Joel 2:10

10 The earth quakes in their presence, and the sky shakes. The sun and the moon turn dark, and the stars no longer shine.

Joel 2:10 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 2:10

The earth shall quake before them
The inhabitants of it, because of the desolating judgments they bring with them, and those enemies that are signified by them: the heavens shall tremble;
being obscured by them: the sun and moon shall be dark;
the locusts sometimes come in such large numbers as to intercept the rays of the sun. Pliny ^F20 says they sometimes darken it; and though some thought they did not fly in the night, because of the cold; this he observes is owing to their ignorance, not considering that they pass over wide seas to distant countries; and this will account for it how the moon also may be darkened by them, and the stars, as follows: and the stars shall withdraw their shining;
though all this may be understood in a figurative sense of the great consternation that all sorts of persons should be in at such calamities coming upon the land, either by locusts, or by enemies; as the king, queen, nobles, and the common people of the land, signified by sun, moon, and stars, heaven and earth.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Ibid. (Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.)

Joel 2:10 In-Context

8 They do not crowd one another. They keep in their own lines. Even when they break through the defenses, they do not break their ranks.

9 They rush into the city. They run along the wall. They climb into houses. They enter through windows like thieves.

10 The earth quakes in their presence, and the sky shakes. The sun and the moon turn dark, and the stars no longer shine.

11 The LORD shouts out orders to his army. His forces are very large. The troops that carry out his commands are mighty. The day of the LORD is extremely terrifying. Who can endure it?

12 "But even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart-- with fasting, crying, and mourning."