The sun will be turned to darknessThis phrase is often associated with apocalyptic imagery found throughout the Bible, symbolizing significant divine intervention or judgment. In the context of Joel, it reflects a cosmic disturbance that signifies God's power and the seriousness of the forthcoming events. Similar imagery is found in
Exodus 10:21-23 during the plagues of Egypt, where darkness covered the land, indicating God's judgment. In the New Testament,
Matthew 24:29 and
Revelation 6:12 also describe celestial changes as signs of the end times, reinforcing the theme of divine intervention.
and the moon to blood
The transformation of the moon to blood is a vivid image that conveys a sense of foreboding and impending judgment. This imagery is echoed inRevelation 6:12, where the moon becomes like blood during the opening of the sixth seal, symbolizing cataclysmic events. The blood-red moon can be seen as a harbinger of God's wrath and a call to repentance. Historically, lunar eclipses might have inspired such descriptions, but the prophetic language emphasizes the supernatural aspect of these signs.
before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD
The "Day of the LORD" is a recurring theme in prophetic literature, signifying a time when God will decisively intervene in human history to judge the wicked and deliver the righteous. This concept is found in other prophetic books such asIsaiah 13:9 andZephaniah 1:14-18. The adjectives "great and awesome" highlight the magnitude and awe-inspiring nature of this event. It is a day of both judgment and salvation, pointing to the ultimate fulfillment in the return of Christ, as seen in passages like1 Thessalonians 5:2 and2 Peter 3:10. The anticipation of this day serves as a call to repentance and readiness for God's people.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
JoelA prophet in the Old Testament, Joel is the author of the book that bears his name. His prophecies focus on the Day of the LORD and call for repentance.
2.
The Day of the LORDA significant theme in Joel, referring to a future time of God's judgment and deliverance. It is both a day of terror for the wicked and a day of salvation for the righteous.
3.
The Sun and MoonCelestial bodies mentioned in the prophecy, symbolizing cosmic disturbances that precede the Day of the LORD. These signs indicate divine intervention in human history.
Teaching Points
The Certainty of God's JudgmentThe prophecy in
Joel 2:31 serves as a reminder of the certainty of God's judgment. Believers are called to live in readiness and holiness, knowing that the Day of the LORD will come.
Call to RepentanceThe signs in the heavens are a call to repentance. Just as Joel urged the people of his time to turn back to God, we too must examine our lives and seek His forgiveness.
Hope in God's DeliveranceWhile the Day of the LORD includes judgment, it also promises deliverance for those who trust in God. Believers can find hope and assurance in God's ultimate plan for redemption.
Awareness of Spiritual RealitiesThe cosmic signs remind us of the spiritual realities that often go unnoticed. We are encouraged to remain spiritually vigilant and discerning of the times.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Joel 2:31?
2.How does Joel 2:31 relate to the signs of the end times?
3.What does "sun will be turned to darkness" symbolize in Joel 2:31?
4.How can we prepare for the "great and awesome day of the LORD"?
5.What other scriptures discuss signs in the heavens before the Lord's return?
6.How should Joel 2:31 influence our daily walk with Christ?
7.What does Joel 2:31 mean by "the sun will be turned to darkness"?
8.How does Joel 2:31 relate to end times prophecy?
9.Is there historical evidence supporting the events described in Joel 2:31?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Joel 2?
11.Is an eclipse a sign of the end times?
12.What defines a blood moon?
13.What does the Bible say about the end of the world?
14.How can the sun and moon being darkened (Joel 2:10, 31) be reconciled with known scientific observations?What Does Joel 2:31 Mean
The sun will be turned to darkness• Scripture repeatedly connects literal darkness in the sky with divine judgment. When the LORD struck Egypt, “there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days” (Exodus 10:22).
• Isaiah looks ahead to the same cosmic blackout: “For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark when it rises” (Isaiah 13:10).
• Jesus points to this sign just before His return: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened” (Matthew 24:29).
• Revelation echoes it: “The sun became black like sackcloth made of goat hair” (Revelation 6:12).
• Taken together, these passages uphold a literal, observable darkening of the sun that signals God’s direct intervention in history.
and the moon to blood• When the sixth seal is opened, John records, “and the whole moon became like blood” (Revelation 6:12). The same phrase appears inActs 2:20 as Peter quotes Joel on the Day of Pentecost.
• Such a phenomenon could occur through eclipses, atmospheric ash, or supernatural means, but the text emphasizes God’s purpose, not human explanation.
• The image of “blood” underscores severity: judgment will be costly, and redemption only comes through shed blood (Hebrews 9:22).
• By pairing the moon’s reddening with the sun’s blackout, Joel presents a total disruption of the normal heavenly order, heightening the urgency to repent.
before the coming• The wording places the cosmic signs ahead of a decisive moment. Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars… then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:25-27).
• Paul likewise notes a sequence: first signs and apostasy, then “the day of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
• The signs are gracious warnings, giving people time to turn to the LORD while opportunity remains (Joel 2:12-13).
of the great and awesome Day of the LORD• Joel describes this day earlier: “For the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—a day of darkness and gloom” (Joel 2:1-2).
• Other prophets agree: “The great Day of the LORD is near… That day is a day of wrath” (Zephaniah 1:14-15).
• Yet the Day is not only wrath; it is also the climax of salvation. Peter links Joel’s prophecy to the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2:17-21), and Revelation shows deliverance for all who belong to the Lamb (Revelation 7:13-17).
• Ultimately, the Day of the LORD culminates in Christ’s visible return to judge and to reign (Revelation 19:11-16;2 Peter 3:10-13).
summaryJoel 2:31 foretells literal, heaven-shaking signs—a darkened sun and a blood-red moon—that will appear just before the climactic, awe-inspiring Day when the LORD intervenes personally in human history. These signs serve as urgent alarms: judgment is coming, but mercy is still offered to all who call on the name of the LORD.
Verse 31. -
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. These wonders in the heavens follow the wonders on earth, and these obscurations of the heavenly bodies - the darkening of the sun and the dull blood-like appearance of the moon - were portents of coming judgment. These miraculous phenomena, if literally employed, may refer to those portentous sights which, as the Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus testify, were witnessed, both by besiegers and besieged, during the siege and before the destruction of Jerusalem. But taken symbolically, as is preferable, blood symbolizes bloodshed; fire, the firing of a town in time of war; and pillars of smoke, the clouds of smoke rolling up to heaven from the burning or smouldering ruins of a town or city set on fire by the enemy; while the darkening of the sun and the turning of the moon into a dull blood-red would portend approaching judgment, and a change, political and ecclesiastical, in the existing constitution of things. Here particularly, by reading Joel's prophecy in the light of the New Testament, we shall understand with tolerable clearness the meaning of the symbols of the sun and moon. The symbolic language of Joel's prediction found its fulfilment, at least in part, within less than half a century from the time when Peter spoke. Scarce forty years from that Pentecostal outpouring and the ruling powers,
civil and ecclesiastical, of the Jewish nation came to an end. The Jewish Church and Hebrew commonwealth went out in darkness. The moon of the latter began to wane from the first day the Roman power was set up in Palestine, but at the destruction of the capital the light of that moon was extinguished for ever; the sun of the former was long getting obscured by clouds, but at last it underwent a total and final eclipse. But why, it may be asked, are sun and moon thus symbolic of rulers superior and inferior, or of rulers of greater and less importance, or of rulers in Church and state? By the original constitution of these luminaries, as specified in the record of Creation, they were actually appointed to this, and so naturally enough the physical here, as elsewhere, underlies the symbolic, as we read, "God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night." Thus what was commenced when Judaea became a Roman province was completed when Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple burnt by the Roman army under Titus. "The day of the Lord" is an expression very common with the prophets, and always expressive of some severe visitation or special judgment. Thus we read in this same Book of the Prophet Joel, "The day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come." Again in
Amos 5:18, "The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light." But other days of judicial visitation were not to be compared with this. The day of Babylon's destruction is called by Isaiah simply "the day of the Lord;" so Jeremiah speaks of the day of the destruction of Pharaoh's army at the Euphrates as "the day of the Lord;" and Joel himself designates the day of Jerusalem's destruction of Nebuchadnezzar as "the day of the Lord." But the day mentioned in the text before us is "that great and notable day of the Lord," and so it was the day of the final destruction and desolation of Jerusalem.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
The sunהַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙(haš·še·meš)Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121:The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlementwill be turnedיֵהָפֵ֣ךְ(yê·hā·p̄êḵ)Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2015:To turn about, over, to change, overturn, return, pervertto darknessלְחֹ֔שֶׁךְ(lə·ḥō·šeḵ)Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2822:The dark, darkness, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickednessand the moonוְהַיָּרֵ֖חַ(wə·hay·yā·rê·aḥ)Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3394:The moonto bloodלְדָ֑ם(lə·ḏām)Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1818:Blood, of man, an animal, the juice of the grape, bloodshedbeforeלִפְנֵ֗י(lip̄·nê)Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440:The facethe comingבּ֚וֹא(bō·w)Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 935:To come in, come, go in, goof the greatהַגָּד֖וֹל(hag·gā·ḏō·wl)Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1419:Great, older, insolentand awesomeוְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃(wə·han·nō·w·rā)Conjunctive waw, Article | Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 3372:To fear, to revere, caus, to frightendayי֣וֹם(yō·wm)Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3117:A dayof the LORD.יְהוָ֔ה(Yah·weh)Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068:LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel
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OT Prophets: Joel 2:31 The sun will be turned into darkness (Jl Joe.) 
