And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sirocco suggesting prophetic figures
We have two kinds of sirocco--one accompanied with violent wind, which fills the air with dust and fine sand; and one of a quieter kind, which yet is often mere overpowering. I have often seen the whole heavens veiled in gloom with this sort of sand cloud, through which the sun, shorn of its beams, looked like a globe of dull, smouldering fire. It may have been this phenomenon which suggested the strong prophetic figure of Joel, quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost:--“Wonders in the heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.” The pillars of smoke are probably those columns of sand and dust raised high in the air by local whirlwinds, which often accompany the sirocco. On the great desert of the Hauran, I have seen a score of them, marching with great rapidity over the plain, and they closely resembled “pillars of smoke.” (W. M. Thomson, “Land and Book. ”)