On April 8 as the Great North American Eclipse left the US shrouded in darkness, I stopped to wonder if solar eclipses are present in the Bible. Is it possible that prophets living 2000 years ago witnessed the same phenomenon as us?
One eclipse of the sun is described in Amos: “On that day — oracle of the Lord GOD — I will make the sun set at midday and in broad daylight cover the land with darkness” (Amos 8:9).
Although many take this verse metaphorically, it is possible that the eclipses on June 15, B.C. 763 or February 9, B.C. 784, during Amos’ time, would have been visible in the latitude of Jerusalem as a fairly large partial eclipse.
In Matthew 27:45, we find another possible reference to an eclipse: “From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.” Scholars have debated whether this indicates that a solar eclipse occurred on the day of the crucifixion. Others contend that a solar eclipse, which has a maximum duration of around 7 minutes, could not have lasted 3 hours.
At Pentecost, Peter describes the crucifixion, saying, “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and splendid day of the Lord” (Acts 2:20).
According to Nasa, this verse could refer to a lunar eclipse, during which the Moon takes on a red hue. Therefore, many scholars place the crucifixion on Friday, April 3, 33 C.E. because of the lunar eclipse which occurred on that day.
Revelation Ch. 6 includes the opening of the first six seals, each of which preludes an apocalyptic event prophesied at the second coming: “Then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth and the whole moon became like blood” (Rev. 6:12).
The description of the sun and a blood-red moon predicts that a total solar eclipse or lunar eclipse may occur at the second coming.
