Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third o the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.” Revelation 8:12
Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. Genesis 1:16Note: We shall find that the use of the words ‘greater’ and ‘lesser’ to refer to the sun and moon are very significant.
But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; Malachi 4:2
When Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. John 8:12
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned. Matthew 4:16When Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. John 8:12
“Christ makes no apology when He declares, "I am the light of the world." He was, in life and teaching, the gospel, the foundation of all pure doctrine." E.G.W.
John the Baptist and the Old Testament were lesser lights [represented by the moon] whose purpose was to lead to the greater light, the person of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was not ‘THE’ light but he was ‘a’ light to bear witness to THE light (John 1:6-8).
The Scriptures and God’s People Are Lesser Lights:
And when they say to you, Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter, should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law [the writings of Moses] and to the testimony! [The writings of the prophets] If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:19-20
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105God’s People are ‘Moons’ Reflecting the Light of Jesus.
“As the moon and the stars of the solar system shine by the reflected light of the sun, so, as far as their teaching is true, do the world's great thinkers reflect [lesser lights] the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Every gem of thought, every flash of the intellect, is from the Light of the world.” E.G.W.
The wise who understand Bible prophecy are like stars: Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. . . Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Daniel 12:3; 12:10
Eclipse of the Two Witnesses:
1260 Years of Darkness
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:3I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. Isaiah 50:3
The two witnesses (the lesser lights, Old and New Testaments) were clothed in sackcloth during the 1260 years. Sackcloth is a black fabric that symbolizes darkness, affliction and death.
“The period when the two witnesses [the lesser light] were to
prophesy clothed in sackcloth ended in 1798. As they were approaching the termination of their work in obscurity [darkness], war was to be made upon them by the power represented as "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit." In many of the nations of Europe the powers that ruled in Church and State had for centuries been controlled by Satan, through the medium of the papacy. But here is brought to view a new manifestation of Satanic power [the fifth trumpet or first woe].” E.G.W.
The Papacy Darkened the Sun and Moon
Darkening the Sun and the Moon:In order to understand the darkening of the sun and moon during the fourth trumpet we must study the ‘daily’ that the little horn removed from the Prince of the Host. What does the word ‘daily’ mean?
It is difficult to interpret the word unless we go to other places in Scripture that explain it. The word is an adjective that has no noun to qualify. So the question is:
Q: The little horn took away the daily what?
A: The meaning of the word tahmid is simply “something which goes on continuously without interruption.”
Q: However, what is it that ‘goes on continuously without interruption’ in Daniel 8?
It is important to keep in mind that the word tahmid has the definite article ‘the’. It is THE daily (hatamid) that the little horn took away (see also Daniel 11:31; 12:11). The King James Version translators added the word ‘sacrifice,’ thinking that tahmid refers to the morning and evening sacrifice.
The Old Testament makes it abundantly clear that this word refers to the daily ministration of the priest in the court and in the holy place of the sanctuary.
A: This means that the little horn was going to attempt to take away from the Prince of the host His ministration in the court and in the holy place of the sanctuary.
In summary, two princes are struggling for the souls of human beings. --One Prince, Jesus, performs a continual ministry of salvation in the heavenly sanctuary by pleading the blood of His one and only sacrifice before the Father.
That Prince feeds His people with the Word of God (the table of showbread), keeps the light of the church burning by the power of the Holy Spirit (the candlestick) and forgives those who come to Him in penitence and prayer (the golden altar of incense).
--The other prince, Satan, unable to overthrow the heavenly ministry of the Prince, establishes a counterfeit continual ministry (the mass, tradition, the confessional, the pope) in the earthly temple—the church (see 2Thessalonians 2:3-4).
By shifting the attention of the people from heaven to earth, he casts down the place of the sanctuary and prevents human beings from discerning the saving work of Christ in heaven! Not being able to discern the saving work of Christ in heaven, souls perish in sin!
Drawn/taken from the book Daniel & Revelation by Uriah Smith---Study Guide by Stephen Bohr---Sermon by Walter Veith---Commentaries from Matthew Henry/Adam Clark---Revelation Made Clear
