Understanding biblical prophecy is impossible without understanding this.
Simile: "And He brought him outside and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So shall your seed be." Genesis 15:5
Simile: "..that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And your Seed shall possess the gate of His enemies." Genesis 22:17
Simile: "And those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the sky; and those who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever." Daniel 12:3
Jacob was the ruler of his clan. In Genesis 37:9-10 (above) the sun refers metaphorically to Jacob, and the moon to Rachel, Joseph's mother. The stars refer metaphorically to Joseph’s eleven brothers.
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars"
The children of Naphtali and Zebulun who fought against Sisera, captain of Jabin's army (Judges 4:6-7) are called "the stars in their courses" (metaphor) fighting against enemy armies in Judges 5:20. (The saints are also said to be "in the heavens" in Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1-4; and Ephesians 1:3).
Apocalyptic / prophetic literature in the Bible is saturated with simile, metaphor and hyperbole that symbolize the reality being spoken about.
Notice the metaphor in these verses of Psalm 75:7-8:
"But God is the judge; He puts down one and sets up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed; and He pours out from it; but the dregs of it, all the wicked of the earth shall drain its dregs and drink."
(The above imagery | metaphor is seen again in Revelation 14:18-20, and in other prophetic books).
THE STARS FALL FROM THE HEAVENS
Before the destruction of the kingdom of ancient Babylon at the hand of the Medes, this is part of what was prophesied by Isaiah concerning its coming judgment:
Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see:
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
METAPHOR AND SIMILE
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of Armies, and in the day of his fierce anger.
In its context Isaiah 13:10 isn't talking about the end of our Age - it's talking about the destruction of the ancient Babylonian kingdom at the hand of the Medes, using metaphorical language.
Much of the same metaphorical language is used extensively again in the book of Revelation. Let's take a look at some of it:
Revelation 6:13-14
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Revelation 14:10-11
And he will be tormented by fire and brimstone before the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And they have no rest day or night, those who worship the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.
Compare the above with the prophecy in Isaiah concerning God's judgment of all nations:
Isaiah 34:1-10:
"Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
And all the host of the heavens shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled like a scroll; and all their host shall droop, as a leaf falls off from the vine, and as the falling from the fig tree.
For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, the year to repay for the fighting against Zion. And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust to brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be put out night or day; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none passes through it forever and forever.
So when the Bible's Apocalyptic literature talks about "stars falling from the heavens: etc, this is not a reason to assume that it's speaking about literal events.
Isaiah 30:26 is an example of a verse employing the use of both metaphor and hyperbole in the same verse:
"Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound."
In biblical typology, the destruction of the kingdom of ancient Babylon by the Medes is the type of the destruction of both "Babylon the Great", and therefore the same (or very similar) metaphor appears in both apocalyptic books. The book of Revelation contains a number of types and antitypes.
Tribulation or calamity comes upon the saints at times, and when it does, apocalyptic literature often speaks of the "stars" "falling from the heavens", for example Daniel 8:9-10 is talking about Antiochus IV Epiphanes' war against the saints, i.e the Jews of his time, and the apostasy ("falling from the heavens") of many Jews which took place at the time:
"And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them."
Antiochus IV Epiphanes is the chief biblical type of the man of sin of 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2.
There are many examples of metaphorical language being used in apocalyptic literature. Here are some more examples:
John 7:38-39
He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)"
Revelation 21:6
And He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Revelation 7:17
For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will feed them and will lead them to the fountains of living waters. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Revelation 14:7
saying with a great voice, Fear God and give glory to Him! For the hour of His judgment has come. And worship Him who made the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Revelation 8:10
And the third angel sounded, and a great star burning like a lamp fell from the heaven, and it fell on the third part of the rivers and on the fountains of waters.
Revelation 16
And the third angel poured out his vial on the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood.
In Apocalyptic / Prophetic biblical literature, the moon turning the color of blood and the sun hiding its face (Matthew 24:29) is symbolic of the social and political order being removed (the earth is being "moved out of its place, and the heavens and earth shaking"), for example in Isaiah 13:9-13 and Revelation 6:12-17).
"Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee." (Isaiah 60:5) *
* The sea is a metaphor for the nations in Apocalyptic biblical literature.
One more example: In both Ezekiel and the book of Revelation, you'll find the same imagery which symbolizes the utter defeat of God's enemies, metaphorically spoken about as the birds of prey and beasts of the field coming to the table of the Lord when the armies of His enemies have been judged:
Verses 17-22 of Ezekiel chapter 39:
"And you, son of man, So says the Lord Jehovah. Speak to the bird of every wing, and to every beast of the field: Gather yourselves and come; gather yourselves from all around to My sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, so that you may eat flesh and drink blood.
You shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the rulers of the earth, of rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
And you shall eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
And you shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, all the men of war, says the Lord Jehovah.
And I will set My glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see My judgments which I have done, and My hand that I have laid on them.
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward."
Verses 17-21 of Revelation chapter 19:
"And I saw one angel standing in the sun. And he cried with a great voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come and gather together to the supper of the great God,
so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of strong ones, and the flesh of horses, and those sitting on them, and the flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth and their armies, being gathered to make war against Him who sat on the horse, and against His army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet doing signs before it, (by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast), and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire burning with brimstone.
And the rest were slain by the sword of Him who sat on the horse, it proceeding out of His mouth. And all the birds were filled from their flesh."
The final sentence in Revelation 19:21: "And all the birds were filled from their flesh" is closing the prophecy with a repeat of what had been said earlier.
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