Then the moon shall be confounded— In this verse we have the alleviation or consequence of this judgment, with respect to the church. The simple sense of the words is plain, namely, that at the time, or after the time, wherein God should take vengeance upon the enemies of his people, his kingdom, restored and reformed, should shine more gloriously than the sun and moon in their orbs, when they appear in the greatest splendor and majesty to the eyes of men; which was remarkably the case under the Asmonean princes. The interior and recondite sense is, that at the time in which God should take the kingdom, not typically, but truly, it should come to pass that a certain mystical sun, and mystical moon, should be obscured, and cease to shine. See Joel 2:31. Revelation 6:13 and Matthew 24:29. The sun, and moon, and stars, &c. in the mystical language of Scripture, signify political rulers of states, as we have had occasion to observe before. The mystical explication of this prophesy is to be drawn from that part of the revelation to which we have before referred, and which shall be enlarged upon when we come to that part of the New Testament.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, The immediate subject of this prophesy is Judaea; but in its most extensive sense may include the constant desolations which, by wars, are made in the earth; and may foretel the ruin of antichrist.
1. The earth, either the land of Judaea in particular, or the world in general, is represented in such confusion and desolation, as in its chaotic state; emptied of inhabitants, as a vessel turned upside down, without distinction of age, sex, station, or office, utterly spoiled and wasted, mourning under the judgments inflicted, fading like a flower, languishing as one under a severe disease, burnt up as with fire, and so desolate that few men remain. The proud and haughty are laid low before the heavy scourge. The fruit of the vine is destroyed by the inclement seasons, or the trees cut down by the ravagers; and those who spent in jollity the day, now sigh out their inconsolable sorrows. All joyful sounds are banished, and music is forgotten amid the dreary scene. The songs of the board of feasting are at an end, and strong drink no longer pleasant, when mingled with their tears, or become tasteless through their sickness and diseases. The city of confusion is broken down, the houses empty, the inhabitants slain by famine or the sword, and none remaining. Reduced to the deepest distress, their stores fail them in the siege, their joys are fled, their hopes desperate. Desolation reigns through the city, and the defences are ruined. If this be applied to Judaea, it paints the terrible destruction made by Antiochus, or, as some will have it, by Nebuchadnezzar; if to the fall of antichrist, we may see the like judgments predicted, Revelation 18. It should teach us, [1.] The vanity of the creature, and the necessity of seeking a better portion than that which is so transitory and uncertain. [2.] Death is continually making its ravages, we need be always ready. [3.] We should rejoice as if we rejoiced not, when we stand thus daily in jeopardy of having our joy turned into mourning. [4.] If the priest join the people in their iniquities, he will be the first and deepest in the punishment which God threatens to inflict.
2. The cause of this judgment is sin, provoking most justly the divine wrath and indignation. They have transgressed God's laws, changed his ordinances and worship in opposition to his prescribed appointment, and broken the everlasting covenant, and therefore the curse of God terribly descends. This was fully verified in the Jews, whose disobedience to God's laws, and instituted ordinances of worship, brought on their ruin, and forfeited all the mercies promised in the everlasting covenant of grace. Nor less applicable is it to the Romish church, where dispensations for sin gave a licence for iniquity, and all the ordinances of Christ are corrupted, or mutilated, and the Scriptures themselves perverted.
2nd, In the midst of the desolations threatened, a few escape the general ruin.
1. They are like the berries left on the olive tree, after it has been shaken; and like the gleaning grapes, one here and there, which escaped observation when the rest were gathered for the vintage. Note; (1.) God has had a people, when iniquity has been most prevalent. (2.) Whatever judgments he inflicts, they shall be hid in the day of his fierce anger.
2. A sense of the mercy manifested in their deliverance will awaken their gratitude and praise. Into whatever distant lands they may have been dispersed, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, magnified now in the destruction of their enemies. Note; The people of God will never want matter for their praise. In the days of deepest visitation, to the godly there riseth up light in the darkness.
3. They endeavour to improve these judgments, exhorting each other to glorify the Lord in the fires, or the vallies, in the sharpest pangs of sorrow, and the lowest state of abasement; acknowledging their suffering to be the just desert of their sins, and humbling themselves for them before God, in the most distant isles of the sea, whither they fled. Note; (1.) They who are God's people cannot but be zealous for his glory. (2.) When we are in the furnace of affliction, we have a peculiar call to consider our ways, and turn unto the Lord. (3.) We glorify God especially, when in our deepest distresses we trust his promises.
This may be evidently applied to the Jewish people; among whom, in the worst times, God had a few who feared and loved him; and when he turned their captivity under Cyrus, and when they conquered under Judas Maccabeus, they saw their oppressors fallen, and, in the places whither they had been dispersed, glorified God for his mercy remembered in the midst of judgment. But it may also regard the faithful, under the oppression of antichrist, preserved for God, Revelation 18:4 rejoicing at the fall of Rome, Revelation 19:1-3 whereof the isles of the sea, and our own particularly, will be glad, and glorify God for his righteous judgments.
3rdly, The words from Isaiah 24:16 th to the conclusion of the chapter may be well applied to the ruin of Babylon, and the joy of the Jews on their return thence; but more particularly refer to the conquests of the Maccabees over the armies of Antiochus; or, which seems still an infinitely more noble view of the prophesy, to the triumphs of the saints, when Christ shall have subdued every foe, and shall reign over his ancients gloriously in the new Jerusalem.
1. The joy of the faithful in all lands is heard, giving glory to the righteous, to the Lord Jesus Christ, for the propagation of his Gospel, and the subdual of the enemies of the Christian name, Revelation 19:1-7 or saying glory to the righteous ones, who, oppressed and persecuted as they had been, now will shine as stars in the firmament for ever and ever.
2. The prophet mourns on the prospect of the evil days which should precede the coming of Christ, when such perfidy would reign among men, and so general a departure from God prevail, that he should scarcely find faith in the earth. Note; The true prophets cannot behold a wicked world without feeling distress for their impending miseries.
3. The perplexity and distress of men's minds, Luke 21:25-35 at the approach of the day of Christ, are described by an elegant paronomasia. פחד Pachad, פחת pachath, פח pach; fear, the pit, the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth; no place affords shelter or refuge for the sinner's soul. Note; When the day of the Lord cometh, it will be too late to fly, and impossible to escape. The way to prevent our terrors is, now to fly to the arms of Jesus for pardon and grace, that then we may confidently appear before our Judge.
4. The destruction of the world may be considered as represented here. It is utterly shaken in pieces, and reduced to its chaotic state of confusion, removed as a cottage, and doomed to eternal desolations, for the heavy iniquity which lies thereon, Revelation 20:11. Note; Sin is the burden under which the world groans; to this origin may every evil we suffer be traced, for this is the curse upon the earth.
5. As an introduction to that great day, God will punish the hosts of the high ones that are on high, the king of Babylon, the kings of Assyria, and all the apostate priests; and also the man of sin, who exalteth himself above all that is called God, surrounded by an army of monks and friars, his champions: and the kings of the earth, who have subjected themselves under his dominion, and make war against the saints, to support the usurpations of the idolatrous church of Rome, Revelation 17:2-14 being vanquished and subdued, they shall be shut up as prisoners in the pit, reserved in chains of darkness to the judgment of the great day, when they shall finally receive their doom.
6. The glorious triumphs of the Redeemer will appear, when all the powers of earth are fallen before him, represented by the sun and moon. Then will he reign before his ancients gloriously, or his ancients in glory, reigning with him, and made to sit down together on his eternal throne. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such, the second death hath no power. See Revelation 20.