyptic texts. In the Animal Apocalypse, when the Lord of the sheep came upon enemies of the sheep in wrath, “all who saw him fled and fell all into darkness, from before his face” (1 Enoch 90.15)” (Reading Acts). Seeing these similarities are important in that they give us a clear picture in how to interrupt the darkness in Revelation. Without darkness we have light as the two are mirror opposites. I like how light can be a sign of our salvation as it is written in describing Jesus that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). Darkness is what reduces the light as the light has no where to shine.
Since the beginning, God created day and light, as it’s mentioned in genesis 1:4 “God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.” It’s obvious God had a good reason for this. surely enough, as creation advances on, sin entered the world, this turned and left God’s good intentions with a flaw, something that displeased him, it left a darkness to something that’s meant to be bright and filled with happiness. I believe for God to use darkness this shows his character. since his intentions for creations not darkness and sadness at all times, he used it as a weapon for his judgement day. I like that this darkness to take place does not stay as permanently, woe for those who did not believe, for those who believe will dwell in the glory of God as described in genesis 22, in this sense the glory of God is described as light, and whenever the gory of God is present, not darkness shall overcome it.
Thank you. I am new to the series.
I am the Fourth Trumpeter…
I have never read this piece of Revelation thoroughly and that in all honesty terrifies me that the plague of Exodus will be coming back as well as other hardships. I cannot imagine a world of complete unnatural darkness. The point that this darkness is unnatural and is complete sign of evil scares me even more that the darkness is more than just a natural darkness without light. It is pure and utter darkness. Darkness is the key to having harsh judgement and is the key term to describe all things opposite of God. Throughout scripture, the opposition of God is marked as darkness and God as light. Even since the beginning of scripture, the world was dark, then God made it light which brought livelihood and creation. Light is also a sign of salvation as is mentioned in this article as well as in scripture, so this more shows how it is the opposite of darkness. More about darkness, reading up on the history of darkness it scares me even more to imagine a world without light, without salvation, without even a chance to see what is in front of you without having to hold a flashlight even when it is outside. Darkness has always scared me, darkness will always make me uneasy especially if it were an eternal unnatural darkness.
The Fourth trumpet was in April 2020 the day without a third of light was the weekend after Easter on Monday.
I wonder if this darkness is similar to the darkness seen at Jesus’ crucifixion in Matt. 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44-45. There, we see darkness for about three hours, from the sixth to the ninth hour. In Luke, some manuscripts can be translated to “the sun was eclipsed;” others use the same Greek word, skotizo, as is found here in Revelation. It is clear that this is meant to be the same concept, the same means of darkening, whatever that may be. According to current lunar charts, there was no eclipse at the time. Thus, if there was an eclipse, then it must have been through supernatural means and not through the natural orbit of the moon. This also explains the earthquake; the moon being out of its usual place would disrupt tides, which have been known to trigger earthquakes. This just shows the gravity and significance of the Crucifixion; that God would move the moon to show His grief at sacrificing His Son. It’s important to note that the word eclipse is not used in some manuscripts, and the word used instead, for “there was darkness,” is the same word found in Revelation. However, some manuscripts do say “eclipse,” and art from the medieval period depicting the Crucifixion does show a solar eclipse, meaning that this has been the historical view. This means that it is fully within the realm of possibility that the Fourth Trumpet will cause a supernatural eclipse, outside of the regular movement of the moon; not only solar, though, but also lunar, as a third of the nighttime will be dark as well. It is also important that this is a daily occurrence. A third of the day and a third of the night are dark, adding up to 8 hours of every 24-hour day cycle. This strengthens the idea that the orbit of the Moon will be changed. Absolutely wild.
I have always found it interesting how in Revelation 8:12, the sun, moon, and stars went dark. The blog post mentioned how darkness represents terror and the end of the world. This is a mindset that people still hold today. Every time there is an upcoming eclipse, people begin to assume that the end times are beginning due to the darkness that will occur. Prior to reading this blog article, I was unaware that unnatural darkness is mentioned in Second Temple period apocalyptic texts. However, I am not surprised since Second Temple period apocalyptic texts are centered around the Old Testament, where unnatural darkness does occur.
I think that darkness that occurs in Revelation 8:12 could be symbolic of the sin/darkness that is present in the world. When the sun, moon, and stars were darkened, it made the whole world dark for a third of the day and the night. In the world today, there is so much sin and broken morals that it seems impossible to find a bright side. While there may not be a physical darkness that is evident, there is a sort of spiritual darkness that can be seen. For instance, if you go on social media, all you see is news about the latest shooting, people being divided over politics, etc.