And I will shew wonders in heaven; and in earth, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke.

“For just as man is said to perish, according to the text, "The just perishes, and no one takes it to heart," and this is said, though the resurrection is expected, so we look for a resurrection of the heavens. "The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood." Let the converts from the Manichaeans be instructed and no longer make the luminaries their gods or impiously think that this sun that is darkened is Christ. Listen to the Lord's words: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away," for the master's creatures are less precious than his words.”

“This is Joel the second in order who was privileged to prophesy concerning the mystery of the Lord Christ, for he speaks thus (chap. ii, 28-32): And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered—a passage which the blessed Peter mentions in the Acts of the Apostles as having been fulfilled when the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles occurred on the day of Pentecost.”

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth,.... This, and what follow, refer to the prodigies seen in the air, and done in the earth, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem (r); when in the air were seen comets and blazing stars, particularly one in the form of a sword, hanging over Jerusalem, and appearances of armies engaged in battle; and, on the earth, a flame was seen in the temple, and a voice heard in it, saying, let us go hence; the doors of it opened of themselves; an idiot went about, crying woe to the people, woe to the city, &c. blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke; "blood" may design the great slaughter of then by the Roman army in the land of Judea, and by murders committed among themselves in the city of Jerusalem, which were very horrible, and of great numbers; "fire", the burning of towns and cities; though Kimchi interprets it of lightnings in the heavens; and "pillars of smoke", rising up in straightness and height like palm trees, as the word (s) signifies, vast quantities of it arising from cities and towns burnt. Gussetius (t) interprets this of the burning of the martyrs in the first ages of Christianity, and of their spiritual affections, which ascended upwards to God, and were grateful to him; see Sol 3:6. (r) Vid. Joseph. De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 3. (s) "palmas fumi", Piscator, Cocceius. (t) Ebr. Comment. p. 947.”

“Wonders. Many prodigies preceded the persecution of Epiphanes, the death of Christ, the ruin of the temple, and more will be seen before the day of judgment. Though we cannot prove the same with respect to Cambyses, it suffices that the people were thrown into the utmost consternation (ver. 2, 11.) when he forebade the building of the temple, (1 Esdras iv. 6.) and designed to plunder them. Ezechiel (xxxviii. 11.) speaks of the same event, as the Jews assert. Ctesias also mentions that when he offered sacrifice, the victims would not bleed; and that his wife, Roxana, brought forth a child without a head, implying, according to the magi, that he should have no heir. His mother also frequently appeared, and reproached him with the murder of his brother. See chap. iii. 15., and Ezechiel xxxviii. 22.”

“As Messiah's manifestation is full of joy to believers, so it has an aspect of wrath to unbelievers, which is represented here. Thus when the Jews received Him not in His coming of grace, He came in judgment on Jerusalem. Physical prodigies, massacres, and conflagrations preceded its destruction [JOSEPHUS, Wars of the Jews]. To these the language here may allude; but the figures chiefly symbolize political revolutions and changes in the ruling powers of the world, prognosticated by previous disasters (Amo 8:9; Mat 24:29; Luk 21:25-27), and convulsions such as preceded the overthrow of the Jewish polity. Such shall probably occur in a more appalling degree before the final destruction of the ungodly world ("the great and terrible day of Jehovah," compare Mal 4:5), of which Jerusalem's overthrow is the type and earnest.”