And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity [at] the roar of the sea and rolling waves,
The Lord has spoken of Jerusalem trampled by the nations; now He widens the view to the sky itself. Two questions follow: when do these signs come, and are they events in the heavens or pictures of something else?
The Lord had already spoken of the siege and capture of Jerusalem by Roman armies. That came true. What verse 25 describes has not. One commentator makes the small word "and" the hinge, and compares it to a famous break in Isaiah.
"And there will be signs," that is, of the revealing of Christ's presence. The "and" introduces a separate account. It works like a special use of the Hebrew conjunction. Isaiah 61:2 gives one of the most striking examples of this in the Old Testament. The Lord used that passage on the occasion described in Luke 4:16-19. He stopped before the words "and the day of vengeance." … In passages that look disjointed like this, a long stretch of time may come between the events. So it is here, between verses 24 and 25.
The same writer marks the change of subject. Nothing earlier in the chapter hinted at trouble in the heavens.
There was not a word of all this when He spoke of the siege and capture of the city under Titus. The domination of the nations is not over yet. When it ends, there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and distress of nations.
Do these signs happen in the sky, or do they stand for something else? Commentators differ. One holds both at once:
There seems good reason to believe that these signs are physical. Yet matching signs appear in the political world too, as the book of Revelation shows. At such a time God's mercy multiplies His calls to men to give heed to what He is doing. Nature seems to share in human sorrow, and that appearance gives whatever support there is to the fables of astrology. In this way man twists the goodness of God into his own ruin.
Another writer takes the words as pictures. His clue is the roaring sea at the end of the verse.
Then the passage reveals the state of things at the close of the rule of the Gentile nations — signs in sun, moon, and stars; on earth, distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring. That last phrase makes me think the words are figures here, though there may also be real signs in the sky.
The verse also names the roaring sea. One writer says who the sea stands for, and finds the same restlessness in today's news.
"The sea and the waves" mean the peoples. We read in Isaiah 57:20, "But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt." How true this is! A glance at the newspaper is enough to prove it. … "The sun, moon and stars" mean the rulers of the nations. … Then every form of government is overthrown, with complete confusion resulting. Men are preparing for this now. They are refusing to be ruled.
Verse 25 pairs distress with perplexity. One writer names the cause of the confusion, and why the fixes never hold.
Man's sin and folly have created the confusion, but man is not able to clear it up. No difficulty is ever really settled. Politicians and others manage from time to time to put a patch on here and a patch on there. For the moment things look reasonable. Then come outbreaks that are more serious and more widespread.
Luke records something the other Gospels leave out: what these terrors do inside people. One writer sees God's hand even in that unrest.
Luke alone mentions the moral signs of men's anguish, despite the deceits and false claims of that day. No doubt there will be strong delusion, and people will believe what is false. But that is the very reason there is no rest and no contentment. Only the grace and truth of God in Christ can give peaceful enjoyment with a good conscience. So God will know how to trouble men's dreams and to break up Satan's ease.
Terrible times have looked like this before. One history tells of an age of famine and plague, when strange sights in the sky made people think the prophecy had come.
These words describe that time well, but the prophecy was far from fulfilled. Our Lord goes straight on to say: "And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
- Gap. The "and" of verse 25 can span a long stretch of time, just as Isaiah 61:2 does; Jerusalem's fall is past, these signs are not.
- Signs. Are the sun, moon and stars really shaken, or do they stand for rulers? Commentators differ, and some hold both.
- Sea. The roaring sea pictures the peoples in restless revolt, refusing to be governed.
- Perplexity. The trouble comes with no answer. Man made the confusion, and man cannot cure it.
- Test. One proof settles it: the Son of Man seen coming in a cloud. Until then, alarming times are not the fulfilment.
men ready to die through fear and expectation of what is coming on the habitable earth, for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
In this verse the Lord describes a state of mind, not an event. He tells His disciples what people will feel while the world around them falls apart. Two questions press: when does this happen, and what are "the powers of the heavens" that get shaken?
Commentators place this verse long after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. It comes at the close of the long period when Gentile powers rule. The earlier part of the chapter deals with the siege; verse 25 opens a new scene.
Next, He introduces the last days. There was not a word of all this when He spoke of the siege and capture of the city under Titus. After the rule of the Gentiles is over — and it clearly is not yet — there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and distress of nations.
Luke's account reaches past the outward signs into what people will think and feel. That knowledge has a purpose.
Luke alone has preserved this: what people will be feeling and thinking in that terrible time when the Lord's return in power is close at hand... He who foresees future events also knows beforehand what His creatures will then be feeling and thinking. So there can be a prophetic ministry to meet the need of God's people at that time — the Psalms are full of this — as well as a prophetic description of the thoughts of others at that time.
People in that day will not lack things to believe. Belief will not give them rest.
It is Luke only who mentions the moral signs of men's anguish despite the deceits and pretensions of that day. No doubt there will be strong delusion and the belief of falsehood. But for this very reason there is no rest or contentment. Only the grace and truth of God in Christ can give peaceful enjoyment with a good conscience. So God will know how to trouble men's dreams and to break up Satan's ease.
The terror is not about what has already struck. It is about what is on the way.
People were astounded because they could not see the end. They trembled as they were dragged along toward some unknown, terrible conclusion. For principles were at work, in ways they did not understand, dragging them along whether they wanted it or not.
An older translation reads "ready to die through fear" — fainting that goes as far as collapse.
The stated reason for the panic is the last clause of the verse. One writer explains the phrase in a short parenthesis.
for the powers of heaven — the sources of the way things stand on earth — will be shaken.
God Himself does the shaking.
This is the moment when God is going to shake the heavens as well as the earth, as Haggai predicted. Only the things that cannot be shaken will remain. All will lead up to the public appearing of the Son of Man in power and great glory.
One writer says the moment itself has not yet come, though its principle already shows. He hears confidence and dread in the same generation.
Progress, success, the long run of a new development of human nature — this is the language of those who mock at the Lord's coming. Yet beneath it all, what fears for the future are gripping and weighing down the heart! I use the word "principles" because I do not believe that the moment the Lord speaks of has come yet. But the shadow of coming events falls on the heart. Blessed are those who belong to another world!
The very next verses tell believers to do the reverse of what this verse describes. Fainting hearts and lifted heads face the same events.
For them it means a final redemption, when all creation will be set free from its bondage to decay. That being so, the first signs of His advent are to fill us with glad anticipation. We are to "look up," for the next movement that really counts is to come from the right hand of God, where He sits. We are to "lift up our heads," the opposite of hanging them down in depression or fear. The very things that frighten the world are to fill the believer with the optimism of holy expectation.
- Shaken — God shakes the sources of authority above the earth. Only what cannot be shaken survives.
- Feared — the shaking is still ahead, not past. People collapse under dread of a future they cannot see or stop.
- Recorded — Luke alone preserves what people will feel, not just the signs in the sky.
- Foreshadowed — the moment itself is still future. Its principle already shows: loud confidence in progress, deep fear underneath.
- Reversed — the same events that make the world faint are the believer's signal. Look up and lift your head: redemption is near.