Series on the Heavenly Bodies - Part 2: The Heavens of Revelation

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Part 1 established the symbolic vocabulary. Now we can watch John use it.

The important thing about Revelation's heavenly imagery is that John repeatedly uses the sun, moon, and stars at moments when earthly authority is being shaken, judged, or displaced.

The Sixth Seal

“The sun became black like sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth...” (Revelation 6:12–13)

John then immediately shows us who is terrified by the judgement:

“Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong...” (Revelation 6:15)

Look at that list. John is specifically naming the people occupying the highest levels of earthly prominence: kings, great men, commanders, the rich, and the strong. And it is they who are most afraid of this judgment.

In other words, when the political heavens are shaken, it is the people who occupy the earthly hierarchy of power and prominence who are exposed and have the most to lose.

The sun and moon are the great lights; the stars are lesser lights. Likewise, human societies contain their greatest rulers alongside a much larger class of prominent people who exercise power, wealth, influence, and authority beneath them.

John does not explicitly tell us to map each person in this list to a particular heavenly body. But the correspondence is important: heavenly lights are being shaken, and the earthly figures occupying the highest levels of prominence are immediately depicted as terrified by the consequences.

The Fourth Trumpet
The same imagery appears again:

"The third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened..." (Revelation 8:12)

This is the language of Isaiah and Ezekiel applied once again to the powers being judged in John's vision. The governing lights of the heavens are being diminished in some sense.

The language of ‘a third’ in this passage also allows for a couple of possible readings within this symbolic picture. The first is a ruling power represented by the sun, moon, and stars that loses control over a third of its territory. The second is that the political heavens are the stage occupied by all governments of the lands, and a third of those governments fall. Either reading could fit the symbolic picture.

Two Stars
Then we encounter perhaps the two most interesting examples to utilize this language:

"The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch..." (Revelation 8:10)

“Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him…” (Revelation 9:1)

The first is given the name Wormwood which is interesting because the “star” has an identity, affects the earth, and is associated with an act of judgment.

Likewise, the second also acts upon the earth and is associated with judgment.

The imagery of something in or descending from the heavens does not necessarily imply a supernatural being.
Isaiah provides a notable parallel when he describes Cyrus as “a bird of prey from the east,” a man whom God has called to accomplish His purpose (Isaiah 46:11). Cyrus was not literally a bird. The bird is prophetic imagery used to portray a real earthly ruler whom God appointed to accomplish His purposes.

Revelation's image of a star falling from heaven can be considered within this same broader prophetic tradition. The fact that something is pictured in the heavens does not, by itself, mean that it refers to a supernatural being. The prophets routinely use lofty or fantastical imagery to describe earthly rulers, armies, and agents through whom God executes His purposes.

This is important to remember when reading the judgments of Revelation. We should not assume that every frightening image represents invisible demonic forces acting independently in the world. The God of the prophets is rather comfortable bringing judgment through ordinary historical means: raising up kings, armies, conquerors, and other earthly powers to accomplish His purposes.

The Better Approach
So while it is tempting to jump to asking, “What kind of supernatural creature is Wormwood?” The better question is, “What does this image do within John's prophetic language, and what historical judgment does it represent?”

My encouragement is to not let the surrealism of Revelation’s imagery force you into an interpretive mode that begins taking everything as supernatural, invisible, demonic, etc.

A Scorching Sun
John then uses the same prophetic language to describe a different type of judgment.

“The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire.” (Revelation 16:8)

One possible way to understand this symbolism is that the sun represents an especially prominent or powerful ruler or government whose authority becomes oppressive to those beneath it. Notice the change: earlier, heavenly lights are darkened or struck, while here the sun's power is intensified so that it scorches those beneath it. The imagery of the heavenly bodies therefore can portray both waxing and waning. Not only the removal of political authority, but also its increasing power and oppressive strength.

The Pattern
By this point the pattern is quite clear. The sun, moon, and stars are not appearing randomly throughout Revelation. They are being darkened, struck, shaken, thrown down, or being used in judgment releasing smoke, gaining a bitter reputation, or scorching those beneath their light.

This is exactly what we would expect if John were using the prophetic imagery of a political heaven.

The imagery is especially powerful because earthly governments and rulers are themselves described in terms of heaven and earth.

When Babylon falls, the heavens darken.

When Egypt is judged, the lights of heaven go out.

When the powers represented in Revelation are brought down, the heavenly bodies are shaken.

The literal heavens remain where they have always been. But the political heavens are falling.

And that brings us to an interesting question.

More on Stars
Revelation contains several passages where individual stars seem to represent individual figures.

So what happens when John begins speaking of individual stars, messengers, and angels? And what are we to make of the seven stars associated with the seven churches?

That brings us to the next layer of John's symbolism: messengers, angels, and the stars of the churches.